HUTCHINSON TO HEAD HOMELAND SECURITY LEGAL PRACTICE - Homeland Security Under Secretary of Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson will join Washington law firm Venable LLP as chair of its homeland security practice. Hutchinson, who left his DHS post earlier last week after two years, may still be considering a run for governor of Arkansas in 2006. Venable said Hutchinson would divide his time between the practice in Washington and Little Rock, "where he will pursue additional personal and business interests."
BAE Systems commercial aircraft electronics production and service facility in Irving, Texas won Parts Manufacturing Approval from FAA. The PMA designation authorizes the Irving plant to produce and sell more than 440 types of line-replaceable aftermarket products directly to customers and aircraft parts distributors. The Irving facility was operated by Boeing Commercial Airplanes from 1979 to 2004, and its products were developed and certified under a Boeing production certificate. BAE Systems acquired the Irving business in 2004.
CIVIL AIR PATROL SEES BOOST FROM NEW HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGER - The Civil Air Patrol unveiled a hyperspectral imaging system that it said will help aircraft identify objects as small as one meter in size from half a mile in the air. It said the system, called ARCHER - for Airborne Real-Time Cueing Hyperspectral Enhanced Reconnaissance - will increase CAP's effectiveness in search and rescue, disaster relief, and homeland security missions.
REP. PEARCE RENEWS EFFORTS TO PRESERVE HANGAR LEASES - Rep. Steven Pearce (R-N.M.) Thursday re-introduced a bill to protect individuals and businesses from short-term leases on hangars. The legislation, H.R.1117, calls for airports to grant a lease of at least 75 years to businesses and individuals seeking to build hangar facilities at an airport. The bill also would require compensation if airport development plans require the destruction or relocation of hangars. Pearce had introduced similar legislation in the previous Congress.
Sun Aviation was appointed a primary, worldwide distributor for L-3 Avionics Systems' AIM and J.E.T. product lines, including electronic standby instrument systems, gyros and electrically powered flight instruments. Under the agreement, dealers and repair stations can order directly from Sun Aviation, which will carry an inventory of L-3 products. Kansas City, Mo.-based Sun Aviation also will provide product support for L-3 customers.
Meggitt/S-Tech earned ISO 14001 certification from Perry Johnson Registrars for its environmental and recycling efforts. The avionics manufacturer, based in Mineral Wells, Texas, adopted 12 standard operating procedures for handling and disposing of waste.
Embraer last week handed over its 900th regional jet - an ERJ 135 - to European carrier Luxair. The aircraft was the second ERJ 135 delivered to Luxair, which plans to operate the aircraft on routes between London City Airport, Luxembourg and other cities. The ERJ 135 was certified to fly into London City in October. Luxair has been a long-time customer of Embraer, initially taking delivery of three EMB 120 Brasilia turboprops in 1991. The airline first ordered an ERJ six years later. The Luxair fleet currently includes two ERJ 135s and eight ERJ 145s.
Air Security International formed alliances with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and HTH Worldwide to provide a range of news and medical services to ASI World Watch online subscribers. Under the alliance with BBC, ASI will feed headlines from the BBC World News World Edition Web site into ASI's World Watch Online. The news will be updated every five minutes. The agreement will allow ASI to tap into up to 40 different news feeds covering the world or specific regions.
March 8-10 - National Air Transportation Association/Professional Aviation Maintenance Association GSE Aviation Services and Suppliers AS3 Supershow, Sands Expos & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev., (703) 845-9000 March 10-12 - 16th Annual International Women in Aviation Conference, Adam's Mark Hotel, Dallas, Texas, (386) 226-7996 March 14-16 - 17th Annual Flight Safety Foundation European Aviation Safety Seminar, Sheraton Warsaw Hotel and Towers, Warsaw, Poland, (703) 739-6700
Carmanah Technologies Corp., the Victoria, British Columbia-based company that makes solar-powered LED lighting for airports and other users, is expanding its London, England-area presence. The new office is in Hammersmith, a London suburb. The London team includes Mark Harold, who relocated from company headquarters in Canada, and two local hires with market expertise in related sectors: James Hoare, business development manager; and Michelle Walsh, marketing manager.
