Unison Industries, Inc., a privately held company that makes a wide range of electrical and ignition components for aircraft, has accepted a buyout offer from GE Engine Services, a division of GE Aircraft Engines. Unison, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., manufactures and sells turbine ignitions, wiring harnesses, alternators, piston ignitions, sensors and switches to the aerospace and power generation industries. GE has been one of its largest customers.
ROLLS-ROYCE AE 3007 series turbofan engines (Docket No. 99-NE-46-AD; Amendment 39-12558; AD 2001-25-05) - supersedes an existing AD applicable to Rolls-Royce AE 3007 series turbofan engines. That AD currently requires removal of certain compressor cone shafts from service before exceeding new cyclic life limits and replacement with serviceable parts. This amendment requires increasing the cyclic life limit for certain serial numbers of new compressor cone shafts, Part Number 23070729, that are used on AE3007A1/3 and AE3007A1P engines.
Elbit Systems Ltd. of Haifa, Israel, will supply avionics systems, equipment and logistics support for the ALX Super Tucano aircraft that Embraer will manufacture for the Brazilian Air Force, the company announced Jan. 7. The contracts for the equipment total more than $80 million, according to the company.
THE WHITE HOUSE cleared the Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft proposal, which industry groups say is expected to "greatly expand general aviation opportunities" by simplifying certain pilot and aircraft certificates. Sport pilot certificates would allow pilots at least 17 years old to fly during daytime visual flight rules conditions and carry one passenger. Sport pilots, however, could not fly for compensation or fly in restricted or controlled airspace unless they undergo additional training.
FAA's second annual analysis of runway incursion severity, expected this quarter, will show that the most dangerous types of incursions made up a lower percentage of overall events in 2001 compared with 2000, agency officials reported.
THE SEARCH for a chief operating officer to head FAA's air traffic operations finally may be nearing an end.Sources say the list of candidates has been distilled to two, both of whom are believed to have been interviewed by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and his deputy, Michael Jackson. Apparently the primary remaining question is whether either candidate will accept the post if it is offered.
PETER AU was named product engineer at Aircraft Belts. He will be responsible for all engineering-related tasks, including designing and prototyping new products. Au has more than 10 years of mechanical design and engineering experience and has held positions with American Video Equipment and Anaheim Industries.
The Federal Aviation Administration's flight activity data is flawed, limited and needs to be improved before certain safety trends can be identified, the National Transportation Safety Board found in a report to Congress.
MD HELICOPTERS, INC. Model 369D, 369E, 369F, and 369FF helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-40-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to identify the part number (P/N) of the bolts that attach the tail rotor gearbox to the tailboom and replacing any bolt of inadequate grip length with an airworthy bolt. This AD also would require determining the number of bolt threads protruding from each nutplate and adding an additional washer if more than four threads protrude.
The V-22 Osprey, which has remained grounded since a December 2000 accident that killed four Marines, will return to the air a new flight test program beginning in April 2002, Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. "Pete" Aldridge said in a pre-holiday interview. At a Pentagon briefing, Aldridge announced he will allow the V-22 to resume flying in 2002, although he repeated his longstanding concerns about the suitability of tiltrotor technology.
THE TRANSPORATION DEPARTMENT Office of the Inspector General is reviewing the implications of reduced aviation funding stemming from traffic declines since Sept. 11. The Airport and Airways Trust Fund is generated from taxes whose collections have declined. FAA is mostly funded through aviation taxes. The DOT IG study will examine how much more money may be needed from the general federal fund to make up for expected shortfalls, both for FAA's budgets and for the new requirements in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION officials were pleased with the reception their proposal for establishment of Security Letters of Authorization (SLOA) received from federal officials. The association sent the proposal in December to FAA security officials, who in turn forwarded it to the Secret Service. Informal feedback suggests both agencies view the SLOA proposal as a good starting point for discussions on reopening Reagan National Airport (DCA) to business aircraft, although some detailed questions remain to be answered. See article and SLOA details below.
Bombardier will cut 800 more positions at its Wichita manufacturing plant and completion center in Tucson, Ariz. as part of its plans to reduce production dramatically. The layoffs, announced last week, come in addition to some 3,800 jobs that the Canadian conglomerate already had begun to eliminate (BA, Oct. 1/155).
