A new airway between BOPAN waypoint and AJF VOR provides a route between Europe and the Arabian Gulf area. The following are phone numbers of international handling agents: Air Routing International, (800) 231-5787; AMR International Aviation Services, (800) 866-0295; Baseops International, (800) 333-3563; Corporate Aviation Services, (800) 554-1087; Jeppesen DataPlan, (800) 358-6468; Jeppesen United Kingdom, +44 (293) 546-446; Spectrum Air Services, (800) 876-8268; and Universal Weather&Aviation, (800) 231-5600.
In sharp contrast to the Clinton administration's proposal to corporatize the FAA's ATC system, Representatives Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) and John Duncan (R-TN), the chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, introduced legislation recently to remove the FAA from the DOT and restore it to independent-agency status. This joint action replaces the legislation previously submitted by Lightfoot alone. Business-aviation trade advocates have expressed support for an independent FAA.
A procedural change aims to expedite the FAA response time to petitions for rule changes or exemptions. To the office that has jurisdiction over the parts of the FARs for which a petition is submitted, the FAA administrator delegated authority to deny a petition. However, the administrator will continue to review petitions that agency offices have approved. Formerly, the administrator would also review petitions in which subordinate agency officials recommended denial.
Some operators attending the NBAA International Operators Conference earlier this year were surprised to learn that frequent visitors to remote corners of Russia were finding the addition of a Russian ``navigator'' extremely useful. While use of such a navigator is now mandatory only in rare instances, operators have found the pro-tem Russian crewmember can greatly facilitate direct routings as well as approach/ departure shortcuts when readbacks and requests are made in the local accent.
Exceptional performance is what you expect from an SPX, especially considering the Astra heritage. We were just as impressed with its straightforward systems design, control harmony and excellent stability. Engine start is accomplished by pressing a switch on the overhead panel. But watch out where you put your fingers. There are plenty of switches on the overhead with similar shape and tactile feel. A blindfolded pilot attempting a cockpit checkout in the SPX would need plenty of practice.
The Annual Helicopter Heroism Award program found a new sponsor after a three-year hiatus. Starting with nominations submitted this year, Rotor&Wing magazine will sponsor the award recognizing individuals' or crews' heroic actions in helicopter rescue missions. Nominations must be submitted by January 1, 1996 for the award to be bestowed early in 1996 in Washington, D.C. Contact Jeanne Aube at (301) 340-1520 for the necessary forms. (After 25 years of sponsoring the award, Textron Lycoming withdrew in 1993 (B/CA, January 1993, page 24).)
Asked whether notes, memoranda and even doodles left on the corporate aircraft were generally collected and discarded after a flight, the chief pilot of a large avionics firm said the answer would have been yes-until very recently.
Being able to gather and analyze data about your flight department provides a solid foundation when you work with your company's top management. The reporting capability of a computerized management system is essential to this task. Happily, the recent development of graphical flight department management software is making the tasks of tracking, reporting and projecting an operation's activity easier than was the case only a few years ago.
Baseops now automatically files to reclaim eligible European Value Added Taxes (VAT) for its clients retroactively to January 1994. Most handlers assist in reclaiming VATs on request, but the Baseops system is instituted automatically and documentation for refunds is provided at no charge. Reclamation may take as long as 12 months (Baseops International).
If there is one common denominator in many of the comments on the FAA's proposed Commuter Safety Rule-Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 95-5-it is the ``lack of justification.'' Even more, it is the total lack of correlation between cost and benefit. In brief, the NPRM could threaten the economic viability of the 19-passenger turboprop, and thus the Essential Air Service program and small com- munity air service. The comment period on the proposal ended in late June.
Amendments have been adopted that correlate certain FAR Part 25 large-aircraft airworthiness certification standards with similar standards in Europe's Joint Airworthiness Requirements (JAR Part 25). To provide guidelines for complying with the changes, the agency also revised AC 25-7, ``Flight Test Guide for Certification of Transport Category Airplanes.'' A similar set of FAR/JAR changes for smaller airplanes is in the proposal stage (B/CA, September 1994, page 15).
The Gulfstream V has reached that satisfying point in the development of every new aircraft where it is taking recognizable shape. On May 31, the first G-V fuselage was joined. (See photo.) In July, the Vought-manufactured wing set and Fokker-built empennage were scheduled to have been mated to the fuselage, and the BMW/Rolls-Royce engines are scheduled to be mounted by early September in preparation for the aircraft's rollout prior to the NBAA annual convention in Las Vegas, September 26-28.
The Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 will be the first air-transport aircraft to be equipped with Collins' new AVSAT 900 series flight management system, a satellite-based product set for certification in mid 1996. The AVSAT 900 can be used as a primary means for terminal, en route and non-precision approach segments and will eventually support precision approaches. The AVSAT 900 replaces a Honeywell FMS, and Collins officials said the company is working on an AVSAT 900 retrofit program for existing F70s and F100s.
Early in 1998, if all goes according to plan, the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) will be operational. WAAS, which is the FAA's official term for Wide Area Differential GPS (WADGPS), will enhance navigational signals from the global positioning system (GPS) in three ways: improve its accuracy, monitor signal integrity and assure critical-level signal reliability.
Elliott Aviation of Moline, Illinois and Ultra Electronics of Middlesex, England are projecting certification this month of an active noise-control and vibration-control system for Beech King Air C90s and 200s. The ``UltraQuiet'' system is a spinoff from one that Ultra Electronics is building for Saab and ATR regional airliners. Elliott claims the system ``virtually eliminates'' propeller noise. Installed price is $24,995 for the C90, $29,995 for the 200.
Development of the next-generation TCAS is advancing at Collins Avionics. The company says it will deliver a prototype of a TCAS IV to the FAA in December 1999. A limited-installation program is scheduled to start in December 2000. TCAS IV will use differential GPS signals to determine exact aircraft positions and allow for horizontal resolution advisories (RAs) in addition to the current vertical RAs that TCAS II provides. Tests indicate upgrading TCAS II to provide horizontal RAs of TCAS III is unworkable (B/CA, November 1993, page 24).
American Eurocopter and SFIM Industries of France have received FAA approval for Dauphin twin-turbine helicopters to shoot Category II ILS approaches. The approval is notable because CAT II approvals normally require the helicopter to be equipped with a four-axis autopilot. The Dauphin was approved with a three-axis SFIM unit after 50 test flights at Houston Intercontinental Airport. SFIM is offering the required changes at no cost to customers who have had their aircraft's autopilot coupler modified in accordance with the original STC.
The GNC 250 from Garmin International is the company's entry into the VFR, panel-mounted GPS nav/comm transceiver market. Combining GPS navigation with a 760-channel VHF transceiver, the unit weighs 2.4 pounds. GPS features include 1,000 user-defined waypoints, a Jeppesen database that can be updated, a listing of nine nearest airports and 20 reversible routes. The TSOed comm provides digital tuning and instant access to all frequencies in the Jeppesen database as well as instant access to 121.5 MHz. Price: $3,250. Garmin, 9875 Widmer Rd., Lenexa, KS 66215.
Aerospatiale's Socata unit signed an agreement with American General Aircraft Corporation of Greenville, Mississippi for the rights to manufacture the Cougar, a light-piston twin originally developed by Grumman and last built in 1979. Renamed the TB320 Tangar, the four-place aircraft is powered by two 160-hp Lycomings and is particularly suitable for multiengine flight training.
The HeliTest portable leak-detection kit from Varian uses helium to ferret out leaks in fuel tanks, pneumatic circuits, oxygen systems, air-conditioning systems, turbines and cabins. To use HeliTest, the area or object to be tested is first filled with a helium-air mixture. Then, the hand-held, battery-operated Helitest probe is passed over the area where a leak is suspected. An electric signal indicating the helium pressure helps the operator locate leaks. No training is required to operate the detector. Price: $7,000 to $8,000, depending on the unit's configuration.
Collins Avionics and France's Dassault Electronique signed a memorandum of agreement to jointly develop a line of ground collision avoidance systems (GCAS). The two companies are considering: an integrated GCAS and traffic alert collision avoidance system (TCAS), GCAS with an integral global navigation satellite system sensor, and a stand-alone GCAS. A prototype GCAS is scheduled to begin flight-testing late this year. Certification is expected in early 1997.
In July, the old Piper Aircraft Company emerged from four years of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as ``New Piper Aircraft, Incorporated.'' The company was renamed by its new owners, Newco Pac, an entity comprised of the Philadelphia investment firm of Dimeling, Schreiber and Park, and Teledyne Industries, Piper's largest unsecured creditor. Besides the new name, Piper also will get a new board of directors and a new logo. Charles Suma is expected to continue as Piper's president, but Stone Douglass will no longer serve as chairman.
There is a decreasing availability of slots for Kai Tak Airport (VHHH). Increased charter activity this fall promises to further restrict access for corporate operators. New Hong Kong airport Chek Lap Kok is under construction, but its opening is delayed until 1998.
