Federal flight deck officers (FFDOs) should be able to carry guns on their person as regular law enforcement officers do, Air Line Pilots Association President Duane Woerth told House lawmakers. The law says FFDOs must store their guns in a lock box in a nondescript bag until inside the cockpit, and if an FFDO deadheads or commutes, the bag must go into the cargo hold.
Lufthansa Technik has been designated an authorized BBJ service center by Boeing Business Jets -- not surprising, since it has already completed three BBJs for PrivatAir. The agreement was signed at EBACE in Geneva. This gives European operators a choice of three BBJ service centers, the other two being Jet Aviation's facilities at Basel and Geneva.
The NBAA expressed deep concern to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that the multi-step process that foreign nationals must follow to obtain permission for flight training in the United States effectively encourages pilots to seek training in other countries. While the association says it supports the concept of background checks for foreign pilots, it is urging the Department of Justice to work with the flight-training industry to allow U.S. allies worldwide to benefit by receiving flight training from American companies.
These three graphs are designed to provide a broad sketch of the Gulfstream 550's performance, based upon preliminary estimates from Gulfstream's engineering team. Do not use these data for flight planning. Such data will be available for operators from Gulfstream when the aircraft enters service late this year. Time and Fuel vs. Distance -- This graph shows the performance of the G550 at 0.80 Mach recommended long-range cruise and 0.85 Mach normal cruise. The average best range cruise may be slightly slower.
Bombardier Flexjet is offering 60 flight hours, up from 50 hours, in its basic package for fractional clients purchasing one-sixteenth shares in new Bombardier Challenger 604s. The company says most other fractional programs include just 50 flight hours in a basic one-sixteenth fractional ownership share. The change is effective immediately and retroactive for current clients.
Raytheon's first Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) for the FAA was commissioned on April 10 at Kansas City International Airport (KCI) and will be available to assist air traffic controllers before the onset of the region's severe weather season. Current FAA plans call for 34 ITWS systems for 45 major airports that experience severe weather conditions. ITWS provides automated weather information for use by air traffic controllers and supervisors in airport terminal airspace (60 miles around the airport).
Elliott Aviation is now a Michelin Aircraft Tire Authorized Service Center. After completing training, Elliott service technicians can process tire warranty claims right on the shop floor. Company President Wynn Elliott said that receiving Michelin's endorsement ``reaffirms our commitment to our customers to provide excellent customer service with total completions, modifications and service capabilities.'' Elliott Aviation has facilities in Moline, Ill.; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis; and Omaha.
The first European installation of Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Continuum avionics is under way on a Hawker 700, the company reports. The installation is being completed by Gulfstream Aerospace, U.K., with STC certification expected this summer. The Hawker 700 installation features a four-display Collins FDS-2000 Flight Display System, Collins TCAS-4000 Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance System and dual Collins AHS-3000 Attitude Heading Reference Systems. The system is also equipped to meet European requirements for Mode S Elementary Surveillance.
PrivatAir and the ground handling company Swissport International will establish a new joint company, PrivatPort, at Geneva International Airport to focus on services to business jet operators. The partners expect to collaborate to expand PrivatPort globally over the coming years. PrivatAir, founded in 1977, has grown to be a major force in business jet operations, including corporate shuttle, charter, aircraft sales and aircraft management services with a current owned and managed fleet of over 50 aircraft worldwide.
Viacom/Paramount Pictures, Van Nuys, Calif., has promoted Linda Carpenter to director of aircraft logistics, corporate aviation. Carpenter is responsible for scheduling flight crews, coordinating executive travel and managing office personnel.
The 2003 recipients of the EBACE European Business Aviation Awards, which honor individuals from the business aviation community in Europe, are Ahid Quntar, managing director of Royal Wings/Arab Wings, and Andrew Walters, chairman of Regional Airports Ltd. The awards were presented in May during EBACE 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Signature Flight Support, Orlando, has named David W. Hall general manager of the company's facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC). Hall comes to Signature with 28 years of aviation experience. In addition, Signature has promoted eight-year company veteran Suzanne Alton to client service manager at its Orlando corporate headquarters. Previously, Alton was operations manager for the company's facility at Denver Centennial Airport.
The FAA has divided WAAS boxes into three groups: Beta: Basic sensor that provides position, velocity and time (PVT) with integrity warnings. WAAS approach database, vertical and lateral approach guidance, and other navigation functions are provided by an FMS box to which the Beta box is linked. Gamma: Stand-alone receiver with user controls, typically panel- or console-mounted, with an internal navigation and approach procedure database, that provides PVT, lateral and vertical guidance commands to an external indicator and the aircraft's flight guidance system.
