Just a week after FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said China and India face an enormous shortage of pilots, Cessna Aircraft announced major fleet order sales to customers in those countries.
RTI International Metals, Inc., a major supplier of titanium to aerospace manufacturers and other industries, announced a management succession plan that will be implemented this spring when Timothy Rupert steps down as president and CEO of the Niles, Ohio company.
Liberty Aerospace was granted FAA clearance to extend the fatigue life of its XL2 single-engine piston airplane to 5,000 hours. The fatigue extension was a result of a continuing testing program at the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University that began in July and so far has simulated three aircraft lifetimes, or about 15,000 hours. Researchers inspected for cracks every 500 hours. Further testing is expected to permit doubling the fatigue life of the XL2 to 10,000 hours.
Adam Aircraft is poised to undergo a senior leadership change with President Joe Walker stepping down to tend to a family illness. Walker was named president in March 2004 and brought to the company 25 years of general aviation industry experience. While at Adam he helped bring the A500 twin-piston to certification and has been overseeing the development of the A700 AdamJet. Adam is said to be moving quickly to find a successor, and an announcement on a new president could come shortly, an industry source believes.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association today (Monday) is expected to report another all-time high in GA billings for 2006 and another significant jump in the number of shipments. GAMA, which is hosting its Annual Industry Review, also plans to use the event as a platform to detail its opposition to the Bush Administration's proposal to impose a series of new aviation user fees.
ATR received a contract valued at about $100 million from National Air Company Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), flag carrier of Azerbaijan, for two ATR 42-500s and four ATR 72-500s. The aircraft will be delivered between 2007 and 2008. The aircraft will update the carrier's fleet, which currently comprises Antonov and Tupolev aircraft, and be used to expand the carrier's regional routes. ATR has secured orders for 63 new aircraft since the beginning of 2006.
ExcelAire launched a new road show planning service to provide specialized aircraft and support services for executives who need to make multiple presentations in different cities on tight schedules. ExcelAire, headquartered in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., said its planners can arrange and coordinate logistics planning, catering, ground transportation, hotels and more.
Some industry officials are beginning to believe that the chances of Congress passing new FAA reauthorization legislation before the current law expires at the end of September are growing slim. There are only about seven and one-half months remaining in the current fiscal year, and the FAA legislation has to pass through multiple committees before it can be approved by both houses of Congress. In addition, the press of other business on Capitol Hill is expected squeeze the amount of time and attention for aviation matters.
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26050; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-078-AD; Amendment 39-14890; AD 2007-02-03] - Supersedes an existing AD that currently requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to advise the flightcrew of appropriate procedures to follow in the event that a main landing gear (MLG) fails to extend following a gear-down selection.
Joined Wingspeed Corp. as director of commercial sales. Aboulhosn formerly was senior sales manager at Thales Avionics. He also has held senior marketing and account management positions at Rockwell Collins. In his new role, he will be based in Miami, Fla., and manage sales of Wingspeed's XLLink Voice/Data Communication Systems and the XLLink Flight Information Architecture (XFIA) to commercial customers in the Americas.
Dassault is reinforcing its marketing and support efforts in Asia as the French plane-maker eyes the growing business aviation market in the region. Dassault recently opened regional sales offices in both Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. The company named Jerome Desmazures to head Dassault Falcon sales and marketing in Hong Kong and mainland China. Joining Desmazures is Carlos Brana, as director of sales. Belinda Nasikin is heading the Kuala Lumpur office, overseeing Southeast Asia. Dassault also named Hawker-Pacific a Falcon sales agent for Australia and New Zealand.
Airbus has seen a surge of orders by Asian companies for its corporate jet program recently, with new orders for corporate or VIP aircraft ranging from A318s to A340s. An undisclosed customer ordered a VIP version of the A340-500, Airbus said. This order is the first for the VIP A340 from Asia, and the third overall this year. Airbus said the market for VIP widebodies has been "increasingly active in recent years." The latest order will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines.
