Piper Aircraft completed the first run of the Williams FJ44-3A engine mounted in the vertical tail of the PiperJet proof-of-concept airplane and has begun taxi tests. "For the first time in Piper's 71-year history, the sound of a turbofan-powered Piper airplane was heard when the PiperJet's engine was started and tested on June 19," Piper officials said.Piper said after the engine start and operational tests had been completed, it began low-speed taxi tests to verify nosewheel controllability and authority.
David Ryan, head of Bombardier Flight Operations, resigned the position in June and left the company. The departure comes just three months after Robert Agostino, the previous head of the flight unit, left the firm; he has joined LJ Aviation in Latrobe, Pa. A successor for Ryan was not immediately announced. Agostino and Ryan were the two principals who produced the highly acclaimed and well-attended Bombardier Safety Standdown for more than a decade.
A Boeing 747-200 freighter, operated by Kalitta Airlines as a wet lease to Centurion Airlines impacted terrain and was substantially damaged during a presumed forced landing about eight kilometers north of the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Columbia. A crew of eight survived the accident, some with serious injuries. Preliminary information indicated that the crew experienced some sort of aircraft problem during the initial departure from the airport. The investigation is being conducted by Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronautica Civil in Columbia.
Nice trip down memory lane. About the only staff picture missing was Kathleen Hull (or did I miss something?). Congratulations on covering the waterfront in well-distilled good taste and historical correctness. It brought some fond memories -- well done.
Anyone can get lucky and gain the undeserved. Once. The odds go way down when hoping for a repeat. And when the contest isn't a lottery, but rather an evaluation by your peers, the luck factor pretty much disappears. That reality made the announcements at the Aerospace Journalist of the Year banquet in London on July 13th particularly satisfying.
Although its manufacturing and administrative facilities were located away from the flood plain and "largely unaffected" by the disastrous June floods in Iowa, a spokesperson for Cedar Rapids-based Rockwell Collins says the company has established a fund to help employees who have suffered losses from the high water. In addition, the avionics maker contributed $2 million to local recovery efforts. The company also mobilized teams of employees to assist cleanup and recovery efforts as the flood waters subsided.
*Elliott Aviation, Moline, Ill., promoted Chris Shaffer to the position of service manager at the company's headquarters facility at Quad Cities International Airport in Moline. Jamie Luster has joined Elliott as regional sales manager for the Southwest Region. Tom Welch has joined the company as regional sales manager for the Great Lakes region.
Editor's note: Archie Trammell was editor-in-chief of Business & Commercial Aviation from 1972 to 1978, a period of great technical, regulatory and economic transition within the community. Here he recalls those times, their themes and issues, many of which continue to this day.
"Helicopter EMS, a Continuing Safety Failure" (page 44) makes clear the challenges imposed upon this special and important segment of the aviation community. The consequences of failing to meet those challenges too often prove catastrophic, as the following summary of recent accidents makes equally clear.
How to Use the Operating Costs Guide Aircraft operating costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs. Aircraft Category
When Peter Stein isn't flying a Gulfstream 550 for Johnson Controls, he's flying down a mountainside in Park City, Utah, at 60 miles per hour competing in a super G. Also trained as an attorney, he says, "I do legal work, I love to fly and my passion is skiing" - in that order, he's quick to emphasize.
*Dassault Falcon 10 airplanes --- Replace the flexible hoses installed in the slat anti-icing systems. *EADS Socata TBM 700 airplanes -- Check the vapor-cycle cooling system pulley drive assembly for leakage, remove the compressor drive belt from the assembly and deactivate the air-conditioning system until the original pulley drive assembly can be replaced by a new, improved assembly.
General aviation groups called the FAA's proposal to reduce the number of GA slots into New York La Guardia Airport (LGA) discriminatory, saying the restriction would unjustifiably diminish access to the New York City area. The FAA in April released a supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to introduce a slot auction system for FAR Part 121 carriers and reduce hourly slots at LGA from six per hour to three for Part 91 and Part 135 on-demand and public charters.
The National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) has set the dates for its 2008 fall meeting and 2009 spring meeting. The autumn meeting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, just prior to the opening of the NBAA convention in that city. NARA's 2009 spring meeting is to be held from Thursday, April 30 through Saturday, May 2 at the Westin La Cantera Resort San Antonio.
At 1515 CDT, Beechcraft A36, N28HN, was substantially damage when it made a forced landing shortly after it took off from Runway 18 at the Johnson County Executive Airport (OJC), in Olathe, Kan. The private pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. In a telephone interview, the pilot stated that he had not flown the airplane for six weeks and was planning to stay in the local traffic pattern and practice takeoffs and landings. After a thorough preflight, he attempted to start the engine.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft officials predict that at least six more models of the Avro Business Jet (ABJ), the corporate version of the four-engine BAe 146 regional jet, will enter service this year. A total of 23 Avro Business Jets are in corporate service or are being converted. Operators that are bringing the ABJ into service in 2008 include:
In 2007, Gulfstream logged 122 aircraft were sold domestically vs. 135 to international customers. And the company expects the foreign-to-domestic sales ratio to continue trending upward. In response, Gulfstream said it will add four third-party line service facilities outside North America, all yet to be named. Partnering with local firms to expand support is the smart way to go, says Mark Burns, Gulfstream's newly appointed product support president.
*West Star Aviation, East Alton, Ill., announced that Ryan Malutinok has been appointed interior/paint manager at the East Alton facility. Rick Brainard was named vice president of sales for the company's facilities in Grand Junction, Co.; East Alton; Dallas; and Hiawatha, Iowa. Dan McKillips has joined the company as a regional sales manager responsible for the Southeast United States. Cheryl Galloway joined the company as a program sales manager.
The following are a number of noteworthy items from the FAA's Air Transportation Operations Inspector's Handbook, FAA Order 8400.10, "Aircraft Checklists" that operators will find pertinent as they examine checklist redesign.
The revised 0.9-percent first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth makes it hard to call this a recession yet, but we think the recession has been delayed, not canceled. Payrolls have dropped for five consecutive months, housing starts are at recession levels and business investment remains weak. So far, the consumer and the improvement in the trade deficit have kept GDP growth positive, but the consumer is likely to be forced to retreat in the face of higher oil prices.
Mooney Aircraft cut its work force by 20 percent in June and is reducing production rates of its line of single-engine, aircraft -- and other manufacturers are keeping a close eye on this end of the general aviation market. While not contemplating layoffs, Cessna Chairman Jack Pelton told our sister publication, the Weekly of Business Aviation, "We're seeing definite softening in the [single-engine] market" and a reduction in flying by current single-engine aircraft operators.
While the weak dollar has increased the opportunities for aircraft owners to sell their airplanes abroad, sellers have found that the evolving regulatory environment in Europe sometimes has made quick completion of transactions problematic. Although efforts to harmonize European and American aircraft certification and safety standards continue, differences remain, and they can make it expensive and time-consuming to transfer an aircraft from a U.S. to a European owner.
