Federal Aviation Administration picked Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to lead a team of five universities that will create a "center of excellence" to research general aviation technology and safety issues. The team, which also includes Wichita State, the University of North Dakota, Florida A&M and the University of Alaska, will establish a cooperative agreement with FAA to act as "equal technical and fiscal partners" to support research and development programs.
RICK O'QUINN joined Aircraft Belts as technical sales manager. O'Quinn has 20 years of sales experience, most recently as a marketing representative for Motorola Communications.
FAA's AIRCRAFT AND AIRMEN REGISTRY in Oklahoma City, Okla. is now making a lot of its data available on the Internet through the agency's web site, registry.faa.gov.The web site has been operating for about a year, but officials keep making more information accessible, recently adding the full airmen and aircraft databases. As of April 4 users could send an interactive query to the aircraft database to locate aircraft by type, serial number or N number.
CATHY BRADY was promoted to charter sales supervisor of the Eastern sales division for The Air Group. Brady joined The Air Group's New York office in 1998 as air charter travel manager. She also served in a number of capacities for Northeast Airways, including vice president of the charter sales division.
ANOTHER EFFORT that could lead to reduced horizontal separation between aircraft is a system being developed by Boeing designed to break up trailing vortices. The system, which has been demonstrated in ground tests, uses control surfaces to cyclically shift a small fraction of the lift between inboard and outboard sections of the wing to trigger wake instabilities that destroy vortices.
PRESIDENT BUSH showed he's following the national debate on airport congestion and flight delays, telling a national newspaper editors meeting in Washington that "what we need to do is expand the number of runways all around America." Bush said there are a "lot" of environmental regulations, some of which inhibit the construction of new runways. As for the need for a third Chicago area airport, which would require federal funding, Bush said, "I have not made up my mind yet."
Model 55 series airplanes and Model 60 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-128-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the brake valve adjustment screw with a new, improved screw, and for certain airplanes, it would also require installation of a new brake valve lever stop. This action is necessary to prevent bottoming of the valve components before contact of the brake valve lever with the stop, which could result in loss of all hydraulic fluid and consequent loss of normal braking. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.
IS RAYTHEON COMPANY getting ready again to start seeking buyers for Wichita-based Raytheon Aircraft Company? Despite an order backlog of more than $4 billion, RAC is eliminating the jobs of about 10 percent of its managerial and administrative work force, which should improve profitability and make RAC more attractive to potential buyers. See article on Page 169. Raytheon had been seeking buyers for RAC until late last year (BA, Jan. 1/1).
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer made a successful first flight of its Legacy business jet, a version of the 37-passenger ERJ-135 regional jet. The 90-minute March 31 flight was made with S/N 363, which will be used for aerodynamics and system integration tests in the certification program. The crew tested all flap and gear configurations, did stalls, flew to a maximum altitude of 39,000 feet and reached a top speed of Mach .80. The aircraft took off at its maximum takeoff weight of 48,479 pounds.
HOUSE Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) asked Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to review why the former Homestead Air Force Base in Florida is not available for civil aviation use and to determine what transportation leaders can do to ensure that other such facilities remain a viable option for expanding aviation capacity. The U.S. Air Force in January reversed a decision it made seven years ago to permit commercial aeronautical use at Homestead (BA, Jan. 22/41).
DUNCAN AVIATION received FAA supplemental type certificate approval to modify certain Citations with the Universal Avionics terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS). The STC covers installations on Citation 500, 550, S550 and 560 models. Duncan provides avionics installations and modifications at its facilities in Lincoln, Neb. and Battle Creek, Mich., as well as satellite shops at Teterboro, N.J., Van Nuys, Calif., Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, Denver, Colo. and Las Vegas, Nev.
Model CL-600-2B19 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-33-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires repetitive ultrasonic inspection to detect damage of the actuator lugs of the flight spoiler center hinge; and corrective action, if necessary. This proposal would mandate the previously optional terminating action by requiring replacement of the flight spoilers with new improved spoilers.
