Experimental Aircraft Association is offering a new alcohol test kit for GA pilots to use in checking automotive fuel for the presence of alcohol. More states are encouraging the use of ethanol in motor fuels for automobiles, EAA said, warning that while auto fuel can be used in some aircraft, ethanol creates chemical properties that harm aircraft engines and fueling systems. "It is critical for aircraft owners using auto fuel to know if the gasoline being used in their aircraft is pure," EAA said.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority hired Paul Malandrino, Jr. as vice president and airport manager of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Malandrino most recently worked for the Transportation Security Administration, where he was federal security director at Baltimore/Washington International Airport since 2002. Before his TSA stint he was the manager of the Operations Department at Washington Dulles International from 1996 to 2002.
Six years after Brazilian plane-maker Embraer announced ambitious plans to build a family of large regional jets, Embraer won certification of the fourth and final member of the initial E-Jet series, the Embraer 195. The National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil on June 30 granted type approval for the 195, which is the largest of the E-Jets with seating for up to 118 passengers.
CRS Jet Spares, a master distributor of Secureaplane mainship aircraft batteries, signed a new agreement to distribute Secureaplane's emergency battery systems. The emergency battery systems use Hawker sealed lead-acid batteries instead of Ni-Cads and are either original or approved replacement equipment for most business jet applications, including aircraft made by Gulfstream, Bombardier, Raytheon, Dassault Falcon and Cessna.
One person was killed and two others seriously injured when a Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopter being used to shoot movie footage struck power lines and crashed near Walford, Iowa June 30.
Bombardier sold three Q400 regional turboprops to Luxair, the national airline of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The aircraft are valued at $75.5 million (U.S.). Luxair flies on routes in Luxembourg, Germany, France and Belgium, carrying more than 1 million passengers annually.
The next FAA reauthorization may need to call for a process like the one the Pentagon uses to close military bases to decommission no-longer-needed facilities and equipment, according to House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.).
July 22 - Airline Pilot Job Fair hosted by AIR, Inc., Dallas, Texas, 800-538-5627, www.jet-jobs.com, email [email protected] July 24-30 - Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Oshkosh 2006, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 426-4800 July 26-27 - Air Line Pilots Association, International, 2006 Air Safety Forum, Capital Hilton, Washington D.C., 703-481-4445 or register online at www.alpa.org under "Events." October 17-19 - National Business Aviation Association 59th Annual Meeting & Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000
Enstrom added Bringer Corporation in Brazil to its network of dealers. Established in the U.S. in 1983, Bringer has offices throughout Brazil and operates two B-767-300Fs and a Seneca. Bringer parent company Overcom Aero Products supplies aircraft parts throughout Brazil. Bringer's Sao Paulo facility will serve as the Enstrom sales office. Bringer partnered with Helipark for maintenance and service on the Enstrom product line.
At the request of industry, FAA has scheduled a workshop Aug. 7-8 in Washington, D.C. to evaluate its controversial notice requiring commercial and Part 91 (K) fractional aircraft operators to include a 15 percent safety margin in landing distance calculations (BA, June 19/271).
Thales won a contract from Airservices Australia to supply primary and secondary radars to be deployed at the busiest airports throughout the country. Thales will provide eight STAR 2000 S-band solid-state approach primary radars co-mounted with RSM 970 Mode S monopulse secondary surveillance radars, a transportable radar and radar electronics for a maintenance facility and a software support facility. The systems will be installed in a little more than three years. The contract calls for Thales to provide 16 years' support.
Eurocopter received a $1.47 billion contract to build 34 MRH 90 helicopters for the Australian military, that country's defense department announced last month. The Eurocopter helicopters will replace the Navy's Sea King and the Army's Black Hawk units. The MRH 90s will be built in Brisbane, Australia and based at RAAF base Townsville, Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney and HMAS Albatross in Nowra, as well as a joint training facility at Oakey in Queensland. The Sea Kings will be retired in 2010. The Black Hawks will be phased out from 2011 to 2015.
Nearly a year after Peter Edwards' departure as president of Bombardier's Business Aircraft division, the company selected a private pilot with no large-aircraft sales experience to oversee its business jet product line. Pierre Gabriel Cote takes over today (July 10) as president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, where he will "head the...leadership team responsible for profit, cost, quality and customer management from order to delivery of Bombardier business aircraft," the company said in a statement Thursday.
