AIR LITTORAL IN RECEIVERSHIP, WEXFORD SOLE SUITOR - French regional carrier Air Littoral, a former subsidiary of Swissair, declared bankruptcy and was ordered last month into receivership by a court in Montpellier in southern France.
Connexion By Boeing signed a deal under which satellite operator Eutelsat will provide satellite transponder capacity for Connexion by Boeing's mobile broadband information services. The deal covers transponder capacity in key areas of Europe and Asia, enabling Connexion by Boeing to have a full-scale introduction of its high-speed Internet and email connectivity for airlines and passengers.
CESSNA MANUFACTURES FIRST SOVEREIGN ON ASSEMBLY LINE - With its fourth quarter certification just around the corner, Cessna on Wednesday rolled out the first Citation Sovereign business jet to be assembled on its recently completed production line. Serial Number 0003 now will move to flight testing, paint and interior. The aircraft will be the first customer delivery scheduled for the first quarter of 2004.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS332C, C1, L, L1, AS350B, BA, B1, B2, B3 and D, and AS355E, F, F1, F2 and N helicopters (Docket No. 2003-SW-15-AD) - proposes to adopt a new AD for the specified Eurocopter model helicopters that have a Breeze 300-pound electric hoist installed. This proposal would require modifying and re-identifying the hoist operator control unit and replacing certain fuses. This proposal is prompted by a test of a hoist that revealed an anomaly in the electrical control circuit.
TIMCO PLANNING TO DOUBLE WORK FORCE AT FLORIDA FACILITY - TIMCO Aviation Services plans to more than double the work force at its Lake City, Fla. facility by the end of 2003. The Lake City plant, which currently has about 350 employees, will grow to nearly 750 workers by the end of the year, an expansion necessary "to keep pace with growing demand for TIMCO's services from new and existing commercial, regional and air cargo carriers," the company said. The planned growth will make the TIMCO facility the largest private employer in Columbia County, Fla.
Innovative Solutions & Support won a contract valued at $3 million to supply air data display and analog interface units to Raytheon Aircraft Services for installation on Beechjet 400, Hawker 700 and Mu 300 series aircraft. The units comply with upcoming reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) standards. Innovative Solutions & Support, based in Exton, Pa., already provides RVSM and other air data instrumentation for King Air 200/350 and B1900 models. Shipment of the newest order will begin in the fourth quarter.
Blue Mountain Avionics, LLC, a manufacturer and distributor of aircraft instrumentation systems, relocated its headquarters to the old Colorado Springs Airport Terminal. BMA specializes in "glass cockpit" systems, which display aircraft instruments, engine data and map information for pilots.
Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has affiliated itself with the Corporate Angel Network, which arranges flights on corporate jets for cancer patients traveling to and from treatment centers. Crowne Plaza will provide room nights for patients and their families, who may have extensive treatment stays in cities far from home.
ARMY'S C-47 HELICOPTERS TO RECEIVE FADEC UNITS - Goodrich Corp. will supply Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) systems for U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the company said this month. The work will be done under several Army contracts expected to generate up to $50 million in revenue by the end of 2004, according to the Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich.
TERRY FREEMAN was appointed director of public and investor relations at Mooney Aerospace Group. He will work with the sales and marketing departments to implement a public relations plan for the company. Freeman, who has worked at Mooney since 2002, will focus on pre-trade show marketing publicity and press relations.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association added L-3 Communications and Mooney Airplane Company to its membership. Adrienne Stevens, president of L-3 Communications Avionics Systems, and J. Nelson Happy, vice chairman, president and CEO of Mooney, will represent their companies on the GAMA board.
National Business Aviation Association Friday cheered a decision by FAA Assistant Administrator Woodie Woodward to uphold an earlier determination by the agency that Naples, Fla. Municipal Airport was in non-compliance of its airport grant agreements with its Stage 2 aircraft ban. The airport appealed to Woodward after an FAA hearing officer upheld FAA's decisions to withhold airport grants (BA, July 7/4). The Woodward decision disputed Naples reasoning behind the Stage 2 ban, which is intended to bring the noise contour around the airport down to 60 decibels.
Canadian officials plan to honor the memory of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by renaming Montreal's Dorval International Airport after him. A formal ceremony to mark the change is expected this month.
BRS FINALIZES DEAL WITH OMF TO INSTALL PARACHUTE SYSTEM - Ballistic Recovery Systems reached an agreement to provide OMF Aircraft with its whole-aircraft emergency parachute system, scoring another win in a solid sales year for the Minnesota company.
GULFSTREAM DETAILS $473 MILLION CONTRACT WITH ISRAEL - Gulfstream Aerospace has finalized an agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for up to six Gulfstream G550 business jets for use as airborne early warning platforms. The deal includes firm contracts for four G550s, plus options for two more, a total package valued at $473 million if the options are exercised. The deal was mentioned earlier this year by officials of General Dynamics, Gulfstream's parent company (BA, April 21/178), but details were released only last week.
September 8-12 - Society of Automotive Engineers 2003 Aerospace Congress & Exhibition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, (724) 772-4081 September 10-11 - Aviation Industry Conferences, Ltd. Aero-Engine Expo 2003, London, U.K., +44 207-931-7072 September 14-17 - Airports Council International - North America 12th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Tampa, Fla., (202) 293-8500 September 17-19 - European Regions Airline Association General Assembly, Citywest Hotel, Dublin, Ireland, +44 1276-856495
LANCAIR COLUMBIA 400 CRASHES DURING FLIGHT TEST - A Lancair Columbia 400 crashed into a field during a test flight last week near Millican, Ore. and caught fire, destroying the only flying prototype. The pilot parachuted to safety.
Gulfstream Aerospace, which has been attempting to sell U.S. and foreign governments on the viability of using long-range Gulfstream business jets as military surveillance platforms, scored a major coup last week when it inked an order valued at nearly $500 million with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for a half dozen G550s.
Signature Flight Support late last month sponsored a "Corporate Angel Network Day" at its 43 bases throughout the country to raise visibility for the White Plains, N.Y.-based charity that coordinates free air transportation for cancer patients. Signature bases played a promotional videotape providing details of the Corporate Angel Network.
AOPA URGES OMB TO ORDER CHANGES TO RVSM RULE - An FAA rule to reduce vertical separation minima in domestic airspace (DRVSM) has unrealistic deadlines and should be rejected in its current form, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association told the Office of Management and Budget late last month. The DRVSM rule went to OMB in July for final review before it is formally released.
Trans-Exec Air Service, which charters a fleet of seven Gulfstream aircraft, moved its operations to a "larger and more luxurious" facility at the Van Nuys, Calif., Airport. The company is moving its operations to the Raytheon Aircraft Services facility, which will provide more hangar space and ground support personnel. "We have seen our business grow steadily for 24 years. We simply outgrew" the old facility, said David Bilson, president of Trans-Exec.
NTSB CONTINUING INVESTIGATION OF COLGAN BEECH 1900 CRASH - Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were continuing to examine the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder recovered from a Colgan Airways Beech 1900 that crashed Tuesday after taking off from Hyannis, Mass. Officials said the aircraft was being ferried from Hyannis to Albany, N.Y. Both pilots, the only occupants, were killed.
