Duncan Aviation's Morristown, N.J., satellite facility is now an FAA approved repair station. CRS# D24R826Y makes it official. Duncan has 17 other satellite maintenance facilities. For more information or to schedule work at Morristown, call Cory Moos or Dave Pittman at (973) 326-1110.
Stress affects each of us differently. Drs. Lyle H. Miller and Alma Dell Smith, two of the world's leading stress experts, have developed the Stress Directions Stress Navigator Workshop and made it available online. ``It's the best way we know to combine our expertise with your unique life experience so that you can start taking immediate action to break out of your habitual response to stress,'' says Dr. Miller.
A collision between a Cessna CJ2 business jet and an SAS MD-87 on a fog-obscured runway at Milan's Linate Airport on October 8 killed 118 people in the aircraft and on the ground, making it the worst commercial aircraft accident in Italian history. Italian authorities said the CJ2, which was on a customer demonstration flight from Germany with stops in Milan and Paris, was preparing to take off when the accident occurred.
Jet Aviation West Palm Beach recently installed a complete Securaplane alarm and security system in a Challenger 604 used for worldwide travel. Jet's avionics manager, Brian Wilson, said, ``We completely removed the interior of the airplane, taking out the seats, the carpet, the galley and the lavatory to install security sensors, metal alarm strips and camera lenses.'' Jet Aviation also installed infrared motion detectors in the wheel wells, multiple cameras on the belly, and a camera on the vertical stabilizer to overlook the forward fuselage.
Comair's charter operation, Comair Jet Express, has been renamed to highlight its affiliation with corporate parent Delta Air Lines. The Cincinnati-based unit is now known as Delta AirElite Business Jets. Delta President and CEO Frederick Reid says the charter operation ``provides professional services to premium clients'' and that attaching the Delta name to it will help the carrier ``capitalize on the business opportunities presented by this growth market.''
SimuFlite has added personalized services for its clients to its Web site. Clients who have trained at SimuFlite in the past two years, or have made training reservations, can now go to www.simuflite.com to make airline, car and hotel reservations and also review aircraft-specific information and take emergency recall drills on line. Clients can access the ``My Travel'' area to make travel arrangements any time. Hotels and car rental companies that offer discounts to SimuFlite customers are identified.
A county policeman was injured at New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN) while attempting to stop a vehicle carrying Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) from running a mandatory security checkpoint en route to board a private jet to an unreleased destination. The incident occurred on Sunday, October 14, the senator's birthday. According to a county police official, the incident was due to a misunderstanding by the Secret Service agent driving the vehicle who thought arrangements had been made to drive through the checkpoint without stopping.
Chicago-area air charter firm T-Bird Aviation had added a Bombardier Challenger 600 to its fleet. The DuPage County Airport (DPA) operator also flies a Cessna Citation II, VII and a Falcon 20.
The ERJ 170, Embraer's largest passenger aircraft to date, rolled out in late October. Able to carry 70 to 78 passengers, the ERJ 170 has an 1,800-nm range in the standard version and 2,100 nm for the long-range version. Maximum cruise speed for both aircraft is 0.80 Mach. Unlike smaller Embraer regional jets, the ERJ 170 has two wing-mounted engines and a single aisle with two-by-two seating. Powerplant for the new aircraft is General Electric's new CF34-8E engine. The cockpit will be outfitted with Honeywell's Primus Epic avionics suite.
Two European regional carriers have selected Rockwell Collins' Flight Dynamics HGS. Eurowings, a Lufthansa partner based in Dortmund, Germany, will equip its new fleet of Bombardier CRJ 200s with the head-up guidance system. Eurowings has placed 15 firm orders for the CRJ 200 and has options for 20 more. Austria-based Rheintalflug has also selected the HGS for installation on its Embraer ERJ-145 fleet.
