A proposed revision to FAR Parts 121, 125 and 135 would permit use of an autopilot for takeoff and the initial climb. Current rules prohibit the autopilot for this use below 500 feet agl. If adopted, the rule would require operators to obtain specific FAA approval. For more information, contact Richard A. Temple at the FAA in Washington, D.C. Phone: (202) 267-5824.
On or about May 17, the FAA is scheduled to approve or disapprove a proposed FAR Part 150 noise abatement compatibility program for Florida's West Palm Beach International Airport. Under Part 150, interested parties have the right to comment on the proposals. For more information, contact the FAA in Orlando. Phone: (407) 648-6583. Separately, the comment period was extended to February 9 on a draft environmental impact statement to assess noise impacts of changes in flight patterns over New Jersey (B/CA, June 1993, page 30).
Many airport authorities in European Union countries are evaluating proposals to impose taxes based on a severity of aircraft noise or on the number of people near an airport who might be adversely affected by noise. Also, the EU is studying plans on how to phase out aircraft that don't meet the equivalent of FAR Part 36, Stage 3 as expeditiously as possible. Meanwhile, Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, recently announced plans to close all of its airports to non-Stage 3 aircraft, effective April 1.
One of the best places to see immediate results of Bell's Product Plan 2000 is in the after-sales support arena. Bell takes pride in its reputation for customer support, and its Product Support Plan 2000 aims to hold the line on parts prices and to increase accessibility to support for Bell's customers worldwide.
German regional Lufthansa CityLine made it a great Christmas for British Aerospace unit Avro and for the Bombardier Regional Aircraft Division (BRAD) in early December 1994. It ordered seven additional Avro RJ85s and eight new Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs). CityLine was the launch customer for the CRJ, inaugurating scheduled service with the 50-passenger twinjet on November 2, 1992. The fleet today stands at 15; delivery of the newest batch begins in April. The sale was valued at $146 million.
Single-pilot flying chores are seldom as easy as they are in the Pilatus PC-12. The standard instrument panel configuration features a two-tube AlliedSignal EFIS 40 in front of the pilot, flanked by conventional air-data instruments.
Cessna 172s, 182s and 206s could be rolling off the assembly lines by fall 1996 after a nine-year hiatus in the company's production of single-engine recips. In December 1994, Cessna announced it would build a factory in Independence, Kansas, where plans call for a production run of 2,000 units annually. (Annual output of single-engine recips from all U.S. companies combined has averaged less than 700 units since 1986.) At press time, no details were available as to pricing or the specifics of system changes for the new-production singles.
On January 11, the Miami judge overseeing Piper Aircraft's bankruptcy proceedings was due to decide whether to continue the company's reorganization efforts, to allow the company's creditors to take over the manufacturer as proposed in 1994 (B/CA, September 1994, page 18) or to allow the creditors to vote on a new bid to buy Piper. The new offer was submitted jointly by Piper International Corporation--an entity comprising Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics--and Teledyne Continental Motors, one of Piper's largest creditors.
FAA is considering a change in policy to allow insulin-using diabetics to obtain airman medical certification. The agency is seeking comments on the implications of the rule change, including the appropriate circumstances under which diabetes patients requiring insulin could receive a special issuance of a medical certificate. The American Diabetes Association and others have petitioned the FAA repeatedly to revise the rules (B/CA, September 1992, page 88 and April 1991, page 20). Comments on the proposal are due March 29.
Smaller aircraft operations have been singled out in recent months as inherently more dangerous than larger aircraft operations. That simply is not true. What is true is that certain segments of aviation have fewer accidents than other segments--regardless of the size of aircraft. And the statistics prove it.
Comments are due February 21 on a comprehensive revision of airman medical standards and certification procedures outlined in FAR Parts 61 and 67 (B/CA, December 1994, page 34). The proposed changes touch most major areas of FAA medical requirements: vision, cardiovascular fitness, administration, accuracy of information on medical forms and the duration of all three classes of medical certification. For more information, contact Dennis McEachen at (202) 493-4075 or Carol Thomas at (202) 493-4076 at the FAA in Washington, D.C.
