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.
WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT REACHED IN WELLSTONE CRASH - The families of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and five other passengers who were killed in a Beech King Air 100 crash last October reached a $25 million wrongful death settlement with Aviation Charter Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn., the company that operated the charter flight. Wellstone, his wife Sheila, daughter Marcia and three campaign staff members - Mary McEvoy, Thomas Lapic and William McLaughlin - were on their way to a funeral in northeast Minnesota on the morning of Oct.
SUSAN H. HANCOCK BUYS ST. THOMAS FBO; BOHLKE LAUNCHING FRACTIONAL PROGRAM - Susan Howard Hancock, a veteran of 20 years in the fixed-base operation business, has purchased the St. Thomas Virgin Islands FBO that was operated for many years as part of Bohlke International Airways (BIA).
Learjet 45 owners will have to wait a while longer to get their grounded airplanes back in the air. After consultations between FAA and Bombardier on Aug. 23, the parties agreed that some additional enhancement in components of the horizontal stabilizer actuator assembly (HSAA) will be required, a Learjet spokesman told BA Friday. FAA issued an AD grounding Model 45s because of concern about possible fracture of a screw and nut in the HSAA (BA, Aug. 18/70).
CJ SYSTEMS SIGNS DEAL TO ADD SEVEN NEW EC135 HELICOPTERS - CJ Systems Aviation Group, the Pittsburgh, Pa.-based operator of medical helicopter services, signed an agreement with American Eurocopter (AEC) to acquire seven new EC135 helicopters through April 2004. The multiple aircraft purchase will help modernize its fleet and improve allocation of backup helicopters, CJ Systems said.
TAG Aviation named Robert Reisman base manager of the company's Morristown, N.J. Municipal Airport (MMU) facility. He will be responsible for all operations at the facility, including aircraft charter and management services. He also will continue in his existing position as lead captain, overseeing G-IV and S-76 operations at MMU. Reisman, who began his corporate flying career in 1976, joined TAG in 2001.
Lockheed Martin deployed a new User Request Evaluation Tool (URET) system at FAA's Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The Jacksonville ARTCC is the first installation under the national deployment phase (the second phase) of the program. The URET system can detect potential conflicts with aircraft up to 20 minutes in advance and determine whether pilot-requested changes to a flight plan would conflict with other traffic.
Million Air added a new fixed base operation near Los Angeles, Calif. to its network. Million Air Oxnard in Ventura County features a 20,000-square-foot hangar and 5,000 square feet of office space, which includes a lounge, reception area, conference room and storage area.
