Executive Jet Center has opened the first phase of its new Million Air FBO at Mobile (Ala.) Regional Airport. Million Air Mobile has been designated a Phillips 66 Aviation Performance Center (APC). The facilities include a 5,500-square-foot office and reception area, a 3,000-square-foot maintenance area, 12,000 square feet of hangar space and a 9,000-square-foot ramp. The company has installed a Phillips-designed, state-of-the-art fuel farm capable of delivering fuel into aircraft at rates as high as 300 gallons per minute, which is 50 percent greater than average.
AMPORTS Aviation Group has acquired Heritage Flight, an FBO located at Burlington International Airport (BTV) in Vermont. AMPORTS said the facility will be renamed ``FBO AvCenter-BTV;'' however, the charter, training and maintenance side of the facility will continue to operate under its original name. The facility consists of a terminal, two hangars totaling 40,000 square feet, 20 T-hangars and associated ramp space.
A few years ago my wife and I paid a visit to friends who had moved to Broward County, Fla., and the driving directions took us much farther west than I had expected. Finally, as we neared the Everglades we came upon signs welcoming us to Tropical Haven or something like that. It was a built-last-week village of fine, chock-a-block, central air-conditioned homes, smiling children and perfect lawns. Years earlier when I'd lived in Miami, this had been a place of sawgrass and alligators, so I was taken aback. My next surprise was being forced to halt at a guard shack.
Affinity Solutions has developed a two-component paint touch-up kit called EZ2-PaintKit. The kits are self-contained and eliminate personnel exposure to mixing isocyanated paint products. When you are ready to paint, insert the pick-up tube into the preval sprayer, penetrate the upper and lower barrier seals, shake and apply. After the paint is used, the remaining material can be left in the package to solidify overnight and then be discarded. No cans to drain and no Hazmat material requiring documented disposal.
Daytona Beach International will get a new taxiway and an FBO, with construction currently under way on both. The new 7,500-foot taxiway Papa is on the south side of the main runway. Site work has also begun on the new full-service FBO, Executive Flightline.
According to Glenn L. Stoutt, Jr., M.D., and senior FAA aviation medical examiner, the number-one problem most pilots have during their routine FAA medical examination is elevated blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension is often called ``the silent killer,'' because it usually causes no symptoms at all. For this reason you should know your pattern of blood pressure readings, and -- if consistently high -- get medical advice. Years of straining to pump blood will deteriorate your cardiovascular system.
InspecTech Aero Service has completed its first suspended particle device (SPD) window installation on a Learjet 25C and is now offering this new technology for other aircraft. SPDs use a film in which droplets of liquid suspension are distributed. Light-absorbing microscopic particles are then dispersed within the liquid suspension. The film is enclosed between two pieces of glass or plastic plates coated with a transparent conductive material. When an electrical voltage is applied to the suspension, the particles are forced to align.
GAMA President Ed Bolen is concerned that a U.S. DOT request for public comment on using ``market-based'' approaches to relieve airport congestion and flight delays diverts attention from the overriding objective of increasing system capacity to achieve the same ends. He equates ``market-based'' measures with ``demand management'' and says DOT Secretary Norman Y.
Christie Electric Co., a division of Marathon Power, has launched a special trade-in-program for owners of RF80-H, RF80-GT, Superceder or PCA131 battery maintenance systems. Qualified customers either can receive $500 towards the purchase of a new RF80-K or U-60, or they can request that Marathon donate the old equipment to a trade school.
Sporty's next-generation SP-200 Nav/Com transceiver is based on its JD-200. A new ``last frequency'' features lets you toggle between two frequencies and the SP-200 uses the new 8.33-kHz spacing already in effect in Europe. The transceiver is compatible with all JD-200 accessories and comes with a five-year warranty. Other features of the 16.9-ounce radio include a Localizer/VOR with CDI, OBS and to/from indicator, automatic ``bearing-to-station,'' and 2,280 com, 200 nav and 20 memory channels. Price: $295 Sporty's Pilot Shop
Aviation Personnel International, New Orleans, has appointed Sheryl Barden as vice president. She will be responsible for business development and recruiting.
