CITATION CJ3 ACHIEVES FIRST FLIGHT - The Cessna Citation CJ3 successfully completed its first flight last week and the Wichita, Kan.-based manufacturer obtained an FAA exemption to allow the aircraft to operate with a single pilot. Piloted by Dan Morris and Russ Williams, the light business jet took off from McConnell Air Force Base on April 17 at 9:20 a.m. and landed at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita at 11:03 a.m.
Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association, which was formed in August, will hold its inaugural convention this week in Orlando, Fla., with representatives of some 41 member companies in attendance plus officials from more than 35 associate members, such as aircraft and systems providers. "Our growth has far exceeded our expectations," said Stan Bernstein, president. The organization has been focusing on FAA's upcoming Part 135 review, TSA requirements, security and insurance.
U.S. BUSINESS TURBINE OPERATORS INVOLVED IN 17 FIRST-QUARTER ACCIDENTS - Operators of turbine-powered business and corporate aircraft were involved in 17 accidents during the first quarter of the year, including seven fatal accidents, according to data compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla.
SIGNATURE LAUNCHES NEW FUEL PRICING INITIATIVE - Signature Flight Support has launched two new fuel pricing programs designed to appeal to both transient customers on a transaction basis or fleet customers who use multiple bases in the Signature system.
WOLFGANG DILLBAUM was appointed director of material management and distribution at Jet Aviation. He will be responsible for managing materials for all six German Jet Aviation facilities as well as building up a parts inventory at the new distribution center in Saarbrucken, Germany. With more than 17 years of experience in the aviation industry, Dillbaum was most recently vice president of sales and marketing at Rheinland Air Service.
ASA Hutchinson, under secretary of transportation and border security for the Department of Homeland Security, will address aviation security during the National Air Transportation Association General Session May 14 at AS3/GSE International Expo in Las Vegas, Nev. "One of the leading topics raised by our members is that of airport security," says Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside, NATA vice president of government and industry affairs. "Many federal procedures are being integrated into the aviation industry, but questions remain.
A Bombardier Dash 8 Series 100 turboprop aircraft obtained Russian civil registration. Expected to fly nearly 85 hours per month, the Dash 8 is being used in oil and gas development from its base on Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia. The aircraft is part of the $12 billion Sakhalin-1 Project, run by Exxon Neftegas Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The Dash 8 received basic certification from the Interstate Aviation Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1997 and it won full certification in December 2002.
San Francisco International Airport is hosting an exhibit about the history of aircraft instruments. The "On Instruments" exhibit "traces the development of this complex technology from the Wright Brothers' famous first piloted powered flight in 1903 to today's jet age." More than 140 objects and photographs present the development of three basic categories of aircraft instruments: flight instruments, engine and system instruments and navigation instruments. "On Instruments" is showing in the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A.
BOMBARDIER CONSOLIDATES U.S. SALES IN DALLAS AREA - Bombardier Aerospace, expanding its operations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, has now consolidated its U.S. sales operations for both new and used business aircraft and its Flexjet fractional ownership program in a new facility in Richardson, Texas. The new facility includes the Flexjet operations center, plus sales marketing and customer support, and is home base for the more than 400 Flexjet pilots. The total of on-site and based employees is about 800.
Jet Aviation will center its parts sales business in Saarbrucken, Germany. The facility will house and distribute more than 10,000 parts to third-party maintenance stations, aircraft manufacturers, aircraft operators, flight schools and flying clubs as well as Jet Aviation's other maintenance facilities. Jet Aviation Saarbrucken opened in 1987 and is a service station for Piaggio P-180, Piper, Cessna, Beech, and King Air aircraft.
Duncan Aviation received reduced vertical separation minimum group certification for the Westwind 1124. The certification, which will allow operations in every active RVSM region, is tied to a previous equipment certification for the 1124 that the company earned in 2002. U.S. airspace is scheduled to activate RVSM in 2005.
