Was promoted to vice president of product support materials for Gulfstream. Williams will be responsible for Gulfstream's worldwide parts inventory, and repair and overhaul operations. He previously was Gulfstream's director of initial phase procurement, overseeing the acquisition of materials used in manufacturing large-cabin business jets. Before joining Gulfstream, Williams was vice president of supply chain at GKN Aerostructures Group in St. Louis.
Was appointed engineering authorized representative administrator for the Gulfstream Designated Certification Office, which oversees Organizational Designation Authority activities for the Savannah, Ga. manufacturer. Hanson, who has served with Gulfstream for 19 years, most recently was a staff scientist in the Flight Sciences department. He also was a manager of Flight Sciences and chief designated engineering representative. Before joining Gulfstream, Hanson spent 22 years with Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Ga. as a military airlift aircraft loads engineer.
The Federal Aviation Administration expects to release in the next few days a new Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) designed to simplify and reduce the size of restricted airspace area over the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey announced the changes to the Washington Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) Thursday during the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, saying the new NOTAM "is one more example of the FAA, Homeland Security, Department of Defense and the general aviation community working together to do the right thing."
CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25779; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-088-AD; Amendment 39-15131; AD 2007-15-02] - Revise the "Certification Maintenance Requirements" and the "Maintenance Review Board Report" sections of the Canadair Regional Jet Maintenance Requirements Manual to include changes and additions to checks of the aileron power control units (PCUs) and a change to the interval of the backlash check of the aileron control system.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION recently issued another letter reiterating its concerns about "fractional charter," or the sale of a charter flight to more than one customer. In a letter to Key Lime Air, FAA said it viewed negotiations with second or third customers as a Part 121 transaction, not Part 135. The letter followed an earlier letter to Jet Linx, which was concerned about the use of a proposed "Requested Flight Itineraries" Web page that would post unconfirmed flights for clients to share (BA, July 9/12).
Piston aircraft shipments softened in the first six months of 2007 but strong business jet and turboprop sales led business and general aviation manufacturers to a slight increase in deliveries and nearly a 12 percent increase in billings, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Friday. GA plane makers delivered 1,883 aircraft in the first half of 2007, up 1.7 percent from the 1,852 in the same period of 2006. Billings, however, jumped from $8.8 billion in the first half of 2006 to $9.8 billion in 2007.
EMIRATES-CAE FLIGHT TRAINING received international approval to provide Gulfstream 550/450 business jet training. The company's Gulfstream G550 simulator earned Level D certification from the European Joint Aviation Authority, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority. In addition to the simulator, the G550/450 training will include Emirates-CAE Simfinity flight training devices that use the same simulation software used in CAE's full flight simulators.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION launched a toll-free hotline for pilots to file comments on the Lockheed Martin-run flight service station system. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association urged FAA to create the line after receiving numerous calls from members complaining about problems with the service. "It was clear to me that this type of immediate feedback would be the only way to track down and fix all of the problems and errors," AOPA President Phil Boyer said.
THE EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY issued a type certificate for the Gulfstream 150, making the business jet eligible for registration in European Union member nations. The EASA certification "is an extremely important accomplishment," said Joseph T. Lombardo, president of Gulfstream. "We've always believed the G150 is the ideal corporate jet for European businesses," with a 2,950-nautical-mile range that permits nonstop flights from Zurich, Switzerland to cities in the Middle East, India and North America, he said.
Was named director of completion design for Gulfstream, where he will oversee interior design at Gulfstream's five completion facilities in Long Beach, Calif.; Dallas; Appleton, Wis.; Savannah and Brunswick, Ga. Crow spent the past two years as a professor of interior design and a graduate mentor at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Before that, he was a department chair for interior design at SCAD. He also has served as a lead designer for office furniture companies in Savannah and served with a design firm in Hilton Head, S.C.
Williams Gateway Airport's name would change to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport under a proposal put forth by staff to the facility's board of directors. The board will vote on the measure at its Sept. 17 meeting. The airport surveyed nine potential airlines on a name change, and five responded. All of them supported changing the name to include a geographic identifier, wrote Executive Director Lynn Kusy in the board minutes.
