Photograph: Technicans make final preparations on the BMW/RR BR710 for its expected certification on the G-V this month. BR710 FOR G-V NEARS CERTIFICATION BMW/Rolls-Royce expects to receive certification this month for its BR710 turbofan engine. This initial certification of the 14,800-pounds-thrust turbofan, the first German civil jet en- gine to be designed for production, ap-plies to the version for the new Gulfstream G-V. The BR710 series for the new Global Express is scheduled to receive certification in February 1997.
The Aviation&Aerospace Almanac from The McGraw-Hill Companies is a 660-page, softcover reference brimful of current and historical statistics, including financial and operational data, inventories and comparisons with other modes of transportation. Facts and figures on general aviation, regional airlines and major domestic and international carriers is followed by an organizational directory and statistics from the FAA, the DOT and the NTSB. Contact information for key people in the industry and for members of congressional committees overseeing aviation is included.
Photograph: The Williams/Rolls-Royce-powered Premier I remains on schedule for a first flight in mid 1997, followed by FAA certification and the start of customer deliveries in late 1998. RAYTHEON SAYS PREMIER I IS ON TARGET ``On schedule, on budget and on target'' was how Roy Norris, president of Raytheon Aircraft, described the development status of the company's first business jet design, the Premier I (B/CA, October 1995, page 50).
Allison's AE 3007A might be termed a laid-back engine design because its temperature and stress margins are so wide. At a maximum takeoff thrust rating of 7,426 pounds, flat-rated to 30C, the engine has a 200F temperature margin below its 8,600-pounds-thrust design limit. In tests, Allison pushed the engine to 9,500 pounds of thrust with no detrimental effects. Normal takeoff thrust rating is just over 6,600 pounds, further widening the temperature margin between everyday operation and design limits.
J. H. Productions has introduced customized passenger safety briefing cards design-ed to meet or exceed the requirements of FAR Parts 91, 121, 125, 135, plus Advisory Circular 121-24A. The company says its computer-design methods allow a true representation of a cabin interior, including color scheme, equipment locations and operation. Customers need to send in a videotape or color slides of their aircraft livery, cabin interior and equipment. Price: $2,000 for 50 two- or three-fold cards. J. H. Productions, Inc., P.O. Box 30528, JFK Airport Station, Jamaica, NY 11430.
With America losing more than one airport per week, it's nice to report when a field is preserved, especially an historic site that has figured prominently in the growth of general aviation. Recent developments at Philadelphia's Wings Field have increased the chances that the reliever airport and birthplace of the AOPA will not only remain open, but will be upgraded to enhance its utility for companies and individuals that use the small, privately owned, public-use airport.
The Dassault Falcon 2000 is the latest business jet to be approved to operate at London City Airport. The airport is attractive to business aircraft operators because it is just six miles from downtown London and has no slot restrictions. However, to obtain approval to use the 4,000-foot-long runway, operators are required to fly no less than a 5.5-degree approach angle; to employ noise-abatement departure procedures; and to generate no more than 94.5 EPNdB noise levels.
The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS) is the centerpiece of the continent's plan to improve and simplify its air traffic and airspace management. TAAATS, which is scheduled to go into operation in 1998, will provide the first fully integrated ATC system for Australian airspace and will cover about 11 percent of the world's surface. TAAATS services will apply to all operations except for VFR flights outside controlled airspace and away from radar coverage. For details, contact the TAAATS project office at +06 268-4609.
Photograph: EJA Chairman Richard Santulli (left) and NetJets Europe CEO Hannes Ziegler NETJETS LAUNCHES EUROPEAN OPERATION Executive Jet Aviation in late June launched NetJets Europe, a fractional ownership program that mirrors the company's NetJets program in the United States. Three Citation S/IIs currently are operating from NetJets Europe's Lisbon, Portugal base, and the company has booked flights through the end of the summer.
Honeywell's Primus 1000 system for the EMB-145 features a five-tube configuration with eight-by-seven-inch displays. The glare- shield module houses the flight-guidance system mode control in the center, flanked by left- and right-side display controllers. In addition, separate caution and warning light annunciators are mounted outboard of the avionics controls, and they command the flightcrew's attention when needed.
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) in June denied the $28 million breach-of-contract appeal against the U.S. Air Force by TPI International Airways. TPI immediately filed for reconsideration of the decision.
A July ruling by a federal appeals court that Honeywell infringed on a Litton Industries patent for ring laser gyro inertial navigation systems (INS) partly reinstates a 1993 jury verdict against Honeywell. That verdict, which called for Honeywell to pay $1.2 billion in damages, was overturned by a judge in January 1995.
