Jetfly Aviation of Luxembourg took delivery of the first of 10 TBM 700Bs for its new fractional program at Le Bourget, France on February 1. The $24 million contract includes a ``power by the hour'' maintenance plan, and deliveries are at the rate of one every three months.
ICAO has announced an agreement on a new air route structure over the North Pole that will reduce flight distances from North America and Europe to Asia and the Pacific region. While the new routes are being crafted with the major airlines in mind, operators of ultra-long-range business aircraft also stand to benefit.
It was a sweltering August day in 1981 when members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) struck against the FAA. Abandoning control towers and radar rooms across the country, they waved union banners, pumped their clenched fists into the sky, and began exhorting before television news crews that rushed to the picket lines. The controllers said they were angry, inveighing against a monolithic government agency. They wanted more money, better hours, better equipment, more help and the right to strike.
The leading organization providing satellite services for civil communication is London, England-based Inmarsat (which describes itself as ``the world's leading celestial communications network''). Originally formed by international treaty to provide safety communication to ships at sea, that service was extended to provide similar services to aviation. Now privatized, Inmarsat furnishes a mix of emergency and commercial communication connections and services through its galaxy of eight geosynchronous satellites.
Bearskin Airlines has launched Fairchild Metroliner service between Kapuskasing and Timmins, Ontario. The Thunder Bay, Ontario-based carrier -- one of Canada's last independent regionals -- says the decision to fly the route is based on direct solicitation from the community of Kapuskasing, plus Air Creebec's withdrawal from the market in fall 2000. Bearskin offers around 200 daily flights to 37 destinations, including many remote villages with no road access.
Western Michigan University will train up to 40 female and minority pilot candidates under a new ab initio training agreement with Delta Air Lines. The students will include graduates and undergraduates, who will be given priority hiring consideration at Delta Connection carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Delta has pledged $1.65 million over four years in support of the program.
NASA is expected to release in the next few weeks an NRA (NASA Research Announcement) requesting proposals from companies and other organizations for participation in its Small Aircraft Transport System (SATS) program. The NRA will seek one-year demonstration projects that advance the goals of SATS, designed to increase availability of low-cost general aviation aircraft and access to small airports. The NRA is expected to draw more than just aviation companies; the states of Florida and Oklahoma, in particular, have expressed substantial interest in participating.
For most operators, the answer to the question of when is an airplane or helicopter too old is straightforward: when its economically useful life ends. In the real world, that answer is not so simple. Given the wide variety of applications, geographic areas, regulatory oversight and economic drivers, aircraft once thought to be candidates for the wrecker's yard by one group are considered very useful by another.
Were it not for the bugs that go splat, and the ice and grime that accumulate, most pilots would have no reason to notice the windshields in front of their noses. And that's understandable because windshields are remarkably good at keeping the inside world in and the outside world out while remaining, for the most part, entirely invisible.
Jeppesen GmbH of Frankfurt, Germany has reached a major agreement with the United Kingdom's Oxford Aviation to publish a 15-volume series of Theoretical Knowledge Manuals for flight schools engaged in training for the JAA-FCL Airline Transport License. Oxford Aviation is supplying the manuals' content, which is based on the school's last three years of developing JAA-FCL ATPL ground examination requirements.
NTSB investigators are continuing to examine the cause of two separate Raytheon King Air A90 crashes killing 13 people earlier this year. Poor weather, an aircraft that was not equipped for flight in instrument conditions and a VFR flight that continued into instrument meteorological conditions appear to have led to the January 14 fatal crash of an A90 into the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah. The pilot and all eight passengers were killed in the accident.
Marc Fruchter Aviation, Reading, Pa., has appointed Jeffrey Alderfer as its president and chief operating officer. Previously a line captain and the director of training, Alderfer will oversee daily operations and will report to Marc Fruchter, the company's chairman and CEO.
Ever wonder what happened to all those David Clark headsets in use on the sidelines of Nation-al Football League (NFL) games? The David Clark Corp. is wondering the same thing, though it doesn't admit to fumbling in the big game. ``We had the NFL contract for years, then Telex came in three or four years ago and gave the equipment away,'' says John Farr, David Clark's director of marketing.
