Many of the over 350 business aircraft pilots and managers attending the 22nd NBAA Annual International Operators Conference (IOC) in Dallas in April had a surprise in store for them. They learned that the implementation program to reduce vertical separation from 2,000 to 1,000 feet in the North Atlantic was already under way.
Revised TSOs have been proposed for flight data recorders (FDRs), cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and airborne weather radars with forward-looking wind-shear detection capability. The new TSOs specify the revised minimum performance standards that each of the systems must meet in order to be identified as TSOed. For more information on the proposed TSOs, contact Bobbie J. Smith at the FAA's Airworthiness Branch in Washington, D.C. Phone: (202) 267-9546.
Alliance Engines, the newly formed venture between Duncan Aviation of Lincoln, Nebraska and KC Aviation of Appleton, Wisconsin, plans to start offering repairs and overhauls on AlliedSignal APUs this month in recently acquired facilities in Maryville, Tennessee. The company expects to extend repair and overhaul services to AlliedSignal TPE331 turboprops in July and to TFE731 turbofans in October. Alliance has promised to cut costs and turnaround times for overhauls and repairs on AlliedSignal engines (B/CA, December 1994, page 66).
The Principality of Monaco will host a helicopter business market event designed to pull together customers, airframers and suppliers. The event will be held from June 23 to June 26 near Monaco's international heliport (pictured). The show will feature exhibits from the major western helicopter manufacturers. Other events include the 7th French Helicopter Championships and a meeting of the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) and the European Civil Aviation Commission (ECAC). For additional information contact Media Plus at +33-93 25 48 26 or fax +33-93 25 54 13.
Fees were increased for certain certification services the FAA performs outside the United States. The agency says the new schedule is the first update of fees since 1982, although the FAA's costs for performing these services has escalated significantly in the last 12 years. Fee increases apply to the administering of written tests, proficiency checks, and similar services to pilots and mechanics. For more information, contact the FAA at (202) 267-3301.
Carl W. Hirschmann, founder of Jet Aviation, and its chairman and president until 1990, died on April 28. He was 74. Since Jet Aviation was founded in Switzerland in 1967, it has become one of the largest business aviation full-service companies, employing more than 1,700 people in 25 facilities worldwide and operating a fleet of more than 130 corporate aircraft. Jet Aviation has functioned under the leadership of Hirshmann's son Thomas since 1990.
Orion Consolidated Capital International of Reno, Nevada is now in the shared ownership business, and plans to launch its ``Aircraft Operational Assistance Program'' this month. The company, backed by private investment from Taiwan, will acquire a core fleet of eight Astra SPs and SPXs, and claims to have commitments from eight quarter-share buyers. Quarter shares in the SPs sell for $2.2 million. The fixed monthly fee is $10,500, and hourly rates run $1,289. Quarter shares entitle owners to 300 occupied flight hours of use per year.
Advisory Circular 00-1.1 provides details and guidelines on how the FAA will apply a new law that essentially extends the FARs to government-owned aircraft (B/CA, April, page 26). The AC can be obtained from DOT General Services, M-443.2, Washington, DC 20590, or free of charge from these on-line services: NTIS FedWorld, CompuServe's Aviation Forum, the Internet, Telenet and the FAA's Flight Standards Bulletin Board. For more details, phone (202) 267-8094.
A total of 57-million passengers boarded regional airliners in 1994, an increase of eight percent over the previous year, according to the Regional Airline Association. Revenue passenger miles increased 13 percent, reaching 12.02 billion. The number of cities receiving regional service decreased, however, from 829 in 1993 to 806 in 1994. Regionals operated 2,172 aircraft in 1994, two percent less than in 1993. The three aircraft dominating regional service were the Brasilia (219 aircraft), Saab 340 (211) and the ATR-42 (113).
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is developing an eight-passenger, twin-turbine helicopter. A prototype of the 8,000-pound RP-1 is scheduled to make its first flight in 1996 and enter service in 1998. The RP-1 will compete in an already crowded market that now includes the Eurocopter 365 Dauphin and BK-117, and the Sikorsky S-76. In fact, Mitsubishi's flying test bed for RP-1 engines, transmission and rotor system is based on the S-76.
The regional airline industry continued its steady growth during calendar 1994, with traffic up 13.3 percent over 1993, and more than 50 percent in the last three years. Regional airlines generated 12.02 million revenue passenger miles during the year, boarding a record 57.1 billion passengers. That is an 8.3-percent increase over 1993's 52.7 million enplanements, and a 54.1-percent jump over 1991's 7.8 million RPMs.
A presentation about fatigue and flight-deck management on long-haul corporate aircraft flights was a new element on the agenda of the NBAA's 22nd annual International Operators Conference (IOC) held in Dallas in April. As usual, the always-important reports from international operators on ATC and other operational conditions around the world topped off the gathering.
