A power surge in the area around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on April 12 caused a blackout for as long as 90 seconds, affecting the airport and control tower and ultimately delaying as many as 100 arriving flights, the FAA said.
G.E. (Jerry) Schlesinger, is teaming up once again with Bill Boisture -- this time at NetJets. Schlesinger resigned as president and CEO of Aerospace Products International (API) to accept the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer at NetJets, reporting to Boisture, who was named president in fall 2003. Schlesinger is based at NetJets operational headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and assumed his new duties on April 19. He and Boisture worked together at Butler Aviation, where they served as executive vice president and president, respectively.
Thumbtacked to the wall of Denise R. Jones' office at the NASA Langley Research Center is a single sheet of paper with five bullets, one of which reads: ``Stop Runway Incursions/Ground Collisions of Aircraft.'' That lofty goal is one of the most enduring aviation safety upgrades on the NTSB's to-do list, and one that NASA mobilized Jones and others to take on four years ago.
Max-Viz, Inc. announced that it has won FAA STC approval for its EVS-1000 Enhanced Vision System on the Bombardier Global Express. Transport Canada issued its STC for the system earlier this year. The EVS-1000 uses single- or dual-panel mounted displays instead of a HUD. Max-Viz says either it or one of its dealers holds FAA STCs for the Bell 212/412; Challenger 600, 601 and 604; Global Express; Falcon 50/50EX; and Falcon 900A, B, C and EX.
Mercury Air Centers opened its 20th FBO at the Newport News/Williamsburg, Va., International Airport (PHF) and unveiled plans for a new terminal facility there. According to John Enticknap, Mercury vice president and chief executive officer, the new terminal is designed as an upscale facility providing first-class amenities for flight crews and passengers.
Global Jet Services, Inc., West Simsbury, Conn., a provider of on-site aviation maintenance training, has appointed Dave Benoff as vice president. Dave is B/CA's former maintenance editor. In addition, Arthur J. Risco has been hired as head of Falcon training.
Manufacturers love it. They say it has been the most helpful tool of the general aviation industry since Congress passed production liability protections in the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994. But they also say its usefulness is all but depleted, and they need more time. The ``it'' is bonus depreciation, a tax incentive designed as a short-term device to spur sales and help pick up the sagging economy.
Triumph also announced that several of its operations in the Phoenix area, including Triumph Components-Arizona, Triumph Thermal Processing, Advanced Materials Technologies, and Special Processes of Arizona, will be combined to form a new company, Triumph Engineered Solutions, Inc., which will be part of the Aftermarket Services Group. Richard Wisniewski, formerly president of Triumph Air Repair, will become president of Triumph Engineered Solutions, Inc.
Global Jet Shares, Inc., Dallas, Texas, has named Mark Ozenick chief operating officer. Ozenick has 27 years of aviation industry experience and is founder of HeliFlite Shares.
Bombardier Aerospace, So Paulo, Brazil, has named Humberto (Bert) Moas sales director for South America, with responsibility for all new and preowned business aircraft sales involving Bombardier's three business jet families: Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global.
A LOT OF KING AIRS find their way into Cause & Circumstance. A part of the reason for that, of course, is the Beechcraft turboprop's popularity -- it has become business aviation's workhorse. But beyond that it seems to me that far too many King Air flights come to grief because of a failure in basic airmanship on the part of their crews. Perhaps this is happening because the King Air is generally so forgiving of abuse and ineptitude that pilots forget that it -- like any other airplane -- is subject to unforgiving laws of aerodynamics.
At 0150 on Aug. 6, 1997, Korean Air-lines Flight 801 slammed into a hill 3.5 nm short of Runway 06L at Agana, Guam. The crash, which occurred while the crew was conducting a nonprecision localizer DME approach in darkness and rain, claimed 229 lives.
NASA, industry and academia are preparing for a flight test this summer that will pit the latest and greatest in synthetic vision systems for business and commercial aviation against the forces of nature and the folly of man.
Six years ago, one of the hottest arguments in aircraft resales was whether the Bluebook and Vref value reference guides should carry two sets of valuation tables, one for aircraft that followed the traditional utilization model, i.e., 300-500 hours per year, and one for high-time aircraft formerly used in fractional ownership.
Experimental Aircraft Association, Oshkosh, Wis., has named Rick Larsen vice president of marketing. Larsen has 25 years of aviation industry experience.
The GAMA Board of Directors unanimously approved Argo-Tech Corp. and Diamond Aircraft Industries as new members of the international trade association. Argo-Tech will be represented on GAMA's board by the company's chairman, president and CEO, Michael Lipscomb. Diamond Aircraft will be represented on by its president, Peter Maurer.
Two new technologies are emerging that could hold some interesting challenges for cabin electronics avionics engineers and anyone involved with issues of portable electronic devices on aircraft.
Compiling our annual Purchase Planning Handbook usually provides B/CA editors with an opportunity to note significant milestones and evolutionary possibilities in business aviation. And this year is no exception.
Daniel Webster College, Nashua, N.H., has named Chris Castell director of flight education/chief instructor. Castell is a member of DWC's class of 1988 and was most recently the school's assistant director of flight operations/ flight services.
ARINC Engineering Services successfully flight tested a new precision approach and landing system designed to withstand electronic jamming. The test, conducted at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., is part of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) program to develop the next-generation precision approach and landing system for the Department of Defense.
Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites received the world's first license for commercial manned suborbital rocket flight. The Mojave, Calif.-based company is flight testing its SpaceShipOne manned, reusable contender for the X Prize, a $10 million award for carrying three people to suborbital altitudes, returning and repeating the flight within 10 days. The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation issued the license, good for one year, which is a requirement to qualify to compete for the X Prize.
China's AVIC I Commercial Aircraft picked Goodrich Hella Aerospace Lighting Systems as a supplier for its ARJ21 regional jet. Goodrich plans to supply exterior, interior and cockpit lighting using its Light Emitting Diode (LED) and High Intensity Discharge (HID) technologies. The company claims those systems reduce direct maintenance costs and extend the time between unscheduled repairs. AVIC I plans to build two versions of the ARJ21 -- a 78- to 85-seater and one seating 78 to 105 passengers. First deliveries are set for 2007.
The pilots of the brand-new light jet anxiously awaited the appearance of the proud owner and principal passenger whose arrival at the ramp had been delayed because of a business appointment. Finally, he arrived, his bags were stowed and engines started -- all according to the AFM checklist.
