NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION revised and expanded its Professional Development Program to bring it more closely into line with its Certified Aviation Manager Program, which is designed to recognize aviation managers who have met minimum qualifications that include experience, training and education. NBAA created the Professional Development Program in 1997 to prepare flight department personnel for management roles.
MONTREAL JET CENTER (MJET) named John Liotta regional sales manager, aircraft technical services. Based in Glendale, N.Y., Liotta will sell MJET services to customers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Delaware. He joins MJET from Gulfstream Aerospace, where he was the Mid-Atlantic area regional sales manager. The MJET center covers 80,000 square feet of hangar, shop and office space.
Embraer Model EMB-135 and -145 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19767; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-139-AD; Amendment 39-13900; AD 2004-25-12] - requires a one-time inspection of each passenger service unit (PSU) to determine the serial number of the printed circuit board (PCB) installed in each PSU, replacement of the PCB if necessary, related investigative actions, and other specified actions. This AD is prompted by reports that PSUs on two airplanes emitted smoke.
Cirrus Design Corp. has issued a revised service bulletin to its aircraft owners that requires new seat belt installation in nearly 1,600 of the company's airplanes.
IRIDIUM SATELLITE will supply its global satellite network services to Canadian North Airlines. AeroMechanical Services Ltd. In Calgary will install Iridium-based AFIRS data collection and transmission systems aboard the carrier's cargo/passenger aircraft. The AFIRS systems use the Iridium low-earth-orbit communication satellite network for air-to-ground links, transmitting data from aircraft through the AeroMechanical Uptime services.
BAE Systems(Operations) Limited (Jetstream) Model 4101 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19766; Directorate Identifier 2002-NM-161-AD] - requires replacing the aileron trim chain with a new, improved aileron trim chain, and modifying the installation of the aileron trim chain. This proposed AD is prompted by a report that the aileron trim cables were connected incorrectly on a correctly installed aileron trim chain.
DRS Technologies acquired Allentown, Pa.-based Night Vision Equipment Company (NVEC) for $42.5 million in cash, the company said. NVEC, founded in 1977, produces night vision products and combat identification systems. In addition to the Allentown headquarters, NVEC operates research, development and production facilities in Prescott Valley, Ariz.
JOHN SCICLUNA was named a sales representative for Northern Jet Management. Scicluna joins Northern Jet from Uniprop LLC, where he was vice president. He also has served as vice president of marketing and director of sales for Pentastar
A POSITIVE ARTICLE about general aviation in a national sports magazine?? You bet! The Dec. 20 Sports Illustrated features a multi-page spread -- "Ready for Takeoff" -- that spotlights Joey Graham and his twin brother Stephen. The Graham brothers are key members Oklahoma State's unbeaten basketball team and both love to fly a Cessna 172. The article goes into some detail about their training, including their being able to earn their private pilot licenses in two and one-half months this past summer.
Because of the holiday schedule, The Weekly of BUSINESS AVIATION will not publish a Dec. 27 issue. The next issue will be dated Jan. 3. The deadline for receipt of advertising materials for the Jan. 3 issue is noon, Dec. 29. Please accept our best wishes for a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
FAA last week formally corrected the implementation deadline for fractional ownership aircraft providers to meet the standards of the Part 91 Subpart K regulations. The correction, published in the Federal Register Tuesday, clarifies that the implementation deadline is Feb. 17, 2005. As originally released, the Subpart K regulations called for compliance within 15 months of the Sept. 17, 2003 publication date of the rule. That would have required operators to meet Subpart K standards by last Friday (Dec. 17).
Bombardier Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19763; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-187-AD] - proposes to require doing repetitive inspections for fractures and cracks of the links of the aileron power control unit (PCU); replacing any fractured/cracked link; and doing applicable related investigative and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposed AD is prompted by reports indicating that the links of the aileron PCU have failed.
Federal officials last week unveiled a blueprint for evolving the air transportation system over the next two decades to accommodate a tripling of growth in air traffic and new types of operations ranging from unmanned aerial vehicles to microjet air taxi services. The blueprint is the product of a multi-agency team coordinated under the Joint Planning and Development Office that Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta created last year at the direction of Congress (BA, Feb. 2/45).
