LONGMIRE said the Administration needs to be satisfied that the level of security is equivalent to that used by scheduled carriers before general aviation could use DCA. He cited the measures taken with the air carriers, including hardened cockpit doors, air marshals and other security procedures. While he acknowledged that air marshals and hardened cockpit doors would not be practical in general aviation, operations must be at least as secure, Longmire said.
SHARPLY LOWER PRICES, low interest rates and a bountiful supply of used business jets have created a very favorable buyer's market, a couple of veteran brokers told BA last week. Sales are still slow, but activity is picking up as the economy appears to be headed out of recession. See article below.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-11468 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.319(a), 119.5(g), and 119.21(a) Description of Relief Sought: To permit The Collings Foundation to operate its former military McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom airplane, which has an experimental airworthiness certificate, for the purpose of carrying passengers on local flights in return for receiving donations.
SEN. JIM INHOFE (R-Okla.) is expected to introduce legislation this week to match the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2001, H.R.3347, which would provide general aviation up to $5.5 billion in loans and compensation to cover losses stemming from Sept. 11. H.R.3347 cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month (BA, March 4/105) and backers are hopeful it will reach the House floor soon.
AIRCRAFT ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION has sold more than 190 booth spaces for its 45th Annual International Convention and Trade Show April 25-27 in Palm Springs, Calif. AEA said it expanded the exhibit space twice to accommodate exhibitors, which include manufacturers of avionics, instruments, airframe and test equipment, and shop owners. The convention will host a series of seminars, regulatory panels and seminars covering an array of topics.
JET AVIATION, Geneva, Switzerland, recently performed its first complete wing de-mate of a Gulfstream II business jet. The aircraft was ferried to Geneva for the wing de-mate procedure after corrosion was found. In order to perform the job, Jet Aviation arranged to ship special shoring equipment to Geneva from the company's West Palm Beach, Fla. facility. Officials said X-ray and ultrasonic inspections revealed corrosion under the main landing gear locks, between the fuselage and the wings, in the clothes pin fittings and along the torque box.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT sold two 172R Skyhawks to Kawasho Corp., its Cessna Sales Team Authorized Representative in Tokyo. The aircraft will be used for flight training. "Interest in general aviation in Japan continues to grow," said Chris Bogaars, Cessna sales director in the Asia Pacific. "Over 600 single-engine piston aircraft currently operate in Japan, and over half of those are Cessnas."
TWO GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE demonstration pilots broke a 44-year-old speed record in a Gulfstream V on a flight from Tokyo Narita to Washington Dulles International Airport, the National Aeronautic Association reported last week. The pilots, Gregory Sheldon and Robert McKenney, completed the 6,739-mile flight in 11 hours and 54 minutes, averaging more than 492 knots. U.S. Air Force Brigadier General William Eubank and a crew set the previous record in 1958 flying a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.
HOWARD W. CANNON, 90, a Democratic senator from Nevada who ruled the Senate Commerce Committee with a firm hand and helped enact the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, died March 5 at a Las Vegas hospital where he had been treated for Alzheimer's disease. Cannon, a native of St. George, Utah, graduated from college in 1933 and the University of Arizona law school in 1937. He was an Army Air Force pilot in Europe in World War II.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-11355 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 61.71(a) Description of Relief Sought: To permit Embry-Riddle to consider two students to have met the aeronautical experience, aeronautical knowledge, and areas of operation requirements of Part 61 although the students were not able to pass the practical test within 60 days of graduation due to Sept. 11, 2001 flight restrictions.
Dassault Aviation has begun flight testing its Falcon 900EX with an integrated EASy flight deck. The first flight last month of the fully integrated cockpit management system launched the certification program that is expected to conclude in early 2003. "The first flight marks a major milestone in the EASy development process," said Christine Courault, Dassault's EASy program manager.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION extended waivers of airport slot usage requirements until Oct. 26, 2002 to help carriers that are still running on reduced schedules. Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, FAA provided air carriers a waiver until April 7 from requirements that they use at least 80 percent of the takeoffs and landing slots they are allocated into airports that are slot-controlled.
AIR CHARTER GUIDE'S latest survey revealed that charter bookings jumped an average of 17 percent in January, continuing the growth trend in the on-demand air taxi market since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Charter operators last fall admitted a softening in bookings through mid-2001, but reported a surge in demand after the Sept. 11 attacks. The Air Charter Guide last month surveyed 102 U.S.