A new single-engine turboprop pusher is now in flight test. An engineering prototype of the ST50, being designed by Cirrus Design Corporation under contract to an Israeli company, made its initial flight in early December 1994 from Cirrus' facilities at Duluth International Airport in Minnesota.
Incoming House Budget Chairman John Kasich (R-OH) has renewed a long-standing proposal to privatize the ATC system. Meanwhile, the concept of an FAA independent of the DOT also is gaining momentum among GA organizations, notably the AOPA, the NBAA, the Flight Freedom Foundation and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. But the Clinton administration is steadfast in its promotion of turning the FAA into a government-run corporation.
Effective January 1, the FAA discontinued issuing international crewmember certificates, since the U.S. Department of State no longer processes applications for the certificate. The certificates facilitated crewmembers' entry and clearance on commercial flights aboard U.S.-registered aircraft operating into ICAO-contracting states. Instead of the certificate, the FAA said international crewmembers will have to obtain standard international passports. For more information, contact the FAA at (202) 267-3749.
Opposition to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's plans to close the city's Meigs Field has been voiced by the NBAA. For months, Daley has been on record in support of closing the airport, but the issue resurfaced in December 1994 after he was quoted in the local media expressing his interest in shutting the airport down by 1996. In a letter to Daley, the NBAA reminded the mayor that the city's acceptance in 1989 of federal funds for airport improvements was based on assurances that the facility would remain open until at least 2009.
About 100 U.S. airports have aircraft noise-monitoring equipment and a trained staff to interpret the results and handle noise complaints. In 1982, during a protracted disagreement between local residents and airport users, New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN) became one of the first facilities to have a noise-monitoring system installed. The system demonstrated its value during a test period by providing the first accurate measure of the noise produced by aircraft landings and takeoffs at the airport.
Piper Aircraft Sales at the Bankstown Airport in New South Wales, Australia has been appointed by Piper Aircraft Corporation as the company's new airframe and parts-marketing facility for the entire continent. Those interested can contact Piper Aircraft Sales in Hangar 229, Bankstown Airport, NSW Australia 2200. Phone: +(02) 791-0377; fax: +(02) 791-0327.
Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker is struggling to survive, despite a strengthened order book, according to financial analysts. Reuter has quoted analysts in Amsterdam as saying they have seen an internal report outlining ``crisis plans'' to secure the company's future. Fokker is now a member of Deutsche Aerospace (DASA), the German aerospace conglomerate now called Daimler-Benz Aerospace, after parent company Daimler Benz.
London-based Thames Heliport Company's plan to establish a floating heliport on the Thames River at a site convenient to London city center has been scuttled by a High Court judge. The judge concluded that although the heliport would be located offshore, it would still be a ``change in land use.'' Therefore, its construction would have required special permission from the Planning Board, and the general feeling is that that administrative body would have killed the project anyway.
Bombardier's business aircraft division has added representatives in Toluca, near Mexico City, and in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to its Canadair Challenger worldwide service network. The move ``enables us to address the needs of the growing Challenger fleet based in both of these regions, plus the increasing number of North American and European operators now flying there,'' said David Orcutt, vice president of Challenger product support.
The odds are not in your favor for the NTSB to overturn an FAA medical certification action against you. Most B/CA readers are well aware of the tremendous flap centered around airshow pilot Bob Hoover and his medical certificate. Although the triggering event was controversial, high profile and arguably not classy, the subsequent medical facts are clear, claims the Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA), an Oklahoma City-based organization that represents AMEs, among other physicians associated with aviation medicine.
Flights above 41,000 feet msl are prohibited in 20-, 30- and 50-series Learjets until the outflow/safety valve is replaced. The FAA says cracks in valve parts have been reported. Meanwhile, in order to prevent a possible sudden aircraft pitch-down, Mitsubishi Diamond 300s and Raytheon Beechjet 400s are subject to flap-operating limitations when these aircraft encounter icing conditions.
The PC-12's 1,200-shp turboprop engine is the most powerful growth version of the venerable PT6A that first made its debut three decades ago. The -67 series has accumulated more than 1.6-million hours in service since initial certification in January 1987. For engines in airline operations, the -67 has now achieved a basic inflight shutdown (IFSD) rate of one in 50,000 flight hours, a notable achievement considering the high cycles of commuter operations.