SAFE FLIGHT INSTRUMENT CORPORATION recently achieved AS9100-B certification. The certification is the newest international aerospace quality standard established by the International Aerospace Quality Group. Founded in 1946, the White Plains, N.Y. -based Safe Flight develops aviation safety and flight performance systems.
Joined FlightSafety International as vice president, teammate resources. Shea, who has more than 20 years of human resources experience, formerly was with JetBlue Airways, where she helped establish the company's benefits, recruitment, employee relations and compensation programs. She also has been director of human resources for Promise Hotel Corp., which owns DoubleTree Hotels and the Boston Harbor Hotel.
A explosion last Thursday rocked a test facility of Scaled Composites, the company founded by innovative aircraft designer Burt Rutan. The blast, which killed three workers and left three others hospitalized, took place at Southern California's Mojave Air and Space Port during a test in which nitrous oxide was flowing through fuel injectors of a new rocket motor for SpaceShipTwo, a craft that Scaled Composites is building for Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space tourism company (BA, July 16/26).
AMERICAN LEGEND AIRCRAFT COMPANY added the option of the TruTrak Flight Systems ADI Pilot II autopilot on the Legend Cub. The ADI Pilot II uses a two-axis system to control aileron and elevator operation. The autopilot also provides Global Positioning System navigation and altitude hold.
ATR received an order valued at $37 million from Guernsey-based Aurigny Air Services for two ATR 72-500s. The airline, owned by the States of Guernsey, currently operates three ATR 72-200s. The newest additions will be delivered in 2010. ATR has received orders for 65 new aircraft since the beginning of the year and sold a total of 902 aircraft since the beginning of the program.
Was named general manager for Wulfsberg Electronics. Evans, who joined Wulfsberg in 2002, has been product manager for navigation and communication products. He also has held several engineering and marketing positions at Honeywell, Sperry Flight Systems, King Radio and AlliedSignal. He succeeds Ron Montgomery, who will retire Aug. 1.
MIDCOAST AVIATION plans to break ground this month on a new 145,000-square-foot hangar at the company's facility at St. Louis Downtown Airport near St. Louis, Mo. The hangar will increase Midcoast's total hangar space at the airport to 650,000 square feet. Midcoast expects to add 200 new employees within two years of opening the new hangar. The expansion comes as Midcoast's narrow-body business aircraft completions have jumped 15 percent annually over the past four years.
ARINC, INC. won a three-year contract to provide high-speed satellite data and voice connectivity for three new Bombardier Q300 twin turboprops that will be operated by the Swedish Coast Guard in a variety of environmental and fisheries missions. The three airplanes are being modified by Field Aviation Company, Inc., which has performed similar modifications for other customers. The three Q300s will be equipped with several types of advanced radar and a wide range of sensors for environmental monitoring.
Cessna Aircraft, benefiting from a strong business jet market, posted higher revenue and earnings for the second quarter and helped drive improved results for parent company Textron, Inc.
Aviation Resource Group International of Hamilton, Bermuda, has teamed up with Aerius Aviation Capital Partners, Inc. of Portsmouth, N.H., to form a Structured Aviation Finance Division (ARGI-SAF).
Model 750XL airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27865; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-039-AD] - This proposed AD would require inspection of the windscreen and cockpit door windows for signs of disbonding of the adhesive between the transparency and the composite window frame. If disbonding is found, before further flight the windscreen and cockpit windows must be modified to incorporate mechanical fasteners in accordance with Pacific Aerospaceís Mandatory Service Bulletin PACSB/XL/024 (dated April 18, 2007) and PAC Drawing No. 11-03137.
Named OEM sales manager for International Communications Group (ICG). Kennedy joined ICG in 1999 working in customer support and applications engineering. He has been the customer support manager for the past three years. Before joining ICG, he was involved in the marine electronics industry. In his new position, Kennedy will be responsible for new and existing OEM contractual accounts for ICG, which develops aeronautical communications systems for the general aviation and air transport markets.
Officials from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) acknowledged that the Aviation Trust Fund should be able to pay for the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). However, those two government officials, along with an academic who has studied the subject, suggested during a recent congressional hearing that user fees might be a more equitable way to finance modernization of the ATC system.
