Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC), has appointed Patrick Champagne vice president, Cockpits and Systems Integration, a new business unit. James Palmer has been appointed vice president, Aviation Products, also a new business unit. Jean-Michel Comtois was named vice president of Marketing and Sales, a single, integrated unit focused on growing the company’s commercial and military aviation business.
Hawker Beechcraft, Wichita, appointed Justin Firestone president, Asia-Pacific sales, reporting to Shawn Vick, HBC executive vice president. Hugh Waud was named field service representative to support customers in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He will be based in New Delhi, India.
StandardAero has become the first authorized independent service center in North America trained to perform wing tank (dry bay) modifications on Dassault Falcon 50, 900 and 2000 aircraft. The modification, as outlined in Dassault Service Bulletins, is expected to be required for all Falcon 50, 900 and 2000 aircraft because both the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency are planning to publish Airworthiness Directives mandating the work.
Tom Myers (Aircell Business Aviation Services, LLC ), Director, Marketing (Aircell Business Aviation Services, LLC )
Fred George did a thorough job on “Broadband Comes of Age for Business Aircraft” (January, page 44). Much is new in that space and giving readers a complete look at the state of the art is very helpful and timely.
Thank you for your great detective work and the insightful writing on the Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, Minn. (“A Failed Go-Around,” Cause & Circumstance, February, page 59). This is especially meaningful for us for several reasons. We have operated Hawkers for 17 years now, since 1994. We operate 700s, 800XPs and a 1000. We currently employ 17 full-time qualified Hawker captains and have introduced and trained about 70 Hawker crewmembers over the years.
Crownair Aviation, San Diego, appointed Bill Rohde director of Maintenance, responsible for all maintenance, repair station, parts and line service operations and personnel.
The January edition of Business Jet Monthly, published by financial analyst JPMorgan, predicts that the used aircraft market “should continue to gradually improve in 2010.” The mildly optimistic outlook was predicated in part on the continuing decline in the number of aircraft on the market. The report noted that at the end of 2009 the used business jet inventory stood at 12.8 percent of the fleet, 170 basis points off the July 2009 peak.
The dream hadn’t become my hoped-for reality. In fact, it had become something of a nightmare. I knew I had to earn my way in. But what I hadn’t anticipated were the automatic rejections, insults and humiliation. And I was getting upset.
Sun Air Jets’ charter operation has satisfied the certification standards for flight operations and safety management systems for Wyvern Consulting Ltd., Aviation Research Group/US (Platinum), International Standards for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) and Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF). Headquartered at the Camarillo, Calif., Airport, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Sun Air Jets offers charter, aircraft management, maintenance, aircraft fueling and ground handling services.
Proposed Rules Challenger 300 airplanes — Revise the “Limitations” section of the aircraft flight manual to include new procedures to address proximity-sensor electronic unit failures. Bombardier Challenger 604 airplanes — Conduct repetitive fluorescent-penetrant inspections of the Air Driven Generator (ADG) strut. In addition, perform a fluorescent-penetrant inspection of the strut after each unscheduled inflight deployment of the ADG, and a visual inspection after each unscheduled on-ground deployment of the ADG.
Sabreliner Corp., St. Louis, named Walt Sirmans to the newly created post of chief operating officer. John F. White was appointed vice president, Human Resources.
Airbus will tag many rotable parts in the A350 XWB with passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices, becoming the first manufacturer to require high-memory RFID tags on flyable parts. The tags will be used on more than 1,500 parts to be installed in pressurized and non-pressurized areas of the aircraft including seats, entertainment-system screens, life vests and oxygen bottles, as well as components in the aircraft’s wing and engines.
There’s a tiny ray of light illuminating a possible improved relationship between the TSA and general aviation. In an interview with National Public Radio Feb. 5, TSA general aviation manager Brian Delauter said the agency plans to collaborate more with the industry than in the past. Speaking to the LASP issue, which generated a torrent of objection last year, he said the TSA will convene a new general aviation advisory panel with industry representatives in March. “We’re going to be 10 times more successful in partnership than . . .
