ENVIRONMENTAL STREAMLINING TAKES STEP FORWARD IN HOUSE BILL - After ironing out the concerns of some key legislators, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week approved by voice vote a bill designed to streamline the environmental review process to help reduce the time it takes to complete an airport expansion project. The bill, the Airport Streamlining Approval Process Act of 2002, was one of three that the Committee passed Wednesday and the House aviation subcommittee cleared April 17.
FlightSafety International's Houston training center received FAA's Level D certification for two Embraer Regional Jet ERJ 145/135 full flight simulators located at the Houston/Hobby Airport Center. The company also received Level D certification for the VITAL-9 visual system, which is installed on an ERJ 145 simulator at the St. Louis training center at Lambert International Airport. The VITAL visual system "provides sharper, more textured and detailed scenes" in the simulator, FlightSafety said.
SIKORSKY PULLS S-92 FROM JAPANESE PROGRAM - Sikorsky Aircraft, which had offered a military version of its S-92 helicopter to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, has withdrawn from the competition. That leaves EH Industries' EH-101 as the only entry to replace the Japanese Navy's MH-53E minesweeper/transport helicopters. Sikorsky withdrew from the competition because work on the military version of the S-92 wouldn't be done in time for the Navy's deadline, according to Mitsubishi Training Corp., a Sikorsky sales agent in Japan.
NEW ORLEANS LAKEFRONT AIRPORT SEEKS PRIVATIZATION TO BOOST BOTTOM LINE - New Orleans Lakefront Airport moved one step closer to entering the FAA pilot privatization program, a move some say could save the city as much as $34 million over the term of the 50-year lease to a private operator. Only one airport, Newburgh, N.Y., Stewart International, has privatized under the program.
Cirrus Design Corp. raised prices for its two single-engine models. Base price of the 200-horsepower SR20 went from $197,600 to $207,800, while the base price for the 310-horsepower SR22 rose from $276,600 to $289,400.
COLLINS NAMES TWO TO NEW COMMUNICATIONS POSTS - Rockwell Collins appointed two industry veterans to new communications jobs last week. Pat Zerbe, who joined Collins four years ago, was named director, corporate communications. She will be responsible for business and financial media activities, as well as advertising, internet and international trade shows. Zerbe, who spent 13 years at Raytheon Aircraft, was most recently director of strategic communications at Collins. She is a licensed pilot.
Compass Aerospace Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., completed its out-of-court restructuring with agreements with its senior lenders, bond holders and equity partners. The company said CSFB Global Opportunities Fund, which previously had purchased substantially all of Compass Aerospace Corporation's outstanding bonds, has now exchanged the bonds for equity and become Compass' majority stockholder. "Over the last two years we have been able to reduce the debt of Compass by over 80 percent," said John R. Reimers, president and chief executive of Compass.
The bad news kept coming last week for German aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier as another customer said it is thinking about dropping orders for more than 30 aircraft and U.S. employees of the company filed suit against it. See article on Page 200. Atlantic Coast Airlines, which had ordered a total of 65 328JETS and taken delivery of 33, said it is in discussions with Fairchild Dornier regarding the status of the remaining regional jets on firm order.
GENERAL AVIATION manufacturers hope a measure in the recently enacted Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 will give them another tool to close sales that may be held up by buyers' concerns about the uncertain economy.The measure provides businesses with an additional 30 percent depreciation allowance in the first year for transportation assets acquired between Sept. 10, 2001 and Sept. 11, 2004.
Hartzell Propeller will provide China's Hafei Aviation Industry with a four-bladed lightweight series turbine propeller system. The 96-inch propellers will be installed on the Y12E aircraft, the newest in Hafei's line. The aircraft, a high-wing twin turboprop designed for commuter and utility operations, is an update of the Y12. Hafei received a Chinese type certificate for the aircraft last December and is seeking FAA certification.
Compass Aerospace Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., completed its out-of-court restructuring with agreements with its senior lenders, bond holders and equity partners. The company said CSFB Global Opportunities Fund, which previously had purchased substantially all of Compass Aerospace Corporation's outstanding bonds, has now exchanged the bonds for equity and become Compass' majority stockholder. "Over the last two years we have been able to reduce the debt of Compass by over 80 percent," said John R. Reimers, president and chief executive of Compass.
Model 328-100 and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-318-AD) - proposes to require inspecting the identification plate on the fire extinguisher bottle of the auxiliary power unit (APU), and replacing the actuating cartridge of the fire extinguisher bottle with a correct actuating cartridge, if necessary. This proposal also would require removing the fire extinguisher bottle equipped with the actuating cartridge from the APU, and reinstalling the fire extinguisher bottle equipped with the correct actuating cartridge into the APU.
