November 15-16 - Regional Airline Association Fall Membership Meeting, Washington, D.C. Contact: Scott Gordon at (202) 367-1170. December 4-6 - National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention, Orlando, Fla. Contact: Peggy Knizer (202) 546-5726. December 15 - Aero Club of Washington, 2006 Wright Memorial Dinner, honoring Norman Mineta, former Member of Congress and Transportation Secretary. Contact: Nancy Hackett, Executive Director, Aero Club of Washington, (703) 327-7082
Was appointed senior vice president and general manager of CIT Aerospace's Business Aircraft Division. Davis will manage company relationships with corporate aerospace manufacturers. He formerly was president and division manager of 1st Source Bank, in the Specialty Finance Group Aircraft Division. Davis also has served as a regional manager for Cessna International Finance and held management positions for the lending groups for Textron, Bombardier and Raytheon.
Has joined Million Air as executive vice president of marketing. Zener will be responsible for managing marketing programs for the Million Air chain of FBOs and will oversee Million Air University, the company's internal training program.
A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration was dispatched to the crash of a Cirrus SR22 airplane last month in Arizona in which the aircraft's parachute did not fully deploy before impact.
USER FEES remained at the forefront of issues at the Aircraft Owner and Pilots Association Expo, which began Thursday in Palm Springs, Calif. Four general aviation leaders - AOPA President Phil Boyer, National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen, Experimental Aircraft Association President Tom Poberezny and General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and CEO Pete Bunce - vowed to keep a united front in opposition to efforts to impose aviation user fees and stressed the importance of remaining vigilant on the issue.
Was promoted to chief brand officer for Million Air. Nelson, formerly responsible for marketing of the Million Air fixed-base operation chain, will manage brand identity for the Million Air FBOs and charter division. She has served with Million Air for 11 years.
DEBORAH MCELROY, president of the Regional Airline Association since March 2000, is leaving the organization next month to accept a new post with ACI-North America, which represents many of the nation's larger airports. McElroy will become ACI's new senior vice president-government affairs, replacing Stephen Van Beek, who was ACI's executive vice president-policy. Van Beek left earlier this month to join the Jacobs Consultancy. McElroy will begin her new role at ACI-NA on Dec. 19.
ARINC DIRECT has begun to offer its Inmarsat Swift satellite communications services directly to operators of corporate aircraft equipped with Swift-capable hardware. ARINC Direct also is improving the Swift channel service with additional hardware and software to accommodate worldwide capability. ARINC Direct already offers the service to commercial and military operators along with industry resellers.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT Thursday secured FAA flight-into-known-icing approval for its Citation Mustang. The approval followed grant of the type certification in September (BA, Sept. 18/125). "While approval for flight into icing is not required for certification of the airplane, we wanted to have this in place prior to delivering our first Mustang and in advance of this year's major icing season," said Cessna Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jack J. Pelton.
Model 204B, 205A, 205A-1, 205B, 210, 212, 412, 412CF, and 412EP helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2006-26219; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-49-AD] - Proposes to require certain checks and inspections of each tail rotor blade assembly (T/R blade) at specified intervals and repairing or replacing, as applicable, any unairworthy T/R blade. This proposal is prompted by eight reports of T/R blade failures. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent failure of a T/R blade and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. An estimated 388 helicopters on the U.S.
Cessna Aircraft is encouraged by the "overwhelmingly favorable" response its Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) is attracting, but the Wichita plane-maker plans to stick to its original schedule of making a go-ahead decision in early 2007. At the same time, the Wichita manufacturer continues to test the market for a new family of piston aircraft and is improving its current line of piston aircraft.
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26217; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-209-AD] - Proposes to require revising the Airworthiness Limitations Items (ALI) of the maintenance requirements manual to require additional inspection requirements of the maintenance requirements manual for certain principal structural elements (PSEs) related to fuselage cutouts and to reduce an inspection threshold for an existing ALI task on the aft entry door. This proposed AD results from data obtained from the manufacturer's fatigue testing.
Several business jet manufacturers reported during the recent China International Aviation and Aerospace Exposition (Airshow China 2006), that sales to Asia's largest nation have been on the rise recently. The manufacturers - from Airbus and Boeing to Bombardier, Cessna and Dassault - all noted increased activity in China, according to BA affiliate Aviation Week Show News.
