Executive Jet (Montvale, NJ)-Bob Staib joined this aircraft management firm as vice president of sales for the West, where he will oversee sales of the company's NetJets fractional-jet-ownership program.
New helicopters from Bell Helicopter and Italy's Agusta Group are nearing certification. Bell said it expected to receive certification for the single-turbine Model 407 in December 1995 and for the twin-turbine Model 430 later this month. Certification of the single-turbine Agusta A119 Koala was also pending at press time. The A119 may be available with a Turbomeca or Allison powerplant.
SimuFlite Training International's Challenger 601-3A/3R full-motion flight simulator has received FAA Level D initial qualification. The CAE-built device is SimuFlite's 15th FAA-approved business-jet simulator and the Dallas company's first to receive Level D approval. Among other advantages, a Level D simulator program can qualify a pilot for a type rating without him or her undergoing training in an actual aircraft. SimuFlite expects to have a Hawker 800/1000 simulator in operation in February, and a G-IVSP simulator on line in April.
Mohammed Al Fayed, chairman of the company that controls Harrods, the London department store, purchased three London-area FBOs from Hunting Business Aviation and British Petroleum. Harrods Holdings will operate the facilities-at Heathrow, Luton and Stansted Airports-under the name Metro Business Aviation. Former Gulfstream Aerospace employees Joe Anckner and Larry Bolton were appointed executive vice president and general manager, respectively, for Metro.
Fernand Francois, president of the European Business Aviation Association has announced the elimination of ETOPS (Extended Overwater Operations) requirements from new JAA regulations. The requirements would have forced JAA-registered corporate jets to meet full-airline ETOPS (Extended Overwater Operations) requirements from new JAA regulations. The requirements would have forced JAA-registered corporate jets to meet full-airline ETOPS standards.
England-based Captain Zvi Doron, the person who brought you the Hummingbird software for evaluating and comparing helicopter performance (B/CA, September 1995, page 58), recently introduced similar software for light and medium airplanes. Called Sparrowhawk, the PC-compatible program allows comparison of performance capabilities for up to three aircraft simultaneously. Parameters of aircraft from two-seat pistons to twin-engine turboprops are included in the database.
Once more, communication and cooperation win without the power of size or weight. We are referring to the success of smaller, regionally oriented aviation groups to obtain significant changes in the way the federal government does business. A few months ago, it was the New York State Aviation Association as victor (B/CA, November 1995, page 42). This time, it is the culmination of more than three years of effort by the Teterboro Users and Operators Association-known locally as TUG (Teterboro Users Group).
Cessna's initial batch of new 172s and 182s, scheduled to get under construction later this year, will not be designed to burn unleaded avgas. The company said the American Society of Testing Materials' (ASTM) delay in approving the specification for the new fuel forced the decision (B/CA, June 1995, page 24). Phillips Petroleum, which could produce 82UL avgas, says ASTM approval is still several months off. In the meantime, Cessna says it has not abandoned its long-term plans to build aircraft that can use unleaded avgas.
The Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Helicopter Society have sent out a call for papers to be presented at a jointly sponsored conference in London on November 12-13. ``Innovation in Rotorcraft Technology'' is the conference theme, and papers are being requested to address aerodynamics, acoustics, structure, materials, flight controls, avionics, engines, other systems and manufacturing technology. Abstracts of proposed papers must be submitted by February 29 to the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Pl., London W1V 0BQ England.
American Association of Airport Executives is sponsoring a workshop on airport privatization on February 4-6 in Reno, Nevada. Workshop speakers and participants are expected to represent the views of both proponents and opponents of the concept, which has been proposed as a solution to airport-capacity problems. The attendance fee is $195. For more information, contact the AAAE in Alexandria, Virginia by phone: (703) 824-0500 or fax: (703) 671-8622.
Publications, special reports and other literature from the Flight Safety Foundation are now available on the Internet's World Wide Web. The FSF home page contains access to nearly 800 pages of information, including online issues of Flight Safety Digest, Accident Prevention, Helicopter Safety, Cabin Crew Safety, Airport Operations and Human Factors&Aviation Medicine. Special reports on bogus parts, smoke hoods, flight-deck technology and FSF seminar proceedings also are available. The FSF site's address is http://rhytech.com/-fsf.
