EMBRAER 175 TAKES FLIGHT - The Embraer 175 successfully completed its first flight last week in Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil. Serial Number 0014 took off from Embraer facilities in Brazil for a 120-minute flight during which pilots conducted systems validation tests. S/N 0014 will be used to test handling qualities and performance, and a second aircraft, S/N 0017, which is in the final assembly and outfitting stages, will be used for flutter, buffeting, systems and interior testing.
DASSAULT PLANNING TO CUT PRODUCTION BY 20 PERCENT IN 2004 - Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ), finally beginning to feel the sting of a weak economy that forced its competitors to start trimming business jet production months ago, expects to reduce the number of business jets it builds by at least 20 percent next year.
Mesa Air Group is turning over management of its aircraft spare parts inventory to an outside vendor. The parent of Mesa Airlines signed a letter of intent under which LogisTechs - an affiliate of GE Capital Aviation Services - will purchase $45 million in existing parts inventory and provide funding for up to $40 million of additional inventory required for Mesa's planned regional jet fleet growth.
BOMBARDIER STUDIES OF LARGE REGIONAL JET CONTINUE - Bombardier Aerospace is studying internally if, when and how it should revive its idea of building a large regional jet seating 100-130, Steve Ridolfi, president for regional aircraft, told BA affiliate Aviation Daily last week at the Paris Air Show.
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the federal aviation regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
Emirates-CAE Flight Training will add a convertible Hawker 800/800XP full-flight simulator to its Dubai training center. The simulator, which will become the center's sixth, will be equipped with CAE's Maxvue Plus visual systems. In addition to the Boeing 737 and several Airbus models, the Dubai center houses simulators for the Gulfstream IV and V.
Participants in FAA's Part 135/125 review say it's pretty clear that FAA officials want to do away with Part 125. Governance of those types of large aircraft operations now under Part 125 probably would be moved to Part 91, 135 or 121, depending on how the aircraft is used. Some participants are lobbying for a change in Part 135 that would permit aircraft with payloads of up to 18,000 pounds to be used in commercial service.
Boeing has developed an "e-Enabled Advantage" platform that integrates Connexion by Boeing broadband data and Internet services, a central onboard network cabinet, a Jeppesen electronic flight bag and advanced ground-based software applications.
PILOT KILLED AFTER WING SEPARATES DURING AEROBATICS - The pilot of a French-built aerobatic aircraft was killed June 14 in Texas when a wing separated from his Avions Mudry et Cie Cap 10B aircraft as he was performing a series of aerobatic maneuvers.
Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 avionics system won FAA and Transport Canada approval on the Bombardier Challenger 300 super-midsize aircraft. The avionics suite includes four 12- by 10-inch liquid crystal flight displays and consolidated control panels that integrate technologies such as TCAS II and terrain awareness warning systems. Collins also is supplying the Pro Line 21 CNS system, which will accommodate transition from voice to data communications. The system includes the Collins VHF-4000 voice/data transceiver for VHF Data Link (VDL) Mode 2.
Bombardier Flexjet relocated its Dallas area maintenance facility from Mercury Air Centers to the Million Air fixed-base operation at Addison Airport north of Dallas.
Raytheon Aircraft delivered the first of seven special-mission Beechcraft King Air 350s to the Royal Australian Air Force. The RAAF will use the turboprop aircraft for navigator and pilot transitional training. Hawker Pacific is providing maintenance support and leasing the aircraft to RAAF under a 10-year contract.
Pratt & Whitney Canada delivered the 1,000th PW200 turboshaft engine to Eurocopter for an EC135P2 helicopter. PWC began delivery of the PW200 engine in 1974, and the fleet has since accumulated more than 700,000 flight hours. The engine powers several new light-twin helicopters including the Agusta A109E, Bell 427, Eurocopter EC135 MD Helicopter MD900/902 and the Kazan Ansat.
CZECH FIRM SETS AMBITIOUS TARGETS FOR NEW FOUR-SEATER - Czech aviation company Evektor is aiming to capture up to a fifth of the world market in four-seat aircraft with the launch of a new plane in 2005. Evektor said this month that its new generation "Cobra" is scheduled for first flight in the second quarter of next year following two years of development. The project, initiated by the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at Brno University of Technology, received a $3 million grant from the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade.
FAA PLANS WAAS DEBUT FIVE MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE - FAA plans to accelerate introduction of the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) by five months, and the first avionics packages to bring the system into the cockpit are expected to be certified in time for its debut next month.
NetJets Inc. reached an agreement with the Mayo Clinic under which NetJets can offer owners a services package called the Mayo Clinic Executive Travel Response. The package will provide NetJets owners access to medical support from Mayo Clinic via telephone 24 hours a day. A dedicated phone was registered for NetJets owners to reach Mayo Clinic medical personnel. In emergencies, the Mayo Clinic will coordinate with hospitals, doctors and other emergency services at the location of the NetJets owner.
Transportation Security Administration teams have been "testing" general aviation airports and flight operations to assess their current security status, the National Business Aviation Association warned its members last week. The TSA agents are concentrating on fixed-base operations and flight departments, the association said. In some cases, the TSA representatives were challenged by employees and "got turned around" before gaining access to aircraft, but in other instances TSA officials apparently were able to go where they pleased.
CANADIAN CONTROLLERS TO VOTE ON CONTRACT BY JULY 4 - Nav Canada will know early next month whether its controllers will accept a tentative agreement on a new contract; the organization could use some good news after reporting another depressed month of air traffic figures. Canadian Air Traffic Control Association (CATCA) President Rob Thurgur told BA affiliate Aviation Daily that voting on the tentative agreement would take place June 26-July 4, with information meetings for members being held across the country until then.
Those who took part in the initial three-day Part 135/125 sessions were uniform in their praise for the quality of individuals involved and "very impressed" by the quality of pre-planning by FAA officials. There is general agreement that it will require a lot of hard work and the full two years FAA has allotted to complete the process, but participants expressed optimism that workable ways to modernize the regulations will be found.
MOONEY AEROSPACE GROUP reached an agreement with holders of the company's notes to waive all outstanding defaults and set fixed note conversion prices. The company said that as a result of the restructuring, it has received more than $5 million in new funding.
In the final push to prepare new legislation to replace AIR-21, which expires at the end of this year, the Senate named conferees last week to reconcile its version of the FAA reauthorization bill with the House counterpart. The House is expected to announce its conferees sometime this week. The Senate conferees are John McCain (R-Ariz.), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and John Breaux (D-La.).
On a more positive note, NBAA said TSA conducted audits Monday of the eight Part 91 Teterboro, N.J.-based flight departments that have received TSA Access Certificates (BA, April 7/155), and all apparently passed scrutiny "with flying colors," an NBAA official said.