Despite specific statements in the Pilots Operating Handbook (POH) and in training programs warning of the dangers of flying the Cessna 208 Caravan in icing conditions, the National Transportation Safety Board said FAA needs to require more and better training for pilots of the high-wing, single-turboprop utility aircraft because icing-related Caravan accidents continue to occur. The safety agency also said it is continuing to review the certification and design of the 208 and its deice/anti-ice systems.
FlightSafety International, the world's largest provider of aircraft simulator training, promoted veteran employee James Waugh to executive vice president.
L-3 SUBSIDIARY TO SUPPORT CANADIAN H-92 HELOS - L-3 Communications MAS (Canada) Inc. will provide in-service support for the 28 Sikorsky H-92 Cyclone helicopters Canada plans to buy, the company said Dec. 6. The contract is expected to be worth more than C$800 million ($664 million) over two decades, L-3 said. Sikorsky won the contract to replace Canada's fleet of Sea King helicopters this summer.
The Welsh Development Agency provided 750,000 pounds in matching funds to help sponsor a new non-destructive testing center for lightweight, composite materials used in automotive and aerospace applications. The center, primarily sponsored by Rolls-Royce through a 1.25 million-pound grant, will be run through a partnership of the technology specialist TWI Wales and the Materials Center of Excellence at Swansea University.
Jim Agee was appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Bii. Agee originally joined the aerospace bearing reconditioning company in 1997 as program manager and became director of sales in 2000. He left the company in 2002 to pursue other interests. Agee also has served with AlliedSignal and McDonnell Douglas and has served in the U.S. Air Force as a technician supporting powered ground equipment for the F-15 and F-4 fighter aircraft.
Blakey, who is two years into her five-year term as FAA Administrator, told reporters last month that she would be "delighted" to continue running the agency, which she described as "a terrific job" that she finds "very personally satisfying."
SACRAMENTO SEEKING FBO, WANTS TO ATTRACT BUSINESS-JET TRAFFIC - Sacramento, Calif. officials are seeking a fixed-base operator for Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and hope to begin attracting more business-jet traffic to a facility that has been primarily used by the scheduled airlines. The city issued a request for proposals late last month and has set a Jan. 6 deadline for interested parties to submit bids.
Four firms have joined forces to train Bell 412 helicopter pilots in the Middle East. Officials of Emirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT) CAE, Bell Helicopter and Hawker Pacific signed an agreement under which Bell Helicopter will begin sending students to ECFT as soon as the training center's Bell 412 full-flight simulator has been approved by the FAA and the European Joint Aviation Authorities. The simulator is slated for installation at ECFT's facility in Dubai by the end of 2005.
Embraer Model EMB-135 and -145 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19676; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-138-AD] - proposes to require determining the torque values of the screws that attach the seat tracks to the airplane, and corrective action if necessary. This proposed AD is prompted by a report of undertorqued screws. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent improper torque of those screws, which in the case of a hard landing or a high deceleration impact condition could result in damage to the seat and possible subsequent injury to the passenger. The cost for the U.S.
FlightSafety International won European Aviation Safety Agency Part 147 certification for maintenance technician training. The certification covers FlightSafety maintenance training programs at 12 learning centers. FlightSafety also won FAA Level D approval for its new Citation CJ3 full-flight simulator based at the company's facility in Wichita. The simulator is the third CJ-series trainer FlightSafety has put in service, and the 35th Citation simulator.
MD Helicopters Model MD900 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2004-19613; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-38-AD; Amendment 39-13870; AD 2004-23-15] - requires reducing the life limit of certain Notar fan system tension-torsion (TT) straps. This action also requires, at a specified time interval, removing each affected TT strap from the helicopter, doing a visual and X-ray inspection, and replacing any unairworthy part before further flight. Reporting the discovery of any unairworthy TT strap is also required. This amendment is prompted by two recent in-flight TT strap failures.
