Early this month-one month after officially resigning as president of Learjet-Brian Barents will leave the company he helped turn around since it was purchased by Bombardier. Barents will be replaced by Jim Robinson, who was appointed executive vice president of Learjet in November 1995 after serving as president of AlliedSignal Engines. In 1989, when Barents joined Learjet, the firm delivered 25 aircraft worth about $115 million. In 1995, the company delivered 43 aircraft valued at $317 million.
Whelen Engineering says its CometFlash wingtip lighting system provides ``higher visibility lighting'' for business jets, and is STCed for most of them. CometFlash emits four high-energy pulses per burst of light, generating 45 bursts of light per minute, per light. Without requiring additional power, the quick light pulses provide almost twice the visible warning protection of ``other strobe designs,'' claims the company. CometFlash appears as a long streak of light, rather than a single, separate flash. Price: $380 to $2,100, depending on the aircraft.
Now available from Flightcom Corporation is the newest version of the AiRepeater II, a digital cockpit recording device. It records all incoming audio-tower, ATIS, flight following or intercom communications. Claimed improvements over the original unit include the power switch now mounted on the case, a sliding ``door'' (in-stead of removal of screws) for battery changes and a message step-back feature that plays back through the headset. To distinguish be-tween live and playback audio, the AiRepeater beeps every five seconds during replay. Price: $129.
The correct phone number for the FAA's Olympic Public Safety Air Support Operations Center (OPSASOC) is (770) 919-9929. OPSASOC is the controlling office for restricted and special-use airspace that will be in effect during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The office may be contacted to obtain aircraft entry requirements. An incorrect number was listed in our February issue (page 44).
The Do 328's PW119 turboprops are mature engines that benefit from the millions of flight hours of experience gained since the PW100-series was introduced in the early 1980s. Other versions of the PW100 power the ATR 42/72, Canadair CL-415, de Havilland Dash 8, Embraer EMB-120 Brazilia and Fokker 50.
FAA has clarified the delayed implementation schedule of the Age 60 rule, which states that airmen cannot serve as FAR Part 121 airline pilots after reaching their 60th birthday. The clarification regards recent regulatory revisions that consolidated certain Part 135 rules into Part 121. Starting on March 21, 1997, an airline can hire and use only the following pilots: persons who have not reached age 60 and persons who, on March 20, 1997, were employed by that carrier or another carrier, regardless of age.
Lucas Industries (Englewood, NJ)-Glenn J. Brown is the new general manager of customer support for Lucas Aerospace, an international aerospace systems supplier.
``Nav Canada,'' the private corporation being formed to take over the country's ATC system from the Canadian government, won't be implemented until at least July 1, a three-month delay from the original target of April 1. Nav Canada is to be a nonprofit corporation, with funds coming from user fees-many of them to be increased. A 15-person board of directors will have four representatives from commercial aviation, one from general aviation, three from the federal government, two from unions and four from such professions as law, accounting and engineering.
Noise-abatement procedures for 622 U.S. airports are detailed in the NBAA's 1996-1997 Airport Noise Summary. Each airport listing is arranged alphabetically by state, town and airport name, and includes the facility's noise advisories or rules, plus a contact phone number. The 40-page publication includes a summary on the status of international noise rules. To order a copy of the document, contact the NBAA in Washington, D.C. at (202) 783-9253.
Get advance information on special ATC procedures, restricted airspace and aircraft-entry requirements to be in effect in Atlanta from July 5 through August 11 by contacting the FAA's Olympic Public Safety Air Support Operations Center (OPSASOC) at (770) 919-9929. The special procedures will overlap the time period of the 1996 Olympic Games--July 19 through August 4. Final details of the procedures will be published in a NOTAM that was still being developed at press time.
Annapolis, Maryland-based UNC Incorporated will purchase Garrett Aviation Services of Phoenix for $150 million. The deal, expected to be concluded by the end of this month, creates a combined company with annual revenues approaching $1 billion, more than half of which will come from business aviation.
The internationally accepted system approved by members of ICAO for identifying ``international'' airports calls for a single additional letter to precede the three-letter domestic airport identifier.
