The Suction Cup Transceiver Holder from Sporty's Pilot Shop can keep most hand-held transceivers at the ready and secured in the cockpit. To use it, the rubber suction cup is affixed to the aircraft side window or other smooth surface, and the transceiver is inserted into the holder by squeezing the padded ``arms.'' An internal ratchet locks the radio firmly in place. The holder (5.00 inches by 4.00 inches by 3.63 inches) accommodates portable transceivers be-tween 1.50 and 2.75 inches wide. Price: $26.95. Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport, Batavia, OH 45003.
SimuFlite Training International (Dallas)-Fred Figge was named manager of advanced programs and specialty courses-including internation- al procedures, CRM, high-altitude flight.
Avfuel Corporation, an independent provider of aviation fuels, and the Flight Freedom Foundation (FFF), an all-volunteer general-aviation advocacy organization, have teamed up to help Avfuel-branded FBOs and general-aviation airport managers in their efforts to keep general-aviation airports open. Once a request from an FBO is approved by Avfuel, FFF volunteers will provide the assistance, and Avfuel will underwrite the out-of-pocket expenses of the service. The program is available only to eligible Avfuel-branded dealers.
FAA is reviewing a noise-compatibility plan proposed under FAR Part 150 for Missouri's Kansas City International Airport. The agency is scheduled to approve or disapprove the plan on or before August 7. Under Part 150, interested parties are invited to comment on the proposal. Earlier, the FAA determined that noise-exposure maps previously submitted are in compliance with applicable requirements. For more information, contact Moira D. Keane at the FAA in Kansas City. Phone: (816) 426-4731.
The implementation of an AQP is so complex and expensive that developing and implementing programs has been the exclusive province of Part 121 carriers. Recognizing both the benefits of the program and the difficulty in implementing it, the FAA is currently developing a ``Model AQP'' that can be used by smaller carriers and training centers to form the basis of a program. The FAA's goal is to have AQPs in place with half the major airlines and 20 regional airlines by 1998.
April 26 is the deadline for submitting nominations for the 33rd annual Flight Instructor and Maintenance Technician of the Year Awards. The FAA-selected winners for 1996 will be flown to the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin in August to attend a ceremony in their honor and receive prizes. Nomination applications are available from FSDOs and these sponsoring groups: AOPA, EAA, GAMA, NBAA, National Association of Flight Instructors, National Air Transportation Association and Professional Aviation Maintenance Association.
Global Helicopter Technology of Arlington, Texas is a major player in the development of India's Hindustan Aeronautics Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), now in flight test. Powered by (Allison and AlliedSignal) LHTEC T800 turboshafts, the engine integration kit was designed and manufactured by Global. The ALH uses advanced composites extensively in the airframe and rotor blades. Other features include a four-blade main rotor without bearings or hinges, and FADEC-equipped engines.
Hiller Aircraft said that starting in August, UH-12E3 piston-powered helicopters will have a new rotor head, allowing an increase of 300 pounds in useful load. The rotor head can be retrofitted to existing aircraft for about $25,000 plus trade-in and installation. The firm also will start offering turbine conversions of UH-12Es and Bell 47s in June from a 68,000-square-foot facility at the site of the former Fort Ord in Monterey, California. Hiller acquired the STC for the conversions from Soloy in September 1995.
Air-taxi and commuter-airline turboprops with 10 or more passenger seats and currently equipped with ground-alert advisory systems must replace those units with TSOed GPWSes by April 20. The requirement for GPWSes in these aircraft was adopted in early 1992 and called for an installation date of April 20, 1994 for aircraft with no ground-alert systems. The FAA allowed an additional two years for aircraft with a previously-approved ground-alert system to switch to GPWS (B/CA, May 1992, page 15).
Illustration: Radome Construction (X-Band Radar-9.345 GHz The typical radome on a business aircraft is a five-layer sandwich: (1) inner covering, (2) honeycomb core, (3) outer covering, (4) primer and (5) paint. Kevlar is used for the inner and outer coverings of many radomes because it is strong and lightweight. Other radomes are made with epoxy fiber glass (E glass) that weighs more than Kevlar, but has better electrical properties.
Certification testing is under way of a radar altimeter that AlliedSignal says will offer easier installation and greater reliability. The new Bendix/King KRA 405B, designed to replace the KRA 405, will provide analog as well as digital ARINC 429 formats. According to AlliedSignal officials, it will interface with such other components as GPWS, TCAS and flight-control systems-without the use of converter boxes.
