To help memorialize Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and recognize those members of the U.S. armed services who demonstrated extraordinary heroism under fire, Jet Aviation is giving flight crews who visit its U.S. bases complimentary copies of ``Medal of Honor.'' The handsome coffee-table book profiles 118 recipients of the nation's highest medal and includes sections written by former President George Bush, U.S. Sen. John McCain, and NBC newsman Tom Brokaw.
Tom Weil is the 2003 recipient of the Joseph P. Crotti Award for General Aviation Advocacy in California. AOPA President Phil Boyer presented the award to him in September. Weil is the airport manager at California City Municipal Airport (L71) and a member of the board of directors for the Association of California Airports. The Crotti Award cites Weil for ``extraordinary advocacy and leadership in the preservation of general aviation funds during the 2002-2003 California budget crisis.''
B/E Aerospace, Inc. announced that it has expanded its Ice Shield deicer product line for general aviation aircraft, introducing pneumatic deicers for: Beech 1900D; Cessna Citation 501, 525 and 551 and Cessna 210, T210, P210, T-303 Crusader and 441 Conquest; Jetstream 32; Pilatus PC-12; Piper Aerostar 600, 601 and 602, PA-46 310, 350 Malibu/Mirage and PA-42 Cheyenne. B/E also has Ice Shield systems for various Embraer, Gulfstream, Fairchild and Mitsubishi aircraft, as well as for other Beech, Cessna and Piper models.
Thunder Aviation, the aircraft servicing company and FBO based at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS), is teaming with Honeywell in offering RVSM upgrades for Falcon 20s equipped with either APS 105 or SPZ 500 autopilots. The company, which anticipates FAA award of a group STC for the update in December, says the retrofit will require about two weeks of downtime and cost $165,000. Thunder plans to offer RVSM upgrades for Falcon 10 aircraft beginning in March 2004.
Air Security International introduced ASI Travel Security Manager, a system that enables security departments to track travelers and set alerts, advisories and notification trees that will distribute critical information automatically to employees around the globe. At the same time, ASI announced an alliance with Nationwide Intelligence to use the latter's city and airport information covering 50 of the most popular business travel destinations in the United States for the ASI Travel Security Manager service.
Mxi Technologies announced that Dassault Aviation has selected its Maintenix maintenance management software for tracking the utilization and reliability of its customer fleet. ``Faster access to a complete data set of the performance of our aircraft fleet will help us as a manufacturer to provide the best level of customer support,'' said Jacques Pellas, Dassault Aviation Information Systems, senior vice president.
Banyan Air Service plans to build a new 25,000-square-foot terminal to be completed by winter 2004 at Florida's Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE). The two-story FBO will house a 2,800-square-foot customer lobby with a 35-foot-long customer service desk, a television lounge, pilot lounge, snooze room and separate full-size bunk room, shower facilities, a weather and flight planning room, two conference rooms, a business center, wireless Internet, public phone terminals, a large vending area, a baggage holding area, six restrooms and 22 offices.
Flight Safety Technologies (FST) Inc. completed a three-week data collection experiment with its Socrates wake vortex sensor, part of a NASA-sponsored wake acoustics test at Denver International Airport (DEN). Socrates transmits low-power laser beams into a given space. A reflector sends the beams back to a receiver, and the system measures changes in the speed of the light waves of the beams. These changes indicate that the laser has interacted with sound waves emanating from nearby or far-off air disturbances.
Athens International Airport will have its first general aviation terminal ready in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics, officials say. The terminal, which will have its own access to a new freeway, will house an executive passenger lounge and have immigration and customs services. Handling agents will share offices in the building. The airport authority says that it will be able to cope with extra business jet movements, but for the Olympics, visitors must book parking and slots well in advance.
Standard Aero International, Tilburg, the Netherlands, has appointed Kees Hage vice president and general manager of the company's facility there, which provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for turbine engines.
The Maxa Beam searchlight delivers six million candlepower illumination in a 3.2-pound handheld unit. Using a highly efficient 75-watt Xenon short arc lamp with a life of over 500 hours, this searchlight reaches targets 1.5 miles away. Using the unit's programmable electronic thumb control, operators can vary the size of the beam from a wide 40-degree flood to a narrow 1-degree beam, vary the intensity of the light, and activate the strobe function, all with one hand.
For Dan Stocks, president of Allen Investment, Aviation and Marine in Newburgh, Ind., the tanking of Starship prices was a watershed. He'd been lusting after a Starship for more than five years, and in August he picked up serial number NC29, a Model 2000A, for $600,000. For owner/pilot Stocks, who'd been flying himself around in a Swearingen Merlin IIIA, the Starship was not only a bargain, it was a step-up airplane. ``It's a lot of airplane for the money,'' he said. Price prohibited Stocks from moving up to an entry-level jet.
