Guillermo Soto has been named Saab Aircraft of America's first full-time sales director for all of Latin America. Soto is a former Mexicana Airlines pilot in B-727, DC-10 and Fokker 100 aircraft, accumulating more than 10,000 hours over 18 years. He began his aviation career as a mechanic for the Beech Aircraft outlet in Mexico City and later held various sales and marketing positions with Beech, promoting the Beech 1900 in Mexico.
In the second quarter, Sikorsky plans to offer another version of its S-76C twin-turbine helicopter. The S-76C+ will be powered by the Turbomeca Arriel 2S1, which features greater power output than the 1S1 in the S-76C. The S-76C+ also will incorporate a new full-authority digital engine control (FADEC) and single-crystal turbine blades. The Stratford, Connecticut company claims the new model will provide greater single-engine performance and better fuel specifics. A 76C+ retrofit for S-76Cs also will be available (B/CA, June 1994, page 22).
Transport Canada has certificated the Canadair Regional Jet for Category IIIA operations with the Flight Dynamics HGS 2100 head-up display. Aircraft so-equipped can now be hand-flown to a 50-foot decision height and 700-foot runway visual range (RVR). Approval by the European Joint Airworthiness Authority and the FAA was expected shortly. The certification is expected to be especially helpful to CRJ operators in Europe, where wintertime fog and weather-related delays frequently disrupt airline schedules and increase costs.
The start of the airborne certification test phase of the Gulfstream V (shown here on its 1+18 first flight on November 28, 1995) is significant. The maiden flight of the 6,500-nm-range G-V occurred within 60 days of the date Gulfstream set over 39 months ago (B/CA, October 1992, page 52), and the initial flight of the airframe also marked the initial flight of the BR710 engines, the first powerplant to be developed jointly by BMW and Rolls-Royce. Three more G-Vs will join the flight-test program.
Several Phoenix-area FBOs are making some special arrangements to welcome pilots headed west with their passengers to the Super Bowl, on January 28, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
The NBAA will present its annual Tax Forum on January 12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The forum promises to provide attendees with information and resources they need to apply relevant tax laws to their operations. Speakers will discuss IRS regulations, carriage of elected officials, personal use of corporate aircraft, state taxes affecting business aviation, and enforcement of FAA regulations and IRS rules.
On January 24-29, when Super Bowl XXX is expected to attract a large number of general aviation aircraft, a slot reservation will be required for all GA IFR arrivals and departures at the following Phoenix-area airports: Sky Harbor, Scottsdale, Deer Valley, Falcon Field and Goodyear Municipal. VFR aircraft desiring to land at Sky Harbor may experience delays of more than 30 minutes. Traffic overflying the Phoenix area should avoid transiting within a 30-nm radius of Sky Harbor below 10,000 feet msl.
Controller job actions threatened ATC disruptions in Iceland and New Zealand at press time. Up to 90 percent of the controller work force in Iceland threatened to resign effective January 1. The cause is allegedly the Iceland government's refusal to recruit sufficient controllers to cope with increasing air traffic demand over the North Atlantic and Polar regions, leading to excessive overtime. Meanwhile, controllers in New Zealand's privatized ATC system are seeking a pay increase and have planned a series of strikes during high-traffic periods.
Late in 1995, Wally Congdon resigned as president of the Aero Services FBO family, purchased that company's former facility at Houston's Hobby Airport and renamed it TigerAir. Congdon joined Aero Services in 1987 after a career with other FBOs. At press time, Ted Brant, Aero Services chairman and CEO, had assumed the position of president. The sale of the Houston FBO to Congdon reduces Newton, Pennsylvania-based Aero Services to just three separate FBO sites.
AlliedSignal received FAA approval for a solid-state cockpit voice recorder with a two-hour recording capability. The system weighs 15.5 pounds and is covered by a five-year warranty with no scheduled maintenance requirements. In fall 1995, Loral received FAA and European certification of its two-hour CVR (B/CA, October 1995, page 22). Most CVRs record for only 30 minutes. Two-hour CVRs are expected to be required by the European JAA in commercial air transports by March 1997.
One U.S. turboprop sale was listed in November 1995-British Aerospace's Jetstream 41. Eight new sales were reported during November 1994. There were 27 resales compared to 66 last November. Raytheon listed 15 Beech models, while Piper posted four. Convair, Mitsubishi and Swearingen each listed two deliveries of used turboprops, and Cessna and Gulfstream each closed single resales. Revised October figures added four deliveries to the total-two Raytheon King Air B200s, one King Air 350 and one Saab 2000.
GCM Computers has introduced the Sky Printer Model 1815, a panel-mounted printer designed to integrate with AFIS. The SP1815 spews out permanent, hard copies of AFIS messages and weather information for the pilot's ready reference. If a CRT monitor malfunctions, the SP1815 continues to provide AFIS data. The printer measures 5.25 inches by 3.1 inches by 6.45 inches. Pricing: Through OEMs and completions centers for retrofit or new-completion deliveries. GCM Computers, P.O. Box 3291, Fayetteville, AR 72702. (501) 521-3100.
