Digital Cyclone has expanded its Pilot My-Cast aviation weather information service to provide access to owners of data-enabled cellular telephones. The service is available through major providers, including AT&T/Cingular, Sprint PCS, Verizon, Nextel, T-Mobile, Alltel, Southern LINC, US Cellular and Midwest Wireless. Pilot My-Cast Version 4.0 provides information for specific airports or routes with color displays of weather information and maps.
Banyan Air Service, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., promoted Lynn Juengel to technical services manager. Juengel has been with Banyan for 10 years. Bill Garghill has joined Banyan as the new director of customer service responsible for front desk, fuel, ground support and operation at the firm's Executive Airport facility.
Jet Aviation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, recently received the International Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences. The award is given each year to honor a company that demonstrates a commitment to excellence in luxury and service within its category and classification.
Productivity is the essential quality for making a profit in the regional airline industry, and as one leading airline executive put it, ``You build from profitability, not to profitability.'' Productivity is derived from operating cost, block-to-block speed, runway field performance, passenger and freight capacity, and the versatility to operate profitably over widely ranging mission distances.
On April 1, Peter Bunce, late of the U.S. Air Force, reported for duty as GAMA's new president. Bunce succeeds Ed Bolen, who left GAMA in 2004 to become president of the NBAA. Ron Swanda, GAMA senior vice president of operations, had served as interim president. The GAMA search committee wanted someone familiar with Capitol Hill, and Bunce certainly qualifies. He spent three years as the Air Force liaison to the House of Representatives, with an office in the Rayburn House Office Building, and the last three years of his 26-year Air Force career as director of the U.S.
``Dave, I'm beginning to doubt your dedication to the mission.'' -- HAL 9000 / 2001: A Space Odyssey When full-up synthetic/enhanced vision systems begin to chalk up operational history, their terrain databases will come to life, growing and correcting themselves as errors are detected and the landscape changes.
The AOPA has endorsed the FAA's plan to eliminate many NDB approaches, but urged the agency to retain 57 approaches that the association believes are still necessary. On March 3 the FAA published a list of 479 NDB approaches that it would like to eliminate and would apply cost savings to increase the number of Wide Area Augmentation System-capable area navigation [RNAV] instrument approach procedures.
ExcelAire added a Gulfstream IV-SP and a Gulfstream III to its charter fleet. The additions increase the Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based charter's fleet of Gulfstream aircraft to nine. ExcelAire also added two Hawker 800s to its fleet. The Hawkers are based at Republic Airport in Farmingdale and at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip. The ExcelAire fleet also includes Citation and Learjet aircraft and Sikorsky, Bell and Eurocopter helicopters.
On the other hand, Stone's departure could be part of a larger Department of Homeland Security reorganization with the possibility that the TSA might be stripped of its policy-making duties and turned into a strictly operational organization. Under this scenario, policy decisions, such as the plan to reopen DCA to general aviation operations, would come under the purview of the DHS leadership.
Sentient Jet, a charter membership brokerage concern, acquired Atlantic Aviation Flight Services from the private equity firm Voyager Group. Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Voyager acquired Atlantic in March 2003 after Atlantic Aviation Corp. decided that it wanted to focus on the FBO business. Voyager CEO James Dolan called the sale ``highly positive for all involved. The demand for service created by Sentient's customer-focused business model requires additional capacity, which Atlantic provides.
BroadBand Pro is a multi-mode bird repeller with four types of sound: distress cries that indicate danger to pigeons, starlings and gulls; predator cries of falcons and hawks; general harassments; and ultrasonic waves. One unit covers up to 3,600 square feet, with directional speakers and a separate control box for installation flexibility. Powered by 110 vAC, each unit includes four speakers with 100-foot cords and three visual scares for a multi-sensory assault: iridescent holographic ribbon, terror eyes holographic image and a realistic owl decoy.
President Bush nominated Ellen Engleman Conners for a second term as NTSB chairman, ending speculation about changes in the agency's leadership. Mark Rosenker was acting NTSB chairman while Conners awaited Senate confirmation. Rosenker has also been nominated for a second term, through 2010, and the administration announced that it intends to designate him vice chairman for two years. Conners' edgy relationships with other board members came to light in 2004 after newspaper reports cited a letter sent to her by three board members questioning some of her policies.
