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.
THE U.S. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY is funding its first-ever project to study China's nascent general aviation market. The study, a component of the U.S.-China Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP) that USTDA oversees, came at the request of the Chinese government, which wants to develop the country's GA market to reach underserved areas and to train pilots for mainline operations. Booz-Allen Hamilton, commissioned by ACP partners Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, UTC, Textron, GE, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, will begin the study this fall.
DESPITE A RECENT SUGGESTION by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey should stay in that job to ensure passage of FAA reauthorization legislation, Blakey said last week she does indeed plan to step down when her five-year term expires Sept. 13 (BA, July 16/19).
Model DHC-7 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28619; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-004-AD] - This proposed AD would require inspection of certain SM-200 servo drive units, related investigative action (if necessary) and modification of those units if needed. This proposed AD results from a report that some servo drive units that do not have MOD H incorporated are installed on Model DHC-7 airplanes.
Bombardier's Belfast facility is joining the Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE) program led by Rolls-Royce. The airframer plans to examine nacelle design - including nacelle shapes to cut drag, thrust reverser configurations, electric ice protection for the nacelle inlet and high-performance acoustic treatments. The EFE is a GBP95 million (US$193 million) program shared by 11 U.K. organizations from both industry and academia.
CLIFFORD DEVELOPMENT expects to conduct a first flight in August of a Cessna Citation II (CE-550) re-engined with 3,000-pound thrust Williams International FJ44-3 engines and equipped with a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system.
The Federal Aviation Administration is in the beginning stages of coordinating with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to ferret out potential medical certificate fraud, Nicholas Sabatini, associate administrator for aviation safety, told the House aviation subcommittee last week. FAA came under fire earlier this year after the aviation subcommittee released a report that found "egregious" cases of fraud in which pilots have lied or omitted details about a medical condition (BA, April 2/155).
DOUG GRISWOLD was named director of Hawker 400-variants in Hawker Beechcraft's Product Development and Engineering (POE) organization. In the newly created post, Griswold will be responsible for product line integration of the Hawker 400-series aircraft, including new product development, legacy research and development, change management and product sustainment.
Tay 611-8 and -8C, 620-15, 650-15 and 651-54 turbofan engines [Docket No. FAA-2007-27811; Directorate Identifier 2004-NE-11-AD] - This proposed AD, which would supersede an existing airworthiness directive (AD 2004-26-10, Amendment 39-13922), would require initial and repetitive visual inspections of all ice-impact panels and fillers in the low-pressure compressor case and replacement of those panels as needed. This proposed directive results from the engine manufacturerís introduction of improved compressor-case ice-impact panels.
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP's ICS-200 Iridium Communications System won European supplemental type certification for installation on the Learjet 60. ICG European distributor Aero-Dienst GmbH & Co. is performing the STC work for the system, which provides voice and data communications between the aircraft and ground. The ICS-200 uses dual Iridium transceivers with an internal CTU that permits intercom calling, call transfer, conferencing and follow-on dialing features.
Regional and general aviation industry executives last week appealed to Senate Finance Committee members to drop the proposed $25 air traffic control user fee, expressing fear that the fee would hurt their businesses and drive others out of private aviation.
MILLION AIR broke ground on a terminal at the Tucson, Ariz. International Airport. Owned by Premier Aviation's Ash and Rita Vij, Million Air Tucson will be the first terminal for the Million Air franchise chain in Arizona. The $5 million project includes a 20,000-square-foot, two-story executive terminal and another 20,000 square feet of hangar space. The facility is slated for completion in May 2008.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week lifted several limitations on Quest Aircraft's Kodiak, clearing the way for the new plane-maker to begin delivery of the 10-place single-engine turboprop utility aircraft later this quarter. Quest quietly secured type certification for the Kodiak in late May, but that TC came with nine restrictions, including day-only flight under visual flight rules. FAA last week lifted all but a couple of those restrictions - one involving airframe fatigue life and one involving cold weather operation.
THALES launched a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) radio that augments the company's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) product line. Thales, a partner on the ITT team bidding for the U.S. ADS-B program, said the development of the UAT comes from the investment in the U.S. program. The UAT radio expands the Thales ADS-B capabilities to provide broadcast services for en route, terminal and surface applications.
Model 750XL airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27863 Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-037-AD; Amendment 39-15126; AD 2007-14-04] - Conduct initial and repetitive inspections of the rudder trim tab upper pivot for any lateral movement of the bushing. If any lateral movement is detected, install, before further flight, modification PAC/XL/0267, following the instructions set forth in Pacific Aerospaceís Mandatory Service Bulletin PACSB/XL/023 (dated February 15, 2007) and Pacific Aerospace Ltd Drawing No. 11-03131, Drawing (dated February 17, 2007).
Honda Aero, Inc. will construct a $27 million facility in Burlington, N.C. to build engines developed and marketed by GE Honda Aero Engines LLC, the joint venture established in 2004 to build a family of small jet engines in the 1,000 pounds to 3,500 pounds of thrust class.
