Photograph: On June 12, Mesa initiated scheduled service with the first of two 79-passenger Fokker 70 regional jets (in the livery of America West Express). Mesa Air Group directors have rejected a Continental Airlines offer to take over ownership of Continental Express in exchange for a 32-percent stake in the company. The transaction would have given Continental effective control of the regional airline group.
The first supplemental type certification (STC) for installation of a head-up display in a business jet was issued by the FAA in May to Elliott Aviation of Moline, Illinois. The STC applies to the installation of a Flight Visions FV-2000 Advanced HUD in a Cessna Citation II operated by Deere&Company. The system consists of a glareshield-mounted optical projection unit, a HUD computer and a control-display unit (CDU). Elliott says the installed price of the FV-2000 Advanced HUD on a Citation is about $100,000.
The Canadian Business Aircraft Association (CBAA) annual convention returns to Vancouver, British Columbia from August 7 to 10, with a new twist. For the first time, the CBAA meeting is being held in conjunction with Airshow Canada, a major biennial trade show at Abbotsford, British Columbia, about 40 miles east of Vancouver.
Martin Harwit, beleaguered director of the National Air&Space Museum, resigned in May, citing what he termed the ``controversy and devisiveness'' that resulted from the museum's preparation for the display of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. Veterans protested the museum's plans to display the aircraft along with a description they felt did not give sufficient weight to Japanese aggression and did not reflect the anticipated number of Allied casualties if it had been necessary to launch a land invasion of Japan.
``Absolutely there is a market for a small jet, but it must be much cheaper than the 50-passenger [Canadair] Regional Jet,'' says Michael Boyd of Colorado-based Aviation Systems Research Corporation. From past studies he has done for other manufacturers, Boyd believes there is a market for 600 to 800 airplanes over the next 10 years. He cites the heretofore hush-hush 35-passenger Fairchild 35, a study initiated in 1989 by the previous owners of the San Antonio manufacturer.
The Collins Pro Line 4 received high praise from Learjet 60 operators. The avionics package frequently made the top-five list of favorite features. Some users ranked ``avionics'' as the best attribute of the airplane. Early aircraft, however, were prone to water leaks through the gasket of the angle-of-attack probe housing, causing shorted air-data computers and other avionics malfunctions. A few operators also reported some EFIS problems, but these complaints were not widespread.
David Collogan, B/CA's Washington editor and editor of the Weekly of Business Aviation, received the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association, an FBO trade group. The award was presented to Collogan for his 25 years covering the aviation industry in general and his particular support of the FBO and air-taxi industry. Congratulations, Dave, from everyone at B/CA.
National Ocean Service is now publishing helicopter route charts on a new plastic material called Polyart, instead of paper. Although this material resembles paper, it is much more durable, preventing tearing. Unlike other aeronautical charts, helicopter charts do not have a predetermined void date. They remain in effect usually two or three years-until major changes occur. The first Polyart charts now are available for Los Angeles and New York.
New developments that Gulfstream announced at the Paris Air Show include the establishment of briefing sessions for first-time owners of Gulfstream aircraft and the formation of a financial-services subsidiary. The briefings are designed to familiarize new owners with the support services and facilities offered by Gulfstream. Sessions are scheduled in Savannah for July 25-26 and October 24-25. The new Gulfstream Financial Services Corporation will provide a variety of financing alternatives for buying or leasing new or pre-owned Gulfstreams.
Photograph: The prototype fly-by-light engine control system on a Bedchjet. The promise to have control-by-light systems in production aircraft is no fly-by-night quest. In an address to the Society of Automotive Engineers' General, Corporate and Regional Aircraft Meeting in May, Raytheon Aircraft Chairman and CEO Arthur Wegner discussed his company's progress to date to develop control-by-light (CBL) systems and their applications to general aviation in the next decade.
At the Paris Air Show, Eurocopter introduced an AStar powered by a 858-shp Turbomeca Arriel 2, offering 124 more shp compared to the standard AStar's Arriel 1D1s. Dubbed the AS350 B3, the new helicopter uses the wider chord tail rotor from the twin engine AS355 N and is equipped with a FADEC. Eurocopter also introduced a more powerful BO-105 twin. Designated the BO-105 LS A3, the new model is fitted with the main and tail rotors designed for the BK 117 C1. Meanwhile, the new single-turbine EC 120 made its first flight on June 12.
From the FAA's Aircraft Certification Service offices near Seattle, the 16-g seat controversy looks a little different than it does from industry's perspective. Led by Ronald Wojner, the organization views itself as a catalyst for safety. ``Our role is to be the spark plug for pushing incorporation of higher standards of safety,'' Wojner said in an interview with B/CA.
AlliedSignal has introduced a handheld GPS and VHF communications transceiver-all in one. The Bendix/King KLX 100 combines an eight-channel GPS receiver and a 760-channel comm in a single case. Features of the KLX 100's GPS section include moving-map graphics, an LCD dot-matrix display, the ability to store up to 500 user-defined waypoints and separate North American or international Jeppesen databases. The ``S.O.S. Beacon'' feature can transmit a digitized voice, giving latitude, longitude and other aircraft information.
