Airscooter Corp. of Las Vegas, Nev. said it won a second U.S. patent for its AeroTwin four-stroke piston aircraft engine. The latest patent includes 23 claims focusing on the company's lightweight, one-piece head/cylinder design and related circulation and cooling methods. The AeroTwin engine produces 65 horsepower at 4,200 rpm and is designed for use in small sport aircraft. The company also said it has sold out and discontinued its inventory of hobby models and now focuses its resources on the AeroTwin engine, the UAV and AirScooter segments of the market.
Honda Aircraft Company has decided to permanently set up shop in Greensboro, N.C., unveiling plans to build a new 215,000-square-foot headquarters facility and hangar at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI). During a press conference Friday, Michimasa Fujino, president and chief executive of Honda Aircraft, also said Honda plans to build a manufacturing plant for the HondaJet at PTI, but added that the size, timetable, and costs are still being hashed out.
General Dynamics named Joseph Lombardo to take over from Bryan Moss as president of Gulfstream Aerospace, replacing a sales and marketing veteran with a man who has focused on aircraft manufacturing and production for most of his career. See article below.
The fiscal 2008 budget released last week calls for user fees, but FAA and DOT officials said last week they were still awaiting final approval of those fees by the Office of Management and Budget. FAA is planning to release more detailed information this week when FAA Administrator Marion Blakey is scheduled to appear at congressional hearings Wednesday and Thursday. See article below.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT delivered its 1,000th CitationJet series business jet, a CJ2+, to Colin Bailey, founder and CEO of Xpressdocs, a Fort Worth, Texas-based company. The first CitationJet was certified Oct. 16, 1992. The CJ family includes three current production models, the CJ1+, CJ2+ and CJ3, with the CJ4 in development.
ART WEGNER and Charles Chadwell were named to the board of directors of B/E Aerospace, the Wellington, Fla. manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products. Wegner retired as chairman of Raytheon Aircraft Company in 2000. Chadwell spent 37 years with General Electric, retiring in 2002 after serving as vice president and general manager of commercial engine operations for GE Aircraft Engines.
GARMIN developed a new Mode S transponder, the GTX 328, to meet European requirements for Mode S capabilities for aircraft flown under visual flight rules. The requirements take effect March 31, 2008. Based on Garmin's GTX 330 Mode S transponder, the GTX 328 is designed as a lower-cost option to satisfy European regulations. The system includes many of the features found on the GTX 330, including a display of outside air temperature, altitude monitoring, count up and count down timers, density altitude functions and front-panel input for flight ID.
Was named vice president of charter sales for Executive Jet Management (EJM). Salazar will be responsible for charter sales in South Florida, the Caribbean and Central and South America. She has more than 12 years of business aviation experience, formerly serving as charter sales director for a large charter operator in South Florida. She is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
Raytheon Aircraft Company, whose backlog for two new business jet models soared from zero last fall to orders for more than 100 airplanes, got more good news last week with a significant fleet order from National Air Services (NAS) of Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. Navy is exploring the use of commercial software for managing aviation spare parts inventory that some estimate could save several hundred million dollars annually. The Navy hopes that commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software can improve its Readiness Based Sparing (RBS) process, which identifies the best mix of spare parts required to keep a military system at its desired readiness level. The service has a roughly $10 billion annual aircraft spares inventory, so even a small percentage reduction could add up to significant savings.
Bombardier supplied little information about its C-Series plan after previously proclaiming the aircraft's fate would become clearer by the end of the company's fiscal year Jan. 31. The airframer set the deadline late last year but last week said it would not supply another update until March.
BOMBARDIER is claiming a speed record for a Learjet 60 flight from Jeddah to Dubai in two hours. The flight was sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and the results will be submitted to the National Aeronautic Association for validation. The record is the second set by a Learjet 60 in just over four months, the manufacturer said. A Learjet 60 flew a Cape Town/Johannesburg roundtrip in two hours, 59 minutes.
FORMER DOT SECRETARY Samuel K. Skinner was recruited to help Virgin America in its long-running effort to win DOT approval to provide domestic air service in the U.S. Skinner, who also served as White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush, was named vice chairman of the startup carrier's board of directors. DOT tentatively denied Virgin America's startup application late last year, citing insufficient U.S. ownership.
Was named Republican staff director for the Senate Commerce Committee. Kurth most recently was deputy staff director for the committee, focusing on communications policy. She graduated magna cum laude from Valparaiso University and received her Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law. She held a two-year federal clerkship for U.S. District Court of Alaska Chief Judge James Singleton. After clerking, she was a trial attorney for the Contempt Division of the National Labor Relations Board and was detailed to the U.S.
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25328; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-130-AD; Amendment 39-14880; AD 2007-01-08] - Requires inspecting for fouling and chafing damage of the outboard brake control cable of the main landing gear, replacing the control cable if necessary, reworking the control cable cover, and, if applicable, manufacturing/installing an offset plate on the control cable cover. This AD results from a review of brake control cable operation conducted by the manufacturer.
GENERAL AVIATION could be in for another dose of bad publicity this week. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to open a public docket today and release a series of factual reports on the Oct. 11, 2006 crash of a Cirrus SR20 single-engine aircraft flown by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle into a New York apartment building. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, New York-area politicians called on FAA to impose tighter airspace and security regulations on GA flights (BA, Oct. 16/174).
Premier Aircraft was awarded FAA supplemental type certification for a Falcon 50-4 Performance Upgrade designed to improve range, payload, speed and time-to-climb for the business jet. The Falcon 50-4 upgrade includes the conversion of the original Honeywell TFE-731-3/3D engines to the TFE-731-4-1C standard, installation of new exhaust nozzles, and other minor modifications.
DEPUTY TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Maria Cino announced plans to resign March 2 after two years on the job. Cino had been a top official of the Republican National Committee before coming to DOT. She had been prominently mentioned as a possible nominee to become DOT Secretary after Norman Mineta resigned, but the top job went to Mary Peters.
AIRCELL obtained FAA certification for its new AirCell Axxess two-channel expansion transceiver. The transceiver gives AirCell Axxess customers two more channels of Iridium service, for a total of four. AirCell Axxess provides capabilities for fax services and narrowband data applications such as Rockwell Collins Airshow and Universal Avionics UniLink. The transceiver can be packaged with an AirCell Axxess installation or can be added to the system later.
The existing system of airline ticket and fuel taxes, along with current annual levels of general fund support, will provide more than enough money to both fund FAA's existing programs and modernize the air traffic control system, according to Kenneth Mead, the former inspector general of the Transportation Department.
RAYTHEON executives were encouraged by progress made at Flight Options, Raytheon's fractional aircraft ownership program, despite having to take a fourth quarter charge of about $48 million related to the business. David Wajsgras, Raytheon senior vice president and chief financial officer, attributed the charge to "a shift in industry conditions" that became apparent in the latter part of 2006. Customers are gravitating more to jet card, or charter membership programs than to fractional aircraft ownership, he said.
IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION, Blakey declined to go into details of the FAA financing plan "because, honestly, it is still being cleared within the Administration and we are still finalizing the details on it." But she said "the principle of tying the cost of the system to the revenue coming in is a bedrock principle that we are adhering to in making a proposal."
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-27016; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-176-AD] - Proposes to supersede an existing AD that applies to certain Bombardier Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. The existing AD currently requires inspecting the electrical connectors of the fire bottles for the forward and aft baggage compartments and for the auxiliary power unit (APU) and engine nacelles to determine if they are connected correctly; and doing related investigative and corrective actions, if necessary.
