By mid 1996, AlliedSignal expects to make a decision about whether to produce a verbal terrain warning system (TWS) for light airplanes. Using microwave technology and component spinoffs from cellular phones and direct-broadcast TV, the TWS could be priced at about $5,000-much less than full-blown AlliedSignal GPWSes designed for large turbine aircraft. In addition to callouts of altitude (from 30 to 3,000 feet) and ``minimums,'' TWS will announce warnings of incorrect landing configuration, such as ``Too Low, Flaps'' and ``Too Low, Gear.''
Each week the National Air Transportation Association is flooded with questions from its FBO membership and air-taxi members about federal alcohol-testing requirements. Here are NATA's answers to five of the most frequently asked questions: Q: What do I need to submit to the FAA prior to implementing the company's alcohol-testing program?
Overhauls, inspections and other major maintenance services for Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6A engines now are being offered by National Airmotive Corporation from its Oakland headquarters. The new program includes providing engine rentals and exchanges. The FAA-approved program will be operated by P&WC-trained technicians, but NAC currently is not a factory-authorized service center. The company is an overhaul and inspection facility for Allison engines.
Dassault Falcon Jet (Paramus, NJ)-Randolph M. Kennedy is the business jet manufacturer's appointee to the newly created position of director of market development.
In a joint effort, Learjet Incorporated and FlightSafety International are preparing newly formatted ``operationally oriented'' checklists for all model Learjets. A revision service in conjunction with aircraft flight manual changes also is being established to keep the checklists current. The first jointly developed checklist is scheduled to be available in December for Learjet 60 operators. The checklists will be available through Learjet's technical publications branch. A price had not been established at press time.
You provide the pickup truck, and Rapid Response Systems has the firefighting system to fit it. The FireFight Model 200-SM series carries water and foam, and is available with 100-, 150-, 200- and 250-gallon aluminum tanks. Each unit is equipped with 100 feet of one-inch booster hose on a geared reel, a fully aspirating nozzle and up to 250 psi at 25 gallons per minute--all powered by an 11-hp pump. The Model 200-SM (shown) measures 72 inches by 44 inches, with a height of 45 inches. Fully loaded, the gross weight is less than 3,000 pounds. Price, $4,500 to $7,000.
Sino-Swearingen Aircraft is designing a stretched version of the SJ30-1. The SJ30-2 would be 42 inches longer than the -1 and would be powered by a Williams Rolls FJ44-2C. The SJ30-2 would cruise at 0.83 Mach and have a maximum IFR range of 2,500 nm. The -2 is expected to cost $3.5 million fully equipped, about $500,000 more than the -1. Certification for the -1 and the -2 is expected in the first quarter of 1998-a two-year delay from the previously revised target date (B/CA, February, page 16). A production facility for either SJ30 version has yet to be built.
The upbeat mood at the National Business Aircraft Association annual convention was braced by third-quarter deliveries of new turbines. Year to date, new sales of jets and turboprops worldwide rose 2.7 percent over the first nine months of 1994, bolstered by a 16.9-percent jump in the domestic market. Overseas, the slump continues as sales dropped 25.7 percent.
Congress failed to adopt by the October 1 deadline the proposed legislation to repeal a 4.3-cents-per-gallon tax hike on commercial jet fuel, and the IRS refused to defer collecting the tax. Postponing collection would obviate the expense of providing refunds later if the tax is removed. When the tax was adopted, commercial operators were given a two-year exemption (B/CA, October 1993, page 21). The National Air Transportation Association has been leading the effort to get Congress to repeal the tax on avgas as well as jet fuel.
Helicopter Notes Two contains 157 pages of checklists, tips and other at-a-glance reference items that are handy to have at the fingertips of experienced or novice helicopter pilots. The soft-cover, spiral-bound 5.5-inch by 8.5-inch cockpit aid serves as a safety guide, training supplement and comprehensive review source. More than 1,500 definitions are included to expedite pre-flight planning and the understanding of weather and NOTAM contractions. Bibliographies of helicopter-related directories, magazines, books, videos and helicopter organizations are listed.
