Garmin co-founder Dr. Min Kao is providing scholarships, too. The awards will come from the Kao Family Foundation, which will offer 100 scholarships worth $5,000 per year per student as part of the Garmin Electrical and Computer Engineering Educational Initiative. The money will be given to college students who are studying electrical and computer engineering. Recipients also will be given first consideration for one of more than 75 annual paid internship opportunities at Garmin. Housing and health insurance will be provided to interns as well.
Continued smooth progress with flight testing of the Bell 429 has led company officials to project that certification of the advanced light twin IFR helicopter could occur as early as April 2008. The eight-seat, Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207D-powered rotorcraft has accumulated 90 hours of flying time since initially taking to the air earlier this year, according to Bill Stromberg, Bell Helicopter's executive director, commercial program management.
Only about a year after Gulfstream Aerospace moved into its new Research and Development Center (RDC), the aircraft manufacturer has signed leases for additional space in two adjacent buildings located near the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. The new Gulfstream Research and Development Center II (RDC-II) comprises two new buildings - a 108,750-square-foot office building and an 80,500-square-foot "flex" building. The office building can accommodate 550 employees, while the flex building is designed to house 150 workers and test equipment.
Model ERJ 170 airplanes and Model ERJ 190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28094; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-258-AD] - Proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires repetitively replacing the low-stage check valve and associated seals of the right-hand engine bleed system. This proposed AD adds new airplanes to that existing requirement. For all airplanes, this proposed AD also would require repetitively replacing the low-stage check valve and associated seals of the left-hand engine bleed system with a new check valve and new seals.
Louisiana lawmakers joined with the U.S. controllers' union and other aviation groups to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to speed up efforts to reopen the control tower at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, which was extensively damaged in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.
The Federal Aviation Administration promised to address technical problems with a new flight service station (FSS) system that has caused outages and resulted in 20- to 30-minute hold times for pilots. Those promises came after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association wrote FAA Administrator Marion Blakey about concerns that the new computerized FS21 (twenty-first century) system had a number of issues that still needed to be fixed. "In short, the FS21 system is in crisis and failing pilots," AOPA President Phil Boyer said.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association is offering a new scholarship in conjunction with the International Council of Air Shows Foundation. The annual award will bestow $2,000 on a college student seeking an aviation-related degree. Pete Bunce, GAMA's president and CEO, said, "Both of our organizations feel it is imperative to work together to help provide a qualified and stable work force for our industry." More information on the ICAS Foundation GAMA Scholarship can be found at www.icasfoundation.org.
Premier Aircraft has applied to the European Aviation Safety Authority for certification of its Falcon 50Dash4 upgrade. The company said the upgrade is beating its guarantees for speed, range and time to climb. The launch operator has reported an increase of cruise speeds of 25 knots true airspeed, 30 percent reduction in time to climb and 4,000 feet higher initial cruise altitudes. Premier received an FAA STC for the upgrade in January of this year. Premier is hoping to secure EASA approval within six months.
Dr. Bruce Holmes, a former senior NASA researcher who helped launch both the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) alliance and Small Aircraft Transportation Systems (SATS) project, is stepping into a new post that will allow him to see his years of research implemented in the private sector. Holmes joined air taxi start-up Dayjet to serve as director of air systems research.
Model TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25581 Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-041-AD; Amendment 39-15039; AD 2007-09-07] - Requires identification of the nose landing gear (NLG) hinge batch number and modification, if necessary. The AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) from the European Aviation Safety Agency. The MCAI cited reports of an incomplete thermal treatment done on three hinge pin batches, lowering their mechanical properties with a high risk of deformation under service loads.
Model ERJ 170 and ERJ 190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27616; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-052-AD; Amendment 39-15035; AD 2007-06-53] - Publishes an AD that was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of ERJ 170 and ERJ 190 airplanes by individual notices.
Flight Safety Foundation's 52nd annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar, May 8-10 in Tucson, Ariz., attracted 450 attendees. Co-sponsored with the National Business Aviation Association, the event provided a forum for business aviation experts to discuss corporate safety management systems, the latest in maintenance issues, medical topics and the application of data management and monitoring. "This is the largest CASS so far and that growth tells me that there is strong interest in the corporate aviation safety culture," said FSF President and CEO William Voss.
The Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday narrowly defeated an effort to drop a $25 air traffic control user fee proposal from a comprehensive Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, S.1300, before clearing the bill for full Senate consideration (BA, May 7/205). The committee voted 12-11 against an amendment offered by Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.) to eliminate the user fee, with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) casting the deciding vote.
