Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250B and 250C engines -- Perform a one-time inspection of the fuel nozzle screen for contamination. If contamination is found, inspect and clean the entire aircraft fuel system before further flight. Also, replace the fuel nozzle with a newly designed fuel nozzle at the next fuel nozzle overhaul or by June 30, 2006, whichever comes first.
Raytheon Premier I airplanes -- Inspect the routing and security of the left and right main landing gear squat-switch wire harness installations for damage. Repair any damage or replace components and reinstall the squat-switch wire harness.
THE ITINERARY WAS simple enough: a quick, 225-mile hop from Salt Lake City to Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN), the Hailey, Utah, facility serving the Sun Valley ski area. But the trip's purpose was really something of a victory lap. The main passenger was a recently retired executive who had been battling cancer. He had undergone an operation to check the disease, and the post-surgical prognosis was apparently good. Now he and his wife of 34 years were returning to their new home in the mountains to enjoy the good life.
The Air Group, Van Nuys, Calif., named Ken Combs senior vice president and director of flight operations, based at its headquarters at Van Nuys Airport. Combs has 30 years of experience and 9,000 hours of flight time as both a military and civilian pilot.
Bombardier Challenger 600, 601 and 604 airplanes -- Revise the flight manual to provide the flight crew with procedures and limitations for operating an airplane with out-of-tolerance angle-of-attack transducers. Also, conduct repetitive tests of the transducers and take corrective action if necessary.
Reducing hazards related to ground and flight operations in icing conditions tops the NTSB's 2004-2005 ``Most Wanted'' list in aviation with two specific recommendations -- using current research to change aircraft design and approval for flight in ice conditions and giving flight crews accurate information to recognize dangers in flying in icing conditions. The recommendations have not resulted in an acceptable response from the FAA, NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners said Dec. 5, 2004, during a news briefing in Washington, D.C.
Midcoast Aviation, Cahokia, Ill., named Thomas P. Hilboldt director of technical services. In his new position, Hilboldt, who has been with Midcoast since 1978, is responsible for overseeing more than 130 airframe and engine technicians who compose the technical services department at Midcoast's maintenance operations at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia.
Field Aviation of Toronto will acquire three new Bombardier Q300 turboprops and configure them for maritime surveillance missions for the Swedish Coast Guard. Field is the prime contractor for the Swedish Coast Guard's next-generation fisheries and environmental surveillance system.
Unscheduled engine removals are about as welcome as a surprise tax audit. Turbine engine reliability has increased to the point where many simply assume the engine will always make power and never need to be removed prematurely. The truth is, even the most advanced turbine powerplants are still susceptible to the age-old nemesis of machinery: wear and erosion.
The wave of potentially disorienting or injurious laser illuminations of aircraft cockpits has drawn the full attention of federal and local law enforcement agencies, as well as aviation regulators and associations. More than half a dozen were reported during late December 2004, including sightings in Colorado Springs, Cleveland, Washington, Houston, Chicago and Medford, Ore. On Dec. 29, a Citation with 13 people on board was tagged by a green laser on approach to Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey. On Dec.
As published by the FAA in the Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 88, May 7, 2003 (Docket No. FAA-2000-8560) Light -- The rate of ice accumulation requires occasional cycling of manual deicing systems* to minimize ice accretions on the airframe. A representative accretion rate for reference purposes is one-quarter inch to one inch (0.6 to 2.5 cm) per hour** on the outer wing. The pilot should consider exiting the condition.***
University of North Dakota Aerospace Foundation, Grand Forks, N.D., a nonprofit corporation that serves as a link between industry and the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, named Charles Pineo marketing and sales director. Pineo was previously a regional manager of corporate and agency sales with Northwest Airlines.
On the mitigation side of a laser illumination event, the FAA's advice is of a practical nature: Don't look at the laser. Don't lose control of the aircraft trying to protect your eyes or evade the beam. Get ATC clearance before deviating from your course and altitude. If there's been an illumination event near you in the past 20 minutes, don't fly over that same location.
Premier Air Center in East Alton, Ill., has acquired West Star Aviation of Grand Junction, Colo. A full-service FBO located at St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN), Premier is a Cessna Service Center for all 500 and 650 series Citations and is FAA-certified on all Dassault Falcons. West Star is an FBO offering a complete array of aircraft services including airframe modification and maintenance, exterior paint, interior redesign and refurbishment, avionics installation and repair, and fuel services.
