Model 750XL airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28436; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-055-AD] - To prevent cracks from developing in the aileron spar adjacent to the inboard hinge attachment, this proposed AD would require the removal of both ailerons and inspection and modification of the aileron spar at the inboard hinge attachment point in accordance with Pacific Aerospace Limited's Mandatory Service Bulletin PACSB/XL/027 (dated March 27, 2007). This proposed AD results from an MCAI originated by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.
CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK added the top executives of two more business jet manufacturers to its board of directors, Jack J. Pelton, chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Co. and John G. Rosanvallon, president and CEO of Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Corp., joined the CAN board earlier.
Was promoted to director of powerplant and environmental control systems engineering for Gulfstream Aerospace. He will be responsible for technical development, certification and engineering support of aircraft engines, auxiliary power units, fuel, fire protection, water/waste and environmental control systems. Felipe joined Gulfstream seven years ago as an FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) and technical specialist.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators are attempting to determine what led to the inflight breakup of a nearly new Piper PA-46-500TP Meridian last month as the aircraft was flying over Missouri. The pilot and both passengers were killed.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-N.Y.) went after FAA on the issues of airspace congestion and delays Thursday during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on FAA reauthorization legislation (See article below). Schumer complained that FAA is not dealing with the congestion and delays that have plagued New York City airports and surrounding airspace. Saying that the situation has reached a crisis point, Schumer asserted, "The FAA seems to be in denial." The senior senator from the Empire State observed that in his 27 years of traveling between Washington, D.C.
BOMBARDIER'S 11th annual Safety Standdown will be held Oct. 22-25 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Wichita, Kan. Speakers will include Nick Sabatini, FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association and Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING CO., which announced layoffs of 185 of its workers less than four months ago, is now trying to hire additional employees. Columbia, based in Bend, Ore., laid off about one-third of its work force in March in conjunction with management changes that included the appointment of Malaysia native Wan Abd Majid as chief executive (BA, March 26/143). The company began recalling workers in May after upgrading tooling and implementing Lean Enterprise manufacturing practices.
President of Spanish parachute manufacturer CIMSA, was named to the board of directors of Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., the South St. Paul, Minn. maker of parachutes for general aviation aircraft. Caralt heads Barcelona-based CIMSA, which manufactures parachutes for a wide variety of civil and military applications. CIMSA recently won a U.S. patent for a parachute steering mechanism. "Caralt brings more than 10 years of extensive operating management, product development and parachute experience to the BRS board," said Robert L. Nelson, BRS board chairman.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD investigators were continuing their investigation last week into the crash of a Cessna 310 twin-engine aircraft into a Sanford, Fla. housing development. The aircraft was flying from Daytona to Lakeland when the pilot told controllers there was smoke in the cockpit. He was attempting to land at the Orlando Sanford International Airport when the crash occurred, killing both men in the aircraft and occupants of the houses.
THE NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION selected Col. Mary S. Feik as the recipient of the Frank G. Brewer Trophy. Feik got her first airplane ride as a 7-year-old in a barnstormer's Curtiss Jenny. After working as a teenager in an aircraft maintenance shop, Feik joined the U.S. Army Air Forces at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. She is credited with becoming the first woman engineer in research and development in the Air Technical Service Command Division. Much later, in 1996, she also became the first woman to earn the Charles Taylor Master Mechanics Award.
First Aviation Services (FAS), the parent company of aviation parts distributor Aerospace Products International, Inc., filed a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to voluntarily delist its stock, effective today (July 16). On the July 26 effective date of the delisting, the company said it also will file a Form 15 seeking to deregister its stock. The company said it is eligible to delist and deregister its stock because it had fewer than 300 shareholders of record at the beginning of its fiscal year.
Western Aircraft, Inc., the multifaceted fixed-base operator, aircraft sales and maintenance provider in Boise, Idaho, has been sold to Berkley Aviation Investors, Inc. Closing of the deal, details of which were not released, is expected this month. The acquisition will be the second this year for Berkley, which purchased Atlantic Aero Holdings and the Atlantic Aero FBO in Greensboro, N.C. in February.
GRUPO OMNILIFE DE MEXICO signed a contract to buy a Lineage 1000 business jet from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, the first sale of the Embraer 190 airliner to a Mexican customer. The Lineage is expected to enter service in 2008. Grupo Omnilife de Mexico, a major distributor of health and entertainment products and services, is scheduled to get its Lineage in December 2009.
DIGITAL ANGEL CORP. said the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority will permit the use of Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) in lieu of Emergency Locator Transmitters by general aviation pilots. The company, based in South St. Paul, Minn., said the decision by the CAA will permit the use of PLBs built by the manufacturer's McMurdo division.
RECTRIX AERODROME CENTERS INC. AT SRQ said it recently paid the Sarasota, Fla. Airport Authority $1.8 million to acquire the former maintenance facilities and associated land at the airport, clearing the way for demolition of the existing structures. Rectrix plans to construct four "hangarminiums" on the 22-acre tract where it will "offer the advantages of private hangar ownership, along with the amenities of a world-class aircraft service provider."
PRIVATAIR recently named Napo Hohn chief executive officer North America. A 20-year veteran of the PrivatAir Group, Hohn has held various senior management positions, some of which he will retain in addition to his new duties as CEO.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) threatened Thursday to limit general aviation access to high-volume airspace if the GA community continues to oppose his legislation to establish a $25 per flight fee for turbine aircraft using controlled airspace.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL will build a fourth Gulfstream G200 simulator and install the unit at FSI's learning center in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas during the fourth quarter of 2008. There currently are more than 150 G200 aircraft in service worldwide.
PETER HARTMANN was named managing director of ExecuJet Europe, the European aviation services arm of ExecuJet Aviation Group. Hartmann, born in 1952, began his aviation career at 20 in the German Air Force where he flew the F104 Starfighter for almost 12 years. After separating from the military Hartmann moved to Switzerland and began his business aviation career and hold posts with a number of operators. He moved to Avcon in the early 1990s and became a member of ExecuJet when Avcon was blended into the company in 2001.
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA'S PW308 turbofan was selected by The Spaceship Company (TSC) to power the White Knight II (WK2) launch aircraft for the commercial suborbital space vehicle SpaceShipTwo (SS2). TSC is an enterprise jointly owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites Co. Virgin Galactic is the launch customer for the SS2 system, having ordered five SS2 spacecraft with options for a further seven WK2 carrier aircraft.
SCHUMER also said he "wants to see results" on the impasse between the FAA and the air traffic controllers union. "There are fewer controllers in towers than there should be," he charged. Schumer's focus on aviation has been intense recently. A week ago, during a meeting with Long Island constituents, he decried the increase in helicopter flights to the East End of Long Island, saying the noise and vibration from those flights have become a serious annoyance to other Long Island residents.
WILL BLAKEY STAY LATE? Aviation industry lobbyists have been hearing for weeks that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey would leave the agency Sept. 13 when her five-year term expires and that she was looking forward to stepping away from the high-pressure post. But at last week's Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) praised Blakey and asked if she would consider staying on at FAA after Sept. 13 to help ensure that new FAA reauthorization gets enacted into law.
Was named manager of operations for the Salina, Kan. Airport (SLN). A retired Marine Corps warrant officer, Wiles conducted flight line operations that included aircraft rescue and firefighting, aircraft recovery, airfield design and construction, as well as fueling operations and flight line security at posts around the world. Wiles was emergency services officer and fire chief at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Va., which supports the presidential helicopter squadron.