As expected, Japan's Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) took a roughly 30-percent stake in the General Electric CF34-8C turbofan engine being designed for Canadair's new, stretched regional jet, the CRJ-X (B/CA, May, page 18). Under a recently signed agreement, IHI will design and manufacture 25 to 30 percent of the engine. IHI is one of Japan's largest engine makers, and already is a revenue-sharing partner in the GE90 airliner turbofan program.
AlliedSignal says its new RDR 2100 vertical-profile weather radar system, introduced at the Paris Air Show, features four times longer magnetron life, greater capability, longer range and six times more power than the system it replaces. The vertical-profile feature of the RDR 2100 can be viewed separately or simultaneously in a split-screen mode. Shipments of the RDR 2100 are expected to begin in August. The new RDR 2100 retails for $46,500.
Increasingly, internationally recognized standards for the manufacture and preparation of products for use in maintaining and servicing aircraft has received serious consideration in the aviation industry. The ISO 9000 quality standards have recently received considerable attention in the air-transportation community, and the several ISO standards-9001, 9002 and 9003-often have been compared to U.S. FARs and standards the JAA is developing in Europe.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association recently published its 1995 General Aviation Statistical Databook. The 30-page publication contains statistics and charts on 33 subject areas, including U.S. general aviation shipments, fleet composition, safety, flight hours, airports and pilot population. The booklet also has forecast data to the year 2005. Copies of the booklet are available for $10 each from GAMA, 1400 K St. NW, Ste. 801, Washington, DC 20005-2485.
Pilot and copilot Sheepskin Seat Covers offered by Sporty's Pilot Shop are said to keep seat occupants cool and dry in summer and warm in winter. One-inch-thick pelts are used in designing the seat covers, which fit over the complete seating area. Besides natural, the covers can be ordered in metallic blue, midnight gray, burgundy, pearl, plum, honey tan and several other choices. Price: $375 per pair. Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport, Batavia, OH 45103. (513) 732-2593.
McCaw Flight Operations has purchased the FBO facilities at Seattle's Boeing Field, formerly operated by Portland, Oregon-based Flightcraft. McCaw is primarily owned by Craig O. McCaw, a pilot and Seattle-based businessman. The facility is now known as Flight Center. Planned renovations include a remodeled terminal and kitchen area, a new flight-planning area and pilot lounge, and a larger fuel-storage farm. The general manager of Flight Center is Howard Trott.
Targeted for completion this month at KC Aviation's Westfield, Massachusetts facility are a replacement taxiway and a replacement ramp, an above-ground fuel farm, the addition of an interior refurbishment shop and an avionics installation shop. Meanwhile, the company has brought on three new salespeople: Edward A. Henry as regional sales manager for the mid-Atlantic region, John Lee as regional sales manager for the Southeast region and Doug Wendt as regional sales manager for the West Coast region.
Come October, it will be eggzackly 35 years since I viewed the horrifying crash of a Lockheed Electra into Boston Harbor. The weather was severe VFR, it was mid-afternoon, and I and two companions were steering a gentle, narrow Commander into Logan Airport and starting to savor, in anticipation, the gustatorial repast awaiting us at Loch Ober, a three-star beanery in the bowels of Boston.
FAA recently proposed a TSO to require manufacturers to prove that their wind-shear alert systems will issue warnings while flaps are in motion and while aircraft are in severe turbulence. The new TSO was prompted by an accident in which an aircraft, having received no wind-shear warning, crashed after encountering wind shear while the flaps were retracting. Honeywell, the manufacturer of the wind-shear alert system aboard the aircraft, said its delayed-activation feature averts nuisance alarms (B/CA, January, page 12).
Photograph: A corporate jet taxis across the Snowfree-heated dry and clear patch of taxiway Mike-5 this past winter. The condition of the tested taxiway looked like this throughout the 1994-1995 winter. The latest technology for removing snow and ice from runways and taxiways is, literally, hot news. An electric pavement-heating system called Snowfree is now being tested on a patch of taxiway at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
Engine-related dispatch reliability for the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) is 99.98 percent, GE Aircraft Engines reported recently, and it has a zero engine-caused, inflight shutdown rate. The high-time engine has logged 6,150 flight hours and 5,015 cycles. ``We conducted an analytical inspection of a 5,500-hour engine [in April], and the condition was excellent,'' said Lloyd Thompson, general manager of the Small Commercial Turbofan Department. ``The engine components could actually have continued in service for 8,000 to 10,000 hours.''
We hope FAA Administrator David Hinson and members of his traveling party had the opportunity to talk with lots of 19-seat aircraft operators while visiting the Regional Airline Association convention in San Antonio in mid May. And we hope those FAA officials were paying attention later the same week while attending a public hearing in Anchorage, Alaska to hear what people think about the DOT/FAA proposal to require FAR Part 135 operators to meet Part 121 standards.
