SimCom's Orlando Learning Center opened a year ago with just one simulator. Today the facility, dedicated to business and general aviation training, houses three Level C full-motion simulators (Learjet 35/36, Citation II and Hawker 800A), 13 FTDs (flight training devices) plus classrooms and customer lounges.
Early this month, a small group of industry executives will deliver a proposal to the Treasury Depart-ment laying out how the aviation community proposes to comply with the USA Patriot Act. Why, you might ask, is the Treasury Department concerned about aviation? Isn't Treasury's regulatory purview restricted to banks and financial institutions? Generally, that's true. But under the Patriot Act, which was passed in the wake of 9/11, a financial institution is defined as a business ``engaged in vehicle sales, including automobiles, airplanes and boats.''
Chicago's T-Bird Aviation says its new DuPage Airport (DUP) facility should be completed ahead of schedule and ready for business by January 2003. Started in July, the new complex will include 48,000 square feet of hangar space and 6,500-plus square feet of office space, bringing all of T-Bird's staff and aircraft under one roof.
There is nearly universal opposition to the Transportation Safety Administration's proposed preboarding passenger screening requirements for charter aircraft weighing 95,000 pounds or more. Industry associations, operators and manufacturers termed the requirements discriminatory and unworkable. ``We are increasingly troubled by what appears to be a lack of thorough review and understanding of the aircraft and operations impacted,'' National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne told the agency.
General Aviation Coalition members were concerned that the Transportation Security Administration might be planning some widespread restrictions on flight operations when they were notified that Adm. James Loy would be contacting them via a conference call before this Sept. 11. The heads-up from the TSA followed an earlier announcement by Attorney General John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge, head of the Office of Homeland Security, that the government was raising the terror alert level to Code Orange for the first time. Orange denotes a ``high'' level of danger.
Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., has installed two automatic emergency defibrillators in the passenger terminal. National Express Corp., the airport management company, purchased the units to supplement others in State Police and Emergency Response vehicles. National Express in undertaking the training of all airport personnel in the use of the equipment.
United States Aviation Underwriters (USAU) President Mike Sweeney agreed to provide B/CA with an insurer's perspective on the single-engine turboprop class. Here are Sweeney's answers to a slate of questions submitted to the New York-based insurance executive. B/CA: What is the position of both the USAU and the aviation underwriting industry on insuring single-engine turboprops?
WSI announced it signed deals with Rockwell Collins and UPS Aviation Technologies to provide its InFlight weather data to their cockpit display systems.(See ``Data Link Cockpit Comes of Age,'' page 54.) Collins selected the InFlight system to provide weather briefings to aircraft equipped with its Pro Line 21 flight deck displays. The WSI data, ``increases flight crew situational awareness and enhances their proactive decision-making ability,'' said Bryan Vester, senior marketing and development director at Collins Business and Regional Systems.
Mid Valley Airport (T65), Weslaco, Texas, has completed a $2.1 million improvement project that included a 280,000-square-foot parking apron expansion, two new taxiways and a pilot-controlled runway lighting system. In addition, precision approach path indicators (PAPI) have been added on both runways (13 and 31) to help arrivals at night or during inclement weather.
Human factors have become a readily accepted concept in the avia-tion maintenance community. Many organizations worldwide have either heard of or tried to consider the role of human factors in their daily operations.
The NBAA Convention is traditionally the occasion of predictions, guesstimates and formal forecasts of the health of the industry. This year's convention presented an excellent opportunity to compare three different forecasts of the business jet market by three highly reputable organizations to see what future was painted by each and to see what effect, if any, their own institutional biases may have had on their prognostications.
Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. field service representatives will be designated ``Model Specialists,'' meaning a rep has demonstrated ``particular proficiency'' in two Falcon models plus a general working knowledge of the rest of the Falcon family. The adoption of the new model specialist designation is intended to match the reps' expertise with the job at hand right from the beginning, said Ron Velivis, director of field service.
Aviation General, Inc., Bethany, Okla., appointed Keith A. Martinich president/CEO of its wholly owned subsidiary, Strategic Jet Services, Inc. He succeeds John H. deHavilland, who is now chairman. Martinich was previously vice president of sales and marketing for the company.
