I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your "Fast Five" featuring Steve Craig, proprietor, Beaumont Hotel (July, page 28). Years ago, when I was with Cessna and first learning to fly, that's where my flight instructor took me to practice grass strip/ unimproved runway landings. Although I haven't been there in a long, long time, it brought back a lot of memories.
Jim Miller of Kansas City, Mo., has been selected as the 2006 recipient of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Tony Bingelis Award, recognizing his involvement as an active technical counselor volunteer and aircraft builder.
Sacramento International Jet Center was awarded a lease and development agreement to manage an FBO at California's Sacramento International Airport (SMF). Sacramento International Jet Center's affiliate Patterson Aviation, doing business as SACjet, took over FBO operations from the Sacramento County Airport System on Aug. 1. SACjet also provides FBO services at Executive Airport in Sacramento County. SACjet plans to build a new general aviation terminal and hangar as well as improve the public general aviation ramp to accommodate aircraft as large as the Boeing 757.
A Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 completed a record-breaking flight from San Antonio to the Farnborough Airshow (near London) in 10 hours, 24 minutes, which included a 42-minute fuel stop at Goose Bay, Canada. The data have been handed over to the FAI, Geneva for formal ratification.
The European Union will consider creating a system of positive profiling of airline passengers and increased information exchange to step-up counterterrorism efforts, said Franco Frattini, commissioner for justice, at a ministerial meeting Aug. 16 in London. EU ministers responsible for internal security from Finland, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia and France convened to discuss counterterrorism and aviation security with British Home Secretary John Reid and Frattini.
Suddenly, this summer, the airborne telephone world recorded some unexpected seismic events: AirCell won an auction for an important slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, while Verizon, which dropped out of the auction, announced it was leaving the airborne phones niche to concentrate on its ground-based mass markets. And Boeing's new CEO, James McNerney, announced that Connexion by Boeing, the company's system for linking aircraft to broadband services, was under review and might be sold or shut down.
A FUNNY THING happened to FAA Adminis-trator Marion Blakey on her way to deliver an aviation user fee proposal to Congress -- her package was blocked by the White House Office of Management and Budget because of numerous questions about the wisdom of embarking on such a radical departure from the current user tax system.
(Wichita) -- Tom Aniello, the former vice president and chief marketing officer of Pilatus Business Aircraft, has been named to succeed Phil Michel as vice president of marketing at Cessna. Aniello spent eight and a half years at Cessna before moving five and a half years ago to the North American arm of Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus.
Landmark Aviation, Tempe, Ariz., named Scott Bridge as the general manager for its Albany, Ga., facility. Eric Hermann has been named general manager of the Rochester, N.Y., FBO and Alphonso James was named general manager for the Greensboro, N.C., facility.
As sensible as steep approaches might be, those folks who fly N-registered aircraft can't fly them. That's because the FAA evidently doesn't issue Letters of Authorization for such operations.
CAE won a contract valued at more than C$15 million to design and build an AW139 helicopter flight simulator for the AgustaWestland training center in Philadelphia. The contract follows an earlier deal for an AW139 flight simulator that will be delivered later this year to the Rotorism Training Center in Sesto Calende, Italy. Rotorism is a consortium between CAE and AugustaWestland. The second AW139 will be delivered in early 2008.
An initial meeting between air carriers and FAA officials on landing distance assessment requirements left many issues unresolved and prompted National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne to write to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to formally ask the agency to put the requirements on hold. Although, as we go to press, the FAA had yet to release an Operations Specification that details the requirements, commercial carriers were to submit their compliance plans by Sept. 1. The requirements are to take effect Oct. 1.
PrivatAir of Geneva has ordered a luxury 56-seat Boeing 767-300ER to enter service in March 2007. The aircraft will have the range to fly Europe to Los Angeles or Europe to Singapore nonstop. PrivatAir says that the 767 will have enough under-floor baggage space to satisfy the needs of its most discriminating clients. The market for the aircraft is expected to be governmental and the luxury travel industry. PrivatAir's owned charter fleet will then consist of a Boeing 757-23A and the Boeing 767-300ER.
Twinjet of London-Luton Airport has taken delivery of a new Airbus ACJ, which replaces what was originally the first A319 'ACJ' in service. Within two days of its arrival it was revenue earning on a one-stop trip to Los Angeles. It is currently fitted with four belly tanks but Twinjet plans to take the forward tank out to carry extra baggage. The interior, completed by LHT in Hamburg, includes a private bedroom with en suite facilities including a shower.
Gulfstream's Aerospace Service Center at London-Luton Airport received European Aviation Safety Agency approval to maintain the Gulfstream G450 business jet. The service center also was approved by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD) to maintain Hong Kong-registered Gulfstream G550 business jets. The HKCAD is expected to approve G450 maintenance later this year. The approvals enable European and Hong Kong-registered operators to use the center for regular scheduled maintenance, inspections and warranty work.
THE NBAA RECENTLY won a quiet struggle to help "foreign" U.S. companies use their corporate aircraft as efficiently as, well, non-foreign U.S. companies. Confused? Although this sounds like a new security classification, it is a decades-old concept within the FARs.
Bombardier Aerospace received an order from Tassili Airlines of Algeria for four Q400 regional turboprops. The contract, valued at $103 million (U.S.), calls for deliveries to begin in third quarter 2007. Tassili will be the second carrier in Africa, and the first in Algeria, to operate the 74-seat airliner. Tassili, a subsidiary of the Sonatrach State Energy Group, initially plans to use the aircraft to transport workers to oil fields in Algeria.
TAG Aviation has revealed that it will launch a completely new VLJ service in the United States. Jake Cartwright, CEO of TAG Aviation USA, says that a California-based customer for 10 Eclipse 500s has agreed for TAG to provide a complete turnkey operations package that will include aircraft, pilots, flight dispatch and all other necessary support for an exclusive "flying club" service. Each aircraft will have four "owners" who will each have access to an Eclipse with full TAG support, but the company stresses that it is not a fractional operation.
Avotek Information Resources has released the Avotek Aeronautical Dictionary by David Jones. This book is part of Avotek's family of maintenance reference materials and contains terms and definitions used by aviation maintenance personnel, ground crews and flight crews on an everyday basis. Topics include: *Aircraft/aviation terms and definitions *Industry abbreviations *Common usage of terms *Technical definitions *Manufacturer-specific terminology *FAA terms and definitions
With more states welcoming and even mandating ethanol in motor fuels for automobiles, the Experimental Aircraft Association is helping pilots who use auto fuel in their airplanes stay safe, with a new alcohol test kit available through the EAA. For more than 30 years, the EAA's STCs for a variety of manufactured aircraft have saved aircraft owners money by allowing them to use unleaded auto fuel. Such fuel without ethanol is safe and effective for aircraft use, based on more than 30 years of thorough testing.
When London's main commercial airports became gridlocked on Aug. 10 after a plot to bomb airliners was uncovered, many business aircraft were diverted to outlying general aviation fields. Farnborough Airport reported some 20 extra aircraft landed there despite its "Level One" security status, which meant that all charter passengers were body searched and their baggage scanned. Harrods Aviation at Luton had planned to receive 21 aircraft that day and by 1700 had handled 44.