Honeywell, in partnership with Cessna Aircraft, will provide reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) equipment for Citation 500, I, II, S/II and V models. The package, which includes digital air data computer, air data/altimeter and a vertical nav controller, will be installed at authorized Citation Services Facilities. In addition, Honeywell announced certification of its N1 Digital Electronic Engine Control for the Raytheon Hawker 800XP and the TFE731-powered Dassault Falcon 900 and 20 aircraft.
Air charter broker FlightTime is leasing two Southeast Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32s for its collegiate basketball charter program. The 56-seat aircraft previously flew for Legend Airlines, the short-lived Dallas Love Field-based carrier. Southeast Airlines is a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based FAR Part 121 carrier. FlightTime now operates charters for about 100 men's and women's college basketball teams, including such giants as the University of Notre Dame, Penn State University and the Universities of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.
Romania's Angel Airlines has taken delivery of the first of five BAE Systems Jetstream 32s. The regional upstart is targeting its service at business travelers to 17 Romanian cities, beginning with Baneasa International Airport near downtown Bucharest. Angel's aircraft, the first Jetstreams in scheduled service in Romania, will be covered under BAE's MACRO (Material&Component Repair and Overhaul) fixed-cost maintenance program.
Nav Canada, a private, non-share capital corporation, bought the country's entire air navigation systems and facilities from the federal government on November 1, 1996, for $1.5 billion. Previously, ATC was the responsibility of the federal Department of Transport, which retains oversight responsibility for regulatory matters. Nav Canada was created after several years of lobbying for the privatization of ATC by the major aviation associations and organizations, including airline, corporate and private pilot groups, and the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association.
August 24: An Ameristar Jet Charter Learjet 25 crashed on departure from Tompkins County Airport, in Ithaca, N.Y., killing the two pilots aboard. The aircraft was destined for Jackson County-Reynolds Field in Jackson, Mich., after a one-hour layover in Ithaca, where it picked up fuel and additional cargo. Weather at the time of the accident was IMC, with one-half mile visibility in fog, calm winds and a 100-foot overcast ceiling. An investigation into the cause of the accident is continuing.
Garrett Aviation Services held more than a dozen workshops around the country this past spring and summer that outlined the regulatory and equipment milestones leading to the establishment of Free Flight, defined by the RTCA as instrument flight ``in which operators have the freedom to select their path and speed in real time.'' During the presentations, Garrett identified what it considers the critical avionics upgrades operators will need in order to continue operating and to exploit the benefits of Free Flight.
Fairchild Dornier's Envoy 7 has been fitted with blended winglets dubbed ``Super Shark'' because their curves evoke a shark's fin. Wind-tunnel testing suggests the winglets will improve climb and range while reducing buffet. Final assembly of the aircraft is under way in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, with first flight set for fall 2002. The company is also introducing a power-by-the-hour maintenance program and establishing parts depots in the United States and Europe.
Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is concerned controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents are on the rise -- especially in remote areas where weather reporting and sophisticated approach aids are sparse. Most of these accidents occur, according to the TSB, when pilots ignore the regulations and sound SOPs while attempting nonprecision approaches in marginal conditions. Here's a sample of what TSB investigators have turned up recently: Navajo Chieftain
A Helicopter Association International letter to congressional leaders ex-pressed concern about Wide Area Augmentation System implementation funding in the Senate's 2002 transportation appropriations bill.
BAE Systems has delivered six of the 10 leased Jetstream 32EPs ordered in 2000 by Corporate Aviation Partners (CAP), a time-share operation. In addition to the 10 firm orders for the corporate-configured Jetstreams, CAP has options for 10 more.
Eclipse Aviation in mid-September said that the Nimbus Group -- a company with no aviation experience and a market capitalization of less than $9 million -- ordered 1,000 Eclipse 500 aircraft and committed to an equity investment in the Albuquerque manufacturer. Nimbus plans to create a nationwide air taxi service network, a concept that Eclipse founder Vern Raburn has been touting since the first announcement of the light jet program in 2000.
