Jetstream HP.137 Jetstream Mk.1, Series 200, Series 3101, and Model 3201 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27861 Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-035-AD; Amendment 39-15130; AD 2007-15-01] - Using British Aerospace Jetstream Series 3100 and 3200 Service Bulletin 57-JA020740, Revision 2 (dated Nov. 2, 2005), inspect and torque check the bolts at Frame 199. This AD results from an MCAI issued by an aviation authority of another country. In-service reports have been received of failed bolts fitted to the Frame 199 wing-spigot post assembly.
THE HOUSE TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE named Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) vice chairman. A 16-term member of Congress, Rahall also serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Rahall has worked with Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House T&I Committee, for 30 years. Oberstar also appointed vice chairmen for the T&I subcommittees: Rep.
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is planning operational missions this month of its Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), mapping wildfires in the western U.S. using an infrared scanner built by Ames Research Center. The team will fly at 23,000 feet over as many as a dozen of the many fires that rage on in the western states at any given time during the fire season.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION expects to announce the winner of its crucial Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) contract by Aug. 30. The three teams competing for the nearly $1 billion contract are led by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and ITT.
Model EMB-135BJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28909; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-135-AD] - This proposed AD would require installation of heat-shrinkable sleeves on the wiring for the inspection and refueling panel illumination lights, as well as installation of nipples on the terminal lugs to protect the wire terminals. These procedures are contained in Embraer Service Bulletin 145LEG-28-0016, Revision 01 (dated June 27, 2005).
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION has posted a new information and guidance document designed to help members better understand FAA legal definitions of nonscheduled operations and how that could impact advertising for empty-leg seats. Joe Conte, manager of the operations law branch within FAA's Chief Counsel office, discussed the issue during NATA's Air Charter Summit last month. NATA subsequently heard from a number of members concerned about their empty-leg offerings.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION last week released a final rule imposing new certification standards designed to ensure that aircraft electrical and electronic systems are adequately protected from the effects of high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF). FAA previously mandated those standards on a product-by-product basis through special conditions. The final rule takes effect Sept. 5.
SAFE FLIGHT INSTRUMENT CORP. completed registration to AS9100-B, the newest international aerospace quality standard. Safe Flight received its AS9100-B certificate last month from the Bureau Vertias North America, Inc. in accordance with the requirements of the management system standards for design, manufacturing and repair. "Complying with the AS9100 standards further helps increase our customers' confidence that our process-oriented approach will meet or exceed their criteria," said Randy Green, Safe Flight's president and CEO.
Adam Aircraft has poured millions of dollars into its factory under a "Make Production Fly" initiative designed to move the Englewood, Colo. manufacturer from a development company into a full-scale aircraft production company. The company has begun to ramp up production of the A500 twin piston and is preparing for full-scale production of its A700 Very Light Jet once it earns FAA type certification early next year.
Federal officials will host three public meetings this month to discuss the current and proposed Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) system. The sessions will be held Aug. 15, 21 and 23 in Washington, D.C., Juneau, Alaska and Seattle, Wash., respectively. The Coast Guard wants public comment and other relevant information on environmental issues surrounding the future of the LORAN-C program, which officials are considering whether to cancel, maintain or spend funds to jump to a high technology "enhanced" version.
James Kenyon, acting associate director of aerospace technology in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, has put out another call for white papers supporting the nation's aeronautics research and development (R&D) policy.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT CORP. named Nigel Whiteman, a veteran Hawker service technician to a newly created field service post in Delhi, India. Whiteman, who has more than 30 years of general aviation experience, was most recently with Hawker Beechcraft Services in Oxford, England, where he was responsible for NetJets Europe AOG support. Whiteman holds European Aviation Safety Agency B1 and C line and base maintenance licenses for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and has his airframe and powerplant certificate.
