When Henry F. S. Morgan built his first motorcar in 1909, he designed it with three wheels instead of the conventional four. The single rear wheel delivers the power to the road, while the front two steer the car exactly as a four-wheel automobile's do. In the decades following (until 1952, when production ceased) he improved the little two-seater and kept the price cheap.
*Vulcon Electric Co., Porter, Maine, announced the addition of Michael (Mike) Hanlon to its Thermal Division sales staff as sales development manager of sensor products.
In response to high demand, jetAVIVA is expanding its Jet Familiarization Training program to include pre-type rating training in the Cessna Citation Mustang. The JFT program is built to allow pilots to achieve four primary goals: become a safe jet pilot; gain experience in a very light jet; excel during type rating training and (if applicable) help determine which VLF is right for each customer. The training is offernd in three packages: basic, intermediate and advanced, providing 10.5, 25 and 45 hours of flight time, respectively.
World Link Jet Charter, a startup charter and management company founded by aviation veterans Steve Zerilli, Ed Carlton and Paul Moore, received its Air Carrier Certificate in late August. The principals of the Teterboro, N.J.-based company have logged a combined flight time in excess of 30,000 hours. The company contact is Steve Zerilli at (866) 594-8877, ext. 3 or [email protected].
A May 2008 agreement with the United States made Aruba the first country to secure customs and immigration pre-clearance. Aircraft will land at Queen Beatrix Airport in Oranjestad and enter a wing of the general aviation terminal operated by a subsidiary of Universal Weather and Aviation. Once cleared, the aircraft may then proceed to any destination within the United States. Just two and a half hours from the U.S. border, Aruba is ideally situated to save operators time in transit.
Embraer opened its first U.S. business jet service center, inaugurating a 47,700-square-foot (4,431-square-meter) hangar at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, in Mesa, Ariz., Sept. 25. The new facility at the former Williams Air Force Base will service Embraer's Phenom 100 and 300 and the Legacy 450, 500 and 600 executive jets. The new $10 million facility consists of a hangar, workshops and office space. Embraer expects to create approximately 60 jobs there over the next five years. The first employees completed Phenom 100 service training at the end of September.
Corsair Aviation of St. Paul, Minn., has purchased ACM Aviation from the San Jose Jet Center, a subsidiary of Atlantic Aviation. Corsair is an aviation holding company whose principal operating companies are JetChoice and Capitol Wings.
*Castle & Cooke Aviation, Honolulu, Hawaii, announced that Tony Marlow was appointed general manager and Amy Kaleikini was named customer service manager responsible for managing the sales and service programs at the new FBO that opened in June.
*Executive AirShare, Kansas City, Mo., announced that Brian W. Jewell has been promoted to chief pilot. He will report to Adam Letts, director of operations.
Nextant Aerospace has added several options to its Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Beechjet 400A/XP retrofit package. Available options include a second multifunction display, an integrated flight information system, XM broadcast graphical weather or Universal weather services, TCAS II, AHRS-3000S, GPS-4000S, Doppler turbulence detection weather radar, RTU-4200 radio tuning unit, DBU-5000 database loader and CDU-6200 control display unit.
Rated at 1,695 pounds of thrust to ISA+10°C, the PW617F is a scaled-up version of the PW615F that powers the Citation Mustang with hot section durability improvements added to withstand the rigors of the high-cycle operating environment of air taxi operations. An automatic performance reserve feature boosts engine output to 1,777 pounds of thrust in the event of engine failure on takeoff, if APR is armed prior to takeoff roll.
If you are concerned about creating and maintaining your MEL, there is plenty of reading material to keep you informed and up to speed. The FAA has information available through its Web site, and though the material can be difficult to absorb in one sitting, it provides a good foundation for what you need to know. Your best resource is your local FAA principal maintenance inspector at your local FSDO.
