The Corporate Angel Network, which arranges free travel on corporate aircraft for cancer patients traveling to and from treatment centers, will receive a check for $101,000, the proceeds of last month's Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO) golf and tennis tournament. The May 6 event, held at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md., was the 14th GWAO. Honorary chairman of the event was Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Bombardier Aerospace named Stephen McNally general manager of its Tucson Service Center. He will report to Bob Sundin, regional vice president. McNally, who has more than 20 years of aviation experience, was most recently director of the company's Dallas Service Center.
Although the Bush administration has kept general aviation restricted far longer than any other industry, senior officials are opposing efforts to compensate businesses devastated by the government's actions, saying enough is being done to help already.
Applications for Helicopter Association International Aviation Maintenance Technician scholarships are being accepted through October 1. Five applicants will be selected and ranked by the HAI Technical Committee. The top selectee can choose any one of five sponsored training programs, the next can choose from the remaining four, and so on. Scholarship sponsors are Agusta Aerospace, Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter, Pratt&Whitney Canada, Rolls-Royce/Allison, Turbomeca and Southern Illinois University.
Despite general aviation opposition, the FAA has published a draft rule proposing a one-step transition to domestic reduced vertical separation minimums (DRVSM) in December 2004. The notice of proposed rulemaking has a 90-day comment period. The move would add six flight levels between FL 290 and FL 410 by reducing required vertical separation between airplanes to 1,000 feet from the current 2,000 feet. Non-equipped aircraft will be allowed to transition through the airspace.
Gulfstream now has a dedicated courier aircraft on 24-hour alert to dispatch technical support personnel or parts to aircraft under warranty when commercial transportation will not satisfy urgent requirements. According to Larry Flynn, senior vice president, aircraft services, a G-100 with custom interior and distinctive paint will be on standby around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year to deliver tech support and flight-essential parts to customers in North America and the Caribbean.
``It's a sick organization, and you survive in that environment by not making any waves. The mediocre survive. They go along to get along.'' Billie Vincent, a former FAA chief of security, regarding his former employer. (Playboy) ``Radio was the air-navigation technology of the 1930s. It's nice to move forward.'' Tom Holford, senior staff representative of flight operations technology at United Airlines, regarding Nav Canada's automated oceanic control. (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. government officials hoped to allow private airplanes back into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by the end of May, a senior official with the DOT said as B/CA went to press. With the exception of government operations, security officials have barred private aircraft from using the airport since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
GAMA reported general aviation billings dropped 20 percent as shipments fell 18.8 percent for the first three months of 2002. It called the decline predictable in the post-9/11 economy. ``We expected a drop in shipments and billings,'' said GAMA President Ed Bolen to the Weekly of Business Aviation. ``Last year, in response to the slowing economy and the terrorist attacks, nearly all of the manufacturers announced reductions in their 2002 production schedules. That is now being reflected in the first-quarter numbers.
NLX Corp., Sterling, Va., said its King Air 350 full flight simulator received FAA Level D certification at the CAE SimuFlite training center at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The Model 350 simulator is the second of five Level D devices NLX is building for CAE SimuFlite, the manufacturer said. The order is part of a deal NLX originally signed with GE Capital before GE sold the simulator training center to CAE. NLX is also scheduled to deliver Cessna CitationJet, Dassault Falcon 900 B/C/EX and Falcon 2000 simulators during the next 12 months.
The NBAA advises that if you hold an airman certificate that uses your Social Security Number (SSN) as your certificate number, you can have the FAA change that to a unique number other than your SSN. You also can have the FAA remove your SSN completely from its records. To do so, complete, sign and submit a Request of Change of Certificate Number form. It is available as a PDF file. Further information is available at the FAA Web site at http://registry.faa.gov/airmen.asp.
Momentum continues to grow in Congress for arming airline pilots. The concept has strong backing from the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, which believes pilots ``must be armed.'' In addition, both the Allied Pilots Association and Air Line Pilots Association have released their own statements in support of arming trained volunteer pilots. But senior government officials are still reluctant and prefer another cockpit defense solution.
Jeppesen has introduced EasyBrief, a browser-based interface for JetPlan that lets pilots self-brief anywhere they have access to the Internet or a company LAN/WAN. By using browser technology and the Internet, EasyBrief lets users avoid SITA and ARINC forwarding charges. A management feature of EasyBrief automatically confirms and records that a crewmember has retrieved a briefing package.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
A U.K. helicopter pilot was recently sentenced to three years in jail for what was, in effect, a classic example of pilot rage. Shaun Lees, age 42, pleaded guilty to ``unlawfully and intentionally disrupting services at the airport in a way likely to endanger safety.'' To make matters worse, the incident at Coventry Airport occurred just one month after 9/11. Air traffic controllers at Coventry said, ``It was a sick parody.''
