Stymied by insufficient data, NTSB officials investigating the September 1994 crash of a USAir Boeing 737 near Pittsburgh plan to conduct investigative flight tests. The tests may help determine whether wake turbulence from a Boeing 727 four miles ahead of the B-737 was causal. Test aircraft will comprise a USAir B-737 and an FAA B-727. The Safety Board also was unable to determine the cause of another B-737 crash, near Colorado Springs, in 1991 (B/CA, June, page 24).
Piper Aircraft, which officially emerged from bankruptcy in late July, will build just over 200 aircraft in 1996, and is considering the reintroduction of the Navajo twin-recip and the Cheyenne 1A twin-turboprop, said Chuck Summa, president and CEO of the ``New Piper Aircraft.'' At a news conference on August 3, an exuberant Suma said, ``We're putting Mooney and Cessna and Raytheon on notice. The race is on; catch us if you can.'' His goal is to gain recognition for Piper (again) as a technology leader that produces a complete line of light airplanes.
Aboveground fuel storage tanks are one way to meet the U.S. EPA's year-end 1998 requirements for replacing or enhancing underground tank systems. Areo-Power's Fireguard aboveground, double-wall fuel tanks are built with a concrete insulated lining between two tank walls. In the event of a pool fire, the lining will absorb fuel. The outer steel wall protects the insulation material. Capacities range from 300 gallons ($3,929) to 12,000 gallons ($44,000). Installation extra. Areo-Power Unitized Fueler, 103 Smithtown Blvd., Smithtown, NY 11787. (516) 366-4362.
Interstate Electronics Corporation and DAC International have signed a joint agreement for the distribution of IEC's GPS-based flight management systems. The IEC 9002 is a 12-channel, WAAS-compatible system that provides both lateral and vertical precision-approach capabilities. The IEC 9001 provides satellite-navigation data to FMSes for precision and non-precision landing guidance.
Russ Meyer, chairman and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company, is the chosen recipient of the 1995 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. The award will be presented to Meyer for his ``leadership in the revitalization of general aviation, effective public service, and innovative aviation-related programs and opportunities for the disadvantaged and disabled.'' The National Aeronautic Association will present the award to Meyer at a ceremony on December 15 in Washington, D.C.
After months of delays, the FAA finally awarded a $475-million contract on August 3 to the Wilcox Electric, Hughes Aircraft and TRW team for development of the long awaited Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). When fully operational, WAAS will provide enhanced signal accuracy, integrity monitoring and more satellite navigation transmitters, allowing GPS to be used as a primary means of navigation.
Because the Yakovlev Design Bureau could not meet the production schedule, Israel Aircraft Industries is negotiating with several other subcontractors to build the fuselage of the new Galaxy business jet. Originally, Yakovlev's Saratov plant in Russia was to build the airframes (B/CA, May, page 110). ``Due to the difficulty in Saratov's manufacturing plant, IAI and Yak are implementing other alternatives...in order to keep the Galaxy program schedule intact,'' IAI said. Spain's Gamesa is the likeliest candidate; it is now building IAI Astra fuselages.
AlliedSignal is making plans to relocate production of the LF507 turbofan and the T53 and T55 helicopter engines from the former Textron Lycoming plant at Stratford, Connecticut. The U.S. Army-owned facility is among the military installations the federal government has listed for closure. The company said it is ``studying its options'' for relocating engine lines from the facility, which it acquired when it bought the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division from Textron in 1994.
Professional Flight Management is now offering PFM Windows software. Two modules are available-scheduling and recordkeeping-for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT. The scheduling module features a status-at-a-glance calendar that allows multiple-aircraft operators to schedule passengers and crew without changing screens. The recordkeeping module tracks aircraft, crew and passenger activity. Crew-activity logs include training and crew-currency tracking.
According to the DOT, Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) does not meet international security measures, and, therefore, it has taken steps to ensure that aircraft operators and passengers are alerted to this fact. U.S. airlines are required to warn passengers of the DOT's determination, even though the DOT did not say that aircraft operations at NAIA are necessarily unsafe. The Philippine government says a ``serious effort'' is under way to correct the deficiencies.
John Rahilly, formerly KC Aviation's vice president of marketing and sales, was bumped up to president after Richard Emery, an 18-year veteran of the Dallas-based service company, resigned. The leadership change came on the heels of parent firm Kimberly-Clark's merger with Scott Paper. Following the merger, Kimberly-Clark said it will sell shares in its airline subsidiary, Midwest Express, in order to increase the airline's independence and to allow the parent company to focus on its core operations.
