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.
Honeywell's health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) was selected by Sikorsky Aircraft for installation on the S-76 helicopter. Honeywell's VXP HUMS system will be offered as an option on current production S-76C+ models and earlier models of the S-76. The VXP system "enhances safety and reduces maintenance costs, since it can help an operator avoid a catastrophic component failure and because it can reduce diagnostic labor and flight test hours," said Qua Le, business development leader for Honeywell's vibration monitoring business.
PAUL NEARY was promoted to MRO market segment manager for 3M Aerospace and Aircraft Maintenance Division. Neary joined 3M Aerospace in 2003 as a senior account representative. Before that he offered avionics, interior, systems and structural integration and certification services through his own company, Neary Technical Solutions. He also held sales and program management positions with Tenzing Communications, Greenpoint Technologies, AIM Aviation and Heath Tecna Aerospace Co.
SHORT BROTHERS Model SD3-60 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20108; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-006-AD; Amendment 39-13985; AD 2005-04-13] - requires, for certain airplanes, repetitive inspections for cracking of the balance weight brackets of the elevator trim tabs, and replacement of any cracked bracket with a new or reworked bracket that conforms to the approved design standard. This AD also provides for an optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
LAWSUIT CITES PANYNJ FOR LACK OF RUNWAY BARRIERS AT TETERBORO - A Paterson, N.J. man injured in the Feb. 2 Challenger crash in Teterboro, N.J. filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for failing to install proper aircraft barriers at Teterboro Airport (TEB). The man, Rohan Foster, also filed a lawsuit against Bombardier, the aircraft operator, aircraft management companies, and the pilots, alleging negligence.
JUDGE SIDES WITH FAA OVER CONTRACT TOWER CHALLENGE - A crucial federal court decision has gone in FAA's favor in a long-running legal dispute over the agency's contract tower program. In a partial summary judgment delivered this month, an Ohio district court agreed with FAA's position that control towers can be contracted out to private companies. The legality of the program was challenged by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). A ruling on another aspect of the challenge must be made before a final judgment is delivered.
Experimental Aircraft Association said SpaceShipOne, the first successful civilian-built spaceship, which captured world-wide attention last year in winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize, will be on display at this year's EAA AirVenture convention July 25-31 in Oshkosh, Wis. SpaceShipOne and its carrier aircraft, White Knight, will be making their only scheduled joint appearance, EAA said.
MOONEY ISSUES STOCK TO CREDITORS - Mooney Aerospace Group said it has issued nearly 10 million shares of new common stock to its creditors, part of the company's plan of reorganization.
BOEING SELLING WICHITA, OKLAHOMA MANUFACTURING PLANTS - The Boeing Company, in the midst of transforming itself from a start-to-finish aircraft manufacturer into a company that designs, assembles and sells commercial airliners, said last week it will sell the Wichita/Tulsa Division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes to a Canadian company. Under terms of the agreement, Onex, a Toronto-based conglomerate, will pay $900 million in cash for Boeing's manufacturing facilities in Wichita, Kan., and Tulsa and McAlester, Okla.
Gulfstream Aerospace is seeking National Aeronautic Association confirmation of a new city-pair flight record for a flight that originated Feb. 21. The manufacturer said a Gulfstream G550 flew from Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. nonstop to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport on the Egyptian coast of the Sinai Peninsula in 10 hours, 19 minutes at an average speed of Mach 0.85.