Austin Jet International, Horseshoe Bay, Texas, has named Marty Sinker as its aircraft services group president. Sinker was formerly the general manager at Raytheon Aircraft Services in Tampa, Fla., and will be responsible for all fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
Edited by David RimmerBy Mike Vines, at Helitech, Duxford, England Helitech '02 in Brazil
The organizer of the biennial Helitech U.K. show plans to launch a South American version of the show in 2002. Helitech South America is scheduled for November 5-7 at the Brazilian air base Campo de Marte near Sao Paulo. Apart from the growing biennial Chilean FIDAE air show/exhibition there is no other major international air trade show in South America. A large exhibition hall is planned for Helitech with company chalets, a static helicopter display and demonstration flights.
Fly any new airplane fitted with large-format, flat-panel displays and immediately you're impressed with the improvement in the situational awareness they provide. What pilot ever complained about cockpit displays being too big, too bright or too clear? These attributes, compared to CRT displays, offer significant advantages in depicting weather, terrain, traffic and flight plan route in relation to aircraft position.
More than a few operators laud Bombardier's Learjet personnel for ``bending over backwards'' to help them keep their aircraft flying. ``They're a real good bunch of folks,'' said Kirby Woehst, Federal Express' managing director of corporate aviation.
Calling it ``a first step in increased industrial cooperation between Fairchild Dornier and Chinese industry on a variety of projects,'' Fairchild Dornier has tapped China's Harbin Aircraft to produce wing fairings for the Fairchild Dornier 328JET. The aircraft will continue to be assembled at the German manufacturer's Oberpfaffenhofen facility. A spokesman for Harbin said at last year's Airshow China that the company hoped eventually to manufacture the aircraft in China.
Plugging all the security holes in the aviation infrastructure without overly hampering the convenience of air travel will be one the biggest challenges in the industry's history. Complicating this is the fact that aviation, more than any other medium, has tended to reflect, even epitomize, the openness of American society.
Corporate Rotable and Supply (CRS) has introduced a replacement generator for Model 35, 36 and 55 Learjets. The new DC generator, manufactured by Thales with CRS holding the STC, is a drop-in replacement for the current Allied/Bendix generator and requires no additional aircraft modification. Features of the generator include a 3,000-hour TBO, 400 true amps at ground level operation and a two-year factory warranty. The brushless DC generator uses an output diode bridge design with diode chips imbedded into power heat sinks.
The Chicago Department of Aviation, which operates O'Hare International -- one of the linchpins of the national hub-and-spoke system and, arguably, one of the six most important airports in the United States -- as well as Midway and Meigs Field airports, responded to the September 11 attacks by imposing airline-level security screening on FBOs and corporate flight departments based on its fields.
Sweden's Skyways Aviation has helped U.K.-based Eastern Airways service the Norwich-Aberdeen route vacated by the collapse of Gill Airways. Skyways arranged for Eastern to temporarily obtain a Fokker 50 while searching for an aircraft more suited to the demands of the route. Skyways located and arranged a six-month renewable lease of an Embraer ERJ 135 from City Airlines of Sweden. Eastern will operate the jet four times daily on the route and one time on Sundays.
FlightSafety's next-generation visual system will equip all new simulators delivered by its Tulsa-based simulation division beginning in early 2002. The new VITAL systems designed and manufactured by the company's visual simulation systems division in St. Louis will feature greater daytime visibility and contrast along with more advanced nighttime illuminations. Each visual channel can display up to 30,000 polygons and up to four megapixels -- roughly twice as sharp and twice as fast as its current ChromaView Plus visual systems.
Increased security requirements are expected to have little impact on the activities of A&P technicians. However, FAR Part 147 maintenance schools will be effected.
During the months of November and December, most of us find ourselves facing additional stress because of the holiday demands and the extra flying, reports and projects that seem to mark the end of the calendar year. Besides contending with your regular schedule, the extra shopping, parties and family obligations might make your usual good health practices fall by the wayside.
Sikorsky is teaming with Computing Devices Canada to maximize the ``made in Canada'' content of its Maritime Helicopter Project (MHP) candidate. Computing Devices Canada is a General Dynamics subsidiary and would draw on significant GD capabilities to provide the integrated mission system for Sikorsky's H-92 helicopter contender in the MHP Basic Vehicle competition. GD would integrate the Computing Devices system into the helicopter airframe. Sikorsky has said there could be more work for the Canadian company beyond the MHP project.
