National Air Transportation Association supports a bill introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) that would relieve employers of legal liability if they release a pilot's employment and training records to prospective employers. But the FBO and air-taxi trade group expressed concern about the financial and administrative aspects of complying with this bill.
Gulfstream and Rolls-Royce extended the warranty for the Tay 611-8 engines on the G-IVSP to five years or 2,500 hours, whichever comes sooner-up from four years or 2,000 hours. The new warranty, which includes six months of labor, brings the G-IVSP engine coverage up to that of the G-V. The Bombardier Global Express, the G-V's primary competitor, has similar coverage and also is powered by Tay 611 series engines.
Fokker Aircraft will transfer leasing programs to a new company, debis AirFinance, for which the main shareholder is the aircraft maker's parent company Daimler-Benz. The new company, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, will start lease operations with an initial batch of 35 Fokker-owned Model F100s, F50s and F28s. The remaining aircraft in Fokker's lease portfolio will transfer to debis AirFinance this year.
No, this aircraft did not make an emergency landing at the doorstep of the Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park. Instead, Astra Jet Corporation may have started a new marketing trend when it trucked the mockup of the new IAI Galaxy business jet to the famous restaurant late in 1995. The goal-apparently reached-was to put the aircraft in a location where business executives in the city would find it easy to tour it. Among some 50 corporate executives visiting the mockup was Christopher Forbes, chairman of Forbes magazine.
To get an idea of where helicopters stand in today's corporate flight department, we polled nearly 100 U.S. operators with mixed fleets that included rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft. Of those, more than one-third, or 34 operators, returned our 26-question fax survey that delved into operations, piloting and the future of corporate-helicopter utilization.
To help assess the severity of turbulence in regions where Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (1,000 feet between FL 290 and FL 410) are going to apply, crews should include magnitude and deviation in feet from the assigned flight level in all reports of moderate to severe turbulence.
To its line of replacement windows, LP Aero Plastics has added cockpit side and cabin side windows for the following aircraft: Pressurized Navajos, Mojaves and Cheyennes. The windows are made of stretched acrylic to Piper's specifications. Price range: $1,350 for a cabin window to $1,475 for the left front cockpit window (shown). LP Aero Plastics Inc., RD #1 Box 201B, Jeannette, PA 15644. (412) 744-4448.
Three would-be production aircraft builders have reached milestones. Kestrel Aircraft of Norman, Oklahoma is in flight-test with its Cessna look-alike KL series and expects certification in the spring (B/CA, February 1995, page 16). A second prototype of the Cirrus SR20 has joined Cirrus Design's flight-test program. The Minnesota company is targeting early 1997 for FAA approval. Having suffered the crash of its first prototype in 1992, El Gavilan of Bogota, Colombia expects to fly a new, improved prototype of the Gavilan 358 in March (B/CA, May 1995, page 113).
Embraer's flight-test program for the 50-seat EMB-145 regional jet is expected to lead to certification late this year. In-air testing will involve four aircraft, including SN 001, the second prototype shown here on its first flight in mid-November 1995. The third aircraft was expected to fly in January, and the fourth test aircraft is set to take to the air this month. At press time, Embraer had 18 firm orders, 16 options and 127 ``letters of intent'' for the Allison-powered aircraft.
Jeppesen has introduced multicolor en route and area charts for Australia, and may decide to expand colorization to other geographical areas. Black depicts information related to en route VHF navigation; blue is used to highlight IFR facilities and procedures; green illustrates LF navaids, VFR airports, lat/long, isogonic lines and uncontrolled airspace; magenta shows MEAs, ATS routes and special use airspace; and brown highlights contours.
In today's instrument panels that are dominated by large-format displays, mechanical spinning gyro standby attitude indicators are among the last carryovers from the era of clocks and dials. Properly cared for, these instruments can go 7,000 to 10,000 hours between failures, but only if they are overhauled at regular intervals by skilled technicians. Many operators, though, report having failures at much more frequent intervals.