The Federal Aviation Administration must take more far-reaching steps to protect against runway incursions and air traffic controller errors as increased traffic jeopardizes aviation safety, National Transportation Safety Board acting Chair Carol Carmody told a House panel. "The continued growth of commercial aviation and the general aviation fleet continue to strain the U.S. aviation system infrastructure," Carmody testified before the House transportation appropriations subcommittee Wednesday.
The pilot of a Cessna Citation 501 was killed April 2 when he encountered a problem shortly after takeoff and crashed into a milk bottling plant. The aircraft, N405PC, had just taken off from Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) in Green Bay for a nonstop flight to Ft. Myers, Fla. when the pilot reported an unspecified problem and said he had to return to the airport. There were snow showers in the area at the time.
Model 172RG airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-24-AD; Amendment 39-12153; AD 2001-06-06) - requires inspection of the main landing gear pivot assemblies for cracks, replacement of any cracked main landing gear pivot assemblies, and installation of new bushings on the pivot assembly shaft. This AD is the result of many service difficulty reports of cracked main landing gear pivot assemblies on the affected airplanes. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect, correct, and prevent future cracks on the original design landing gear pivots.
Canadian manufacturer CAE of Toronto won contracts for aircraft simulators valued at more than $100 million (all monetary figures are expressed in Canadian dollars) from Bombardier Aerospace, Continental Express and a Dutch training firm. Bombardier ordered two full flight simulators (FFS), one flight training device (FTD) and the upgrade of an existing FTD to FFS status, a deal valued at more than $40 million.
NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM is expected to announce the selection of a contractor this week to build the museum's new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport. Plans call for a fast-track construction program to enable the center to open on schedule in December 2003. Ground-breaking ceremonies for the new Dulles facility were held last fall (BA, Oct. 30/199).
MIDCOAST AVIATION won FAA supplemental type certificate approval to install BFGoodrich Aerospace's GH-3000 electronic standbay instrument systems on Challenger 604 aircraft. The GH-300 provide heading and navigation data, including emergency airspeed, altitude and attitude on a single three-inch active matrix LCD display.
THE NORDAM GROUP is expanding its Southeast Asia repair facility, Nordam Singapore Pte. Ltd., with a new 40,000-square-foot facility in the Changi North area of Singapore. "We believe the Asian aircraft repair market is poised for tremendous growth over the next five years," said Meredith Siegfried, Nordam Repair Division director of International operations, adding that the expansion will allow it to offer full bonding capability for selected reversers, nacelles, airframe parts and flight controls.
PrivatAir Group won FAA approval for 180-minute Extended Range Twin-Engine Operations (ETOPS) with its Boeing Business Jets and authorization under Part 129 of the Federal Aviation Regulations as a designated foreign air carrier under the U.S.-Switzerland bilateral "Open Skies" agreement. The approvals permit PrivatAir "to offer the most direct routes across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and unlimited operations to the U.S." Previously, PrivatAir said its operating authority was limited to private, diplomatic and a handful of commercial flights to the U.S.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR Jane Garvey is "very encouraged" by National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr's willingness to undertake the first study of aircraft separation standards since the jet age began. Reducing the present five-mile horizontal separation between aircraft is a goal. She noted Carr's willingness to have the National Transportation Safety Board and pilot groups participate and says once NATCA's board gives clearance, "we'll set a formal structure in place" for the study.
Raytheon Aircraft Company, which is ramping up production of its just-certificated Premier I business jet, plans to eliminate at least 450 jobs in its Kansas facilities to reduce costs.
Gulfstream Aerospace finally has found a "clear path" for European certification of its Gulfstream V long-range business jet and hopes to win Joint Aviation Authorities approval by early next year, company President and Chief Operating Officer Bill Boisture said. If accomplished on that schedule, the European approval would come five years after the Federal Aviation Administration certified the G-V.
SCOTT OLMSTEAD was named chief financial officer for Evergreen International Aviation. Olmstead joined Evergreen in 1998 as a holding company comptroller and tax director. He also held a number of management positions with Moss Adams, Certified Public Accountants.
