Westchester County Airport, White Plains, N.Y., has begun soliciting proposals for consultants to devise a security master pan. Proposals are due July 10, and the airport will hold a mandatory pre-proposal meeting June 17 in the airport administration office. For more information, contact Veronica Archer (914) 995-4890 or Vicky Esters (914) 995-4856.
WAYNE BURK was appointed vice president completions and maintenance sales at Executive Aircraft. Burk will be responsible for assisting customers to meet their aircraft maintenance and modification requirements. He was most recently sales manager for Garrett Aviation.
JET AVIATION opened the company's new maintenance, refurbishment and fixed-base operation facility at London Biggin Hill Airport. The facility has two renovated hangars totaling 17,020 square feet and a new FBO building. The FBO features a reception area for customs and immigration services and a VIP customer lounge.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2C10 Regional Jet Series 700 and 701 series airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-99-AD; Amendment 39-12731; AD 2002-08-19) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual to address uncommanded transfer of fuel between the wing fuel tanks and the center fuel tank; revising the Minimum Equipment List; limiting airplane operation; and increasing normal mission fuel requirements by 3,000 pounds.
BAE Systems and Mesaba struck an agreement under which BAE will have access to Mesaba's Minneapolis-based regional aircraft facility to provide on-site overhaul and repair. BAE will operate a repair station at Mesaba's 126,000-square-foot maintenance facility, relocating the manufacturer's Regional Aircraft Service team from Herndon, Va.
The U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal in Alabama awarded GE Engine Services three T700 repair and overhaul contracts, each for four years. The contracts have a combined value of $205 million. The first agreement covers overhaul and repair of up to 300 T700-700 engines and up to 200 power turbine modules (PTMs) for the Army's UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The second agreement covers up to 200 T-700-701 engines and 35 T-700-701 PTMs used in the AH-64 Apache helicopter.
TURBOMECA ARTOUSTE III series turboshaft engines (Docket No. 99-NE-33-AD) -proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive, applicable to T urbomeca Artouste III series turboshaft engines with injection wheels part numbers (P/N's) 218.25.700.0, 218.25.704.0, 243.25.709.0, 243.25.713.0, 0.218.27.705.0, 0.218.27.709.0, and 0.218.27.713.0 installed. That AD currently requires smoke emission checks after every ground engine shutdown. If smoke is detected, that AD requires inspecting for fuel flow.
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner named Charles S. Macfarlane director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Macfarlane, a realtor and private pilot, served as president and was a major stockholders of the former Aeropark, Inc., located near the Richmond, Va. International Airport. Most recently he was senior vice president of Brandywine Realty Trust.
The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to scrap a phased-in schedule for aircraft minimum separation standards is raising concerns from general aviation groups, who fear that the agency does not have the manpower to accommodate its own December 2004 deadline. FAA May 10 released its long-anticipated proposal to reduce vertical separation minimums (RVSM) from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet for aircraft operating between flight levels 290 through 410 over the contiguous 48 states of the U.S., Alaska and portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) agreed to become a risk-sharing partner in the development of Pratt&Whitney's PW6000 turbofan. Under the agreement, MHI will have a 7.5 percent equity stake in the program. Targeted for 100-passenger aircraft, the engine will provide 16,000 to 24,000 pounds of thrust. MHI also has participated in the development of Pratt&Whitney's PW4000 family and JT8D-200. The PW6000 first flew on an Airbus A318 in January.
Mojave, Calif.-based Really Quiet signed a new service agreement with FedEx Express last week to streamline the manufacture and implementation of the company's Stage 3 Hush Kit. FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, will provide Really Quiet with assistance in customer service and managing the supply chain, the vendor, the production and the warehouse inventory, Really Quiet said.
LMI Aerospace, based in St. Louis, boosted its component business with the acquisition of Versaform Corp. and affiliates, privately held aerospace metal forming companies based in Southern California and British Columbia, Canada. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Versaform makes formed metal components for business and regional jets as well as the military markets. It also produces aerospace and architectural components. Sales for the year ended April 30 were about $12 million. LMI expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings per share.
Mooney Aerospace Group, formerly Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc., inked a deal with New York investment firm Balfour Advisors, LLC to advise Mooney about making good on its plans to expand.
Aetna is closing its flight department and outsourcing its aviation needs, a company spokesman confirmed. Aetna operated three aircraft, a Falcon business jet and two S-76C helicopters, and employed 24 in its flight department. NetJets has won the Aetna business and will manage one of the S-76C helicopters for the insurance giant. Aetna plans to sell its other aircraft, the spokesman said. NetJets also has agreed to hire some of the S-76C pilots and maintenance personnel. Aetna expects the transition to be completed by the end of the month.
VIRGINIA GOV. MARK WARNER named Charles S. Macfarlane director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Macfarlane, a realtor and private pilot, served as president and was a major stockholders of the former Aeropark, Inc., located near the Richmond, Va. International Airport. Most recently he was senior vice president of Brandywine Realty Trust.
BUSINESS AVIATION OPERATORS DISCUSS NEW SECURITY PROCEDURES AT DCA - Despite this month's announcement that the Department of Transportation plans to publish a rule by the end of May to allow general aviation back into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), a lot of work remains to be done to establish the new security measures, the National Business Aviation Association said Monday (BA, May 13/221).
Docket No.: FAA-2001-9874 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 61.113(e) and 119.1(a)(1) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to reimburse members for service and maintenance expenses incurred while serving on official U.S. Air Force assigned missions, and to permit CAP/Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadet orientation flights. Partial Grant, March 19, 2002, Exemption No. 6771B
RAYTHEON Beech Model C90 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-13-AD; Amendment 39-12745; AD 2002-09-12) - requires inspection of the left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) nacelle and spar assembly for the existence of rivets, and requires installation of rivets if they do not exist or are the wrong size or type. This AD is the result of Raytheon identifying several instances where rivets were either missing or were the wrong size or type on these airplanes.
Stevens Aviation Dayton in Ohio was approved as an authorized service center for Raytheon Premier I aircraft. Stevens is authorized to perform heavy and scheduled maintenance, airframe maintenance and engine repair on Premier I aircraft.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-11981 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.853(c) Description of Relief Sought: To obtain a one-time, five-year exemption from meeting the fire blocking test requirement for passenger seats of 14 CFR 25.853(c) for the Falcon 900EX airplane.
Honeywell expects its AS907 turbofan, which will power the Bombardier Continental business jet, to win FAA certification next month, and officials are confident the new powerplant will enjoy a trouble-free service introduction based on an extensive test program.
Proponents of the $5.5 billion general aviation relief bill received another setback last week after the House Appropriations Committee moved to rescind portions of the $15 billion airline bailout bill. The committee approved a provision that would rescind the remainder of $5 billion in direct compensation that has not already been handed out to air carriers under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act. It also would cancel the $10 billion guaranteed loan program, and delay payments already approved until after October.
Stevens Aviation Dayton in Ohio was approved as an authorized service center for Raytheon Premier I aircraft. Stevens is authorized to perform heavy and scheduled maintenance, airframe maintenance and engine repair on Premier I aircraft.
Gulfstream Aerospace executives claim to have markedly improved the quality of Gulfstream 200 (Galaxy) business jets since acquiring Galaxy Aerospace nearly a year ago (BA, June 11/271). In June 2001, the average number of squawks or "exceptions" at delivery was in excess of 100, officials said this month. The average had fallen to under 20 by March and to 10 with the most recent delivery.
