Advanced Electronic Applications' new IsoPole aircraft antenna is designed to enhance the range and clarity of base station operations. The IsoPole, a gain-type, omnidirectional, vertical antenna using cones, provides 120 to 137 MHz coverage. It includes a 50-ohm SO-239 connector recessed within the base sleeve for full weather protection. There is no loss of power output from one end of the band to the other, AEA says. The antenna attaches to standard 1.25-inch diameter, eight-foot or greater length mast sections. Price: $100. Advanced Electronic Applications, P.O.
Aviall completed the sale of its aircraft engine maintenance and component repair operations to Greenwich Air Services of Miami (B/CA, March, page 26). The sale, which makes Greenwich Air Services one of the largest independent aircraft engine repair facilities, is the final step in a move by Aviall to sell off nearly all of its aviation businesses. The Dallas-based company now will focus solely on its worldwide parts distribution services and its Inventory Locator Service, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers to find aircraft parts.
AlliedSignal Engines received TSO approval for an improved fuel pump and auxiliary motive flow pump for the TFE731-20 turbofans that power the Learjet 45 and the TFE731-40 engines on the Astra SPX. The change was made after three iterations of the original Sundstrand pump designs failed to cure premature wear problems. The upgraded, two-pump configuration increases installation weight by eight pounds per engine. The Astra SPX entered service earlier this year, and the Learjet 45 is scheduled to receive certification and enter service in the first quarter of 1997.
At Indianapolis-based Chautauqua Airlines, the employee is a top priority, because the employee keeps the passenger happy and the passenger writes the employee's pay check. A good trade-off, if it works. And it does, according to the former private business consultant who runs the USAir Express carrier.
India's Hindustan Aeronautics selected Global Helicopter Technology to lead a study on the firm's Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), now in prototype flight test. The Arlington, Texas company, which designed and built the twin Allison turboshaft integration kit for the ALH, will conduct a market survey, make recommendations regarding production sourcing and develop cost-of-operation models. The ALH helicopter uses advanced composites extensively in the airframe and rotor blades.
Most of us in the aviation community watched in quiet admiration (and sometimes awe) as the ValuJet accident investigation team led by NTSB Vice Chairman Bob Francis and Investigator-in-Charge Greg Feith went about their business in the Everglades. Overcoming the worst environmental conditions imaginable, these experts quickly found evidence that an uncontrollable fire had broken out aboard VJ 592, and it almost certainly incapacitated the crew.
A six-year-old proposal to revise multiengine helicopter takeoff performance criteria (B/CA, March 1990, page 28) was amended June 10 to include a height at which a helicopter should not descend during a continued takeoff or balked landing after an engine failure. Based on responses to the original notice of proposed rulemaking and comments by the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), the FAA has determined that this height be 15 feet above the landing surface (B/CA, August 1994, page 20).
Gerry Roberts, former president and chief executive of National Airmotive, has assumed like positions at Superior Air Parts. Roberts replaced David Sisson, who resigned after six years with the company. Sisson's departure came two months after the Dallas-based company announced its intention to sell its Superior Turbine unit, a parts manufacturer for Allison 250 helicopter engines. The sale is being effected so the company can return to its core business as a piston aircraft engine component provider.
The NBAA recently published an ``Alert Bulletin'' listing the following cautions for those using an FMS to shoot a GPS or GPS-overlay approach: -- Pilots should be aware that FMS and GPS databases often do not code step-down fixes in the final approach segment. -- When using FMS/GPS as the primary navigation display during an overlay approach, it is possible for discrepancies to exist between displayed FMS/GPS distance to an active waypoint versus the charted DME distance to the same fix.
TURBINE AIRCRAFT SALES (January 1996 - May 1996) During the first five months of 1996, worldwide turbine aircraft deliveries fell 10.8 percent below the same period last year. A total of 118 new business jets and turboprops were delivered to retail customers between January and May 1996, only six fewer than in 1995-a dip of 4.8 per-cent. Global resales dropped 11.6 percent comparing five-month figures, 814 aircraft this year compared to 921 in 1995.
Operators of Falcon 900s and 2000s now can opt for a radome made from quartz, instead of Kevlar or fiberglass. The new radomes are offered through a joint program from Dassault Falcon Jet and Norton Performance Plastics. Norton claims quartz radomes have up to 30 percent better radar transmission efficiency than conventional materials, and only need servicing half as often. Besides its approval on the Falcons, the Norton radome is approved on Challengers, Hawkers and Learjet 60s.
