Cessna Aircraft filed a formal protest with the U.S. government's General Accounting Office over the Pentagon's decision to award the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) to Raytheon Aircraft Company. The company asserts, ``It appears that the ground rules changed significantly during the bid process from a best-value-based Request for Proposal to a lowest cost/price decision.
In 1990, when the DUATS weather-briefing system was launched, Flight Data, Incorporated (formerly Flight Data Centers) was one of the first aviation software firms to develop an automated DOS-based DUATS briefing program. The program wasn't particularly innovative, but it did introduce a lot of pilots to the concept of self-briefing with a personal computer.
U.S. Customs Service dropped its 41 felony charges against Wag-Aero, a Lyons, Wisconsin-based supplier of parts. Customs had indicted Wag-Aero officials for allegedly importing certain Japanese- and Chinese-made avionics and-to avoid paying customs duties-falsely claiming they were FAA-approved. The indictment charged that the instruments did not meet FAA certification standards. Apparently, the government was unable to prove its allegations. Wag-Aero officials have maintained that the government's allegations are without merit.
The FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System initially will consist of a network of 24 global positioning system (GPS) reference stations placed at precisely surveyed locations. The reference stations will monitor and compute the differences between their surveyed positions and their GPS-derived positions, using the network of Department of Defense Navstar GPS satellites and the GPS signal transmitters piggy-backed on-board geostationary communications satellites. They also will generate signal integrity warnings, if necessary.
In an amendment to FAR Part 61, the FAA makes it clear that only pilots-in-command who meet the recent experience requirements of Part 121 or 135 are exempt from compliance with Part 61.57 recency requirements. Otherwise, PICs must show compliance with Part 61.57 in order to conduct Part 91 flights. Since this requirement was originally adopted in late 1994, the FAA has become aware that some PICs working for Part 121 and 135 operators-and conducting only Part 91 flights-do not comply with any of the recency requirements.
U.S. manufacturers shipped 74 civil helicopters in the first quarter of this year, up one half percent from the 70 units delivered in the first period of 1994, said the Aerospace Industries Association. The total reflects rotorcraft built by Enstrom, Kaman, McDonnell Douglas, Robinson, Schweizer and Sikorsky. Bell helicopters, manufactured in Canada, are not included in the tally.
Many moving tributes to World War II veterans have been given this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of the end of that terrible conflict. But the highlight for me was Fort Meyer, Virginia's V-E Day celebration featuring Fred McIntosh. You sprouts who've wandered into the wonderful world of corporate aviation during the past decade may not know who Fred is or appreciate what he did to ensure your opportunity to earn a living in the cockpit of a corporate aircraft, but your predecessors surely did.
Flight Safety Foundation recently expanded its customized technical and management support offerings. The new program, called Aviation Safety Services, will focus on operational safety audits, design and development of safety programs, regulatory compliance audits, review of ICAO safety oversight, contingency planning for accidents and incidents, and airworthiness assessments. Bart J. Crotty, former FAA safety specialist, is the new director of Aviation Safety Services. Phone FSF at (703) 522-8300 for more information.
Are the new Jeppesen approach plates the fashion statement of the year? We'll find out soon enough because the plates are getting their first significant change in appearance in their 60-year life. The Colorado-based company circulated samples of the new charts to 30 U.S. and foreign airlines to get comments from their pilots. Jeppesen is scheduled to solicit comments from a select group of general aviation pilots late this year or early in 1996.
When you're considering an upgrade of your flight department management software, you'll hear many claims about competing products. Yet the top five or six management vendors evolved remarkably similar products even before they introduced graphical Windows, Mac and OS/2 editions of them. This resemblance is driven by the similar scheduling, tracking and reporting functions of most flight departments.
FAA is conducting a ``comprehensive review'' of its regulation and certification capabilities. The agency's goal is to determine what it will need to do ``to overcome the increasing challenges of regulating the aviation industry and certificating rapidly changing technologies as America enters the 21st century.'' An industry/agency task force chaired by Barry Valentine, FAA assistant administrator for policy, planning and international aviation, will direct the review, dubbed ``Challenge 2000.'' Spring 1996 is the target for its completion.
While cruising at 53,000 feet, the flightcrew enjoys lunch in the cockpit. Vibration-free and with hardly any noise, everything on the aircraft is under control. Suddenly there is a bang, fog and numbing cold. Either the aircraft has lost a door seal, an outflow valve has gone full open, a rate-limiting valve or a window has failed, or an engine has experienced rotor burst and parts have penetrated the pressure vessel.