In a move to concentrate its services solely on aircraft maintenance, refurbs and completions, Dallas-based K-C Aviation plans to sell its Transportation Services and Jet Professionals units to Jet Aviation. Transportation Services is K-C's charter and management unit operating out of Montvale, New Jersey. Jet Professionals provides consulting and personnel services from its main office in Shelton, Connecticut. The sale would increase Jet Aviation's management fleet to 215 aircraft worldwide.
With about a month to go before the curtain rises on England's Farnborough Air Show, indications point to a record-breaking turnout by exhibitors and spectators. According to the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), the sponsor of the biennial event, the number of exhibitors is expected to surpass the 667 companies that exhibited in 1994. More than 150 aircraft are scheduled to participate in static and flying demonstrations. And SBAC anticipates that up to 150,000 attendees from 30 nations will attend the show.
Certain FAR Part 139 certification requirements would be applicable to airports served by scheduled aircraft with 10 to 30 passenger seats, under another provision of the draft FAA reauthorization bill being reviewed in the House. Currently, Part 139 applies only to airports served by airliners with more than 30 passenger seats. Some organizations, like the National Air Transportation Association, see the proposed requirements as an operators' cost burden that does not provide any commensurate payback in increased safety.
Officials of ATR and French aviation agencies are furious over the NTSB's final report on the 1994 inflight accident involving icing and loss of control of an ATR-72. The NTSB blamed the crash on ATR's failure to give pilots information about how freezing precipitation affects control of the aircraft. The NTSB also took the French aviation directorate to task for ``inadequate oversight'' of ATR and the failure to provide the FAA with data about previous ATR incidents.
Photograph: Alliance Engines President Jim Spinder (center) with Al Hilde (left) and Jeff Brown in the company's new TFE731 test cell. Hilde and Brown, co-owners of a Jackson, Wyoming FBO, joined in the recent management buyout of Alliance Engines. ALLIANCE ENGINES--UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP After some turbulence early on, Alliance Engines appears to be on stable ground, and its new owners claim the powerplant repair and overhaul company should be in the black by the end of the summer.
The Solargizer battery maintenance system gets rid of crystallized sulfates (sulfation) on lead-acid battery plates. The result is longer battery life and performance for aircraft and ground-support equipment. A solar panel absorbs sunlight and converts it to electricity to power the system. Wires attach to the positive and negative battery terminals, and a constant electronic pulse de-sulfates the battery's lead plates and sends the sulfates back to the battery acid. Solargizer comes in 12-, 24- and 36-volt models with solar panels. Kit price: $99.95 to $239.95.
Once you have written an operations manual, how do you ensure that it will continue to reflect current company or industry operating practices as well as applicable regulations? Furthermore, how do you guarantee that all flight-department personnel and company-aircraft passengers are informed of new or amended procedures? The first step in keeping your manual current is to make sure that the original version includes only essential, changeable information.
In March 1997, the Zimex Business Aviation Center is scheduled to open at Zurich International Airport. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the FBO's operations building and hangar were held on May 30. In addition to housing the business aircraft maintenance operations of Limess Aviation, the new facility also will contain the offices of Zurich-based Zimex Aviation Group, which offers charter, management and other business aircraft services. A customs clearance office also will be located there.
Atlantic City International Airport will acquire another major maintenance operation in early 1997 when Raytheon Aircraft Services is slated to open a facility there. Meanwhile, Midlantic Jet Aviation is set to complete the construction of its repair station at ACY in the fall (B/CA, May, page 18). When Midlantic-a current provider of transient aircraft fueling and tiedown services at the airport-finishes construction, the company will close its Millville, New Jersey maintenance facility.
More than a dentist was needed to figure out that the terms ``upper'' and ``lower'' in reference to the surface of a wing were inadvertently switched in a series of ADs published earlier this year. The ADs require pilots of turboprop airliners to perform certain visual inspections to detect ice in flight. Corrections to these ADs were recently published to advise operators that in the case of some aircraft, the wording should have referred to ``upper'' surface of the wing and, in the case of other aircraft, the wording should have been ``lower'' surface.
Over the next 18 months, AlliedSignal will consolidate its Commercial Avionics Systems manufacturing operations into new and existing facilities in the Kansas City area. Having acquired other avionics companies over the last 13 years, the division has production plants in Redmond, California; in Olathe and Lawrence, Kansas; in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; in Prescott, Arizona; and in Singapore. Formerly, these locales were home for Bendix Corporation, King Radio and Sundstrand Data Control products.
An advertising and public relations agency is expected to be selected soon to develop a national campaign for GA Team 2000, a general aviation industry effort to attract at least 100,000 new student pilots annually, about twice the current number. A Request for Proposals from agencies was issued in late May, and the campaign is scheduled to get under way in January 1997 (B/CA, May, page 11). At press time, some 45 companies, associations and other organizations had signed up as founding members of GA Team 2000 by making an initial financial contribution to the program.
