Corporate Angel Network broke its previous monthly record in October, arranging 210 flights for cancer patients and their families to and from treatment facilities. You can find out more at www.corporateangelnetwork.org.
Wulfsberg Electronics and Chelton Avionics are now offering a new space-saving, panel-mounted navigation, communications and identification controller interchangeable with Bendix, AlliedSignal and Chelton Series III control displays. The FliteLine combined nav/comm control and display unit occupies half the space of earlier units, ideal for RVSM compliance. The controller features bright, full-color displays. Since the installation does not require new wiring, installation time is minimal.
The GAMA board of directors voted Cirrus Design to membership in the organization. The Duluth, Minn., builder of the SR20 and SR22 aircraft will be represented on the GAMA board by Cirrus CEO Alan Klapmeier.
Aircraft Specialists has opened a new satellite FAA Part 145 repair station at McCullom Airport in Kennesaw, Ga. Arthur T. (Skip) Moore, Aircraft Specialists' chief inspector, reports the satellite shares the capabilities of the company's main facility at Lawerenceville, Ga. (LZU) that has authorization to work on Challengers, Learjets, 500- and 600-series Citations, King Airs, Hawkers, Beechjets and IAI Westwind 1124s and 1124As. It also has Radio Class I, II and III certifications. David Zorger has been named director of maintenance.
The G450 gets a considerably more-robust APU that produces 44 percent more bleed air and 33 percent more AC electrical power than the 36-100G aboard older Gulfstream IV series aircraft. It has virtually the same capacity as the APU fitted to the Bombardier CRJ 200. The new unit features a FADEC-like Electronic Engine Control, an oil-cooled generator, an upgraded gear box and a ported shroud around the compressor that eliminates the need for a compressor bleed valve. It can be started and run up to FL 370 and it's fully integrated with the Primus PlaneView avionics suite.
AOPA President Phil Boyer told FAA Administrator Marion Blakey that continued pressure from her agency to enforce airport grant obligations is crucial to protecting America's airports. At a meeting with Blakey, FAA senior managers and the General Aviation Coalition, Boyer highlighted several instances, including the latest win in St. Petersburg, Fla., in which the threat of FAA grant obligation enforcement actions protected a general aviation airport.
Allendale, N.J., has added Jim Schneider as director of sales. Schneider's background includes FAR Part 145 repair station, Part 135 charter and Part 121 airline management experience.
L-3 Avionics Systems is certifying a WAAS-capable, small, low-cost GPS receiver. The company is aiming the product primarily at system integrators. The 1.6-by-3.2-by-0.4-inch receiver will meet FAA TSO-C145a and RTCA DO-229C Class Beta-1 requirements and utilize DO-178B Level B software assurance, and will be qualified to DO-160D environmental categories.
Shrike Makes Final Flight Airshow legend Bob Hoover has made his Shrike Commander's final flight. The Shrike had been on loan to the International Sport Aviation Museum in Lakeland, Fla., until it could be displayed in the new National Air and Space Museum annex at Washington's Dulles International (IAD), set to open Dec. 15 (see ``Building for History,'' page 56). Hoover flew the green and white aircraft to Washington where he did a fly-by over the huge hangar-shaped museum before touching down for the last time.
PrivatAir added a 14-seat Falcon 900B to its charter fleet in Europe. Owned by a Dutch investor, the aircraft is based in Amsterdam. The Falcon is the first conventional business jet in PrivatAir's European fleet -- its other European-based aircraft are Boeing and Airbus models. The company also recently added a Gulfstream IV to its U.S.-based charter fleet.
A Short Brothers Skyvan SC7 operated by an air carrier crashed just after takeoff Nov. 8, killing a flight attendant and one passenger and injuring the pilots and three other passengers. The aircraft, 8R-GMC, was taking off from Georgetown, Guyana, under visual meteorological conditions. The flight was a charter that was carrying workers to a mining operation. Within a minute after takeoff, at an altitude of 200 to 300 feet, the pilot declared an emergency and said he was going to attempt to land in a cane field.
Technicians need clearly defined goals that allow them to move up the chain of command. What follows is one ``blue chip'' flight department's guidelines of duties and expectations for technician advancement. Technician Responsibilities (1) Perform aircraft inspections on schedule. (2) Monitor aircraft, equipment and computer maintenance programs. (3) Perform all necessary troubleshooting, repairs and servicing of aircraft and equipment. (4) Prepare aircraft to meet flight schedule. (5) Dispatch, recover and tow aircraft.
