Win a golf tournament, ride home in a Challenger, that's the deal that fractional aircraft provider Flexjet is offering its clients on the PGA Tour and Senior Tour. The Challenger upgrade is part of a new marketing agreement between Flexjet and the men's professional golf tours. See article below.
OMF AIRCRAFT earned FAA and German LBA instrument flight rules approval for its two-place single-engine Symphony 160 aircraft. The Symphony received FAA certification for visual flight rules operation in Spring 2001. Powered by a 160-horsepower Lycoming O-320 D2A engine, the Symphony can cruise at 128 knots and has a 700-pound carrying capacity. Germany-based OMF Aircraft has priced a standard-equipped aircraft at $120,000.
EUROCOPTER Model BO-105A, BO-105C, BO-105 C-2, BO-105 CB-2, BO-105 CB-4, BO-105S, BO-105 CS-2, BO-105 CBS-2, BO-105 CBS-4, and BO-105LS A-1 helicopters (Docket No. 2002-SW-07-AD; Amendment 39-12794; AD 2002-13-06) - requires creating a component log card or equivalent record and determining the calendar age, number of flights, and flight hours time-in-service on two part-numbered tension-torsion straps; inspecting and replacing certain T-T straps, as necessary; and modifying certain main rotor heads if alternate T-T straps are installed.
U.S. Customs Service is seeking pilot and training services for more than 300 fixed-wing and helicopter pilots who will serve as federally warranted law enforcement officers. Customs said that since Sept. 11 it has been tasked with additional organizational missions outside its traditional law enforcement and drug interdiction duties, including flying missions for the Office of Homeland Security.
NATS TO ACQUIRE NAV CANADA TECHNOLOGIES FOR OCEANIC USE - The U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) plans to begin testing controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) for transatlantic flights using Nav Canada-developed software, and is considering adapting other Nav Canada technologies. NATS reached an agreement with Nav Canada to begin operational testing this summer of CPDLC, using a satellite-based e-mail system rather than high-frequency voice communications.
Raytheon Aircraft is offering a new aircraft service plan, Support Plus, that will provide customers maintenance coverage options for a monthly service fee. Under the program, Raytheon covers parts and/or labor expenses for scheduled and unscheduled inspections, maintenance, component removal and service bulletin work. The program extends five years and is transferable on resale. "This plan eliminates surprises," said Ed Dolanski, vice president-customer support.
Atlantic Aero and its sister company, Aero Modifications&Consulting LLC, won supplemental type certificate approval to install the Honeywell Bendix/King KGP 560 enhanced ground proximity warning system in the King Air 200. The KPG560 system meets FAA Class B terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS) requirements. The Atlantic Aero STC covers installation with or without the display. Atlantic Aero estimated that the installation could be completed in less than 10 days.
Federal Aviation Administration may complete work this month on its long-awaited final rule - Subpart K of Part 91 - regulating the operation of fractional aircraft providers. Regulators are in the final stages of "dotting i's and crossing t's" and briefing senior officials.
Honeywell President and CEO David Cote, added the title of chairman of the board with the planned retirement of Lawrence Bossidy. Cote, 49, became president and CEO of Honeywell in February, after serving as chairman, president and CEO of TRW. He also spent 25 years in various roles with General Electric.
J.C. Seymour was named chief pilot at CitationShares. Seymour has been acting chief pilot since April and will continue in his position of director of flight standards. He has 23 years of military fighter experience in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard and also has worked for 30 years in Part 121 airline operations.
Bombardier Model DHC-8-100, -200, and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-69-AD; Amendment 39-12783; AD 2002-12-11) - requires revision of the applicable maintenance program manual, repetitive inspections for corrosion or cracking of the hook roller shafts of the flap carriage, and eventual replacement of the hook roller shafts with new or serviceable hook roller shafts. This replacement extends the interval for the repetitive inspections.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will hold its Safety and Security Certificate program Aug. 5-22 at its campus in Prescott, Ariz. Sponsored by the university's Center for Aerospace Safety/Security Education, the program explores flight department safety and security issues through case studies and on-site investigation at the Robertson Aviation Safety Laboratory. Participants will include American Eagle Airlines, Gemini Air Cargo, and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, was honored by the Aero Club of New England with the Godfrey L. Cabot Award last month for Boyer's efforts to restore U.S. pilots' rights to fly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Federal Aviation Administration agreed to extend through June 14, 2003, the authority of Designated Airworthiness Representatives (DARs) to sign 8130-3 tags. The tags provide domestic airworthiness approvals for parts held by accredited distributors. The Aviation Suppliers Association appealed to FAA to extend the DAR authority, arguing that if the authority expires, "distributors will be left with billions of dollars worth of inventory they cannot sell" (BA, June 10/275).
