Named chairman of the board of directors of Aero Toy Store, the fixed-base operator and aircraft sales firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. McMillan retired as chairman and CEO of Sara Lee Corp. and spent more than 20 years with that company. He began his career with McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION Board of Directors changed leadership last week. Jeffrey Lee of IBM Corporation succeeded Kenneth Emerick of GM Worldwide Travel Services as chairman. Pat Cunningham of PepsiCo, Inc. became vice chairman and treasurer, replacing Lee in those roles. Emerick remains on the board's Executive Committee as immediate past chairman. The new leaders were elected to two-year terms in June, and the terms took effect last week.
Promoted to chief pilot for Axis Jet, the Sacramento, Calif. aircraft charter, sales and management firm. Malandrone, who joined Axis Jet shortly after the company was formed in 2004, is an Air Transport Pilot and holds multiple ratings. He also is type rated in the King Air 300/350. He is now responsible for all pilots assigned to Axis Jet aircraft and assists in training and ensuring flight standards requirements are met. In addition to its fleet of King Air turboprops based in Sacramento, the company operates a Gulfstream III based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
PC-6 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-29178; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-074-AD; Amendment 39-15205; AD 2007-19-14] - Conduct repetitive visual and eddy current inspections of the upper wing strut fittings and spherical bearings as specified by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. Service Bulletin No. 57-005 (dated August 30, 2007). If cracks are found in the upper wing strut fitting, before further flight, replace the fitting following the instructions of the aforementioned service bulletin.
Joined Air Routing International as manager of European sales and marketing, based in Berlin, Germany. Pinhammer has 20 years experience in the aviation handling business, formerly as commercial director of Goldair Handling Greece. While with Goldair, Pinhammer was responsible for setting up handling services for executive, state/VIP and athlete flights for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He previously served as director of marketing for GlobeGround Berlin.
MICROTURBO is offering a new APU optimized to meet the needs of business aircraft. The e-APU features a streamlined architecture with two axial turbine stages. The unit will deliver electrical power ranging from 15 to 90 kWe, which, according to the French manufacturer, makes it well suited to meet the demands of new business jets that have higher demands for electrical power. The e-APU will be able to operate at altitudes of up to 51,000 feet, and it has a maximum starting altitude of 41,000 feet.
DUNCAN AVIATION announced the promotion of Todd Duncan to chairman of the company. He succeeds his father, Robert Duncan, who retired Sept. 24, his 65th birthday. The senior Duncan will serve as chairman emeritus. The company, which is headquartered in Lincoln, Neb., has a major facility in Battle Creek, Mich. and satellite offices at airports around the country. Duncan Aviation is a major provider of maintenance, repair, overhaul and modification services for business aircraft operators. The enterprise was founded in 1956 by Donald Duncan, Robert's father.
CAE and Bombardier are adding a new Global Express full flight simulator to CAE's Emirates-CAE Flight Training facility in Dubai, U.A.E. The simulator will be ready for training in mid-2009. CAE in June was named an authorized training provider for Global Express, Global 5000 and Global Express XRS aircraft programs. Global aircraft training also is offered at Bombardier's Montreal training center and will be provided at CAE's Burgess Hill training center in the United Kingdom beginning in spring of 2008.
32,000: National Business Aviation Association's 60th annual Meeting and Convention last week in Atlanta, Ga. attracted more than 32,000 visitors, down slightly from the 33,088 at the 2006 show in Orlando, Fla. The convention sold 5,200 booth spaces to a record 1,152 exhibitors. The static display at Fulton County Airport drew 115 aircraft.
Avionics maker Rockwell Collins unveiled a series of new products for business jet cockpits and cabins at last week's NBAA show, including Pro Line Fusion, a new-generation avionics system that incorporates key technological advancements into Pro Line 21.
HONEYWELL forecasters, who said earlier that manufacturers will deliver 14,000 new business jets through 2017 (BA, Sept. 24/138), expect production to peak at about 1,400 units annually in 2009-2010, before settling back to around 1,200 aircraft annually for a couple of years. But a round of new aircraft introductions in 2011 is expected to drive annual business jet shipments back to the 1,400 mark or beyond in the later years of the forecast period.
DUNCAN AVIATION has joined Rockwell Collins' engineering service solutions (ESS) program. The diversified Midwestern aircraft support company will help the avionics manufacturer enhance the life cycle of current Rockwell Collins products by increasing the functionality and reliability of those systems for business jet owners. ESS, first announced by Rockwell Collins in April, offers technology insertions and engineering-developed preventative maintenance techniques to enhance the life cycle of fielded Rockwell Collins products.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT received an order from Lufthansa Flight Training for four Citation CJ1+ aircraft. The aircraft, to be delivered between October 2008 and mid-2009, will be used for basic jet training at Lufthansa's facility in Bremen.
Appointed manager of operations for Dallas Airmotive's Minneapolis Regional Turbine Center. Capra will be responsible for day-to-day operations. He joined the Minneapolis facility in 1996 as chief inspector and later became supervisor. He moved to Dallas Airmotive's facility in Grapevine, Texas in 2005 to become TFE731 field service supervisor.
Cessna and EADS Socata announced plans last week to upgrade the cockpits of their respective utility single-turboprop aircraft with the Garmin 1000 avionics suite.
GREAT LAKES AVIATION will service re-engined Citations under a contract awarded by Clifford Development, the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company that is pursuing supplemental type certification for the installation of Williams International FJ44-3A engines on Citation IIs and S/IIs. Great Lakes, a Kalamazoo FBO, is to provide sales, installation and service support for operators who purchase the Clifford engine STC.
Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-29256; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-137-AD] - This proposed rule would require installation of an improved roller in the nose landing gear door uplock bracket assembly in accordance with the instructions of Fokker Service Bulletin SBF100-32-143 (dated February 15, 2006). This proposed AD, which resulted from an MCAI originated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Netherlands, is designed to correct a condition that could prevent unlocking the nose landing gear doors.
USER FEE RHETORIC ratcheted up last week when AOPA President Phil Boyer used the "L" word during a user fee update session at the NBAA convention in Atlanta.
FAA last week rolled out a two-pronged plan designed to ease congestion in the New York area. The plan calls for an industry-government committee to look at delays. The plan also includes a meeting between FAA and airlines to reduce overscheduling in peak hours. The plan came after FAA faced days of criticism from Congress over lack of action on flight delays. See article below.
LANDMARK AVIATION'S network of 33 fixed-base operations is up for sale (BA, Aug. 6/51), but it appears that the country's largest FBO chain will not participate in the bidding. Officials of Atlantic Aviation, which has 61 U.S. FBOs, would not comment last week when asked if they would try to acquire the Landmark locations.
Joined Million Air as director of safety and best practices. Meryhew will oversee safety regulations and standards involving Million Air facilities, equipment and procedures. He also will develop and implement safety and risk reduction best practices. Meryhew formerly spent 14 years with Continental Airlines as manager, safety and winter operations.
CESSNA Tuesday flew a Citation X with Elliptical Winglets for the first time. The aircraft departed Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport at 1:30 p.m. for a 90-minute flight. The aircraft flew the following day on a data collection mission. Cessna is working with Winglet Technology to secure a supplemental type certificate for the winglets (BA, March 19/131). The Elliptical winglets, which curve upward from the wing, are expected to increase range and payload under hot/high takeoff conditions.
