STEVEN ALIMENT was appointed to the newly created position of regional vice president sales-Europe for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. Aliment will be based at Bombardier’s regional support office near Munich, Germany. He joins Bombardier with more than 25 years experience at The Boeing Company.
June 24 – National Business Aviation Association: Business Aviation Regional Forum, St. Paul, Minn., (202) 783-9000 or visit www.nbaa.org June 25–27 – National Business Aviation Association 14th Annual Flight Attendants Conference, New Orleans, La., (202) 783-9000 or visit www.nbaa.org July 27-August 2 – Experimental Aircraft Association 57th AirVenture Oshkosh 09, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 426-4800 or go to www.airventure.org
Cessna Aircraft took a step toward closing down its Bend, Ore. facility with the transfer of delivery of its Corvalis single-piston aircraft line to its customer center in Independence, Kan. But the company’s single-engine aircraft lines received a boost as Cessna signed contracts for fleet orders involving its Caravan single-turboprop and 182 single-piston aircraft.
CESSNA’S authorized sales representative in Japan, Japan Aerospace Corporation, sold a Citation Sovereign to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Japanese equivalent to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JAXA will use the aircraft for aerodynamic research and other aircraft performance missions. Cessna earned Japanese certification for the Sovereign in 2007.
AGUSTA Model A109E, A109S, A119 and AW119MKII helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2009-0226; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-35-AD; Amendment 39-15930; AD 2009-12-07] – Before each cargo hook operation each day, visually inspect the cargo hook lever for any cracks, following the instructions of Agusta Alert Bollettino Tecnico 109EP-78, 109S-12 or 119-21 (all dated June 6, 2007), as appropriate. If any cracks are found in the lever, do not use the cargo hook until the entire cargo hook is replaced with an airworthy cargo hook.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY’S Applied Aviation Research Center in Salina, Kan. won a grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research for its unmanned aerial systems program. The $380,240 grant runs through March 2012. K-State plans to establish an Unmanned Aerial Systems Technology Evaluation Center that will evaluate existing unmanned aerial systems technologies and platforms for their suitability in disaster response. The center will train operators/maintainers.
THE FIGHT OVER user fees to fund the aviation system may just be a “smoke screen,” according to one industry executive, who warned that even bigger worries may lay ahead. Speaking during the National Air Transportation Association Air Charter Summit last week, Jet Aviation Senior Vice President Dick Van Gemert warned, “It can get very easy to focus on the wrong battle.” While the battle over user fees is important, Washington leaders are beginning to look for other sources of revenues to pay for the growing expenditures.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (ICG) developed an interface with between its NxtMail Server and Cobham’s SDU-7300 Swift 65 and SDU-320 Swift Broadband Satcom systems, which will enable up to eight on-board Wi-Fi devices to simultaneously access on-board services provided by the Inmarsat high-speed data channel. The ICG said the integration of its NxtMail Service with the Cobham SDU’s expands the platforms for ICG products, since NxtMail now can be configured to connect to both Inmarsat and Iridium systems.
THE GREATER WASHINGTON AVIATION OPEN (GWAO) annual charity golf and tennis event last week raised $95,000 for the Corporate Angel Network, the nonprofit organization that arranges free flights for cancer patients aboard corporate aircraft. Held at Lansdowne Resort outside Washington, D.C., the event drew leaders from associations, airlines, airports, manufacturers, consultants, business, Congress and federal agencies. GWAO has raised some $1.35 million for the Corporate Angel Network over 21 years.
PILATUS PC-7 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0509; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-029-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to conduct repetitive visual inspections of the bolts and the bores of the attachment fittings for the engine mounting frame, per Pilatus PC-7 Service Bulletin No. 53-006 (dated Nov. 17, 2008). If corrosion were found, operators would need to replace the bolts before further flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board is seeking to accelerate research on technologies, such as pulsating landing lights, that can be installed on aircraft to frighten birds away. Bird detection and mitigation efforts at airports, such as avian radars, are mainly focused on detecting or keeping birds away from the airport environment, noted NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Sumwalt. He presided over the board’s June 9-10 hearing on safety issues surrounding the Jan. 15 water landing of US Airways Flight 1549.
The United Way of the Plains was the beneficiary of a $31,000 donation in funds raised at the first-ever Wichita Aero Club Ball June 6. The United Way will use the donation to help more than 10,000 aerospace workers who have lost their jobs in the region.