During an ICAO safety audit, the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) found that some U.S. corporate jet copilots are flying into the United Kingdom without the relevant aircraft type ratings. The ICAO and JAA rules require both pilots of ``commercial'' aircraft with MTOW of more than 12,500 pounds to hold a type rating. According to the U.K.'s Department for Transport, ``At least two U.S.-registered corporate jets were found to be operating with non-type-rated copilots'' during spot checks at London Luton Airport in October.
The Embraer 170 commercial airliner received provisional type certification from the Brazilian airworthiness authority, Centro Tecnico Aeroespacial (CTA), on Nov. 13.
Born to wealth and influence -- the family fortune from papermaking dated back to the colonial era -- Paul Butler became an accomplished horseman and photographer as a youngster. Both skills stood him in good stead when the Guns of August sounded the opening of World War I, and young Butler embarked for Europe with the American expeditionary forces, first serving as a cavalry officer and later transferring to a photographic reconnaissance unit. The latter group used airplanes as its platforms, which the junior officer from Chicago was soon piloting.
AS I WRITE, MY BRIDE IS in the basement happily and fully engaged in slathering the walls with a double dose of Benjamin Moore Flamingo Flower something or other latex paint -- and no aid is expected or requested. This indefatigable woman has amazing qualities: She ably mothers two teens and an 11-year-old, writes books, can make a wedding cake for 100, feeds an unappreciative brood nightly, and picks up after me, occasionally without complaint. That said, some of her proclivities do give pause.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta named six new members to the FAA's Management Advisory Council (MAC). The MAC advises FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and other senior agency officials on matters of management, policy, spending and regulations. Members are volunteers who retain their private sector positions. The new members are: Angela Gittens, director of the Miami, Fla., International Airport; Alan R. Mulally, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes; David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways; Robert L. Crandall, retired CEO of American Airlines; Paul E.
Jet Partners' UltraJet division ordered 100 Avocet ProJets. UltraJet is the private jet club membership arm of Jet Partners. The ProJet is a new 6- to 8-place, twin turbojet developed specifically for the air taxi and charter business, officials say. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in January 2007.
Aviation Research Group/U.S. has launched its Safety Officer Support Program (ASOS), which provides an Internet-enabled solution for operators that need to set up and run a fully functional flight safety program. ASOS offers business aircraft operators safety materials and articles for distribution to crews, maintenance personnel and management. Members receive progressive, monthly audit checklists, procedures, research briefs, event tracking and industry benchmarking of enforcement actions, accidents and incidents.
AvantAir (formerly Skyline Aviation) has exercised its last two Avanti options, bringing the fractional operator's Piaggio P-180 Avanti fleet to 12. This order extends Piaggio's order backlog for the Avanti into 2006. Piaggio America announced at the NBAA convention that the AvantAir order is the second major transaction between the companies in the past 13 months.
Stevens Aviation Dayton has two new STCs, covering the installation of a Honeywell MK VI Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) and a Honeywell CAS-67 Traffic Collision Avoidance System II in King Air 200s and B200s. The EGPWS uses GPS and a terrain database to give pilots a clear picture of terrain or obstacles ahead of and below the aircraft that may pose a collision threat. The TCAS-II displays air traffic information and conflict advisories.
Taking a cue from Marquis Jet Card, CitationShares has introduced ``Vector,'' its own jet card program. Vector is aimed at the ``concept customer'' who has no aviation background and no interest in the complexities of aircraft ownership and operations. The Vector card provides 25 hours of prepaid flight time operated under FAR Part 135. The card will carry the same benefits and access to the CitationShares fleet as fractional shares without the ownership details.
BAe Systems Regional Aircraft has delivered a Jetstream 32, s.n. 835, to Rompetrol Logistics SA of Bucharest, Romania, for its newly created flight division. The aircraft has been reconfigured from a 19-seat airliner interior into a 12-seat corporate layout and will be used as an executive shuttle for Rompetrol Logistics and for local charter services.
The FAA approved Horizon Air Bombardier Q400s equipped with Rockwell Collins' Flight Dynamics HGS-4200 head up guidance systems to make single-engine approaches to CAT III airports with ceilings as low as 200 feet and 1,800 feet RVR. Steve Bush, Q400 technical pilot at Horizon Air, commented, ``This is a great advantage in selecting more desirable alternate airports, simplifying fuel planning and increasing payload capability when many of our destinations have low visibility.
