Mooney Aircraft, facing financial difficulties that include an unpaid local tax bill and slumping aircraft sales, filed for protection under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy laws Friday. The court filing follows layoffs of most of the company's production workers earlier this month. In addition, Chris Dopp, who had been president of the Kerrville, Texas manufacturer, left the company two weeks ago.
STEVE DAVIS was named vice president-Boeing Commercial Programs for Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. Davis will be responsible for gaining new business through the expansion of current programs, new programs, future aircraft derivatives and modifications. Davis was most recently vice president of Vought's Dallas site operations.
The non-profit Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology Education announced July 24 it is developing what it says will be the first piloted aircraft powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The foundation is converting a French DynAero Lafayette III to electric propulsion and exhibited the airplane last week at the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture 2001 show in Oshkosh, Wis.
HONEYWELL'S Bendix/King general aviation avionics business completed the design and development of its data link weather ground station network and installation of its first supercell consisting of seven ground stations. The stations are near Olathe, Independence and Lyons, Kan.; Lincoln, Neb.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Columbia and Springfield, Mo. Additional stations are located in Oshkosh, Wis. and Galesburg, Ill. All are part of a flight information service (FIS) network that will have a total of 200 stations.
SEN. PETER FITZGERALD (R-Ill.) is poised to introduce a measure instructing the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois to draft a plan "preserving and utilizing existing Chicago-area reliever and general aviation airports." While the provision does not explicitly mention Meigs Field, the language was drafted as a means to protect the airport, which Chicago Mayor Richard Daley plans to close next year. The measure adds that if a preservation plan cannot be developed, then the DOT Secretary and FAA Administrator will work with Congress to develop a federal approach.
RICK BRAINARD was named to the modification sales team at McKinney Aerospace. Brainard has more than 18 years of aviation experience and will be responsible for interior modification sales and planning marketing strategy for the company's line of interior refurbishment services.
SEVERAL INDUSTRY groups met with Office of Management and Budget representatives last week to urge them to delay issuance of a rule that would rewrite rules governing repair stations operating under Part 145. The groups want FAA to issue the Part 145 rewrite as a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking rather than a final rule to give them additional time to comment. FAA drew fire when it issued the initial proposal in June 1999, but has indicated that it has substantially changed the final rule to reflect concerns raised. See article on Page 53.
TAC AIR recently opened its newly remodeled and expanded FBO and hangar facility at Denver's Centennial Airport (APA). TAC Air installed a new ramp to accommodate large corporate jets and is now adding a self-fueling avgas facility for piston-powered aircraft. A grand opening event is planned for July 31.
MARATHON FLIGHT SERVICES at Kissimmee, Fla. Airport (ISM) broke ground for a new 8,000-square-foot FBO last week. Marathon also is planning construction of a 16,000-square-foot hangar next to the new FBO. The Kissimmee general aviation airport has had a record-breaking year in air traffic and the new construction will permit the FBO to expand its services.
BUSINESS AVIATION SERVICES started a Share-A-Ride program from its Sioux Falls, S.D. location. Share-A-Ride, which the company touts as like a "car pool in the sky," coordinates a network for customers to share charter flights to destinations without scheduled service. The program has been in operation since January and has five trips scheduled this month. Customers may contact Share-A-Ride through e-mail, fax, or by viewing charter flights being planned on Business Aviation Services' website at http://www.busav.com.
Beech Models 1900, 1900C (C-12J), and 1900D Airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-04-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 95-02-18, which currently requires repetitive inspections of the engine truss assemblies for cracks on certain Beech Model 1900, 1900C (C-12J), and 1900D airplanes, repair or replacement of any cracked engine truss assembly, and installation of reinforcement doublers. This proposed AD is the result of continued reports of fatigue cracks found on engine trusses on airplanes in compliance with AD 95-02-18.
