Sandel Avionics of Vista, Calif., has squeezed a Class A/B TAWS and an RMI into a 3-ATI panel-mount package that directly replaces a standard RMI in single or dual retrofit installations. The Sandel ST3400 TAWS/RMI has TSO certification, and the company has the first STC -- for its Cessna 421 demonstrator -- although the system is primarily targeted at turbine aircraft, which must comply with the mandatory TAWS requirement deadline of March 2005.
When is a Falcon 20F a Stage 2 aircraft? When it flies into noise-sensitive Naples Municipal Airport (APF) in Florida -- at least some of the time -- as Hudson, N.Y.-based Richmor Aviation discovered when it landed there on Sunday, April 7. Richmor was flying the 20F to Naples to pick up its owner for a flight to Philadelphia. Upon arriving at APF, airport authorities had other plans for the aircraft, its crew and waiting passenger.
Within weeks of merging with Raytheon Travel Air, Flight Options chairman Kenn Ricci declared the fractional ownership business a two-horse race between his Cleveland-based company and Columbus, Ohio-based NetJets. In a wide-ranging question and answer session with reporters and invited guests, Ricci announced the company's new strategy, which will focus on selling new and used aircraft side by side. Ricci acknowledged that while the new approach was a departure from its original marketing, the company is still positioned as the ``value leader.''
Photograph: MD Helicopters 520N, 600N and Explorer Paul Brou It looks like corporate helicopter manufacturers will be fighting for shares in a slow growth market over the next 10 years. Bill Dane, an analyst with Forecast International of Newtown, Conn., said the corporate sector will be essentially flat for the next decade, with production of an expected 9,261 commercial helicopters worth about $18 billion. Approximately 3,700 of those aircraft will be piston-powered and valued at about $1 billion.
The Department of Justice completed regulations for requiring flight training companies to submit the names of foreign students seeking training on aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds, but that doesn't mean that new foreign students can begin training yet. The DOJ has sent the rules for review to the Office of Management and Budget, which has 90 days either to approve the rules or send them back to the DOJ for revision. Foreign pilots falling under the reporting rules cannot begin initial training from U.S. schools.
Photograph: Cessna Citation Excel Paul Bowen Photography While the five-year bull market for business aircraft didn't give in to the bears in 2001, it surely was overrun by steers. Last year, general aviation aircraft revenues grew by 4 percent over the previous year to just over $14 billion -- an all-time record -- according to GAMA. But the results would have been dismal if not for the continued strength of the turbofan aircraft market. According to GAMA, U.S. manufacturers delivered 600 turbofan aircraft in 2001, compared with 588 deliveries in 2000.
South Korea opened its newest international airport in early April, located at the northeastern city of Yangyang. The U.S. $106.6 million Yangyang International Airport features an 8,200-foot runway, 136,649-square-foot domestic terminal and 165,141-square-foot international terminal. After Incheon Airport located near Seoul, Yangyang becomes the second largest airport in South Korea.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has a new icing avoidance tool accessible on the Web. The catch is that the FAA has only approved its use for meteorologists and airline dispatchers so far. The Current Icing Potential (CIP) tool displays high-precision maps and plots, updated hourly, to identify areas of potential inflight icing. There's also a companion icing forecasting tool, FIP, still classified as experimental, that will predict icing potential up to 12 hours ahead.
Africa: The World Health Organization (WHO) said the Buruli ulcer is sweeping across Africa. A very destructive malady, the WHO said, no one is sure where the bacterium lives in the environment or how the disease enters the body, although it is clear the bacterium is unable to do so by itself. No one knows why the tropical disease can spontaneously erupt in temperate climates like Australia or any of 25 other countries where Buruli has been spotted. It's also unclear if everyone infected with Buruli develops the disease and, if not, why some are able to fight it off.
An error appeared in the article ``Catering Vigilance Increases Safety'' (March, page 54) regarding Susan Friedenberg's Corporate Flight Atten-dant Training course. We mistakenly printed that she teaches first aid; she does not.
Jumbolair Aviation Estates, perhaps the world's only fly-in community that can accommodate a Boeing 707, has added a bed and breakfast for the kerosene crowd. After landing at the Ocala, Fla., airport's 7,500-foot lighted runway, guests of The Inn at Jumbolair will find antique-filled accommodations, an on-site gym, equestrian center and lavish suites.
Honeywell and its European satcom partner, Thales Avionics, have received approval from Inmarsat to offer airborne voice, fax and data services utilizing Inmarsat's Swift64 64-kbps service, which is roughly 25 times faster than today's typical 2.4-kbps airborne satcom links. Honeywell and Thales share technology in their mutual satellite communications hardware products.
Malev Hungari Airlines of Budapest has ordered two Bombardier CRJ200 ERs (Ex-tended Range) with deliveries set for June and July of this year. The Hungarian flag carrier has also taken options on six additional CRJ200 ERs. Plans call for the 50-seaters to feed traffic to Malev's Budapest Ferihegy Airport base. They will also feed its KLM/ Northwest code-share partners there. Malev intends to add regional services between Budapest and points in the Ukraine, Romania and the Balkans, as well as Western European destinations.
Despite continuing concerns from city officials, the FAA lifted the temporary flight restriction (TFR) over downtown Chicago in April. The TFR, which established a no-fly zone over the city after 9/11, was rescinded shortly after midnight April 9, one week after it was due to expire. When the TFR was not automatically cancelled on April 2, the AOPA immediately appealed to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, and the agency promised that the ban would be lifted shortly.
``I'm going out there to Bush Field, get in the left seat of a Citation X and fly up to Orlando and get myself a little bit unwound. And probably watch the Masters.'' Arnold Palmer after failing to make the cut at the Masters, which he says was his last. N.Y. Times
Hoping to boost the Mid-Atlantic region's role in aerospace-related technology development, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said that he is pushing to create a cutting-edge rotorcraft research center near the Boeing Co.'s rotorcraft plant in suburban Philadelphia.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
A report on the U.K. government's 30-year aviation policy -- officially due out this month -- has caused some surprises and consternation among many British pressure groups -- especially environmentalists. The ``White Paper'' is based on a number of government-commissioned regional studies examining transport needs and identifying any restrictions that might slow economic growth.
Raisbeck Engineering in late March announced its departure from the secure cockpit door manufacturing business. The Seattle company's Hardened Cockpit Security System (HCSS) had received a great deal of attention because they were the first secure doors available after 9/11. Raisbeck informed current and prospective customers as well as Boeing's Alan Mullaly of the decision in late March. In a prepared statement, Raisbeck said ``we are grateful to have been able to make an early contribution to the Safety-in-the-Skies airline program.''
