This supplier of digital voice systems for aviation brought on David Sisson, former president of Superior Air Parts, as its vice president of aviation products.
This manufacturer made three appointments: Jeff Dunbar, formerly with Mooney Aircraft, as regional sales manager for domestic business jet sales; Michael Guillemot, previously with Mooney Aircraft and AlliedSignal Aviation, as regional sales manager for the Eastern division; and John Chandler, formerly with the Falcon Jet sales department, now is regional sales manager for the western division of Raytheon.
The French government hopes to work out the details for a merger of airliner-manufacturer Aerospatiale and Falcon Jet-builder Dassault into a single company by January 1997, about a year sooner than previously announced. The government wants to combine profitable Dassault with unprofitable Aerospatiale and own at least two-thirds of the new entity. The Dassault family is expected to hold from 25 to 33 percent of the new group. However, previous attempts to combine France's two largest airframe builders have failed and, in the past, Dassault has opposed the merger.
No question about it; the new Embraer EMB-145 regional jet is turning heads. The 50-passenger aircraft-billed as a jet at turboprop costs--received high marks following its month-long demonstration tour of the United States in May and early June. After flying the aircraft, some say the Brazilian manufacturer is too conservative about the airplane's performance and production potential. The company is rushing to correct that.
Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown and 34 others were killed on April 3 when their USAF CT-43A, a Boeing 737-200, struck a mountain while attempting an NDB approach to the airport at Dubrovnik, Croatia. The accident that befell what amounts to the USAF corporate flight department, astonished the civil aviation community not so much because of the VIP passenger list, but rather because of the lack of sophistication of the aircraft's avionics suite and a similar lack of sophistication in the USAF's operational procedures.
Boeing and General Electric have banded together to enter the ultra-long-range business aircraft sweepstakes with a version of the next-generation Boeing 737. The companies say it will be capable of flying New York to Tokyo nonstop with NBAA IFR reserves. A completed aircraft with auxiliary fuel tanks is expected to cost about $35 million. Certification is scheduled for late 1998.
St. Louis-based Sabreliner Corporation is taking major steps to improve safety, training and quality throughout the company, but particularly at its Miami-based SabreTech unit, which has been implicated in the May 11 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Everglades. It's alleged that SabreTech, acquired by Sabreliner in June 1995, erroneously labeled filled oxygen canisters as empty.
Even in Washington, someone in authority eventually makes the right decision, as evidenced by the Smithsonian Institution's selection of former FAA Administrator Donald Engen to head the National Air and Space Museum, effective July 1. Engen's appointment is good news for the museum's legions of fans, its beleaguered staff and everyone who wants to see this monument to aviation regain its luster and become even better.
United States Aviation Underwriters and its former chairman, John Brennan, plan to appeal a federal court decision convicting them of mail fraud in connection with insurance settlements resulting from the 1987 crash of a Pacific Southwest Airlines BAe 146. The aircraft crashed after a former airline employee smuggled a gun onboard and shot the pilots. All 43 persons aboard were killed. The government claims USAU put the entire allocation of settlements on the airline instead of on Ogden-Allied, the company that provided security services at the airport.
Sabreliner Corporation recently completed the purchase of Turbotech Repairs, a five-year-old engine service company based in San Diego. In addition to overhauling components for P&WC PT6 and PW100 turboprops and for AlliedSignal APUs, Turbotech is an authorized maintenance center for Allison 250 turboshafts. St. Louis-based Sabreliner will transfer the Allison 250 work from San Diego to the company's Neosho, Missouri facility. Turbotech's other engine work will remain in San Diego, Sabreliner officials said.
Bell chose Pratt&Whitney Canada's 600-shp PW206D turboshaft engine to power the Bell/Samsung Model 427 light-twin turbine helicopter (B/CA, April, page 30). The new twin will have a maximum gross weight of 6,000 pounds and will use the four-blade composite rotor that's on the Model 407. The 427 will seat seven people plus the pilot, and, in EMS configuration, will carry two litters in fore and aft orientation without encroaching on the cockpit. Base price is $1.875 million, and certification is planned for late 1998.
Russia's Rybinskie Motory and General Electric have signed a joint agreement to develop and manufacture aircraft engines in Russia . . . The FAA research and testing facility in Atlantic City was renamed the William J. Hughes Technical Center, after the New Jersey native, ambassador to Panama and long-time supporter of the facility.
This firm announced three appointments: Tom Brown as manager of Citation training, Robert H. Freeman as manager of Learjet training and J. Brent Poer as the senior manager of courseware.
At press time, the House was scheduled to start considering legislation that rejects President Clinton's proposal to fund the FAA through new user fees. Instead, the bill proposes to establish a National Civilian Aviation Review Commission to provide a ``comprehensive, independent review of overall aviation safety and the structure and future financial requirements'' of the FAA. Another aspect of the bill provides $5.65 million to maintain Loran-C as an interim navigation system until GPS is on fully line.
Leonard Greene, Ph.D., founder and current president of Safe Flight Instrument, is this year's recipient of the annual NBAA Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation. Dr. Greene is the inventor of the stall warning indicator, the product that launched Safe Flight Instrument in 1946. He also helped to found the Corporate Angel Network, and piloted its first flight. Dr. Greene's award will be presented on November 21 during the NBAA Annual Meeting and Convention in Orlando.
Honeywell's Business and Commuter Aviation Systems in Phoenix and Trimble Navigation of Austin now will market regional airliner versions of their HT9000 and HT9100 GPS-based navigation management systems. Under the joint venture, Trimble will produce the hardware, and Honeywell will market it. Both systems are approved under TSO C129-A1 for non-precision approaches and for en route and terminal navigation. Honeywell and Trimble introduced the products in 1995 for the major carriers.
New format, standardized VFR+GPS charts now are available from Jeppesen&Company GmbH for Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Changes were made to simplify navigation and flight planning. Among the revisions: Airspace for which clearances are required is depicted, and restricted areas are marked in red. Also, minimum safety flight altitudes of 1,000 or 2,000 feet above the highest obstruction within each half-degree sector are clearly shown. Color-coding for topographical levels has been added.
A Falcon 900 was the first recipient of a CAL Corporation dual satellite telephone system. JetCorp of Chesterfield, Missouri performed the installation.
Photograph: The first Global Express is scheduled to roll out later this month, followed by its first flight in September. GLOBAL EXPRESS ROLLOUT NEARS Excitement and anxiety are building within the Global Express development team at Bombardier-excitement over the anticipated rollout on August 26 and anxiety that anything could happen to cause the company to reschedule this milestone.
Keith Butler-Wheelhouse joins this avionics manufacturer this month as its executive director. In November, he is slated to be appointed as its chief executive as well.Linda Martin
The latest Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) sale is four of the 50-passenger airplanes to Argentina's Pampas Air. Ever heard of it? The order has been pending for some time, but it seems the principals did not come up with a name for the new airline until recently.
One of business aviation's ``Holy Grails'' has been to find a reliable way to offset the cost of ownership of an aircraft when it isn't being used for its primary mission of transporting corporate employees. Some operators have found that chartering their aircraft can be an effective way to reduce the costs of ownership, but finding passengers is often a hit-or-miss affair. And what do you do when you need another aircraft on short notice or when you're deadheading?
