NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION selected Cessna Aircraft Company as the first recipient of the association's Albert Ueltschi Humanitarian Award. Cessna will be recognized for its "leadership and spirit of service demonstrated by the Cessna Citation Special Olympics Airlift." The airlift provides roundtrip transportation for about 1,500 Special Olympics athletes and their coaches when the event is held every four years. Operators of 235 Cessna Citation aircraft participated in the 2006 airlift this summer in Des Moines, Iowa.
LINDA TARDIF recently joined simulator training provider CAE as senior manager of marketing communications, simulation products and military training and services. Tardif had been a long-time public affairs official at Pratt & Whitney Canada. Based at CAE headquarter in St. Laurent, Quebec, she is responsible for managing trade media relations, including both advertising and editorial.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT hopes to boost sales of its Beechcraft Baron G58 and Bonanza G36 models by offering a five-year extended warranty for aircraft sold this year. The warranty comes in addition to a 1-2-3 promotion that includes 5.99 percent financing for one year, two years of free fuel and three free training options. The warranty covers Beechcraft parts as well as supplier systems and components. The warranty on paint, interiors, avionics and engines remains the same.
Jet Aviation is expanding its use of the Midcoast brand and is selling its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business in Dallas as part of a restructuring of the Swiss-based company's U.S. operations. Jet Aviation, which acquired Midcoast Aviation from Sabreliner Corp. earlier this year (BA, March 27/141), is rebranding its MRO divisions in Bedford, Mass., Palm Beach, Fla., Teterboro, N.J. and Chicago to the Midcoast name. Jet Aviation also is shifting heavy maintenance from the Palm Beach facility to the original Midcoast base in St. Louis.
AIR CRUISERS COMPANY won Canadian supplemental type certification for installation of its emergency flotation system on Eurocopter AS350 and 355 helicopters. The pneumatically activated system also is FAA-approved for the AS350B, B1, B2, BA and B3 models and AS355F1, F2 and N models. Air Cruisers estimates installation time at six to eight hours, noting that the system does not require cable adjustments or electrical connections. The system inflates in less than 2.5 seconds and can deploy in flight at speeds up to 135 knots and altitudes up to 6,600 feet.
TIMKEN is adding a new $12 million technology center in Mesa, Ariz., that will more than double the company's aftermarket operations in the region. Timken will vacate the Gilbert, Ariz. facility over the next several months as it settles into the new 85,000-square-foot manufacturing and technology center. The new facility will enable Timken to integrate its specialized engineering, manufacturing, reconditioning and service functions. The center will provide parts overhaul and repair, parts distribution and sales, and customer service.
RAY GORMAN was named to manage accounts in the western U.S. and Canada for VISTAGY, a Waltham, Mass. developer of specialized engineering software for the aerospace and automotive industries. Gorman joined VISTAGY in 2002, and before that held sales and product development positions with SolidWorks, Spatial Technology and AT&T.
Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP Airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-23145; Directorate Identifier 2000-NM-215-AD; Amendment 39-14777; AD 2006-20-08] - Supersedes an existing AD that currently requires repetitive inspections to detect cracking or failure of the rod ends of the aileron power control actuator (PCA), and corrective actions if necessary.
FOUR PEOPLE were killed Tuesday when a chartered BAe 146-200 ran off the end of a runway at Norway's Stord Airport and caught fire. The aircraft was being operated by Atlantic Airways of the Faeroe Islands and was carrying three crewmembers and 13 passengers. The aircraft had been chartered by a construction firm to carry workers who were building a marine terminal.
ART MANNI joined Downing Aviation Associates, a Phoenix, Ariz. consulting firm, as a senior associate. Manni most recently was vice president and general manager of the Defense division of AmSafe. He also has served as vice president of sales and business development at EaglePicher Technologies and has filled business development and management roles at both Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney Canada.
AVJET CORPORATION is adding a 54,000-square-foot hangar at the Burbank, Calif. Airport. Located across the airport from its current headquarters, the new building will be able to accommodate two Boeing Business Jets and a Gulfstream V. The new hangar is scheduled for completion in December 2007. Avjet currently operates four hangars that house more than 30 managed aircraft in the Avjet fleet.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION is working with other government officials and industry "to review current guidelines for general aviation and temporary flight restrictions," the agency said in a statement released late Thursday, one day after a Cirrus SR20 crashed into a high-rise condominium building near the East River in Manhattan, killing New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor.
Honeywell, releasing its most optimistic business-jet forecast yet, is predicting shipments of some 12,000 new aircraft valued at $195 billion by original equipment manufacturers through 2016. Honeywell's 15th annual Business Aviation Outlook, to be unveiled at this week's National Business Aviation Association convention in Orlando, Fla., also forecasts that business-jet makers will top 1,000 deliveries in a single year for the first time ever in 2007.
GENERAL AVIATION LEADERS are calling the political pressure and media calls for tighter restrictions on small aircraft unwarranted. National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne called the appeals for tighter GA security "a political response to public fear." See article on Page 174.
A Michigan firm has launched a program to re-engine Cessna Citation II (CE-550) business jets with Williams International engines, aiming to provide significant performance improvements.
ELLIOTT AVIATION teamed with a Bonner Springs, Kan. design firm, Infusion Design, to offer a new technology that will enable aircraft owners to visualize aircraft refurbishments or completions before the work begins. The technology, EnVision, adapts computer modeling capabilities for interior design work. Elliott believes the technology will save owners both time and money. Elliott designers will use custom software to build floor plans and exteriors for Hawker, Citation, King Air, Beechjet and Falcon 10 models.
ATR received a contract from Praia, Cape Verde-based TACV (Transportes Aereos de Cabo Verde) for three new ATR regional turboprops. The contract, valued at $50 million, calls for delivery of one ATR 42-500 and two ATR 72-500s in 2007. TACV currently operates three ATR 42-300s.
Model Mystere-Falcon 50 and 900 airplanes and Falcon 900EX airplanes, and Model Falcon 2000 and Falcon 2000EX airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25988; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-113-AD] - Proposes to require an inspection of the identification plates on the outboard slats to determine the type of identification plates and the P/Ns.
HONEYWELL'S latest business jet forecast predicts the industry will deliver nearly $20 billion worth of new business jets annually within a few years. That compares with total GAMA-member aircraft deliveries of $5.9 billion in 1998 and $7.9 billion in 1999.
Was named vice president and chief accounting officer for Raytheon Company. Wood formerly was an audit partner for KPMG, where he handled several large international and Fortune 500 clients, including some in the aerospace and defense industries.
