VETERAN AVIATION JOURNALIST Jay Donoghue is leaving Air Transport World magazine to join the staff of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va. Donoghue, who began his aviation career as a U.S. Army combat helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, started earning a living as a reporter in 1976 when he joined the staff of BA affiliate Aviation Daily. He moved to Air Transport World in 1980 and held a number of posts before being named editor-in-chief in 1991. Donoghue has been serving as editorial director of ATW Media Group since 2002 .
Greater Washington Business Aviation Association has scheduled its next general meeting April 7 at the Manassas, Va. Airport. The meeting, which will be held at the new FlightWorks facility, begins at 11:30 a.m. To attend, contact GWBAA at [email protected].
Marketlift recently launched in Dallas, Texas to provide aviation marketing services. Marjorie DeLong, who has 15 years of business aviation marketing and business development experience, founded the firm to help businesses with strategic marketing planning and implementation. DeLong has worked with CAE SimuFlite, L-3 Communications Avionics Systems and JSSI. For more information, contact DeLong at (214) 862-8992.
Billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffet admitted to his shareholders last week that he was "dead wrong" last year in his prediction that his subsidiary NetJets would make money in 2005.
AVCRAFT DORNIER Model 328-100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22813; Directorate Identifier 2002-NM-117-AD; Amendment 39-14493; AD 2000-24-03 R1] - revises an existing AD that requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to provide the flight crew with additional information regarding procedures to ensure complete pressurization of the hydraulic lines for the flaps. The existing AD also requires, for certain airplanes, modifying the flap actuators of the flight controls.
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (UTC) tapped Pratt & Whitney President Louis Chenevert to be president, chief operating officer and a director of UTC. Chenevert moves to head the parent company after serving as president of engine maker Pratt & Whitney for seven years. Steve Finger, currently president of Sikorsky Aircraft, will replace Chenevert as president of P&W, and Jeff Pino, Sikorsky's senior vice president for strategy, marketing and commercial programs, will step into the role of president of the helicopter maker.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), teamed with three other senators, drafted an amendment to change reimbursement rules for lawmakers when they use corporate aircraft. The amendment, which is expected to be offered on the lobbying reform bill, S.2349, would require senators who travel on private aircraft to reimburse the owner of the aircraft the fair market value of the flight based on either the charter or rental rate. Current Senate rules allow senators to reimburse owners of the planes at a rate roughly the equivalent of a comparable first class ticket.
FLYING IN ALASKA is still different, DC-3s are tough airplanes and 7 is still a lucky number, based on information contained in a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. On March 3 an FAA principal operations inspector found a DC-3 "with extensive left wing leading edge damage" at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Mooney Airplane Company delivered its 11,000th production aircraft, an Ovation2GX, last month to Dennis Strigl of New Jersey. Mooney delivered its first aircraft in 1948. At the time, the company was based in Wichita, Kan. and shipped 66 aircraft in its first full production year. Mooney moved to Kerrville, Texas in 1951 and passed the 10,000-airplane milestone in 1991.
THE NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM will have its day on Capitol Hill this week in an event sponsored jointly by the House space and aeronautics and aviation subcommittees. The Next Generation Air Transportation System Day on Capitol Hill will be held Wednesday, March 15, from 9:30 a.m.-noon in the Rayburn House office building.
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts a double-digit growth rate for the U.S. business jet fleet over the next 12 years, including the addition of nearly 5,000 Very Light Jets. Industry forecasts also are bullish, but some observers believe FAA's business jet predictions may err on the high side, part of the Bush Administration's attempt to convince Congress that FAA needs new funding mechanisms to deal with more business aviation traffic.
Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-23936; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-215-AD] - proposes to require an inspection of the manufacturer's date code on certain electrical relays to identify defective Leach TDH-series electrical relays and replacement of identified relays. This proposed AD results from a report of defective electrical relays affecting emergency equipment.
Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. 2002-NM-172-AD; Amendment 39-14488; AD 2006-04-07] - requires installation of a linear fluid-filled damper between each elevator surface and the airplane structure on both the left and right sides of the airplane, along with related structural and system modifications. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent pitch oscillation (vertical bouncing) of the fuselage due to excessive ice buildup on the elevator servo tab, and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.
Avidyne Corp. has developed a new series of traffic surveillance systems for helicopters. The TAS600 series Heads Up Audible Position Alerting systems provide target position and range through dual, small-footprint antennas. The systems also provide intruder squawk codes and N-numbers of Mode S-equipped aircraft. The TAS600 is priced at $9,990 and targets light piston-powered helicopters with a seven-nautical-mile range, a 3,500-foot vertical separation maximum and a 18,500-foot service ceiling.
The Cape Town Convention - which became effective March 1 - will have a positive effect on aircraft-backed debt and leases in the long term but won't change ratings in the short term, Standard & Poor's said. So far, the U.S. and eight smaller nations have ratified the Cape Town Convention, which creates an international electronic registry of interests and lien-holders on aircraft, and provides remedies for lessors or creditors in the event of default or insolvency.
Operators of Gulfstream IV and V aircraft are being told to revise the Limitations section of the Airplane Flight Manuals so flightcrews will have "new procedures to follow in the event that the cockpit displays go blank or malfunction." FAA said it received a report that all four of the cockpit flight panel display units "simultaneously went blank during flight." A Gulfstream spokesman told BA Friday there have been "a couple of instances" like that involving the Planeview Honeywell Primus Epic avionics systems in the aircraft.
Honeywell is introducing a new dual-centrifugal compressor to its HTS900 turboshaft engine model. The compressor will increase thermodynamic power capability, reduce fuel consumption and allow future engine growth. Honeywell expects FAA certification in the first half of 2007. The HTS900 was selected to power the Bell 417, which will be used for the U.S. Army Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program.
Appointed director of aircraft asset management for The NORDAM Group. Beair previously spent 15 years managing production and inventory controls for American Airlines. He also served with Rockwell International for seven years in quality assurance and production control.
Bell Helicopter Textron is developing a follow-on to the Bell 407 single-engine helicopter with improved performance and payload. "The Bell 417 is our answer to the customers' demand for a powerful single-engine helicopter with unmatched hot and high hover capability," said Bell CEO Mike Redenbaugh. The 417 will be powered by a Honeywell HTS900 turbine engine that produces more than 970 shaft horsepower with a new full authority digital electronic control system and dual electronic control units.
CF34-1A, -3A, -3A1, -3A2, -3B, and -3B1 series turbofan engines [Docket No. FAA-2004-18648; Directorate Identifier 2004-NE-26-AD; Amendment 39-14494; AD 2006-04-12] - supersedes an existing AD that requires initial and repetitive visual inspections and eddy current inspections (ECIs) of certain Stage 5 low-pressure turbine (LPT) disks and Stage 6 LPT disks installed in GE CF34-3A1 and -3B1 series turbofan engines that power certain Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet airplanes.
Eclipse Aviation last week began production of the first customer Eclipse 500 jet. David Crowe, who is buying the first Eclipse VLJ, was on hand for the ceremonial launch of production. He expects to take delivery of his aircraft this summer. Eclipse is working toward FAA certification of the VLJ in the second quarter.
Flightworks added three aircraft to its charter fleet in January. The latest additions were a Citation 560 Excel, a Beechjet 400A, and a Westwind II. All three aircraft are based at McCollum Field, near Atlanta.
Elliott Aviation this month will take delivery of its first Socata TBM 850 turboprop. The Moline, Ill.-based fixed-base operation chain was named an authorized service center and distributor for Socata in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and Nebraska. The TBM 850 is the recently certified follow-on to the Socata TBM 700 single-turboprop aircraft. The 850 is powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6 A66-D engine, which gives the aircraft a cruise speed of 320 knots at Flight Level 260 in ISA conditions.