Garmin achieved record results during the company's first quarter, which ended on March 31. The total revenue of $492 million represented a 53 percent increase from the $322 million posted during the first quarter of 2006. The company's automotive/mobile segment led the revenue surge by increasing 110 percent, but the aviation segment also grew a healthy 26 percent during the first three months of this year.
Chevron Global Aviation signed a long-term contract with ServiceElements for strategy and culture enhancement workshops and seminars for employees of Chevron and Texaco branded fixed-base operations. The ServiceElements program will be offered to more than 750 FBOs as part of a multifaceted initiative to improve customer service. ServiceElements will customize a cultural enhancement program that directly relates to the FBO's day-to-day interactions and help the FBO develop higher service delivery goals.
A Gulfstream G150 set new speed records during the last two legs of a 17-stop, round-the-world tour. The new marks, for which official certification is pending, were established when the business jet flew between Farnborough, U.K., and Gander, Newfoundland, and from Gander to Savannah, Ga. The trans-Atlantic flight took four hours and 24 minutes to complete, while the final 1,600-nautical-mile leg back to Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport was accomplished in three hours and 42 minutes.
Adam Aircraft is continuing to move ahead with development of the A700 with the first of four conforming test aircraft (S/N003) flying in April and the flight test program - including three prototypes - accumulating 1,200 hours in the air. Next year, the company plans to begin acquiring improved production tooling that will enable high-volume production of the VLJ following certification of the twin-engine, $2.25 million (U.S.) aircraft. The A700 order book exceeds 375 units, with fleet orders for more than 250 aircraft from Magnum Jet, Nexus Jets and Ameritec.
Appointed general manager of Dallas Airmotive's component repair facility in Lafayette, La. Avicola will oversee day-to-day operations of the facility, which repairs components on Rolls-Royce 250, Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 and JT15D engines. He formerly was with the company's Premier Turbines division, where he has served as shift supervisor, supervisor of the Rolls-Royce 250/J85/J69/CJ610 engine line, supervisor of the TFE731 production line, and most recently production supervisor for all engine lines. He also had a 21-year career with the U.S. Army.
Columbia Aircraft secured Transport Canada approval for Garmin G1000-equipped Columbia 350 and 400 aircraft. Transport Canada previously certified the Columbia 350 and 400 with Avidyne Entegra avionics in 2003. The Columbia 350 is a normally aspirated, four-place single-piston aircraft that cruises at 191 knots. The 400 series is an intercooled, four-place aircraft that is certified up to Flight Level 250 and has a cruise speed of 235 knots.
Arriel 2B turboshaft engines [Docket No. FAA-2005-21624; Directorate Identifier 2005-NE-17-AD; Amendment 39-15028; AD 2005-13-25R1] - Revises an existing AD that currently requires initial and repetitive inspections, cleaning, lubrication, and checks for proper operation of the HMU acceleration controller axle. This AD requires the same actions, but removes engines incorporating TU132 from the applicability and adds an optional terminating action for the repetitive actions required in AD 2005-13-25.
Cessna Aircraft selected The Law Company of Wichita, Kan., a veteran general contractor with significant experience in building large airport structures, as the general contractor for Cessna's new Citation Service Center near Phoenix, Ariz.
Safe Flight scheduled demonstrations of its Powerline Detection System during the EBACE show later this month in Geneva, Switzerland. Trans Helicopter Service of Paris, France, recently received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification of the unit, which weighs less than a pound and provides both aural and visual alerts. The Safe Flight system was certificated on a Eurocopter AS355, and EASA approval of the unit for use on Eurocopter AS350s is expected during the second quarter.
Strong sales of Embraer's line of business jets helped boost the company's Executive Aviation revenues by 38.6 percent in the first quarter and increased the Phenom orderbook to nearly 400 firm orders, the company said last week. Embraer delivered five of its Legacy business jets in the first quarter ended March 31, and business jet revenues reached $119.4 million, up from $86.1 million in the first quarter of 2006. Embraer reported that sales were strong across all models of its business jet lines including the Phenoms and Lineage 1000.
GA LEADERS have spent considerable time on Capitol Hill trying to convince House and Senate decision-makers to drop the user fee concept. Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer appealed to members of the Senate Commerce Committee to drop the $25 fee. In a May 10 letter, Boyer reiterated AOPA's opposition to any user fee regardless of whether piston aircraft are included.
