Was promoted to vice president of sales for Executive Jet Management (EJM). Krueger joined EJM in 2005 and previously was charter sales manager. In her new role, Krueger will be responsible for EJM aircraft management sales in the western U.S. Before joining EJM she was a charter sales representative for an on-demand charter operator in San Jose, Calif.
LANDMARK AVIATION is now accepting the UATP charge card, an airline-owned global travel payment program. Landmark claims to be the first charter operator to offer customers the option of paying for purchases with the UATP card, which is accepted by thousands of travel agencies and 13 airlines.
THE NEW Alliance for Aviation Across America formally launched Tuesday with some 200 members onboard. Within 48 hours of the announcement the number of members had jumped to more than 1,400 individuals, companies and organizations who wanted to join the battle against aviation user fees, organizers told BA Friday, adding that many of the newcomers are signing up on the AAAA Web site. The membership now includes representatives from every state as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. See article below.
SEVERAL CANADIAN DEFENSE COMPANIES, the Canadian government and academia have formed a national trade organization to promote advancement and use of Canadian expertise in unmanned vehicle systems. The new organization, known as AUVSI-Canada, is affiliated with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle System International (AUVSI) and will be headquartered in Ottawa. The organization also will attempt to establish regional chapters.
DAYJET, which recently took delivery of its first three Eclipse 500 Very Light Jets (BA, April 9/165), is planning to conduct proving runs next month in preparation for starting service in June, DayJet founder, President and CEO Edward Iacobucci said. Iacobucci told Aviation Week editors Friday that DayJet has found the quality of the aircraft received so far to be "very good for the first three out of the manufacturing line." He added that that the "squawk list" has been reasonable and the airworthiness squawks minimal.
(previously new Lancair) Models LC40-550FG, LC41-550FG, and LC42-550FG airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27628; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-025-AD; Amendment 39-15011; AD 2007-07-06] - Requires the addition of information to the Limitations section of AD the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM). This AD also requires repetitively inspecting the aileron and the elevator linear bearings and control rods for foreign object debris, scarring, or damage and taking all necessary corrective actions.
MIDCOAST AVIATION installed a Honeywell XMD 157-01 data link weather receiver on a Bombardier Global Express aircraft, marking the first such installation in an aftermarket aircraft. Midcoast's St. Louis Downtown facility worked with a Honeywell team on the installation. The receiver adds textual and three-dimensional graphical weather to the electronic flight bag. The XMD 157-01 provides Weather Information Network (WINN) service at any altitude throughout the continental U.S. The WINN service also can use a direct Internet connection to expand coverage.
IACOBUCCI added that the latest issues with the Eclipse 500s, involving heaters inside the pitot and angle-of-attack systems, should not affect DayJet's plans since the first three aircraft right now are being used for training. Eclipse released a Customer Technical Communication informing customers of three in-flight incidents in which airspeed indication was lost after pitot pressure was lost from both left and right primary air data sources. Eclipse believes the problem stems from internal condensation that collects and freezes in the pitot tubing.
The Department of Transportation last week released the final requirements for Washington, D.C.-area businesses to seek reimbursement for lost income stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. DOT, which proposed the requirements in October (BA, Oct. 9/164), agreed to provide more time for businesses to submit an application and made other changes to the application process at the request of aviation groups.
Viking Air Ltd., the Victoria, British Columbia firm that provides spare parts support for a wide range of de Havilland-built piston and turboprop aircraft, said last week it will proceed with a program to put the twin-engine Twin Otter aircraft back into production.
Was named senior engineer-certification for Chelton Flight Systems. Brodegard joins Chelton from Avidyne Corporation, where he was director of technical services. He has more than 30 years of experience in avionics development, manufacturing, installation, flight test, certification, customer support and international business. He has served as a Designated Engineering Representative and Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representative.
The budget for Aeronautics, long the poor stepchild at NASA, would be increased by $187.4 million under NASA'S new Fiscal 2007 operating plan, bringing its share of the $16.3 billion agency budget to $890.4 million.