Chabraja's remarks last week paint a gloomier picture about the used aircraft market than he did at the end of the fourth quarter. Chabraja said then that given "a firming market, in our view" and the absence of any unforeseen difficulties, he expected the used aircraft situation would be "much more manageable" this year. He described himself then as "cautiously optimistic" that used aircraft would not be the problem it was in 2002 (BA, Jan. 27/38). Last week he put the carrying value of Gulfstream's used aircraft inventory at $215 million at the end of March.
Joe Carrao, vice president of regulations and international affairs for the Helicopter Association International, has resigned to accept a position with the Transportation Security Administration in the Washington, D.C. area. Carrao, who joined HAI in September 1996, told BA he expects to be working on aviation security policy issues initially. He is scheduled to join TSA next week.
The 14th Annual Women In Aviation International Conference held last month in Cincinnati, Ohio, attracted more than 2,500 attendees. WIAI and other conference participants awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships to 55 aviation and aerospace students. The 15th annual Women in Aviation Conference is scheduled for March 11-13 in Reno, Nev.
National Business Aviation Association is trying to ward off a bill in the California State Assembly that could significantly increase the applicability of a 7.5 percent use tax on the sale or lease of aircraft. That tax currently is assessed based on the use of the aircraft in California. Under the bill introduced by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D) of Van Nuys, the tax would have four triggers, including whether an aircraft is purchased by a California resident and whether the aircraft is subject to California registration.
HOUSE LEADERS APPEAL TO BUSH TO LET CHARTER BACK INTO DCA - Four senior House members urged President Bush to allow at least charter aircraft to operate to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), ranking Democrat James Oberstar (D-Minn.), House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) wrote a letter this month to Bush seeking to free up access to DCA.
AVCRAFT SEEKS TO TURN AROUND 328JET PROGRAM - Strengthening customer service, rebuilding supplier relationships and tapping new markets and applications for the Fairchild Dornier 328 program are tops on a long list of company objectives that Ben Bartel, AvCraft president and CEO, outlined at a meeting with McGraw-Hill aviation editors in Washington, D.C., this month.
GULFSTREAM DELIVERIES DOWN SHARPLY IN FIRST QUARTER - Gulfstream Aerospace reported sharply lower deliveries of new business jets during the first quarter, a situation that resulted in parent company General Dynamics reporting slightly lower earnings despite significant increases in sales for its defense-related products. Net sales for GD's Aerospace unit totaled $594 million for the quarter ended March 30, down 22.1 percent from the same period a year earlier when Aerospace logged $763 million in sales.
Defense Department officials said Friday that Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signed off on a proposal to permit DOD personnel to participate in the Paris Air Show, but only on a very limited basis. Rumsfeld's directive will permit about a half-dozen U.S. military aircraft to attend the show, but they will be limited to a static display with no participation in fly-bys or the daily air show. In addition, a smaller-than-normal contingent of DOD officials will attend.
Woodland Aviation in Woodland, Calif. was named by General Aviation Modifications, Inc. (GAMI) as one of seven facilities authorized to perform the T-34 critical wing spar inspection/repair process. The authorization covers work done in compliance with Airworthiness Directives 99-12-02 and 2001-13-18, as well as recurring inspection Service Bulletin SB-3329 and Raytheon SB 57-3329.
Boeing Air Traffic Management (ATM) hired high-profile government air traffic control official Neil Planzer as vice president-ATM stakeholder solutions, effective April 21. Planzer, currently executive director of the Department of Defense Policy Board on Federal Aviation, also is associate director for civil aviation in the U.S. Air Force. While at DOD, Planzer launched regional airspace initiatives in 28 countries.
Texas Jet, Inc., which operates an executive terminal for private aircraft at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (KFTW), is celebrating its 25th anniversary in the aviation business. Reed Pigman, Jr., president and owner of Texas Jet, acquired the company in 1978 "when it was a struggling aircraft sales business. Today, Texas Jet operates 15 hangars totaling 260,000 square feet and housing more than 100 aircraft," including Gulfstreams, Falcons, Citations and Learjets.
