NBAA MEMBERS HAVE a lot to celebrate at this month's convention in Las Vegas. The economy has turned around. Flight hours are up. And, in a month or so, after the elections are over, it may be possible for corporate pilots to file direct, point-to-point flight plans without having to deviate around half a dozen temporary flight restriction (TFR) areas.
JetCorp, Chesterfield, Mo., a full-service FBO located at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS), has named Michella Ballard to the position of marketing coordinator.
American Express Co., Newburgh, N.Y., recently named Daniel C. Jackson chief pilot of its flight department, replacing R. John Bates. In addition, James C. Oakes has been named assistant chief pilot.
According to a report issued by the FAA, FY2004 appears to be the fourth year in a row of reductions in the most serious types (Category A and B) of runway incursions. Agency officials said on Aug. 31 there had been 25 Category A and B incursions to date during the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. There were 32 of these incursions in FY2003, 37 in FY2002, 53 in FY2001 and 67 in FY2000. The FAA's strategic plan sets a performance goal of no more than 40 incursions for the current fiscal year and no more than 27 serious incursions for FY2008.
FlightSafety International, Flushing, N.Y., has announced three promotions: Julie Goodridge is now assistant manager at the company's West Palm Beach, Fla., Learning Center, Chuck Milhiser is assistant manager at the Tucson Learning Center and Charles (Chip) White is manager of the Long Beach, Calif., Learning Center.
The FAA will activate a Special Traffic Management Program (STMP) from Oct. 8 to 18 in Las Vegas to overlap the NBAA annual convention there. The action requires all IFR flights to or from the Las Vegas area to obtain a slot reservation prior to filing a flight plan. Effected airports are Las Vegas McCarran (LAS), Henderson Executive (HND), North Las Vegas (VGT), Boulder City Airport (61B) and Jean Airport (0L7). According to the NBAA, most FBOs in the Las Vegas area also require ramp reservations.
Zurich-based ExecuJet Aviation Group has acquired Frankfurt-based Jet Connection Businessflight AG. Both companies are Bombardier FlexJet Europe preferred business jet operators. ExecuJet Europe manages a fleet of more than 50 aircraft, 13 of which are available for charter and deployed across mainland Europe and the United Kingdom. The mainly Bombardier fleet is operated under Swiss, Danish and now German JAR Ops-1 commercial certificates.
While IS-BAO is managed and administered by IBAC, the program materials are sold through the Council's signatory members, such as the NBAA in the United States or the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) in Europe. Cost is $950 for program documents and the generic operations manual template; also included is a CD containing all the materials in digital form that allows customization of the template to fit the scope of the operation.
THE KEY ELEMENTS in any fractional aircraft program as outlined in FAR Part 91 Subpart K are co-ownership, a dry lease exchange and common aircraft management. Back in the early to mid-'90s the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM) 9314002 and Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 9404006 indicating the agency's position on the application of the commercial Federal Excise Tax (FET) on the amounts paid for the use of an aircraft operated in such programs.
Just how secure is general aviation? A visit to any air carrier or reliever airport in the vicinity of major population centers can convince the observer that the system is locked down, but what about smaller metropolitan airports or those in rural areas of the United States?
The RD3 (Rapid Damage Detection Device) is a hand-held, non-destructive inspection instrument that can be used to detect voids, degradation and delaminations in composite structures. Designed to replace tapping with a coin or traditional tap hammer, the RD3, also known as the Electronic Digital Tap Hammer, supplements the subjective sound discrimination of the operator with a quantitative, objective numeric readout.
An NTSB law judge ordered the FAA to reverse an emergency revocation of the pilot and mechanic licenses of the owner of Long Island-based charter airline Air East. In the Sept. 9 ruling, Judge William Mullins said there was ``no evidence presented'' by the FAA that Michael Tarascio violated any regulations. Tarascio's attorney, Gregory Winton, described the reversal of the FAA emergency order as a ``rare decision.'' An Air East Learjet crashed on Aug.
Dassault Falcon Jet's new flight operations center at Teterboro Airport (TEB) is open. The center will house the company's 23-person flight operations department and the Falcon demonstration fleet. Located directly across from Dassault's headquarters, the new structure is also home to three Falcon Jet field service representatives.
L-3 Communications Avionics Systems Landmark 8100 Class B TAWS uses its own WAAS-enabled GPS data to derive its altitude information, making it far simpler to retrofit, L-3 says, than units that must interface with an aircraft's air data system to get corrected barometric altitude data.
The Carlyle Group officially completed its purchase of Garrett Aviation Services from the General Electric Co. on Aug. 27, and has named Frank Klaus president and CEO. Other companies within the group include Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation and Associated Air Center.
ExcelAire added a Gulfstream V based at ISP to its charter fleet, which includes four GIIIs, one GII-SP and a GII-TT. Headquartered at Long Island's MacArthur Airport (ISP), ExcelAire is a full-service business aviation provider offering FAR Part 135 jet and helicopter charter, aircraft management and maintenance. ExcelAire's wholly owned subsidiary, Eastway Aircraft Services, is a Part 145 Repair Station, specializing in heavy jet and helicopter maintenance, and is also based at ISP. For more information on ExcelAire, visit www.excelaire.com.
IT WAS WINTER IN North Dakota and I'd done my time and paid my dues flight instructing through enough brutal, sub-zero blizzards -- the ones so cold they turn airplane oil into a congealed blob. All it took was one travel brochure featuring palm trees, gin-clear waters and the eye-opening revelation that it was possible to fly in tropical paradise and still be on American territory. Suddenly, I was Eastern Air Lines bound to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Dallas Airmotive, Dallas, has named Allan Douglas Meador vice president and general manager of its Forest Park maintenance, repair and overhaul facility.
GAMA's board of directors does not appear to be in a rush to find a permanent replacement for Ed Bolen, who left the association to head the NBAA. In fact, the board will probably wait until after the November election before spooling up a serious search for a successor. Ron Swanda, GAMA's senior vice president of operations and a 22-year veteran of the organization, is interim president. Swanda has served on numerous government advisory committees including NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System and is a member of RTCA's Program Management Committee.
The Global 5000, Bombardier's new contender for Junior Heavyweight Champion, is certainly raising eyebrows in Bordeaux and Savannah. For this competition, the folks in Montreal decided to whack 32 inches out of the fuselage of the Global Express and nearly $12 million out of its list price to create a large-cabin airplane that's poised to take on the best from Dassault and Gulfstream in the $35 million class.
FlightSafety's new training center at TAG's Farnborough facility will include both regional turboprops and business aircraft. The mix includes the Beech 1900D and Saab 340 as well as the Beech King Air B200, Citation CJ2, Citation Bravo, Gulfstream IV and the Hawker 800XP. The center has 14 bays and more simulators will be added later. Simulator installation will start in January 2005, with JAA approvals completed before the official opening at the end of first quarter 2005, says the company.
The U.S. presidential candidates outlined their achievements for general aviation. When asked by the AOPA about the most important actions they have taken as elected officials to support general aviation, President Bush highlighted his signing of the Vision 100 -- Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, while John Kerry touted his support of the General Aviation Revitalization Act. AOPA Pilot magazine posed a series of questions to the campaigns on general aviation issues.
The FAA has awarded a class four rating to Million Air Salt Lake City's Aircraft Repair Station Certificate. The additional designation, the highest classification possible, allows the Salt Lake facility to conduct maintenance and repairs on almost every kind of fixed-wing aircraft. Million Air announced it is the only maintenance facility in Utah to receive a class four rating.
