The opportunities and risks of doing business in Vietnam are significant, according to Charles Childers, president of Seattle-based Yukon Pacific Company, an aviation consultancy with substantial business interests in the country.
The Tour Operators Program of Safety (TOPS), initiated two years ago by the Helicopter Association International, became a stand-alone organization in February. The HAI's goal was to produce a program to help reduce air-tour industry accidents. TOPS recommends safety actions to be taken on five fronts: flight operations, management, maintenance, ground support and equipment. Compliance with suggested standards will bring air-tour operators up to FAR Part 135 standards, according to TOPS officials in Kirkland, Washington.
The second annual fly-in for owners of Twin Commanders will be held April 18-21 in San Antonio. This year's convention will focus heavily on maintenance tips, engine analyses, systems trouble-shooting, flight operations and controlling costs. The meeting also will have presentations and exhibits by Commander vendors. For more information, contact the Twin Commander Flight Group, 601 N.W. Jefferson, Ste. 5, Blue Spring, MO 64014. Phone: (816) 224-0346; fax: (816) 224-6877.
Rapidly expanding demand on ATC and emergence of new technologies like GPS and digital datalink are driving free-flight implementation, FAA Administrator David Hinson said at a free-flight kickoff on March 15. The concept allows pilot-selected routings, altitudes and speeds; and it will be safer, faster and will yield additional airspace capacity. Business jets already are the biggest single users of the National Route Program, a precursor to free flight, which likely will take at least a decade to fully implement (B/CA, June 1995, page 90).
The Duncan-Lightfoot bill that would create an independent FAA, was approved in the House in mid March. Representative Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) said the approval should be a ``clear signal'' to DOT Secretary Federico Pea that ``real aviation reform begins with restoring the FAA to an independent agency status, not with unjustified new aviation taxes.'' Pea wants a presidential veto of the legislation. At press time, Senate legislation calling for new user fees for operations and certification was under consideration.
S-TEC Corporation is introducing its first product for the helicopter industry: a stability and control augmentation system (SCAS). The system is scheduled to be FAA approved in the fall, with the first STC to be completed for the Bell 206L-4. The Mineral Wells, Texas company says the basic SCAS (with a force trim optional) will be the first of a complete family of helicopter flight-control systems. S-TEC has been manufacturing flight-control systems for general-aviation airplanes since 1978.
An advisory circular on recognizing and coping with the loss of tail-rotor effectiveness (LTE) now is available. New AC 90-95, ``Unanticipated Right Yaw in Helicopters,'' also describes the conditions under which LTE may occur. Copies of the circular are available free of charge from the FAA, Flight Standards Service, AFS-804, 800 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20591.
''Forum 52,'' the American Helicopter Society's (AHS) 52nd Annual Forum and Technology Display will be held June 4-6 in Washington, D.C. This is the segment of the vertical-flight industry where engineers will meet with the user community to face a major global challenge: to reduce acquisition and operating costs so the industry can expand helicopter uses and applications.
The biennial International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) comes to Germany's Berlin-Schonefeld Airport May 13-19, touting a larger indoor exhibition area, shorter walks and more compact displays. Show planners are hoping to top 1994's statistics, which tallied 141,000 visitors and 250 aircraft of all categories and classes. Business aircraft exhibitors expected include Aerospatiale, Bell Helicopter, Canadair, Cessna (bringing the Citation Excel), Embraer Aircraft, Keystone Helicopter, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter and Saab Aircraft.
Your medical has been denied. Now what? Contrary to what you may have heard or read elsewhere, you do not immediately call an attorney or your congressman. Unfortunately, the alarmist perception was strengthened by the recent recertification saga involving air-show pilot Bob Hoover and what many people in the aviation industry felt was his unjustified, unfair grounding. In Hoover's case, there was tremendous publicity regarding how the matter was handled and resolved-allegedly through legal channels.
Transport aircraft's gust-load design standards have been revised by: adding a new requirement for a discrete tuned gust, modifying the method of establishing the airspeed for maximum gust intensity, and providing for an operational rough airspeed. The FAA says the proposed changes would be a ``more rational basis'' to account for the ``aerodynamic and structural dynamic characteristics'' of the airplanes. The changes also harmonize the FARs with European Joint Aviation Regulations (JARs).
Austin, TX-Fort Worth Jet Center purchased Austin Aero Center, an FBO at Mueller Airport. Austin Aero previously was owned by PLM International of San Francisco. Austin Aero offers 24-hour service, courtesy cars, on-site rental cars, conference room, crew and passenger lounges and computerized flight planning. (512) 479-6666.
The Mexican government has directed local airport officials to stop collecting a N$680 (approximately US$94) fee from corporate-registered aircraft, as long as they are operating on a non-commercial basis, according to the AOPA. At the beginning of the year, officials started charging the fee for any aircraft registered to a company-on the assumption it was a commercial flight. The AOPA cautioned, ``Pilots will have to prove to local [airport] commandants their non-commercial status.''