St. Louis-area aviation pioneer Harold Roberts, 87, died July 9 at his home in Chesterfield, Missouri. In his youth, Roberts performed as a stunt pilot and wing walker in a flying circus and worked with Charles Lindbergh at Robertson Aircraft in 1928. After working for St. Louis Flying Service, he later bought the business and relocated it to Lambert Field following World War II. After selling the company and retiring briefly, his subsequent employers were FlightSafety International, Rockwell Aviation and Remmert-Werner.
``Value for money'' is John Lawson's operating philosophy at Bombardier's Canadair division. The president of Bombardier's Business Aircraft Division claims that's why, ``We continue to be the primary supplier of airplanes in the large category.'' And the tangible results are being passed on to Challenger 604 buyers. Two years ago, Canadair estimated the price of a completed 604 to be $20 million in 1993 dollars. Now it has increased only to $20.5 million.
Cameron Gowans is the new regional sales manager of this FBO's aircraft sales division. Previously, he was employed at Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah.
The threat of fees based on noise at all airports never materialized. The present weight-based landing fees remain: up to 50,000 pounds-$88.05 (U.S.); over 50,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds-$110.26; and over 100,000 pounds-$123.19 (Baseops International).
The concept of an independent FAA-as it was created in 1958 and as it existed until being shoved under the DOT umbrella in 1967-has been a dream of much of the aviation community for nearly three decades. However, the idea was only a dream until the Republicans took control of Congress. (The ill-advised proposal by Vice President Al Gore and DOT Secretary Federico Pea in the spring of 1994-and reiterated early this year-to spin off only the ATC system into an unwieldy government corporation was a nonstarter spurned even by most Democrats.)
Taneja Aerospace and Aviation, Limited in Hosur, India was appointed an authorized sales representative for Cessna Aircraft, and is slated to become an authorized Citation service center. Separately, Keystone Helicopter of West Chester, Pennsylvania received JAR Part 145 approval, permitting the company to offer maintenance service to European-registered aircraft and their components.
For testing blood-alcohol levels, Alco Check International offers the Alco Check 3000 DOT that complies with all DOT specifications for an alcohol-testing device. The portable, non-invasive and hand-held device provides BAC (blood-alcohol concentration) readings to three decimal places on a large LCD. Sanitary, disposable mouthpieces are used in obtaining breath samples. Before shipping, each unit is computer calibrated to ensure +/-5-percent accuracy.
Here's a short list of some of the more interesting aviation-related World Wide Web resources we've discovered, and their Internet addresses. -- A/CFlyer. B/CA's sister publication devoted to used aircraft, including the ``Flightwatch'' news department, ``Aircraft for Sale Index,'' the ``1995 Directory of Dealers and Brokers,'' ``1995 Product&Services Buyers Guide,'' hot links to other interesting aviation sites on the Web and much more. http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/acfonline/
A U.S. Customs clearance office opened September 1 in the executive terminal building at Jeffco Airport in Broomfield, Colorado. Dave Gordon, airport manager, says the office will be staffed by a full-time agent Monday through Friday, from 0800 to 1700. Operators using the service will be charged a fee based on aircraft weight. Clearances also will be available after hours on a call-out basis with prior notification and an additional fee.
For the fiscal year beginning this month, the group has elected officers as follow: President - Peter Bellini, chief pilot, Becton, Dickinson and Company; Vice President - James Christiansen, president, Wayfarer Ketch; Secretary - Scott Reichhelm, president, Aircraft Charter Group; and Treasurer - Vladimir Broz, director of operations, East-West Air.
FAA will spend nearly $65 million to install new computers at five air route traffic control centers by February 1998, following 20 outages at the facilities since early April. The interim upgrade involves loading software from existing IBM 9020E computers into more-modern IBM 9121s. The first system will be installed in the Chicago ARTCC in October 1997, followed by Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington, Cleveland and New York at one-month intervals thereafter.
U.S.-owned manufacturers shipped 226 civil-use helicopters in the first half of this year, up 13 percent from the 200 units delivered in the first six months of 1994, said the Aerospace Industries Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. The total figure reflects U.S.-built rotorcraft from Enstrom, Kaman, McDonnell Douglas, Robinson, Schweizer and Sikorsky, as well as Bell in Canada.
The pocket-size Capt's Guide from Air Chart Systems is a source of three sets of key information: a compact printed database with coordinates for GPS/Loran flight planning, a database of frequencies and coordinates for inflight use, and an optional update system on the FAA's 28-day and 56-day chart revision cycle. Navaid data included in the 118-page guide are fix and intersection lat/longs, separate VOR and NDB frequencies and idents, etc. Airport data encompass cross reference (name to city), direction/distance (airport to city), decode (ident to name).
