Newport News/Williamsburg, Va., International Airport (PHF) has received an additional $7.7 million in Airport Improvement Progra, funds from the FAA to expedite completion of ramps and taxiways for the Aviation World's Fair to be held there in April 2003.
Edited by David RimmerBy Kerry Lynch, in Washington, D.C.
The FAA launched a formal investigation into the ``legality of the Naples Airport Authority's ban on Stage 2 aircraft'' at Florida's Naples Municipal Airport, jeopardizing the airport's eligibility for federal funding.
More than five years after a ValuJet DC-9 crashed into the Florida Everglades killing 110 people, the remaining civil and criminal charges against SabreTech are close to being adjudicated in the courts.
``On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash in Shanksville, Pa., changed our lives. The effect of these tragic events had a tremendous impact on the aviation insurance market. ``Direct aviation underwriters and their reinsurers are faced with what will probably be the largest loss in history. For the insurance market to recover, the entire aviation industry will feel the impact of rate increases.''
Six universities will research computerized small-area weather and chemical/biological material spread forecasting under a $34 million award from the Army High Performance Computer Research Center (AHPCRC). The University of North Dakota (Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences), the University of Minnesota, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Jackson State University and Florida A&M will team on the eight-year program using the AHPCRC's advanced computer resources, which include a Cray T3E-1200 supercomputer and IBM RS6000s.
Fairchild Dornier's Envoy 3 Corporate Shuttle is business aviation for the masses. Even though this aircraft's cruise speed seldom tops 400 KTAS, when compared to traveling by airlines, it can shave hours off trips.
John, the director of maintenance, needed a technician who could troubleshoot and repair wiring problems in the company's Gulfstream III. He already had an engine specialist, a sheet-metal guru and an all-around mechanic.
TAG Aviation has added two more aircraft to its charter fleet: a Falcon 900 based in Carlsbad, Calif., and a Citation X in Denver. TAG has more than 150 aircraft at more than 50 bases available for charter.
Indigo Air, the Chicago-based operator that promised to ``combine the best aspects of private and commercial aviation'' is regrouping and planning a major expansion almost 18 months after commencing service.
Nav Canada plans to implement 1,000-foot Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) in the country's Northern Domestic Airspace effective April 18, 2002. RVSM will be effective from FL 290 to FL 410 inclusive from 57N to the North Pole. The transition airspace will extend from 52N to 57N. ``With the forecast of increased traffic in northern Canadian airspace, including the Polar Routes, the aspects of airspace capacity and operator economies will only become more significant,'' Nav Canada said.
Photograph: John Rosanvallon The new French entry in the transatlantic ``super jet'' derby has been christened. Gone for good is FNX, the temporary moniker Dassault assigned to its new top-of-the-line business jet. Henceforth, business aviation's first fly-by-wire aircraft will be known as the Dassault Falcon Jet 7X.
The Vision Awards program was not yet a year old when business aviation was confronted by the most severe challenges in its history. The consequences the September 11 terrorist attacks had on our aviation segment were immediate and draconian: all flights were grounded by federal edict. Most flying was subsequently restored, but not to its former level of freedom and anonymity. Those may never be fully restored.
Quiet Flight has introduced a headrest-mounted speaker box for installation on Raytheon King Air aircraft that is designed for use with its electronic cabin anti-noise system. The manufacturer claims that after multiple in-aircraft test flights, the headrest unit has proven itself effective on two-, three- or four-blade turboprop aircraft. In addition, recent changes in the design have cut installation time to approximately a day and a half. The system is designed to neutralize the propeller/exhaust noise enveloping the pilot's body, not just the sounds at the ear.
An EFIS retrofit is available for the Malibu Mirage. Meggitt obtained the STC for a single-side installation with the support of New Piper Aircraft. The Mirage STC installs a MAGIC Primary Flight Display and a navigation display in the pilot's instrument panel replacing six electromechanical instruments. Integral to the MAGIC system is a solid-state ADAHRS (Air Data Attitude Heading Reference System) sensor package that replaces the vertical and directional gyros that normally drive the flight instruments.
Edited by David RimmerBy David Rimmer Great Plains' Strategy: Hub-Bypass and Krispy Kremes
With only two Fairchild Dornier 328JETs and service to such disparate cities as Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Nashville and Colorado Springs, Great Plains Airlines is trying to prove that an independent regional carrier is viable in the world of hubs and code-shares.
Eclipse Aviation completed its move to new headquarters in Albuquerque, marking the transition of aircraft development and certification activities from Williams International in Walled Lake, Mich. Engine-maker Williams partnered with Eclipse on the new Eclipse 500 twin-jet, but was phasing out its participation in aircraft development. Eclipse transferred the engineering team to the new base at Sunport International Airport to join the sales, supply management, information technology, marketing and administration staffs.
Graseby Dynamics, a Smiths Industries company, has developed a lightweight chemical detector (LCD-3) for aircraft that alerts the crew if any nerve, blister, blood or choking agents are present. The unit can also detect Toxic Industrial Chemicals/Materials (TICS/TIMS) with a high degree of sensitivity. The unit detects the agents by drawing air in through a remotely mounted siphon, where it is ionized by a weak radioactive source. The molecules of certain types of agent vapors are characterized by their ability to form low-mobility ionic clusters.
The Dubai Air Wing operates two C-130 Hercules with special roll-on palletized Igloo VVIP interiors for Royal Flights. The aircraft, pictured at the recent Dubai International Airshow, is a C-130H-30, the other operated by the Wing is a Lockheed L-100-30. The -30 variant has a longer fuselage than the standard Hercules. Each aircraft can carry up to five of the linked air-conditioned and noise-dampened modules. Kitchen facilities as well as VIP seating are all part of the interchangeable modules.
A new Internet-based system will enable state and FAA airport inspectors to more quickly update airport safety data on the National Flight Center Database (NFDC), allowing the data to be more readily accessible by the aviation community. The old procedure required inspectors to mail their hard-copy inspection reports of safety data in the NFDC database. The data include operational information such as runway length, loading capacity, lighting and NAVAIDs, number of operations and based aircraft.
As the FAA, DOT and federal law-enforcement agencies ponder how to plug holes in the aviation security system, two categories of operations sure to receive attention are air charter and the burgeoning fractional ownership industry.
Photograph: John J. Goglia Member, NTSB The first working A&P mechanic to serve on the NTSB, Goglia has more than four decades of aviation experience, from piloting his own J-3 Cub, to overseeing maintenance for USAir. He received the Aviation Mechanic of the Year Award in 1994 and the following year was named to the Safety Board. He is respected for his knowledge, professionalism and honest talk. 1 Do you think aviation technicians should receive recurrent training? Goglia: It should be mandatory. You need it to keep pace with what's going on.
Strange times bring strange ques-tions. Can we keep guns in the cockpit? Can we wear holsters? No one has asked about adding hard points to the wings, but those with the inclination to do so probably don't ask for legal opinions.
JETporter has introduced a heavy-duty version of its electric nosewheel lifting tugs. The Jp-2 has all of the features of the Jp-1 line, but can handle aircraft up to 100,000 pounds. JETporter said the Jp-2 was specifically designed for aircraft such as the Gulfstream III, IV and V, Bombardier Global Express and regional airliners. The new tug has an independent motor for each drive wheel allowing it to pivot around its front end. In addition, a dual set of batteries extends the operating time, with enough power left over for GPU engine starts.
