Clay Lacy Aviation, which owns fixed-base operations at Van Nuys, Calif. and Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash., has signed with fuel provider Avfuel Corp. to operate as a branded Avfuel dealer.
Federal Aviation Administration released a new advisory circular, AC 45-2B, Identification and Registration Marking, that provides guidance on meeting requirements for identifying aircraft and other products with identification plates and nationality and registration marks. Copies of AC 45-2B can be obtained from the Department of Transportation, Subsequent Distribution Office, Ardmore East Business Center, 3341Q 75th Ave., Landover, Md. 20785.
HARVEY W. COHEN was named senior vice president of development for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Foundation. Cohen will oversee fund raising for the nonprofit organization that provides aviation education and safety programs for general aviation. Cohen was previously chief development officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness in Owings Mills, Md.
ARINC, the Annapolis, Md., firm that has provided a communications network for airlines and business aircraft operators for decades, is expanding its horizons to include homeland defense. ARINC, in cooperation with the state of Maryland, plans to sponsor a high-technology "business incubator" in Anne Arundel County, Md. that will focus on technologies related to homeland security. The program is supported by the county Department of Economic Development and the National Security Agency.
GARMIN PRODUCES RECORD SECOND QUARTER REVENUE AND EARNINGS - Despite a sagging general aviation market and sluggish national economy, global positioning satellite specialist Garmin Ltd. reported record earnings of $47.2 million on revenues of $143.5 million in the second fiscal quarter ended June 28. The earnings were up 47 percent from $32.1 million recorded in second quarter 2002, and revenues increased 17 percent from the $122.8 million posted a year ago.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association is working to develop a standard for helping pilots transition from the traditional cockpit to an all-glass cockpit on Part 23 aircraft. GAMA members hope the standard will provide a baseline to ensure that cockpit products are designed with enough commonality to help expedite certification and ease pilot training. GAMA members plan to voluntarily comply with the standard. GAMA hopes to complete the first version by yearend.
AVIATION PACKAGE MOVES GENERAL AVIATION CLOSER TO DCA - General aviation operators will take a step closer to regaining access to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) if language included in the sweeping FAA reauthorization bill, Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (CARA), is adopted when Congress reconvenes in September. House and Senate negotiators included language that directs the Department of Homeland Security to develop and implement a security plan that would permit GA aircraft to take off and land at DCA.
Banyan Air Service, based at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), extended its maintenance hours and added shifts to reduce turnaround time to help customers who need on-the-spot maintenance during nights and weekends. Banyan's new hours are 7 a.m.-12:30 a.m. weekdays and 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekends. Banyan provides service from its 26,000-square-foot turbine maintenance hangar within-site engine shop and a non-destructive testing room; a 20,000-square-foot avionics hangar, including an in-house avionics testing shop.
OMF Aircraft is offering a $2,000 flight-training rebate on Symphony 160 aircraft. The special offer is open to anyone in the United States and Canada who signs a binding purchase agreement for a Symphony 160 and who earns a new FAA rating, private pilot, IFR or commercial pilot, within two years. The offer is limited to one rebate per aircraft.
Canadian Simulator Manufacturer CAE said European regional aircraft manufacturer ATR will upgrade two Thales-built ATR 42/72 full-flight simulators in the Toulouse, France training center with CAE's Tropos visual system. The Tropos system provides high-quality imaging and the ability to simulate actual airport environments so pilots see realistic visual cues, including a wide range of simulated weather.
Federal Aviation Administration has completed work on the final rule to govern sport pilot and light-sport aircraft and sent the document to the Department of Transportation for review, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told attendees at the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual AirVenture fly-in last week. "This is a momentous step in the road to seeing sport pilot and light-sport aircraft become reality," said EAA President Tom Poberezny, who has long sought such a regulation.
