Aviall registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $100 million in debt securities, preferred stock, common stock and warrants. The filing also includes the potential for The Carlyle Group to sell 3.8 million share of Aviall common stock. The latest registration comes in addition to a previous shelf registration statement announcing Aviall's plans to offer up to $200 million in stock and securities.
AGUSTA Model AB412 series helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-21589; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-44-AD; Amendment 39-14154; AD 2005-13-17] - requires inspecting each affected tail rotor blade forward tip weight retention block and the aft tip closure for adhesive bond voids, and removing any blade with an excessive void from service. This AD also requires modifying certain blades by installing shear pins and tip closure rivets on all affected blades.
The Bush Administration expressed concern that the House "did not accept a number of major savings proposals" in the fiscal 2006 transportation appropriations bill. The House recommended an FAA budget that would be $1.7 billion more than the Administration proposed, and called for the general fund to pay for a far greater portion of FAA's budget than the administration wanted.
The Santa Monica, Calif. Airport Commission is among a number of communities nationwide closely following the Naples, Fla. battle to impose a Stage 2 aircraft ban. Naples recently won a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals, which deemed the ban lawful (BA, June 13/261). Naples underwent a Part 161 process to obtain FAA approval, but the agency called the ban discriminatory and revoked the airport's federal grant authority.
Pilatus Models PC-6, PC-6-H1, PC-6-H2, PC-6/350, PC-6/350-H1, PC-6/350-H2, PC-6/A, PC-6/A-H1, PC-6/A-H2, PC-6/B-H2, PC-6/B1-H2, PC-6/B2-H2, PC-6/B2-H4, PC-6/C-H2, and PC-6/C1-H2 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20515; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-09-AD] - proposes to revise an earlier proposed AD that would have required repetitively inspecting the stabilizer-trim attachment and structural components for cracks, corrosion, and discrepancies and replacing any defective part with a new part.
CORPORATE KING AIR 350 LATEST TO RAISE ALARM IN D.C. - A Beech King Air 350 twin turboprop triggered a brief evacuation of some government buildings on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening when the aircraft inadvertently strayed into restricted airspace surrounding Washington, D.C.
Cessna Models 401, 401A, 401B, 402, 402A, 402B, 402C, 404, 411, 411A, 414, 414A, 421, 421A, 421B, 421C, 425, and 441 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21173; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-22-AD] - proposes to require, for airplanes equipped with certain avionics bus circuit breaker switches, inspection of the avionics bus circuit breaker switch to determine the date code and replacement of any without a date code. This proposed AD also would impose a 1,000-hour safe life limit on avionics bus circuit breaker switches with a date code earlier than 0434.
Thales' Radio Interface and Control Equipment (RICE) system was commissioned in the United Kingdom. The system enables remote monitoring and control of the air traffic control area radio system. RICE is operated from the London Area Control Center in Swanwick, Hampshire and from the Scottish Oceanic Area Control Center in Prestwick, Ayreshire. RICE controls 180 radio channels through 33 radio stations, Thales said.
Carl Coffelt was appointed Pilatus PC-12 technical representative for Western Aircraft. Coffelt has worked for Western Aircraft for more than 16 years. He has been with the PC-12 program since 1997 and won the PC-12 Product Support Award in 2001. Coffelt also is a factory-trained technician on the PC-7 and PC-6.
ACI-NA, AAAE ASK SENATORS TO INCREASE WILDLIFE MITIGATION FUNDING - Airports Council International-North America and the American Association of Airport Executives have requested that the Senate increase funding for a program designed to improve airport safety through wildlife hazard mitigation efforts.
National Air Transportation Association is looking past the pervasive heat now enveloping most of the country to schedule four Deice/Anti-Icing Seminars for line technicians, ground personnel, flight crews and dispatch personnel in September. The seminars will be held Sept. 7 in Windsor, Conn.; Sept. 14 in Vandalia (near Dayton), Ohio; Sept. 21 in Denver; and Sept. 28 in Milwaukee, Wis.
