GARMIN received FAA approval for use of its GNS 400/500 systems for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capabilities. The FAA TSO C146a Gamma-3 certification enables pilots with GNS 400/500 systems to fly Lateral-Precision with Vertical (LPV) guidance approaches and receive GPS navigation via WAAS. FAA also granted AML (Approved Model List) STC approval, which clears the way for the 400W/500W units to be installed on more than 980 makes and models of aircraft.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE suffered another legal setback this month in its battle with CAMP Systems International. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied Gulfstream's petition for permission to appeal an earlier decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Gulfstream had charged CAMP with trademark and copyright infringement for using Gulfstream maintenance manuals in CAMP's maintenance tracking business without the OEM's permission. The district court rejected that contention this summer, and Judge B.
Air Methods Corp., the Denver, Colo.-based provider of helicopter medical flights, reported sharply higher earnings and revenues for the quarter and nine months ended Sept. 30.
EMBRAER sold 14 EJets to Australian carrier Virgin Blue Airlines. The contract covers three Embraer 170s and 11 Embraer 190s with options for six more aircraft. The aircraft will be used to expand Virgin Blue's domestic and regional markets throughout the South Pacific.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE'S Luton Service Center at London-Luton Airport in England received European Aviation Safety Agency approval to maintain G200 business jets. The center will support operators based in Europe and the Middle East. In addition to the G200, Gulfstream Luton maintains G550, G500, G450 and G350 models and legacy Gulfstream aircraft including the GII, GIII, GIV/IV-SP and GV.
Bombardier Aerospace formally opened a new $2.7 million repair and maintenance facility in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which the company said is part of its plan to expand and develop its customer support operations in that country.
Was named vice president, training and delivery standards, for CAE's commercial aviation training business. CAE will oversee hiring, qualifying, and training instructors worldwide for CAE. He formerly spent 26 years with US Airways, where he was a line pilot, instructor pilot, pilot training manager, and courseware developer. He also has been director of flight operations for Flight International, which operates Learjets.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT plans to open a new 25,000-square-foot engineering center next year in Fort Worth, Texas to support the company's government, commercial and aftermarket businesses. The new center is expected to employ at least 100 aviation workers with specialties in dynamic system design and analysis, avionics systems integration and aircraft handling qualities, among others. Sikorsky in January will begin holding job fairs to recruit employees in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. The new engineering center will work with Sikorsky operations in Stratford, Conn.
EADS SOCATA appointed IndUS Aviation an authorized sales representative for the TBM 700/850 high-speed turboprop family in India. IndUS Aviation, which produces a two-seat trainer, Thorp T-211, is a U.S./Indian joint company with headquarters in Dallas, Texas and in Bangalore, India.
Nearly two months after winning FAA type certification for the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet, Eclipse executives are implementing fixes for some manufacturing problems that have arisen and trying to get a production certificate from FAA so they can start producing the new VLJ at volume rates.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT last week reached the 100th-aircraft-delivery milestone in the Citation Sovereign program when the company handed over a Sovereign to Canadian agriculture company Agrium. Cessna won Sovereign certification in June 2004 and delivered the first aircraft in September 2004. Cessna has delivered Sovereigns to customers in 17 countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Cessna delivered its 100th CJ3 CitationJet in August.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION named Ashleigh de la Torre director of legislative affairs. De la Torre will work with a team that includes Lisa Piccione, senior vice president for government affairs, and Dick Doubrava, also director of legislative affairs. She formerly was director of the Airport Legislative Alliance for Airports Council International - North America, where she managed the alliance's legislative advocacy work, the association's political action committee and legislative updates. Before that she was legislative assistant to Sen.
BN-2, BN-2A, BN-2B, BN-2T, and BN-2T-4R Series (all individual models included in Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) A17EU, Revision 16, Dated Dec. 9, 2002) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25668; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-44-AD; Amendment 39-14815; AD 2006-23-03] - Requires inspecting the horizontal stabilizer attachment bolts and anchor nuts for damage and wear and replacing damaged and/or worn parts with new, modified parts.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey pledged to continue to fight to preserve the nation's small airports, calling them the "lifeblood of the GA community." Speaking this month to attendees of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Expo in Palm Springs, Calif., Blakey said, "We all remember Meigs Field. And I, for one, don't want to see that nightmare repeated any time soon."
Model PC-7 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25582; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-42-AD; Amendment 39-14813; AD 2006-23-01] - Requires repetitive eddy-current, non-destructive inspections of the nose skin and adjacent structure above the left and right main landing gear bay and repetitive visual inspections of the forward support structure of the floor panel for crack damage. If damage is found, this AD requires contacting Pilatus to obtain a repair solution and incorporate the repair.
Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), slated to take over the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as chairman in January, last week called the effort to impose user fees to pay for the nation's air traffic control system a bad idea and said he would continue to oppose such schemes. Oberstar, currently the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, held a press conference Tuesday to discuss his agenda for the coming year.
COLUMBIA AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING CORP. added an international sales center in Southern Africa. Columbia Aircraft South Africa, based near Johannesburg, will be responsible for sales in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Malawi and Madagascar. The South African firm also is working toward certification to repair airplanes built by Columbia.
DASSAULT this month completed high-altitude testing with the Falcon 7X business jet. The two days of testing, which included a flight to the highest airport in the U.S, involved engine, pressurization and environmental systems checks on the ground and in flight. The aircraft departed Gunnison, Colo. (GUC), located at 7,678 feet above sea level, and continued to Leadville, Colo. (LXV) at 9,927 feet above sea level.
Four employees of an Iowa marketing company, including the firm's founder, were killed last week when their chartered Cessna 303 crashed shortly after takeoff from South Bend, Ind. Published reports indicate the pilot of the aircraft did not have a commercial pilot's certificate.
THE AVIATION BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE, which included the participation of 50 aviation industry leaders, last week discussed the challenges the industry faces in the international realm. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy discussed the need for international harmonization of the legal system, which NATA's Coyne notes is particularly important now in light of events in Brazil, where the Excelaire pilots whose Embraer Legacy was involved in a midair collision with an airliner nearly two months ago are still being prevented from leaving the country (BA, Oct. 9/165).
Was promoted to center manager of FlightSafety International's facilities in Daleville and Dothan, Ala. Hicks has worked at the facilities since he joined the company in 1985. He was a simulator academic instructor on the C-12 aircraft programs and promoted to assistant manager in 1990. He also spent 20 years in the U.S. Army.
Model BAe 146 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25337; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-138-AD; Amendment 39-14825; AD 2006-23-13] - Requires inspecting the three-phase circuit breakers and three-phase circuit breaker panels for discrepancies; and fixing any discrepancy and replacing unserviceable units with new units, if necessary. This AD results from reports of three-phase circuit breakers overheating on in-service airplanes. FAA is issuing this AD to prevent failure of a three-phase circuit breaker.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, which has moved quickly over the past two years to position itself as a significant player in the business aviation market, indicated last week that it plans to unveil yet another business jet model within the next year.
