Flight Explorer released the latest iteration of its Flight Explorer Professional Edition 7.0, which adds a spherical view that allows users to track an aircraft or a fleet around the globe using the company's new rotatable three-dimensional display. In addition, the system now has the ability to ingest global Aircraft Communication Address and Reporting System (ACARS) position reports to display aircraft positions anywhere in the world from the ARINC, SITA, Iridium and Inmarsat communications networks.
Cessna Aircraft Wednesday delivered the first Citation Mustang to Mustang Management Group (MMG) in Fresno, Calif. MMG will lease the aircraft back to Cessna for 10 months for demonstration purposes. The aircraft ultimately will be part of the flight training fleet of MMG's Scott Aviation subsidiary. First delivery followed full certification in September (BA, Sept. 18/125) and icing certification earlier this month (BA, Nov. 13/223). In addition, Cessna last week received FAA production certificate approval for the Mustang assembly line in Independence, Kan.
Precision Flight Controls rolled out a new M.F.D.-G series of modular flight deck advanced aviation training devices. The M.F.D.-G uses the G1000 system and can be configured for Beechcraft, Cessna and other aircraft with dual or single controls. The system includes a 10-inch primary flight display and 10-inch multi-function display. Precision Flight Controls has priced the series beginning at $65,000.
A veteran aviation sales professional, joined TAG Aviation USA as regional vice president of aircraft acquisition and sales. Docherty, who will be based in Chicago, will serve the aircraft acquisition needs of TAG clients throughout the country. Docherty has more than 20 years of corporate aviation experience. He was a regional sales director for fractional aircraft provider Flight Options and also worked for AlliedSignal Aerospace earlier in his career. Most recently, Docherty had been operating his own aircraft brokerage firm in Chicago.
Aircraft Owners And Pilots Association's Expo convention drew a record 13,000 attendees and 2,550 aircraft earlier this month in Palm Springs, Calif. The previous attendance record also was set in Palm Springs, in 2002. Palm Springs is the only Expo site that can host a parade of planes through the city streets. More than 100 piston-engine singles, jets and turboprops participated as they taxied from the airport to the convention center. The show also included more than 500 exhibits and more than 60 hours of seminars. AOPA will hold its 2007 Expo Oct.
3M has developed a new material that the company says will reduce weight in aircraft parts made from engineered thermoplastics. The 3M performance additive iM30K can be used as an alternative to conventional additives/fillers used in interior parts, including passenger service units, tray tables, arm rests, air vents, toilet seats, galley surfaces, containers and electrical connectors, reducing weight and improving stability.
Priester Aviation is planning to boost its charter and management business with the acquisition of Nixa, Mo.-based aviation marketing specialist Lion Heart Aviation Group. Priester said the purchase will strengthen its relationships with wholesale brokers as well as help attract new management customers.
Duncan Aviation recently installed and updated the certification for Honeywell's Primus Epic Control Display System/Retrofit (CDS/R) for a Gulfstream III business jet. The three-display installation updated the Supplemental Type Certificate to include the latest EPIC version and software. Duncan, headquartered in Lincoln, Neb., also offers the EPIC CDS/R update on the Falcon 900, Hawker 800/800XP/1000 and Challenger 601-3A/R.
Manufacturers of a wide range of in-service, turbine-powered aircraft would be required to conduct a series of "high-power, high-altitude sudden engine shutdowns and determine the minimum airspeed to maintain core rotation" to ensure successful in-flight engine restarts under a recommendation the National Transportation Safety Board made to FAA last week. That recommendation and several others stem from the board's investigation of the Oct. 14, 2004 fatal crash of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet near Jefferson City, Mo. See article below.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will be the speaker at Tuesday's (Nov. 28) luncheon of the Aero Club of Washington. Also at Tuesday's event, the Aero Club will present its Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence to the family of former test pilot Scott Crossfield. The award, named after the former Navy vice admiral who later served as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, FAA Administrator and director of the National Air and Space Museum, is given to an individual, team or organization for a lifetime of achievement in aviation.
The international aviation community is continuing to speak out in support of the release of two ExcelAire corporate pilots who are being kept from leaving Brazil following a midair collision at the end of September. At the same time, the pilots, Capt. Joseph Lepore and First Officer Jan Paladino, are preparing for another court hearing this week on their request to have their U.S. passports returned.
Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) Tuesday finally secured type certification for its Hawker 4000 super-midsize business jet. The approval comes almost two years after RAC secured provisional type certification and nearly a decade after the aircraft was first unveiled. RAC announced the aircraft - originally called the Hawker Horizon - during the 1996 NBAA convention and had hoped to achieve certification and begin deliveries in the spring of 2001.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey signed an agreement with Praful Patel, India's minister for civil aviation, for the U.S. and India to work together to develop and modernize India's civil aviation infrastructure. The two nations will collaborate on a host of issues, from air traffic control training and procedures to aviation safety standards and regulations. India's domestic aviation market, the third-fastest-growing in the world, is forecast to grow 20 percent a year through 2009.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators are focusing their attention on problems manifested by the No. 1 engine of a Cessna 421B Golden Eagle that crashed shortly after takeoff his month in California.
Brazilian officials investigating the September collision of an Excelaire Legacy jet and a GOL Boeing 737 plan to examine Traffic Collision Avoidance System gear and other comm/nav equipment. Releasing a preliminary report Thursday, Brazilian officials confirmed that the traffic collision avoidance systems did not issue any traffic warning alerts or instructions for evasive action in either aircraft. The report also indicates that the Excelaire pilots and controllers were not able to maintain radio contact in the minutes before the collision.
Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25388; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-086-AD; Amendment 39-14824; AD 2006-23-12] - Requires inspecting the hydraulic accumulators to identify certain serial numbers, and replacing any affected accumulator with a new or serviceable accumulator. Operators may delay doing the replacement by performing repetitive inspections of the affected hydraulic accumulators for signs of failure (leaking or cracking), and replacing any failed accumulator with a new or serviceable unit.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association named John Grisik, a veteran General Electric and Goodrich Corp. executive, to chair its board of directors. Grisik succeeds Jack Pelton, the chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, who has chaired the GAMA board for the past year.
R321/4-82-F/8; R324/4-82-F/9; R333/4-82-F/12; and R334/4-82-F/13 propellers [Docket No. FAA-2006-26220; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-40-AD; Amendment 39-14822; AD 2006-23-10] - Requires (1) Before next flight after the effective date of this directive, identifying the propeller blades that have a S/N listed in the applicability section of this directive and inspecting the affected blades in accordance with the instructions contained in Dowty Propellers Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) No. 61-A1133, dated October 17, 2006, and ASB No. 61-A1134, dated Oct.
Model DA 40 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26165; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-57-AD; Amendment 39-14816; AD 2006-23-04] - Requires, before further flight, unless already done, inspecting engine fuel system for possible contamination of fuel per Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH Mandatory Service Bulletin No. MSB 40-048/2, Revision 2, dated Sept. 26, 2006; and Work Instruction WI-MSB-40.048/2, Revision 2, dated Sept. 26, 2006. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
BOMBARDIER delivered the first executive-configured Challenger 850 to a Russian customer. The aircraft also was the first Challenger 850 completed by Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg, Germany. Bombardier in November 2005 signed a contract for Lufthansa Technik to complete up to 17 Challenger 850s. Delivery of the first Challenger 850 executive aircraft followed the delivery of the first Challenger 850 corporate shuttle in March. The Challenger 850 is a derivative of the CRJ 200 regional jet.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION Air Safety Foundation was recognized with the Federal Aviation Administration's new Thomas H. Wardleigh Award. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey presented the award to Executive Director Bruce Landsberg during the AOPA Expo in Palm Springs, Calif. The award was created to honor an individual or organization that has made a significant impact on aviation safety; created innovative training, equipment or other improvements to safety and shown leadership in aviation safety.
Model AT-602 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-20007; Directorate Identifier 2004-CE-50-AD; Amendment 39-14798; AD 2006-23-01] - Requires repetitive inspections (using the eddy current method) of the wing center splice joint two outboard fastener holes on both of the wing main spar lower caps for fatigue cracking; repair or replacement of any wing main spar lower cap where fatigue cracking is found; and reporting any fatigue cracking found. This AD results from fatigue cracking at the wing center splice joint outboard fastener hole in one of the wing main spar lower caps.
THE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION believes the federal government has taken a "step in the right direction" by setting aside $17 million to reimburse businesses at four airports and one heliport in the Washington, D.C. area for losses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (BA, Nov. 13/221). But the association believes that the $17 million should only be the beginning.
The Timken Company, which has been investing in manufacturing facilities in China for more than a decade, announced plans to open another bearing manufacturing facility in that country.
