The FAA certified new Raytheon Beechjet 400A and Cessna Citation II simulators for FlightSafety International. The Beechjet, FSI's third, is based at the company's Raytheon Learning center in Wichita, while the Citation is based at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta.
The Helicopter Association International, Alexandria, Va., has named the following pilots as award recipients: Timothy Tucker, chief pilot at Robinson Helicopter, for its Outstanding CFI award; Toni Lotscher, deputy chief pilot at Swiss Air Ambulance, for the Robert E. Trimble award; and Jim Gardner, pilot for KFOR-TV, for the Pilot of the Year award.
Bombardier Aerospace won Transport Canada approval for its 70-passenger CRJ700 regional jet, the follow-on to its successful 50-passenger CRJ, and expects European Joint Aviation Authorities and U.S. FAA approvals shortly. Bombardier, which has 174 orders in hand for the CRJ700, expects the first aircraft to enter airline service with French regional carrier Brit Air this quarter. Brit Air has signed contracts for 12 of the aircraft.
Boeing has deferred launching a shortened, 86-passenger version of the Boeing 717, an aircraft that would place the Seattle giant in direct competition with regional jet makers Bombardier, Embraer and Fairchild Dornier. Current production 717-200s have around 100 seats, and are a derivative of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 series. Sales of the 717 have been slow (149 to date), as are sales for the 110-seat 737-600 (86 orders to date).
The AOPA launched an online service to help members follow up on special issuance medical applications. The association placed a ``status request form'' on its members-only section that allows members to provide basic medical information confidentially to the AOPA's medical certification staff. The staff will use that information to track applications within the FAA. ``Currently, the FAA is several months behind in proc-essing special issuance medical applications,'' said Gary Crump, AOPA director of medical certification.
Midcoast Aviation, Cahokia, Ill., and the Illinois Aviation Trades Association have awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Karl Nero of Chicago. Nero had completed seven semesters of a four-year degree in aviation human factors at the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation at Urbana-Champaign.
Atlantic Coast Airlines has taken delivery of its 36th Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet. The carrier holds firm orders for 60 CRJs and options for an additional 80. Bombardier says it recently made its first sale to Senegal. Air Senegal International has ordered a Q300 turboprop for domestic and regional international flights. Service is slated to begin this month.
Executive Jet Management has added 12 aircraft to its managed fleet, including three Gulfstream IVs, two Falcon 900s, two Cessna Citation Excels, a Citation II, Hawker 800XP, Falcon 50, Challenger 600 and a Learjet 35A. EJM now manages 56 aircraft based in 31 cities nationwide.
The tires looked just fine during the preflight. The tread was good, there were no nicks or cuts, no flat spots, and they didn't look low on air. More important in my mind was the condition of the wheels, brakes and struts, and a quick visual inspection of these items yielded no discrepancies either.
The FAA has selected three U.S. military airports for conversion to civil-only or joint-use status, as part of a program designed to increase system capacity and reduce air traffic control delays.
Safe Flight Instrument achieved two milestones re-cently: shipment of its 600,000th Stall Warning System and delivery of the 50th Bombardier Challenger 604 AutoPower automatic throttle system. The Stall Warning System was invented in 1946 by Safe Flight Founder Leonard M. Greene.
U.K.-based BBA Aviation will buy Gulfstream's engine overhaul and repair operations in Dallas, and Gulfstream will purchase BBA's maintenance centers in Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in New York
The Russians are coming -- with huge helicopters. Siberia's Tyumenaviatrans Aviation (TAT) says it plans to expand its business westward and is near to closing a landmark deal with one of the larger U.S. helicopter operators. Speaking recently in New York, TAT chief executive Andrei Martirossov said his goal is to create a ``global helicopter alliance'' that will mirror the code-share operations employed by the major passenger airlines.
Edited By Paul RichfieldMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
An AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter variant operated by Britain's Royal Navy crashed off the coast of Scotland on October 27, 2000; its five crewmembers were rescued. The Merlin HM Mk.1 was conducting a sonar-dipping exercise at approximately 100 feet when it suffered a power loss and fire in its Number Two engine, according to a company spokesman, who said the helicopter rolled inverted before hitting the water.
Computer reservation service Worldspan is now offering travel agents the ability to price and book air charters online on the company's Worldspan Go! system. Worldspan has signed an alliance with CharterHub, an online provider of real-time charter availability and booking. The new service is available for charters in the United States and Canada.
Australian air safety officials are crafting new rules that mandate personal flotation devices (PFDs) on commercial aircraft that fly even short distances over water. The move comes six months after a Wyhalla Airlines Piper Chieftain crashed into the Spencer Gulf along Australia's southern coast, killing all eight aboard. Current rules require PFDs only on flights that operate at least 50 nm from land.
The Vance&Engles aircraft brokerage has opened a new East European office in Prague. Tomas Chlumecky will head the new office, in addition to his current efforts as area sales representative for Cessna.
Good morning, Houston, Falcon 750 Hotel, flight level 430'' Captain Laura Carr reported, as we leveled off in Honeywell's Falcon 50 Dash 40 retrofit demonstrator and began to accelerate towards 0.80 Mach cruise. Climbing directly to FL 410, or higher, and then cruising at 459 KTAS, or better, is routine for operators of the $20 million Falcon 50EX because it's fitted with TFE731-40 turbofans that produce 24 percent more cruise thrust, according to Honeywell officials.
Honeywell's new 905 gas generator, potentially the core of a new 3,000- to 6,000-pound thrust turbofan family slated to replace the venerable TFE731, made its first test-cell run in Phoenix on November 29, 2000. Launched last February 2000, the 905's first test-cell run originally was scheduled for the end of 2000. Honeywell says the 905 program is part of a plan to develop new families of engines to complement the 6,500- to 8,000-plus-pound thrust AS907.
AviationTracker has announced the release of its Web-based maintenance forecasting, tracking and scheduling system for aircraft record keeping. The software is designed to allow companies to carry out maintenance and inventory procedures over the Internet with access to real-time information. AviationTracker's system combines all technical data functions, including technical records, inventory control, maintenance planning, purchasing, inspection document management, maintenance production control, component reliability and technical logbooks.
BFGoodrich says it will sell its Performance Materials business and acquire Raytheon's electro-optical systems division. Chairman David L. Burner says the moves are aimed at completing BFGoodrich's transformation into an aerospace and industrial products company.
The prime rule of aviation training is: Train the way you fly and fly the way you train. The rule, taken at face value, seems to be self-evident. Who could disagree? Yet many of the accidents that befall operators of turbine aircraft provide evidence that we don't always fly the way we train. Indeed, the circumstances of some accidents suggest we often spend a great deal of time training for the wrong mission, or training for unlikely events, or training to the wrong set of standards.
I would like to add a few observations to Richard Aarons' excellent coverage and analysis of the U.S. Air Force C-130 accident at Jackson Hole (Cause&Circumstance, December 2000, page 86). Once again, the mishap crews were ``highly qualified'' and ``well respected,'' etc., which begs the question, Then why did they make the mistakes that killed them? It raises another question that doesn't get asked often enough in accident investigations: What would similarly experienced Air Force crews have done in this situation?