Mooney Airplane Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. (MAGL), received an FAA production certificate that permits the Kerrville, Texas manufacturer to build the Eagle2 (M20S), the Ovation2 (M20R) and Bravo2 (M20M) (BA, June 24/295). Jack Jansen, president and chief operating officer of Mooney Airplane, said the award of the certificate was "an important milestone." Since MAGL acquired the company on March 19 "we have been working to bring the production back online.
With FAA Administrator Jane Garvey's departure only a month away, the U.S. Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry called on President Bush last week to move quickly to appoint a new management team at FAA. The commission noted that FAA's senior leadership team is in transition during a "time of severe air transportation challenges." Not only is FAA Administrator Jane Garvey set to leave in August but acting Deputy Administrator Monte Belger plans to retire at the end of this month (BA, May 13/225).
FIRST SOVEREIGN PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT COMPLETES FIRST FLIGHT - The first Citation Sovereign production aircraft made its initial flight last week. The nearly two-hour flight of Serial Number 001 included stability and control checks and engine operation, including in-flight engine restarts, Cessna said.
CESSNA OFFERING VOLUNTARY SEPARATION PLAN TO SOME EMPLOYEES - Cessna Aircraft Company, facing decreased aircraft orders due to the slumping economy, launched a "voluntary separation" program designed to pare its work force by about 900 positions by the end of the year. A brief announcement noted Cessna's "16 years of revenue and employment growth, the longest in our 75-year history.
Nearly 10 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, FAA canceled the temporary flight restriction barring flight below 8,000 feet within a two-nautical-mile radius of the World Trade Center site. While FAA eased the TFR over that New York site, it added several restrictions over landmarks including the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association also expressed concerns about possible government discussions about expanding the TFR over Washington, D.C. from 15 nautical miles to up to 40 nm.
Aircraft Technical Publishers has revised its Aviation Regulatory product line to reflect the new categorizations of security rules under the Transportation Security Administration. Aviation security regulations formerly fell under sections of Title 14 FAR, including Parts 91, 107, 108, 121, 129, 135, 139 and 191. These regulations are reclassified under TSA Parts 1500 through 1699, covering a host of security mandates.
FlightSafety International won European Joint Aviation Authorities approval for its Teterboro, N.J. and Dallas/Fort Worth learning centers to provide pilot training, administer license skills tests, and conduct proficiency checks on the Falcon 50/50EX, 900/900EX and 2000. JAA also approved Challenger 600/601 and 604 training at its Tucson, Montreal, Houston and Wilmington centers.
EUROCOPTER Model SA330F, G, J, and AS332C, L, and L1 helicopters (Docket No. 2002-SW-34-AD; Amendment 39-12786; AD 2002-12-14) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires inserting statements into the Limitations section of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual prohibiting flight under certain atmospheric conditions. This amendment contains the same requirements but corrects, expands, and updates the applicability.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday approved by voice vote a bill that would create a two-year trial program allowing a limited number of airline pilots to carry guns in aircraft cockpits. The bill, a compromise of the version that the House aviation subcommittee passed in mid-June, would allow the Transportation Security Administration to train and deputize up to two percent of the total pilot work force, estimated at about 1,400 pilots, to carry guns in the cockpit.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week approved a bill to secure an agreement struck between Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) and Illinois Gov. George Ryan (R) to expand Chicago O'Hare International Airport and ensure the continued operation of Meigs Field. A companion bill in the Senate already has won Senate Commerce Committee approval and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) last week stepped up his efforts to ensure that charter operators meet more stringent security requirements. Kohl sent letters to his colleagues in the Senate as well as to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta urging them to support requiring pre-boarding screening of passengers and their luggage for charter flights involving aircraft that weigh 12,500 pounds or more. "I am stunned that we have managed to overlook the threat posed by large charter aircraft," Kohl told Senate colleagues.