The Embraer Phenom 100 Very Light Jet (VLJ) flew for the first time on July 26 at the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer's Sao Jose dos Campos facility. Aircraft number 99801 (PP-XPH) took off at 10:55 a.m. and stayed aloft for 1 hour and 36 minutes, performing several maneuvers to check the aircraft's flight characteristics and systems operations. "All maneuvers and tests were performed as planned," said test pilot Antonio Braganca Silva.
YINGLING AVIATION is adding 9,000 square feet of hangar and office space to its fixed-base operation at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport, part of the company's plan to provide expanded service and overhaul capability of propellers built by McCauley Propeller, a unit of Cessna Aircraft. The $1.5 million addition, which is the first portion of a two-phase expansion, is expected to be completed by March.
Fresh from a series of one-fifth scale model tests at the University of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel, Piper Aircraft officials plan to make several significant design changes in the company's single-engine PiperJet aircraft. The three weeks of wind tunnel testing focused on 973 individual data runs that provided engineers with essential information for further aerodynamic analysis and product development.
FAA is the first federal agency to take advantage of a major streamlining provision in the 1993 Clean Air Act Amendments for general conformity. Under the Presumed to Conform (PTC) provision, the agency can now develop a list of exempted airport projects that cause few if any emissions. With the new list, FAA can eliminate unnecessary analysis and paperwork for many small airport development projects subject to the act's General Conformity Rule.
CONGRESS late last month approved the Implementing Recommendations of the 9-11 Commission Act of 2007, H.R. 1, which includes a number of provisions affecting aviation security. The act calls for screening of cargo carried on board passenger aircraft and directs the Transportation Security Administration to develop a threat and vulnerability assessment program for general aviation airports.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT appointed Jet Aviation in Dusseldorf, Germany as an authorized service center for Hawker 800 series aircraft. The Jet Aviation facility was previously approved to service Beechcraft King Air, Beechjet and Premier aircraft. The Dusseldorf facility has 66,100 square feet of hangar space and provides a range of maintenance, repair, overhaul, avionics, refurbishment and fixed-base operation services. Founded in 1975, Jet Aviation Dusseldorf is Jet Aviation's German headquarters. Jet Aviation also operates facilities in Hannover and Kassel.
BALDWIN AVIATION SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE is developing a new interactive mentoring program to help both start-up and existing flight departments establish effective business systems to manage all aspects of their operations. Baldwin founder Don Baldwin, former head of both the Texaco and Coca Cola flight departments and former chairman of the National Business Aviation Association, plans to discuss specifics of the mentoring program at this year's NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta.
Named vice president, customer experience and support services for Eclipse Aviation. Ricciardelli has 23 years of customer support and program management experience with Honeywell and Bell Helicopter-Textron. He was executive director of commercial development programs and participated on the team that won the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program. He also established a support network for various turbofan engines at Honeywell and earned his Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.
Federal Aviation Administration is expected to issue an airworthiness directive soon requiring inspection of Kelly Aerospace turbochargers on Teledyne Continental engines that power recently built Cirrus Design SR22 airplanes. Failure of a turbine wheel in those turbochargers has resulted in three forced landings of low-time SR22s since April. See related article below.
CARMANAH TECHNOLOGIES CORP. introduced five models of a new product line, EverGEN solar engines, ranging from 10 to 80 watts in power. The solar engines are designed for use where grid-supplied electricity is unavailable or impractical and can be used for powering a wide range of technologies, including lights, sensors and cameras.
Barbara Barrett, a former member of the Civil Aeronautics Board who also served as FAA Deputy Administrator during the Reagan Administration, is said to be under serious consideration by the White House for nomination as FAA Administrator. Current Administrator Marion Blakey is scheduled to step down Sept. 13 at the conclusion of her five-year term in that post. Barrett, who also was a Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, is married to Craig Barrett, the chairman of Intel Corp.
Both House and Senate Appropriations Committees have expressed serious reservations about FAA's user fee proposal. In their respective fiscal 2008 transportation appropriations funding bills, the committees included language expressing concern that the FAA proposal would reduce their oversight since the user fees could be used to bypass the traditional appropriations process.