In Colombo, Sri Lanka, a King Air 300 was used by NGOs to commute between Medan/Banda and Aceh/Mobulah/Jakarta in Indonesia. In Sri Lanka a King Air 200 and a Puma helicopter flew a variety of missions out of Colombo. ``In both Sumatra and Sri Lanka, we are now flying medical teams, supplies and assessment teams to places not before reached,'' said Air Serv President Stuart Willcuts, who was in Colombo. Contributions to aid the tsunami victims may be sent to Air Serv's Virginia offices, or can be made at www.airserv.org.
The fly-by-wire Antonov An-148 made its maiden flight on Dec. 17, 2004. A 75- to 90-seat derivative of the An-72/-74 utility aircraft, the An-148 differs in that its engines are slung below its high wings, while the AN-72's are atop its wings. It is powered by 16,500-pound-thrust ZMKB Progress D-436T powerplants. The aircraft took off from Svyatoshin airfield close to Antonov's plant at Kiev, reaching 10,000 feet in the 81-minute flight that was cut short by worsening weather.
Cessna broke ground Dec. 21, 2004, for the company's $20.4 million expansion to its Independence, Kan., facility that will support production and delivery of Cessna's single-engine piston aircraft line and its new entry-level business jet, the Citation Mustang. The expansion will include a 90,000-square-foot flight/delivery building and an 11,000-square-foot aircraft completions building. In addition, Cessna will expand its current customer delivery center by 11,000 square feet. Cessna says the construction will be completed by this December.
Midwest Executive Aviation has opened its fourth U.K. FBO at Edinburgh Airport and is to open another at Birmingham International Airport on March 1. At the two new locations, Midwest will be head to head with Signature Flight Support, which took over the Menzies/Execair chain of European FBOs in late 2004. In fact, at Birmingham, Midwest's offices and lounges will be directly above Signature's in the same building but will have their own ramp access.
ARINC received an STC for its new eFlightDeck EFB system installed on a Boeing 727 for ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc. It is the first deployment of the company's Class II EFB by a commercial carrier, and, according to ARINC, is the first EFB system ever to support ACARS data link. ARINC plans to complete a deployment on ASTAR's fleet of 25 Boeing 727s, nine McDonnell Douglas DC-8s and seven Airbus A300s by the end of this year.
An era ended in Wichita as Russ Meyer, Cessna Aircraft's longtime chairman, finally stepped down. In a message to Cessna employees, Textron Chairman Lewis Campbell wrote that after ``30 years of distinguished leadership at Cessna, Russ Meyer has elected to retire as chairman.
The TSA announced that it and the NBAA are accelerating their partnership to further enhance the Transportation Security Administration Access Certificate (TSAAC), a program providing corporate aircraft operators with an approved security program (see Washington, page 81). The TSAAC provides standardized security procedures and best practices for personnel, facilities, aircraft and inflight operations of business operators who on a voluntary basis will help extend TSA oversight.
Aviation Partners Inc., a Seattle-based provider of blended winglets, has received an STC for its Hawker 800XP winglet system, which significantly enhances the operational performance of the twinjet. ``Blended winglets transform the standard, 2,600-nm Hawker 800XP into a 2,780-nm-capable aircraft,'' said Gary Dunn, Aviation Partners' vice president of sales. ``A blended winglet equipped Hawker 800/Hawker 800XP will climb higher and cruise faster -- at any given cruise weight -- than the original airplane, while saving 7 percent in fuel burn.''
Stevens Aviation, Greenville, S.C., appointed Mark Niehaus general manager of its Denver service center. Niehaus was most recently director of service sales support and engine programs for Bombardier Business Aviation Services.
Million Air Dallas, Addison, Texas, named Martin J. Dyer director of flight operations. Dyer comes to Million Air with an extensive flying background, including over 6,500 total flight hours.
Meanwhile, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering of the United Kingdom reported NGO personnel were using business jets on mid-term lease deals to organize relief aid across the vast affected area. A company representative also said that airliners and business jets had been chartered through them to repatriate stranded tourists.