UXR seeks to make it easier for operators to perform their own hot-section inspections-affordably. The four-millimeter FF4000 Series PT6 flexible borescopes feature forward viewing direction with two-way articulation, +/-120 degrees (240 degrees overall range) once inside the engine. These instruments have built-in torque protection with quick release to prevent damage. Working lengths up to two meters can be ordered. Price: $3,600 without light source; $4,025 with light source. UXR, 67 W. Easy St., Unit 118, Simi Valley, CA 93065. (805) 527-9219.
The latest in headsets from SoftComm is The White Knight, Model C-35. For individual comfort, the unit offers several adjustment points. The black metal headband with a pillow-foam headpad adjusts automatically to fit head contours. The earcups rotate, al-lowing the headset to be compacted into a ball for easy storage. A new ``gooseneck''-style flex-boom enables exact positioning of the microphone. Price: $139.95. SoftComm Products, Inc., 2310 S. Airport Blvd., Chandler, AZ 85249. (602) 917-2328.
The Nilfisk GB833 vacuum is a dual-function system that sands metal and fiberglass parts of an aircraft to prepare for painting while, at the same time, it vacuums up the resulting paint dust and residue. The sander/vacuum combination prevents workers from inhaling toxins, and lowers dust levels to keep work surfaces more visible in the painting preparation area. The system has a tank capacity of 18 gallons of dry bulk. An optional ``HEPA filter'' can be ordered to ensure that ``99.97 percent'' of all ultra-fine particulates are retained.
Radome signal attenuation and distortion become critical in stormy weather. One symptom is an artificial increase in the maximum distance at which the radar estimates that it can see through precipitation. Honeywell's term for this function is Rain Echo Attenuation Compensation Technique (REACT). Collins calls it Pulse Attenuation Compensation (PAC). Beyond the REACT or PAC threshold, the radar calculates that all available energy has been reflected by moisture in the foreground and returned in the form of echoes.
Bets are on that the National Air Transportation Association's 56th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas will bring members three profitable days of workshops on managing, marketing and making money in the aviation-service industry. NATA `96 is scheduled to get under way on April 22 (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) with a keynote address by Russ Meyer, chairman and CEO of Cessna Aircraft.
Sometimes the little guys get to lead. Such is the case with Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA), a Washington/Dulles-based regional carrier that operates Jetstream 41s and 32s as United Express. Under a research grant from the FAA, ACA is pioneering what could well be the next step in crew resource management (CRM).
NTSB continues its investigation into the January crash of a Mitsubishi MU-2 that occurred about 30 minutes after the aircraft departed Salt Lake City. Killed in the crash were four executives of a regional Coca-Cola bottler, two Salt Lake City advertising-agency employees and the two pilots. Meanwhile, the crash in March of a chartered Learjet near Sao Paulo, Brazil remains under investigation. All five members of a Brazilian rock group, the Mamonas Assassinas, died in the accident. The aircraft's pilot, copilot and two other passengers also were killed.
FAA plans additional evaluation projects to test an experimental general-aviation datalink service. The first such project, done in the Washington, D.C. area in cooperation with the AOPA and several dozen pilots, concluded in December 1995 (B/CA, October 1995, page 39). The AOPA's Air Safety Foundation is expected to issue a report on the results of that evaluation this month. The MIT-developed system automatically provides weather reports, weather radar pictures and nearby traffic information to a cockpit display via datalink from ground stations.
Yet another low-fare regional jet carrier is preparing to take wing. Northern Airlines plans to begin scheduled service from Syracuse, New York in the third quarter with a fleet of at least three Fokker F28-Mk.4000s.
Aerotec USA (Fort Lauderdale, FL)-J. Douglas Hinton is this company's appointee to the newly created position of director of new aircraft sales for the Czech-built LET turboprop aircraft.
AOPA is in an uproar over Governor William Weld's plan to end the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission (MAC) and transfer its functions to Massport. Since Massport owns Boston's Logan and Hanscom airports, the AOPA doubts it would make unbiased decisions when it comes to allocating funds and resources to the state's 42 public-use airports. The AOPA also fears that without the balance of the MAC, Massport might once again attempt to charge higher fees to general-aviation operators. In 1989, the courts shot down Massport's attempt to do so (B/CA, March 1989, page 19).
By midyear, Greenwich Aircraft Corporation hopes to have funding in place to complete an STC program to replace the Falcon 20's 4,500-pounds-thrust GE CF700 turbofans with 4,750-pounds-thrust P&WC PW305s. A spokesman for the Sausalito, California company says FAA certification should occur about 19 months after financing is secured. About 85 Falcon 20s have been converted to TFE731 power in an AlliedSignal program.