The FAA has approved two runway development projects at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, projects that studies show will allow 28 percent growth of operations in good weather during the next 10 years. An all-new 8,000-foot runway in the plan will allow for simultaneous operations on what would be three north-south runways (18/36). A 2,000-ft. extension of an existing east-west runway (9/27) to 12,000 feet will help the airport qualify for nonstop flights to Asia, a long-time goal.
While aviation interests are lobbying Congress to pass special legislation providing financial help for businesses hurt by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Small Business Administration is processing applications and issuing loans to companies that can show their business has been harmed by the attacks or the subsequent government restrictions on air travel.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued an emergency airworthiness directive to owners and operators of Eurocopter France (ECF) Model AS350 and AS355 helicopters warning of the discovery of cracks in the skin of a tail rotor blade. That condition could result in failure of a blade, severe vibration, loss of the tail rotor gearbox and subsequent loss of the helicopter, FAA said. The AD requires visual checks before further flight and every 10 flight hours thereafter of each blade skin in the area of the trailing edge tab for a cracks.
CESSNA promoted David Porter to vice president, business process and Mike Pool to vice president, Six Sigma. Porter, who will report directly to Cessna CEO Gary Hay, will oversee process-based management implementation. He joined the company in 1998 as director of parts, service and customer accounting. Pool will head up the expansion of Cessna's Six Sigma program. He joined Cessna in December 2000 and most recently was director of activity-based costing. Pool has more than 20 years of experience with program management, operations management and finance.
EMBRAER said that only 21 of 147 of its ERJ 135/145 aircraft in operation over Europe are not fully compliant with new Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) requirements that go into effect Jan. 24. The new rule established minimum vertical separation for flight levels above 29,000 feet at 1,000-foot intervals, down from 2,000 feet previously.
SOME FEDERAL FEES and taxes on aircraft have increased, including the passenger segment fee and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service aircraft clearance fee. The segment fee increased from $2.75 to $3 per leg beginning this year, but the transportation tax remains at 7.5 percent. National Air Transportation Association reminded its members that an Internal Revenue Service memorandum has determined that the segment fee should be assessed per passenger, not per aircraft trip.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION continued its efforts to avert a complete shutdown of VFR access to airspace around Salt Lake City during the Winter Olympics next month. FAA has announced plans for a 45-nautical-mile flight restriction zone around Salt Lake City International Airport covering the surface to 18,000 feet msl for 19 days beginning Feb. 6.
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION cheered the Bush Administration's decision to revoke a proposed "blacklisting" rule that would have prevented companies from receiving government contracts if they were not in compliance with a range of laws. AIA said the contractor responsibility rule, proposed by Clinton Administration in December 2000 but stayed by the Bush Administration in April, would have cost the industry millions of dollars and impeded the war on terrorism. The Federal Acquisition Regulations Council last month decided to permanently revoke the rule.
FAA selected Max Shauck of the Baylor University Department of Aviation Sciences and the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University as the 2001 winners of the agency's Excellence in Aviation awards. FAA recognized Shauck for three decades of aviation research and academic work. "Working with government, academia and industry, he has made valuable contributions to discovering alternative fuels for this nation's general aviation fleet," said FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.
FAIRCHILD AIRCRAFT Models SA226 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-47-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 2001-20-14, which currently requires replacing the brake shuttle valves with parts of improved design and installing a shield over the hydraulic lines on certain Fairchild Aircraft SA226 and SA227 series airplanes. AD 2001-20-14 also requires replacing the rubber fuel hose with a metal device for certain SA226 series airplanes. AD 2001-20-14 resulted from a report of a wheel brake system malfunction caused by a faulty brake shuttle valve.
Illustration: Graph: Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for November 2001 (see related graphs on Pages 21 and 22 of the hard copy of this issue.) Used Retail Deliveries Nov. 1998 Nov. 1999 Nov. 2000 Nov. 2001 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 49 26 13 47 40 28 40 24 20 64 30 16 America Jet Outside 6 1 4 3 2 2 8 3 1 1 2 2 N.
A Challenger 604 business jet carrying two top executives of a U.S. farm equipment manufacturer, and three pilots, crashed on takeoff from Birmingham, England Friday, killing all aboard.
