A new 2,009-foot-tall antenna tower has been proposed for a site 4.8 nm east- southeast of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey. The tower exceeds FAR Part 77 obstruction standards, and the FAA is seeking comments from aircraft operators. The deadline for comments was Jan. 2, but the NBAA says this is likely to be extended for several weeks. For further information on this situation and instructions on where to send written comments, visit www.nbaa.org/airports.
In January, Cessna chose the 1,350-lbf Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615F for the Citation Mustang, the new light jet slated for certification and customer delivery in 2006. The engine will feature a dual-channel FADEC, and initial maintenance intervals will be 1,750 hours for HSI and 3,500 hours for TBO. ``It meets the customer's requirements and it falls well within our capabilities,'' said Alain Bellemare, P&WC president. The PW615F is a 36-month development program, with certification planned for end of 2005.
So the company has bought a helicopter to supplement the fixed-wing aircraft in the flight department, and the CEO wants permanent helipads established at headquarters and some outlying plants. Where do you start?
ARINC Direct announced that it will offer recurrent international operations training sessions monthly at its Annapolis, Md., facility. ARINC Direct is the ARINC business unit focused on corporate aviation. The training was developed in conjunction with Assessment Compliance Group, also of Annapolis, and will be taught by the group's president, Anita Trotter-Cox. FARs require international flight crews to take recurrent training every 12 or 24 months.
IT HAD BEEN SEVERAL YEARS since I'd been there, and I was delighted to once again immerse myself in the blue smoke, the blattering sounds, and the bratwurst-laced-with-kerosene smell of Oshkosh, Wis. To the left were the warbirds, the sleek P-51s, phalanxes of AT-6s, some Korean-era jets, and my favorite, the bent-wing scourge of the South Pacific, the F4U Corsair. Off to the right were the showboats, the visiting heavy lifters, front line fighters, aerobats and such. Wichita's gems, the near-perfect Stagger Beeches, C-195s and Stearmans, were next.
The OEP holds fast to FAA traffic growth forecasts that some industry organizations have questioned. The FAA expects air traffic operations to return to ``pre-Sept. 11 growth patterns'' between 2005 and 2007.
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is the new chairman of the Senate Aviation Subcommittee, instead of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who was originally slated for the post. Hutchison will likely be moved to the surface transportation subcommittee, which she has chaired previously. A Democratic Senate source told Aviation Daily that Lott's presence on the subcommittee should be good for lawmakers concerned with small community air service.
Frost Navratil Technical Solutions has just released its ApproachView TD-840 remote touchscreen display for electronic flight bags. The 2.7-pound, 8.4-inch display is designed to be mounted on a control yoke. If a GPS is connected to the system, the unit can provide a moving map overlay on both approach and en route charts. The TD-840 can display all Class 2 EFB functions as outlined in Advisory Circular 120-76. If the display is connected to a laptop, operators can synch two units together, allowing pilot and copilot to view the same information.
Garrett Aviation Services, Tempe, Ariz., has named Jeanette McGrath director of marketing. McGrath joined Garrett in 2001 after several years of employment with Garrett's parent company, GE.
It's been a tough couple of decades for U.S. civil helicopter operators. Pet-roleum exploration has been in the doldrums, emergency medical service flights have been curtailed, and corporate use of helicopters has become less popular. Most income sources have dried up, while expenses have risen.
Boise Cascade Corp.'s Mike Pape has won Avfuel Corp.'s 2002 AVTRIP scholarship. Pape, a pilot with more than 20 years of professional aviation experience, plans to continue his education in the Corporate Aviation Management Certificate Program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
The National Air Transportation Administration urged its members to send their non-disclosure forms to the TSA, warning that, ``Despite implementation delays, the Twelve-Five rule will be put into effect in the very near future. At that time, commercial operators of aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more may find themselves in non-compliance with this regulation if they have not properly executed the associated non-disclosure form, obtained the TFSSP and implemented the rule's requirements.''
The FAA requires approved emergency medical equipment to be carried on board large (payload greater than 7,500 pounds) aircraft operated under FAR Part 121, Appendix A. These medical kits are designed for use by a physician or other individual with professional health care certification. While the equipment requirements are often considered minimal, the list forms a good starting point for developing a medical kit for any corporate or charter aircraft.