Aircraft Technical Publishers' latest addition to its ATP Navigator CD-ROM product line is the U.S. Aviation Regulatory Library for Small Aircraft and Rotorcraft. The PC-based reference work is tailored to aircraft owners and maintenance facilities who require small-aircraft regulatory information. On a single disc, the library contains ADs, manufacturer service bulletins, TC datasheets, and selected advisory circulars and STC listings. Price: $1,295 for a one-year subscription, with biweekly revision services included. ATP, 101 South Hill Dr., Brisbane, CA 94005.
This month, Jett Aire is scheduled to open a new and expanded FBO at Central Florida Regional Airport in Sanford. The new facilities comprise 54,000 square feet of hangar space and 12,000 square feet of office space. Amenities include crew lounge and snooze rooms, conference and flight-planning areas, and courtesy cars. Rental cars, limousines and catering are available. Jett Aire also plans to build new facilities at Daytona Beach International Airport.
Williams International and Rolls-Royce are developing a more powerful variant of their joint-venture FJ44 series turbofan. Designated the FJ44-2, the new engine is rated at 2,300 pounds thrust, a 400-pound increase over both the FJ44-1A that powers the Cessna CitationJet and the FJ44 in the Swearingen SJ-30 prototype. Williams International and Rolls-Royce plan to officially announce the new powerplant at the NBAA Convention in September in Las Vegas. At press time, Williams and R-R would not comment on a launch customer for the FJ44-2.
Closing of the U.S. Naval Air Station at Bermuda and the end of U.S. forces' ATC services there has resulted in new ATC management responsibilities. Per a new agreement, the FAA will provide ATC services for en route, transatlantic traffic passing through Bermudian airspace, plus approach-control services for flights to and from Bermuda. The Bermudian government will handle tower control within a distance of eight miles from the island's international airport.
AMR Eagle gave Saab Aircraft a boost in June with an order for 25 Saab 340BPlus turboprops. Deliveries will begin this fall and extend through mid-1996. The carrier already operates 116 earlier models of the 34-passenger aircraft.
Forward-looking wind-shear radar from Collins Avionics earned its first STC. On June 29, the WXR-700X system was certificated for installation on a Boeing 737-300. The radar provides aural and visual alerts of wind shear up to 90 seconds ahead of the airplane's flight path. A Collins spokesperson said a business-aviation version of the radar is two to three years away as the company adapts the technology to the smaller antennas used on corporate aircraft.
The FAA and ICAO are sponsoring a seminar on the planned implementation of the 1,000-foot vertical separation minima for operations between FL 290 and FL 410 in the North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) Region (B/CA, June, page 43). The seminar is scheduled in Reston, Virginia on August 27-29. Effective in January 1997, all aircraft operating in NAT Minimum Navigation Performance Specifications (MNPS) airspace must be able to meet new Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) standards, according to ICAO.
The Smithsonian Institution plans to form a search committee in September to find a new director for the National Air&Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Bob Hoffman has been serving as interim director ever since former director Martin Harwit resigned in May after controversy over the museum's Enola Gay B-29 exhibit (B/CA, July, page 20). Hoffman plans to retire soon and does not have his hat in the ring for the director's job. The Helicopter Association International is recommending former FAA administrator Donald Engen for the slot.
August marks the 50th anniversary of a controversial flight that not only was a milestone in aviation chronology, but also a dramatic event that irrevocably changed the course of history. Soon after the Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, killing nearly half of the city's 300,000 people, it became apparent that aerial warfare-indeed, the world-would never be the same.
Bombardier Regional Aircraft Division and de Havilland Aircraft popped their new Dash 8 quiet interior at the Paris Air Show in June and, as expected, have spurned Active Noise Control (ANC) as ``inadequate.''
Sandor (Alex) Kvassay, the ``irrepressible Hungarian refugee,'' was virtually single-handedly responsible for keeping Learjet in business during the hard times from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. A man of amazing satirical and dry wit, his autobiography opens some fascinating insights into the world of Wichita and selling airplanes abroad.
A key witness in the case of TPI International Airways suffered a near total lack of recollection when confronted with questions concerning his review of the FAA's shutdown of the small cargo carrier in August 1990.
For fast wipe-downs of the aircraft exterior/interior or for longer cleaning sessions, Powerfoam from Jet Stream Aviation Products promises ``no rub, no mess, no rinse.'' This all-purpose cleaning product was designed for scouring aircraft carbon exhaust stains, engine cowlings, oil and bugs, and for complete detail wiping of the aircraft exterior. Powerfoam can be applied to leather, plastic and vinyl to remove fingerprints, food or nicotine stains and smudges. The spray can also tackle grime and dirt on sinks, tabletops, stainless steel, glass and varnished surfaces.