Kids love to pretend they're flying airplanes just like the one their mom or dad flies, and now they can have their own headset like grown-up pilots. Constructed from rugged, nontoxic plastic, the headset is an authorized replica of Flightcom's Denali aviation headset and is designed for children ages three and up. The mic boom is reinforced for easy positioning and each set is fitted with real foam ear seals. B/CA readers will receive a $5.00 discount per order when purchasing the headset online and entering the discount code (``aviationnow'').
Duncan Aviation recently installed and certified a Universal TAWS system in an IAI 1125. The system will display on a UNS-1C plus system. Duncan holds several IAI 1125 STCs, including RVSM, TCAS II, EGPWS, APU and G100 cabin interior.
Kenneth E. Gazzola has assumed the position of publishing director of B/CA, A/C Flyer and B/CA Show News in addition to his responsibilities as executive vice president/publisher of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week Group. The position of publisher has been eliminated from these publications. Former Publisher Gil Wolin is in discussions to become a consultant to the group for new business. In addition, Regional Sales Manager Kenneth Ross has been appointed sales director for B/CA, A/C Flyer and B/CA Show News.
United Airlines has committed to an 11-year United Express partnership with Air Wisconsin. United filed a motion in bankruptcy court reserving the right to change or reject the tentative agreement the two companies had reached earlier this year. The final deal lets Air Wisconsin fly up to 60 50-seat Bombardier CRJs -- 17 more than it flies in its Express operations. Air Wisconsin will also be allowed to fly 17 BAe 146s through 2005 and at least 10 after that.
Jet Aviation Geneva is now an authorized Bombardier Global Express service facility, able to perform line and base maintenance on GEX airframes and engines and to perform warranty repairs and modifications. Jet Aviation Geneva also is authorized to perform work on Boeing, Gulfstream and Raytheon aircraft as well as on the Lockheed JetStar.
Primedia's AC-U-KWIK has published its 2003-2004 World Edition, with more than 1,100 pages of updated and expanded airport/FBO information. In addition, the guide now contains a dedicated worldwide charter section. The charter listings are sorted geographically and provide the operator's name, phone, fax, e-mail and Web site information. To make this edition easier to use, the publication has tabbed pages separating its various divisions. The World Edition includes an accompanying Windows-based CD-ROM at no additional charge. Price: $74.95 Primedia 9800 Metcalf Ave.
These graphs are designed to provide preliminary estimates of the Raisbeck Learjet 35/36ZR system compared with the original version, based upon early flight-test results provided by Nate Lachendro on Raisbeck's engineering team and Learjet flight-planning guides. The stock airplane is represented by the blue lines and labels on the charts, and red lines and labels are used for the ZR. Note: Sufficient data were not available to prepare B/CA's Time and Fuel vs. Distance graph.
Raytheon Aircraft Services, Wichita, has named two new executives. Harold (Skip) Madsen is vice president and general manager of RAS, and Chuck Curry is general manager of RAS San Antonio. Madsen assumes all responsibility for the company's 12 FBOs, and Curry will be responsible for management and growing RAS San Antonio's service and modification business.
Cessna Aircraft Co. is now offering a new Web-based Citation maintenance service called CESCOM Online. The site will allow customers to monitor their maintenance records anywhere, 24 hours a day. Current CESCOM subscribers can convert to the new system, eliminating printed material and mail delays. To take a demo tour of the site, go to http://support.cessna.com. Price: Free to customers Cessna Aircraft Co. P.O. Box 7706 Wichita, KS 67277 Phone: (316) 517-6291; Fax: (316) 517-7812 http://support.cessna.com
Jay Mesinger CEO, J. Mesinger Corporate Jet Sales, Inc., Boulder, Colo. Vice Chairman, National Aircraft Resale Association, Washington, D.C. Upon completing university studies, Mesinger grabbed a job in the suds business offered by his godfather, Frank Horlock, the Miller Beer baron of Houston. When a Piper Navajo caught his interest, Horlock sought the advice of his godson, a pilot since his teens. Horlock ended up buying the dealership and put Mesinger in charge of Houston Piper. By 1975, Mesinger owned the place, then Piper's largest dealer.
TAG Aviation, San Francisco, has named Robert Tyler vice president of flight operations and standards. Tyler has more than 30 years of experience in global flight operations, management and consulting in military, airline and corporate environments.
Clay Lacy Aviation has an agreement with Los Angeles-based V-Log, Inc., developer of a digital document imaging, storage and retrieval system for private aircraft aviation records and documentation. Under the terms of the agreement, Clay Lacy Aviation will serve as the first certified V-Log Imaging Center and will work to implement the system for up to 35 business aircraft in the next few months.
Bombardier delivered the 600th Challenger on Oct 8. S/n 5557 was turned over to Clearwater Fine Foods of Bedford, Nova Scotia, at the NBAA convention in Orlando. The Challenger 604 is the fifth iteration of the design. As of July 31, the fleet had accumulated more than 2.45 million hours.