Model P-180 airplanes (Docket No. 2002-CE-02-AD; Amendment 39-12712; AD 2002-08-04) - requires replacing the four defective horizontal stabilizer hinge bushings with replacement bushings. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Italy. The actions specified by this AD are intended to replace defective bushings before they cause failure of the horizontal stabilizer. Such failure could lead to loss of control of the aircraft. The AD affects an estimated two aircraft on the U.S.
FlightSafety Simulation is building a Bombardier Global Express full flight simulator that will be delivered in the fourth quarter of next year. The simulator will be certified to FAA Level D standards. FlightSafety provides Bombardier Challenger training at its centers in Montreal, Canada, Houston, Texas, Wilmington, Del. and Tucson, Ariz. The Global Express simulator will be "located at a FlightSafety learning center most convenient to the growing number of operators of the Bombardier Global Express business aircraft," FlightSafety said.
MIKE WOLF, president of engine maker Textron Lycoming, told conference attendees his company believes production of new piston-powered aircraft will rise six percent between 2003 and 2006. Wolf says the post-9/11 restrictions that were imposed on general aviation continue to dampen sales, even though nearly all of the restrictions have been lifted.
Model EC120B, EC155B, SA330F, SA330G, SA330J, AS332C, AS332L, AS332L1, AS332L2, AS350B, AS350BA, AS350B1, AS350B2, AS350B3, AS350D, AS355E, AS355F, AS355F1, AS355F2, AS355N, AS365N2, AS365N3, SA-365N, and SA-365N1 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-50-AD) - proposes to require determining the load release unit (cargo hook) serial number, measuring the clearance between the locking catch and the cargo hook, and removing unairworthy cargo hooks from service. This proposal is prompted by the discovery of a defect on certain cargo hooks that may prevent load release.
SA226 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-17-AD; Amendment 39-12708; AD 2002-08-01) - requires for certain aircraft equipped with Skidmore-Wilheim Manufacturing Co. Model V1-15-1000 brake master cylinders, replacing these brake master cylinders with new or overhauled units of the same design. This AD is the result of reports of dragging brakes during taxi operations. The actions specified by this AD are intended to correct and prevent future malfunctioning brake master cylinders.
Model F-28, F-28A, F-28C, F-28F, 280, 280C, 280F, and 280FX helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-67-AD; Amendment 39-12710; AD 2002-08-03) - supersedes an existing airworthiness directive for Enstrom Helicopter Model F-28, F-28A, F-28C, F-28F, 280, 280C, 280F, and 280FX helicopters. That AD requires determining the radius of the shaft fillet, performing certain visual and dye-penetrant inspections before further flight, and replacing certain main rotor transmissions.
Less than a year after being selected to right a floundering Raytheon Aircraft Company, James E. Schuster has instituted a series of sweeping changes in management and process and believes the Wichita-based manufacturer is poised to return to profitability within a couple of years.
AVIDYNE CORPORATION selected Sullivan Higdon&Sink of Wichita, Kan. to develop advertising strategies for new Avidyne product lines and create a new branding strategy for the company. Avidyne designs and manufactures cockpit products for general and business aircraft.
The sustained soft market for propeller-driven airplanes is spurring Cessna to move some of its McCauley Propeller Systems work to Columbus, Ga., and to close the factory in Vandalia, Ohio, Cessna announced last week. The company was still working out the details of the move, but expects that 30 of the 195 affected employees in Vandalia would transfer to Columbus and that the operation would retain the McCauley name. "Market conditions over the last several months have made it necessary to adjust single-engine piston production schedules," the company said.
Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1H, UH-1L, and UH-1P; and Southwest Florida Aviation Model SW204, SW204HP, SW205, and SW205A-1 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-41-AD) - proposes to require updating the product identification, extending the application of the AD to other models, continuing the existing retirement time for certain main rotor tension-torsion (TT) straps, and adding the TT strap part numbers to the applicability.
PRATT&WHITNEY ENGINE SERVICES, INC. completed construction of a 17,000-square-foot hangar at Harrison Marion Regional Airport (CKB) near Bridgeport, W.Va., significantly increasing the fly-in engine repair and service capabilities of the facility, the engine maker said. The expansion is the fourth since the Bridgeport facility opened in 1971.
Docket No.: FAA-2001-11169 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR SFAR-88 Description of Relief Sought: To permit Lockheed Model L-188 airplanes to operate without meeting the requirements of SFAR-88.
No further talks are scheduled with union members who went on strike at Bombardier's Montreal-area plants last week, a company spokesman said Friday. About 7,500 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 712 have been on strike since April 15, after 60 percent of the membership voted to reject the second contract offer from Bombardier and more than 90 percent endorsed a strike.
