The first Boeing 727 executive aircraft modified with Rolls-Royce Tay engines entered service in May. The mod, part of the ``QX'' (Quiet eXecutive) program, is provided by San Antonio-based Dee Howard Company and includes the installation of winglets from Mobile Aerospace Engineering of Mobile, Alabama. At a cost of $13.5 million, the QX mod program enables the B-727-100 to meet Stage 3 noise levels and to have a maximum range of 4,200 nm. A QX mod costs $13.5 million.
IPTN, the state-owned aircraft manufacturer in Indonesia, confirmed an earlier disclosure that it plans to assemble its proposed N-250 twin-turboprop commuter in the United States (B/CA, May 1994, page 112). In mid-June, IPTN, the state of Alabama and the city of Mobile signed an agreement to assemble the aircraft at a facility to be built at Mobile's Brookley Industrial Complex. The first production version of the 64- to 68-passenger N-250-100 is scheduled to begin flight testing in 1996, with certification expected by the end of 1997.
User charges in Europe are threatening regional air services, according to a comprehensive study recently completed by the European Regional Airline Association (ERA).
Dassault Aviation says the newly certified Falcon 2000 business jet exceeds original performance goals in several parameters. Claimed gains (shown in parentheses) are: range-3,030 nm (+100 nm); time to FL 410-23.9 minutes (-4.5 minutes); landing-2,500 feet (-55 feet); Vref-108 KIAS (-3 knots); BFL SL-ISA-5,440 feet (-140 feet); BFL ISA+15-5,665 feet (-150 feet). Standard equipment on the Falcon 2000 now includes thrust reversers, second FMS (with GPS), two laser inertial reference systems, a second HF transceiver and a GPWS.
You might call it ``everything you ever wanted to know about avionics from AAC to ZFW.'' Collins Commercial Avionics has published a 32-page glossary of acronyms and terms relating to the avionics business. If you're still guessing, you can obtain your own copy of the glossary by calling Collins at (319) 395-4085 or by faxing a request to (319) 395-2297. (AAC is Airline Administrative Communications, and ZFW is Zero Fuel Weight.)
As part of its negotiation of the type-certification basis for the G-V, Gulfstream Aerospace conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the 16-g seat rule as it applies to business jets. The company calculated a ratio ranging between 0.011 and 0.41, depending on whose cost figures are used. The FAA, like other federal agencies, is required to do a cost-benefit analysis of all of its significant proposed rules. The acceptable cost-benefit ratio is held to be one-to-one.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) relocated its headquarters to Washington, D.C. on June 1, and appointed a full-time executive director to oversee PAMA activities.
New from JETporter, Incorporated is a 30,000-pound capacity, nosewheel-lifting electric aircraft tug designed for one-person operation. JETporter includes an all-gear drive with two-speed transmission, a 48-VDC motor and a dual braking system. No tow bars or adapters are needed. A pushbutton hydraulic lift and a conventional steering wheel aid in handling and stability. The tug has an onboard charger and a 12-, 24- and 30-volt GPU that does not require special batteries. A flat-deck transporter hauls baggage, oil, oxygen and supplies. Price: $14,950. JETporter, Inc., P.O.
Crew resource management (CRM) training has come to dispatchers. The FAA recently issued AC 121-32, an advisory circular to provide guidance on how to apply CRM to dispatcher training. The 10-page document defines the basic concept of ``Dispatch Resource Management'' (DRM) and provides details on implementing, assessing and revising DRM training. Copies of AC 121-32 are available free of charge from the DOT, Section M-45.3, Washington, DC 20590.
Altogether, Sabreliner's family of companies now offers major engine and airframe modifications, maintenance and overhauls for many of business aviation's most popular engines and airframes, including: AlliedSignal, Astra/Westwind, Beech, Bell, Challenger, Citation, de Havilland, Fairchild, Falcon Jet, Gulfstream, General Electric, JetStar, Jetstream, Learjet, Lycoming, McCauley, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter, Mitsubishi, Pratt&Whitney, Raytheon Corporate Jets, Twin Commander and, of course, Sabreliners.
The Hawker service center in Chester, England will become a separate business and remain at the Chester site after Hawker production is moved to Wichita in 1997, said Raytheon officials at Paris. Also announced at the Air Show were plans for a new service facility on the East Coast, the opening of a European sales office in Frankfurt, Germany, and an order from Executive Jet Aviation for three more Hawker 1000s for EJA's NetJets shared-ownership program.
You'd think that all the bugs would be worked out by the time an aircraft reaches its golden anniversary-particularly when 12,731 units have been manufactured. Apparently not. The FAA recently published a proposed AD for Boeing B-17E, F and G models that would require removal of the wings to inspect the tubular spar chords of the inner wing for cracking and corrosion. The agency said that the inner wing-spar assembly is susceptible to moisture accumulation that can result in corrosion and cracking.
