According to the chief pilot of a major West Coast charter/management firm, life would be easier for commercial operators if the feds would make an effort to coordinate their security databases.
The Falcon 7X is on schedule to be rolled out in Bordeaux by year-end, marking an important milestone in new aircraft design achievement at Dassault. Notably, it will be the first business aircraft to be fitted with fly-by-wire flight controls and a sidewall-mounted control stick, a system intended to ease pilot workload, provide greater flight envelope safety margins and improve ride comfort for passengers. The 7X will be capable of flying eight passengers 5,700 nm at 0.80 Mach.
Midcoast Aviation is now approved as an FAA Designated Alteration Station (DAS). As such, it can issue STCs and special airworthiness certificates for aircraft that are altered under an STC and require flight tests, and amend standard airworthiness certificates for such aircraft. Issuance of a DAS is a way for the FAA to delegate functions, reduce its workload, and hasten turnarounds for aircraft modification projects, Midcoast said.
The SafetyCell plugs cell phones into aircraft headsets, enabling the wearer to hear radio and phone transmissions simultaneously. The standard system unit is compatible with any cellular telephone that accepts a hands-free 2.5-mm jack. Adapters are available for other types of phones. The standard system unit works without batteries and thus requires a VOX style intercom for it to work properly; however, a battery-operated unit is available as well. Price: $109 Standard System Elite Solutions, Inc. 15455 N. Greenway/Hayden Loop
Kaman hopes to restart its K-MAX medium- to heavy-lift helicopter production line. Recently, Roger Wassmuth, director, K-MAX marketing and business development, said, ``The company has sold or leased seven of the aircraft so far this year. We are selling and leasing K-MAXs to a mix of new and repeat customers. The aircraft has established itself in the heavy-lift arena as a highly reliable performer.
Even though $100 million has been authorized to compensate general aviation businesses for losses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the House version of the FY 2005 transportation appropriations bill included no compensation funding. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) continued to urge funding for at least the three small Maryland airports that lie within the no-fly zone over the Washington, D.C., area.
Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S) -- a Pennsylvania-based maker of systems that measure and display critical fight data -- is offering a new analog-interface unit that will support RVSM certification of aircraft equipped with Rockwell Collins AP-104 autopilots, including the Dassault Falcon 20 and Raytheon Hawker. The interface unit provides the autopilot with the altitude-hold signal that is required to obtain RVSM approval. The first interface units have been delivered to USA Jet for retrofit on its Dassault Falcon 20s.
While general aviation businesses continue to struggle for compensation for losses incurred in the aftermath of 9/11, the airlines, which already have received their compensation, are now pushing for tax relief. B/CA affiliate Aviation Daily quoted Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune complaining that the airline industry is overtaxed and the government needs to "take the word 'airline' out of its vocabulary . . . I don't want to see airlines in any more congressional bills, taxes or fees."
ICAO defines RNP as ``a statement of the navigation performance necessary for operation within a defined airspace.'' Another description might be that the RNP value required of an aircraft's nav equipment takes into account all on-board error sources, and those of the space- or ground-based navigation aids in use, in order to enter and fly in that airspace. That is, an aircraft's navigation capability will no longer be specified by the navigation equipment suite carried on board, but by its achievable required navigation performance.
Proposed Rules Bell 407 helicopters -- Create a component history card or equivalent record for each crosstube assembly and establish a retirement index number for those assemblies.
Bank of America has formed the Corporate Aircraft Finance Division (CAF), a new group that combines the assets of The Private Bank's Aviation Finance Division with Banc of America Leasing, Corporate Aircraft Finance to create an entity that has more than 700 clients and $4 billion in aircraft loans and leases.
It was a ``midlife crisis'' that spurred safety-minded Richard Longlott, aviation manager and chief pilot at Harrisburg, Pa.,-based Mi Windows and Doors, Inc., to enroll in the IS-BAO program. ``I was wondering if my operation was safe enough, whether we were doing all we could to make it as safe as possible,'' he told B/CA from his office at Middletown-Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) where Mi bases its single Cessna Citation III.
