A shortage of propylene glycol, the key ingredient of de-ice fluid, may make that often-vital substance scarce, or substantially more costly, this winter -- possibly both. Propylene glycol is brewed from isopropyl alcohol and glycerin, which are in turn processed from vegetable matter. While Dow Chemical's two processing plants at Freeport and Plaquemine in the Bahamas were shut down for scheduled maintenance, tropical storms damaged the source crops and the processing facilities could not be restarted before that vegetable material became unusable.
Air Nostrum of Spain won the gold medal and title of ``Airline of the Year'' at this year's European Regions Airline (ERA) Association General Assembly in Salzburg, Austria. Silver and bronze winners were the same as in 2001 with Norway's Wilderoe taking second place and Air Dolomiti of Italy in third. The winners were selected by an international panel of journalists who judged 15 submitted entries. The winning criteria included profitability, traffic growth and innovation.
Engine issues are slowing Eclipse 500 flight testing, though the program is advancing on other fronts. After the twinjet's first flight in August, the only two EJ-22 engines were removed from the aircraft and shipped to the manufacturer, Williams Research. Eclipse officials stated that the engines need to produce more thrust and that there are challenges fitting all the engine accessories into the available engine space. At press time, Eclipse did not have a projected date for when the 500 will fly again.
Hunt and Palmer and Air Partner, both British air charter operators, have announced significant increases in their businesses over the past 12 months. The former said it expects a 25-percent improvement in business over 2001, while Air Partner said its pre-tax profits jumped to 85 percent and sales rose 12 percent to $161 million. M.V.
Honeywell Primus Epic integrated avionics have been chosen to equip the PlaneView cockpit in the Gulfstream G500 and its SPZ-8400 avionics for the G300. The two aircraft are part of the expanded and renamed Gulfstream line of aircraft. The G500 is a 5,800-nm version of the GV-SP that is designed to compete against the Falcon 7X and Bombardier Global 5000. The GV-SP, newly designated the G550, also incorporates the PlaneView avionics. The G300 is a variant of the GIV-SP with less fuel capacity and range. The G400 is the equivalent of a fully loaded GIV-SP.
Jet Source, Carlsbad, Calif., has named Frank Milian as chief operating officer. Milian also serves as chairman of the National Air Transportation Association's Air Charter Committee.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., has announced four recent promotions. Kyle Davis is now assistant manager of the company's Toledo Learning Center. Patrick Dulac is assistant manager of the Le Bourget Learning Center in Paris. Jack Ellis has been named manager of the new Orlando Learning Center. Chip White is now assistant manager of FlightSafety's two St. Louis Learning Centers.
Chinese aircraft manufacturer, AVIC 1 Commercial Aircraft Co. selected the General Electric CF34-10A turbofan to power the ARJ21 regional jet airliner the company is developing for use on feeder routes in China. GE signed a letter of intent to supply engines for both the 79- and 99-seat versions of the ARJ21.
Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has named Bruce King vice president and general manager of communication systems for its government systems business. In addition, Robert K. (Kelly) Ortberg has been appointed as vice president and general manager of air transport systems for the company's commercial systems business.
FAA officials plan to form an advisory committee, similar to the ETOPS ARAC (see above), to support its efforts to review and revise FAR Parts 135 and 125 (see Intelligence, November, page 17). Officials expect shortly to release the charter that will outline plans for the task. Kathy Perfetti, manager of the FAA's newly established Part 135 and Fractional Ownership Operations Branch, has been working with industry and already has received a number of expressions of interest from potential participants. The FAA wants to keep the committee relatively small in number.
As part of its continuing effort to trim costs, Bombardier Aircraft has eliminated several management positions, including two key posts and familiar names associated with product development. Peter Reynolds, vice president of the company's Wichita flight-test center, and John Taylor, vice president of product development in Montreal, were among those let go in late October. Reynolds is a well-known flight test pilot and received numerous industry awards during his three decades at Learjet and Bombardier. F.G.
The FAA is offering bird-strike data online in the hope of promoting more reporting, an FAA official told The Weekly of Business Aviation. Identification and tracking data of bird species involved in collisions with aircraft are compiled by the FAA and its partner, the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Lab, which has more than 620,000 bird species in its 150-year-old collection. After bird strikes occur, airport operators send the remains -- which are often feathers -- to the lab for identification.
GAMA reports the 1,766 new aircraft units shipped worldwide in the first nine months of this year represented a decline of 16.6 percent over the same period in 2001. Of the total, 497 were business jets (down 12 percent), 170 were turboprops (down 40 percent) and 1,099 were piston-powered (down 13.4 percent). The combined value of the new aircraft was put at $8.4 billion.