The fight against aviation user fees picked up more steam last week as a new broad-based coalition of rural and grassroots organizations joined the general aviation industry in its opposition to the Bush Administration's FAA funding proposal. The coalition, called the Alliance for Aviation Across America (AAAA), comprises many of the general aviation industry groups that have spent the past two years battling the Bush Administration's push for new user fees.
BUSINESS JET ACCESS of Dallas, Texas added a Hawker 850XP to its Part 135 charter certificate. The 2006 model aircraft has an eight-passenger cabin configuration.
FAA last week issued a rule prohibiting U.S. carriers and aircraft used in commercial operations from flying at altitudes below 20,000 feet in Somalian airspace, essentially banning operations in the country. The rule comes after two incidents at Mogadishu International Airport. On March 9, the fuselage of an Ilyushin 76 carrying Ugandan peacekeeping forces exploded and caught fire on final approach at Mogadishu. Another Il-76 crashed after taking off from the airport on March 23, killing all 11 people on board.
THE NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION last week objected to commentary printed in the April 11 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that concludes "general aviation crashes are a little-recognized public safety problem." In an April 12 letter to JAMA, NATA wrote that the information in the article is "presented absent any context and therefore inappropriately leads to a profound misunderstanding of the true risk of general aviation flight." NATA noted that there are more deaths per year from bicycle accidents, drowning in swimming pools
Was appointed senior engineer-avionics systems for Chelton Flight Systems. Cooper previously spent six years with Bell Helicopter, most recently as senior avionics engineering specialist. A 25-year aviation industry veteran, Cooper also has served as an avionics systems flight test engineer for Gulfstream and a simulator design engineer at Bombardier Aerospace.
Model Galaxy airplanes and Gulfstream 200 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27757; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-030-AD; Amendment 39-15014; AD 2007-07-13] - Requires inspecting the wiring harness routed behind the primary flight displays (PFDs) for chafing and proper clearance, and repairing, rerouting or relocating, if necessary. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information by the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel. The AD stems from reports that wire harnesses that are routed behind the PFD tray were chafing on the PFD tray.
ROCKWELL COLLINS won a contract from Xian Aircraft Company in China to provide Pro Line 21 avionics to upgrade MA60 regional turboprop aircraft. The MA60 Pro Line 21 package will include five 8-inch by 10-inch active matrix liquid crystal displays, a CNS radio suite, integrated radio tuning, integrated Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System and weather radar. Rockwell Collins executives said the agreement furthers the company's penetration in the Chinese market.
BALLISTIC RECOVERY SYSTEMS, which manufactures whole-airplane parachute recovery systems, said its products have now saved more than 200 lives. Save No. 200 involved a Cirrus CR22 pilot who was making an IFR flight from Tucson, Ariz. to Colorado. After encountering an inflight emergency, the pilot found himself in clouds and unable to determine how close he was to terrain. He deployed the BRS parachute and was able to walk away uninjured after the plane came to rest in western New Mexico. A German pilot flying an ultralight aircraft was identified as Save No.
FAA on April 6 released new guidelines for obtaining one-year experimental launch permits for reusable spacecraft that will give developers the opportunity to fly and test their vehicles before applying for an FAA launch license. Each permit will cover multiple vehicles of a particular design and will allow an unlimited number of launches. The vehicles must operate in an area large enough to contain its trajectory that is not close to any densely populated areas.
MU-2B series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27191; Directorate Identifier 2007-CE-007-AD] - proposes to supersede ADs 93-07-11 and 94-04-16, which require reducing the maximum deflection of the elevator nose-down trim to a one-degree to three-degree range. When the above AD actions were issued, there was no associated elevator trim indicator change. Without such change, the trim reaches the maximum nose-down limit and the indicator still shows additional nose-down trim available.
Flightsafety International's Citation Mustang simulator achieved Federal Aviation Administration Level D and European Aviation Safety Agency interim Level C approval. Mustang training has started at FSI's Wichita, Kan. learning center. Cessna and FSI expect to achieve full EASA Level D certification later this year and begin Mustang training at FSI's Farnborough United Kingdom Learning Center in the fourth quarter.