The Transportation Security Administration has not received non-disclosure agreements from about 100 of the 800 FAR Part 135 operators believed to operate charter aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more as of mid-January. Since the TFSSPs are not publicly disclosed, the TSA requires affected operators to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they can get a copy. It's not likely that an operator can comply without the compliance guidance.
It's official. The Twelve-Five security rules implementation deadline is Feb. 1. The Transportation Security Administration hoped to notify all affected operators of the availability of final Twelve-Five Standard Security Programs (TFSSPs) compliance guidance by Jan. 10. Mailings of the document are currently under way to FAR Part 135 operators who have filed a non-disclosure agreement with the agency. Part 135 operators of aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more must adopt a new security regime.
Weber Aircraft's new 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility officially opened on Jan. 23. Weber, headquartered in Gainesville, Texas, produces a full range of aircraft seating products from combat aircraft ejection seats to airline passenger seats. The company maintains its own comprehensive testing facility and prides itself on fast turnaround on certification and safety testing cycles. For example, the company says it surpassed industry records by completing seven dynamic tests in a 12-hour period.
Helicomb International not only won ISO 9001 certification, but received an FAA Diamond award for technician training excellence. The Tulsa FAA repair station has been in the helicopter repair business for 22 years, specializing in the manufacture and repair of bonded structures. To qualify for an FAA Diamond, 25 percent of a facility's eligible technicians must pass specialized training within 12 months. Helicomb techs achieved a 98 percent training completion rate.
BAE Systems is looking for new roles for existing BAe 146s, ATPs and Jetstream 31s. Utilizing the Cranfield Aerospace-designed belly tank developed for a BAe 146-300 atmospheric research aircraft, BAE says that the extra 400-nm range gained might appeal to the business and special missions markets. They say that there is a growing demand for newer aircraft such as the BAe 146 and ATP as water-bombers and oil dispersal aircraft, noting some older BAe 748s were successfully converted to the water-bombing role.
Are you in compliance with FAR Part 61.3? According to the new regulation, all pilots must carry a photo ID when flying, and the AOPA wallet was designed specifically for this purpose. The wallet can accommodate an FAA pilot's certificate, medical and driver's license. In addition, a three-pocket ``Ramp Pass Insert'' can be easily removed, so that security personnel can inspect critical documents. The U.S.-made leather wallet (#8212A), available in black or brown, features the gold AOPA logo on the inside.
The House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee plans to hold a reauthorization hearing for AIR-21, the Aviation Investment and Reform Act, during the first quarter of this year. AIR-21 is slated for at least a $40 billion reauthor-ization. Lawmakers will focus on passenger aircraft maintenance, air traffic control work force issues and the FAA's operational structure, a spokesman for subcommittee chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) told Aviation Daily.
Honeywell will supply the Falcon 7X main engine air turbine starter system (ATSS) for the new Falcon 7X, a contract Honeywell estimates at nearly $70 million over the life of the agreement. This latest award brings Honeywell's total product value on the Falcon 7X to $770 million over the life of the program, said Lynn Brubaker, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Commercial Aerospace.
American Airlines says it's supporting the new layout plan for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD). ``Despite the financial challenges facing the airline industry,'' the carrier said recently, ``the need remains for the O'Hare Modernization Program. As American has maintained for more than a decade, O'Hare's airfield configuration is outdated and needs to be modernized.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's (P&WC) Aerospace Component Services group has signed a five-year agreement with Atlantic Turbines International Inc. (ATI) valued in excess of $25 million (U.S.) over the life of the contract. The agreement provides customized component repair support to ATI's Prince Edward Island facility via a rotable exchange inventory covering all P&WC engines maintained at Prince Edward Island.
Air Nostrum of Valencia, Spain, has taken delivery of its 16th Bombardier CRJ200, whose serial number (7700) denotes it is the 700th regional jet built by the Canadian manufacturer. Bombardier delivered its first CRJ 10 years ago to Lufthansa CityLine in Germany.
I TOLD YOU SO -- PERHAPS THE most irritating sentence in the English language. The statement implies several things, all of them bad: that you once doubted it was so, and have now been proven wrong; that the speaker knew something of which you were ignorant; that your de facto admission of error has been noted -- the other person's keeping score -- and you will likely be reminded again and again; and that you now have a plateful of cold, dead crow to consume.
