The Weekly of Business Aviation

Staff
Summary: This notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of 14 CFR, dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.

Staff
GULFSTREAM WINS C.I.S. APPROVAL FOR FOUR MODELS - Gulfstream Aerospace won certification from the Commonwealth of Independent States for four of its business jet models. The approval came from the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) and covers the G550, G500, G450 and the G350 business jets. Gulfstream said the C.I.S., formerly the U.S.S.R., first validated the U.S. FAA initial type certificate. Then IAC, the C.I.S.

Daniel Webster College

Staff
EOS POSITIONS SERVICE AS 'CORPORATE JET' - A start-up scheduled airline offering high-end service between New York Kennedy and London Stansted Airport hopes to lure more business travelers with a new marketing campaign that calls the service "The Commercial Corporate Jet."

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January 25-27 - National Business Aviation Association Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, San Antonio, Texas, (202) 783-9000 February 26-28 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2006 Annual Convention and Exposition, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646 Feb. 28-March 1 - Federal Aviation Administration, 31st Annual Aviation Forecast Conference, "Survival and Growth in Today's World," Washington, D.C. Convention Center, (202) 267-7924

Staff
Presenters during the hearing detailed the burden the ADIZ continues to impose on pilots attempting to fly in or near the Washington area. Speakers overwhelmingly agreed the ADIZ should either be extensively modified to make it less onerous, or dropped altogether. Federal officials will get to hear the next round of comments on the ADIZ this Wednesday at a hearing near Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

Staff
AOPA ELEVATES CEBULA, GEBHART TO SENIOR POSTS - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association rounded out its senior management team by promoting Andy Cebula to the newly created position of executive vice president of government affairs and Karen Gebhart to executive vice president of non-dues revenue. The promotions complete a reorganization that AOPA President Phil Boyer began in 2003. Along with Cebula and Gebhart, the senior management team includes Diana Roberts, executive vice president of operations, and Jeff Myers, executive vice president of communications.

Staff
TAG Aviation SA opened a new facility in Madrid, its fourth TAG Aviation operation in Europe. The Spanish base, TAG Espana, received commercial aircraft operation, airport handling and dispatch licenses from Spain's DGAC. The new facility offers aircraft management, charter, flight planning and airport handling. TAG Aviation's Switzerland and United Kingdom companies will support TAG Espana's aircraft charter and management services.

Staff
Five FAA officials and representatives of several other agencies listened last week as airport operators, business owners and pilots urged them to drop a proposal to make the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) permanent. Nearly 200 people attended a Thursday afternoon session and nearly as many attended the evening session of the first of two public hearings on the ADIZ proposal.

Staff
A NetJets Cessna 560, N391QS, was damaged when its right wing hit the runway while the crew was landing at 0800 CST Jan. 5 at the Lakeland Airport/Noble F. Lee Memorial Field near Minocqua-Woodruff, Wis. The aircraft's right wing touched Runway 36, and the aircraft ran off the runway and into a snow bank. The pilot, co-pilot and five passengers were not injured, but the aircraft was substantially damaged. The flight was en route from Palwaukee Municipal Airport outside Chicago, Ill.

Staff
Julie Goodridge was promoted to manager of FlightSafety International's West Palm Beach, Fla. learning center. Goodridge joined FlightSafety in 2001 as a product marketing manager at the Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington center and was promoted to assistant manager of the West Palm Beach facility in 2004. Goodridge also has served as alumni director at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Aviation Research Group International

Staff
Greeley-Weld County Airport (GXY) in Greeley, Colo. has been registered as an Aviation Development Zone by the state's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The airport applied for development zone status as a result of the Colorado legislature's passage last year of the Aviation Development Zone Act, which permits aircraft manufacturing companies located within Aviation Development Zones to seek eligibility for state income tax credit for new employees.

Staff
Trade associations aren't necessarily known for job stability in the top executive ranks, but Phil Boyer marked his 15th anniversary at the helm of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association at the beginning of 2006.

Staff
International Communications Group (ICG) appointed Dallas Avionics a distributor for ICG's Iridium aviation satellite communication products. Founded in 1973, Dallas Avionics distributes avionics to more than 4,000 customers in 115 countries. Newport News, Va.-based ICG develops communications integration, automation and management systems for the aerospace, military, and maritime industries.

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Professional Aviation Maintenance Association is lobbying members of Congress to create a "National Aviation Maintenance Technicians Day" to honor Charles Taylor, who worked with the Wright Brothers, and all maintenance technicians. For more information, contact PAMA President Brian Finnegan at [email protected].

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Sikorsky Aircraft handed over the first two S-76C++ helicopters following FAA certification of the latest variant of the twin-engine helicopter. Petroleum Helicopters Inc. took delivery of the first S-76C++ models for its offshore oil support and employee transfer missions.

Staff
Directors of DeCrane Aircraft Holdings met Friday to discuss new leadership for the company following the death last month of R. Jack DeCrane, the company's founder and president. See article below.

Staff
Federal Aviation Administration recently issued an emergency airworthiness directive to operators of the Pacific Aerospace Corporation PAC 750XL, warning that the aircraft's wings might not meet load requirements for a maximum takeoff weight of 7,500 pounds. The company discovered the problem during an ultimate load test of a production wing. The airframer, based in New Zealand, is dropping MTOW to 7,125 pounds until it develops a modification to raise MTOW to its original level.

Staff
Jim Hamant was named vice president of production and distribution for Iridium. Hamant will be responsible for improving all facets of production and quality. He has more than 30 years of technical and supply chain management experience, including 13 years at Motorola in supplier management, product development, engineering, manufacturing strategy and production. Most recently, Hamant was engineering manager at Orbital Sciences.

Kerry Lynch
The Federal Aviation Administration scaled back the scope of new insulation requirements after industry groups warned that the new rules were so expansive that they would apply to thousands of parts that are no longer available, a situation that could ground some aircraft unless the rules were changed (BA, Aug. 22/78). FAA released the amendment to its thermal/acoustic insulation rule in the Dec.

Staff
David Schoen was appointed to the newly created position of vice president of technology development for Iridium. Schoen will oversee the flow of new technology and product development through manufacturing and delivery. Schoen formerly was vice president of technology development for ORBCOMM, where he acted as program manager for the development and launch of an $8 million technology demonstrator satellite. Before that, he was director of production development for Iridium, where he initiated the development of new subscriber equipment.

Staff
Helicopter Association International hired a former National Transportation Safety Board investigator as director of safety and flight operations. John (Jack) Drake spent six years in the U.S. Navy as a rescue helicopter pilot, flight instructor and safety officer. Drake spent 26 years with NTSB as an accident analyst, regional and go-team investigator and manager of the board's Aviation Engineering Division. He investigated more than 500 aviation accidents during his tenure at the safety board.