EXTRA FLUGZEUGPRODUKTIONS-UND VERTRIEBS-GMBH Models EA-300, EA-300S, EA-300L, and EA-300/200 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20588; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-11-AD] - proposes to require sealing with firewall sealant the gaps between the bottom fuselage cover (belly fairing) and the firewall and repeating the sealing procedure whenever bottom fuselage cover is installed. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Germany.
Kansas City Aviation Center, located at Johnson County, Kan. Executive Airport, will host members of the Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association (POPA) during a three-day convention in Kansas City beginning April 20. Nearly 50 Pilatus PC-12s are expected to arrive for the event. KCAC has been an authorized PC-12 sales and service center since 2000.
Soloy received an order for its first Allstar AS350 conversion from Brazilian distributor Global Air Strategy of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The conversion replaces the Turbomeca powerplant with the Rolls-Royce 250C30 engine. Working through Global Air Strategy, Soloy received Brazilian approval for the AS350/Rolls-Royce modification.
New Piper Aircraft selected Avidyne's FlightMax Entegra integrated flight deck as standard equipment on the Piper Meridian. The Meridian becomes the eighth aircraft in the New Piper product line to carry the Entegra glass cockpit. The Entegra also is offered on the PA-28 family (the Warrior III, Archer III and Arrow) and the PA-32 family (Saratoga II HP, Saratoga II TC, Piper 6X and Piper 6XT).
LUKE GILL joined the Thomas Group as executive vice president. Gill will work with the company's aerospace and Air Force client base. He has more than 40 years of military and aerospace experience, including a 25-year Air Force career. He also has held logistics and maintenance positions at Continental, Northwest and Southwest Airlines as well as Lockheed Martin.
DORNIER Model 328-100 and -300 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20869; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-09-AD] - proposes to require operators to install colored identification strips on the pulley brackets, fairlead bracket assemblies, operational assemblies, and flight control cables. This proposed AD is prompted by a report that the flight control systems do not have elements that are distinctively identified.
BALLISTIC RECOVERY SYSTEMS INC., which builds parachutes to rescue small aircraft, signed a nonbinding letter of intent to buy Free Flight Enterprises, an aviation safety systems company. The acquisition, subject to due diligence and a final agreement, is expected to close in early summer. Free Flight builds custom parachutes for commercial and recreational aircraft, including ultralights, hang gliders and parafoils. It is based in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Ballistic Recovery Systems is based in South St. Paul, Minn.
JEAN-MICHEL COMTOIS was appointed vice president of the military aviation business unit for CMC Electronics. Comtois joined CMC in February 2000 and has served as vice president of government and public affairs since September 2002. He is a retired general in the Canadian Armed Forces.
NTSB Bar Association will hold its Aviation and Transportation Law Conference June 8-10 in the NTSB Auditorium adjacent to 490 L'Enfant Plaza East, S.W. in Washington, D.C. For more information, contact Mark McDermott at Joseph, McDermott & Reiner, P.C. at (202) 331-1955 or fax at (202) 293-2309.
Liberty Aerospace, which is developing the new XL2 single-engine aircraft, will open new sales offices this month at Addison Airport near Dallas, Texas and at the Hagerstown, Md. Airport. John Hurst, the former general manager for Europa Aircraft's North America office, will head the Addison office and Peter Lehmann will run the Hagerstown operation. Lehman, who spent six years as a Blackhawk helicopter crew chief in the U.S. Army, most recently was assistant chief flight instructor and marketing manager for King Aviation-Mansfield, in Mansfield, Mass.
AvData has released its 2005 edition of the Jet & Propjet Corporate Directory, which lists more than 24,000 aircraft operating in the U.S. and 141 other nations. The directory includes more than 300 different models and derivatives produced by more than 40 manufacturers. The directory lists aircraft registrations, owners, models, aircraft manufacturers and previous registration marks. The directory costs $21.95. To order, contact AvData Inc., 101 First St., 2nd Floor, Utica, N.Y.