Keystone Helicopter Corp.'s Helicopter Services Division and Engine Services Division have each received FAA Diamond Certificates for the sixth consecutive year. To qualify for the award, a minimum of 25 percent of eligible employees must be recipients of individual FAA training awards. At Keystone, 58 percent of eligible employees in the two divisions received individual awards.
Whatever your company's plans for exhibiting at the Paris Air Show, your literature can be there. The U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration Office of Aerospace wants companies to know that there will be an Aerospace Products Literature Center (APLC) in the U.S. Pavilion at the show as there has been since the 1980s. According to Anthony Largay at the Market Development Division, the APLC is well known to attendees at the show.
Polish airline LOT has signed a final agreement with Embraer to acquire 10 Embraer 170s. The contract also includes options for an additional 11 units with the flexibility to convert them into larger (yet to fly) Embraer 190 and 195 models. The first of LOT's 170 deliveries are due in early 2004. The Polish national airline is planning to replace its four leased Boeing 737-500s and its 14 ERJ 145s with 70-seat Embraer 170s.
Rockwell Collins Pro Line radios have been certified to meet European Mode S Elementary Surveillance requirements. The group STC covers more than 200 different business and regional airline aircraft. Elementary Surveillance allows the active transponder to reply to ground-based secondary surveillance radar interrogations with aircraft identification and altitude information.
When the G550 enters service late this year, FlightSafety International will have a complete pilot training program in place, including new classrooms with flat-panel displays that emulate the PlaneView avionics system, new flight training devices and a Level D G550 simulator. FSI's training now includes mechanic and flight attendant instruction for Gulfstream operators as well. Mechanics receive classroom, mockup, systems and hands-on aircraft training.
The NBAA advises that the FAA has established a special traffic management program (STMP) for the summer season in Nantucket, Mass. When anticipated weather conditions or traffic volume dictates, Boston Center may implement an STMP at Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) anytime between May 15 and Sept. 30 and during the Columbus Day holiday weekend. The STMP would be activated by NOTAM at approximately 6:00 p.m. (EDT) the evening prior to the affected day. For more information, visit www.faa.gov or www.nbaa.org/airspace/notams.htm.
According to an insider, FlyBe will in a few months announce the opening of a new regional hub -- possibly at Exeter, site of the British carrier's headquarters. Currently the airline's main hubs are at Belfast, Birmingham, the Channel Islands and Southampton. This year the airline is expected to break even, carrying around 3.6 million passengers. But Managing Director Jim French said that the airline should be profitable again in 2004. FlyBe is owned by Walker Aviation.
Details of recent accidents and incidents are presented to help avert repetition. April 24 -- A Socata TBM 700B collided with a telephone pole, crashed into the ground and then burst into flames one-half mile short of Runway 18 at Mobile Downtown Airport (BFM) in Mobile, Ala. The pilot was killed and the airplane was destroyed in the post-crash fire. The aircraft was registered to Fleet National Bank and operated by Quest Diagnostics.
The NBAA has been named as a new member of the Department of Homeland Security's Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC). Formed in 1989, ASAC is charged with examining all areas of civil aviation security and providing advice and recommendations to federal officials.
Today, there are two performance contests going on in the heavy iron business aircraft market. Gulfstream's G550 is competing for first place. Everyone else is competing for second place. If that conclusion seems brash, consider this: B/CA's May 2003 Purchase Planning Handbook shows that the G550, with topped tanks, can fly a longer distance with more passengers than any other current production business jet. It's the one and only business jet than can fly eight passengers from New York to Tokyo against 99 percent probability headwinds.
Artist Domenic DeNardo is offering a limited-edition issue of his Aviation Week award-winning painting, ``No Quarry Today,'' depicting Capt. Don Gentile and Lt. John Godfrey of the 4th Fighter Group, 336th Fighter Squadron on a mission outside Munich in March 1944. Heralded by the Air Force as the top leader/wingman duo in the European theater of operations, the P-51 team became the 8th Air Force's most celebrated fighter element by virtue of their mutually supportive tactics.
At a time when business aviation has not only become a viable alternative to the airlines but for some a corporate necessity, there have never been more choices available for accessing private aircraft. A combination of factors -- a ``perfect storm'' of circumstances, one observer put it -- has resulted in the emergence of multiple marketing vehicles for volume purchase of charter services, some claimed to yield all the advantages of fractional ownership at a lower cost and without fractional's responsibilities.
