NEW ZEALAND appointed Captain John Jones as the new director of Civil Aviation. Jones will replace Kevin Ward, who served for nine years, in October. With experience in general aviation, helicopter operations, engineering, and corporate jet services, Jones is now the flight operations manager for Mount Cook Airlines. Jones's appointment "concludes an international search for a director with technical and political know-how and who commands industry respect," said Rodger Fisher, chairman of the CAA.
PROFESSIONAL AVIATION ASSOCIATES in Atlanta, Ga. signed a distributor agreement with FFC Manufacturing of Memphis, Tenn. to sell FFC's floats and fuel cells.
If something isn't done to help U.S. commercial aerospace exporters penetrate overseas markets, the commercial aerospace industry in the U.S. might go the way of the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry: out of business, says John Douglass, president and chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association.
ROBERT GARRYMORE was promoted to senior vice president, aircraft management sales, for Executive Jet Management. Based in Woodbridge, N.J., Garrymore is responsible for expanding EJM's fleet. Garrymore began his aviation career in 1993 when he joined Jet Aviation in Teterboro, N.J. as regional sales manager, Jet Aviation Business Jets. He later joined the Galloway Group of Teterboro, an aircraft brokerage firm, before moving to EJM in 1998.
Healthy backlogs in the business aviation and regional markets coupled with the stability of its government business will help propel Rockwell Collins in the near future as it moves forward as an independent company, said Rockwell Collins President and Chief Executive Clay Jones. Speaking to reporters last week in Washington, D.C., Jones outlined his vision of the recently spun-off Rockwell Collins with plans to grow through strengthened and integrated product lines, acquisitions, and alliances.
Jim Christiansen, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of TAG Aviation USA, plans to leave the company in about 30 days to seek other management opportunities in the aviation business. Christiansen, 54, insisted that his pending departure is "a very amicable arrangement," adding that it was "one of the most agonizing decisions I've ever made."
THE AVIATION COMMUNITY, meanwhile, continues to wait for FAA to make a final decision on another airspace issue - reduced separation minimums in domestic airspace. FAA promised to decide on how it plans to move ahead with new domestic reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) standards by mid-July, but the agency still appears uncertain about its approach.
CAE won a contract valued at $40 million (Canadian) from Eurofighter Simulation Systems GmbH for the Eurofighter Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) program. CAE will develop simulation technology for 27 training devices, including full mission simulators, cockpit trainer/ interactive pilot stations (CT/IPS) and other ancillary devices. CAE also will assist with the installation and integration of the training devices at the German Air Force's Eurofighter Main Operating Bases. The first base is expected to be ready for training in 2004 at Laage, Germany.
LAWRENCE SMITH, an Arizona attorney, has created a web site critical of the Federal Aviation Adminstration. The purpose of www.faajustice.com is "to educate airmen to the undeniable fact that FAA's administratively ordered license penalties for air safety violations have no legal basis," Smith said. Smith has challenged FAA's enforcement authority numerous times over the last twenty years.
AVIATION GENERAL, INC. adopted a Shareholder Rights Agreement that the company said is designed to "deter a hostile acquisition of the company not in the best interest of its stockholders Aviation General, Incorporated." Under the agreement, rights to purchase shares of newly issued Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock will be distributed to stockholders as a non-cash dividend at the rate of one right for each share of the company's common stock.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. is incorporating a series of improvements to its SR20, including an increase in the gross weight to 3,000 pounds with a useful load of 950 pounds. The aircraft also has the option of a high-intensity discharge landing light in the lower cowl. The design changes stem from its SR22 program. "Our intent is to keep improving the SR 20," said Cirrus's Ian Bentley, who added that the improvements will not change the price. Cirrus will offer the changes as a retrofit option for the 140 SR20s already delivered.
BAE SYSTEMS (Operations) Limited Model Avro 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-211-AD; Amendment 39-12363; AD 2001-15-28) - requires modification of the passenger service units. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the passenger service units to deliver oxygen to the passengers in the event of decompression of the airplane, which could result in injury to the passengers. The FAA estimates that this AD will affect 40 Model BAe Systems Model Avro 146-RJ series airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $12,000, or $300 per airplane.