U.S. general-aviation accidents totaled 2,066 in 1995, up from 1,990 in 1994 and reversing years of consecutive declines, according to the NTSB. The number of fatalities also increased: from 723 in 1994 to 732 in 1995. The rise in accidents, coupled with a drop in total hours flown by the GA fleet, also resulted in higher rates (accidents per 100,000 hours). The total accident rate climbed to 10.33, the highest since 1984, and the fatal accident rate of 2.04 was the highest since 1978.
Westone Laboratories has introduced the SwivelComm, an adjustable headset earmold. The earpiece is intended for use with light-weight headsets, and it incorporates a three-axis pivot point that al-lows adjustment of the microphone position. SwivelComm is available through hearing health-care professionals, who take an impression from the wearer's ear and serve as a liaison with Westone. Price range: $75 to $100. Westone Laboratories, Inc., P.O. Box 15100, Colorado Springs, CO 80935. (719) 540-9333.
Honeywell Primus II radios will be standard equipment on all new-manufacture Cessna Citation business jets, including the new Ultra, Excel and Citation X models. The digital Primus II communication, navigation and identification system is controlled by a centralized, color flat-panel radio management display and companion audio control panel. The system combines push-button and tuning-knob operation to provide access and display of up to 12 stored com frequencies and 12 stored nav frequencies.
Using the industry's solid 1995 performance as a springboard, this should be a very good year for business-aircraft manufacturers. Most have improved their financial posture and offer attractive new products that should be enthusiastically received in a growing marketplace. Instead, because of a combination of political ineptitude in Washington and some underlying economic problems, 1996 promises to be a worrisome period that may spawn more concerns than confidence.
Now a weather server-but soon to be serving other graphical information-is Genesys from Airshow Incorporated. Genesys is an interactive, data-linked system that brings NexRad weather images into the cockpit for viewing on an LCD. The system uses the company's ground-based computer servers to uplink pilots' re-quests for weather images via a digital air-to-ground telephone. Genesys also can store data and graphics, and has expansion capability. The system soon will be able to serve up stock quotes, news bulletins, text weather data and sports information.
Avcon Industries of Newton, Kansas expects to receive certification soon for its empennage-mounted fins on Learjet 35s and 36s. The fins, designed to improve low-speed stability and handling, were originally expected to be STCed in July 1995 (B/CA, September 1995, page 42). The delay was caused by the temporary lack of a test aircraft and an unforeseen problem that necessitated the incorporation of additional nose-up trim capability.
San Antonio-based Fairchild Aircraft said a company-wide effort to reduce the weight of the Metro 23 has paid off. The basic operating weight of the 19-passenger, twin-engine turboprop was reduced by 113 pounds, translating into ``additional payload capabilities, fuel savings and fuel tankering abilities,'' according to the company. The B/CA-equipped max payload estimate of the aircraft before the revision was 5,000 pounds.
Fourteen operators of business aircraft based at New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN) were honored in January for their exceptional achievement in reducing sound levels during 1994. Specially designed ``Spirit of Noise Abatement'' awards were bestowed to representatives of these companies by the County of Westchester, the NBAA, the Helicopter Association International and the HPN Noise Abatement Office. The winners represent 25 percent of the corporate-flight-department population at the airport.
In the many decades of my career in aviation, the news of a fatal crash tears up my guts. Being witness to one up close is an indelible experience you are able to replay in your mind's eye so long as you live. In U.S. Navy flight training during World War II, we lost a few cadets whom I knew, but I did not see their accidents.
The 1995 accident record of U.S-registered turbine helicopters improved considerably over 1994's, reports Robert E. Breiling Associates, a Boca Raton, Florida company that compiles accident statistics. According to Breiling, the total number of accidents in 1995 was 75 compared to 101 in 1994. Fatal accidents dropped from 27 in 1994 to 16 in 1995, and fatalities plunged from 58 to 31. Each of the accidents is detailed in Breiling's 1995 Annual Turbine Helicopter Accident Review, which is available for $185. To order, phone (407) 338-6900 or fax (407) 393-9127.
New in the King Schools educational video line-up are IFR and VFR refresher courses to help pilots prepare for the biennial flight review. Each flight-review course includes three vid-eotapes. For VFR, the tapes are: the Complete Airspace Review, Communications, and VFR Regulations and Refresher. For IFR, the video titles are Weather Wise, the Complete Jeppesen Chart Review and IFR Regulations Refresher. Price: $79 for each set, or $39 for each tape. King Schools, 3840 Calle Fortunada, San Diego, CA 92123. (619) 541-2200.
