AVIATION GROUPS URGE FAA TO DELAY REPAIR STATION RULES - Four industry associations last week petitioned FAA to delay the implementation of the agency's rewrite of repair station rules under Part 145 until the agency gives industry enough time to review and comment upon the compliance guidance.
FAA CALLS FOR GA PILOTS TO CARRY GOVERNMENT PHOTO ID - The Federal Aviation Administration this week will release new rules requiring pilots to present a government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license, upon request from government agencies. The rules, proposed earlier this year by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in response to growing security concerns, are intended to enable "a readily available, low-cost way for pilots to carry photo identification," FAA said.
Textron, facing a continuing dilemma of how to resolve a series of crankshaft failures in some of its Lycoming piston-powered engines, last week named a senior Textron executive to oversee resolution of the manufacturing problems at Lycoming and its vendors.
FAA officials expect shortly to release the charter outlining plans for the agency's Part 135 review and hope to organize the first meeting of an industry-based Aviation Rulemaking Committee on the topic in January. Kathy Perfetti, manager of FAA's newly established Part 135 and Fractional Ownership Operations Branch, has been working with industry and already has received a number of expressions of interest from potential participants. FAA plans to invite participation in the effort on several levels.
Rolando Rivera was named manager of Latin American sales for Midcoast Aviation, Sabreliner Corporation and Premier Turbines. A native of Guatemala, Rivera was most recently head of sales in Mexico and Latin America for Bizjet International. He is an A&P licensed mechanic and a general aviation pilot with training on the Falcon and Learjet aircraft series at FlightSafety International and Simuflite.
Steven R. Loranger, 50, the president and chief executive of Honeywell's aircraft engine business, joined Textron Friday to oversee the company's manufacturing businesses, including Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter. Loranger was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Textron.
Models 441 and F406 airplanes (Docket No. 2002-CE-18-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 2002-09-13, which currently requires a one-time inspection of the fuel boost pump wiring inside and outside the boost pump reservoir and repair or replacement of the wiring as necessary on certain Cessna Model 441 airplanes. AD 2002-09-13 resulted from several reports of chafing and/or arcing of the fuel boost pump wiring inside and outside the fuel pump reservoir.
Howard Henry was named customer service manager of aviation maintenance at Piedmont Hawthorne. He will be responsible for customer service, sales support and marketing at the company's corporate and general aviation facilities in Winston-Salem, N.C. Henry has more than 12 years of aviation experience and previously worked in customer service and marketing for Eagle Aviation.
A Pilatus PC-12 was substantially damaged Oct. 16 while attempting to make an emergency landing. The aircraft, with two pilots and two passengers on board, had just departed Runway 6 at the Trenton, N.J. Airport enroute to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. when the crew reported an engine failure. The aircraft returned to the airport and made a hard landing and slid off the end of Runway 16. One passenger suffered a minor injury. The PC-12 is registered as N96WF.
Congress likely won't act on any aviation security legislation until after the Nov. 5 elections. The House and Senate last week approved a stop-gap spending bill to tide the federal government over until Nov. 22. While not officially recessed, neither the House nor the Senate is expected to tackle any major issues until after the elections. When Congress returns, the House and Senate will have to finish work on almost all the appropriations bills, including the fiscal 2003 transportation appropriations, in a lame-duck session.
AOPA OBJECTS TO POSSIBLE AIRPORT CLOSURES IN HAWAII - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association lodged a complaint with the Governor of Hawaii about a proposed plan that could close five small airports in that state.
President Bush this month announced his intention to formally nominate Adm. James Loy to serve as under secretary of transportation for security, heading the Transportation Security Administration. Loy has headed TSA in an acting capacity since July 2002, when John Magaw departed the agency. The White House has not yet sent the nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
Timco Aviation Services, a major provider of aircraft overhaul and maintenance services, acquired Brice Manufacturing Co. of Pacoima, Calif. from Duocommun, Inc. Gil West, president and chief operating officer of Timco, called the acquisition "a natural fit for Timco and makes Timco an OEM for commercial airline seating as well as a major supplier of seat and interior parts under FAA Parts Manufacturing Authority authorization while augmenting our aircraft interior overhaul and repair operations provided by Aircraft Interior Design" in Dallas, Texas.