FLIR SYSTEMS introduced a new airborne imaging product for law enforcement use. The Ultra 7500 provides around-the-clock, high-altitude, long-range search and surveillance capability from rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. Equipped with a low-light TV camera and a laser illuminator option, the product can track moving vehicles and people to help police aviation units.
A new proposed FAA Technical Standard Order for child restraint systems on aircraft is available for public review and comment. The TSO (TSO-C100b) requires minimum performance standards as set by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. Aerospace Standard Document No. AS 5276/1, "Performance Standard for Child Restraint Systems in Transport Category Airplanes" with FAA amendments as outlined in the TSO. The documents detail safety requirements such as passenger seat lap belts with fixed rigid bar anchorages and fireproof cushions and upholstery.
AN INDUSTRY WORKING GROUP has asked for more time to draft recommendations for a new rule governing extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) in U.S. airspace. A year ago, FAA tasked the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee with developing an ETOPS proposal for both Part 135 and Part 121 operations by June (BA, Aug. 28, 2000/96).
ROLLS-ROYCE signed a $10 million contract with the Brazilian government to deliver Gem turboshaft engines and spare parts. The parts will be used in Brazil's fleet of 14 Westland Super Lynx Mk 21A naval helicopters, which are used for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and transport. The contract is financed through a plan that allows the Brazilian defense procurement agency to buy equipment under a credit agreement with the French bank, Paribas.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL recently won FAA certification for its Premier I full flight simulator at the company's Raytheon learning center in Wichita, Kan. The simulator received FAA Level C approval with Level D expected following additional flight-testing and data collection. FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla., designed and built the new Premier I simulator. Raytheon began delivery of the Premier I aircraft in June.
John Pope, one of the first employees of the National Business Aircraft Association who was instrumental in the association's growth for more than 20 years, will be honored as the first recipient of the NBAA Staff Lifetime Achievement Award at the group's convention next month in New Orleans, La.
The Beech King Air that crashed on January 27 - killing eight Oklahoma State University (OSU) basketball team personnel and two pilots - apparently lost electrical power at about 23,000 feet before crashing into hilly, snow-covered Colorado countryside about 11 minutes later, a report issued Tuesday shows.
General Dynamics continued its aggressive acquisition campaign last week, agreeing to purchase Motorola's Integrated Information Systems Group for $825 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities and ongoing obligations. The Motorola unit, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is a major provider to defense and government customers of products and systems for secure communications, information assurance, situational awareness and integrated communication systems. The unit has 3,000 employees, including 1,100 degreed engineers.
The Customs Service this month proposed some long-awaited changes to its southern border crossing program and outlined plans to make permanent a second program designed to ease crossings from Canada.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION petitioned the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision to allow Richards-Gebaur Airport in Kansas City, Mo., to close. "AOPA is arguing that FAA should follow the letter of the law before it permits a federally obligated airport to close," said Bill Dunn, AOPA vice president for regional affairs.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION is fighting a proposal circulating in Congress that would change the jet fuel tax structure to make the end user, rather than the producer, responsible for the tax.Currently, the producer is responsible for the tax remittance, but must divide out the difference between the 24.4-cent-per-gallon charge on kerosene and the 21.9-cent-per-gallon levy on jet fuel, a form of kerosene.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Experimental Aircraft Association have differing views about the severity of a runway incursion incident that occurred during this year's EAA convention in Oshkosh, Wis. According to a preliminary NTSB report, an American Trans Air Boeing 727 "maneuvered abruptly during takeoff roll on Runway 9 at Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh, Wis. to avoid a Smith Lancair 360 that was taxiing for takeoff west" on the same runway.
British European confirmed its order for 12 Avro RJX-100s with options to purchase eight more from BAE in a deal valued at more than $600 million. Deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled to begin in April 2002. The airline, headquartered in Exeter, England, currently flies BAe 146 aircraft and the addition of the RJX will give the airline more network development potential, said Jim French, managing director.