On the eve of the NBAA Convention, the FAA awarded the Embraer Legacy its final type certification, further accelerating the acceptance of the Brazilian executive jet. Legacy deliveries have already begun. Since it was launched with great fanfare at the 2000 Farnborough Air Show, the Legacy program has moved forward with speed. The aircraft is based on Embraer's ERJ 135 regional jet.
New Piper Aircraft's first Meridian single-engine turboprop customer believes the manufacturer has been too conservative in certifying the PA-46's maximum true airspeed. ``The book TAS of 263 knots is actually below what it can do,'' Dick Dumais, president of the Texas Moving Co., told B/CA from his office in Dallas. ``Yesterday, coming back from Santa Fe, we trued at 274 knots -- and I videotaped it to prove it. I operate it up where it was meant to fly, between 27,000 and 29,000 feet, averaging 35 gallons per hour of Jet A.''
A CitationJet full flight simulator manufactured by NLX Corp. of Sterling, Va., won FAA Level D qualification at the CAE SimuFlite Center at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The CitationJet simulator is the third of five Level D devices on order from CAE SimuFlite to be delivered. A Falcon 900B/C/EX Level D convertible FFS and a Falcon 2000 Level D FFS will be delivered in the first half of 2003. The contracts for the NLX simulators were issued while SimuFlite Training International was a part of GE Capital.
TAC Air has entered into an agreement to purchase Krystal Aviation at Lovell Field Airport (CHA), Chattanooga, Tenn. ``This transaction allows Krystal to better deploy its assets and management resources into our core business of operating and franchising Krystal restaurants,'' said Phil Sanford, chairman and CEO of the Krystal Co., which is divesting the FBO.
Honeywell is joining the consensus that says there's life in the Iridium satcom network. Honeywell is interfacing Iridium with it's own AIRSAT satellite communication system. An AIU-100 Aircraft Integration Unit converts Iridium's digital voice signal to standard analog audio, which allows for multiple handsets or headsets to be fitted (including hands-free wireless equipment). A connection can be provided to users in the main passenger cabin and on the flight deck via Honeywell's AIRSAT telephone dialer unit, the TDU-100.
Even major airports have concerns about charter screening requirements. ``The private charters that are processed through BWI [Baltimore/Washington International Airport] tend to consist of high-profile passengers/movements such as sports teams, celebrities and special charters,'' said Amanda Baker and Jose Chaves of the Security Division of BWI.
The National Air Transportation Association will present a series of risk management seminars that cover a variety of insurance topics, including selecting an aviation insurance broker, reducing claims by aggressively managing risk and an overview of the current aviation insurance market. Price to attend is $225 for NATA members and $275 for non-members. For more information, contact NATA at (703) 845-9000.
The Transportation Security Administration has extended the comment period and compliance deadlines on two key security rules covering charter and other commercial operators.
The George E. Haddaway En-dowment Fund has awarded its first two annual scholarships to Kathryn Collins Clark of the University of North Texas and Ashlee Fiser of Embry-Riddle Aero-nautical University. The award was created to memorialize George Haddaway, a longtime aviation journalist and publisher of Flight magazine.
Bombardier Aerospace is dividing its business aircraft into three distinct families -- dubbed Learjet, Challenger and Global -- and is giving each its own color coat of arms. Gone is the name Continental -- the new aircraft is now the Challenger 300. And finding a home at last is the Canadair Regional Jet with executive interior, and the Special Edition -- they also become Challengers, with an 800 number. The Challenger 604 remains, well, the 604.
Honeywell surveyed operators on their preparedness for the DRVSM (domestic reduced vertical separation minimum) equipment and certification requirements proposed by the FAA. Some 41 percent of the operators responded that they thought they were compliant and another 32 percent said they had plans to comply. But the remaining 27 percent of the responses came from operators who have no plans to upgrade to meet the RVSM requirements.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is opening a new, expanded classroom site at Lockheed Martin's flight training center near Orlando International Airport to serve attendees in Osceola and Southwest Orange County. The first ERAU class will be Human Factors in Aviation Safety -- a credit toward an Aviation Safety Certificate. Recently highlighted safety issues are expected to stimulate demand, says ERAU director Kim Nelson. Courses leading toward bachelor's and master's degrees will also be taught at the new facility.