REP. TODD TIAHRT (R-Kan.) is supporting the effort by Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer (D) to bring President Barack Obama to the region to view business aviation aircraft production first-hand. “Mayor Brewer initiated this himself, and I thought it was an innovative and bright thing to do,” Tiahrt told BA. “It’s important that we get President Obama to come and view the aviation industry because his record of speaking about the industry has not been favorable.” The president needs to see the high-quality, high paying jobs created by this industry, said Tiahrt.
NATA President James Coyne agreed. “The battlefield of who pays what for whom has been turned upside down,” Coyne said, citing as an example one proposal to use carbon offset tax revenues to pay for health care. The government has been discussing a $2 trillion deficit, he said. “If the government declares war on wealth, then that is going to be a much bigger battle than who pays for NextGen,” Coyne said.
AVIONS DE TRANSPORT REGIONAL ATR 42-200, -300, -320 and -500 and ATR 72-101, -102, -201, -202, -211, -212 and -212A airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1237; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-125-AD; Amendment 39-15932; AD 2009-12-09] – Conduct a one-time detailed inspection for damage to the electrical routing in the rear baggage zone, per the instructions of ATR Service Bulletin ATR 42-92-0015, Rev. 01 or ATR 72-92-1016, Rev. 01 (both dated Feb. 11, 2009) as applicable. If any damage is found, contact ATR for repair instructions and do the repair before further flight.
Industry executives continue to see signs of stabilization in the market, but are wary that significant obstacles could hamper recovery. The economy may be reaching the bottom, Gulfstream Aerospace President Joe Lombardo said during the NATA Air Charter Summit last week, noting his company has seen some interest in refurb and charter markets. “This is a very resilient industry,” he said, but added it is too early to tell when recovery will begin. New orders are down, Lombardo said, and backlogs, “once the envy of industry,” have suffered.
FAA will hold a “Call to Action” forum today (June 15) in Washington to review airline safety, pilot training, cockpit discipline, and other “issues associated with flight safety,” the Department of Transportation announced last week. The forum will include agency officials, along with about 40 representatives from major airlines, regional carriers, airline groups and labor unions.
SCHUBACH AVIATION, a San Diego-based on-demand charter operator, has added a Gulfstream IV business jet to its fleet of 23 aircraft. The G-IV has a 4,350-nautical-mile range, can accommodate up to 14 passengers and has 157-square-feet of cargo space. Schubach also operates Bombardier Challengers and Learjets, Hawker Beechcraft Hawkers and King Airs, and Cessna Citations. The company operates from Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, Calif., and Lindberg Field in downtown San Diego.
ALSO CELEBRATING a landmark anniversary is the Aero Club of Washington. The Aero Club board met Wednesday June 10, 100 years to the day when the first Aero Club of Washington met. The 2009 board members assembled at the Cosmos Club, the site of the original meeting in 1909. Original attendees included Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers. The 1909 attendees walked from the Cosmos Club to the White House, where then-President William Howard Taft presented the first Aero Club Medal.
Ohio stands to lose almost $2.5 million in funds for aviation activities after the state Senate voted to eliminate the funding for fiscal 2010-2011. Aviation programs funded by the state currently include the Ohio Airport Grant Program and airport safety inspectors. The conference committee for the bill began meeting today, and the bill has to be approved by June 30, since the fiscal year begins July 1.
CHESTER SCHICKLING was appointed vice president of business development for WestWind Technologies. Schickling will lead business development efforts both domestically and internationally. He brings 35 years of marking and sales experience to his new role, having previously served with Beech Aircraft Corporation, Raytheon Aircraft, Sino Swearingen Aircraft, M-7 Aerospace LP, and most recently with AAI Acquisition of Englewood, Colo. (formerly Adam Aircraft).
FAA issued more special conditions for the Spectrum Aeronautical’s Model S-40 aircraft, currently in development. The special conditions cover the electronic engine control system that would be used instead of the traditional mechanical control system. Current regulations do not adequately cover the design of the full-authority digital engine control (FADEC), and the special conditions are intended to ensure an adequate level of safety, the agency said. FAA made the special conditions effective immediately, but is accepting comments on the conditions through July 20.
KATE DOUGHERTY joined the Lindbergh Foundation board of directors. Dougherty owns Kate Dougherty Public Relations, which represents aviation clients and foundations, including Avidyne, Forward Vision, and MT Propellers, among others. She formerly was public relations director for Cirrus Design.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION has named Wyvern Consulting the exclusive sales and support organization for its recently launched IC Check, a comprehensive compliance-driven flight release system for professionally flown general aviation aircraft operations. IC Check is an online application that assesses “whether individual flights for which an operator exercises operational control are flown with a legal crew, legal passengers, legal aircraft and legal flight parameters,” NATA said.
