Bombardier received an order from the government of Spain for a CL-415 amphibious aircraft under a contract valued at $30.6 million, including initial spare parts provisioning, training and technical support. The 415 will join a fleet that includes 14 Bombardier CL-215T and five CL-215 amphibious aircraft. The aircraft will be delivered immediately for use in the current fire season.
The Raytheon Company, which failed to find a buyer for its troubled Raytheon Aircraft (RAC) unit more than five years ago, said Thursday it "intends to explore strategic alternatives" for the Wichita aircraft manufacturer. The options mentioned include "a potential sale of the business, an initial public offering or spin-off to shareholders, or some combination thereof," the company said.
Model Dart 528, 529, 532, 535, 542, and 555 series turbofan engines [Docket No. FAA-2006-24825; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-17-AD] - Proposes to require a dimensional inspection of the intermediate pressure turbine (IPT) disk or an ultrasonic inspection of the seal arm contact between the high-pressure turbine (HPT) and the IPT disk seal arm and rework or replacement of the IPT disk if wear outside acceptable limits is found. This proposed AD results from reports of a number of HPT disk failures, some of which resulted in portions of the HPT disk being released.
Add Carol Hallett to the names being mentioned as possible choices to replace Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation (BA, July 17/21). Hallett, who spent eight years as president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, has long-standing ties to the Republican Party. A former minority leader of the California Assembly and a former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, she served as commissioner of Customs from 1989-1993. Currently of counsel to the U.S.
NAV Canada is moving forward with increased rates for small aircraft after the Canadian Transportation Agency ruled that the fee schedule met the requirements of the Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act. The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association and Helicopter Association of Canada had appealed Nav Canada's plan for a new $10 daily charge at certain airports.
Garmin has developed a new avionics package designed for the retrofit market. The G600 involves a primary and multi-function display that can be customized for retrofit installations. "The G600 lets owners of existing aircraft upgrade their avionics panel from steam gauges to a modern glass cockpit," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing. Based on the concept of the G1000 integrated avionics suite, the G600 combines flight data and displays it in a digital format on dual LCD displays.
Model C-212-CC airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22505; Directorate Identifier 2003-NM-283-AD] - Restricts the operation of the airplane to carrying either passengers or cargo in the same compartment, unless the airplane is modified to include an approved protective liner between the passengers and the cargo. This AD results from FAA's determination that affected airplanes, when carrying both cargo and passengers in the same compartment, cannot achieve the required level of performance.
National Business Aviation Associaiton appointed a TAG Aviation veteran to serve as the association's regional representative in the Central region. Robert Quinn will represent NBAA in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Quinn previously spent more than 22 years with TAG as a captain on Gulfstream and Hawker aircraft. He has more than 40 years of experience as a pilot and 14,000 hours of flight time.
B/E Aerospace, Inc. has acquired Draeger Aerospace GmbH, a major supplier of oxygen systems for both civil and military aircraft, from Cobham PLC of Dorset, England.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey appeared to soften her push last week for adoption of a new user fee system to fund FAA, while the leaders of several general and business aviation organizations and manufacturers reiterated their staunch opposition to the concept of user fees.
Raytheon Aircraft Services was named a distributor for Chelton Flight Systems. RAS will distribute Chelton avionics, including the FlightLogic three-dimensional synthetic vision EFIS, at all seven RAS locations. The system has been supplemental-type-certificated for more than 400 aircraft, including the Baron, Bonanza, King Air 90/100/200/300 and Mitsubishi MU-2.
Cessna Aircraft made a major splash at EAA last week, unveiling a well-received proof-of-concept Light Sport Aircraft that appears aimed at the flight training market, and offering a quick glimpse during a fly-by of its Next Generation Piston aircraft.
Cessna won an order from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for 29 172 Skyhawks equipped with the Garmin G1000 cockpit. The order will boost the university's fleet of Skyhawks to 69 and continue a relationship between Embry-Riddle and Cessna that spans 40 years. Embry-Riddle has purchased more than 100 Cessna aircraft since the Wichita manufacturer resumed piston aircraft production in 1994, and refreshes its fleet every five to seven years.
Flightworks added a Bell 407 to its charter fleet, the 11th aircraft to join the company's fleet since the beginning of the year. The helicopter, which has a 500-mile range, will be based in Atlanta.
Tom Aniello, vice president and chief marketing officer of Pilatus Business Aircraft in Broomfield, Colo., was named to succeed Phil Michel as vice president of marketing at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kan. Aniello spent eight and one-half years at Cessna before joining Pilatus five and one-half years ago. Michel, who planned to retire earlier this year before being asked by senior management to stay on until a successor was in place (BA, March 27/139), will oversee Aniello's transition for the next several months.
Phil Boyer and the board of directors of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association have quietly agreed that he will continue to serve as president of the organization for at least another two and one-half years. Boyer, who celebrated his 15th anniversary as AOPA president earlier this year, had been planning to step down at the beginning of 2008. The outcome of the latest discussions puts the new target date for his retirement at the end of 2008.
Jet Aviation is engaged in a major shakeout of its top management team, announcing the abrupt departures last week of Theo Staub, who was president and chief operating officer of Jet Aviation North America, and Colin Bond, chief financial officer of the Jet Aviation Group. The company said Hartwig Grevener, a finance executive with airline caterer Gate Gourmet, is joining Jet as new Group CFO. Officials expect to name a new president and COO of North American operations later this year.
Model Eagle 150B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-23786; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-11-AD] - Proposes to supersede AD 2004-11-04, which requires inspecting certain canard inboard flap hinge support brackets (initially before further flight and repetitively before the first flight of each day) and performing any necessary follow-up action.
Hillsboro Aviation recently won a contract with the City of Chicago Police Department to provide a new Bell 206-B3 JetRanger helicopter to complement an existing LongRanger IV that was acquired from the Chicago Fire Department earlier this year. Hillsboro will complete the helicopter at its facility in Hillsboro, Ore. and deliver the aircraft in early February.
Appointed vice president of product development and engineering for Raytheon Aircraft Company. Nelson formerly was vice president of research and advanced technology for Cessna. He has 28 years of aviation experience, having joined Cessna's technical engineering department in 1978. During that time he was section chief of aerodynamics for the Citation X and director of the CJ2 and Sovereign development programs.
Named general manager of FlightWorks' executive terminal and hangar in Manassas, Va. Kinsella has 15 years of aircraft sales, marketing and business management experience, most recently as a mid-Atlantic regional sales manager for FlightWorks. Before joining FlightWorks, Kinsella was director of aftermarket programs in the Corporate Aircraft Business unit at Rolls-Royce North America.
Atlantic Aviation has more than doubled the size of its domestic network of fixed-base operations, jumping from 19 airport locations to 42 with the recent completion of its acquisition of Trajen Holdings, Inc. (BA, April 24/184). Atlantic is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Co.
Pan Am International Flight Academy's (PAIFA) commercial division units were spun off into a separate company under a management buyout sponsored by American Capital Strategies (ACAS). The divisions, Commercial Airline Training, Air Traffic Control Training and Saab Training, will continue to operate as PAIFA. SimCom, PAIFA's Business and General Aviation unit, along with the Regional and Career Pilot divisions, will remain under ownership of J.W. Childs Associates.