SOLOY OFFERS NEW CONVERSION FOR TURBINE CESSNA 206 - Olympia, Wash.-based Soloy this spring plans to roll out a new turbine conversion for the Cessna 206 that the company said incorporates many of the enhancements requested by the company's customers. The new Soloy Turbine Cessna 206 will be equipped with a 450-shaft-horsepower Rolls-Royce Model 250-B17F/2 engine, which Soloy said will substantially increase usefulness and improve performance. The new engine will improve hot weather and high-altitude operations and increase payload.
L-3 Communications completed its acquisition of Torrance, Calif.-based Electron Dynamic Devices from The Boeing Company last week. The company, which will be re-named L-3 Communications - Electron Technologies, designs, manufactures and sells space-qualified high-technology components and subsystems used in satellites. The company is expected to generate $75 million in sales for 2005 and be accretive to L-3's results.
REP. LARSEN URGES EPA TO CLEAR UP SPILL CONTAINMENT RULES - Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) urged the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify its interpretation of new spill containment rules and implement a realistic timeline for compliance. "The EPA's sudden requirement that fuel trucks comply with sized secondary containment rules poses substantial unplanned costs for thousands of aviation enterprises," Larsen told EPA.
Simon Clements joined AJ Walter Aviation as director of business development. Clements formerly was sales and marketing director for the Leasing Markets Division of Airbus. He also served as an officer in the British Army.
FlightCraft, Inc., headquartered at the Portland, Ore. International Airport, was approved as a recommended repair facility for products made by Hartzell Propeller.
The Office of Management and Budget earlier this month began its 90-day review of new rules that would adopt Stage 4 noise standards for aircraft. Released in late 2003, FAA's proposed rules for Stage 4 standards were generally well received by industry groups, but some communities and airport authorities urged FAA to use the Stage 4 rulemaking to revisit its rules regarding the Stage 2 exemption for aircraft weighing less than 75,000 pounds.
Federal Aviation Administration will hold its 30th annual Aviation Forecast Conference March 17-18 at the new Washington, D.C. Convention Center. The two-day conference is being co-sponsored by Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA). In addition to speeches by DOT Secretary Norman Mineta and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, the conference will feature numerous panel presentations featuring other FAA officials and industry executives. For more information, contact www.aci-na.aero
FRED KOCHER was named general manager of AAR Aircraft Services - Indianapolis. Kocher previously held senior positions with Avolar and Rolls-Royce North, America. He also spent 25 years with US Airways in engineering, customer service, flight operations and aircraft maintenance.
The Federal Aviation Administration Thursday, after years of prodding by the National Transportation Safety Board, outlined a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require installation of more rugged flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders designed to give accident investigators more information.
JEFFERY LOPARO was appointed executive vice president of media sales for Globalair.com. LoParo formerly was an aircraft broker and research analyst for a Dallas-based aircraft sales organization. He also has served as director of sales and marketing for 21st Century Systems/PCS.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes and Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604) series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20276; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-023-AD; Amendment 39-13979; AD 2005-04-07] - requires revising the Airplane Flight Manuals (AFM) to include a new cold-weather operations limitation (BA, Feb. 21/85).
The V-22 Osprey received the go-ahead to begin a formal Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL), a key test phase now slated to begin in "mid-March or so" and last four to five months, a program spokesman told BA affiliate Aerospace Daily & Defense Report last week. The test phase, if successful, is supposed to lead to full-rate production of the tilt-rotor aircraft in the fall and an initial fielding of the Bell-Boeing V-22 by the Marine Corps in 2007.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 222, 222B, 222U, 230, and 430 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-20107; Directorate Identifier 2005-SW-02-AD; Amendment 39-13981; AD 2005-04-09] - supersedes an existing AD for the specified Bell helicopters that currently requires certain checks and inspections of the tail rotor blades. If a crack is found, the existing AD requires replacing the tail rotor blade with an airworthy blade before further flight.