The FAA and industry have agreed to add ``GPS'' to the titles of all RNAV (remote navigation) approach charts in a bid to resolve compatibility issues with multi-sensor FMS equipment. The change took effect with database cycle 0101, effective January 25. An approach titled ``RNAV (GPS) RWY XX'' on the chart may appear as ``GPS XX'' on the aircraft's FMS. The apparent glitch appeared on February 24, 2000, when the FAA began publishing RNAV approach procedures designed to be flown by both GPS and RNP-0.3-equipped aircraft.
Gulfstream has expanded its dominance of the U.S. government's VIP-transport market with the sale of a Gulfstream V (C-37A) to the U.S. Coast Guard. The service will take delivery of the aircraft in mid-2002 as a replacement for a Gulfstream III (C-20B), which has been used primarily to transport senior federal officials and high-ranking military officers.
The FAA has named Bill Peacock, a 27-year agency veteran and private pilot, to direct its Air Traffic Service. Peacock joined the FAA in 1973 as an air traffic controller in Lubbock, Texas, and has since held positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently he was director of air traffic tactical operations, where he oversaw daily flight operations in the national airspace system. He also managed the agency's Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Va.
Canadian manufacturer CAE reached agreement with BAE Systems-North America to buy that company's Flight Simulation and Training unit for $80 million (U.S.). BAE Flight Simulation and Training, based in Tampa, Fla., was formerly known as Reflectone. It manufactures transport and helicopter simulation equipment and provides training and support services for commercial and military customers. The Tampa unit has nearly 800 employees and posted revenues of approximately $80 million for the year ended December 31, 2000. "This acquisition will strengthen CAE's access to the U.S.
DB Aviation at Illinois' Waukegan Regional Airport (UGN) has taken delivery of one of the first Dassault Falcon 900Cs to be used as an FAR Part 135 charter aircraft. The aircraft seats 12 or sleeps six, and is equipped for flights in Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums airspace on charter flights between Chicago and Europe. DB Aviation also operates a full service FBO and Part 145 repair station.
Mesaba Airlines says a shortage of pilots is forcing flight cancellations that are likely to impact its most recent quarterly earnings. Bad weather also has cut into the Minneapolis-based airline's profits, as has code-share partner Northwest Airlines' refusal to pay $3.4 million in back fees. Northwest maintains that a lower billing rate should apply to some of the flights that occurred during the period in dispute. Northwest and Mesa Air Group offered to buy Mesaba in late 2000, but both deals collapsed.
Elliott Aviation won STC approval to install Honeywell's Mark VII enhanced ground proximity warning system in Falcon 10 aircraft. The installation, initially completed on a Falcon 10 based in Omaha, includes a Collins TCAS-94 TCAS II system, a Collins MFD-85D multi-function display, dual RTU-4210 radio tuning units, a Collins WXR-8450 Doppler radar system and new Collins Pro Line II nav/coms.
Norman Mineta, who was sworn in as secretary of transportation after sailing through the Senate confirmation process, warned Congress that this coming summer likely will be as bad as, if not worse than, last in terms of air traffic delays and congestion, and pledged to ``take whatever steps we need to, no matter how large or small, even if the payoff is not immediate.''
Adam Aircraft, a start-up company based in Englewood, Colo., plans to price its new twin-engine M-309 aircraft at $695,000 for the first 20 production models. The company is taking $25,000 deposits for the composite, pressurized six-passenger aircraft. ``This is a major milestone for us,'' said Adam Aircraft President John Knudsen.
Intercontinental Jet, Tulsa, has appointed James Andrews as its Learjet crew chief and William Wass as a Learjet technician. Andrews has over 33 years of aviation experience, with his last six years as the lead program manager of Learjet and Citation aircraft at Bizjet International.
Ever since manufacturers started building airplanes, they've used their own products for corporate transportation. United Aircraft&Transport Corp. was no exception. Although its subsidiary companies operated airplanes starting in the 1920s, UA&TC entered the world of business aviation in November 1933 when it acquired a Model 247A made by its Boeing Airplane unit.