As the use of computers in nearly all aspects of business continues to expand and evolve, so has the use of aviation computing software and services (avcomps) become an essential part of business aviation.
Tridair Helicopters of Costa Mesa, California received FAA certification of two improvements to its Gemini ST, Soloy Dual Pac-modified Bell LongRanger. The gross weight of the Gemini ST was increased to 4,550 pounds, which adds more than 100 pounds to the payload of the twin-engine rotorcraft. Second, the high-altitude LongRanger tail-rotor kit was approved for use on the Gemini ST. The system automatically gives the pilot five degrees more tail-rotor authority when the aircraft is operating above 5,000 to 7,000 feet msl.
To understand the role of regional aviation in Brazil, one needs to look at the country's geography. Brazil en-compasses 3.3-million square miles-90.3 percent the size of the United States-with limited miles of paved highways, 18,537 miles of rail and 112 airports with scheduled service.
At press time, general aviation industry organizations were mobilizing their members to lobby Congress against user fees proposed in a Senate bill to overhaul the FAA while keeping the agency within the DOT. The bill, introduced by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), has the support of the Clinton administration, which has scrubbed its effort to create a separate government corporation to run the ATC system. Industry proponents say the fees would compromise safety and seriously hurt business.
Stevens Aviation and Jet Support Services have teamed to provide a fixed-price maintenance program for King Air 200s and 200Bs. The hourly rate of about $390 covers all scheduled inspections and overhauls, unscheduled maintenance, mandatory service bulletins, ADs, accessory items, line-replaceable units, rental engines, airframe components and propellers. The basic enrollment fee is $25,000, and airplanes also must undergo an airframe and engine inspection at a cost of approximately $4,100.
By the close of the NBAA annual meeting in late September, Raytheon Aircraft said it had received 51 purchase agreements with deposits for the new Raytheon Premier I light jet (B/CA, October, page 50). The under-$4-million aircraft, the first business jet to be designed by Raytheon, is scheduled to enter service in fall 1998. The current backlog extends to deliveries scheduled in the year 2000. First flight of the Williams-Rolls FJ44-2-powered aircraft is expected in late 1997.
Aircraft upsets have caused or contributed to several major incidents and accidents over the past 50 years. Two recent accidents focused renewed attention on this hazard, with a specific focus on how to train pilots to recover from unusual attitudes. Accord- ingly, a new idiom has entered the aviators lexicon. You may soon have the pleasure of ``advanced maneuvers training.''
Accidents involving business jets in the first six months of 1995 showed no improvement over the preceding year, according to Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Florida. Worldwide, 14 business jet accidents were reported, four of which were fatal, for a total of 32 deaths between January 1 and June 30. The U.S. corporate jet fleet had 10 accidents, with one of them fatal to seven people. Accidents involving turboprops, however, showed an improving trend worldwide.
NBAA has published a booklet for corporate flight department wannabes. How to Start a Corporate Flight Department provides answers to many of the frequently asked questions on the subject, and covers aircraft selection and justification, ownership options, choosing a home base, staffing and training, and support services. The booklet is available from NBAA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Phone: (202) 783-9000.
Phase III of the ``No Plane, No Gain'' program was officially introduced at the NBAA convention. The new phase, with the theme ``Business Takes Off,'' will feature advertisements in Forbes magazine and 60-second spots on cable TV profiling business-aircraft users. Since its introduction in 1992, the ``No Plane, No Gain'' program has produced a wide variety of materials that promote the use of business aircraft as a tool for helping to increase the efficiency, productivity and profitability of companies.
Bell Helicopter and its customers are about to taste the first fruits of Product Plan 2000, the company's vision to increase its share of the helicopter market by offering substantial improvements in ``reliability, responsiveness, competitiveness and value'' (B/CA, February, page 34).
Turboprop East (North Adams, MA)-Keith Patterson has been appointed CEO of this maintenance center that specializes in the servicing of King Airs and Citations.