Air Routing has provided a list of non-Stage 3 corporate aircraft banned from using Hong Kong International Airport (VHHH). The aircraft are: Falcon 20, G-II/IIB/III, Hawker 600, Learjet 23/24/25/28/29, JetStar 23/29 and Sabreliner 40/60/65/80. Since occasional exceptions can be made, check with your handler.
For most business-aircraft operators, the FAA is the local inspector who dutifully, and usually cordially, conducts certification check rides and maintenance inspections. But no matter how amicable your local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) representative is, there are times when you wonder if the agency isn't just a Washington-based bureaucracy whose primary objective is to make life difficult for those who fly.
KC Aviation (Dallas)-Robert W. Nelson is this FBO chain's new executive vice president. Most recently, he headed Textron Lycoming Division's flight services.
A recent NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System report provides a good reminder (as though you'd forgotten) that the FAA sometimes splits hairs when defining operating procedures. A VFR pilot called approach control prior to entering Class B airspace. The controller responded with the aircraft's call sign, transponder code and a request for an ident, with which the pilot complied.
Bell Helicopter Textron and Honeywell's commercial avionics unit are among the companies extending price freezes on the purchase of replacement parts through this year. For the second year in a row, Bell will not increase prices for spare parts. In 1994, Bell raised spare parts prices an average of less than 1.5 percent over 1993. In addition, Bell reduced the prices on over 5,800 parts in 1995. Meanwhile, Honeywell is holding the price of spares at June 1993 levels.
Concern over replacement parts has long been a part of aviation, particularly when the source of those parts has been other than the OEM-such as independent parts distributors, repair stations or Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) companies. Indeed, concern particularly over bogus replacement parts issues in the airline industry (not any actual increase in the number of incidents) reached a crescendo when the FAA disclosed plans to tighten up rules and procedures for the manufacturing, distributing and disposal of replacement parts.
Recently, B/CA urged the FAA to look favorably upon an expected NTSB recommendation seeking to assure the free exchange of training and competency information involving applicants for pilot positions. The NTSB's intent is rational: to prevent air carriers from passing along inept pilots from company to company. But, the implementation of such a rule is fraught with potential mischief.
Available from Flitz International is a metal polish and fiberglass cleaner for leading edges, window trim and frames, interior cabin trim and galley appliances, and stainless-steel thrust reversers. Flitz re-stores oxidized or stained paint finishes and can remove stains left by deicing fluids, fuel, insects and exhaust. Price: $39.95 for a two-pound can, $18.68 for a 5.29-ounce tube and $8.60 for a 1.76-ounce tube. Flitz International Ltd., 821 Mohr Ave., Waterford, WI 53185. (414) 534-5898.
2David Siegel has been named president of Continental Express (COEx), replacing Jonathan Ornstein, who recently resigned to pursue new airline ventures. Siegel had served as vice president-route and fleet planning and scheduling for big Continental, where he played a key role in the carrier's operational turnaround, according to Continental President Gordon Bethune. ``Now he will turn his energies to this key subsidiary and optimize the performance of Continental Express for the benefit of customers, employees and stockholders,'' Bethune added.
The Pratt&Whitney Canada PW306A received certification from Transport Canada in December 1995, and FAA approval was expected shortly. The 6,000-pounds-thrust engine is the newest member of the PW300 family and represents the most powerful turbofan ever built by P&WC. The engine is slated to power Israel Aircraft Industries' Galaxy business jet. The PW300 family, in addition to the new PW500 series selected to power the Bravo and Excel versions of the Cessna Citation business jet, are being developed jointly with Germany's MTU.
Royal Jordanian Airlines will operate a leased de Havilland Dash 8-300 over the new historical, first-ever air route between Amman and Tel Aviv. The 50-passenger turboprop also will operate between Amman and the Red Sea port of Aqaba, Jordan. The aircraft will operate from Amman's downtown Marka Airport under the subsidiary name of Royal Wings.
