Reeling from passenger reaction to walking across inclement tarmacs to board turboprop flights, AMR Eagle is making some big changes. The latest development is a covered adapter that mates the jetbridge to the door of the ATR 42/72.
Avtec, Incorporated, a St. Louis-based repair and completion facility, has received FAA certification of a fiber-optic lighting system for aircraft cabins. The system emits light from a high-intensity lamp or ``illuminator'' through one or more bundles of flexible polymer fibers. Avtec claims fiber optics is safer and more durable than other lighting systems, and installation can be made virtually anywhere inside the cabin.
Bell and Boeing-already partners in the V-22 Osprey program-are in the process of defining a small civil tilt-rotor with both executive transport and utility applications. A launch decision is expected by year-end. Preliminary specs call for a 275-knot aircraft with an 800-nm range. Bell believes the D600 would have to sell within 50 percent of current medium helicopters, putting the price in the $6.5-million to $8-million range.
During recent years, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has conducted investigations into the practice of certain industries in fixing and advertising list prices. It is the position of the FTC that it is deceptive to the public and against the law for list prices of any product to be specified or advertised in a trade area if the majority of sales are made at less than those prices. B/CA is not in a position to know the prices for most of the sales in each trading area in the United States for each of the products in this issue.
In early June, Trimble Navigation is scheduled to complete its acquisition of Terra Avionics, an avionics equipment manufacturer. Trimble makes FMSes, long-range navigation and GPS sensors, and collision-avoidance systems. Thirty-year-old Terra manufactures transceivers, GPS receivers, airborne phones, ADFs, audio panels and transponders. After the acquisition is completed, Terra's production and product-support operations in Albuquerque will be consolidated at Trimble's facilities in Austin.
Potential buyers for Fokker still come and go, but the receivers of the bankrupt company now are investigating the feasibility of completing another 12 to 18 aircraft beyond the 15 that had been promised earlier. The extension is being considered since customers are pressing for delivery of outstanding orders and, according to Fokker, new customers have come forward. Extending production might also provide more time to find a takeover candidate, but Fokker officials report that Samsung of Korea and Saab of Sweden have decided not to make a bid.
Transport Canada and the FAA have awarded Level C certification to a Canadair Challenger 604 simulator. Level D approval is expected in early 1997. The simulator, developed by CAE Electronics, is located at the new Bombardier Aerospace Training Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (B/CA, February, page 35). Meanwhile, FlightSafety's Falcon Jet Learning Center in Teterboro is being enlarged to provide space for a Falcon 2000 simulator later this year, and a Falcon 900EX simulator in 1997.
Comments are due May 17 on an FAA proposal that would redefine the reference stall speed for transport aircraft as 1 g instead of the minimum speed obtained in a stalling maneuver. As currently defined, the agency says that Vs can be less than the lowest speed at which aerodynamic lift supports the airplane's weight. Applying multiple factors, such as 1.3 times Vs to get a landing reference speed, may not provide as large a speed margin as the FAA intended. The proposal also would harmonize the rule with those proposed by Europe's Joint Aviation Requirements Part 25.
Photograph: International Jet Interiors of Ronkonkoma, New York is celebrating its 10th year in the aircraft interior completions business. This directory is a selective list of specialized products and services not included elsewhere in the 1996 Planning&Purchasing Handbook.
USAir Express Chautauqua Airlines, rescued from its bankrupt insurance-company owner in 1991, is again healthy and slated for sale or a public offering by the end of 1998.
Atlantic City International Airport soon will receive its first major maintenance facility when Midlantic Jet Aviation completes construction of an FAA-approved repair station there in late summer. When Midlantic, which currently provides fueling and tiedown at the airport, finishes construction, it will close its Millville, New Jersey facility and consolidate all its operations in Atlantic City. Midlantic specializes in maintaining Raytheon Hawkers, Beech King Airs and Learjets.
The relative buoyancy of the aircraft-modification business continues to defy frequent predictions that it will stagnate or decline. Responses to B/CA's annual, informal poll of companies offering modifications vary widely-from slow to stable to good/great and ``more than we can handle.'' However, most are in the stable-to-growing end of the spectrum. Export sales, which several companies mentioned in 1995 as a growing area, have continued to grow. As the marketing director of one modifier said, ``We are chasing the airframes that were exported.''
Jeppesen is teaming up with HKS&A, a San Francisco-based management consulting firm, to assist FAR Part 135 regional airlines in their transition to Part 121. Under the alliance, the firms collectively will provide a spectrum of services, products and programs, such as ``cost-effective'' transition plans, internal audit and safety awareness programs, crew scheduling, maintenance and training. Jeppesen says that the service allows carriers to capitalize on the use of ``common core'' documentation.
The increasingly integrated avionics suites found in modern business aircraft come in a variety of sizes-mostly industry-standard boxes. Deciding which to choose depends on the aircraft and the complexity of the avionics installed. The large-format display tubes found in the integrated cockpit systems of high-end aircraft are replacing many electromechanical instruments. Standard-size cutouts for Collins Pro Line 4 display tubes are 7.0 by 6.0 inches or 7.25 by 7.25 inches.
Garlick Helicopters of Hamilton, Montana expects to receive FAA approval in the summer (about a year later than originally scheduled) to upgrade surplus Bell Huey helicopters (B/CA, March 1995, page 22). The conversion will remove the aircraft from the restricted category that disallows them from carrying passengers or operating under FAR Part 135, and includes updated avionics and an Avionics Specialties trend monitor.
First quarter 1996 worldwide sales of new and previously owned turbine aircraft dropped 34.4 percent from the first quarter of 1995. The decline remains largely attributable to the continuing weakness in overseas markets, according to preliminary reports.
Brazilian Manufacturer Embraer flew its fourth 50-passenger EMB-145 regional jet on April 2. It is the first flight-test article dressed out with a standard passenger interior, and it will tour the United States for a month beginning May 10, including stops at 11 to 12 cities and a visit to the RAA spring meeting May 20-22.
