FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL, consistently one of the most profitable enterprises in the aviation industry, expects to achieve significant operational savings by reconfiguring its fleet of more than 230 aircraft simulators. The flight training provider is switching to electric motion and control loading instead of hydraulic systems. FSI has used the technology on military simulators for a number of years, but recently began operating the first such simulator for commercial use, a Level D Cessna Citation Sovereign, at FSI's Orlando, Fla. learning center.
Model EMB-135BJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-24366; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-040-AD] - proposes to require inspecting for missing fire blocking material on the left- and right-hand partitions of the forward baggage compartment door; replacing the seal on both partitions; and performing corrective action if necessary. This proposed AD results from a report indicating that certain airplanes were delivered with the fire blocking material missing and the seal improperly installed on the partitions of the forward baggage compartment door.
The Port of Seattle has hired Robinson Aviation of Fairfax, Va., to control aircraft taxiing near the terminal at Seattle-Tacoma Airport starting April 13. Controllers from Robinson will manage arriving aircraft as they taxi to and park at their assigned gates, and departing aircraft as they push back from gates and taxi to runways. The ramp tower will operate in Sea-Tac's former FAA control tower, located above the airport's main terminal building. The three-year contract is valued at $3.6 million; the cost to convert the tower was about $1.3 million.
Named senior vice president and chief underwriting officer-North America for AIG Aviation. Lovett joined AIG Aviation in 1991 and has managed several product lines at the home office underwriting unit in Atlanta. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1991 and has been a pilot in the U.S. Army Reserve for 19 years.
The National Air Transportation Association presented its top award this year to Charlie Priester, making him, and his father, George, the only father/son team to receive that honor.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION hopes to persuade FAA to fast-track recommended changes to Part 91 and 135 of the FARs to accommodate large aircraft operating under Letters Of Deviation Authority (LODA) that exempt them from Part 125 requirements. The recommendations were part of a comprehensive package that the Part 125/135 Aviation Rulemaking Committee sent to FAA last fall (BA, Nov. 28/247). NBAA says there is a sense of urgency because FAA Flight Standards District Offices have started to revoke those LODAs, causing problems for operators.
AIRWOLF FILTER CORP., Middlefield, Ohio, certificated a compact version of its air-oil separator to take advantage of a market for separators in aircraft engine compartments where space is limited. The new MiniSep is only three inches in diameter and four inches long and can be installed on all piston engines with up to 540 cubic inches of displacement. The introductory price is $395, which includes all installation hardware.
THE $2.75 MILLION launch price for Embraer's Phenom 100 Very Light Jet is going up by $100,000 June 1. "The market's response to the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 has surpassed our expectations," said Luis Carlos Affonso, the Brazilian manufacturer's senior vice president-executive aviation market.
The National Transportation Safety Board last week called for inspections and testing of tension-torsion straps on MD Helicopters 500N, 600N and MD900 helicopters. The recommendations stem from investigations of two accidents involving fractures of the tension-torsion (T-T) straps, which are part of the anti-torque fan assembly.
A WORKING GROUP looking for ways to improve safety and lower noise at the Teterboro, N.J. Airport (TEB) will meet Friday to formally hand over a package of recommendations to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (BA, Feb. 27/89). Those recommendations will be so significant that "we would be doing things at TEB that aren't being done at any airport around the world," according to Jim Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association and co-chairman of the TEB working group.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION has scheduled most of the remaining briefings on its operational-control and wet-leasing policies (BA, April 3/151). The next two will be held this week: April 18 in Newark, N.J. and April 20 in Washington, D.C. The Newark event will be held at the Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel. The site of the Washington event, still being firmed up late last week, likely will be a hotel near Washington Dulles International Airport. Other briefing dates include May 23 in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami, Fla.
Promoted to manager of FlightSafety International's learning center in Toledo, Ohio. Little joined FSI in 1995 and most recently was regional marketing director, based in Chesterfield, Mo. He also has managed the company's customer satisfaction survey program and a number of other initiatives.
Model GV-SP series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-23249; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-219-AD] - withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would have required an inspection to determine the serial number of the anti-skid control unit (ACU) in the right electronics equipment rack, and replacement of the ACU with a new or serviceable ACU if necessary.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT'S two Mustang business jet prototypes have logged more than 850 flight hours, part of a schedule designed to achieve FAA certification and initial deliveries in the fourth quarter. The company said all assembly tooling has been moved from Wichita, where the prototypes were produced, to Cessna's Independence, Kan. facility, where production models will be built. S/Ns 0003 through 0009 are now in various stages of construction on the assembly line in Independence.
GENERAL AVIATION operators and regional airlines are likely to see increased fees in Canada under a series of "revenue neutral changes" Nav Canada announced last week. The privatized ATC services provider is changing its service charge methodology, and the results will mean "a reduction in the charge for larger aircraft and an increase for smaller aircraft. The results will be a more equitable balance in the charges between large and small aircraft," Nav Canada said.
Joines AIG Aviation as chief claims officer. Barrett has 25 years of aviation industry experience and most recently was senior vice president, director of claims and corporate counsel, with Phoenix Aviation Managers. He holds a juris doctorate from Georgia State University and is a member of the Florida and Georgia bars.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL said a new Level D Cessna Sovereign business jet simulator installed in the company's Orlando, Fla. learning center is the first commercial simulator to be equipped with electric motion and control loading instead of hydraulic systems. FSI has produced 35 electric motion and control loading simulators for military aircraft, including the TH-67, UH-60 and CH-47 helicopters and the C-17 transport, but has relied on hydraulic controls for its commercial units until now.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE is asking the National Aeronautic Association to confirm a speed record set last month by a G550 business jet. The aircraft flew 4,082 nautical miles from Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport to Dubai, United Arab Emirates in eight hours, 29 minutes, with three crewmembers and four passengers on board. The aircraft had an average airspeed of Mach 0.86 in headwinds that averaged more than 80 knots, Gulfstream said.
The Boeing Company is donating $15 million to the National Air and Space Museum, the single largest corporate donation ever received by the Smithsonian Institution. The donation will help with remaining construction at the museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. as well as to help fund museum programming and artifact care.
Mooney Aircraft officials are busy converting commitments into orders for the company's first new aircraft model in some seven years. The Kerrville, Texas plane-maker unveiled the new single-engine M20 TN Acclaim earlier this month during Sun 'n' Fun in Lakeland, Fla. The Acclaim is the first aircraft that Mooney has introduced to the market since it developed the M20S Eagle as a successor to the M20-J. The Acclaim will succeed the Bravo in the product line.
Model DHC-8-102, -103, -106, -201, -202, -301, -311, -314, and -315 airplanes; equipped with certain cockpit door installations [Docket No. FAA-2006-24411; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-033-AD] - proposes to require modifying the hinge attachment for the cockpit door from a single-point attachment to a two-point attachment. This proposed AD results from a report that, during structural testing of the cockpit door, the lower hinge block rotated and caused the mating hinge pin to disengage, and caused excessive door deflection.
