Flight Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va., named Joan Sullivan Garrett vice chair of its board of governors. Sullivan Garrett is chairman and CEO of MedAire, Inc.
It amazes me that you have chosen to give space to beatify Richard Seaman's error in decision that he recalls in the January Flight Log (``Running Out of Time and Options,'' page 96). It only goes to show that aviation -- particularly corporate aviation -- is a strange gambler's home. Those who are time and again made heroes and keep their jobs are the lucky ones who made a dumb move and lived to regret it privately for years while they showed an outside shell of bravado yet become the guy who gets the boss through.
Two Bell 407 helicopters operated by Air Serv were conducting relief flights for victims in western Sumatra in Indonesia, deploying from the Melaubau airport. The helicopters arrived Jan. 12 aboard an IL-76 cargo plane from South Africa that also carried 88,000 pounds of relief materials. The flight was made possible by a donation of $655,000 from the Republic of South Africa Disaster Management Center. Air Serv leases the IL-76 from South African operator Naturelink.
Infinity Aviation Group, Nashua, N.H., an FAR Part 135 on-demand aircraft charter service, added a new copilot, John Pearl, for its Hawker 700 and 400.
Eight years after launching its Hawker Horizon program, Raytheon Aircraft won provisional FAA approval for the new business jet on Dec. 23, 2004. The Horizon is the company's second composite-fuselage model in production; the Beechcraft Premier is the other. Positioned at the top of the company's product line, the Horizon competes against other transcontinental business jets, such as the Bombardier Challenger 300, Cessna Citation X, Dassault Falcon 50EX, Gulfstream 200, Embraer Legacy and Falcon 2000.
NTSB board members and investigators are concerned that pilots do not appreciate the negative effects of wing upper surface ice accumulations and are urging pilots to take extra care with go/no go decisions involving contaminated wing surfaces.
Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250-B17 and -C20 engines -- Install a turbine energy- absorbing ring (part number 23035175) in the plane of the first-stage turbine wheel if the powerplant does not already have such a ring. If necessary, install first-stage and second-stage turbine nozzles and a gas producer support assembly, all of which are modified to allow for installation of the turbine energy-absorbing ring.
The DOT will take a larger role in planning and paying for enhancements to the GPS system's services to civil users. The U.S. Air Force owns and operates the GPS constellation, which now consists of 30 satellites. Despite efforts by the Clinton administration to give the civil side a greater say in GPS' future, civil stakeholders have remained somewhat marginalized, according to Jeffrey Shane, under secretary for policy at the DOT.
FlightSafety International, Flushing, N.Y., promoted James S. Waugh to the position of executive vice president. Waugh joined FlightSafety in 1976. In addition, Dick Grant was promoted to assistant manager of FlightSafety's Savannah Learning Center. Grant was most recently the Savannah Center's director of standards.
How secure is business aviation in the post-9/11 era? For that matter, how secure is your operation? The questions and your answers to them are fairly fundamental. After all, one of the justifications for owning a private jet is security -- anonymity and protection when traveling and greater control over one's affairs. So even before the terrorist hijackings of 2001, a strong case could be made that business aviation was more secure than the airlines, perhaps the most secure component in aviation.
Air Serv International, a nonprofit humanitarian air transportation and communications specialist, has been active in tsunami-ravaged Sumatra and Sri Lanka. By mid-January its mixed fleet of business turboprop, turbine helicopter and heavy transport aircraft had flown a variety of relief and logistics flights on behalf of: Missionary Aviation Fellowship, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, World Concern, UN assessment teams, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and U.S. congressional delegations.
The FAA barred Santa Monica, Calif., Municipal Airport (SMO) from seeking new federal funds unless it lifts its ``unjust and discriminatory'' landing fees. In a Jan. 3 determination the FAA said that by implementing and enforcing its Airside Surfaces Maintenance Program (ASMP) and its associated landing fees, the city is discriminating unjustly in violation of ``its statutory obligations and grant assurances.'' The determination stems from a complaint filed by the NBAA on behalf of Bombardier Aerospace and Dassault Falcon Jet.
Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI), Chicago, added Elia Dragone as Northeast sales manager. Dragone, who brings over 20 years' experience in aviation maintenance to the position, was previously with Cessna Aircraft Co.
Because of the wide variety of previously owned Cessna Citations available, the market for these ubiquitous light jets in some ways reflects the state of the overall market for used turbine-powered business aircraft. For instance, newer models that continue to be produced by Cessna command higher prices than discontinued models such as the Citation 500. However, a closer look at each particular type of Citation indicates that, in many cases, each model has strengths and weaknesses that dictate its resale value.
The 1930 Memorial Day celebration in Burbank, Calif., was a spectacular series of events befitting the glitz and glamour of nearby Hollywood. An estimated 25,000 cars brought 200,000 people, including many movie stars, to witness the grand opening of United Airport, which was unabashedly heralded as the first multimillion-dollar aviation facility in the United States.
Since that last page ceased to be the ``first read'' every month, Viewpoint and Washington have brought meaning back to life! However, my faith was shattered in that there was one, or possibly two, errors in David Collogan's piece on Fred McIntosh in the December issue Washington, page 110). First, the definite. The Wichita State University accident occurred on Oct. 2, 1970, not 1969.
EFB hardware provider Advanced Data Research (ADR) and On-Board Data Systems (OBDS) have agreed to offer a bundled Class I/Class II EFB hardware/software package for the ADR Flite-Guide cockpit hardware family and OBDS EFB content management and distribution systems. ADR is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. OBDS is based in Montreal. Tom Murray, president of OBDS, stated that fleet-wide distribution and control of EFB content are key to establishing a formal EFB program.
If only it were possible for helicopter operators to operate full time to FAR Part 29 Category A takeoff and landing standards, they would have the same safety margins -- and peace of mind -- as do their fixed-wing transport brothers. But they cannot.
I've been reading your magazine for about six years and have always enjoyed it. I like the good grasp of facts your writers have about aviation (especially Fred George) as well as some of the great articles you've had including my personal favorite ``Jet Pets.''
The National Air Transportation Association is applauding the FAA's decision to again delay implementation of a Handbook Bulletin (HBAW 04-06) that would force some FAR Part 135 operators to implement more-complex aviation maintenance programs or seek STCs for removing seats on their aircraft. Released in August 2004, the bulletin covers Part 135 operators of aircraft with more than nine seats but that have removed, blocked off or placarded seats to enable the aircraft to be treated as if having nine or fewer seats for maintenance program purposes.
Jet Source, Carlsbad, Calif., appointed Deborah Shepard to the new position of executive charter sales representative. Shepard will be responsible for promoting Jet Source's expanding aircraft charter services nationally.
Hartzell Propeller Inc. says its new blended airfoil propeller system for the Adam A500 is the first production aircraft installation to meet the FAA's new stringent ice encounter requirements for pusher propellers. All new pusher propeller installations, such as the aft propeller on the Adam A500, must ingest airframe ice shed during an inadvertent icing encounter without causing a hazardous condition.
U.S. turboprop operators were involved in 45 accidents, of which 14 were fatal, claiming 34 passengers and crewmembers in 2004. Those totals compare with 50 accidents (18 fatal) that claimed 42 lives in 2003. The number of fatalities for corporate/executive turboprop operations quintupled -- from two in 2003 to 10 in 2004 -- the result of the Oct. 24 crash near Virginia's Martinsville/Blue Ridge Airport (MTV) of a King Air that was operated by Hendrick Motorsports Team.
Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250-C30 and -C47 engines -- Conduct initial and repetitive electrical-signal inspections of the hydromechanical unit (HMU) power-lever angle potentiometer. Replace the existing HMU with a new design HMU as a mandatory terminating action to the inspection requirements.
Ian Patterson joined international business aviation group PrivatAir as vice president of aircraft sales, acquisitions and management. He is responsible for the division's activities at PrivatAir's offices at Florida's Palm Beach International Airport.
