National Business Aviation Association released a new Aircraft Charter Consumer Guide designed to help potential air charter users find a suitable operator and broker. The guide includes information for seeking charter safety information, locating contractors that audit charter companies, developing pre-screening questions for vetting operators and obtaining and evaluating price quotes. For more information, visit the NBAA Web site at www.nbaa.org/charter.
FIRST-HALF REVENUES DOWN, BUT EMBRAER DELIVERIES TO PICK UP - Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer reported a decline in sales revenue for the quarter ended June 30 but said it plans to boost aircraft production and deliveries in the second half of the year.
BRS REPORTS HIGHER SALES AND EARNINGS - Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS) Inc., the St. Paul, Minn. manufacturer of whole-airplane parachute recovery systems for small aircraft, reported higher sales and earnings for the period ended June 30, which marked the end of the third quarter of the company's fiscal year.
International commercialized air transportation systems have remained safe and have taken steps to improve efficiency, but also have imposed higher fees for general aviation, the Government Accountability Office told key legislators. GAO studied five commercialized air traffic control systems that were at least partly government-owned in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, and reported its findings to the leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has a strong say in financing strategies for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion completed fabrication of a hypersonic ground demonstration engine, GDE-2, fulfilling a nine-year, $58 million contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The demonstrator includes a variable-geometry inlet and bolted construction to simulate the configuration of a reusable access-to-space or global-reach propulsion system. GDE-2 will be tested under Mach 5 flight conditions simulated at NASA-Langley Research Center beginning in October.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-7-100, DHC-7-101, DHC-7-102, and DHC-7-103 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20595; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-149-AD; Amendment 39-14208; AD 2005-16-03] - requires revising the Airworthiness Limitations section of the Instructions of Continued Airworthiness to include a new, lower life limit for lower wing skins. This AD results from the discovery that, during the manufacture of the lower wing skins, score marks may have been accidentally inscribed around the edge of the lower wing skin doublers.
NOSE WHEEL SHIMMY SLOWS JAVELIN TEST PROGRAM - Aviation Technology Group officials say they are making progress in resolving a nosewheel shimmy problem with the company's prototype Javelin aircraft and hope to have a solution in place by next month.
EMBRAER Model EMB-135 airplanes and Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22033; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-218-AD] - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires repetitive inspections of the spring cartridges of the elevator gust lock system to determine if the lock washer projection correctly fits the slots in the cartridge flange, and corrective action if necessary. The existing AD also provides for interim optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections for certain airplanes.
Applications seeking Transportation Security Administration approval to operate into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) are expected to begin rolling in to the TSA this week now that the agency has released a formal application and guidance on the approval process. The rule allowing operators to seek approval to fly into DCA took effect Thursday, but operators had been waiting for the guidance before they applied. Filling out the one-page application form is just the first step of what is expected to be a lengthy vetting exercise.
GULFSTREAM PROMOTES VETERAN PILOT - Neil Vernon, a veteran corporate pilot, was promoted to chief pilot, G450/G550 demonstration, by Gulfstream Aerospace. In his new role, Vernon will oversee G450 and G550 demonstration flights to best display aircraft performance and capabilities to potential customers and customer pilots. A five-year Gulfstream employee, Vernon previously served as an international demonstration captain/safety officer. In 2000 he joined Galaxy Aerospace as a demonstration pilot/international captain, flying Astra and Galaxy business jets.
Sterling Aviation, based at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wis., added a Raytheon Hawker 800XP to its charter fleet. The aircraft seats eight passengers. Sterling provides charter, management, acquisition and maintenance.
FLIGHT OPTIONS TRANSITIONING FLEET, SERVICE OFFERINGS - Flight Options, the Cleveland, Ohio-based fractional aircraft provider, is in the midst of a major transformation of its business jet fleet at the same time as it is expanding the number of programs available to its customers.
LEARJET Model 23, 24, 25, 35, and 36 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20798; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-257-AD; Amendment 39-14214; AD 2005-16-09] - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires repetitive inspections to detect deterioration of both flappers of the tip tank in each wing of the airplane, and various follow-on actions. The existing AD also requires replacing the flappers with new flappers, and repetitively performing certain other follow-on actions.
SENATOR CALLS FOR STUDY OF AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH ACROSS DOD-NASA - Adding to earlier legislative attempts to shore up federally funded aeronautical research, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) has proposed a Joint Aeronautical Research Working Group to study cooperative research across NASA and the Defense Department.
Signature Flight Support will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to celebrate the beginning of construction on the company's new executive terminal at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Signature and the Massachusetts Port Authority recently executed a 10-year ground lease under which Signature will operate the FBO at BOS for another 10 years, until 2016. The new terminal will have 12,000 square feet of space on two floors, along with an 8,800-square-foot, multi-tenant, ground-support-equipment repair shop.
September 18-21 - Airports Council International-North America, 16th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Metro Toronto Convention Center, Toronto, Ontario (202) 293-8500, e-mail [email protected] September 26-29 -- 11th Annual Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference, Doubletree, Seattle, (410) 266-2915, e-mail [email protected], www.arinc.com/amc October 2-4 - American Association of Airport Executives F. Russell Hoyt National Airports Executives Conference, Tampa, (703) 824-0504, e-mail [email protected]
General Aviation Manufacturers Association joined NATA in disputing comments FAA included in a fact sheet accompanying its Draft Flight Plan 2006-2010 warning of future funding shortages (BA, Aug. 15/65). GAMA called FAA's assertion of a growing gap between FAA revenues and costs misleading and said it disagrees that the balance in the Trust Fund will decline in the near term. NATA called the discussion troubling because there has been so much talk about a user fee system. "A user fee system similar to those in Europe would be impractical in the U.S.
President Bush said he would nominate Donald C. Winter, 57, to become secretary of the Navy. Winter is corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Missiles Systems sector, a position he has held since January 2000.
Andrew Stark joined Par Avion as vice president of sales. Stark has more than 20 years of experience in aviation, previously holding sales positions with Dassault Falcon Jet, Learjet Corporation, Peregrine Aviation and Jet Aviation Business Jets.
PRECISION CASTPARTS TO SPLIT STOCK AGAIN - Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC), taking advantage of a sharp run-up in its stock price over the past two years, announced a two-for-one split of its common stock. Shareholders of record as of Aug. 29 will receive one additional share of common stock for each share held, effective Sept. 8.
Chris Reece was named general manager of Columbia Air Services-Rutland. Reece has served as assistant manager of Columbia's facility at Rutland Airport in Vermont since 2003. He is a former detective with the Guilford County, N.C. Sheriff's Department.
Gary Parkinson joined Ducommun as corporate vice president of human resources. Parkinson previously was vice president of human resources for Great Lakes Chemical Corp.'s Flame Retardants and Performance products business in West Lafayette, Ind. Before that he was director of human resources for Eaton Corporation's aerospace business in Irvine, Calif. He also has held several positions with AlliedSignal, in both the Automotive and Aerospace businesses.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model 206A and 206B helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-21230; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-51-AD; Amendment 39-14209; AD 2005-16-04] - requires inspecting at specified time intervals and replacing any cracked crosstubes. This amendment is prompted by the discovery of a cracked high forward crosstube. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect a crack in the crosstube that could lead to failure of the crosstube, collapse of the landing gear, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