ECLIPSE ADDS SECOND AIRCRAFT TO FLIGHT TEST PROGRAM - Eclipse Aviation added a second Eclipse 500 very light jet to its flight test program April 14 with the first flight of N502EA. The aircraft departed at 12:55 p.m. from Albuquerque International Sunport for a flight that lasted one hour and 30 minutes. The aircraft completed basic handling tests at various flap settings and cabin pressurization and electrical system tests. The first aircraft, N503EA, which completed its inaugural flight Dec.
National Business Aviation Association has been urging the Department of Transportation to provide some flexibility in a rule limiting foreign air carriers to six flights a year to the U.S. before they must obtain permits for further flights into the U.S. European fractional aircraft and charter operators first raised the issue, but Latin American operators attending the Latin America Business Aviation Conference and Exposition (LABACE) last month also expressed concerns about the limitations. DOT has stated a willingness to explore the issue, an NBAA official said.
TERRY FLAISHANS was named vice president of engineering for Meggitt/S-TEC. Flaishans will be responsible for all engineering and flight engineering activities, including work on very-light-jet projects and digital autopilot upgrades. He joins Meggitt/S-Tech from Honeywell Aerospace Electrical Systems.
AOPA BACKS FAA PLAN ON MOST NDB APPROACHES - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association endorsed the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to eliminate redundant and underused non-directional beacon (NDB) approaches, but urged the agency to retain 57 approaches that the association believes are still necessary. FAA March 3 published a list of 479 NDB approaches that the agency would like to eliminate, saying the resulting cost savings will be used to expand the availability of Wide Area Augmentation System-capable area navigation [RNAV] instrument approach procedures.
ELIZABETH HURLEY BURKS joined Arnold & Porter as a senior policy and legislative adviser. Burks has 12 years of experience on Capitol Hill working as an aide for Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-Ark.) when Lincoln served in the House. Burks also served with then-Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas).
Universal Avionics and Duncan Aviation announced an agreement under which Duncan Avionics in Lincoln, Neb. will serve as "the first and only authorized service center in the United States for Universal Avionics." Duncan has been a leading sales outlet for Universal Avionics for the past decade.
NORAD DETAILS PLANS FOR LASER WARNING SYSTEM IN WASHINGTON - A North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) demonstration of a new laser-based warning system last week satisfied some safety concerns expressed by pilots, but the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said security officials still must educate pilots about what the new warning system means before it will be effective.
Aircraft Security & Alert Systems (ASAS) developed a new series of locks for Cessna Caravan turboprops that will be installed on new Caravans as well as offered under a service bulletin for older aircraft. The security system includes up to seven individual locks for the pilot's, co-pilot's, air stair, cargo and belly pod doors and engine cowl. The locks can be accessed by one key that can be duplicated only by ASAS. The engine cowl lock brings the Caravan into compliance with two-lock laws enacted by certain states.
ALAN WINNINGER joined iviation as an account manager and will market and sell iviation services to corporate flight departments, air charter companies, Part 121 air carriers and the military. Winninger has more than 20 years of marketing and management experience, working in aviation and NASCAR. He has served as an aviation consultant to various media outlets and worked with NASA and the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.
VETERAN FAA REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR STEPPING DOWN - Cecelia Hunziker, FAA regional administrator for the agency's Great Lakes Region, will retire April 30 and will be succeeded by Christopher R. Blum, who currently is regional administrator for the Central Region. FAA said Blum will handle regional administrator duties for both the Great Lakes and Central regions, effective May 1.
Embraer named Boutsen Aviation as its authorized sales representative for Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg), the Principality of Monaco and the French Cote d'Azur. Founded in 1997 by Thierry Boutsen, the ex-F1 Grand Prix driver, Boutsen Aviation is headquartered in Monaco with a subsidiary in Luxembourg. The company, which will handle sales of the Embraer Legacy family of business jets, has sold more than 80 aircraft in the past eight years and operates an aircraft management business.
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION LEADERS PUSH TO GET GA BACK INTO DCA - Expressing increasing frustration at the Department of Homeland Security's slow movement on reopening Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leadership Wednesday introduced another bill ordering DHS to permit resumption of general aviation operations at DCA within six months.