National Transportation Safety Board named Frank Richey to the new position of president and academic dean of the NTSB Academy, which is slated to open in late summer of 2003. Richey, who immediately assumed his new duties, has overall responsibility for administration, curriculum planning, course development, communications, strategic planning and financial operations for the Academy. He joins NTSB from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he served since 1982, teaching at both the Prescott, Ariz. and Daytona Beach, Fla. campuses. A former U.S.
Jim Goeing was named Midwest regional sales manager at Geotest-Marvin Test Systems. Based in Chicago, Goeing also will act as the corporate business development manager. He was previously a district sales manager for National Instruments. Geotest-Marvin Test Systems is a California-based supplier of electronic test equipment for aerospace, semiconductors, industrial and military applications.
Pratt&Whitney Canada's new PW600F turbofan engine completed initial flight trials this month, passing another key milestone, the company said. A 2,500-pound demonstrator mounted to a Boeing 720 testbed first flew Oct. 10 for more than 2.5 hours and logged six more hours the next two days. The Boeing 720 flew to altitudes of 43,000 feet. "Performance, handling and re-light testing met and exceeded our expectations," said Maurice Weinberg, P&WC director, small turbofans.
Keystone Helicopter Corporation selected Component Control to provide a $1 million upgrade to its business software, including the addition of the Quantum Control e-business package for maintenance, repair and overhaul operations and inventory control as well as core finance and accounting. Keystone said it chose Quantum Control after reviewing more than 20 aviation enterprise resource planning software providers.
Smaller airports are losing more service than larger ones, according to an Oct. 7 report on airline industry metrics from DOT's Office of the Inspector General. Since early 2001, OIG said non-hubs lost nearly 16 percent of scheduled passenger seats versus a nine percent cut for larger airports. That disparity could be reduced by the end of this year, OIG said, noting that airline schedules project that by December non-hubs will be down 10 percent and larger airports down seven percent compared with December 2000.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) last week lifted his "hold" blocking a bill in the Senate that would prohibit FAA from granting waivers to the stadium TFRs (BA, Oct. 14/169). Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) sponsored the stadium measure, which was included as an amendment to the Aviation Security Improvement Act, S.2949. While maintaining his opposition to the stadium measure, Inhofe was reluctant to continue holding up the bill because it contains a host of other security-related measures that the Senator felt needed to be addressed, an aide said.
CMC Electronics won a contract from Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, England, to supply its global positioning system-based flight management system, the CMA-900, for three C-130 aircraft that Marshall Aerospace will upgrade for the Australian Air Force. The aircraft are slated for delivery in February 2003. The CMA-900 is in service on aircraft operated by more than 40 airlines as well as on the P-3.
Oct 24-26 - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2002, Palm Springs, Calif., (301) 695-2000 November 4-7 - Flight Safety Foundation/International Federation of Airworthiness/International Air Transport Association 55th Annual International Air Safety Seminar, City West Hotel and Conference Center, Dublin, Ireland, (703) 739-6700 February 9-11, 2003 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2003, Dallas, Texas, (703) 683-4646
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University won a $2.7 million, three-year contract to provide flight safety management and mishap investigation instruction to the United States Air Force, Air National Guard and international flight safety officers. Under the contract, 700 flight safety officers will be trained annually at the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for September Used Retail Deliveries SEPT. '99 SEPT. '00 SEPT. '01 SEPT. '02 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 44 33 22 57 34 22 45 24 14 36 23 9 America Jet Outside 8 3 1 4 4 2 1 1 2 4 1 1 N. America
CESSNA REVENUES UP, BUT LYCOMING ENGINE PROBLEMS REDUCE PROFITS - Textron said its Aircraft segment's revenues rose $60 million to $1.15 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 28, but operating profits suffered as a result of continuing crankshaft problems with certain Lycoming engines.
