FAA hopes to enhance its new aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) testing with a new Striker ARFF vehicle it bought from Oshkosh Truck Corp. The $650,000 truck, to be based at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New Jersey, will be used to test ARFF capability on the new generation of large and complex aircraft. The Striker holds 2,500 gallons of water, compared with just 800 gallons for the agency's current research vehicle. The ARFF is equipped with an electronic foam proportioning system, which mixes foam concentrate with water at proper ratios.
JOHN JUMPER was elected to the board of directors of Goodrich Corp. Jumper, recently retired chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, will serve on the board's Audit Review and Financial Policy committees. Jumper had a 39-year military career, holding a range of posts from deputy director for Politico-Military Affairs, Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, for the Joint Staff in Washington to commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe.
Nearly one year after the former U.S. ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization stepped down, sources say the Bush Administration is finally close to nominating Washington attorney Don Bliss for the job. Bliss is of counsel to the firm of O'Melveny & Myers, where he heads the Transportation/Aviation practice group. Bliss was deputy general counsel and acting general counsel at the Department of Transportation in 1975-1977, when he worked for DOT Secretary William T. Coleman, Jr.
E-A-R SPECIALTY COMPOSITES was picked to supply the thermal/acoustic system for the Gulfstream G150. E-A-R will supply the integrated system as well as design, logistical and technical support. E-A-R, which has provided aircraft interior noise control systems for more than 20 years, also supplies the thermal/acoustic system for the G200.
WESTERN AERO, the Denver-based aviation parts and maintenance provider, received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification, enabling the company to accept aircraft repair work from European aviation facilities. The two-month certification process included an on-site FAA inspection of Western Aero's repair facility and an EASA review.
January 8-12, 2006 - American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Issues Conference, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, Kona, Hawaii, (703) 824-0504, www.airportnet.org January 25-27, 2006 - National Business Aviation Association Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, San Antonio, Texas, (202) 783-9000 February 26-28, 2006 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2006 Annual Convention and Exposition, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646
AGUSTAWESTLAND EXPANDS U.S. PRESENcE, TAKES OVER AB139 PROGRAM - Italian helicopter maker AgustaWestland last week broke ground on a $27 million project to expand its manufacturing plant in Philadelphia, Pa., to make room for the production of the AB139. Construction on the 110,000-square-foot facility is slated to be completed by the end of 2006.
FRANK BELLOCCHIO was appointed to the sales team of Columbia Aircraft Sales. Bellocchio will be based in White Plains, N.Y. A 1,400-hour instrument-rated pilot, Bellocchio has some 30 years of sales experience, most recently as vice president of sales for Black Dragon Software. He also was a network security consultant to Wall Street Mortgage Bankers New York and senior director of sales at Fortinet Inc. and SonicWall Inc.
JET AVIATION DUBAI was named an authorized dealer for Rockwell Collins. The facility is authorized to sell, install and retrofit Rockwell Collins equipment, including communications, navigation, display and inflight entertainment systems. The facility also recently received maintenance organization approvals from the departments of civil aviation for Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model HS 748 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-23006; Directorate Identifier 2002-NM-51-AD; Amendment 39-14380; AD 2005-23-22] -- requires repetitive inspections for fatigue cracking, corrosion, and other related discrepancies of the rear pressure bulkhead and associated areas, and the fin attachment fittings, particularly the fin link beam; and related investigative and corrective actions. This AD results from a structural integrity audit of the airplane that showed the importance of inspecting for fatigue cracking and corrosion of these areas.
NETJETS ORDER GIVES BIG BOOST TO HAWKER 4000 PROGRAM - Raytheon Aircraft Company won a 50-aircraft order from fractional provider NetJets for its Hawker 4000 business jet program, more than doubling the backlog for the composite fuselage aircraft and giving a marketing boost to the long-delayed program.
ATR handed over a second new ATR 72-500 to Air Madagascar, the national carrier of the Republic of Madagascar. The aircraft was equipped with ATR's "Elegance" cabin, and was part of an order announced during the Paris Air Show in June for two ATR 72-500s and one ATR 42-500. The first ATR 72 was delivered to Air Madagascar earlier in November. ATR also began shipment on another order announced during the Paris Air Show. The Franco-Italian regional plane-maker shipped the first of eight ATR 42-500s to Finnish Commuter Airlines.
CIVIL and military aircraft makers helped bolster the economy with strong sales in October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nondefense aircraft orders increased 50.4 percent in October and military orders jumped 140.4 percent from September orders, the Census Bureau said. Overall, new orders for durable goods increased $7.1 billion, or 3.4 percent, to $214.4 billion in October.
AAR AIRCRAFT COMPONENT SERVICES -Amsterdam received a multi-year agreement from BAE Systems Regional Aircraft to perform rotable component repairs and overhauls of BAe 146/Avro RJ regional aircraft.
ORDERS FOR BOMBARDIER RJs PLUMMET - Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, Inc. said orders for its line of regional airliners took a nosedive in the quarter ended Oct. 31, but the company's aerospace unit managed to achieve higher revenues because of increased deliveries of new business jets.
JUSTIN OBERMAN is joining Crestview Capital Funds as senior analyst focused on homeland security, transportation and other industries. Oberman was assistant director of the Transportation Security Administration, where he heads the Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing.
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY named Martin Smith chancellor of its Extended Campus. Smith will oversee planning, resource allocation and program evaluation, with an emphasis on noncredit education. Smith has served as interim chancellor since May, when the previous chancellor, Robert "Skip" Myers, left to become president of Daniel Webster College. Smith joined Embry-Riddle in 1999 as chief information officer, and before that he had 25 years of experience in private education at institutions including the University of Massachusetts and Boston College.
Business aviation advocates are working together to stall two measures added to a comprehensive Senate tax bill that could dramatically increase the tax burden for business executives who use company aircraft for personal reasons and sharply limit the tax benefits companies receive when their aircraft are used for recreation. The measures are included in S.2020, the Tax Relief Act, which passed the Senate last month.