James Melvin was appointed vice president and general manager of Plastic Fabricating Company, Inc., the Wichita, Kan.-based unit of Kaman Aerospace. Melvin has more than 20 years of aerospace and defense experience and spent the past 10 years with Unison Industries. He also worked for Texas Instruments and EG&G Sealol.
Precise Flight Models SVS I and SVS IA standby vacuum systems [Docket No. FAA-2004-19354; Directorate Identifier 2004-CE-30-AD; Amendment 39-14107; AD 2005-11-05] - requires replacing the airplane flight manual supplement (AFMS) in the airplane flight manual with the appropriate revision and installing placards as defined in the AFMS, upgrading the Model SVS I or SVS IA SVS to the Model VI SVS, and adding the instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) to the maintenance schedule for the aircraft.
Premier Air Center entered into an agreement with Universal Avionics Systems Corp. of Tucson, Ariz. to certify Universal's Vision-1 synthetic vision system with the "egocentric" view on the EFI-890R primary flight display. Premier also signed agreements with two Falcon 50 operators to install the EFI-890R flight display package in their aircraft. The first Falcon 50 was scheduled to arrive at Premier's East Alton, Ill. facility Friday (July 1), with the second to follow in September.
Cessna Models 401, 401A, 401B, 402, 402A, 402B, 411, and 411A airplanes [Docket No. FAA-05-21176; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-25-AD; Amendment 39-14128; AD 2005-12-12] - supersedes AD 79-10-15, which requires repetitive inspections of the right and left wing spar lower cap areas for fatigue cracks and requires wing spar cap repair or replacement as necessary.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) plans to take a closer look at aviation safety issues as well as those affecting Alaska this week while the Senate is on a one-week break. Stevens scheduled a field hearing for July 5 in Anchorage to consider issues including Essential Air Service, runway lighting, air traffic control technology and the Five Star Medallion Program, among others. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey are scheduled to testify, as are seven aviation officials from the Alaska region.
CITATIONSHARES OFFERING RIDES ON POSITIONING LEGS, BOOSTING PRICES - CitationShares, the five-year-old fractional ownership program based in Greenwich, Conn., is launching several new initiatives for its members and boosting rates to ensure it can continue to provide top-notch service for its customers.
Elliott Aviation is working toward an FAA supplemental type certificate to upgrade the cockpit on the Falcon 10/100 aircraft. The upgrade would include replacing electromechanical flight instruments with a Universal 890R large-format instrument suite.
ERJ-145 MAY BE TOO SMALL FOR ARMY AIRBORNE SENSOR PROGRAM - The U.S. Army-led Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program has concluded that it will need a larger airframe than the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet that it selected less than a year ago, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Responding to questions, Lockheed Martin told BA affiliate Aerospace Daily and Defense Report in a statement June 29 that ACS designers have found "additional integration weight" that will prevent the program from using a modified ERJ-145.
Marty Graham joined the aviation consulting practice BACK Aviation Solutions. Graham, who will be based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, previously was a senior analyst for transpacific revenue management for Northwest Airlines Cargo.
Raytheon Model 390, Premier 1 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21239; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-27-AD] - proposes to require installing a kit to correct chafing conditions in the powerplant left-hand and right-hand engine installations. This proposed AD results from reports of inadequate left-hand and right-hand engine assembly cable, wire, and hose routing clearance. FAA is issuing this proposed AD to detect and correct chafing conditions in the engine installation, which could result in leaking flammable fluids near an ignition source.
SANTA MONICA REVISES FEE SCHEDULE - The Santa Monica, Calif. Airport Commission is scrapping its controversial weight-based fees in favor of a new fee schedule that has received initial approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for implementation at Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The new fee schedule, to take effect Aug. 1, also is weight-based, but is the result of negotiations with the FAA to ensure that the fees are viewed as non-discriminatory and justifiable.
Despite another aircraft incursion into restricted airspace around Washington, D.C. that caused brief evacuations of government buildings on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening, FAA denied a Washington Post report that "Bush Administration officials are discussing the possibility of extending the restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., said an administration official who spoke on the condition on anonymity." See article below.
Nicole Rieder joined BACK Aviation Solutions to provide analytical support. Rieder recently graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as valedictorian with a degree in aviation management.