Goodrich Corp. and AvroTec, Inc. are jointly developing a synthetic vision system for general aviation aircraft through a partnership with NASA. Under a cooperative research agreement, NASA Langley Research Center is sponsoring the development of an affordable general aviation synthetic vision system that can be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Triumph Group, the Wayne, Pa.-based aerospace manufacturer, reported increase revenue and net income for the first quarter of its fiscal year, which ended June 30. The company reported net income of $12.9 million on sales of $153.5 million, compared with earning of $8.2 million on sales of $129 million a year earlier. As a result of a recent equity offering, Triumph said it received proceeds of approximately $122 million, which were utilized to reduce debt. The number of shares used to calculate earnings per share rose from 12.4 million a year ago to 16 million.
Model ATR 42-200, -300, -320, and -500 series airplanes, and Model ATR 72 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-336-AD; Amendment 39-12332; AD 2001-14-21) - requires temporarily revising the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to add tests of the engine fire protection system and conducting those tests prior to each flight. This amendment also requires replacement of defective engine fire handles with serviceable fire handles, which terminates the revision of the AFM and the repetitive tests of the engine fire protection system.
GARMIN INTERNATIONAL INC. introduced the GDL 49 Satellite Data Link Transceiver and the GTX 330 Mode-S Transponder to increase safety by providing pilots with weather and traffic conditions. The GDL 49 allows access to satellite weather information by pilots at any altitude and location in the continental United States. With the GTX 330, pilots can see surrounding flight activity, enhancing air traffic control services. The GDL 49 is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2001 and cost $3,495.
TRANSCONTINENTAL AVIONICS CORPORATION added Aero Graham Avionics of Ft. Pierce, Fla. to its network of dealers. TCA also agreed to market additional avionics products through its network of repair and installation facilities.
MICHAEL D. WOLF was appointed president of Textron Lycoming. Wolf was most recently executive vice president and general manager of the piston engine manufacturer. "Mike has played a key role in Lycoming's success over the last 18 years. His impressive industry knowledge and market experience will help the company continue to leverage its global leadership in the piston aircraft engine industry and to expand its share of the market," said John Janitz, Textron president.
GENERAL ELECTRIC opened a $30 million new jet engine overhaul and maintenance facility in Xiamen, China. The 80,000-square-foot facility will be a base for repair, maintenance and testing of GE and CFM International jet engines. The facility will be owned and operated by GE Engine Services Company, Ltd.
In an apparent reversal from past policy, the Bush Administration committed to develop a comprehensive policy to managing backcountry airstrips that includes protections of legitimate uses and a public process before any of the landing strips could be altered. Both Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman made that promise in separate letters to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who was pushing legislation to prevent federal land managers from suddenly closing backcountry airstrips on a whim.
CITATIONSHARES, one year after the company's launch by Cessna and Tag Aviation USA, signed the 100th customer for its business jet fractional ownership program. The customer purchased a one-eighth share of CitationShares' first Citation Excel.
JEFFREY SHANE, who held senior posts at the Transportation and State Departments under former President George Bush, is expected to be named associate deputy secretary or undersecretary of DOT with responsibility for transportation policy and for aviation and international affairs, according to an exclusive report Friday in BA affiliate Aviation Daily. Shane is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan&Hartson.
David L. Blackshear, hired just two years ago by the state of Maryland to oversee a major expansion of Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) and upgrade the state's general aviation airports (BA, Sept. 6/107), abruptly resigned as head of the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) last week, saying he was frustrated by the bureaucracy that limited his ability to effectively run the agency.
JOHN HAMMERSCHMIDT'S nomination for another term as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board will be considered Aug. 1 by the Senate Commerce Committee in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building.
CANADIAN SIMULATOR manufacturer CAE and Agusta SpA, an AgustaWestland Company, finalized the formation of RotorSim, a consortium "that will pursue global opportunities in helicopter simulation and training. The new entity, to be based in Cascnia Costa, Italy, will offer state-of-the-art training and simulation solutions for the full range of AgustaWestland helicopters. The new venture, in which each company will hold a 50 percent stake, is the second recent example of collaboration between the Canadian and Italian firms.