FAA Friday released a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) warning owners and operators of Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters of a potential problem with the rotor blade skin debonding and recommended daily preflight inspections in the lower skin-to-spar joint area. The SAIB recommended further tests and corrective actions should any problems be found. FAA said blade skins have debonded at the outboard tip lower surface on four R22 and six R44 blades.
Aviation Technology Group, Inc. (ATG) named Action Aviation as an exclusive distributor over a widespread international territory for civilian versions of the Javelin, the fighter-look-alike aircraft ATG is developing. As part of the agreement between the companies, Action Aviation placed firm orders for 40 Javelins, a transaction valued at about $120 million. Customer deliveries under that order will stretch over a period of eight years and also will include a few early delivery positions.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency could receive $28 million in fiscal 2008 funds for 151 pilots, air crew and specialists to support growing border security operations at primary and satellite air sites around the country, CBP officials said this month.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) added a Falcon 2000 and a Falcon 50 to its charter fleet. The Falcon 2000 is based at Palm Beach International Airport and has seating for up to 10 passengers. The Falcon 50 is based at Northeast Philadelphia Airport and seats as many as nine passengers. EJM manages aircraft in more than 60 locations through the country.
Jet Source Inc. completed the second of four American Eurocopter AS350B-3 helicopters for the San Diego Police Department. The helicopter is now equipped with a law enforcement package that includes a thermal imaging system for night-vision-goggle capability, Avalex Moving Map and custom designed radio command suite. The installation included a custom panel, console and racks.
Avidyne and S-Tec Corporation delivered the first customer-bound King Air 200 retrofitted with an Alliant Integrated Flight Deck. Work on the aircraft, N5PX, a 1979 model based in Huntsville, Ala., was completed 90 days after the FAA granted supplemental type certification for the retrofit. The flightdeck combines Avidyne's Envision retrofit integrated flight deck with S-Tec's IntelliFlight 2100 digital flight control system.
Bombardier SkyJet International unveiled a new Jet Member program for customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The program includes flat-fee pricing that enables customers to select the number of hours with no minimums. The program also will enable customers to choose between one- and three-year contract periods. Other facets of the program include a 20 percent discount on same-day return trips and the elimination of additional costs for fuel surcharges and holding fees at busy airports.
Models EA-300, EA-300S, EA-300L, and EA-300/200 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26134; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-56-AD; Amendment 39-14898; AD 2007-02-11] - Supersedes AD 2002-21-11, which requires fluorescent dye check penetrant inspections of the upper longeron at the horizontal stabilizer attachment for cracks, repair of any cracks found, and modification of the horizontal stabilizer. That AD also limits operations to the Normal category until the initial inspection and modification on airplanes with less than 200 hours time-in-service is done.
As part of the transition in European aviation governance from the Joint Aviation Authorities to the European Aviation Safety Agency, the European Commission published a 34-page discussion paper about "General Aviation in the European Community." The aim of the paper, the authors said, "is to identify certain issues for the sole purpose of discussion with the interested stakeholders. It does not prejudge on any decision that the European Commission may take in the future."
Bombardier Aerospace's CRJ900 program received a boost with an order from Delta Air Lines for 30 of the aircraft and options for 30 more. Bombardier valued the firm orders at $1.1 billion, but said the contract value could reach $2.3 billion if all options are exercised. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, approved the contract. "The acquisition of these aircraft will help Delta meet its network and operational needs for 2007 and 2008," said Shawn Anderson, vice president of Delta Connection.
Owners of Britten Norman Islander and Trislander aircraft could be facing an expensive maintenance item. FAA last week issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) warning that "FHL landing gears and components installed in subject airplanes have finite fatigue lives that had not previously been published.
Model ERJ 170 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25889; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-168-AD; Amendment 39-14902; AD 2007-02-15] - Requires replacement of certain electrical bonding clamps and attaching hardware with new or serviceable parts, as applicable, and other specified action. This AD results from failure of an electrical bonding clamp, used to attach the electrical bonding straps to the fuel system lines.
