FAA is expected to adopt a series of proposed ADs that will prohibit certain turboprops from flying in freezing rain or freezing drizzle. The ADs also will limit or prohibit the use of various flight-control devices in icing conditions, and will provide flightcrews with recognition cues for severe icing conditions as well as procedures for exiting such conditions. The ADs will apply primarily to commuter aircraft built by ATR, Beech, BAe, Bombardier, CASA, DASA, Embraer, Fairchild and Saab.
On March 29, Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Company is scheduled to break ground for the SJ30 assembly plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. This ceremony comes after several years of abortive attempts (and a previous ``ground breaking'' ceremony at Martinsburg) to bring the light jet into production (B/CA, February 1995, page 16). The San Antonio-based company expects the plant to be built by March 1997 in order to achieve FAA certification and initial customer deliveries of the SJ30 in March 1998.
Turbine Business Aircraft Sales (Revised 1995 and January 1996) Although this year is off to a traditionally slow start, revised figures for 1995 clearly show that the domestic market for new business jets and turboprops continued its climb. On a global basis, however, year-end sales of both new and used turbines slipped to a total of 2,584 aircraft, 2.5 percent fewer than in 1994. Deliveries of new planes rose 16.8 percent, but that increase was offset by a 5.4 percent drop in resales, according to Wichita-based Av-Data, Inc.
A final decision by the Joint Airworthiness Authorities to eliminate JAA-registered corporate aircraft from ETOPS (extended overwater operations) requirements reportedly is postponed until the end of this month (B/CA, January, page 40). Both the European Business Aviation Association in Brussels, Belgium and the Business Aircraft Users Association, based in Perthshire, Scotland, have confirmed this tabling action. There is no such ETOPS requirement for U.S. corporate-aircraft operations, nor is the FAA considering one.
One of the great joys in life is helping people in need. Americans, in general, have a history of generosity, and many people at Cessna, in particular, have been involved in local charitable activities for years. In fact, hundreds of the Kansas company's employees support the state's Special Olympics Summer Games, which are held annually at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University.
Fokker Aircraft chairman Ben Van Schaik says the Dutch manufacturer's subcontract to provide the empennage for the Gulfstream V is secure, even though Fokker is operating under ``suspension of payments'' status and faces an uncertain future. (Majority owner DASA pulled the financial plug in January.) Fokker's Aerostructures unit is responsible for the Gulfstream work, and even if Fokker does not find a buyer for its aircraft manufacturing operations, Van Schaik said Aerostructures is a profitable, successful operation that surely will find a buyer.
National Air Transportation Association (Alexandria, VA)-Kristine Estes is this aviation trade group's new manager of government and industry affairs. She replaces Joseph Sprague, who left in December 1995.
Possibly in the entire history of the conduct of the airman medical certification program, no one decision has created more controversy than that concerning famed pilot Robert A. Hoover. Accusations about the revocation of Hoover's medical certificate ranged from allegations of a personal vendetta by the FAA to an agency bias against aging airmen.
By March 19, comments are due on the FAA's proposed revision of flight- and duty-time rules, although at press time the agency was considering extending the deadline. The air-taxi industry and other segments of general aviation are harshly criticizing the proposal. They feel it fails completely to recognize the difference between on-demand air-charter operations and those of scheduled carriers, and, thus, is an unjustified burden on air-taxi operators.
Industry trade groups are expressing doubt that excise taxes will be retroactive if and when they are reinstated. Since excise taxes expired on January 1, the only current taxes on fuel are 18.3 cents a gallon on avgas and 4.3 cents a gallon on jet fuel. At press time, some FBOs that have taxed fuel in their inventory are continuing to pass on the already-paid costs to customers. Experts are advising air-taxi operators to inform customers that they are liable for the 10-percent commercial-transportation tax if it should be reinstated before the date of travel.
In anticipation of the development of tilt-rotor and tilt-wing aircraft, the FAA proposed adding a powered-lift category to pilot and instructor ratings. The agency also would create a corresponding instrument rating for powered-lift aircraft, but type ratings would not be required-except for large aircraft. Generally, training hours for powered-lift aircraft would be a hybrid of those required for fixed-wing and helicopter ratings.
Several months ago, following a call from the author, a package arrived at Chez Luigi titled Corporate Avia-tion Management by Raoul Castro. Castro's four decades of expertise in the exacting vocation of moving executives around in their own aerial conveyances has been reduced to writing-349 pages of it, to be precise. This comprehensive manual should be mandatory reading for every business-aviation flight department, large or small. It should be stored between your aircraft operations manual and your charts, and read just as thoroughly.
