Ten to 15 years ago, the helicopter community was barraged by headlines that addressed the problem of accidents caused by tail-rotor limitations. Several labels-such as ``tail-rotor spin,'' ``loss of tail-rotor authority,'' and the final champion, ``loss of tail-rotor effectiveness'' (LTE)--were applied to the problem.
SNECMA in France and Pratt&Whitney Canada, a unit of United Technologies in Hartford, Connecticut, hope to break into the powerplant market for regional jets. The two companies recently signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop and market a family of turbofan engines in the 12,000- to 16,000-pounds-thrust class aimed at powering 70- to 90-passenger regional jets. Both firms are leading players in providing engines to commercial aircraft, but no P&WC or SNECMA engines currently power any regional jets.
Soon you will be able to view Jeppesen approach plates electronically and print them out from a laptop or desktop PC using Windows. In late summer, Denver-based Jeppesen Sanderson says it will introduce JeppView, a fully integrated CD-ROM system of nav data and flight information for use in the cockpit as well as on the ground. Geographic coverage will be phased in for JeppView. Initially, updates will be on disc, but plans call for an online revision service.
Swedish regional Skyways Aviation has formed a British subsidiary-Skyways Aviation (U.K.) Limited-to offer aircraft re-marketing and consultant services to regional airlines worldwide (see B/CA, March, page C4).
The former Aerospatiale General Aviation, the Grand Prairie, Texas, subsidiary of France's Aerospatiale, was renamed Socata Aircraft. Company officials said the change is one element of a ``comprehensive strategic plan to establish the Socata name as a worldwide resource'' within the aviation industry. Socata aircraft include the Tampico, Tobago and Trinidad single-engine recips and the TBM 700 single-engine turboprop.
New York City's Economic Development Corporation has issued a request for proposals for an FBO to run the city's East 34th Street Heliport. The heliport ``offers the future operator a well-established market,'' city officials say, but plans are afoot to reduce operations there by 50 percent if a proposed new heliport is built at 38th Street (B/CA, March, page 24). Proposals, expected to be submitted by the current FBO as well as others, are due by July 1. For details, contact Patricia Walker. Phone: (212) 312-3969.
SimCom International, which already offers training for King Air 90s, 100s and 200s, now is offering recurrent training for the King Air 300 and 350 models. The 300/350 course is priced at $3,100 and is available at SimCom's Orlando and Scottsdale, Arizona facilities. SimCom students train in actual aircraft cockpits modified to be used with motion that's simulated by visual depictions outside the cockpit windows. In addition to King Airs, SimCom also offers training for Piper Cheyennes and the Pilatus PC-12.
How much will you pay for a quiet cockpit? That's pretty much the only question you need ask if you're considering the new Series II headset from Bose, headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. The noise-canceling ability of the headset is second to none, but it comes at a price. The cost of the basic system, which includes a panel-mount receptacle, is $995. The portable unit, which comes with conventional microphone and headphone jacks as well as a supplemental battery pack, sells for $1,075.
FAA certification of the Cessna Citation X was expected at press time in mid May. Efforts to increase the maximum takeoff weight to permit a full-fuel payload of 1,400 pounds, and inclement weather, forced a delay in the original certification schedule-first from June 1995 to November 1995, and then to April 1996 (B/CA, January, page 18). Powered by twin Allison AE3007C turbofans, Cessna says the Citation X will have a 0.92 Mach Mmo.
Commuter aircraft under 19,000 pounds maximum takeoff weight and originally certificated to FAR Part 23 will not have to meet more stringent seat cushion fire-blocking requirements until December 20, 2010. A March 6, 1995 notice of new flammability standards for airline aircraft exempted Part 23 commuter aircraft that had been unintentionally included when the rule was adopted. The FAA issued this latest notice to remind these commuter aircraft operators that the same standards will apply at the later date (B/CA, March 1995, page 16).
Cleveland-The latest round of upgrades for Air Services of Cleveland at Hopkins International Airport is the completion of a terminal building modernization that includes a complete renovation of the lobby, crew lounge, flight-planning area and rest rooms. (216) 267-3711. Fort Lauderdale-New developments at Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport are European JAA approval for its maintenance services and its designation as an authorized Twin Commander service center. (305) 491-3170.
Most B/CA readers have come to expect only the worst from lay media writers and television producers reporting on the technical side of aviation. After all, operating airplanes is a complex undertaking; one that doesn't lend itself well to sound-bite analysis or surface-skimming generalizations.
