Thales Air Traffic Management received a contract to provide 17 Mode S radars that will cover most of France. The agreement includes a Mode S station at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle International Airport, five Mode S stations in the eastern part of the country and an upgrade to Mode S standard for 11 existing radar units.
Fractional aircraft providers have cut back sharply on the rate at which they are adding new aircraft to their fleets, but the total number of aircraft in fractional service continues to edge up. According to information compiled by AvData of Wichita, Kan., the fractional fleet was three airplanes shy of the 800 mark last week. The four major fractional providers accounted for 94 percent of total aircraft.
Jacobs Engineering Group, based in Southfield, Mich., won a contract from Wichita State University to modernize the Walter H. Beech Memorial wind tunnel in Wichita, Kan. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. The wind tunnel is used for commercial and government-sponsored research at the National Institute for Aviation Research on the campus of WSU. The 70-square-foot rectangular test section can produce air velocities of up to 160 miles per hour.
D'LONG BUYS FAIRCHILD DORNIER 728 PROGRAM - D'Long International Strategic Investment took over the 728 regional jet program from Fairchild Dornier Administrator Eberhard Braun in a binding purchase agreement that could restart the program as a cooperative effort between Germany and China. D'Long hopes the 728 will fulfill Chinese ARJ21 requirements and become eligible for state support, both in China and Germany.
ARINC was selected by Eurocontrol to provide controller pilot data link communications (CPDLC) for the Maastricht Upper Area Control Center, which will be the first ATC center in continental Europe to use CPDLC. ARINC will deploy a network of 12 VHF Digital Link (VDL) Mode 2 ground stations, scheduled to be operational by October, to support CPDLC communications in the upper airspace of Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern Germany.
Jet Aviation Dallas recently completed Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) installations on four Citations - a Model 525, 501 and two 560s - and said it expects to complete 50 or 60 more RVSM installations as FAA's December 2004 deadline for RVSM compliance approaches.
DOD'S REDUCED PARIS PRESENCE TO BE PERMANENT, SOURCES SAY - The U.S. Defense Department's top weapons buyers who were barred from participating in the Paris Air Show this year may not be coming back to future events. The Pentagon plans to cut its foreign appearances by staging a significant presence every two years at only two international events - the United Kingdom's Farnborough Air Show and Singapore's Asian Aerospace event, organizers of both shows told BA affiliate Aerospace Daily.
Garrett Aviation plans to merge its Van Nuys, Calif. facility, The Jet Center, with its Los Angeles International Airport operation, which will result in the LAX facility's offering services for a wider range of corporate aircraft.
Delta Airelite Business Jets added a fourth Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft to its charter fleet. The aircraft, based in Portsmouth, N.H., is the 17th business jet to be added to Delta AirElite's charter certificate in the past year.
Sullivan Higdon & Sink was named the agency of record for engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming, of Williamsport, Pa. SHS, the Wichita, Kan. advertising, marketing and public relations agency that has held the accounts of several major aviation companies, will work with Lycoming to develop a marketing communications program that ranges from brand positioning to external communications, media relations and advertising.
ARINC ADDS INSTRUMENT REPAIR COMPANY TO OPERATIONS - ARINC expanded its business aviation services with the acquisition of instrument and accessory repair specialist Wintermute Aviation Company of Marietta, Ga. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wintermute will operate under ARINC's Direct Aircraft Services division.
AAAE'S DICKERSON BACKS WHITE HOUSE OPPOSITION TO PRIVATIZATION MEASURES - Contract tower advocates are hoping that the White House will take seriously its threat to veto FAA reauthorization legislation that includes language prohibiting privatization of the air traffic control system (BA, June 16/273), said Spencer Dickerson, senior executive vice president of the American Association of Airport Executives. Dickerson, who also heads the AAAE-founded U.S.
KEVIN BREEDEN was named Falcon program sales manager at JetCorp, an aircraft service facility and FBO located at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. He will be responsible for growing Falcon service business at the FBO. Breeden is a PAMA member and holds A&P and IA certificates.
NBAA's Blouin also said the TSA decision to expand TSAAC is "creating momentum" for easing restrictions on business aircraft operators. He noted that the decision also comes as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved forward with a provision directing the Administration to develop procedures to allow approved non-commercial operators to access DCA. The provision, in the Aviation Security Technical Corrections and Improvement Act, also includes language calling for procedures to allow approved charter operators back into DCA. See article below.
EMBRAER Model EMB-120 series airplanes (Docket No. 2003-NM-02-AD; Amendment 39-13197; AD 2003-12-12) - adopts a new AD that requires either revising the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to set a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet; or modifying the flight attendant's seat or reworking the oxygen bottle kit, as applicable, and revising the AFM to establish a maximum operating altitude of 30,000 feet.
Regional Airline Partners added six new partners: Argosy Airgroup, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Brookings Airport Board, Brookings, S.D.; Fort Dodge Regional Airport, Fort Dodge, Iowa; Grand Canyon Airlines, Grand Canyon, Ariz.; World Wide Wheat Corp., Salt Lake City, Utah; and South East Aerospace, Melbourne, Fla. The new additions bring RAP's membership to 91.
July 29-Aug. 4 - Experimental Aircraft Association 51st AirVenture Oshkosh '03, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 426-6523 September 8-12 - Society of Automotive Engineers 2003 Aerospace Congress & Exhibition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, (724) 772-4081 September 14-17 - Airports Council International - North America 12th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Tampa, Fla., (202) 293-8500 September 20-23 - 72nd National Association of State Aviation Officials Annual Convention and Trade Show, Charlotte, N.C., (301) 588-0587
AMERICA RISING TO OFFER HELICOPTER SERVICE BETWEEN D.C. AND N.Y. - A suburban Maryland-based helicopter company is planning to launch a helicopter airline next year, flying Sikorsky 92 helicopters between Washington, D.C. and New York City.
AMSAFE Aviation was selected to provide the pilot, co-pilot and passenger restraints on Adam Aircraft's A500, a new 250-knot, pressurized, six-place piston twin-engine aircraft. Delivery of the aircraft is expected to begin this year. AMSAFE has delivered "millions" of seatbelts for general aviation, airline and helicopter use. AMSAFE restraints are standard equipment on Aviat, Cessna, Raytheon Beechcraft, Cirrus, Mooney, Maule, Bell, Robinson and Schweizer aircraft. AMSAFE also is supplying its inflatable restraints on Aviat, Gippsland and Zenith Aircraft airplanes.
Executive Air Center in Orlando, Fla. added five acres of ramp space, large enough to accommodate 15 G-V aircraft. "This project took 10 years to complete," said EAC's Ray Ambrose. "This multiplies our space for aircraft eight-fold. We had no ramp before, so this new addition will make it so much easier for large jets to utilize the facility and its assets." EAC's newly paved ramp space follows completion of a new facility this year that includes a 1,500-square-foot conference room, a pilot's lounge and a private sleep room.
University Of North Dakota purchased a GAT-II general trainer from Environmental Tectonics Corp. to offer training in the hazards associated with inflight spatial disorientation. The new trainer, programmed with 14 of the most common general aviation spatial disorientation illusions, will be housed in the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.
Privatair recently added four airplanes to its management and charter fleet: a Falcon 900B based in Teterboro, N.J.; a Learjet 60 in Stratford, Conn.; a Hawker 800 in Chino, Calif.; and a Gulfstream IV in Opa Locka, Fla.