Beech donated two Starship airframes (minus engines and avionics) to NASA for studies relating to the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program (B/CA, October 1994, page 38). The airframes, originally Starship prototypes, will first be used as a test bed for AGATE-developed technologies. Ultimately, the airframes will be destroyed in crash tests to evaluate the crashworthiness of composite structures and new occupant-protection systems. Earlier, the LearFan met the same fate in tests (B/CA, March 1993, page 30).
ICAO and the FAA have scheduled a seminar August 28-29 in Washington, D.C. to discuss changes in operational requirements that will occur due to implementation of 1,000-foot vertical separation minimums between FL 290 and FL 410 in the North Atlantic Track Region. Those minimums are scheduled to be in effect by January 1, 1997 (B/CA, June, page 43). For details of the seminar program, contact the FAA's Carl Bowlin in Washington, D.C. Phone: (202) 233-5172.
U.S. Customs is planning to allow ``pre-registered'' operators reentering the United States from Canada to clear customs via telephone and, thereafter, to land at any U.S. public-use airport. Under the program, scheduled to start this summer, customs agents would meet selected flights for random inspections. Customs also is setting up a 24-hour 800-number for pilots to use to arrange clearance releases up to 72 hours prior to returning to the United States.
The concept of CRM training originated in NASA human factors studies, concluding, among other things, that ``captains have failed, sometimes at critical points in the flight, to take advantage of important resources that are available to them. . . .'' Thus, it is important to know and manage the resources that contribute to flight safety.
The FAA has awarded more than 114 STCs to Sabreliner and Midcoast since late 1977. The following sampling gives a good idea of the companies' diverse capabilities in avionics, systems and cabin-interior modifications and retrofits. Date Aircraft Component 12/29/77 Sabreliner 60 VLF/Omega 9/28/78 Sabreliner 60 Aisle facing seat 9/28/78 Falcon 20C, D, E, F Autopilot static port systems 10/27/79 Sabreliner 40 FCS
Effective July 20, several subareas of the Class B Airspace for North Carolina's Charlotte/Douglas International Airport will be reconfigured, but the 10,000-foot upper limit will remain. The changes generally reduce the amount of Class B Airspace, but during the proposed rulemaking stage, the FAA rejected several requests from general aviation representatives and advocates that the ceiling be lowered to 8,000 feet (B/CA, May 1994, page 20).
Computing Technologies for Aviation has introduced FOS/2, an OS/2 version of its software geared for flight departments. The Scheduler's Tool Kit ($995 for single license, $1,495 for network) is designed to ease scheduling and dispatching chores. It provides a time and distance calculator for computing local arrival or departure time, fuel burn, time en route, time-zone change and cost. Included are 175,000 locations in the United States and U.S. territories, and U.S. airport data.
B/CA looked at three dedicated, retrofittable trend-monitoring systems: two available now for turboprop- and turboshaft-powered aircraft and a third which will be available for business jets in about a year. Descriptions of these systems follow. (In addition to these stand-alone units, Honeywell's Primus and Collins' Pro Line 4 integrated avionics systems also provide varying levels of trend monitoring and condition monitoring-from simple engine-watching to keeping an electronic finger on nearly every system in the airframe.)
Loss of engine power on a test flight in Israel forced the prototype of the Israviation ST50 all-composite, single-engine turboprop to make an emergency landing. An Israviation spokesman said that apart from the propeller, damage was ``minor.'' Cause of the problem with the P&WC PT6A was not known at press time, but a new engine has been installed and repairs finished. The prototype was developed by Cirrus Design of Duluth, Minnesota (B/CA, May, page 65).
A large number of business aircraft pilots are having to train and work-with mixed emotions-alongside a new member of the cockpit resource team-the FMS. FMSes are being installed in many aircraft because of the growing sophistication of aircraft, ATC systems' complexity and the accompanying increase in workload that would otherwise warrant the assignment of another crew-member. Instead of adding a third per- son, assigned to navigator and flight-engineer duties, aircraft designers add an FMS to the avionics package.
Learjet is quite candid in responding to operators' complaints about the prior lack of a Learjet 60 simulator. ``There's no good answer [for why it was delayed],'' company President and CEO Brian Barents admitted. The Learjet 60 simulator, now installed in FlightSafety International's Tucson facility, was slated for FAA Level D approval by the end of June.
Italy's Agusta Group introduced a single-engine helicopter at the Paris Air Show in June. The prototype of the eight-seat, skid-gear A119 Koala is powered by Turbomeca, but Agusta is considering offering the Allison 250-C40. Certification of the A119 is scheduled for late this year. Agusta also unveiled another version of its twin-turbine A109 series. The new A109 (dubbed ``Power'') is equipped with two 639-shp PW206C turbines, putting the aircraft midway between the A109C with 450-shp Allisons and the A109K2 with 771-shp Allisons.
The former Mather Air Force Base, 12 miles from downtown Sacramento, is now Sacramento Mather Airport, and Trajen Flight Support is the former military airfield's first and only FBO. Trajen now offers full line service and hangar parking. There are no noise restrictions or airline traffic. The airport, with an 11,300-foot runway and IFR approaches, also is home for an 18-hole golf course. In the near future, Trajen plans to introduce maintenance.
