"Availability is challenging because the good operators have their aircraft booked well in advance," independent charter broker Holly Whitaker, president of Exclusive Air in Nashua, N.H., told B&CA, assaying the current boom in air charter.
Rally Caparas, whose CNN Headline News advisories on air travel conditions throughout the network of domestic U.S. terminals have become a daily weekday morning staple for travelers, signed on with Flight Explorer, the flight tracking software company, to furnish reports to the Flight Explorer Web site (www.flightexplorer.com) starting Nov. 15, 2006. Caparas, a former air traffic controller, uses the software for his CNN reports.
-Bombardier Challenger 604 airplanes - Revise the airplane flight manual to advise the flight crew of additional procedures to follow in the event of stabilizer trim runaway and mach trim, stab trim and horizontal stabilizer trim malfunctions. Also, revise the flight manual to require pilots to review the location of certain circuit breakers and conduct a functional check of the stabilizer trim system. In addition, install circuit breaker identification collars.
Landmark Aviation has earned FAA approval to increase rudder control authority for Dassault Falcon 50s. The upgrade, available for aircraft equipped with Collins APS-85 autopilots or Pro Line 21 avionics, will enhance lateral maneuverability to provide greater control in crosswinds. Landmark's facility in Springfield, Ill., will perform the rudder work.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., has promoted Gerry McRae to director of project management. He will continue to manage the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Learning Center on an interim basis.
Bombardier, Montreal, announced the appointment of Joe Rivera as director of its Fort Lauderdale Service Center. He is responsible for the overall operations of the Florida facility.
A couple of decades ago, B&CA's Purchase Planning Handbook listed well more than a dozen piston twins suitable for personal business transportation use. In essence, these aircraft were designed for much the same personal business transportation missions as today's VLJs and coming PLJs, albeit considerably lower and slower flying than today's entry-level turbine aircraft.
EMTEQ's newest low-profile compact wash light incorporates high-intensity, surface mounted LEDs, multiple dimming options, improved aesthetics and use of advanced phosphor technology for better performance at warmer color temperatures, and constant current control for consistent light output, according to the manufacturer. ELW35 (the assigned part number) accommodates high operating temperatures and is 1.25 to two times brighter than similar offerings. Price: Varies with installation EMTEQ 5349 S. Emmer Dr.
The NTSB Reauthorization Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives, authorizing funding of $81.5 million in fiscal 2007 and $92.6 million in fiscal 2008. The House bill also requires the FAA to report to Congress on why the administration has not acted on recommendations from the NTSB's "most wanted" list, and mandates that the Safety Board's annual report explain the reasons for not investigating accidents from the previous year that it was supposedly required to examine. The NTSB must also explain why some investigations exceed time allotted for completion.
Nordham, Tulsa, has requested Ken Lackey, chairman and CEO, to continue in his current position through 2008. John Uczekaj, Nordam president and chief operating officer, has left the company to pursue other career opportunities. Bill Peacher has been named COO for Nordam's Repair Group and will assume COO responsibilities for the company's worldwide repair divisions as well as its aftermarket sales and corporate marketing functions. Raymond H. (Tray) Siegfried III was named vice president of business and general aviation markets and strategic resources.
JetBird, Dublin, Ireland, announced that Patrick Raftery was appointed to operations director. He will be involved in developing the firm's European operating model in preparation for launch in early 2009.
Intelligence | 11 - ICAO's New Multi-Crew Pilot License Program - Isle of Man Aircraft Register Closer to Reality - High Attendance Expected at New Middle East Business Aviation Show - Gulfstream Forecast Revised Upward - Second BA609 Prototype Makes First Flight Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey Aftermath 68 | Cause & Circumstance By Richard N. Aarons The GIII Crash at Houston -- a Final Look
A Beech F33 was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during cruise when it was a short distance from William P. Hobby Airport, Texas. With the airplane still slipped up on it's nose due to the landing the FAA inspector who responded to the accident observed that the left fuel tank was empty and the right tank had "about an inch" of fuel in its tank. However, the pilot reported to the inspector that he visually checked the fuel before departing Houston and that both tanks were at the three-quarter level.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) has been named ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for the next session of Congress. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) will chair the committee. Mica currently chairs the House Aviation Subcommittee. Oberstar and Mica are both considered to be well-informed and open- minded on aviation issues.
