SOUTHERN BORDER PATROL FLIGHTS UNDER WAY WITH PREDATOR B UAV - The Department of Homeland Security has begun flying missions with the Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle over Arizona's border with Mexico and so far credits the aircraft with 87 arrests of illegal border crossers. The flights began Oct. 4 and are taking place out of Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., according to Rowdy Adams, senior associate chief at the Office of Border Patrol.
Bombardier Aerospace broke ground on a new factory-owned service center at the company's Love Field complex in Dallas, Texas. The nearly 100,000-square-foot facility will boost service space by 60 percent and accommodate all models of Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets. The new complex - a 52,500-square-foot hangar and 45,000 square feet of back shops and office space - is expected to be operational in the third quarter of next year. It will house about 125 employees, a figure that could increase to nearly 200 over the next five years.
Landmark Aviation Executives signaled their intent last month to be aggressive in acquiring fixed-base operations at busy business aviation airports (BA, Oct. 31/199), and the first deal could be announced this week. Sources say Landmark has agreed to buy the Skyport operation at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y.
ATCA BOARD TO REPLACE BOLLINGER AS PRESIDENT - Just two years after selecting Paul (Bo) Bollinger as president of the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA), the ATCA board last week unexpectedly decided it wanted to find a new president. The board's decision to replace Bollinger, a 25-year industry veteran, came during ATCA's annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, as the association was scheduled to begin a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary.
FAA selected a Department of Agriculture official and a University of Buffalo distinguished professor as the 2005 recipients of the agency's Excellence in Aviation Research Awards. Richard Dolbeer, coordinator of the Aviation Safety and Assistance Program for the Agriculture Department, is being recognized for his work in wildlife hazard mitigation. Dolbeer created the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Wildlife Service Aviation Research Project, an effort to reduce wildlife hazards to aviation, and helped create the National Wildlife Strike Database.
Theodore E. (Ted) Dumont, who spent decades working for Sikorsky Aircraft and serving in a number of key committee assignments with the Helicopter Association of America (now Helicopter Association International) died unexpectedly Nov. 2 in Milford, Conn. where he resided. Dumont, born in 1919 in Bellevue, Ky., graduated from the aeronautical engineering program at the University of Cincinnati in 1942. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Force, he worked in New York for the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the predecessor of FAA.
PILATUS Models PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22018; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-41-AD; Amendment 39-14348; AD 2005-22-04] - requires determining (maintenance records check and/or inspection) whether certain nose landing gear (NLG), main landing gear (MLG), and MLG shock absorber assemblies with a serial number beginning with "AM'' are installed, and, if installed, would require replacing them with ones without the "AM.'' This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Switzerland.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey unveiled a 50 percent rate hike for Teterboro Airport in New Jersey that is slated to go into effect Jan. 1. The new schedule would increase landing fees for aircraft of 12,500 pounds or under to $22.50. Operators of aircraft weighing between 12,501 pounds and 80,000 pounds would pay $3.15 per 1,000 pounds, and operators of aircraft weighing more than 80,000 pounds would pay $5.85 per 1,000 pounds.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association warned FAA that imposing certification fees on aircraft manufacturers would be a "wasteful endeavor" that would cost more to collect than the revenue the fees would generate. Responding to an FAA inquiry about the possibility of imposing certification fees, GAMA said it strongly opposes such a move.
Despite years of delay in achieving certification of the SJ30-2 business jet (BA, Oct. 31/203), Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. claimed Friday it has recorded "new aircraft orders exceeding 295 sales in less than 30 months," a backlog valued at $1.5 billion. The company said those totals do not include Letters of Intent or Letters of Understanding, with all orders secured with nonrefundable cash deposits.
Helinet Aviation Services, a Los Angeles-based provider of helicopter flight services, named David Calvert-Jones chief executive. Calvert-Jones joined the company in 2004 as senior vice president-corporate strategy and became interim CEO last summer. He is taking over from company founder Alan Purwin, who will remained involved with business development for the company. Calvert-Jones has a background in the manufacturing, technology and agriculture industries. Before joining Helinet, he was managing director at Seafirst Australia Pty.
Honeywell says manufacturers will deliver nearly 10,000 new business jets from 2005 through 2015, a significant increase over last year's forecast despite what the company said is a marked decline in short-term purchase expectations among North American aircraft operators. The company's 14th annual Business Aviation Outlook, being unveiled tonight (Nov. 7) predicts airplane makers will deliver 9,900 new business jets valued at $156 billion during the forecast period.
Facing a mountain of opposition to a government rulemaking to make permanent the temporary airspace restrictions around Washington, D.C., Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta agreed to extend the comment period in the rulemaking by 90 days. Mineta Thursday told attendees at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2005 in Tampa that he directed the Federal Aviation Administration to extend the comment period, which lapsed Nov. 2. The notice of the extension is expected to be published in the Nov. 7 Federal Register.
Federal Aviation Administration is hosting an informal meeting Nov. 10 at the NBAA convention to provide government and private-sector representatives who use government-provided aviation weather products an opportunity to provide input on FAA's plans for implementing new convective weather products. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. in Room N210A of the Orlando Orange County Convention Center. For further information, contact Debi Bacon in FAA's Air Traffic Administration office at (202) 385-7705 or by e-mail at [email protected]
Schweizer Aircraft handed over its 1,000th helicopter, a 300CBi, to Gerry and Bonny Friesen of BC Helicopters in Abbotsford, British Columbia last month. The 300CBi is a derivative of the 269 Series, which Schweizer bought from Hughes Helicopters in 1983. "The transition of the 269 Series program from Hughes Helicopters to Schweizer Aircraft has been a true success story," said Schweizer President Paul Schweizer.
AVITAT WESTCHESTER LAUNCHES MAJOR RENOVATION - Visitors to Avitat Westchester's fixed-base operation at the Westchester County Airport will be treated to a multitude of sensory experiences, officials say, when a major renovation program is completed in about 18 months.
December 1-2 - National Air Transportation Association Line Service Supervisor Training, Albuquerque, N.M., (703) 845-9000 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