ECLIPSE LANDS LAST ROUND OF EQUITY FUNDING - Eclipse Aviation Corp. completed its fifth round of private equity funding, adding another $87 million to the Eclipse 500 development program. The latest funding increment for Albuquerque-based Eclipse, which includes a $10 million investment from the state of New Mexico, brings to $325 million the total of equity funding the company has raised.
BAE SYSTEMS Jetstream Model 4101 Airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-62-AD; Amendment 39-13246; AD 2003-15-04) - adopts a new AD that requires inspection of the drive trunnion pins for the main landing gear doors to determine the part number of the pins and corrective action if necessary. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the MLG and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane during takeoff or landing. The AD is effective Sept. 2.
Mooney Aerospace and a group of international manufacturing and investment companies have formed an alliance to introduce, develop and market a range of "new generation" aircraft that would be produced under the Mooney logo. The alliance includes British aerospace giant BAE Systems, Russian aerospace stakeholder KASKOL Group, Detroit, Mich.-based auto-plastic specialist Venture Industries, and Foxton Investments, a private equity firm that focuses on Central and Eastern European business opportunities.
ADAM AIRCRAFT JET FLIES - Adam Aircraft added a second airplane to its flight certification program with the successful first flight of the A700 twin jet early last week. The A700, which flew for 50 minutes from Centennial Airport July 27, joins Adam's first aircraft, the A500 twin piston, in its flight test program.
The House and Senate reached a conference agreement on a comprehensive FAA funding bill to replace the sweeping aviation reauthorization bill AIR-21, which expires at the end of this year, but a debate over privatization language is heating up, threatening the bill's approval.
Steve Bassett, the president of the United States Air Tour Association (USATA), is relocating from Las Vegas, Nev. to the Washington, D.C. area next month to continue his advocacy campaign for the air tour industry and to develop some new aviation programs. Bassett, whose background includes experience as a radio and television broadcaster and as an executive with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, has spent the past 18 months as executive vice president of Air Vegas Airlines in Las Vegas.
BE A PILOT Friday named former National Business Aviation Association President Jack Olcott as its new chairman. Olcott left NBAA after 11 years of service in June to form General Aero Company, a business aviation consulting company in Morristown, N.J. (BA, June 16/273). He also has been retained by AOPA to help guide the association's new turbine services (BA, July 28/40). Before joining BAA in 1992 Olcott was editor and later publisher of BA affiliate Business and Commercial Aviation magazine and also has served as senior editor of FLYING magazine.
REPAIR STATION GROUPS PUSH FOR ANOTHER DELAY IN Part 145 DEADLINES - The repair station community jointly asked the Federal Aviation Administration to extend for another four months the implementation date for new rules governing Part 145 facilities. In a letter late last month, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, Aircraft Electronics Association and National Air Transportation Association asked for an additional 120 days beyond the scheduled Oct. 3 implementation to provide repair stations time to review compliance guidance released just last month.
NEW PIPER WINS TYPE CERTIFICATE FOR PIPER 6X - New Piper received a type certificate for the Piper 6X, the fixed-gear version of the company's Saratoga II aircraft.
Jet Aviation's facility at London Biggin Hill Airport was named an authorized Dassault Service Center for the Falcon 900. The designation allows the Jet Aviation center to provide scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and modifications on the Falcon 900 airframe, engine and avionics. In addition, the facility will perform aircraft modifications. The Biggin Hill facility expects to add Falcon 50 and 2000 service to its capabilities shortly. The JAR-145-approved maintenance facility also is an authorized service center for the Embraer Legacy.
THREE HELICOPTER ACCIDENTS CLAIM EIGHT LIVES - Eight people were killed and two others seriously injured in three separate helicopter accidents late last month, according to FAA reports. All five people aboard a Bell 206B on a sightseeing flight operated by Jack Harter Helicopters were killed when the aircraft crashed July 23 in the Waialeali Crater on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The helicopter, N37741, was being flown by a single pilot and was carrying four passengers.
