ELLIOTT AVIATION received an FAA supplemental type certificate approving the installation of Honeywell's Mark VII Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) in Cessna 500 Series Citation aircraft. The display of EGPWS on EFIS-MFD and EFIS-EHSI will allow simultaneous viewing of weather radar and terrain.
PRIESTER AVIATION is opening a brake and accessory shop for testing, inspection, and overhauls at Palwaukee Municipal Airport in Wheeling, Ill. The shop will focus on complete overhauls for wheels, brakes, and generators.
AVIATION SALES, INC. opened a new facility at French Valley Airport in Southern California to serve as an authorized distributor for the Pilatus PC-12 single-turboprop. The company tapped veteran PC-12 and Piper marketer Larry Bardon to head the new facility. Bardon will oversee development and daily operations. "Our initial focus is establishing the Pilatus PC-12 center," he said.
CT58 series and former military T58 series turboshaft engines (Docket No. 2001-NE-07-AD; Amendment 39-12262; AD 2001-12-07) - requires the removal from service of certain fuel flow divider assemblies, and replacement with serviceable parts. Reports of large volumes of fuel leakage from end caps on fuel flow divider assemblies prompted this amendment. The rule is effective July 2, but FAA will accept comments for inclusion in the docket until Aug. 14. Send comments in triplicate to the FAA New England Region, Office of the Regional Counsel, Attention: Rules Docket No.
THE ROLLOUT of the last existing 307 Stratoliner airplane following a six-year restoration process was scheduled June 23 in Seattle. The aircraft, first delivered to Pan American Airways in 1940 as the Clipper Flying Cloud, was restored by a group of 30 Boeing retirees, who used parts and structures built from original drawings by Boeing and its suppliers.
RAYTHEON COMPANY received a contract valued at more than $20 million to supply the Very Advanced Air Traffic Control Automation System (VATCAS) to Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) GmbH of Germany. Raytheon will develop the system over 20 months, creating the system architecture and platform for DFS's Very Advanced Flight Data Processing Operational Requirements Implementation (VAFORIT) program, encompassing a flight data processing system and displays.
CF34-1A, -3A, -3A1, -3A2, -3B, and -3B1 turbofan engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-22-AD; Amendment 39-12261; AD 2001-12-06) - requires initial and repetitive checks of the magnetic chip detector indicators, which are located in the lubrication system for the engine bearings, and installation of an improved No. 5 bearing rotating air seal as a terminating action. A report of the failure of a No.
Bombardier is market-testing the viability of an Asian business charter network that would make access to Asia-based business jets easier and expand the company's worldwide network. "We are currently in discussions with potential launch and operating partners and are excited about this opportunity," said Pierre Beaudoin, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft. "Business aviation is growing in Asia, and customers in the region and those visiting from abroad have a strong desire for efficient and convenient travel solutions."
T5311A, T5311B, T5313B, T5317A, T5317B, T53-L-11, T53-L-11A, T53-L-11B, T53-L-11C, T53-L-11D, T53-L-11A S/SA, T53-L-13B, T53-L-13B S/SA, T53-L-13B S/SB, and T53-L-703 turboshaft engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-34-AD) - proposes to require initial and repetitive special vibration tests of the engine, and if necessary replacement with a serviceable reduction gearbox assembly, or a serviceable engine before further flight.
Development of the super midsize Bombardier Continental business jet is progressing on schedule, officials said last week in Paris. Ground runs began in early June and low-speed taxi testing is expected to start later this month, with first flight to follow. "Four aircraft are now in advanced stages of preparation at our Wichita facility and we plan on flying all of them this year," said John Holding, Bombardier group executive vice president, engineering and product development.
Lee Monson, a veteran business aviation sales executive who was one of the first three sales people to join the Boeing Business Jet program in 1996, was named last week to succeed Borge Boeskov as head of the BBJ program when Boeskov retires early next year.