Fokker Aircraft (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)-Eelco Wagner moved up to president of Fokker Aircraft U.S.A. in Alexandria, Virginia and was appointed vice president of marketing and sales for the company's North America sales effort.
Ever worry about what happens to the EKG that is transmitted to the FAA during your flight physical? Many do-unnecessarily. The process has been in use for years, and few bugs invade the system.
Airframe manufacturers' maintenance and operations meetings scheduled for this year include: Raytheon Beechjet, San Antonio, May 5-7; Canadair Challenger, Montreal, May 22-23; Cessna Citation, Wichita, April 29-May 1; Dassault Falcon Jet, Boca Raton, Florida, June 4-6,; Gulfstream, Savannah, May 21-23 and Learjet, Tucson, May 1-3. Raytheon will hold M&O meetings for Hawker Jet operators on a regional basis starting February 6 in Singapore, followed by March 11 in Atlanta, March 13 in Houston and March 25 in Los Angeles.
Just off the presses are AC-U-KWIK 1996 Airport/FBO softcover directories. The Corporate Pilot's 1996 Airport/FBO Directory ($27.95) lists U.S. and Canadian public airports, FBOs, U.S. customs locations, airport identifiers and AM radio station frequencies. Inside the International Manager's Edition ($59.95) are airport diagrams with FBO locations, lists of services (like hotels/ motels, catering and limousines) and worldwide airport and VOR identifiers. The pocket-size Jet FBO Directory ($11.95) references U.S.
Scheduled to take effect January 31 are security regulations requiring 10-year-employment-history background checks of individuals applying for positions that will authorize them to have unescorted access to secure areas at airports. The new rules also disqualify applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes within the past decade. An applicant's job history will have to be reviewed for ``unexplained gaps'' in employment. The current rule requires a five-year employment history check and less stringent employment-verification procedures.
Delta Connection Comair has reaffirmed its affection for the Canadair Regional Jet by exercising its options for 10 additional aircraft. The order will bring the Cincinnati-based carrier's CRJ fleet to 45. Comair currently operates 26 CRJs and holds options that could take the fleet to 70, making it by far the CRJ fleet leader. As of December 1, 1995, the carrier operated its CRJ fleet to 48 destinations in the United States and Canada with 188 daily flights.
Efforts to increase the maximum takeoff weight of the Citation X to about 800 pounds to permit a full-fuel payload of 1,400 pounds (seven passengers) is forcing another delay in the FAA certification schedule-this time to April. The new business jet originally was slated to receive certification in August 1995, but in June 1995, Cessna revised the date to November 1995 (B/CA, April 1995, page 18). Cessna has been trying to achieve a balance between reducing Citation X cabin noise and minimizing the extra weight of sound-dampening materials.
Flightcom Corporation says its new A7A.1 Brite Mic offers an ``enhanced means'' of eliminating distortion ``no matter how loudly the pilot speaks into the mike.'' The company effected the improvement by changing the range of sounds the mike is able to detect and heightening the intercom's ability to control transmitted background noise. The A7A.1 Brite Mic is compatible with Flightcom headsets and other manufacturers' headsets. Price: $49.95. Flightcom Corp., 7340 S.W. Durham Rd., Portland, OR (503) 684-8229.
The ATC system in the United Kingdom will be removed as an integral part of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, but it will not become a non-government agency, as is the fate for Canada's ATC system (B/CA, June 1995, page 34). Instead, the ATC system in England will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the CAA. Detailed proposals for establishing the subsidiary organization in April were under development at press time. Separately, the 24-hour aircraft accident/incident reporting phone number in the United Kingdom has been changed to +01 252-512299.
In a determined effort to make its La Guardia Airport facility more attractive and efficient, Signature Flight Support has renovated its two-story FBO located on the historic Marine Air Terminal site into a modern business-aircraft service environment. New or rebuilt amenities include a conference room, oversized telephone booths with laptop computer ports, a catering kitchen, a refitted crew lounge, a quiet room and a redesigned reception space with lounge chairs and meeting areas. New lavatories include spacious dressing rooms.
Early this month, the business-aircraft FBO at San Francisco International Airport will be switching from Signature Flight Support to AMR Combs. Preparations have begun for a February 15 move to temporary facilities adjacent to the site where Dallas-based AMR will build a permanent executive terminal, pegged for opening in the fourth quarter. In April 1994, AMR was selected over seven other contenders to be the full-service FBO at San Francisco.
In May 1993, when the Clinton administration began its push for corporatizing the ATC system, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena and Vice President Al Gore held a press conference at Washington National Airport to demonstrate just how dire was the need for change. Pena and Gore held up vacuum tubes and displayed archaic computer terminals to prove the point that the FAA desperately needed reform.