The FAA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in February inviting input on whether current eligibility, training and qualification requirements for commercial airline pilot certification need improvement. The notice asks if all FAR Part 121 pilots should be required to hold an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, which requires a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight time. Currently, airline first officers must hold a Commercial Pilot license, which requires a minimum of 250 hours’ flight time.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., appointed Shane Eddy as vice president of Sikorsky Global Helicopers, responsible for strategic leadership and general management.
There’s a trail — a former rail bed — behind my house popular with joggers, strollers and one canine in particular. And when we walk it, taking in the woods and wildflowers, watching for hawks and deer — “Get him, Boomer!” — I often wonder where the agony befell poor William Horan.
An experienced businessman pilot and four passengers boarded a company-operated Malibu An experienced businessman pilot and four passengers boarded a company-operated Malibu Mirage Jetprop DLX (PA-46-350P) shortly before 0730 on March 28, 2008, and departed from Edmonton, Alberta, on an IFR flight plan to Winnipeg, Manitoba, a distance of about 950 nm. Thirty-five minutes after takeoff, the aircraft (C-FKKH) broke up in flight and crashed into a hillside 16 miles northeast of Wainwright, Alberta. There were no survivors.
Wavepilot, LLC, has launched an online markektplace in which aircraft operators and FBOs buy and sell fuel. According to the company, the service operates similar to eBay except it is a reverse auction where sellers compete for the buyer’s business. It works like this: An aircraft operator posts a request for quote (RFQ) that invites FBOs to submit their best prices for fuel and services. FBOs post their quotes online and update them to remain competitive. The aircraft operator then reviews the quotes, awards the RFQ to an FBO and schedules the trip online.
Kaman Aerospace Corp., Bloomfield, Conn., has reorganized around product group and named Tim Bates general manager of the Blade Center of Excellence and Subcontract Product Group; Terry Fogarty has been appointed general manager for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Group; Bob Manaskie has been appointed general manager of the Helicopter Aftermarket Group and John Shelanskas has been named acting director of the Operations support organization.
Pratt & Whitney Canada held a special ceremony at its engine manufacturing facility in Longueuil, Quebec, Jan. 21 to mark delivery of its 500th PT6A turboprop engine to Blackhawk Modifications Inc. of Waco, Texas Founded in 1999, Blackhawk specializes in replacing engines on five aircraft models, including Raytheon King Air 90, Cessna 425 Conquest and Cheyenne turboprop aircraft with factory-new PT6As. The ceremony included Dan Rogers, owner of DuoTech Services of Franklin, N.C., whose Cheyenne II was the 250th aircraft to receive a Blackhawk upgrade.
Universal Avionics Systems Corp., Tucson, announced that Donald D. Berlin, senior vice president and board of directors member, is retiring. Berlin has been in senior management positions since the introduction of the company’s first product in 1982 and has been instrumental in guiding the company’s evolution from a small company to the large multinational corporation it is today. He will continue to advise Universal Avionics in business development on a consulting basis.
NBAA President Ed Bolen said the threat of aviation user fees seems to be dead “at least for this term of Congress,” and that the FAA’s reauthorization bill could advance within the next “four to eight weeks.” The fact that the Obama administration’s 2011 budget proposal, issued Feb. 1, contained no mention of user fees to help fund the FAA was a “milestone” event, Bolen told BCA.
Second-story jetways let passengers get quickly and comfortably aboard United DC-8s at San Francisco International Airport. Self-powered, telescopic loading corridors are by PI Iron and Steel, Los Angeles. President Lopez Mateos of Mexico is shown a Beech Twin Bonanza and an Aero Design Alti-Cruiser at the 50th Anniversary of Flight in Mexico City, elevation 9,000 feet.
Wayfarer Aviation, Rye Brook, N.Y., named Wendy Burton director of Industry Charter, focusing on wholesale and internal charter. She will manage relationships with aircraft operators, brokers and vendors in the United States and overseas.
