November 12 – European Aviation Club luncheon with Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, Hotel Bristol Stephanie, Brussels, e-mail: [email protected] December 8-10 – AVIATION WEEK MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong, www.aviationweek.com/conferences January 25-26, 2010 – National Air Transportation Association FBO Leadership Conference, San Antonio, Texas, (800) 808-6282 or visit www.nata.aero/fbolc
The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that the American Hospital Association (AHA) inform its members of FAA’s role in aviation safety and encourage members to report any safety concerns related to medical/air ambulance services to the agency. The recommendation followed a similar one that FAA require all Part 135 and 91K operators to provide FAA contact information to their customers “for use in expressing concerns about flight safety, thus providing customers with a clear means of communicating any safety concerns to the FAA.”
MOHAMMED ALGHANIM was named a field service representative for Gulfstream Aerospace. Alghanim will work with Gulfstream customers in the Middle East. He has 11 years of aviation experience, including four as an avionics/electrical technician lead in the Gulfstream corporate flight department in Savannah, Ga. Alghanim also has served with TIMCO Aviation Services and EADS-Airbus.
SYLVIE DESJARDINS was appointed vice president, finance, for Esterline CMC Electronics. A 20-year aerospace veteran, Desjardins held a number of positions of increasing responsibility with Bombardier, including vice president of finance, for Learjet, and most recently as vice president of finance, programs and strategic planning, and vice president of finance, for Bombardier Business Aircraft. She also has served with Ernst and Young.
BANK OF AMERICA formed a strategic alliance with aviation services provider Avjet Corp. Under the deal, clients who finance their aircraft through Bank of America and take advantage of the business aircraft management services of Avjet get preferred financing.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT has begun offering Forward Vision’s EVS-100 and EVS-600 enhanced vision systems as options on Bonanza and Baron aircraft. The EVS systems also will be available for retrofit at HBC service centers. The Forward Vision EVS-100 and -600 are line replaceable units that weigh less than 1.5 pounds and mount like an external antenna.
THE TETERBORO AIRPORT INDUSTRY WORKING GROUP last week urged FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to increase the priority on construction of a new air traffic control tower at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Built in the early 1970s as a temporary facility, the current tower does not provide controllers an unobstructed view of vital areas of the field, the working group noted.
TRANS-EXEC PRIVATE JETS, of Van Nuys, Calif., added a Gulfstream V to its fleet of Gulfstream aircraft. White House decorator Michael Smith designed the interior of Trans-Exec’s new GV jet.
FAA’S DECISION to deny the a Part 161 application to impose a nighttime ban at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., drew cheers from industry leaders, who feared that the ban “would have set an ugly precedent.” See article on Page 216.
WICHITA AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE (WATC) earned accreditation from the National Center for Aircraft Technician Training (NCATT). One of 13 institutions to achieve the NCATT recognition, WATC demonstrated that it met certain knowledge and skill standards established by the NCATT.
Confident that it is weathering the recession and credit crisis, Piaggio Aero is continuing its commitment to expand in North America by adding three new service centers – Fort Lauderdale, Toronto and Montreal – to the Italian plane-maker’s service network.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 700, 701, 702, 705 and 900 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-1027; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-143-AD] – This proposed rule would require operators to replace existing blowout (decompression) panel protective cage assemblies installed in the aft baggage cargo compartment with new cages that have greater damage resistance, in accordance with the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 670BA-25-071 (dated May 15, 2009).
ALTO AVIATION in Leominster, Mass. was selected to supply sound system components for Honeywell’s new Ovation Select cabin management system. Ovation Select has been chosen for Embraer Legacy 450/500 series aircraft. ALTO co-developed a new digital amplifier that will seamlessly integrate into the Ovation Select system. The Embraer package will include four mid/high enclosures, two subwoofers and a customized digital amplifier.
GUY JOANNES was tapped to serve as president and chief executive of Eurocopter Canada Limited. Joannes has headed Eurocopter subsidiaries in Australia and South Africa and most recently was in charge of business development of the company’s activities in India. He joined Eurocopter in 1991 in the Customer Service Directorate, and also has served with Turbomeca.
INDUSTRY LEADERS may get a better handle on the Obama Administration’s plans for user fees as they meet this week with Xavier de Souza Briggs, associate director for general government programs at the Office of Management and Budget, to discuss early considerations for the fiscal 2011 budget, including aviation user fees. The meeting is part of the National Air Transportation Association’s annual Aviation Business Roundtable, which also will include meetings with FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other key Washington leaders.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Model 1900, 1900C and 1900D airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1312; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-065-AD; Amendment 39-16072; AD 2009-23-01] – This AD requires a one-time visual inspection and repetitive ultrasonic inspections of the left and right main landing gear actuators for leaks or cracks. Replacement of the actuator is required if leaks or cracks are found.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Maryland State Police (MSP) disagree about some of the facts behind the fatal crash of an MSP helicopter last fall.
SIERRA INDUSTRIES cut the prices of its Williams FJ44 re-engining modifications for Citation I, II and S-II aircraft by more than $100,000 for work completed in 2010. Pricing for the Sierra FJ44-2A Stallion upgrade to the Citation 500/501SP is $1.55 million, and the cost is $1.75 million for the FJ44-3-powered 550 Super II and S550 Super S-II.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701 and 702), CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705) and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0998; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-198-AD; Amendment 39-16065; AD 2009-22-12] – Measure the inrush current of certain Thales angle-of-attack (AOA) transducers, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 670BA-27-051 (dated May 14, 2009). If an AOA transducer is found to have an inrush current less than 1.60 amps, replace it with a new or serviceable transducer before further flight.
A five-week furlough at Gulfstream led to a “double-digit reduction” in sales in the third quarter for the General Dynamics Aerospace Group, but some $300 million in sales helped buffer that drop, General Dynamics (GD) reported last week.
DAVID LAWRENCE was promoted to executive vice president of finance and administration for private jet-card pioneer Marquis Jet. Lawrence has served with Marquis since February 2002 and before that was with The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In his new role, he will be responsible for financial planning and analysis, aircraft fleet planning and sales analysis.
Long Beach, Calif.-based private jet operator JetSuite has unveiled its new All-You-Can-Private-Jet program that sells jet cards by day intervals rather than the traditional blocks of hours. Under the program, JetSuite is offering 10- and 25-DayCards flying Embraer Phenom 100 jets, said founder and CEO Alex Wilcox, also one of the founding executives at JetBlue Airways. The cards are priced at $35,000 and $75,000, respectively.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700 and 701), CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705) and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0995; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-123-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to replace the clevis in the landing gear retraction mechanism with new parts for both the bypass and the downlock assist valves, per the instructions of Bombardier Alert Service Bulletin A670BA-32-022, Rev. A (dated May 1, 2009).
Easton, Md.-based Crowley Aircraft Management Advisors (CrowleyAMA) is stepping up its marketing efforts for its invoice review service, MyTechnician, through a recent agreement with marketing specialist Aviation Business Consultants Inc.
