Dassault last month completed system integration testing of the Messier-Dowty main and nose landing gear for the Dassault Falcon 7X. Messier-Dowty delivered the nose landing gear to Dassault Aviation in Merignac, France in early July and the main landing gear in mid-August. "The Falcon 7X program is very important in our collaboration with Dassault," said Colin Fernie, group vice president of Messier-Dowty's Business & Regional Aircraft unit.
National Aeronautic Association selected Robert Crandall as the recipient of this year's Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. Crandall, who spent 25 years at American Airlines and its parent company AMR Corp., serving as president and/or chief executive/chairman for 18 years, is being honored for his pioneering efforts in running the airline following passage of airline deregulation legislation in 1978.
BUSINESS TURBINE ACCIDENTS, FATALITIES DOWN THIS YEAR - U.S. business jet and turboprop operators were involved in fewer accidents and fatal accidents through the first nine months of this year than in the same period last year and fatalities fell by more than half, according to accident and incident data compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla.
Despite pleas from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, TSA has indicated privately that it has no plans to delay implementation of its interim rule calling for background checks of all foreign pilot students training in the U.S. (BA, Oct. 4/146). AOPA was particularly concerned about the scope of the rule - basically it would require all flight instructors and schools to check citizenship of all their students and ensure that foreign students undergo the necessary background checks.
National Business Aviation Association President Ed Bolen said business aviation advocates are "delighted" that House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement on a comprehensive tax bill that would, among other things, extend the applicability of 50 percent bonus depreciation benefits to aircraft ordered this year but placed in service by the end of next year. The tax bill passed the House Thursday and was under consideration on the Senate floor late Friday.
Adam Aircraft received Type Inspection Authorization from FAA for its A500 centerline twin-engine aircraft. The TIA approval shows that the manufacturer has successfully demonstrated to FAA that the A500 is conformed, has passed structural, system and company flight testing. FAA test pilots are now authorized to conduct their flight test review in preparation for issuance of a final type certificate for the pressurized twin. Adam Aircraft has built and flown three A500 aircraft more than 1,000 hours to date.
SimuFlite's Citation X full-flight simulator received Level D approval from FAA. The new simulator is located at SimuFlite's Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport training center, which also houses simulators for the Citation II; Citation III/VI/VII; Citation V; Citation Ultra/Bravo; Citation Excel; and CitationJet.
Executive Flightways added a Falcon 50, N506BA, to its charter fleet. The aircraft will be based at the company's Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) headquarters.
Rockwell Collins said its NLX unit received FAA Level D qualification for a Bombardier Challenger 300 full flight simulator. The certification is the first for NLX on a Bombardier simulator.
\ NBAA officials anticipate very strong attendance at this week's convention, possibly pushing past the 35,000 mark. Parking for private aircraft flying into the city is already a problem. NBAA issued an alert last week, warning that because of big increases in airline traffic at McCarran International Airport (LAS), airport officials will not be able to close one of the north/south parallel runways to accommodate parking there.
WILLIAMS WINS CERTIFICATION FOR ADAMJET ENGINE - Williams International won FAA type certification last month for the FJ33-4A-15 turbofan engine that will power the new A700 AdamJet. The Englewood, Colo. aircraft manufacturer said the A700 "is the first flying aircraft...in the personal jet market to have a certified powerplant." AdamJet has logged 180 hours on the new engines. "This is a huge milestone for our A700 development program," said Rick Adam, CEO of the aircraft manufacturer. The new FJ33 engines will produce 1,568 pounds of thrust each.
ACM Aviation is building a new executive terminal and hangar at Mineta San Jose International Airport in California. The project is slated for completion in fall 2006. Located on the west side of the airport on a 6.2-acre tract, the 60,000-square-foot hangar will double ACM's hangar space and be large enough to accommodate the largest corporate jets. The project also will increase ACM's terminal space to 17,000 square feet.
HONEYWELL BOOSTS BUSINESS JET DELIVERY FORECAST - Honeywell believes customers will purchase more than 8,300 business jets valued at more than $131 billion during the period 2004-2014, an increase of 600 airplanes or nearly eight percent more aircraft than the company's year-earlier forecast for 2003-2113.
GULFSTREAM Model Gulfstream 100 airplanes and Model Astra SPX and 1125 Westwind Astra series airplanes (Docket No. FAA-2004-19138; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-102-AD) - proposes to require adjusting the ground contact switches of the main landing gear. This proposed AD is prompted by two occurrences of uncommanded deployments of the ground airbrakes during descent. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent a false "Ground" position signal, which could result in deployment of the ground airbrakes and reduced controllability of the airplane.
HARTZELL ACQUIRES ANOTHER FIRM, FORMS HOLDING COMPANY - Hartzell Propeller Inc. of Piqua, Ohio said its family ownership group established a parent company, Charter Aerospace Partners, to act as a holding company for Hartzell "and to provide a vehicle for other aerospace acquisitions." At the same time, Charter announced the acquisition of Industrial Tube Corp. of Perris, Calif. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
American Eurocoper of Grand Prairie, Texas won a five-year, $75 million contract from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division to supply more than 55 surveillance helicopters, the company said last week. The CBP will use the single-turbine EC120 helicopters for low-level surveillance and security patrol of U.S. borders to detect, interdict and apprehend illegal intruders.
Despite a resurgence of its business jet lines, softening demand for its 50-seat CRJ200 regional jet has spurred Bombardier Aerospace to slash another 2,000 jobs and cut RJ production rates, the company announced Thursday. Bombardier will lay off workers over a nine-month period beginning in November at its plants in Montreal and Belfast. Scheduled regional jet deliveries will drop from 176 in the current fiscal year to 145 in the fiscal year beginning in February.
TEXTRON EXECUTIVE TO OVERSEE CESSNA'S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - Cessna Aircraft President and CEO Jack Pelton named R. John Stack vice president of strategy & business development for the Wichita aircraft manufacturer. Stack had been director of strategy development & international for Cessna's parent company, Textron. Stack will serve as a member of Cessna's Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will report directly to Pelton.
RUDY TOERING was appointed manager of FlightSafety International's Farnborough facility, which is slated to open in the first quarter of 2005. Toering, who has managed FlightSafety's European marketing operations for the past four years, will remain director of European business development for the company. CHAD WININGS joined Triax Partners' aircraft sales staff. Winings will specialize in aircraft brokerage and acquisition and will be based in Indianapolis, Ind. Winings formerly served with Chrysler Pentastar Aviation and Eagle Creek Aviation Service.
The Senate version of the 9/11 Recommendations Implementations Act includes language, sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), authorizing charter and aircraft rental companies to request that TSA check the names of customers against the federal government's "no-fly" list. The language mirrors the provision Rockefeller included in the Aviation Security Advancement Act, S.2393 (BA, Sept. 27/135). The House and Senate are not expected to finish work on the 9/11 Recommendations bill until after the November elections.