The scenario was all too familiar in the regional airline business. A $1.7- million net loss in calendar/fiscal 1993 grew to a whopping $25.1-million net loss in 1994. Something was very wrong. Washington-Dulles-based United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines appeared to be another victim of a senior partner reputed for eating its young.
Photograph: The Honeywell cockpit for the Hawker 800XP. Ahead of the Hawker's distinctive ``ram's horn'' yokes, pilots will find five small-format CRTs flanked by a blend of traditional analog gauges. The factory-standard avionics package is based on the Honeywell SPZ-8000 integrated avionics system.
Business aircraft operators and FBOs continue to navigate a strained, though mutually necessary relationship. So what else is new, except that by now, you'd think they'd have figured each other out. The dominant sentiments rising out of this year's B/CA survey of aircraft operators are that the operators believe FBOs are pricing their fuel at comfortable margins-and, in some cases, are gouging their customers.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) sponsored a meeting in May to address operators' questions about ``how and where the pieces fit'' for complying with special ATC procedures now in place for the Olympic Games in July and August in Atlanta. To augment FAA information, NATCA and other speakers supplied ``tips'' for easing compliance, particularly on the procedures applying to VFR reservations.
Photograph: The ACRM program was developed under an FAA grant. Team members include the FAA, Atlantic Coast Airlines, researchers from George Mason University and private consultants. THE ACRM GRANT Atlantic Coast Airlines' advanced cockpit resource management (ACRM) program is the result of a grant from the FAA's human factors office. According to the FAA's Eleana Edens, a research psychologist specializing in air carrier training issues, the research was undertaken in response to the agency's airline ``safety summit'' (B/CA, February, page 39).
Photograph: The ``bottom line'' of B/CA's 1996 operator survey is that flight department managements are generally skeptical of FBO claims that their profits are marginal, those purchasing the most fuel being the least sympathetic. Some operators are countering what they feel is excessive fuel pricing by joining purchasing cooperatives or maintaining fuel farms at their home bases and tankering on trips.
Horizon Air was virtually shut down April 24 when fire at a US West telephone switching station eliminated the airline's ability to communicate with its aircraft. The station served that carrier's central dispatch facility in Portland, Oregon, and forced the cancellation of at least 300 flights between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
FAA has released the second edition of the Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance. The Windows-compatible CD-ROM, with over 2,000 pages of text and graphics, improves on the earlier edition by adding maintenance resource management chapters covering communication, human error and information transfer. CD-ROMs are available free from Scientific Atlanta at (770) 491-1100. Text versions are available for $45 from the Government Printing Office at (202) 512-1800 (stock #050-007-01098-2).
The NTSB, concerned along with the rest of the aviation community over the growing number of ATC center computer glitches, recently completed a special investigation into ATC equipment outages (NTSB/SIR-96-01).
Participation in the current essential air service (EAS) program is a ``bad business decision,'' says Great Lakes Aviation Chairman Doug Voss. He told a recent hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee that subsidies should be replaced by an exemption to aviation excise taxes and proposed user fees as well as an expanded exemption from passenger facility charges and increased access to slot-controlled airports.
AAR Corporation (Elk Grove Village, IL)-Don Ward is the new president and general manager of AAR Oklahoma, an aircraft parts supplier's maintenance and aircraft services facility. AMR Services (Dallas)-G. Jim Gunn was promoted to president of this FBO chain. He succeeds Tom Metzler, who left the company. BFGoodrich Aerospace Avionics Systems (Grand Rapids, MI)-Adrienne Stevens was named vice president of sales and marketing for this avionics manufacturer.
National Ocean Service (NOS) has contracted for an additional 106 Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) to be installed at small, towered airports from the middle of this year to mid 1997. Although more than 700 of 868 AAI Corporation ASOS units ordered by the NOS have been installed, the FAA has commissioned only 62. Massachusetts' New Bedford Regional Airport is the latest commissioning. The entire ASOS program has been steeped in controversy and delay (B/CA, November 1992, page 32 and July 1995, page 20).
San Antonio-based Fairchild Aircraft said at press time it was negotiating with Daimler-Benz Aerospace to acquire the German company's Dornier Aircraft unit. Dornier's main product is the 30-passenger Do-328 twin-turboprop commuter, while Fairchild builds the 19-passenger Metro twin-turboprop commuter. At press time, the sale to Fairchild was far from a done deal: A letter of agreement had not been signed between the two firms, and DASA said other companies were expressing interest in buying Dornier.
