FAA'S Part 135/125 review formally kicks off next month with meetings June 10-12 in the Washington, D.C.-area that will include all of the approximately 140 members of the review's various committees and subcommittees. Similar sessions involving the entire group are planned for Aug. 19-21 and Nov. 18-20.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT has reached agreement with Sabreliner Corp. to acquire the Midcoast Aviation fixed-base operation at Lambert Field in St. Louis, one of most venerable business aviation FBO locations in the nation. A formal announcement of the deal is expected soon, and the transaction could be concluded next month. Sabreliner also recently sold its Premier Turbines business to engine overhauler Dallas Airmotive, an affiliate company of Signature.
MAX-VIZ, INC. of Portland, Ore. sold an EVS-1000 enhanced vision system to a European Bombardier Challenger operator. Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland is installing the system, which recently won FAA certification on the Challenger. The EVS allows pilots to see ground vehicles, equipments, obstacles and other aircraft during poor visibility.
May 17-21 - NBAA Maintenance Management Conference, Charlotte, N.C., (202) 783-9000 May 18-21 - Regional Airline Association Annual Convention, Phoenix, Ariz., (202) 367-1170 June 5 - National Business Aviation Association Forum and Static Display, Republic Airport, Farmingdale, N.Y., (202) 783-9000 June 15-22 - 45th Paris Air Show, Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France, +33 1 532 33333 June 27-28 - NBAA 8th Annual Flight Attendants Conference, Philadelphia, Pa., (202) 783-9000
With more than a year to go until its newly selected Pratt & Whitney engines are delivered, Eclipse restarted flight testing on the Eclipse 500 with interim Teledyne engines last week in Albuquerque, N.M. nearly nine months after the aircraft's only previous flight on Aug. 26, 2002. The aircraft, equipped with Teledyne 382-10E engines, took off from Albuquerque Sunport for a 26-minute flight during which it successfully completed all maneuvers in the practice area, Eclipse said.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration call for immediate inspections of all propeller parts and assemblies that were either overhauled or inspected by T&W Propellers in Chino, Calif. FAA also should require the overhaul of all Hartzell Z-shank propellers every 2,000 hours or five years according to the manufacturer's recommendations, the safety board said.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is installing equipment on more than 100 aircraft that is compatible with the Federal Aviation Administration's Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) technology in a move that continues the expansion of the agency's Safe Flight 21 program beyond Alaska. FAA will build ground stations near Embry-Riddle's Prescott, Ariz. and Daytona Beach, Fla. campuses early next year that will transmit weather and traffic information via the global positioning system to properly equipped Embry-Riddle aircraft.
THE 15TH ANNUAL GREATER WASHINGTON AVIATION OPEN broke a fundraising record, raising more than $105,000 earlier this month to support the Corporate Angel Network. The golf and tennis tournament, held at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md., is a major fundraiser for CAN, which arranges free transportation for cancer patients in corporate jets for access to specialized treatments.
EBACE2003, the joint National Business Aviation Association/European Business Aviation Association convention held this month in Geneva, Switzerland, drew 5,984 attendees, a 24 percent jump from EBACE2002, which attracted 4,824. Nearly 250 exhibitors bought 615 three-by-three-meter booth spaces at Geneva Palexpo, a 13.2 percent increase, and 25 aircraft were on static display, NBAA officials said.
MICHELMAN, INC. of Cincinnati, Ohio introduced RustBan, a new treatment for corrosion-resistant packaging of iron metal parts. The product, an alternative to VCI bags and containers, can be applied directly to solid fibers, cardboard and other forms of packaging. RustBan is nitrite-free, repulpable and recyclable, the company said.
MEGADATA CORP., Greenwich, Conn., signed a contract with Westchester County, N.Y. Airport to supply the company's PASSUR AirportMonitor, an Internet flight tracking and information system. Westchester County is the eighth airport to launch AirportMonitor nationwide.
Raytheon Aircraft Services is selling its fixed-base operation at Greater Rockford, Ill., Airport to Emery Air, Inc. Terms of the sale are pending, and the deal is expected to be finalized in the next 30 days. Emery, which owns the FBO property, will retain most of the operation's 43 employees, and the business will remain an authorized service center for Beechcraft Premier I, King Air, Baron, Bonanza, Hawker 400XP, Beechjet and Diamond aircraft.
REGIONAL JETS account for about 20 percent of General Electronic Capital Aviation Services' (GECAS) portfolio -- 232 out of about 1,100 aircraft -- and the leasing giant likes it that way, said Ed Sun, GECAS senior vice president. "We feel more confident investing in small airplanes than an A380," Sun told a regional airline conference.
GAMA PRESIDENT ED BOLEN, selected to chair the Steering Committee for the Part 135/125 review (BA, May 12/213), expects there will be a "healthy tension" between the number of participants and FAA's desire to complete the regulatory review in two years. "We want to be inclusive," Bolen told BA, "but we want to get the work done," giving the impression that he plans to make sure that the group conforms to the FAA schedule.
AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGIES OF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD. Models N22B and N24A airplanes (Docket No. 2003-CE-04-AD) -- proposes to supersede AD 82-12-06, which applies to certain AeroSpace Technologies of Australia Pty Ltd. Models N22B and N24A airplanes, which currently requires repetitive visual inspections of all rudder control lever shaft assemblies for cracks and discrepancies. If cracks or discrepancies are found, it requires replacement with new or serviceable rudder control shafts, and a check of the fit of all rod end bearings in lever shafts.
GULFSTREAM won supplemental type certificates to install BAE System's AN/ALQ-204 Matador Infrared Countermeasure anti-missile system (IRCM) on the G550 and the G500 aircraft. The GV was approved for a retrofit of the system. "Designed to protect the lives of passengers and crews as well as valuable aircraft, IRCM is an invaluable asset to operators who are looking for the most reliable systems to counter missile launches from heat-seeking weapons," Gulfstream said.
BOLEN is pleased with House and Senate measures that would modify the process for checking the backgrounds of foreign student pilots who seek flight training and transfer the program from the Department of Justice to the Transportation Security Administration. Bolen observed that TSA has conducted background checks on more than one million people since the agency was formed about a year and one-half ago.
After two years of rocky and uncertain market conditions, the general aviation industry could get significant help from the House version of a comprehensive FAA funding bill and a new security bill that include measures such as a $100 million GA relief package, war risk insurance for manufacturers and provisional charter access to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
CAE won approval from the European Joint Aviation Authorities provide maintenance training in Europe. The Canadian company's Amsterdam facility signed maintenance training agreements with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Transaero of Moscow and Samco of the Netherlands.
JET AVIATION launched an on-line service that allows aircraft operators to notify the fixed-base operation chain of time of arrival and request aircraft services, hotel accommodations, ground transportation and catering. The pre-arrival on-line notification system can be used for Jet Aviation's FBO locations worldwide, including Geneva, Zurich, Dusseldorf, and London Biggin Hill in Europe; Singapore in Asia; Jeddah and Riyadh in the Middle East; and Bedford, Mass., Dallas, Teterboro, N.J. and West Palm Beach, Fla.
