Eagle Aviation is building a new design center to help serve aircraft refurbishment customers at its West Columbia, S.C., facility. The center is scheduled to open in December.
The Advanced Products Co., a maker of high-performance seals; Park Engineering, a parts manufacturer; and Manzi Metals have become the first women-led companies to join the Aerospace Industries Association's (AIA) Supplier Management Council in the group's 81-year history. Advanced Products CEO Nancy Nicolson is a 20-year veteran of the company, Nancy Manzi founded her Brooksville, Fla.-based company in 1995, and Park Engineering President Rose-Marie Swank has been with the family business for more than two decades.
German television reporter Leonard Diepenbrock won Sporty's 2000 Skyhawk Sweepstakes. Sporty's will award a Cessna Millennium Edition Skyhawk SP next summer in the 2001 giveaway.
GAMA has released a new publication with ``best practices'' for FAR Part 23 cockpit design. The FAA and GAMA member companies helped author Recommended Practices and Guidelines for Part 23 Cockpit/Flight Deck Design, which uses the results of human factors research to help create safer cockpits. The publication is available online at www.generalaviation.org or by writing GAMA Publications at 1400 K St., N.W., Ste. 801, Washington, D.C. 20005.
Joe Greenwood has been promoted to general manager of sales, customer administration, and marketing&spare parts for the repair division; Jim Berberet has been named director of business development for the repair division; Laura Lundquist is named as director of human resources for Nordam group; Tray Siegfried has been promoted to director of operations for interior and structures division; Susan Hughes Johnson was promoted to vice president of administrative financial services for the Nordam group; Rick Armstrong is promoted to vice president of the transparency divis
TEAC America has introduced a DVD replacement for its 8mm inflight-entertainment (IFE) reproducers. Al McGowan, TEAC national sales manager, said the in-seat and head-end DVD units provide substantial weight savings over tape-based video systems, and because there are no tape heads to clean, preventative maintenance is not required. The slot-loading in-seat player enhances IFE, providing MPEG-2 digital video quality and sound, with passengers' choice of videos, games, shopping or personal audio CDs.
National Express Group (NEG), operator of Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, N.Y., is selling its only other aviation businesses -- East Midlands and Bournemouth airports in England. Company officials say the sale will allow it to focus on its core bus and rail transportation businesses and will have ``absolutely no effect on the operation of Stewart,'' which the FAA privatized earlier this year.
Emhart Fastening Teknologies, a Black&Decker company, is now offering the ergonomically designed PowerLink 30 Rivet Tool Kit. The tool kit comes complete with the PowerLink 30 rivet tool, 200 of Emhart's POP brand blind rivets and rivet washers. The tool has the ability to set rivets of 3/16, 1/8 and 5/32 inches. Emhart said the PowerLink is 50 percent easier than any other hand-rivet tool on the market and the design has received the gold medal from the Industrial Design Excellence Award program. Price: $36.00 Emhart Fastening Teknologies
Premier Air Center has broken ground on a new 38,000-square-foot FBO at St. Louis Regional Airport in East Alton, Ill. The facility includes a hangar, office space and a warehouse to support its FAA-certified repair station and charter operation. Dave Benoff
Following the completion of a 21-day test period, the FAA has pronounced the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) useable for limited aviation applications under VFR conditions. The test showed WAAS to be stable and accurate to within one to two meters horizontally and two to three meters vertically. WAAS is designed to improve situational awareness by augmenting the GPS signal. Now three years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, the system has come under increasing attack by Congress and the General Accounting Office (GAO).
The Regional Airport Authority for Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky., has asked the FAA to extend Louisville International Airport's (SDF) passenger facility charges through 2018 so that it may accelerate the voluntary relocation of airport neighbors most affected by aircraft noise. Airport manager Jim DeLong says that while the airport purchased more than 2,600 homes between 1989 and June 2000, 1,100 homes still remain in the voluntary relocation area. Of those eligible, 90 percent are expected to accept the buyout offers.
Philip Morris' John Dillman and Frank Gasparini became the first pilots to train on SimuFlite's new Gulfstream IVSP simulator. The two completed five-day recurrent training on the G-IV.
Edited By Paul RichfieldBy Mike Vines, in Coventry, England
The Atlantique Group has opened an FBO -- Atlantic Executive Aviation -- at the West Midlands International Airport (CVY) near Coventry, England. Managing the new facility is U.S.-born Greg Edens, who once worked for Executive Air at Yeager Airport in West Virginia. ``We are out to change things over here,'' he says. ``Our plan is to bring the U.S. style of customer service and convenience to the U.K. for the first time.''
In business aviation, where flight availability is essential, Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Maintenance Steering Group Three (MSG-3) offer operators the same maintenance and time-saving options that the airlines use. The purpose of an RCM program is not to prevent failures of a component, but to mitigate the consequences of the failure to ensure the highest levels of reliability.
DeCrane Aircraft Holdings subsidiary Avtech is acquiring Coltech, a Phoenix-based manufacturer of selective calling systems (SELCAL) for airliners and corporate aircraft. According to DeCrane, the Coltech acquisition is a ``natural extension'' to the Avtech product line, which includes aircraft audio control systems, PA and cabin interphones, lighting systems and power conversion devices. Coltech manufacturing is expected to relocate to Avtech's Seattle facility by the end of the year.
The trade group that represents the largest U.S. airlines has launched a plan to fight fatigue among flight crews, but the largest airline pilots' union has categorized the effort as a ``delaying tactic'' that stands in the way of true regulatory reform. The debate is significant to business aircraft and FAR Part 135 operators, since any policy or rule changes that result are, over time, likely to ``trickle down'' to their level. Unveiled as the Alertness Management Initiative, the Air Transport Association (ATA) has called for:
There are plenty of jokes about the results of design by committee. But in the case of the MD Explorer, the committee might just have gotten things right, even if it has taken nearly a decade to prove the point.
Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa CityLine will provide component support for Japanese start-up carrier The Fair under the terms of a new agreement. The carrier is operating Japan's first Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) service with two aircraft and two additional CRJs planned for delivery in 2002.
Precious little is more important to a pilot than accurate weather information. Whether you're planning a flight or setting up for an approach, knowing what lies ahead is often critical to your decision making. While dealing with surprises lies at the heart of your skills and training, most pilots agree, the fewer surprises, the better.
Production of the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) will be limited to four units per year, to make room for airliners on the company's Hamburg, Germany, production line.
Britain's Civil Aviation Authority has warned airlines and operators that not all air traffic control instructions heard on the radio may be genuine. The action follows a rash of reports of ``unauthorized and malicious'' transmissions being made on U.K. air traffic frequencies. The CAA says 20 such cases have been reported so far this year, compared with 18 last year and three in 1998. None have resulted in an accident, however, since in every case pilots questioned the radio hackers' incorrect phraseology.
