LIBERTY WINS TYPE CERTIFICATION FOR XL2 - Liberty Aerospace received Federal Aviation Administration approval for its two-place, single-engine Liberty XL2 aircraft, the first single-piston to win certification with a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system, the company said last week. "The TC I'm holding right now is the culmination of four years of very hard work," said Liberty Aerospace President and CEO Anthony Tiarks. "The XL2 sets new standards for this category of aircraft."
FLIGHTSAFETY BUILDING NEW CENTER AT FARNBOROUGH - FlightSafety International is expanding its reach into the international market with a major new learning facility under construction at Farnborough Airport near London. Slated to open for training early next year, the center will have capacity for 14 full flight simulators, interactive classrooms, training devices, pilot briefing rooms and customer service facilities.
Cessna Aircraft is planning to boost employment at its Independence, Kan. facility back up to at least 850 people with the addition of Mustang assembly work. The Independence facility, where Cessna's single-piston aircraft are made, employed 950 workers in early 2001. But the sluggish economy and weak demand in the single-engine piston market forced Cessna to scale back employment there to 350. See article below.
Honda Motor Company and General Electric Co. have formed a strategic alliance to develop Honda's new HF118 turbofan jet engine, a powerplant designed for the new generation of entry-level business jets. Honda began researching small business jets in the mid-1980s, but the company kept an extremely low profile about its efforts. Then, on Dec. 3, the company flew a prototype HondaJet powered by twin HF118s from Piedmont Triad International Airport near Greensboro, N.C. (BA, Dec. 22/275).
SR TECHNICS TO GROW WITH FLS AEROSPACE ACQUISITION - SR Technics plans to grow even larger in the overhaul and maintenance business with the acquisition of FLS Aerospace, the Danish-owned aircraft maintenance and engineering company with major bases in the U.K. and Ireland.
Eclipse Aviation is scheduled to dedicate its new Friction Stir Weld Center in Albuquerque, N.M. March 10. The friction stir welding process is at the heart of the company's program to produce the low-cost Eclipse 500 entry-level jet. Company officials say the new technology will permit Eclipse to build its aircraft with far fewer parts and with significantly lower man-hours of production time than conventional aircraft manufacturers.
March 2-3 - ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Aero Engine Life Management Conference, Thistle Royal Horseguards Hotel, London, England, (404) 847-0072; [email protected] or www.asme.org.igti March 15-17 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2004, Las Vegas, Nev., (703) 683-4646 March 22-23 - American Association of Airport Executives, ACI-NA, Spring Washington Conference, Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, 703-824-0504, www.airportnet.org
House Aviation Subcommittee will probe the lack of progress in granting general aviation access to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in a hearing scheduled next month (BA, Feb. 2/45). The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. March 16 in the Signature Flight Support hangar at DCA. Several members of the aviation subcommittee - and the full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee - have strongly advocated reopening the airport to GA, under certain circumstances.
ARINC named John Belcher chairman of the company and Frederic Jacoby chairman of ARINC Engineering Services, LLC. Belcher, who served as president and chief executive since 2002, succeeds James Pierce, who is retiring. Belcher joined ARINC in 1997 as president and chief operating officer. He also has held senior positions with Hughes Aircraft, Thomson-Hickling Aviation and PRIOR Data Sciences, and formerly was executive director of Transport Canada and director general of Supply and Services Canada.
Aircraft Owners And Pilots Association tapped Roger Cohen as vice president of regional affairs. Cohen will oversee AOPA's 13 regional representatives along with state affairs, the Airports department and the Airport Support Network. Cohen previously spent 15 years as managing director of state and local government affairs for the Air Transport Association.
LLOYD BINGHAM, JR. joined Butler National Corporation's turnkey certification enterprise. Bingham is an FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER) test pilot who is certified for performing flight tests in helicopters and large and small airplanes. He has DER authority under Parts 23, 25, 27 and 29 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Bingham was the first engineering test pilot hired by King and has 25 years of experience with King, Allied, AlliedSignal and Honeywell.
Transportation Security Administration completed a draft of its recommendations for improving security at general aviation airports and has solicited limited industry input on those recommendations. The general aviation airport security guidelines are based upon the recommendations drafted by the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which in November approved "a tiered but flexible security plan" that codifies industry best practices (BA, Nov. 24/233). TSA is expected to complete the recommendations and release them by the end of March.
National Air Transportation Association's Airline Services Council drafted an agreement to form an alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to address health and safety issues of personnel who work in Airport Operations Areas. The alliance will focus on training and educational programs, and first consider issues involving severe weather hazards. Other possible areas of focus include vehicular traffic and congestion.
BAE Systems won two contracts totaling $107 million from FAA to provide a variety of support services for the FAA's acquisition programs in the surveillance systems area. The company will get $67 million to provide systems engineering and implementation support services and a $40 million contract to provide management and financial support services to the agency. Both five-year contracts will run through the end of 2008. The contracts were awarded by FAA's Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J.
Jetblue Airways is partnering with fatigue experts Alertness Solutions to develop and implement an alertness management program to educate its crewmembers about known fatigue factors in aviation operations.
Honeywell said the AT&T Wireless flight department will be the first corporate flight operation to install the avionics maker's new Runway Awareness and Advisory System (BA, Feb. 9/60). AT&T Wireless participated with Honeywell in researching the new system, which provides a variety of warnings and alerts to keep pilots informed of their position on an airport.
Italy's Department of Civil Protection purchased and took delivery of three Bombardier Model 415 amphibious aircraft. With the latest order, the Italian agency increased its fleet to 16 aircraft. The latest deliveries are to enter service during the 2004 fire season. The contract includes an option to install a search and rescue system kit to convert one of the Model 415s to the new 415MP version, which is expected to be certified this month.
FlightSafety International won FAA Level D approval for an S-70/Black Hawk full flight simulator based at its West Palm Beach, Fla. learning center. The simulator replicates all-weather, all-mission flying, including night operations using night-vision goggles. The simulator also reproduces the special characteristics of the Black Hawk operating sounds and vibrations. The simulator is FlightSafety's first Level D-approved Black Hawk training device.
Executive Jet Management continued to grow its charter fleet with the additions of a Gulfstream IV-SP, Falcon 2000EX and a CitationJet last month. The GIV-SP is based at Long Island-MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., the Falcon is at Boca Raton Airport in Florida and the CitationJet will be at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. The addition of the aircraft continues EJM's rapid growth -- the charter and management service added 34 aircraft to its fleet in 2003.
Kalitta Charters Selected Avcon Industries, a subsidiary of Butler National Corp., Olathe, Kan., to provide turnkey RVSM upgrades for Kalitta's fleet of 12 Learjet 20 series aircraft. The work is scheduled to be done by December, just a month before FAA's deadline for aircraft whose owners/operators want to continue flying in controlled airspace above 29,000 feet. AVCON has slots available in November for similar modifications for other customers, but not for long.
ARINC Engineering Services won a contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide an artificial intelligence-based scheduling tool to support depot maintenance and logistics for the service's fleet of 126 C-5 cargo aircraft based at Warner Robins, Ga. The tool is based on Delia Systems' Opti-Time scheduling software, which uses artificial intelligence to develop optimal work schedules based on factors including geography, time, manpower and cost.
GULFSTREAM OFFERING AIRSTAIR WHEELCHAIR HOIST SYSTEM - Gulfstream Aerospace is offering an airstair hoist system to provide easier access to its business jets for passengers who require a wheelchair.