The new R22 Beta II is powered by a Lycoming 0-360 engine derated to 131 hp and providing the single-engine piston helicopter with 13 percent more power, according to Robinson Helicopter officials. The company says the aircraft can maintain takeoff power to 7,500 feet and hover in ground effect to 9,400 feet. Other features include a new throttle governor, automatic carburetor heat application, a high-capacity oil cooler, heavy-duty fan, sealed battery, redesigned cyclic grip, and some standard items that formerly were options only.
It's back to square one in trying to determine the cause of two Boeing 737 accidents. A second round of public hearings in November 1995 convinced the NTSB and others involved in the investigations of the 1994 crash of a USAir 737 near Pittsburgh and the 1991 crash of a United 737 at Colorado Springs that more tests are warranted on the rudder power control unit on Boeing 737s. The FAA maintains there are no B737 design flaws (B/CA, June 1995 page 24), and wake vortex flight-tests revealed no clues as to the accidents' cause (B/CA, November 1995, page 16).
One can no more separate aviation and safety than they can Wilbur and Orville. As airframes, engines, avionics and the system in which they operate become more busy and more complex, keeping abreast of safety information is an ever more pressing task.
InspecTech Aero Service has introduced its Freon R-134a inflight or on-the-ground air-conditioning system STCed for Caravans. The compressor is driven by an electric motor, so the system can be on the ground cooling without the aircraft engine running. The air-conditioning package comes with a 300-amp generator. As a safety measure, belt and fan-containment shrouds are installed on the compressor motor. A maintenance crew from the company can install the system on-site. Price: $34,800. InspecTech Aero Service, 2121 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Ste.
SimCom International has opened a simulator-based training center in Scottsdale, Arizona. The new facility, the first remote operation for the nearly six-year-old Orlando-based company, is starting with two flight-training devices (FTDs) to provide courses for pilots of Cessna 300- and 400-series twins and King Air 90-, 100- and 200-series turboprops. When fully developed, the Scottsdale center will have four SimCom-manufactured FTDs-each incorporating wide-screen, ``visual-motion'' technology.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered all outdoor laser displays within 20 miles of Las Vegas area airports to immediately cease operation. The December 11, 1995 action followed an October 30, 1995 laser encounter that temporarily blinded a Southwest Airlines pilot after takeoff from McCarran International Airport. The order remains in effect until laser operators can show compliance with impending FAA interim guidelines designed to prevent visual impairment from laser encounters.
Joseph C. Sprague joined this regional airline as director of marketing for the company's fixed-wing division. He was formerly with the National Air Transportation Association.
British Aerospace, Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy completed their organization of a single European company to market and support their 20- to 120-seat regional aircraft (B/CA, May 1995, page 18). Each of the three companies has an equal share of the new company-Aero International (Regional)-based in Toulouse, France. Absent from the consortium are DASA of Germany, Fokker of the Netherlands and Saab Aircraft of Sweden. In the long term, AI(R) plans to launch new aircraft.
Except for just two locations, all Raytheon Aircraft Services FBOs now are using the same VHF frequency: 130.575. Officials say the company has been working for over a year to obtain an exclusive ARINC frequency for the entire Raytheon FBO network. The two exceptions are Raytheon facilities at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts and Addison Airport in Dallas. Currently 19 locations are in the Raytheon Aircraft Services FBO network.
FAA's proposed revision of flight- and duty-time limitations fails to recognize the difference between on-demand air-charter operations and those of scheduled carriers and, thus, is an unjustified burden on air-taxi operators, claims the National Air Transportation Association. One of the most critical elements, says NATA, is the new category for reserve time that prevents the accrual of rest time when a pilot is ``on-call.'' The proposed rule also reduces the number of duty hours from the current 16-hour limit to 14 hours for two-pilot crews.
U.S. General Accounting Office rejected Rockwell International's formal protest of the Pentagon's decision to award the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) contract to Raytheon Aircraft (B/CA, September 1995, page 34). Earlier, Lockheed Martin, head of another team competing for the JPATS contract, withdrew its protest, expressing little hope that the decision would be overturned. And at press time, the GAO had not ruled on Cessna Aircraft's protest (B/CA, August 1995, page 17).
Seventeen jets were delivered to U.S. customers in December 1995, as compared to 31 in December 1994 (revised). Cessna sold eight aircraft-four Citation V Ultras, three CitationJets, and one Citation VII. Raytheon Aircraft Company listed four-two Hawker 800s, one Hawker 1000, and one Beechjet 400A. Gulfstream also delivered four Gulfstream IV-SPs and a Learjet 60 completed the tally.There were 35 December 1995 resales compared to 83 in December 1994.