SheltAir Aviation Services, the Fort Lauderdale-based fixed-base operation chain that operates facilities in Florida and New York state, plans to increase its presence in the Northeast through the acquisition of Long Island Jet Center's Farmingdale (FRG) FBO. Two years ago, SheltAir, which operates seven FBOs in Florida, took over the LaGuardia Airport (LGA) facility formerly operated by Signature Flight Support (BA, July 5, 2004/1).
The National Transportation Safety Board, following up after recently concluding its investigation of the second of two high-profile business jet accidents, will take a long look at the role charter brokers play in the burgeoning jet charter market.
SR305-230 and SR305-230-1 reciprocating engines [Docket No. FAA-2006-26102; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-36-AD; Amendment 39-14820; AD 2006-23-08] - Requires, before further flight, determining the serial number (S/N) of the electronic control unit (ECU) installed on the aircraft and not operating the engine if the ECU S/N is 131 and below, except S/N 70, 71, 83, and 88. If the ECU S/N is 131 and below, except 70, 71, 83, and 88, the AD requires removing and replacing the ECU with an ECU having a S/N of 132 and above.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR Marion Blakey, who appeared before an AOPA EXPO audience the next day, again pitched a need for changes in how the aviation system is financed. Blakey, however, said, "There are multiple ways to recover a given amount of costs, and we do not believe that a 'one size fits all' solution is necessary." Blakey stressed that the Administration does not want a funding system that would stifle GA, and said, "We're listening to your concerns back in Washington. We've heard from Arnold Palmer on down.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE signed an agreement with Midcoast Aviation in St. Louis for 48 more completion positions for Bombardier business aircraft. The agreement boosts the total number of Bombardier completions reserved with Midcoast to 90 aircraft positions through 2012. Midcoast will complete Global 5000, Global Express XRS, Challenger 605 and Challenger 850 executive aircraft. The contact continues a 20-year relationship between the two companies.
PILATUS won a contract to provide its PC-21 Advanced Turboprop Trainer for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Basic Wings Course (BWC). Lockheed Martin, which won a 20-year contract to operate the RSAF BWC from the Singapore Ministry of Defense, selected the PC-21 turboprop for the BWC. The contract calls for 19 PC-21 trainers and a 20-year engineering and logistics support package. The training will be provided at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce, north of Perth in Western Australia.
PC-6 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25929; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-54-AD] - Proposes to require repetitive inspections of wing strut fittings, repair of minor corrosion, and if necessary, replacement of corroded fittings with retrofit fittings. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the aviation authority of Switzerland. An estimated 49 aircraft on the U.S. Registry are affected by the AD. The estimated cost of the proposed AD to U.S. operators is $350,840, or $7,160 per aircraft. Submit comments by Dec.
VISTAGY teamed with Japanese service provider TAC to provide design engineering software support for aerospace and automotive manufacturers in Japan. TAC will support VISTAGY's software, including FiberSIM composite design software and Airframe Design Environment. TAC also will provide VISTAGY product training at its facilities in Tokyo as well as at customer locations.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CORP. (RAC) last month handed over the 500th Beechcraft King Air 350 to Spartan Chemical, a producer of chemical specialty maintenance products and industrial degreasers with a network of more than 500 distributors. The twin turboprop is the fourth King Air 350 in the Spartan Chemical fleet. Spartan Chemical also has owned a King Air C90 and a King Air 200. The newest 350 in the Spartan King Air fleet was upgraded with a new air conditioning system that includes an improved vapor cycle refrigeration and distribution system.
General aviation advocates were sifting through the changes that lie ahead in Washington following the elections last week, but were hopeful that one result would be a tougher road for any potential user-fee proposal. "This shift in power in the House changes the picture for us on the user-fee fight," said Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer, "but it doesn't mean we've won the battle."
PIAGGIO AMERICA is moving into a larger warehouse that will increase the company's spare parts inventory space. The new warehouse, three miles from Piaggio America headquarters in West Palm Beach, Fla., has more than 2,200 square feet, effectively doubling the spare parts distribution center.
