Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) was recently commissioned at Memphis International Airport. The Raytheon-provided TDWR is designed to enable ATC controllers to warn pilots of wind-shear, microburst and gust-front activity. Warnings will include the type and strength of the wind shear and the location along the runway where the shear will be first encountered by an aircraft. The first TDWR was commissioned at Houston Intercontinental Airport in July 1994.
Despite depressed sales of new single-engine aircraft, a Norman, Oklahoma firm hopes to go into production this year with a four-place, fixed-gear trainer with a base price of $89,500. Kestrel Aircraft Company planned to fly a prototype of the high-wing, Cessna look-alike in late January, about a year later than originally scheduled (B/CA, February 1993, page 16). The airframe will be of composite construction, according to Donald L. Stroud, Kestrel president and CEO. Stroud claimed deposits for 73 aircraft at press time.
The shine is off the apple for eight regional airline stocks that lost nearly 53 percent of their value during 1994. Average price per share for the eight issues fell from $18.13 at the end of 1993 to $8.60 at the close of trading on December 30.
Shortly after the introduction of large turbojet-powered commercial aircraft, community feedback attested that the noise generated during takeoff and landing made living in the vicinity of a busy airport almost impossible. Similarly, noise produced by business jets, such as the Learjet 23, G-II, JetStar and HS-125, could be extremely uncomfortable to airport neighbors.
Effective April 23, the Independent Safety Board Act Amendments enacted in fall 1994 will change the definition of ``public aircraft.'' The upshot is that many operations involving government-owned/leased aircraft used for carrying passengers will have to meet FAA safety regulations for certification, maintenance, training, etc.--unless they qualify for narrowly described exemptions. Previously, public aircraft were excluded from many types of FARs. For details, phone the FAA's Dave Catey in Washington, D.C. at (202) 267-8094.
The NBAA has prepared a noise-abatement package that is available free to members and for a small charge to non-members. Two of the most useful items in the package are: (1) a booklet containing a list of airports (and their telephone numbers) complete with their noise abatement rules, policies or advisories and (2) a brochure detailing the procedures recommended in the NBAA Noise Abatement Program.
December 1994 was the 50th anniversary of the initial running of the Lycoming T53, the first turbine engine designed specifically for helicopters. Over the past five decades, the pioneering powerplant, the brainchild of Anselm Franz, Ph.D., earned a reputation for reliability and maintainability in a number of notable single-engine, rotary-wing aircraft--from the Bell Huey and Cobra military helicopters to the new Kaman KMAX utility rotorcraft.
The NBAA, the Air Line Pilots Association and five other aviation groups wrote FAA Administrator David Hinson supporting the contract tower program, of which the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is critical. Eventually, the program will delegate operation of most Level I (VFR) control towers to the private sector. The groups denied that privatization creates safety problems.
Two Western-based aviation fuel distributors have merged to create a 200-dealer network of branded products. Valley Oil Company of Salem, Oregon and D.Z. Incorporated of Red Bluff, California will operate under the Valley Oil name. Valley Oil, one of the largest avgas and jet fuel marketers to airports in the western United States, carries the Phillips 66 and Texaco brands. As part of the merger agreement, Valley Oil now also offers Chevron aviation fuels.
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy realized it faced a grave challenge from an expanding Soviet submarine fleet, including the new, fast nuclear boats. After all, in 1940, Germany had paralyzed shipping on the North Atlantic with 38 submarines, and now Russia was building its fleet toward 400.
For the second time in recent months, aviation experts disputed what they deemed an asinine suggestion from the International Airline Passengers Association, a group that sells travel insurance. Late in 1994, the aviation industry lambasted the IAPA for telling its members to stay off aircraft with less than 31 passenger seats. Now, the IAPA advocates closing Washington National Airport to remove a threat to national security.
The environs of Opryland will be the site of the 29th annual Tennessee Mid-South Aviation Maintenance Seminar on March 15 and 16. The Tennessee Department of Transportation's Office of Aeronautics and the FAA are hosting the event, which will be held at the Ramada Inn in Nashville. At the two-day seminar, manufacturers' representatives, specialists in the field of aviation maintenance and various FAA staff members will make technical presentations.
On March 1, flight attendants of FAR Parts 121 and 135 on-demand and scheduled operations must start complying with new regulations that for the first time set maximum length of duty times and minimum rest requirements. Under the rules, flight attendants must be given no less than nine-hour scheduled rest periods and no more than 14-hour duty periods. Also, the new rules require that flight attendants have a 24-hour rest period every seven calendar days.
