Christian Dries, the owner and chief executive of Diamond Aircraft, made a successful first flight in the company's first Diamond DA42 Twin Star aircraft on Dec. 9 from the company's Austrian factory at Wiener Neustadt. The aircraft is powered by twin diesel engines designed to burn either diesel fuel or Jet A1. The aircraft features single-lever power controls for each engine, fuel consumption of 10 gallons per hour at 180 knots and an all-composite fuselage.
Representatives of half a dozen government agencies met Thursday with aerospace industry representatives to map out an action plan for consideration of the recommendations and findings of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, which issued its report last month (BA, Nov. 25/240). The 40 representatives at the meeting agreed to divide the report's recommendations into those that are near-term or long-term, those that require additional funding or new legislation, and those that require only coordination and administrative actions.
CESSNA TO LAY OFF 15 PERCENT OF WICHITA EMPLOYEES - Cessna Aircraft Company will lay off another 1,500 workers at its Wichita facilities, the latest in a series of force reductions designed to balance employment levels with aircraft production schedules.
Thunder Aviation completed its new 39,000-square-foot hangar at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Mo. The new facility includes 9,000 square feet of office space that will be completed to new tenants' specifications. The addition expands Thunder Aviation's facilities to more than 100,000 square feet at Spirit of St. Louis. Founded in July 1997, Thunder Aviation provides a range of fixed-base operation services, including maintenance and avionics service.
Honeywell won certification from the Joint Aviation Authorities for its AS907 turbofan engine. The 7,000-pound thrust class engine will power the Bombardier Challenger 300 aircraft, which is currently in the flight test and certification program and is scheduled to enter service in 2003. The AS900 program has accrued more than 22,000 hours of test operation and Honeywell expects to complete more than 25,000 test hours by the time the engine enters service.
NBAA BOARD SELECTS SEARCH FIRM TO FIND CANDIDATES TO SUCCEED OLCOTT - National Business Aviation Association's board of directors accepted the recommendation of a search committee Friday and selected "a leading executive recruitment firm" to find candidates for consideration as the next president of the organization. NBAA board members declined to identify the firm selected until the other companies who had been seeking the contract were formally notified.
DPI Labs, a LaVerne, Calif.-based manufacturer of specialty avionics and aircraft cabin management systems, introduced a new voice and data distribution system that protects communication within aircraft. Safe-Link "protects communications when most vulnerable: before a transmission is encrypted and after a received message is decrypted," DPI says. "This plugs a hole in aircraft communications, whether by voice, fax, e-mail or video."
February 9-11, 2003 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2003, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646 March 27, 2003 - NBAA Business Aviation Forum and Static Display, Long Beach, Calif. International Airport. For more information, contact Benjamin Jones at (202) 783-9000 April 8-11, 2003 - National Aircraft Finance Association Annual Meeting, Westin Resort, Savannah, GA, (301) 349-2070 or [email protected] April 23-27, 2003 - National Aircraft Resale Association Annual Meeting, Westin Regina Resort, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
BUSH TO NOMINATE TWO FOR NTSB POSTS - President Bush announced his intention to nominate two men for seats on the National Transportation Safety Board.
Paul Poberezny, the founder and chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association, was scheduled to receive the 2002 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy Friday evening during ceremonies in Washington, D.C.
AOPA Air Safety Foundation and FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) released a study finding that properly trained pilots are able to cope with vacuum pump losses better than earlier reports have indicated. The report based its findings on experience in actual aircraft, ASF said, adding that earlier reports used simulator-based studies. "We expected that pilots receive more sensory inputs during an actual flight than in a simulator," said ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "In fact, that appears to be the case.
BOMBARDIER OPENS NEW EUROPEAN MAINTENANCE SITES - To accommodate the 230 Bombardier business jets based throughout Europe, the Canadian manufacturer is expanding its maintenance services in Europe by opening new sites in Frankfurt, Germany and at Stansted Airport in the United Kingdom.
MedAire was selected to review the Air Force Medical Service's inflight medical support and ground-base expeditionary medical system capabilities and offer recommendations for improving management in remote locations. The analysis will focus on non-tactical aircraft such as those carrying personnel, conducting medical evacuations and transporting freight. The review will involve extensive visits to Air Force bases around the country and the Surgeon General's office at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.
Vought Aircraft selected I/Check V4, manufactured by INCAT, as its corporate standard for checking and ensuring the integrity of CATIA data. "I/Check V4, from INCAT, is a fully integrated CATIA diagnostic system that interrogates and validates the quality of CATIA models and drawings against pre-defined CAE and company standards," said Shawn Drimmel, INCAT I/Products manager. INCAT will customize the product for Vought to be used for specific projects and for internal application.
ELLIOTT AVIATION received a supplemental type certificate for the addition of windshear detection and alert, part of Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, for Falcon 10 aircraft.
National Business Aviation Association, which has been inundated with complaints from its members about their continuing inability to conduct Part 91 flight operations at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA), is launching an aggressive campaign to get federal officials to lift restrictions at DCA. NBAA officials were among a group of 72 aviation community representatives - including senior FAA officials - who met Dec. 3 at DCA to discuss a variety of airspace issues including the ban on business and general aviation flights at the airport.
The U.S. Air Force approved full-rate production of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System - Raytheon Aircraft's T-6A Texan II primary trainer - clearing the way for the Wichita-based manufacturer to deliver up to 800 of the turboprops through the year 2017, a contract with a potential revenue of $4.3 billion for Raytheon. Air Force acquisitions chief Darlene Druyun signed an Acquistion Decision Memorandum last week allowing the service to buy more aircraft. The contract is subject to the President's budget and yearly military budget changes.
JOHN E. GAUCH, former president of aviation catalog merchandiser Sporty's, joined manufacturer Diamond Aircraft as vice president of sales and marketing with responsibility for North America. Diamond is headquartered in London, Ontario, and Gauch, who left Sporty's this summer (BA, July 2/3) will maintain offices there and at his home in Batavia, Ohio.
DTN/KAVOURAS, which provides aviation weather information and forecasts to more than 1,800 companies, has changed its name to Meteorlogix. The company is now working with VS&A, the private equity affiliate of Veronis Suhler & Associates. For more information, contact www.meteorlogix.com
STEVEN A. RIDOLFI is in line for a newly created job as executive vice president-programs and strategic planning at Bombardier Aerospace. In his new post he will exercise life-cycle profit and loss oversight of all Bombardier Aerospace airplane programs by the Business, Regional and Amphibious Aircraft units. He will continue to serve as president of the Regional Aircraft division until a successor is found.
HOUSE aviation subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) stepped up his push to win support for his bill that would provide the general aviation community with up to $7.5 billion in loans and direct compensation for losses stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. He urged his colleagues in a letter last week to co-sponsor the bill, H.R.3347, the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2001, saying, "Countless general aviation businesses continue to be grounded.