LORD CORPORATION developed engine isolation technology to help reduce vibration and noise on Dassault's new Falcon 2000EX aircraft. Pratt&Whitney Canada is providing an integrated PW308C propulsion system for the aircraft, and Lord is developing the vibration engine isolation system for mounting the engine to the airframe. The isolator is going through the testing and approval process, and the first engine nacelles are in fabrication. The 2000EX is slated for certification in 2002 with initial deliveries in 2003.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE scheduled an Aug. 8 rollout of its new GV-SP test article with flight testing expected to begin in the fourth quarter. The company installed the new PlaneView cockpit, which incorporates the Honeywell Visual Guidance System and Gulfstream's Enhanced Vision System. The program is on track for certification late next year and deliveries in 2003, Gulfstream says. Gulfstream has 42 orders for the GV-SP.
AAR COMPOSITES is teaming with Bombardier to design, engineer and manufacture car bodies for the new monorail system in Las Vegas, Nev. The monorail is scheduled to enter service in 2004, providing transportation for 19 million passengers annually. The Las Vegas monorail will encompass seven stations, including two existing stations at the MGM-Grand Bally resort hotel, and will extend four miles on an elevated guideway.
BOEING BUSINESS JETS delivered the first BBJ to a Latin American customer at the end of May. Grupo Omnilife S.A. of Mexico took delivery of the "green" 737 variant, which will be completed at Associated Air Center in Dallas, Texas. Omnilife, founded in Guadalajara, Mexico by Jorge Vergara and his wife, Maricruz Zatarian, is a diverse group of companies, with the largest being Omnitrition de Mexico, which is dedicated to the development, production and distribution of food and nutritional products.
Model Mystere-Falcon 900 and Falcon 900EX series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-291-AD; Amendment 39-12264; AD 2001-12-09) - requires replacement of the protective screens of the underfloor structure boxes at Frame 25. This amendment is necessary to prevent water from collecting and freezing in the structure boxes at Frame 25, which could jam the flight controls and consequently reduce airplane controllability. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 127 Dassault Model Mystere-Falcon 900 and Falcon 900EX series airplanes on the U.S.
JET AVIATION ZURICH was named an authorized service center to maintain and repair Honeywell auxiliary power units. While Jet Aviation Zurich has been maintaining and repairing Honeywell turbofan and turboprop engines since 1981, the new contract for APU maintenance expands the agreement.
STELLEX TECHNOLOGIES named Doug Whitlock president of Stellex Precision Machining in Wellington, Kan. Whitlock also will continue to serve as president of Stellex Monitor Aerospace.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT Friday delivered the first Premier I entry-level business jet to a customer, less than a month after it won FAA approval for flight into known icing and for operation of the aircraft by a single pilot (BA, May 28/251). Raytheon hopes to deliver 36 of the $5.3 million, composite-construction aircraft by the end of the year. The Wichita, Kan., plane-maker won basic FAA type certification for the aircraft this spring, five and one-half years after the program was announced at the 1995 NBAA convention.
DESPITE CONCERNS about an economic slowdown, the pace of pilot hiring continues to be brisk, according to AIR, Inc., the Atlanta, Ga.-based firm that tracks industry hiring and organizes job fairs for pilots and carriers. Operators hired 1,478 pilots in May, and AIR says "Strong pilot hiring is anticipated to continue for the balance of 2001, holding just below" the record level of 19,030 new pilot jobs in 2000. For the year to date, 7,765 pilots have been hired, including 419 by fractional aircraft operators.
GARY WYPERD joined the Parts Sales Division of Woodland Aviation, Inc. Wyperd has 20 years of sales experience, most recently with Stevens Aviation in Broomfield, Colo.
THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE blasted FAA's personnel policies in a report last week, criticized pay level disparities between controllers and supervisory ATC personnel and cut funding for new hires.See article below.
GARRETT AVIATION SERVICES is in the process of acquiring flight test data for a Falcon 10/100 reduced vertical separation minimum program. The RVSM group supplemental type certification for those Falcon models is expected later this year.
Dassault Aviation unveiled the Falcon FNX last week, an aircraft designed to be priced below its longer-range competitors from Gulfstream and Bombardier while maintaining the classic three-engine design that has long marked the company's upper-end models.
Safire Aircraft Company Chairman Dimitri Margaritoff named Robert M. Kuhn, a veteran United Technologies executive, as president and chief executive of the West Palm Beach, Fla. firm that is developing the low-cost S-26 twin-turbofan aircraft. Kuhn, who most recently was chairman, CEO and president of Rockwell International's Goss Graphic Systems, previously served as president of Hamilton Standard and senior vice president of business development for UTC.