Learjet maintains its replacement windshield is a proven safety product, while saying that an after-market windshield available at about half the price from Perkins Aircraft Services is not. Shortly after Perkins introduced the PMA-approved windshield in 1995, Learjet warned its customers that the FAA did not require the Fort Worth firm to perform bird-impact tests, nor did Perkins do so voluntarily. However, Perkins said it recently performed those tests-and fulfilled FAA criteria.
Learket, Inc. (Wichita)-This airframe manufacturer has added three sales directors: Nicholas R. Jones for Southeast Asia and Australia; Gerald B. Moore for Mexico and Central America; and Joseph Papke for South America.
The `96 Jet and Propjet Directory from AvCom International is a listing of the registration numbers and the owners/operators of more than 18,000 turbine-powered business aircraft in the United States and 138 other countries. Included are the identification of aircraft that have been written off or otherwise withdrawn from service, piston aircraft converted to turboprops and turbojets retrofitted to fanjets. Price: $21.95, plus $3 shipping and handling for U.S. residents. AvCom International, P.O. Box 2398, Wichita, KS 67201. (316) 262-1493.
International Aviation Services (IAS), a newly established firm, is acquiring the former Page Avjet facility at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, and will enter the large-aircraft service business. In addition to completions, IAS will provide maintenance, avionics upgrades and painting. Walter Nubel is president and CEO of the new company. One of the board members of IAS is Ross Chapin, who was president of Page Gulfstream in San Antonio and a member of the board of Page Avjet until 1991.
Mena, AR-Excel Aircraft Services recently opened a new and larger corporate aircraft painting facility, which the company says can accommodate Gulfstream-size aircraft. The company promises use of the new facility will ``dramatically increase the overall quality'' of paint jobs without affecting turnaround time. (501) 394-5713.
Escalating bird populations, particularly larger birds, are an increasingly serious hazard to jet aircraft and merit aggressive efforts to combat their presence near airports, according to the NTSB. Safety Board Member John J. Goglia is leading an NTSB effort to learn more about the damage birds pose when they collide with jet aircraft. Part of the problem, says the Safety Board, is that windshield and engine-certification impact tests do not cover larger birds, such as the Canada goose.
Jeppesen Sanderson and Schweizer Aircraft plan to jointly develop a training package aimed specifically at helicopters. Jeppesen will supply textbooks, testing materials and training videos based on Schweizer data. Schweizer has renewed its emphasis on training since announcing the Model 300CB (B/CA, March 1995, page 20). Deliveries of the -300CB began in August 1995, and more than 20 are in service in the United States.
NASA-funded research into aircraft design would be eliminated or sharply reduced if a group of senators has its way. Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) is one of the members who claim NASA-funded aircraft research, plus several other government-subsidized programs, are part of what he dubs the ``Dirty Dozen Corporate Pork Chops.'' As such, they have ``no place in either a free-market economy or in a budget where we are asking millions of Americans to sacrifice. . . ,'' McCain said.
Organized labor lost an additional 388,000 workers-dropping from 16.7 million to 16.4 million-during 1995, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate of unionization of employed wage and salary workers fell from 15.5 percent to 14.9 percent-10.4 percent for private industry and 37.8 percent for government employees. Against that backdrop is new AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who hopes to reverse the slide by stepping up organizing activity and adopting a more confrontational stance toward management.
Bell has joined with South Korea's Samsung Aerospace to develop a light-twin helicopter, the Model 427. The new twin, to supplant the proposed 407T, will have a gross weight of 6,000 pounds and will use the four-blade composite rotor that flies on the Model 407. A powerplant provider has not yet been selected. The 427 will seat seven plus pilot, and, in EMS configuration, carry two litters in fore and aft orientation without encroaching on the cockpit. Base price is $1.875 million, and certification is planned for late 1998. Samsung builds parts for Bell's 212 and 412.
In March, Dallas Airmotive opened an engine repair shop-the company's sixth satellite facility. The Phoenix shop will provide hot-section repairs and power-section repairs for P&WC PT6As and JT15Ds, as well as module repair for the Allison 250 series. In addition, the 3,000-square-foot facility will maintain an inventory of parts and lease engines, and will be the base for a field service representative. March marked the completion of Dallas Airmotive's first year of operation since buying the turbine-engine maintenance business from Aviall.
