Safe Flight Instrument Corp. developed a landing light status annunciator that informs helicopter pilots whether their aircraft's landing light is on or off. The annunciator will display LDG LT FAIL if the landing light is not working or turned off. A green annunciator displays LDG LT ON when the switch is on and the light is working. The annunciator is designed as a plug-in replacement on the existing landing light relay on the Bell 206 Jet Ranger and other helicopters.
ATR sold an ATR 72-500 to Air Caraibes, which is exchanging an ATR 42-500 for the new aircraft. ATR will deliver the ATR 72-500 in November, increasing the Guadeloupe-based airline's fleet to three ATR 72-500s. Air Caraibes serves 13 islands, Belem in Brazil and Guyana.
REQUIRED CHALLENGER, CRJ ICING CHECKS EFFECTIVE TUESDAY - Operators of certain Bombardier Challenger and Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) must perform visual and tactile checks of the aircraft wings before operating in cold weather under an airworthiness directive the Federal Aviation Administration released last week. FAA Thursday published the AD calling for affected operators to include new cold-weather operations limitations into the Airplane Flight Manuals.
BAE SYSTEMS Model BAe 146 series airplanes and Model Avro 146-RJ series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19765; Directorate Identifier 2002-NM-72-AD; Amendment 39-13971; AD 2005-03-15] - requires repetitive inspections to detect discrepancies of the fuselage skin and reinforcing plates along the wing to fuselage fairing access panels on the left- and right-hand sides of the airplane, and repair if necessary. This AD also provides for an optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
Manufacturers of business, corporate and general aviation aircraft recorded one of the best sales years in the industry's history in 2004, and officials of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association said they foresee continued growth as long as underlying economic conditions remain positive.
S-92 WINS CANADIAN TYPE CERTIFICATION - Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's S-92 helicopter won Canadian type certification from Transport Canada. The certification will allow the helicopter to enter service with Canadian operators and to carry passengers. The S-92 previously won certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency/Joint Aviation Authorities and FAA.
ICING CONDITIONS UNDER SCRUTINY IN PUEBLO CITATION CRASH - National Transportation Safety Board investigators are examining whether freezing precipitation near Pueblo, Colo. Wednesday was responsible for the fatal crash of a Cessna Citation 560 business jet that claimed all eight people aboard. There were reports of freezing mist in the area at the time of the crash and a pilot report warning of possible icing was issued following Wednesday's accident.
Rolls-Royce this month delivered the 500th AE 3007C series engine to Cessna for the Wichita plane-maker's Citation X business jet. Cessna launched the Citation X program in 1990, and the aircraft entered service in 1996. Originally powered by two 6,442-pound-thrust AE 3007C engines, the Citation X was certified to operate at Mach 0.92. In 2002 Cessna upgraded the Citation X with AE 3007C1 engines, rated at 6,764 pounds of thrust, improving takeoff performance by five percent and enhancing climb performance at altitudes of 5,000 feet through 25,000 feet.
French Aircraft Manufacturer Dassault Falcon plans a high-profile rollout Tuesday of its new 7X business jet, the company's new top-of-the-line product, at facilities in Bordeaux, France.
Randy House was promoted to director and national sales manager for Merrill Lynch Capital Equipment Finance group. House joined Merrill Lynch Capital when it was created in 2002 and has more than 20 years of experience in equipment finance sales and sales management.
Cessna this month mated the wing to the fuselage of the Mustang business jet, the latest milestone in preparation for first flight later this year. Cessna relocated 50 of its employees in Independence, Kan. and Columbus, Ga. to Wichita, where the first five Mustangs will be built. The airframes are in various stages of assembly. Three of the aircraft will be used for flight testing and two will be used for structural testing.
Jim May, president of the Air Transport Association, said he expects to find a sympathetic audience on Capitol Hill for the industry's complaints about a new security tax the Bush Administration is proposing to help offset the costs of the Department of Homeland Security. ATA joined forces with a wide range of travel industry and anti-tax groups to oppose the new security fee. See article below.
CMC expects that the Bombardier Enhanced Vision System, which incorporates CMC's SureSight I-series Enhanced Vision System infrared sensor, will win Transport Canada and U.S. FAA approval within the next few weeks. Transport Canada certified the SureSight sensor in late December. The sensor will be incorporated in the Thales HUD as part of the Bombardier EVS. CMC also is supplying the sensor for EVS systems aboard Boeing Business Jets and the Dassault Falcon business jet fleet. Those systems are powered by Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics' HGS-4860/5860.
Bell Helicopter completed the transition of its Commercial Business Unit to more than 160,000 square feet of hangar and warehouse space at the Alliance, Texas, Airport. Bell's Customer Center and Customer Training Academy are based at the Alliance site, and the company employs about 300 people there. In addition to two hangars and warehouse space, the Alliance site includes office space for customers and showrooms for helicopter design and configuration discussions.
BELL Model 407 helicopters [Docket No. 2004-SW-07-AD; Amendment 39-13963; AD 2005-03-07] - requires creating a component history card or equivalent record for each crosstube assembly, converting accumulated run-on landings to an accumulated Retirement Index Number (RIN) count, and establishing a maximum accumulated RIN for certain crosstube assemblies.
Don Peterson was promoted to director of aircraft sales at Kansas City Aviation Center (KCAC). Peterson has spent five years with KCAC, most recently as Midwest regional director for Pilatus Aircraft. In his new position, Peterson will be responsible for all sales activities, including for Pilatus, Piper and national used aircraft. Before joining KCAC, Peterson was a PC-12 factory demonstration pilot for Pilatus Business Aircraft in Broomfield, Colo. He has more than 3,000 hours in the PC-12
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model EC120 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-20289; Directorate Identifier 2003-SW-55-AD] - proposes to require inspecting the tail rotor drive shaft damper half-clamps to determine if they are centered on the friction ring, and if not correctly positioned, centering the half-clamps on the friction ring. This proposal is prompted by the discovery of half-clamps that were incorrectly positioned.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association will report "stronger-than-anticipated" results during the association's Annual Industry Review today (Feb. 14), with sales up domestically, internationally and across all aircraft types. General aviation manufacturers posted a 20 percent increase in billings in 2004, and GAMA believes that last year was only the beginning of what could be a sustained period of industry growth.
FAA Friday was crafting a clarification to its field offices after some notified manufacturers that they would not be accepting any new aircraft certification applications for 90 days. Grappling with scarce resources in the agency's certification and regulation activities, FAA officials have decided to develop a protocol for prioritizing certification applications and notified offices that the protocol may take 90 days to develop. Some offices interpreted that to mean that they should freeze application processing in the interim.
Three people were killed and another two seriously injured after the Cessna C206 carrying them crashed outside of Port Alsworth, Alaska Feb. 9. The aircraft, on a Part 91 flight, departed Anchorage at 1900. The aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS355E, F, F1, F2, and N helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-20293; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-34-AD] - proposes superseding an existing AD that currently requires replacing certain main or combiner gearboxes with airworthy gearboxes. Further investigation has shown that the main gearbox is not affected, and this action would require replacing a certain combiner gearbox with a modified airworthy gearbox. This proposal is prompted by a report of a freewheel unit slipping, resulting in an engine overspeed and shutdown.
Nicolas Chabbert rejoined EADS Socata as vice president of customer support. Chabbert has 15 years of aviation experience, formerly serving as senior vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. division of Socata Aircraft and executive vice president of Mooney Aerospace Group. Chabbert will be responsible for expanding customer support at EADS Socata and its U.S.-based operations.