At press time, the FAA had not announced its decision regarding the protest from Wilcox Electric over the agency's award of the Wide Area Augmentation System to Hughes Aircraft Company, but the agency did express an opinion.
After January 1, 1997, com transmitters must meet a frequency stability tolerance of 30 parts per million. In addition, after January 1, unrestricted IFR operations throughout the U.S. ATC system will require using transceivers that have 25-kHz channel spacing (760 channel radios). The 30-ppm tolerance is necessary for full implementation of 25-kHz spacing. There is no requirement to replace 360-channel or 720-channel radios, as has been incorrectly reported elsewhere.
Regional airline enplanements grew at a marginal 0.2 percent during 1995, according to RAA statistics published recently. Total enplanements were up from 57.1 million in 1994 to 57.2 million in 1995.
Dassault's Falcon 900EX three-engine business jet, which received certification from the French aviation regulatory agency DGAC on May 31, was expected to get FAA certification in June. The $27.5-million aircraft (B/CA-equipped) has a nonstop range of 4,500 nm with eight passengers and NBAA IFR reserves-an increase of about 700 nm over the $25-million Falcon 900B, which currently remains in production. The Falcon 900EX is the first aircraft to use AlliedSignal TFE731-60 turbine engines (B/CA, July 1995, page 16).
Germany's decision to develop existing Schunefeld Airport into the main airport for Berlin, which is taking over from Bonn as the country's capital, will result in the eventual closure of Berlin's Tegel and Tempelhof airports. The development project will expand greatly the airport's size and capacity. The converted facility will be known as Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport. Schunefeld, also the site of the Berlin Air Show, was picked over a former Russian base 30 miles south in Sperenberg.
Athletes will not be the only ones proving themselves during the July 20-August 4 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. In a joint program, the FAA and the helicopter industry hope to prove the feasibility of an intermodal transportation network designed for the Olympics but adaptable for urban use worldwide. A fleet of up to 50 helicopters using special low-altitude air routes and equipped with GPS receivers and VHF datalink will provide transportation for essential personnel and material during the Games.
Pilots flying into San Diego during the Republican National Convention-August 12-15-or to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention-August 26-29-should expect the same kind of special ATC procedures and FBO plans as they would for any other dog and pony (or is that donkey and elephant?) show. In the San Diego environs, expect IFR slot allocations, limited arrivals each hour and parking fees at most airports, says Lisa Leblanc-Hutchings, senior airport supervisor for the San Diego Unified Port District.
Typically, an FAR Part 91 operator that doesn't have an operations manual justifies the decision by saying: ``We only fly one aircraft and have a couple of pilots, so why do we need to put things in writing? I always fly with Joe or Tom. We know each other's piloting habits well. The FARs and the AFM are the only documents we need. Besides, a manual could restrict our options when flying the airplane.''
Canadair says it is reorganizing its spare parts distribution network in order to ``improve parts availability'' for Challenger business jets worldwide. The company will review bids from potential distributors in Europe, Asia and North America. The new network, to be independently managed by a third party, is set to begin operating in September. Meanwhile, Canadair recently appointed Execujet Maintenance Proprietary Limited in Johannesburg, South Africa as an authorized service facility for Challengers.
Steps to harmonize the FAA's helicopter type certification airworthiness standards with the Joint Aviation Authorities' (JAA) helicopter standards are under way. The FAA adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking that-effective August 8-makes virtually uniform the FARs and JARs covering standards for both normal- and transport-category rotorcraft. The revisions also introduce some safety improvements, clarify existing regulations and standardize terminology (B/CA, March 1995, page 22).
As the time draws closer for the Summer Olympics in Atlanta (July 19 to August 6), the FAA has firmed up its special air traffic management procedures. The agency's procedures, along with a high level of security procedures, are in place until August 9.
FAA certification of the $15.3-million Cessna Citation X was received on May 31, and the first aircraft was delivered to golfer Arnold Palmer in June. Work to improve the aircraft's performance, including increasing the maximum takeoff weight to permit a full-fuel payload of 1,400 pounds, forced the delay from the original certification target date of August 1995. At its 35,300-pound MTOW, Cessna says the Citation X will carry seven passengers coast-to-coast at speeds up to 0.90 Mach with NBAA IFR reserves.