An inexpensive alternative to calipers, Pi Tape is used to measure true diameters of round and out-of-round forms quickly, precisely and economically. This simple instrument provides a low-tech alternative to large calipers. Acting much like any measuring tape, the markings are expressed in the resultant diameter. Pi Tape gages are available in either inches or millimeters. Standard tapes marked in inches read to 0.001 inch with an accuracy of 0.001 inch up to 144 inches.
The general aviation accident rate dipped to a historic low of 6.22 per 100,000 hours in 2004, according to figures released by the NTSB. The agency released preliminary accident statistics for last year, reporting a decline in the total number of U.S. civil aviation accidents from 1,864 in 2003 to 1,715 in 2004. Fatalities overall decreased from 695 to 635. General aviation operators were involved in 1,614 accidents in 2004, down from 1,741 in 2003. Fatal accidents dropped from 352 to 312.
Jet Aviation will open a new maintenance and FBO facility at So Paulo Viracopos/Campinas International Airport by late 2006 to serve Brazil's ``Silicone Valley.'' Over the next few years the airport is expected to invest $60 million in its infrastructure, aiming to become the airport of choice for the business aviation community. The new facility will emulate its newly constructed maintenance and FBO facility in Dubai, scheduled to open shortly.
Cessna Aircraft announced that it received certification for the Citation Sovereign business jet from both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) April 14. This certification enables the Citation Sovereign to be certified and registered within all 25 European countries adhering to EASA regulations and 10 European countries following JAA regulations. This type certificate is Cessna's first EASA certification and will enable Citation Sovereign operators to obtain European registrations.
A Texas judge signed a $96 million judgment against Textron Lycoming, affirming an earlier jury verdict. The judgment, signed by Judge Jerry Sandel of the 278th Judicial District Court in Anderson, Texas, includes $86.3 million in punitive damages. The case centered around engine crankshaft failures in aircraft built by Cessna, Piper and other manufacturers. Interstate Southwest Ltd., of Navasota, Texas, which said it built the crankshafts to Textron Lycoming's design, brought the suit.
Raytheon Aircraft redesignated its Beechcraft Bonanza and Baron lines the Beechcraft Bonanza G36 and Beechcraft Baron G58, to reflect the newly upgraded Garmin G1000 integrated avionics package. Raytheon, which announced plans in August to incorporate the Garmin glass cockpits into Bonanzas and Barons, expects FAA certification for the G36 and G58 later this year.
CitationShares fractional ownership program introduced a jet card that permits individuals and businesses to purchase flight time in 20-hour increments. Most jet card programs require a minimum purchase of 25 hours. Pricing for the 20-hour Vector JetCard begins at $75,995, which the company claims makes it ``the most accessible and affordable jet card option in the industry.'' CitationShares is co-owned by Cessna Aircraft and TAG Aviation.
The National Air Transportation Association has appealed to the FAA for more time to give commercial and fractional aircraft operators a reasonable chance to comply with a directive to audit training centers, saying many operators are just now finding out about the mandate. The FAA issued a notice to principal operations inspectors on Feb. 18 calling for air carriers and fractional ownership aircraft operators to audit training centers within 90 days to verify that they comply with approved training programs.
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary as a separate, independent agency, the NTSB has published ``NTSB: Lessons Learned and Lives Saved,'' an examination of the safety improvements that have resulted from over three decades of transportation accident investigations. The publication surveys safety measures inspired by NTSB recommendations in all modes of transportation -- aviation, railroad, highway, marine, pipeline and hazardous materials. ``We firmly believe that out of tragedy, good must come,'' said Board Chairman Ellen Engelman Conners.
Between the time we go to press on this issue and publish the next, expect significant developments in three major areas of industry concern: DCA access, TSA reorganization and FAA funding, as noted in the following items.
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE ACCIDENTS that immediately caught the attention of the aviation community. A Business Jet Services Gulfstream III (N85VT) crashed three miles short of Houston Hobby Airport near the ILS Runway 04 centerline killing all on board -- two pilots and a flight attendant. The mission was an early morning IMC ferry flight from Dallas to Houston to pick up former President George Bush and his party for an overnight visit to Guayaquil, Ecuador. The date was Nov. 22, 2004.