TWO MONTHS after the National Business Aviation Association first started holding monthly meetings to discuss how to get business aviation back into Washington Reagan National Airport, Bush Administration officials are still unwilling to commit to a timeline on when it will happen.But, at NBAA's third user dialog on the issue last week, a Transportation Security Administration official offered a glimmer of hope.
ROCKWELL COLLINS selected ZNYX Networks' embedded switch design and OpenArchitect software to integrate into its new eTES commercial in-flight entertainment systems. The new systems will provide in-flight Ethernet connections for web-browsing and e-mail as well as audio and video for individual seats. The systems are scheduled to ship midyear 2002.
ALAIN LEBOUCHER was appointed director of sales for components, landing gears and auxiliary power units at Barfield, Inc. He will be responsible for component and APU sales in North and Latin America for EADS Sogerma Services Group. LeBoucher was most recently Middle and Far East sales director for EADS Sogerma Services in France.
MT-PROPELLER ENTWICKLUNG GmbH Models MTV-9-B-C and MTV-3-B-C propellers [Docket No. 99-NE-35-AD] - proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive that currently requires initial and repetitive inspections of Torx head blade root lag screws that are used on certain serial number (S/N) propellers and replacing all lag screws on the propeller if any screws are found broken or with insufficient torque. In addition, that AD currently requires replacing certain part number (P/N) Torx head blade root lag screws with improved, hexagonal head blade root lag screws.
The former owner of a popular San Jose, Calif. night spot, and a veteran pilot, was killed when his twin turboprop Cessna Conquest, N444JV, crashed shortly after taking off from Reid-Hillview Airport on the morning of March 6.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. won type certification from Transport Canada for the Cirrus SR20 single-engine aircraft last week and is continuing to pursue similar approval for the SR22. The Canadian certification is "another validation of the concept, design and manufacture of this innovative aircraft," said Alan Klapmeier, president and chief executive officer. "We're committed to the process of certifying our aircraft internationally, and are pleased that this initiative continues with our neighbors to the North."
CURTIS HILL was named general manager at Woodland Aviation, an authorized Raytheon Aircraft sales and service center. He will be responsible for daily business operations and supervision of department managers. Hill, who was previously the director of operations and customer service for Northwest Airlines' Cargo Division, has more than 15 years of experience in airline operations and finance.
JET AVIATION'S facilities in London Biggin Hill, United Kingdom, and Dusseldorf, Germany, were named authorized service centers for the Embraer Legacy. Embraer expects to begin Legacy deliveries in the European market this month.
ADAM AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES, Englewood, Colo., named two pilots to head the CarbonAero flight test program, which is scheduled to begin in June. Steve Martin is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School. He spent 20 years as a Marine Corps pilot and also spent several years instructing Airbus pilots for United Airlines. He holds an Air Transport Pilot rating and has logged more than 4,200 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft types.
NATIONAL AVIATION HALL OF FAME will induct four industry pioneers during ceremonies at the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, Ohio. Those being honored are: Frank Piasecki, who made America's second successful helicopter flight in the PV-2 in 1943. His Piasecki Helicopter Corp. began building aircraft in 1946; Dick Rutan, who in 1986 completed the first around-the-world nonstop, nonrefueled flight in the Voyager aircraft, with his co-pilot, Jeana Yeager; James Stockdale, a decorated Navy aviator who was Ross Perot's vice presidential running mate in 1992.
DE HAVILLAND Models DHC-2 Mk. I, DHC-2 Mk. II, and DHC-2 Mk. III airplanes [Docket No. 97-CE-70-AD] - proposes to require modification of the elevator tip rib on each elevator; repetitively inspecting underneath the mass balance weights at each elevator tip rib for corrosion; and either removal of the corrosion or replacement of a corroded elevator tip rib depending on the corrosion damage. This proposed AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority for Canada.
KARL G. HARR, 79, the president of the Aerospace Industries Association for nearly three decades, died March 5 at a Washington, D.C. area hospital following a stroke. Harr, a native of New Jersey and a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, was engaged in Army intelligence work in the Far East during World War Two. He received a law degree from Yale University in 1948 and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.
