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.
Allegro Air Charters, an aircraft charter and management company based in Ontario, Calif., recently added a second Cessna Citation II to its fleet. The aircraft seats seven passengers. Allegro said it plans to add other Citation jets to its fleet and larger cabin jets in the future.
Brazilian plane-maker Embraer is looking at "gaps" in its emerging line of business jets, and is considering possibilities that would fit between its super mid-size Legacy and smaller Phenom models. See article below.
Eclipse Aviation shipped the first three Eclipse 500 Very Light Jets to air taxi start-up DayJet. DayJet has firm orders for 239 Eclipse 500s and options for up to 70 more, making the Delray Beach, Fla.-based company the largest customer for Eclipse. DayJet has plans to launch an on-demand service sold on a per-seat basis in the Southeast. DayJet will use the initial aircraft to train pilots at Eclipse's Albuquerque facilities in preparation for launch of operations in the second quarter.
The Wings Club elected John Slattery, managing director of RBS Aviation Capital, as the 2007-2008 president. Slattery succeeds Joseph Leonard, chairman and chief executive of AirTran Airways. Slattery, who became active in The Wings Club 10 years ago, has served on the Board of Governors since 2005, was membership chairman in 2005-2006, and most recently was vice chairman.
The Federal Aviation Administration's new oceanic air traffic control system will save airlines about 6.5 million pounds of fuel - or about $8 million a year - on oceanic flights from the U.S. to the Caribbean and South America, according to Lockheed Martin, which developed and manufactured the system. The Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures system is enabling FAA to approve up to 90 percent more requests for altitude changes.
Joined Key Air, Inc. as manager of ground training. McOmber has 41 years of aviation experience, including 36 years of business aviation management and training experience. He spent 30 years with Unisys Corporation as director of aviation, managing the corporate aviation department. He also was director of operations for ConnAir Service and an instructor/standards pilot for Japan Airlines. He has 18,450 hours of total flight time and is rated for the DA20, DA50, G1159 and G IV-SP.
Gulfstream Aerospace is moving forward on major expansion plans at its Savannah, Ga. headquarters, including construction of a 306,104-square-foot plant that will provide a 75 percent increase in manufacturing space. The recent ground-breaking marks the first significant expansion of Gulfstream's manufacturing space since the company brought GII production to Savannah in 1967.
The 2006 business turbine aircraft accident review has been published by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla. The 500-page complication and analysis of accidents involving turbine-powered business aircraft, identifies operational, maintenance and mechanical problems with each aircraft, acquaints pilots with causal factors of accident, highlights critical phases of flight where accidents continue to occur, compares accident rates of each aircraft model by operator type and provides a range of statistical data.
Model DHC-8-100, DHC-8-200, and DHC-8-300 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27713; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-240-AD] - Proposes to require for certain airplanes, modification of the upper bearing of the main landing gear (MLG) shock strut. This proposed AD also would require, for certain airplanes, revising the DHC-8 Maintenance Program Manual to include the MLG shock strut servicing task. This proposed AD results from reports of over-extension of the MLG shock strut piston, which allows the torque links to go over-center and rest on the piston.
Silver State Helicopters of Las Vegas, Nev. purchased Central Washington Helicopter LLC. Silver State, founded in 1999, is a full-service commercial operator with flight and air traffic control academies. It conducts operations from more than 30 locations in 14 states as well as overseas. The acquisition of Central Washington Helicopter, which is primarily engaged in aerial application missions, will allow Silver State to expand into crop spraying, drying, pest control and fertilization.
Cessna Aircraft, which delivered the first Cessna Mustang business jet in November, has delayed subsequent Mustang deliveries to customers while it works with Garmin to resolve a software problem in the avionics system.