A new videotape touting the benefits of non-scheduled air charter as a cost saver, revenue producer and stress reliever has been produced by the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). ``Miles Ahead with Air Charter,'' a seven-minute videotape and accompanying marketing package, were designed ``to help our membership sell air charter as an alternative form of transportation,'' said James Coyne, NATA's president.
Jim was making the single-pilot trip that was traditionally his corporation's final flight each week. He had flown the company turboprop into a midwestern airport to pick up the 55-year-old sales manager after that executive had finished dinner Friday evening with a major client. Now Jim and his passenger were heading back to base on the East Coast. The home airport was IMC, but no significant weather was forecast en route.
The Canadair Global Express likely will be assembled at de Havilland's facility in Downsview, Ontario, Canada because Canadair's Montreal facility is chock-a-block with Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) and Challengers. Five CRJs, two Challengers and one CL-415 water bomber roll out of the Montreal plant each month, and Canadair eventually will add its new 70-passenger regional jet to the mix. De Havilland will produce the tail section of the Global Express.
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier selected the new P&WC PW150 to power its proposed 70-passenger, de Havilland Dash 8-400 regional airliner. The PW150, a derivative of the PW100 turboprop family, is scheduled for certification in mid 1998, but at press time, Bombardier had not yet made a go decision for the aircraft. The Dash 8-400 has been in on-and-off development since the mid 1980s and had an original launch date of late 1989 (B/CA, May 1989, page 99).
Upon first glance, the cockpit of the Falcon 50EX easily could be mistaken for that of a Falcon 2000. The newest Falcon trijet, similar to the Falcon 2000, has a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics suite with four 7.25-inch-square EFIS CRTs that dominate the instrument panel. Above the instrument panel is a newly designed glareshield control panel that houses display and flight-guidance system controls, including lateral and vertical navigation functions.
Anyone would find it hard to imagine any product or service bearing the name Garrett as being new to corporate aviation. The name's been a part of the business literally since its inception. In fact, Cliff Garrett did one of the first corporate completions on a surplus C-47 following World War II, and some say his accomplishment marked the birth of modern corporate aviation.
Photograph: Loretta Cook, president of Women Employed in Corporate Aviation Network (WECAN), and pilot for the Gannett newspaper chain. 100 FLIGHTS FOR LIFESAVING TREATMENT On March 27, Carolyn King of Washington, Michigan, a lung cancer patient, celebrated her 100th flight coordinated by the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) of White Plains, New York. CAN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding transportation aboard corporate aircraft to and from treatment centers for cancer patients.
Dan Manningham, United Airlines pilot and long-time B/CA special features contributor, has received an honor from the Flight Safety Foundation. Manningham was presented with the Foundation's Business Aviation Meritorious Award at an awards luncheon at the FSF's 40th annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar in Vancouver on April 27.
Development of low-octane unleaded avgas has been boosted by Cessna's decision to equip its new singles with engines that can run on unleaded 82 octane, even though efforts to produce high-octane unleaded avgas to replace 100LL have been unsuccessful to date (B/CA, February 1993, page 20). Phillips 66 expects to receive FAA approval for an 82UL avgas later this year. Meanwhile, Cessna has started flight testing a prototype of the updated Model 172 that it intends to start manufacturing in 1996--exactly a decade after production was suspended.
The Washington, D.C. think tank called the Heritage Foundation has proposed yet another solution to the much-debated future of ATC and the FAA: shut down the DOT and most of its agencies, including the FAA. The Foundation maintains that many of the former DOT functions, such as ATC, should eventually be privatized. Already under consideration, of course, are President Clinton's idea of consolidating the DOT and spinning off ATC, and general aviation's push for the FAA (with ATC) to remain a government agency--but independent of the DOT.
``Nav Canada'' is the private corporation being formed to take over the country's Air Navigation System from the Canadian government on or about April 1, 1996. Nav Canada is to be a nonprofit corporation, with funds coming from user fees--many of them to be increased. A 15-person board of directors will have four representatives from commercial aviation, one from GA, three from the federal government, two from unions and four from such professions as law, accounting and engineering. The board will appoint a CEO (B/CA, November 1994, page 58).
At its Facilitation Division meeting held in Montreal in April, ICAO proposed the adoption of a U.S.-requested ``recommended practice'' to stop the spraying of insecticide on aircraft while passengers are on board. The only exception would be for aircraft operations originating in or operating via a nation considered to pose a threat to public health or the agricultural industry. The full ICAO Council is expected to adopt this recommended practice by summer's end. About 20 countries still require spraying (B/CA, March, page 26).