Air Alsie of Sonderborg, Denmark, will take delivery of the first Danish-registered Falcon 2000EX EASy this month. The aircraft is owned by the Danfoss Group and will be managed by Air Alsie. Jens sterlund, the managing director of Air Alsie, was just back from a three-week EASy flight deck conversion course at FlightSafety International's Teterboro training center when B/CA caught up with him. ``It's the most fantastic thing I've seen for a long time in aviation. It's a major step towards a totally new cockpit concept,'' he said.
You may think it's only a particle filter. . . . But replacing a standard particle separator with a high-technology Inlet Barrier Filter (IBF) system was a key factor in the success of a Bell 407 that recently landed at 24,971 feet density altitude during high-altitude testing in Nepal, according to officials from Aerospace Filtration Systems and Bell Helicopter. ``Reaching that altitude would just not be possible in that helicopter equipped with a standard particle separator,'' said AFS Engineering Sales and Marketing Manager Jay Foster.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation subcommittee passed legislation that encourages President Bush to pursue diplomatic efforts to limit the proliferation of man-portable air defense systems
Executive Jet Management, Cincinnati, recently announced three management changes. Kaj Wren was hired as director of charter vendor standards; Ben Murray was promoted to national vice president, charter sales; and John R. Nelson was promoted to vice president of business systems.
Duncan Aviation's Battle Creek, Mich., facility has obtained Brazilian certification as a repair station. The repair station certificate, issued by Brazil's Departamento de Aviacao Civil, allows the Michigan operation to work on Brazilian-registered aircraft. Duncan Aviation-Battle Creek also has approvals from Europe's JAA and Venezuela. Duncan's Lincoln, Neb., facility has approvals from Brazil, Bermuda, Venezuela, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, China and the JAA.
FOR DECADES, CHARTER operators have sold their aviation expertise to companies that operate their own aircraft. Placing the corporate aircraft on the FAR Part 135 company operations specifications for third-party charter became a natural extension of providing management services to these aircraft owners.
Brian Humphries, currently chairman of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), will take over as CEO on Nov. 1, following the retirement of Fernand Francois, who has served 12 years at the helm. Humphries is also taking over as the chairman of the British Helicopter Advisory Board. Succeeding Humphries as EBAA chair is Dr. Rodolfo Baviera, who represented the Italian Business Aviation Association and is chairman and CEO of Eurofly Service SpA and chairman of Elilario Italia SpA.
Robert Blouin resigned as NBAA senior vice president of operations, effective Aug. 31. He was believed to be a finalist in the search for a new NBAA president, and resigned a few weeks after the association selected Bolen. (See B/CA, September, page 11.) Blouin praised Bolen, saying he ``is absolutely going to be great for the NBAA.'' But, he told our sister publication, The Weekly of Business Aviation, it was time for him to look into other opportunities.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of a transportation appropriations bill, but also did not include funding for general aviation compensation. Industry advocates are hoping to persuade legislators to approve at least partial funding before consideration of the fiscal 2005 transportation appropriations bill is completed.
MB Design, a start-up company in Phoenix, has developed a simple, low-cost adapter kit to upgrade the Honeywell NZ-920 flight management computer to the current NZ-2000. The company is looking for a completion center to participate in seeking an STC for the plug-compatible adapter kit and PMA for its manufacture. MB co-founder Paul Magno says his MB-2K FMS Adapter facilitates installation so that upgrades can be completed in a matter of hours.
The FAA is proposing changes to procedures for obtaining parts manufacturer approval (PMA) and type certification (TC). In notices in the Aug. 25 Federal Register, the FAA released proposed revisions to Order 8110.42, Parts Manufacturer Approval Procedures, and Order 8100.4, Type Certification. The agency said the draft revision to the PMA rules does not change existing policies, but clarifies procedures and simplifies the format.
