Raytheon Aircraft is offering steep discounts on some $80 million in excess parts inventory. Raytheon Aircraft Parts Inventory&Distribution Co. (RAPID) is conducting the sale of Beechcraft, Hawker and aftermarket spare parts through Dec. 31, offering discounts of up to 90 percent on some items. Customers can log on to RAPID's Web site, www.raytheonaircraftparts.com, to search through 46,000 part and kit numbers available for current and out-of-production aircraft.
Banyan Air Service, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has appointed Mike O'Keeffe to head its new aircraft sales division. Banyan is a full-service FBO located on Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE).
Law enforcement officers are generally OK with guns in cockpits. Nearly 73 percent of U.S. police chiefs and sheriffs believe commercial airline pilots should be allowed to carry firearms in the cockpit, according to a survey released Nov. 12 by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. The survey polled 22,587 officers.
The Transportation Security Administration is working with the AOPA to launch a security hotline this month for people to report suspicious activity in or around airports. The AOPA will enlist the help of pilots through its Airport Watch program to report security breaches. ``We appreciate the AOPA's proactive approach to enhance security for the general aviation community,'' said acting TSA Administrator James Loy.
As B/CA went to press, USAIG aviation insurers provided this statement concerning coverage for fractional ownership liability exposure: ``USAIG is currently involved as the underwriter for several of the major fractional ownership operators. The [fractional ownership provider] purchases both physical damage and liability coverage for each aircraft in the program. The fractional owners are included as a `named insured' in regard to their aircraft.
Piaggio's Avanti twin-engine pusher-prop received Transport Canada clearance to operate in reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) airspace. Piaggio is seeking similar approval from the FAA for U.S. RVSM operations.
The NBAA said its Nov. 14 business aviation forum and static display at Meacham Field in Fort Worth drew some 1,500 attendees for a day of seminars and the opportunity to view 27 business aircraft on static display. Officials said they received ``a lot of positive feedback'' from registrants and representatives of more than 50 exhibiting companies about the one-day event. The NBAA staged a similar event earlier this year in the Chicago area.
IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST events to take place in Bell County, Ky., in recent memory, drawing more attention than the Great American Dulcimer Convention out at Pine Mountain State Park. The word was out: ``Glacier Girl'' was going to fly. Someone estimated that 20,000 people crowded onto Middlesboro Airport (1A6) that Saturday in late October to see it happen.
It began with a straightforward inquiry. As head of flight operations for Bombardier Learjet, Bob Agostino was looking for a way to improve awareness among his demonstration pilots, thus maximizing operational safety while at the same time expanding his group's capabilities. He asked David Sullivan, one of the senior Learjet pilots, for suggestions; he picked well.
A broad-based industry advisory group, formed to develop recommendations for regulating long-range operations and extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS), has met for the last time and hopes to present its final recommendations to the FAA soon. In 2000, the FAA asked the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) to draft a proposal that would codify a series of informal policies governing ETOPS and other long-range operations under FAR Parts 25, 33, 121 and 135.
Sept. 29 -- A Eurocopter AS350-B3 operated by the U.S. Forest Service crashed during a premature liftoff while engaged in a pre-departure hydraulic actuator check at the Bishop, Calif. (BIH) airport. The collective had been placed in the down and locked position and the rotor powered up to 100-percent flight idle. After depressing the hydraulic test switch, the pilot moved the cyclic fore and aft to confirm there was remaining pressure for a few control movements. The collective rose uncommanded and the helicopter moved forward in a nose-down attitude.
The FAA presented its 2002 Excellence in Aviation award to the laboratories and universities that support the agency's Aviation Weather Research Program.
CAE SimuFlite, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, has appointed Mark Malkosky to the position of senior manager, technical training. He will oversee all aspects of maintenance training.
For some of us it's hard to recall when the Internet didn't exist. For others, it's still a new and wonderful gold mine of information and entertainment. Whether you consider yourself a seasoned Net user or a newbie, it can still be exasperating to find exactly what you're looking for in a hurry, much less to remember to add newfound links to your ``favorites'' list. Web sites come and go with surprising speed, or morph into new forms.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, says the FAA is ``dysfunctional'' and ``we need to get that in order.'' FAA management reforms could take a step forward if Congress approves the recently proposed Aviation Industry Stabilization and Reform Act, whose chief sponsor is Mica. The bill, which passed Mica's subcommittee in October, concentrates on helping airlines to recover financially, and calls for reorganizing and integrating the FAA's advisory councils.
The U.S. State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel in the following countries: Afghanistan Algeria Angola Bosnia and Herzegovina Burundi Central African Republic Colombia Congo-Kinshasa Cote d'Ivoire Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel and the West Bank Gaza Lebanon Liberia Libya Macedonia Nigeria Pakistan Somalia Sudan
Bombardier's 86-seat CRJ900 has received FAA type certification. The CRJ900 is the largest model in Bombardier's regional jet line. Type recommendation from Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities is expected soon, the company said. Transport Canada awarded Aircraft Type Approval on Sept. 9. The CRJ900 will make its public debut with Mesa Air Group, flying under America West Express colors, in early 2003. Mesa has placed firm orders for 20 CRJ900s. It already operates 32 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s and two 70-seat CRJ700s.
CSI Aviation Services, Albuquerque, has leased two additional MD82 aircraft from AirFinance to support a CSI contract with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Boeing Corp. will relocate is corporate flight operations at the Gary/Chicago Airport (GYY) as of March 1, 2003. The current plan is to lease a new 68,000-square-foot hangar, constructed by the airport, for its BBJ and two Challengers. The lease is for up to 28.5 years and would cost the company $6 per square foot.
``Love what you do; it will show in the work you do and the opportunities that you are offered.'' -- Katie Lawson, FlightSafety International ``Be sure you make the extra effort to sit with the guys at lunch and learn from them. Listen and learn from their experiences.'' -- Robin Lamar, Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance ``Get a college degree first, and be aware that you can succeed in aviation maintenance the same way women succeed in most other careers -- by doing the job better and faster than men.''
Effective Oct. 28, the FAA issued new rules requiring pilots to present a government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license, upon request from government agencies. The rules were proposed earlier this year by the AOPA, in response to growing security concerns, and are intended to implement ``a readily available, low-cost way for pilots to carry photo identification,'' the FAA said. While the agency expects that a driver's license will be the most commonly used photo ID, other forms of valid identification could be a state ID card, a U.S.
Technology Partnership Canada (TPC) awarded Thales $9.9 million (Canadian) to help the company develop an enhanced visibility system (EVS), fly-by-wire (FBW) controls and required navigation performance system for business and regional aircraft. Allan Rock, Canada's industry minister, and Jean-Pierre Mortreux, president and CEO of Thales Avionics North America, announced the government award at a press conference at the company's Montreal headquarters on Nov. 15.
Graphical flight following has been available to business aviation since 1997 in the form of Aircraft Situa-tion Display to Industry (ASDI) services, and it is becoming a key tool for the corporate uplift industry. The FAA developed ASDI in the mid-1980s to provide air traffic managers with an overview of all IFR traffic in the nation's airspace. The nexus of ASDI is the agency's Central Flow Control facility in Herndon, Va. The ASDI database is maintained at the DOT's Volpe Communications Center, in Cambridge, Mass.