In the highly competitive business jet charter market, operators are using a variety of methods to attract customers, from block charter plans and membership cards to direct marketing campaigns conducted on a local basis.
The Republican-led 109th Congress is history; the Democratic-led 110th Congress will be tasked with completing appropriations legislation for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2006, for many government agencies, including the DOT. The tax extension provisions include a measure to provide some relief to air ambulances and crop dusters against IRS anti-fuel-fraud requirements that tax jet fuel at the highway diesel fuel rate and permit refunds of the difference only to registered vendors.
EADS Socata has appointed IndUS Aviation as its authorized sales representative for the TBM 700/850 in India. IndUS Aviation Inc. is an American/Indian aircraft manufacturing company with headquarters both in Dallas and Bangalore. In 1994, Dr. Ram Pattisapu, an Indian who is president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of India and migrated to Texas, founded IndUS Aviation, which produces the two-seater Thorp T-211 trainer and sells various aircraft in India.
PASSUR's radar receiver comprises a single antenna at a single site. Another dependent surveillance system using many antennas spread over an area beneath the airspace to be controlled is multilateration. The deployment of these systems has already taken place in Europe and Asia and takes advantage of the fact that all airline and most general aviation aircraft are transponder equipped. The antennas are simple, easier to site than radar's, non-rotating and inexpensive.
Here's another believer that a thriving local airport is an economic engine. Orange County (N.Y.) Executive Edward Diana is urging the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to buy the lease on Stewart Airport. "There is no other organization that can match the Port Authority's experience in successfully operating a major airport," he said. "The future success of Stewart Airport is too important to take a chance with an unproven entity.
For scheduling and dispatch professionals with decision-making responsibilities for inflight telephone communications, the latter half of 2006 was abuzz with news that bears on current equipment purchase choices and planning for the future. Now that MagnaStar has gotten a one-year reprieve from Verizon (to December 2007), the window has opened wider for providers offering the replacement solution.
Just when aircraft owners, buyers, sellers and brokers were beginning to adjust to the new transactional requirements of the Cape Town International Registry (CTIR) -- which went into effect on March 1, 2006 -- numerous aircraft owners and operators have been led to believe that they need to pay a fee to safeguard their financial interest in their aircraft -- even if they don't need to.
Albuquerque International Amsterdam, Netherlands, International Anchorage, Alaska, International Aspen, Colo. Atlanta International Bensenville, Ill. Boston Logan International Burbank, Calif. Chicago O'Hare International Cincinnati International Cleveland International Columbia, S.C., Metropolitan Dallas/Fort Worth International Denver International Detroit Metropolitan Fort Lauderdale, Fla., International
The NBAA has stepped into the debate on the role and methods of air charter brokers with an offering of best-practices guidance. In November2006 , the business aviation advocacy group hosted a best-practices discussion at a regional forum at Long Beach, Calif. Based on feedback from the event and realization that some guidance would be helpful in clarifying operational control issues, this was followed by development of a best-practices document for brokers scheduled for release at year-end.
The targets don't shoot back, but in a matter of seconds Peter Ballard is going to empty both his pistols, a shotgun and a rifle with a sense of urgency because he's shooting against the clock. This is cowboy action shooting, a fast-growing recreational sport that pits men and women dressed in period costumes from the Old West against bad guys of all stripes in scenarios in which clanging steel targets stand in for the villains. Ballard, on most days director of sales, corporate care, at Rolls-Royce North America, Inc.
