*JetCorp Technical Services, St. Louis, named Anthony Sanchez to the newly created position of national vice president of customer service and business development. He will be supported by Burton Schriber and Sam Mansolino, who were named regional sales managers.
Virgin Charter (www.VirginCharter.com) has named Travelocity Business as the digital marketplace's exclusive launch business travel agency in the Travel Management Company space. Virgin Charter will provide charter solutions for Travelocity Business clients who want to fly private charter.
Eclipse Aviation and European Technology and Investment Research Center (ETIRC) Aviation have announced progress toward establishing an Eclipse 500 manufacturing facility outside of the United States. Eclipse Aviation President and CEO Vern Raburn and ETIRC Aviation Chairman Roel Pieper traveled to Russia to meet in Ulyanovsk with federal officials and local administrators to discuss the steps necessary to establish a factory in that area.
*Bell 206 helicopters - Ensure that the tailboom attachment bolt is installed correctly. *Bell 222, 230 and 430 helicopters - Rewire and test the fuel valve switch on each engine and test the ignitor system. *Dassault Falcon 50 airplanes - Inspect the electrical feeder bundle, repair any damaged wires found and change the routing of the wires under the circuit breaker panel.
Atlas Business Solutions is offering VSS Pro 8.0 for personnel scheduling; the name Visual Staff Scheduler makes clear that this is not an aircraft management or flight department scheduling product that integrates all flight department and aircraft information. But at prices from $495 for a single seat to $1,495 for 10 users, some operations may find it a more economical and simpler way to manage personnel schedules.
*CRS Jet Spares, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has added Emmanuel d'Hoop as the international sales representative focusing on expanding the CRS customer base in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
*Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, named Walter "Woody" S. Hogle Jr. senior vice president, international business and Washington operations. He reports to Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones.
Lufthansa will build up its own private business jet fleet this year beginning with a Cessna Citation CJ3, due for delivery to the airline as we go to press. In all, nine new business jets will be entering service for the airline in the coming months. Lufthansa is creating its own Private Jet fleet in order to accommodate surging demand: The number of private jet flights operated in 2007 rose by 26 percent from 2006. Customer demand strongly outstripped capacity over the year by an average of around 25 percent and in peak months by as much as 60 percent.
Cessna announced March 7 that Lufthansa has acquired four additional Cessna Citation business jets with a total list-price value of approximately $40 million. The order for two CJ3 jets and two XLS+ aircraft is in addition to a prior Lufthansa order for four Citation CJ1+ aircraft for its new pilot training program, which was announced at the NBAA Convention in September 2007.
*Pogo Jet, Inc., Chicopee, Mass., announced the election of Theodore L. Weise and Carol. B. Hallett to its board of directors. Weise is the former president and CEO of Federal Express and Hallett served as president and CEO of the Air Transport Association.
At 1845 CST, a Cessna 414, N41LP, owned by Bajaj Holdings LLC and piloted by a private pilot, was destroyed when it impacted terrain after departing Lloyd Stearman Field Airport (1K1), Benton, Kan. According to several witnesses, the airplane departed Runway 35 and was observed flying in and out of the clouds. It hit several trees and came to rest in the middle of a field. A post-impact fire ensured. It was night IFR and the aircraft was operating without a flight plan. The pilot and his passenger were fatally injured.
The FAA has set the date for changing all 20 ARTCC host systems to assign preferential routes based on the equipment capability that schedulers and dispatchers enter in the ICAO FPL item 10 field and the area navigation value in item 18. When the En Route Automation Modernization replacement program is complete and operating (first one up is scheduled to be Salt Lake City in October 2008), it will assign routes the same way. After June 5, filing a domestic NAS flight plan will deprive the filer of preferential route assignments.
At about 1748 EST, a Cessna Citation 525, N102PT, crashed in a wooded area in West Gardiner, Maine. The private/instrument-rated pilot and one passenger received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. It was IFR at the time of the accident; a flight plan was filed for a flight from Augusta, Maine, to Lincoln, Neb. The flight originated from Augusta State Airport around 1745. The airplane was fueled and moved from the ramp into the FBO's hangar earlier that morning at the pilot's request.
I just had a quiet moment (it seems there are far too few of these) to sit down and read your March Viewpoint ("Deserving It," page 7). What a terrific piece -- it made me smile! Although I have had it pretty easy (in my opinion), I know plenty of women who have had struggled to make their mark in aviation. I believe that most of us wouldn't change the past and our experiences for all the money in the world -- it made us who we are today and helped many become, as you stated, "driven."
* Described as "the world's first production model 'copter with gas turbine power," the Alouette II on the cover had been assembled by Republic Aviation, which hoped to open a production line at its Farmingdale, N.Y., facility. The aircraft was delivered to Aetna Helicopter of Etna, Calif., which became the first operator to put a turbine helicopter into commercial service.
According to Len Beauchemin, it's easy to make "big mistakes" outsourcing heavy inspections if an operator's maintenance management isn't knowledgeable and vigilant.
Universal Avionics Systems has received an FAR Part 25 STC for the Universal WAAS-enabled FMS. LPV approaches, referred to as RNAV (GPS) LPV approaches on the approach chart, are the fastest growing type of GPS approaches in the United States. Currently 1,028 such approaches exist, and the FAA plans to add an additional 300 LPV approaches per year. The WAAS-FMS allows pilots to fly to ILS-like minimums at airports without an ILS approach or in inclement weather.
*Midcoast Aviation, St. Louis, announced that it has selected 32-year veteran Steve Bates to lead the completions and modifications program at the company's St. Louis Downtown Airport facility.
Rosen Sunvisor Systems is offering its complete sunvisor line for commercial, corporate and general aviation aircraft. Rosen sunvisors achieve increased visibility through reductions in glare, UV light and heat from the sun. The company offers either a customized handcrafted Monorail or NSA design. The Monorail system contours to the aircraft's unique design and is integrated with a custom-shaped sunvisor mounted to a patented multi-axis clamping system allowing flexible travel along the monorail.
*CAE, Montreal, Canada, has named Walter Visser managing director of Emirate-CAE training operations; Rudy Toering was named general manager for the company training centers in Canada; Steven Lee was appointed general manager of Zhuhai Flight Training Center; and Martin Williamson was named general manager for the training center in Kuala Lumpur.
The FAA Office of Runway Safety has posted "Pilot and Flight Crew Procedures During Taxi Operations" as a printable approach plate insert for pilots at www.faasafe ty.gov/ files/notices/2008/Feb/Pilotcardwithholes[2].pdf. You can also request copies of the chart from your nearest Office of Runway Safety. To locate the nearest office, go to www.FAA.gov and enter runway safety in the search box. This will take you to a link to the Office of Runway Safety Web page. Send questions or comments to [email protected].
Israeli firm Aerophone (aerophone.biz) has jumped into the airborne telecommunications battle with a compact picocell it's offering free to the airlines in return for a piece of the billing action through the passenger's cellphone provider. Calls are about $1.60 per minute. While the company says it is aiming the system at airlines, there's no reason why it wouldn't work aboard any jet midsize and up.
As we go to press, the FAA is conducting a safety self-exam prior to an April 3 U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing on the agency's oversight and airline noncompliance with safety regulations. That oversight system came into sharp focus in March when the FAA slammed Southwest Airlines with a proposed $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to operate 46 of its Boeing 737s for 1,451 flights involving 200,000 passengers without first inspecting them for fatigue cracks mandated by a September 2004 Airworthiness Directive.
