PLATINUM JET CENTER opened a full-service, 34,000-square-foot facility at Bloomington-Normal Central Illinois Regional Airport. Platinum provides charter, aviation consulting, leasing, sales, maintenance and fueling. The new facility will have a 44-foot hangar door, large enough to accommodate a Boeing Business Jet.
HOW STRONG is the current aerospace market? The Aerospace Industries Association said the industry's backlog - which has hovered close to the $200 billion mark since 1993 - jumped more than $100 billion in the past two years to nearly $300 billion. The sharp upturn is being driven by a strong demand for civil aircraft, plus continued robust military sales. See chart on Page 276.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT is sponsoring the Great Lakes Aviation Conference Feb. 2-3 in Novi, Mich. Jack Pelton, Cessna's chairman, president and CEO, will provide the keynote speech, discussing the new generation of entry-level business jets. The conference will have more than 150 exhibitors and include safety and informational seminars, inspection authorization renewal for maintenance technicians and a trade show. The show is expected to attract more than 1,500 pilots, mechanics, airport managers, students and other aviation enthusiasts.
Senior FAA official James Washington was recently elected to the board of the Air Traffic Control Association and is currently the only FAA representative on the ATCA board. Washington is the vice president-acquisition and business services for FAA's Air Traffic Organization, and will serve a one-year term on the ATCA board as a director-at-large. Washington fills a vacancy created when Harris Corp.'s Peter Challan was elected as ATCA's next chairman.
LUFTHANSA BOMBARDIER AVIATION SERVICES is adding aircraft-on-ground (AOG) support services for Bombardier business jets at Munich's Franz Josef Strauss Airport next month. The new Munich AOG satellite station will provide urgent repair services for Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft operators 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station will operate in conjunction with Premium Aviation and MCM Maintenance Center at the airport's General Aviation Terminal.
A new radar-based system is helping Canada's Vancouver Airport better detect and remove material that can cause Foreign Object Damage (FOD). U.K.-based QinetiQ created the Tarsier FOD radar detection system that lets airports have 24-hour detection in all weather conditions, said spokesman Ben White. Airports spend US$4 billion a year to repair debris damage and debris-related delays, he added.
The National Air Transportation Association is pleased that a final rule released by the Environmental Protection Agency last week exempts airport fuel trucks from certain spill prevention requirements and clears up some other concerns with the 2002 Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. The rule also extends the operator compliance deadline for SPCC plans until July 1, 2009. "From all signs, [the EPA] has done almost everything we asked them to do," said Eric Byer, NATA vice president of government and industry affairs.
Model G-159 airplanes [Docket No. 96-NM-143-AD; Amendment 39-14843; AD 2006-25-02] - Requires repetitive non-destructive testing inspections to detect corrosion of the skin of certain structural assemblies, and corrective action if necessary. This AD also requires x-ray and ultrasonic inspections to detect corrosion and cracking of the splicing of certain structural assemblies, and repair if necessary.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association joined seven flight schools in New York in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of a new state law that requires all flight school students to undergo criminal background checks. The law, which the state adopted last summer, calls for fingerprint-based criminal background checks and state approval before prospective students begin lessons. AOPA mounted a campaign to fight the law last summer, writing both legislators and Gov. George Pataki in opposition. But Pataki signed the bill into law in August (BA, Sept.
Roger Cohen, who has spent his career in a wide range of public and government affairs posts, was named president of the Regional Airline Association Thursday. Cohen succeeds Debbie McElroy, who resigned as president last month to take a newly created position as senior vice president of government affairs for ACI-North America, the trade association that represents many of the largest North American airports.
JIM SHIREY joined Chelton Flight Systems as vice president of business development. Shirey has 30 years of aviation industry experience, holding positions in aircraft manufacturing, flight test operations, marketing and executive management. Most recently, he was vice president of marketing for North America with SAGEM Avionics.
Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25920; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-137-AD; Amendment 39-14851; AD 2006-25-10] - Requires calculating the current life of each lift spoiler jack, and eventually replacing each lift spoiler jack. This AD results from a review of all system components as part of the life-extension program for the affected airplanes that indicated the fatigue life limit of certain lift spoiler jacks cannot be extended from the current life limit.
German aerospace manufacturer Grob issued a statement Friday, headlined "Grob Aerospace confirms SPn program on track," despite numerous unanswered questions about the fatal crash of the company's No. 2 SPn prototype at the end of November (BA, Dec. 4/253).
Models LC41-550FG and LC42-550FG airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26400; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-71-AD; Amendment 39-14948; AD 2006-25-08] - Requires, for all Columbia Models LC41-550FG and LC42-550FG airplanes equipped with Kelly Aerospace Thermal Systems Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SA02260CH, Thermawing Deice System (also known as E-Vade), deactivating the deice system and installing a placard in clear view of the pilot.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week called for operators of Columbia aircraft equipped with Kelly Aerospace thermal deicing systems to turn off the systems because improper installation could cause burning of key structures.
FLIGHTWORKS added a 2006 Cessna Citation Sovereign to its fleet in Manassas, Va. The aircraft completed the acceptance flight at the end of October and subsequently flew from Wichita to Manassas. FlightWorks has added 12 aircraft to its fleet since January, and its fleet now totals nearly three dozen aircraft. The new aircraft will be managed under FlightWorks' FlightWise asset management program.
FAA'S AIR TRAFFIC ORGANIZATION responded to that news Dec. 14, announcing a "hiring freeze effective today on all non-controller/technician outside hiring," and warning that ATO management is "considering stopping all controller/technician hiring after March 31." Other edicts include stopping all international travel and all non-operational travel, prohibiting ATO attendance at conferences and reducing expenditures for information technology and flight procedures programs.
Model TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26233; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-63-AD] - Proposes to require, unless already done, within the next 50 hours time-in-service after the effective date of this AD, accomplishing a detailed inspection of the aileron control cable pulleys and brackets, and applying corrective actions as necessary, following EADS SOCATA Mandatory Alert Service Bulletin SB 70-134, ATA No. 27, dated July 2005. The proposed AD will affect an estimated 55 aircraft on the U.S. Registry. The estimated cost of the proposed AD to U.S.
EMBRAER appointed Edson Mallaco and Acir Padilha to oversee aeronautical services and customer support for the company's E-Jets business. Mallaco, who will be responsible for aeronautical services, is a 22-year Embraer veteran who previously served as vice president of customer support, airline market in Brazil and as managing director of Embraer Aircraft Customer Services in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Padilha, who takes responsibility for customer support, has been with Embraer for 17 years, participating in the ERJ-145 and E-Jets programs.
Douglas Schwartz and Steven Busch were named to new terms on the board of the National Business Aviation Association. Schwartz, who just took over as manager of global aviation services at ConocoPhillips (BA, Dec. 11/264), and Busch, who is president of Krey Distributing Co., an Anheuser-Busch distributorship, had previously been elected to seats on the NBAA board. But under NBAA's bylaws, both were subsequently required to resign their board seats when their employment status changed.
Joshua Freeman, 42, a prominent Washington, D.C.-area developer and a minority partner in the Washington Capitals hockey franchise, was killed along with the pilot when their Bell 407 helicopter crashed shortly after taking off Thursday from a golf course in Delaware.
TAC AIR is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the fixed-base operation business. The Truman Arnold division began as Road Runner Aviation, an FBO in Texarkana, Texas, and has grown to 11 locations across the U.S. -- Amarillo, Texas (AMA), Chattanooga, Tenn. (CHA), Denver, Colo. (APA), Fort Smith, Ark. (FSM), Greenville, S.C. (GMU), Hartford, Conn. (BDL), Knoxville, Tenn. (TYS), Lexington, Ky. (LEX), Omaha, Neb. (OMA), Shreveport, La. (SHV) and Texarkana, Ark. (TXK).
