GALVIN FLYING SERVICES of Seattle, Wash. added a Cessna Citation Ultra business jet to its charter fleet, which now totals seven aircraft. The Ultra will be based in Sun Valley, Idaho with a local crew on call that can be ready for flight within a short period of time.
MD HELICOPTERS, INC. Model MD900 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2008-1251; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-61-AD; Amendment 39-15756; AD 2008-22-53] – This emergency directive, which supersedes AD 2008-18-52, requires turning ON both Vertical Stabilizer Control System (VSCS) switches and turning OFF the autopilot (AP/SAS) switch. In addition, operators need to pull certain AP/SAS circuit breakers, install a placard near the AP/SAS master switch, install an airspeed limitation placard on the instrument panel and make changes to the Rotorcraft Flight Manual.
A public relations nightmare took another damaging turn for the business aviation industry last week as Congress took the unprecedented step of trying to ban certain auto manufacturers from owning or leasing private aircraft. The public relations travails began in November when an ABC News broadcast showed the nation’s chief automobile executives stepping off their corporate business jets and heading to Capitol Hill seeking billions of dollars in financial assistance.
MICHELIN AIRCRAFT TIRE COMPANY earlier this month delivered its 250,000th tire to support the U.S. Navy’s Performance-Based Logistics contract. The tire will be installed on the nose landing gear of an F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighter. Michelin won the contract in 2001, and selected Lockheed Martin as its logistics partner. Michelin designs and builds tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle.
THRANE & THRANE, the Danish satellite equipment manufacturer, earned FAA approval for its Aero-SB Lite cabin communications system. The approval clears Thrane & Thrane to begin installation and certification of the unit on U.S. aircraft. Aero-SB Lite uses the Inmarsat SwiftBroadband service to provide Internet, e-mail, VPN, fax and telephone capabilities. The system includes built-in Wi-Fi capability and VoiP technology allowing use of devices such as smartphones, PDAs and laptops.
THE SECOND VH-71 helicopter made its first flight this month in the United Kingdom and is expected to arrive at the U.S. Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. – where the first aircraft is engaged in ground vibration testing – before the end of the year. The VH-71, based on the AgustaWestland EH101 platform, will be used to carry the next U.S. president and other top government officials. Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Oswego is the prime contractor and systems integrator.
RANGER AEROSPACE & AERONAUTICS, INC. changed its corporate name to Ranger Rotorcraft Group, Inc., a move designed to improve its branding. That change is in addition to larger plans by Ranger Aerospace LLC to invest in other industry sectors in the coming years under the Ranger Aerospace brand. Ranger currently owns four Texas-based businesses that specialize in providing a wide range of services for the helicopter industry: Texas Aviation Services, Inc., Integrated Flight Systems, Inc., Ranger AeroDesign; and Platinum Aviation Group, Inc.
January 11-15, 2009 – American Association of Airport Executives: 23rd Annual Aviation Issues Conference, Kona, Hi. For more information contact AAAE at (703) 824-0500 or go to www.aaae.org/products/allmeetings.html January 20 – NATA Environmental Compliance Seminar, Sheraton North Houston Hotel, Houston, Texas. For more information call (703) 845-9000
MEGAN STOWE was re-elected to the board of directors for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). Stowe previously held the Asia-Pacific seat on the ACTE board and was re-elected to the at-large board seat. Stowe is a nine-year veteran of the corporate travel industry. She is global strategic sourcing manager - employee services for Intel Corp.
Eric Hinson, who took over less than two years ago as president of Piaggio America, was named Friday as the executive vice president of FlightSafety International, effective Jan. 5. “We are pleased and proud to have Eric become a member of the FlightSafety family and serve on our senior leadership team,” said Bruce Whitman, president and CEO of the world’s largest flight simulator training company. “Eric’s broad industry knowledge, demonstrated leadership skills and strategic vision will help FlightSafety continue to grow and prosper.”
EADS SOCATA appointed Executive Airlines Pty. Ltd. as its Area Sales Representative for sales of TBM 850 turboprops in Australia and New Zealand. EADS Socata also has established a TBM spare parts inventory to support the company’s authorized TBM service centers in Australia. Executive Airlines, based at Melbourne-Essendon Airport, will manage the inventory. Executive Airlines has more than 27 years of business aviation experience. The company provides charter, aircraft management, maintenance, fixed-base operation services and consultancy services.
ASA GROUP, a Hong Kong-based provider of VIP aviation services, partnered with Avolus in Britain. The two companies will initially cooperate on flight services between the United Kingdom and Asia but expect the partnership to expand in the future. Avolus provides private travel services in all transportation sectors, including private aircraft, yachts and limousines. ASA provides charter, security, concierge, overflight and landing clearances, inflight catering, hangarage and other services.
BAE SYSTEMS BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0887; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-336-AD; Amendment 39-15735; AD 2008-23-14] – Using BAE Systems Inspection Service Bulletin ISB.53-194 (dated Jan. 10, 2007), perform a one-time, rotating eddy current inspection of the bolt bores and bore dimensions of the undercarriage main beam sidestays and install replacement bolts, as necessary.
– Paul Theofan, a veteran of Unison Industries for some 20 years, was selected by General Electric to be president and managing executive of GE Aviation Czech.
THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET cleared a controversial rule that would make permanent temporary flight restrictions included in an Air Defense Identification Zone covering a huge block of airspace over and around the Washington, D.C. area and surrounding suburbs. First proposed in August 2005, the rulemaking generated some 20,000 comments, most of which expressed opposition to making the ADIZ permanent.
ROBERT J. STEVENS , the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., was elected chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association. Stevens succeeds Clay Jones, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Rockwell Collins, as AIA chairman. Scott C. Donnelly, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Textron, Inc., was elected vice chairman of AIA.
ANOTHER SENIOR OEM EXECUTIVE acknowledged that “some of us looked at those backlogs” earlier this year of thousands of business jets and thought that the rapidly growing international market would help protect business jet manufacturers from a severe downtown. Now, however, those foreign orders “are going down the toilet too,” he lamented.
– More than a dozen aviation industry associations last week appealed to congressional leaders for dedicated aviation funding in an upcoming economic stimulus package. Congress is in the throes of drafting a package that it hopes to have ready by the time President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office Jan. 20. A coalition of 12 associations representing air carriers, manufacturers, airports and business and general aviation interests sent a joint letter to House and Senate leaders seeking airport and air traffic control funding in addition to various tax relief items.
Both pilots of a vintage Learjet 23 were killed and the aircraft destroyed last week when the airplane crashed into a lake while attempting to land at an airport near Tlaxcala, Mexico.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Brazilian Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center last week presented sharply differing views of the events that led to the Sept. 29, 2006 midair collision involving an Embraer Legacy 600 and a GOL Boeing 737 over the Amazon, with the Brazilian agency continuing to point to the ExcelAire crew piloting the Legacy and the U.S. investigators citing Brazil’s air traffic control system.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1258; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-142-AD; Amendment 39-15758; AD 2008-24-14] – Revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to incorporate new structural inspection requirements. This AD, which resulted from an MCAI originated by Transport Canada, is designed to detect cracks on the main landing gear trunnion fitting web before they compromise the structural integrity of the trunnion fitting and cause a main landing gear collapse.
ONE OF THE PROBLEMS facing OEMs is the loss of fleet orders from large charter operators and fractional operators. After losing an order for five, 10 or 15 business jets from a single operator, it requires a lot of time and effort to take up the slack by selling one or two aircraft at a time to other customers, particularly when credit is so tight, the OEM executive said.