*Civil Air Patrol, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., announced that Reggie Chitwood of Van Buren, Ark., was elected national vice commander of the CAP by vote of the National Board, the CAP's governing body, and Maj. Gen.-elect Amy S. Courter of South Lyon, Mich., was elected national commander.
In September, UBS Investment Research analysts David E. Strauss and Cristina Fernandez cited declines at the three most active corporate aircraft gateways in the United States -- Teterboro, N.J.; White Plains, N.Y.; and Washington Dulles -- as a sign that the business jet "upcycle" that began in 2004 has peaked, although order activity continues unabated. "We believe the market has come off from its peak and is likely to fall further," they wrote.
Mobile Edge has introduced checkpoint friendly laptop cases designed to help move traveling computer users through airport luggage checks more quickly. Airport screeners can X-ray a laptop while still inside its bag. The new ScanFast Collection meets TSA requirements. All three cases (backpack, briefcase messenger bag) accommodate popular models of laptops and are covered by the Mobile Edge lifetime warranty. Price: $99.99 Mobileedge 1150 North Miller St. Anaheim,CA 92806 (714) 339-1400
The sound a helicopter makes in flight can affect people in different ways, depending upon their point of view. If you're an accident or flood victim or a wounded GI waiting to be evacuated, it can be the sweetest music you'll ever hear. But if you are communing with nature in the Grand Canyon or working in the gardens on your Sag Harbor estate, violation of your treasured quiet can summon demons.
Both of International Communications Group's new systems support ACARS and will now support Future Air Navigation Systems and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications. The Model 120A is intended for the flight deck; the 220A serves both flight deck and crew. The company says the 120A is ideal for dedicated voice channel along with a dedicated data-link circuit, while the 220A adds an additional channel.
Concerned that an FAA/industry Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) is making little headway on new runway landing distance parameters, the National Air Transportation Association in September urged FAA Flight Standards Director James Ballough to intervene. In late 2007, the FAA formed an ARC after receiving substantial opposition to a proposal calling for an additional 15-percent margin in landing distance calculations based on runway conditions at the time the aircraft arrives in the vicinity of the airport.
*United Airlines Capt. "Pat" Boling flew a V-tail Bonanza tanked with 402 gallons of avgas 7,090 miles from Manila to Pendleton, Ore., in 46 hours. It was the longest nonmilitary overwater flight in history.
Schedulers and dispatchers will be as eligible as flight crew members for points earned under Chevron's new rewards program. "If the flight department chooses to, it can share the points so that everyone benefits across the organization," says Bob Taylor, Chevron manager of branded programs. The new program is based on extensive market research that indicated a rewards program needs to be fair to all within a flight operation. Besides fuel, rewards include products and gift certificates that provide hundreds of options from retailers.
All national aviation authorities hold the sovereign right to enforce their own regulations on foreign-registered aircraft operating in their airspace. In the E.U., at least, this includes ramp inspections under the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft program, or SAFA.
StandardAero -- a designated PT6A overhaul facility based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada -- has received supplemental type certification of its program to replace the original Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41 engines on Beech King Air 200s with new or serviceable PT6A-42 engines.
By the mid-1980s, Cessna knew it needed a successor to the Citation III, its first midsize aircraft. The 1982 model offered a cabin with 5.5-foot width, 5.7-foot height and 18.4-foot length, which provided considerably more comfort for six to eight passengers than Cessna's narrow-fuselage light jets. The Citation III also featured a moderately swept, super-critical wing that made possible 450 KTAS cruise speeds, fuel-efficient TFE731 turbofans, trailing-link main landing gear for smooth touchdowns and hot-wing anti-ice, plus advanced systems.
*Bell Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230 and 430 helicopters -- Check tail-rotor blades for cracks, and replace any cracked blade with an airworthy blade before further flight. *Cessna Model 560 airplanes -- Install new minimum-airspeed placards and make associated revisions to the airplane flight manual. Also, recalibrate and test the angle-of-attack (AOA) system.
