The Management Advisory Council (MAC) called for a greater government investment to pay for the Federal Aviation Administration's operations, saying that a 60 percent general fund contribution to the agency's operations would strike a reasonable balance given the public benefit derived from the National Airspace System. The recommendation was one of several the MAC made in a 12-page report on the outlook for FAA's funding situation (BA, May 16/219).
RAYTHEON Model Hawker 800XP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20251; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-164-AD; Amendment 39-14071; AD 2005-09-03] - Requires inspecting to detect damage of certain wiring in the flight compartment, performing corrective actions if necessary, modifying certain wiring connections, and revising the airplane flight manual. This AD is prompted by reports of miswiring in the power distribution system.
EJM OFFERING MANAGED CUSTOMERS UTILIZATION, REVENUE GUARANTEES - Executive Jet Management (EJM), one of the nation's largest aircraft charter and management companies, is hoping to increase its already expanding fleet with new guarantees on revenue and charter hours as well as offers to waive costs for joining the Cincinnati, Ohio-based operator's Part 135 air carrier certificate. The offer comes as the company's managed fleet has topped 100 aircraft based at more than 60 locations throughout the U.S.
GE HONDA AERO ENGINES was one of the competitors to provide powerplants for Embraer's new very light jet, but Embraer ultimately selected the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F. The GE-Honda joint venture is "talking to a few" airframe manufacturers, a spokesman said Friday, but no agreements have been signed. Engine development testing and improvement installation is under way in both Japan and the U.S. See article below.
SIKORSKY BEATS LOCKHEED FOR KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL HELOS - Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said May 6 that South Korea has chosen the S-92 helicopter for its presidential mission and the Stratford, Conn., company will deliver three of its VIP variant helos beginning in 2007. The S-92 was selected over the AgustaWestland EH101 in a competition conducted by the Korean Ministry of National Defense. The competition served as a rematch of a U.S. bid that Sikorsky lost to Lockheed Martin Corp. In January, the U.S.
AGUSTA Model A119 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-20291; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-25-AD; Amendment 39-14074; AD 2005-09-06] - requires visually inspecting each main transmission support fitting attachment bolt for a fracture, a crack, or looseness, and verifying the torque on each fitting bolt. This amendment is prompted by two incidents of fatigue failure of the bolts that secure the transmission rear support fittings to the helicopter.
BAE Jetstream Model 4101 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21137; Directorate Identifier 2002-NM-86-AD] - proposes to require repetitive detailed and specialized inspections to detect fatigue damage in the fuselage, replacement of certain bolt assemblies, and corrective actions if necessary.
NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION last week presented its first Sentinel of Safety award to Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) in recognition for his "outstanding achievement in the advancement of aviation safety." The 14-term congressman is the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and former chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
ANA CANCELS 2006 SHOW, CEASES OPERATIONS - Aerospace North America is canceling its ANA2006 aviation conference and trade exposition and ceasing operations as an association later this month.
NATIONAL AIR SERVICES (NAS), an independent provider of private aviation services in the Middle East, signed a letter of intent to acquire three Gulfstream G350s from Gulfstream Aerospace. NAS previously ordered three G300 business jets from Gulfstream, and those airplanes are now in service. The latest purchase will be financed by Arab Banking Corp., headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, and guaranteed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
TOM SULLIVAN was appointed senior manager, corporate communications at Rolls-Royce North America headquarters in Chantilly, Va. Sullivan will handle media relations and marketing communications for the company's Civil Aerospace business in North America, including the Corporate and Regional Aircraft and Airlines-Americas business units. He has more than six years of civil aerospace experience and more than a decade of transportation public relations experience. Most recently he was manager of media relations for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
JAMES DAUTERMAN was named vice president of sales and contracts for Flight Options, LLC. Dauterman has more than 30 years of aviation experience and helped start Flight Options in the late 1990s.
CAE will provide Dassault Falcon training at its center at Burgess Hill, the United Kingdom. CAE won an exclusive training contract from Dassault to train pilots, maintenance personnel and cabin crew for the Falcon 7X. The Burgess Hill location will serve operators in Europe, while CAE will train North American Falcon 7X operators at the company's new business aviation training center under construction in Morris County, N.J. CAE is building two Falcon 7X full flight simulators to provide the training.
June 4 - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 15th Annual AOPA Fly-In and Open House, Frederick Municipal Airport, Frederick, Md., www.aopa.org/fly-in June 6-8 - Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association Spring Conference, Scottsdale Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort, 5401 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Ariz., http://www.racconline.org June 8 - National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association Annual Aviation and Transportation Law Conference, Washington, 202-331-1955, Fax 202-293-2309
BOLEN WAS BULLISH about the prospects for the EBACE show. This year's event drew 7,667 registrants, compared with 6,500 a year ago, exhibit space sold rose 21 percent and the number of airplanes on display rose from 36 last year to 50 last week. "There's just a lot of enthusiasm here," Bolen said, comparing the EBACE forum in Geneva to larger aviation exhibitions at Paris and Farnborough where business aviation "get[s] lost in the noise." EBACE "gives us a chance to establish ourselves in the way we want to for the European market," he said.
CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK will receive some $115,000 in proceeds from the 17th Annual Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO) golf and tennis tournament held May 9 at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md. The GWAO, which attracts several hundred participants each year from the aviation industry, trade associations and congressional and executive branch offices, has raised nearly $1 million for the Corporate Angel Network since CAN became the designated beneficiary of the tournament.
BILLY HANKINSON was named regional sales director for Flight Options. Hankinson will oversee sales in the South Central region. He joined Flight Options in 2003 as an area sales manager for the South Central region.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ran full-page advertisements in two publications last week in an effort to perform damage control in the wake of the widely publicized May 11 incident in which two Pennsylvania pilots in a Cessna 150 wandered into restricted airspace around Washington, D.C.
THERE IS "GENERAL ACCEPTANCE" now among European authorities that fractional aircraft ownership programs are not "commercial operations" but there are still issues to be resolved before U.S. fractional providers can routinely fly from the U.S. to European destinations, according to Ed Bolen, president of the National Business Aviation Association.
SAFE FLIGHT INSTRUMENT CORPORATION is working with Raytheon Aircraft Services to install Safe Flight's automatic throttle system, AutoPower, on the Hawker 800XP business jet.
GENERAL AVIATION is still taboo at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), but that is not preventing the aviation community in Washington from celebrating GA there. The Washington Airports Task Force has scheduled "Celebrate General Aviation!" June 23 at Signature Flight Support's Hangar at DCA. A fund-raiser for the task force's efforts to promote aviation services at Dulles International Airport and DCA, the event will include corporate aircraft displays and feature Small Air Transportation System and very-light-jet advancements. Sen.
DORNIER Model 328-300 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21054; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-054-AD] - proposes to require modifying the electrical wiring of the fuel pumps; installing insulation at the flow control and shutoff valves, and other components of the environmental control system; installing markings at fuel wiring harnesses; replacing the wiring harness of the auxiliary fuel system with a new wiring harness, and installing insulated couplings in the fuel system, as applicable.
RAYTHEON INTRODUCES UPGRADED VERSIONS OF HAWKER 800, PREMIER -- Raytheon Aircraft Company announced new versions of its Hawker 800XP and Beechcraft Premier I last week at the EBACE exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland.
REP. SOUDER PUSHES FOR CUSTOMS CONTROL OF CAPITAL AIRSPACE SECURITY - House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) last week agreed to take a closer look at Washington, D.C. airspace jurisdiction after Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) pushed to give the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine Operations (AMO) control over security in the airspace surrounding the National Capital Region.
