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.
Piper Aircraft opted to stick with proven technology to power its new single-engine business jet, selecting a derated version of the 3,000-pound-thrust FJ44-3 engine - the FJ44-3AP - for the PiperJet (BA, Oct. 30/198). Noting that the FJ44-3A has amassed more than 2.5 million hours of flight time, Piper said the engine was "renowned for...high performance and rugged reliability."
CESSNA AIRCRAFT last month marked the 7,000th single-engine piston airplane produced at the company's plant in Independence, Kan. Cessna has produced more than 152,000 single-engine piston aircraft over the past 80 years, but shut down single-piston production in the mid-1980s, citing spiraling liability costs and a sharp market downturn. Cessna renewed production at Independence in November 1996 after the aviation community successfully lobbied for passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act.
Models M20M and M20R airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26071; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-51-AD] - Proposes to require retorquing the upper left and upper right engine mounting hardware as an interim action. This proposed AD also would require removing the upper left and upper right engine mount attaching hardware, cutting out and removing the upholstery and insulation between the fuselage tubular frame and the firewall, and replacing the upper left and upper right engine mount attaching hardware with the new parts kit.
BARCO was selected to develop 10- and 15-inch displays for Honeywell's APEX integrated avionics suites. The contract provides Barco with a stake in the business aviation market. Honeywell will market the Barco displays as Keyboard Display Units (KDUs) -- the 10-inch KDU-180 and 15-inch KDU-1500.
General aviation advocates are urging the Department of Transportation to provide a simple process that fairly reimburses small businesses that lost income as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, saying a current proposal for reparations may prove costly and deter companies from filing legitimate claims.
A U.S. DISTRICT COURT judge in New Mexico Thursday denied the request of a Swiss start-up company for a preliminary injunction against Eclipse Aviation over a contract dispute. PA Aviace, which was formed in 2002 to develop a "jet club" with Eclipse 500 aircraft and subsequently ordered 112 aircraft, filed suit after Eclipse claimed Aviace was in breach of contract for non-payment of an advance deposit.
Model 750 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26242; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-229-AD; Amendment 39-14817; AD 2006-23-05] - Requires inspecting the inboard-hinge brackets of the left and right elevators for cracking, and doing related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. This AD results from a report of cracking found on the elevator inboard-hinge brackets. FAA is issuing this AD to detect and correct cracking of the elevator inboard-hinge brackets, which could result in structural failure of the elevators and consequent loss of control of the airplane.
CAE SIMUFLITE will begin offering Gulfstream G550 training at its Emirates-CAE Flight Training facility in Dubai in spring 2007 and at its new North East Training Center in Morristown, N.J. in fall 2007. CAE is installing a new full flight simulator at Morristown and upgrading a GV simulator in Dubai to provide the G550 training. The Dubai simulator will be for training on both the GV and G550. Both the Morristown and Dubai simulators will include the PlaneView avionics suite.
THE NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION last week joined the National Air Transportation Association in calling for an industry-based Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to tackle the issue of runway landing distance assessments. NBAA wrote FAA Administrator Marion Blakey that the association believes an ARC would be the best forum for tackling the issue, an industry source said. NATA last month also requested an ARC, saying that the agency's current policy ignores the needs of the business aviation and charter community and could create safety issues (BA, Oct.
Business aviation has marked the passing of two former industry leaders who died on Nov. 3. * Donald A. Baldwin, former head of Texaco's flight department and a member of the National Business Aviation Association board of directors from 1968 to 1978, died of heart failure at Indian River Memorial Hospital in Vero Beach, Fla. Donald A. Baldwin was the father of Donald E. Baldwin, who served as National Business Aviation Association chairman from 2003 to 2004 and as interim president and CEO in 2004.
HONEYWELL has expanded the applications for its Primus Epic Control Display System/Retrofit (CDS/R) system with a number of recent certifications. Chippewa Aerospace, a Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Honeywell dealer and aviation services company, recently secured a supplemental type certificate for installation of the CDS/R on a Falcon 50. The approval marked Chippewa's first CDS/R installation and the first on a Falcon 50. The upgrade replaces electromechanical instruments with a new flat-panel LCD involving three large-screen DU-1080 Epic-type displays.
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26241; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-155-AD] - Proposes to require inspecting to determine the manufacturer's date of certain V-band clamps on the engine exhaust shroud assembly, and doing related investigative/corrective actions, if necessary. This proposed AD results from a report of a discrepancy found during a maintenance inspection on a V-band clamp located on the engine exhaust duct shroud.
Was named vice president of sales and marketing for JetDirect Aviation's JetCorp subsidiary. JetDirect credited Ropp with helping grow the company's Charter Shares Jet Card Program by some 200 percent since 2002. Ropp has 18 years of aviation experience at several private aviation firms, including owning Aircraft Appearances, an aircraft detailing business based in South Florida and St. Louis. He serves as treasurer for the Greater St.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. won an order from Delta Connection Academy for 50 SR20 airplanes that will be used for flight training. Delivery of the aircraft has begun. Cirrus said the contract includes the possibility for future orders.
ATR is opening a new sales office in Sydney, Australia. Laurent Negre will lead the office as sales director with responsibility for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Nation Islands. The new office further establishes ATR's presence in the Asia Pacific region. ATR also has sales offices in Beijing, Singapore and Bangkok, support centers in Singapore and Bangalore and a training center in Bangkok.