A new regional airport, Niederrhein, 80 km north of Dusseldorf, Germany, on the Dutch border, is due to open to the airlines in February 2003. A 136,000-square-foot passenger terminal is being constructed to handle up to 1.5 million passengers per year. The airport's management hopes to attract scheduled airlines, low-fare carriers, and leisure and freight operators. Around $25 million has been spent on the project so far by its 99-percent-owned Dutch investment group. M.V.
FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey has addressed a series of forums within the aviation community since her appointment. Speaking before the AOPA Expo in Palm Springs, Calif., Blakey acknowledged that the FAA's role is to be ``an advocate for commerce and the economic benefits of aviation'' and said, ``We will never overlook an opportunity to remind our colleagues in the security agencies of the importance of general aviation.'' But she added that the community must be its own best advocate before the Transportation Security Administration.
PENTAR Avionics has introduced the JetLAN AS200, its next-generation airborne network server. The airborne computing platform/file server combines high-performance commercial off-the-shelf PC architecture with custom avionics interface technology to suit it for a wide range of airborne applications.
Canadian simulator manufacturer CAE continues to expand its training business, forming a joint venture with China Southern Airlines to provide aviation training for a number of Asian carriers. The new enterprise, Zhuhai Xiang Yi Aviation Technology Co. Ltd., will be 51 percent owned by China Southern and 49 percent by CAE. It will operate from the airline's existing training facility at its Zhuhai flight base in Guandong beginning in January 2003 and will provide training for operators of Boeing 737NG, 737-300, 777, 757-200 and Airbus A320 aircraft.
For all of us in the northern climes, the winter solstice is soon to be upon us, and for many, the season's ice and snow have already arrived. The flexibility of business helicopters in shuttling between airports, corporate headquarters , city heliports and off-field landing sites can really come to the fore when ground traffic snarls in frigid weather. But the months to come will also present special obstacles to rotary operations.
Part 91.1009 Clarification of when owner is in operational control. (a) The owner is in operational control of a program flight when the owner: (1) Has the rights and is subject to the limitations set forth in Parts 91.1003 through 91.1013; (2) Has directed that a program aircraft carry passengers or property designated by that owner; and (3) The aircraft is carrying those passengers or property. (b) The owner is not in operational control of a flight in the following circumstances:
Pratt&Whitney Canada's new PW600F turbofan engine completed initial flight trials in October, passing another key milestone, the company said. A 2,500-pound demonstrator mounted to a Boeing 720 test bed first flew Oct. 10 for more than 2.5 hours and logged six more hours the next two days. The Boeing 720 flew to altitudes of 43,000 feet. ``Performance, handling and re-light testing met and exceeded our expectations,'' said Maurice Weinberg, P&WC director, small turbofans.
By Kent S. Jackson [email protected] Incorrect accounting or nondisclosure regarding personal use of company aircraft can have unpleasant consequences.
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ISSUED A grand jury subpoena for documents and testimony concerning use of aircraft leased to Westar Energy, CEO David Wittig and general company records, according to a filing by Westar with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Westchester County Airport (HPN) officials in White Plains, N.Y., recently presented their annual noise-abatement awards to local operators and unveiled a new brochure designed to encourage transient-operator compliance with the voluntary curfew. A total of 27 local operators were recognized for eschewing flying during the midnight to 6:30 a.m. curfew throughout 2001. Bristol-Myers Squibb garnered awards in each aircraft category -- jet, turboprop and helicopter.
Years ago there was an exchange (probably apocryphal) between Ronald Reagan and a fault-finding young person. The latter spoke of the technology -- computers, video, telecommunications , etc. -- that has become the fabric of modern life, and then dismissed Reagan and his doddering contemporaries saying, ``What would your generation know? You didn't grow up with these things.'' ``No, `` Reagan supposedly replied. ``We didn't grow up with them; we invented them.''
Uvex Safety has expanded its line of Genesis safety eyewear, adding a new patriotic design and a wider selection of lens tints. The Uvex Genesis ``Patriot'' features a red, white and blue frame and an imprint of the American flag. The bottom of the right lens (out of the field of vision) is inscribed with the words ``United We Stand.'' The company has also added a selection of task-specific lenses to the Genesis line as well as the Spectrum Control Technology lens, which absorbs select wavelengths of radiant energy into the lens. Call for pricing
The use of stabilized approach procedures is a key ingredient in the final stages of a descent to landing. A stabilized approach procedure means that all checklists are complete and the aircraft is properly configured and following the appropriate vertical flight path at the proper airspeed. In general, an aircraft should be stabilized before reaching an altitude of 1,000 feet agl for an instrument approach, or 500 feet for a visual approach. These altitudes represent limits -- not targets. The prudent pilot will have the aircraft stabilized at a higher altitude.