St. Louis-based Sabreliner Corporation signed a letter of intent in December 1994 to purchase National Airmotive Corporation from The Triton Group of New Jersey. National Airmotive, which has been on the block since early 1992, is an Oakland turbine-engine overhauler specializing in Allison powerplants (B/CA, August 1992, page 26). Separately, regarding Sabreliner's recent acquisition of Midcoast Aviation, John T. Tucker was named vice chairman of Midcoast. Tucker was incorrectly identified in a previous item (B/CA, December 1994, page 18).
Pilots' opinions on alcohol problems in aviation are diverse, according to the results of the fourth in a series of studies conducted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Daytona Beach, Florida. The title of the current research is ``Professional Pilots' Views of Alcohol Use in Aviation and the Effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs.''
Conventional wisdom has maintained that there really isn't much of a ``corporate helicopter'' market. However, Bell Helicopter's analysis holds that corporate helicopters are selling at about the same rate as rotary-wing aircraft employed by civil government, a well-established niche.
Flight International Group is emerging from its year of operation under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At press time, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia had approved the company's reorganization plan. Flight International, which filed for bankruptcy in February 1994, specializes in contract flight services, flight training, and also operates a full-service FBO at Virginia's Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.
March 4 is the deadline for comments on a proposal to upgrade the flammability resistance of seat and restraint systems on airplanes certificated to the commuter category of FAR Part 23 (19 or fewer passenger seats and MTOW of 19,000 pounds or less). The new standards would apply to all commuter-category aircraft manufactured after June 16, 1996 (B/CA, January, page 20).
A San Francisco Superior Court jury overturned a $60-million lawsuit that alleged Bell 206s are defective because wire-strike protection systems are not standard equipment. The suit stemmed from the May 1990 death of a man whose Model 206 hit wires. The jury voted to accept Bell's argument that the decision to equip an aircraft with wire-strike protection systems is the responsibility of the owner/operator. Wire-strike protection is an option on Model 206s.
Ask Peter Parsinen, Bell Helicopter's senior vice president of marketing and programs, when the sagging helicopter market might turn around, and you're not likely to get a quick answer. ``We don't even think that way,'' Parsinen says. ``We're doing what we've got to do regardless of where the turn is. We've got to do what we've got to do in the world we're in.''
At press time, the FAA was evaluating a proposal from Aerospatiale to retrofit the wings of ATR-42 and -72 twin turboprops with improved deicing boots that approximately double the amount of area boots currently cover. An FAA acceptance of the retrofit would be the first step toward removing the agency's directive that prohibits flight of the Aerospatiale ATR-42 and -72 twin turboprops in known or forecast icing. The NTSB is still trying to determine the cause of the fatal crash of an ATR-72 on October 31, 1994.
Privatizing ATC throughout Europe received resounding support at an international conference held in mid-December 1994 in London. The reasons for supporting such a drastic move are very much the same as the advantages claimed by other countries, notably the United States: To remove ATC from the direct government bureaucratic chain. The conference, sponsored by Siemens Plessey Electronics Systems (a major manufacturer of ATC ground equipment) and Air Traffic Management magazine, was attended by more than 100 delegates.
The National Aviation Associations Coalition (NAAC), a 22-member group, recently presented its agenda to President Clinton and the new Congress. Among the NAAC's proposals: restructure the FAA to achieve ``greater autonomy'' in the management and funding of ATC; remove the Aviation Trust Fund from the unified budget; use the General Treasury for additional funding; and secure representation for the ``entire aviation community'' on federal advisory and governing bodies.
Due to a ``hung'' Eurocontrol, work on changes in ATC fees in its 17 European member-states will be delayed three to four years. The changes that international airline trade associations initially proposed would have meant higher charges for business jets and lower fees for air carriers, says the European Business Aircraft Association (EBAA). The EBAA finds equitable the current formula for levying fees--based on distance flown and aircraft weight.
Universal Navigation Corporation recently received TSO C115B and C129 Class A2/B2/C2 authorization. The approval permits the Tucson-based company's UNS-1M Navigation Management System to be used with GPS-provided sensor data in en route and terminal airspace. The first STC for the UNS-1M was awarded late in December 1994 on an Embraer EMB-120 regional airliner. The TSO and STC to use the UNS-1M for GPS approaches are expected in April.
