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.
CESSNA handed over a Citation XLS mid-sized business jet to Swedish charter operator European Flight Service AB last week, the 500th delivery of the XL/XLS model. The Wichita plane-maker began delivering the XL/XLS in 1998, and since then that model's deliveries have surpassed those of any other corporate business jet. European Flight Service introduced the XLS in Europe in 2003. Since then, orders from Europe have picked up substantially, Cessna said, with 36 XLS aircraft sold to European operators in 2005.
July 24-30 - Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Oshkosh 2006, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 426-4800 October 17-19 - National Business Aviation Association 59th Annual Meeting & Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000 October 27 - 64th annual Wings Club Dinner-Dance honoring Al Ueltschi, Chairman FlightSafety International, Inc. with its Distinguished Achievement Award; Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, 212-867-1770, email: [email protected].
LYCOMING ENGINES last month won European Aviation Safety Agency type certification for the Lycoming IO-580-B1A piston engine. "Many high-performance OEM aircraft manufacturers have expressed interest in the Lycoming 580 engine model series. We are pleased to now be able to offer both FAA and EASA certification of this model to these customers," said Steve Logue, director of OEM sales.
PHI won a five-year contract to provide helicopter services for Shell Exploration and Production Company in the Gulf of Mexico, continuing a 57-year relationship between the two companies. PHI will provide seven new Sikorsky S76C++ and two EC135 helicopters along with other aircraft, as necessary. The helicopters will help support Shell's expanding deepwater projects.
Online charter market specialist CharterX Corp. is planning to launch a new Safety Intelligence service with the acquisition of New Jersey-based Wyvern Consulting, Ltd. Wyvern is known within the charter industry for its safety audits, consultancy and information services. The company has performed more than 1,500 charter audits worldwide. CharterX, meanwhile, processes more than 2,000 aircraft requests each day and has a database of more than 15,000 aircraft worldwide.
ADAM AIRCRAFT named Chris Naro chief financial officer, responsible for raising capital, financial planning and working with the chief operating officer on ramping up aircraft production. Naro, who will report to Adam Chairman and CEO Rick Adam, will be a member of the executive team at the company. Naro formerly was vice president of finance and strategic analysis for Honeywell Aerospace. He also has served as a consultant with McKinsey & Co.
EMBRAER relied almost entirely on internal growth to transform itself from a tiny government-supported company 36 years ago to a major international airframe manufacturer today, but that may be about to change. The company was privatized in recent years, and in March the holders of every type of Embraer shares approved a capital restructuring proposal giving all shareholders voting rights and allowing the company to be listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT was expecting some 237 Cessna Citation business jets to transport 1,800 athletes participating in the Special Olympics U.S. National Games July 2-7 in Ames, Iowa. Calling the event "one of the largest peacetime airlifts in history," Cessna said a Citation business jet would land or take off every 60 to 90 seconds for 12 hours at Des Moines International Airport July 1 and then again July 8. Airplanes were slated to depart from 28 states across the nation.