Jeppesen has released a new user interface with lots of high-resolution graphics for its JetPlan flight-planning engine. JetPlanner takes JetPlan's capabilities, such as real-time weather, routing and airspace information; ETOPS, drift-down and optimal scenario analysis functionality; and special features such as variable cost indexing and fuel-tankering/inflight refueling calculations and combines them with a new graphical user interface that supports both dial-up and TCP/IP communications protocols.
Honeywell's synchronized triplex FMS flew for the first time on a Gulfstream V-SP, the company announced. Triplex FMS uses three multifunction control display units (MCDU) and three navigation/performance computers. Each is completely separate, but all are fully synchronized with data entered on any MCDU shared among all three computers. The objective, according to Honeywell, is a high degree of system redundancy without increased crew workload.
Turbomeca announced that its new Arrius 2B2 engine has passed its 150-hour endurance test, validating its limitations and placing it squarely on schedule for delivery and certification on the EC 135 in July. Turbomeca officials call the 2B2 the most efficient of the Arrius engine family, of which more than 11,000 have been delivered. Improved ``mechanical and thermal power'' should allow a 2,835-kg takeoff weight for the EC 135 in Category A at higher temperatures, officials said.
According to a new General Accounting Office (GAO) report, small airports have received significantly more Airport Improvement Program funding from the FAA than is congressionally mandated and have acquired amounts greater than their large cousins have. This is primarily because federal regulations divert AIP from large facilities that can generate large sums from passenger facility charges (PFCs).
Sun Air Jets has opened a new Executive Flight Center at Camarillo Airport (CMA) in Camarillo, Calif. The new FBO is located in Ventura County, approximately 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Constructed specifically to serve corporate jet operators, the 50,000-square-foot facility includes 26,400 square feet of heated hangar, attached automobile garages, offices, shops and storage rooms, 24-hour security and an adjoining terminal. The terminal's amenities include passenger and crew lounges, sleep rooms with showers, and a catering kitchen.
John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), said his membership was ``insulted and offended'' by a request received on April 28 that only male air traffic controllers be allowed to handle Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's flight into and out of TSTC Airport (CNW) in Waco, Texas. ``We received a call, on a recorded line, from the tower manager at TSTC that basically said they just had a request that no females control the aircraft,'' said Mark Pallone, NATCA's southwest regional vice president.
The Aviation Professional Education Center (APEC), a new nonprofit aircraft maintenance school, has broken ground on the south ramp of Du Page Airport (DUP), located 27 miles west of Chicago. ``American Airlines has generously given us its former FAR Part 147 training academy curriculum to start with,'' said Don Ladick, APEC president. ``In addition, they are providing a Boeing 727-200 and a Saab 340B, so that students receive realistic, hands-on training.''
Jet-A and Avgas Per Gallon Fuel Prices ARG/US Jet-A Region High Low Average Eastern $3.46 $2.39 $2.92 New England $3.48 $2.16 $2.57 Great Lakes $3.80 $2.20 $2.76 Central $3.07 $1.85 $2.46 Southern $3.45 $2.44 $2.93 Southwest $2.99 $1.69 $2.51 NW Mountain $3.24 $2.06 $2.63
Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT) has entered the regional jet age. J-AIR, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines (JAL), commenced service linking Narita and Nagoya on April 18 with a 50-passenger Bombardier CRJ200 -- the first ever to serve the airport. The 178-nm Nagoya-Narita flights became possible after Narita's second runway was opened just a few days before the inaugural service started, increasing availability of domestic landing and takeoff slots.
Bombardier now has a Canadian customer for its Q400 turboprop. Canada's Hydro-Quebec began flying the turboprop as an employee shuttle on April 23 and has another on order. Based at Montreal, the aircraft will shuttle employees to five hydro-electric-generating sites in northern Quebec. This provincial utility company is the Canadian launch customer for the 72-seat Q400 and together with two Dash 8 series 300 aircraft replaces the company's fleet of four Convair 580 turboprops, which have provided the service for the last 20 years.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has signed a contract with England's AIM Aviation for the joint development of reinforced flight deck doors and other security innovations for its regional airliner fleet. The new doors will meet the FAA's April 9, 2003, compliance deadline for aircraft operating within U.S. airspace. A BAE spokesman said, ``While the basic requirement was to meet FAA/JAA mandatory requirements, we decided to go beyond this to offer a package of optional modifications that further enhance the security of our aircraft.''