The new year is ``shaping up to be a very slow growth year, perhaps well under three percent,'' predicts Michael Boyd, president of Aviation Systems Research Corporation (ASRC) of Golden, Colorado.
FAA is advising operators to write or fax the agency to obtain its Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance, a book intended to reduce human error in the maintenance field. The guidelines are available in hard copy and on CD-ROM. A phone number previously set up to take orders for the publication repeatedly has been busy or temporarily out of order (B/CA, October 1995, page 26). So for further information, fax the FAA at (202) 366-7105. Or write the FAA Office of Aviation Medicine, AAM 240, 400 7th St. SW, Room 2102-B, Washington, DC 20591.
Widere's Flyveselskap has a vision, according to the company's 1994 annual report: ``Serving the rural areas of Norway, our aim is to provide the best means of transport in bringing people together.'' That was the goal of Viggo Widere's single-engine, float-plane operation when the regional airline was formalized in February 1934. In the interim, Viggo's airline has enjoyed a monopoly in serving the small communities along the country's east-coast fjords extending to the top of Scandinavia and the Russian border.
The most frequent utterance when a veteran member of Congress decides to retire is ``good riddance.'' But that wasn't the reaction when Senator Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) announced she would not seek a fourth term in this fall's election. In fact, the thought that the gentle lady from Kansas will no longer be adding her touch of class to the Washington scene provoked widespread lamentations.
The market for new turbine aircraft continued its rebound in December 1995 as the worldwide sales total topped 1994's by 2.4 percent on a preliminary basis. Retail deliveries during the first 11 months (revised) showed a climb of more than 16 percent. First reports of U.S. year-end sales of new jets and turboprops were up 9.8 percent-updated delivery figures through November 1995 rose nearly 25 percent, according to Wichita-based AvData. On the international front, the drop in new turbine
A new downtown Tokyo helicopter service from the rooftop of the Japan Aviation Services building can whisk passengers to and from Narita, Sendai and Nagoya. Cost is approximately $1,768 per hour for single-engine helicopters and $2,600 for twins (Air Routing). Meanwhile, the Japan Business Aircraft Association reports that approval for landing slots has been granted for Haneda beginning in late 1996.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association is circulating among its members a draft copy of a code of ethics for aviation maintenance technicians.
BFGoodrich acquired several deicing product lines from England's Lucas Aerospace. The products, most of which are standard equipment on business and regional aircraft, include regulator/reliever valves, check valves, water separators, timers, and air injector and distributor valves. A BFGoodrich spokesperson in Akron, Ohio told B/CA ``We expect to provide full service and customer support for the products that we acquired from Lucas.''
At the request of ICAO, the U.S. DOT and others, the number of countries that still permit insecticide spraying on aircraft while passengers or crew are aboard has decreased from 25 roughly a year ago to six today (B/CA, March 1995, page 26). Barbados was the latest country to eliminate the requirement. Countries still requiring routine spraying of occupied aircraft are: Argentina, Grenada, India, Kiribati, Madagascar and Trinidad/Tobago.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is offering an Aircraft Selection, Outfitting and Retrofitting seminar on March 8 and 9 at SimuFlite Training International in Dallas. The course will cover proven procedures for getting the right aircraft and outfitting it the right way-and for the right price. The seminar fee is $600 for the first attendee and $499 for each additional attendee from the same company. For further information or to register, contact Embry-Riddle's Division of Continuing Education at (904) 226-6193.
It happened on February 9, 1989. The DC-9 was scheduled to fly from Ogden, Utah to San Antonio with a load of cargo. It was a cold, clear night in the mountain west. The captain and first officer were experienced and had every reason to expect a routine flight.
Beleaguered Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker appeared to be battling for its future as the Dutch Government and Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) deadlocked on how to provide the firm with a much needed cash infusion. As B/CA went to press, Fokker's main shareholders-DASA with a 51% stake, and the Dutch government-were at odds over how to split up the burden of injecting some $1.4 billion into the firm.