Tay 611-8, 620-15, 650-15, and 651-54 series turbofan engines [Docket No. FAA-2006-24777; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-19-AD] - Proposes to require, for engines with certain low-pressure (LP) compressor modules installed, to require an ultrasonic inspection (UI) of LP compressor fan blades for cracks, within 30 days after the effective date of the proposed AD on certain serial number (SN) Tay 650-15 engines. This proposed AD would also require repetitive UIs of LP compressor fan blades on all engines.
The DOT office of Inspector General plans to audit inactive grant obligations in the FAA's Airport Improvement Program. FAA guidance calls for grants to be closed out within four years of being awarded, along with quarterly reviews of inactive grants and the de-obligation of unneeded funds. As of Oct. 1, 2005, FAA reports that about $11 billion was obligated to nearly 6,200 AIP grants. The audit began at the end of June at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and selected FAA regional and airport district offices.
Model 600N helicopters [Docket No. 2004-SW-16-AD] - Withdraws a proposed AD that called for adding six more inspection holes in the aft fuselage skin panels and inspecting the upper and lower tailboom attachment fittings, the upper longerons, and the angles and nutplates for cracks. Also, the NPRM proposed a terminating action of modifying the fuselage aft section to strengthen the tailboom attachments and longerons. Since issuing the NPRM, FAA has received a report of an in-flight separation of the tailboom in the inspection area.
Despite Blakey's assurances, AOPA Regional Representative Tom George warned that Alaska stands to lose more than $23 million in AIP funding under the Bush Administration proposal. Alaska would become one of the five states most severely affected by the proposed AIP cuts, George noted, urging the Senate panel to support the House-passed AIP level of $3.7 billion (BA, June 12/268).
Rockwell Collins and Sandia National Laboratories formed a strategic alliance to develop, manufacture and support small form-factor Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The miniature SAR system, developed by Sandia, provides broad-area imaging at fine resolutions for environmental monitoring, earth-resource mapping and military systems.
A recent Federal Aviation Administration proposal to clarify and codify airport and airspace obstruction standards has drawn praise from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which believes the proposal will make the regulations under Part 77 more consistent and easier to follow. The proposal, released last month, is the latest in a series of obstruction-standard changes the agency has released over the past two decades.
Altair Engineering Inc. of Troy, Mich., is buying France's Mecalog Group to bring impact analysis capability to Altair's suite of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. Both companies supply CAE software to a range of aerospace companies, including Airbus and Boeing. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Antony, France, Mecalog makes the Radioss software that is used by aerospace clients to examine the effects of uncontained engine failures, bird strikes and similar events.
WHILE FAA has not yet taken formal action on its proposal to make permanent the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) around Washington, D.C., the agency last week did win OMB clearance to mandate training for VFR pilots who fly near the ADIZ. See article on Page 2.
Joins Landmark Aviation as regional group sales manager for the western U.S. and international sales territories. He will be responsible for leading the sales teams in his territories, formulating account sales plans for the corporate/business market and identifying key business growth opportunities through alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions. A veteran of more than 20 years at GE Aircraft Engines, Haywood "brings a wealth of experience in sales and sales management to the Landmark team," said Shawn Vick, president of Landmark Aviation.
HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL will present three programs in its Professional Education Services July 11-13 at the Marriott Ontario Airport Hotel in Los Angeles. The three programs will comprise Coping With Crisis 101 -- Managing an Aviation Disaster, on July 12, to be taught by Steve Bassett of the Communications Workshop, LLC; Defining Direct Operating Costs, on July 13, to be led by Brandon Battles of Conklin & de Decker; and a three-day Safety Management Course, July 11-13. To register, contact Nicole Sonberg at HAI at (703) 683-4646.
YINGLING AVIATION, based at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., completed an RVSM-compliant modification on a Cessna Conquest II turboprop. Yingling used a supplemental type certificate developed by AeroMech Inc. of Everett, Wash. for the modification, which involved removing the aircraft's original altimeters and installing new Thommen air data display units. ARINC in Oklahoma City, Okla. participated in the global positioning system monitoring unit flight.
JSSI was selected to provide the Tip-to-Tail airframe maintenance cost guarantee program for Avantair's fleet of Avanti P.180 aircraft. JSSI has developed Tip-to-Tail programs for both the Avanti I and II aircraft. The program covers the entire airframe, the avionics suite, life-limited components and labor. Avantair offers fractional shares of the Avanti.
