FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION plans to acquire test equipment repair and calibration services for the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. The contractor will provide services, personnel, material, supplies, supervision, labor and equipment required to operate the test equipment repair and calibration work center at the Oklahoma City site. FAA estimated the cost of the five-year contract at $11 million. For more information, contact Cheryl Martin at (405) 954-7829 or email [email protected].
Model AS-350B, BA, B1, B2, and D; and AS-355E, F, F1, F2, and N helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-30-AD; Amendment 39-12043; AD 2000-25-08) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires inspecting the main gearbox suspension bi-directional cross beam for cracks, replacing the cross beam if a crack is found, and adding time intervals for repetitive dye-penetrant inspections on cross beams with 5,000 or more hours time-in-service (TIS).
TAG AVIATION named Capt. Larry B. Edeal director of flight standards. Edeal, who has served as a lead captain for a TAG client for the past two years, will be based at the company's U.S. corporate headquarters in San Francisco. A decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, Edeal then worked as a helicopter pilot in Southeast Asia for Mobil Oil Corp. after he left the service in 1972. An Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), he has held a variety of corporate flying jobs with LifeFlight Network in Portland, Ore. and with Louisiana-Pacific Corp.
GULFSTREAM V operators will have to meet some stringent requirements to install electrically heated cooktops in their aircraft galleys. Responding to an STC request from the manufacturer, FAA proposed special conditions pertaining to cooktop installations.
The Experimental Aircraft Association praised a proposal that lengthened inspection times on Bell 47 helicopter blade grips as a "positive first step," but said the proposal does not go far enough to address the association's concerns over an emergency airworthiness directive FAA issued last summer. In an action that drew a chorus of protests from EAA and other vintage helicopter enthusiasts, FAA called for inspections every 200 hours and immediate repair of any faulty grips on more than 1,100 Bell 47 helicopters.
Legislators last week introduced companion bills in the House and Senate to further protect back-country airstrips from closing at the whim of federal land managers. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Reps. Butch Otter (R-Idaho) and James Hansen (R-Utah) introduced legislation - S.681 in the Senate and H.R. 1363 in the House - requiring a public comment period before land managers can close airstrips.
WHILE EXECUTIVE JET is adding airplanes to its fleet at the rate of six to eight a month (BA, April 2/159), Executive Vice President Kevin Russell maintains the company has not had problems building its pilot base. The company hired 450 pilots last year, but had a pool of 8,000 applicants. Russell added that all were well-qualified applicants since the company requires a minimum of 2,500 hours flight time for consideration.
Despite setbacks in finding someone to serve as chief operating officer of FAA's Air Traffic Organization (ATO), Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta believes there are good candidates for the post and expressed optimism the selection process can be completed by the end of the month.
The crew of a Gulfstream III charter flight attempting to land at the Aspen, Colo. Airport (ASE) received an electronic sink rate warning seconds before the plane crashed, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.
Model TBM 700 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-70-AD; Amendment 39-12152; AD 200106-05) - requires, for certain airplanes equipped with Option No. OPT 70-35-001 (gaseous oxygen system, incorporation of a modification that relocates the oil breather vent location. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for France. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent oil from entering the gaseous oxygen system service compartment. Such oil contamination could result in a fire or explosion.
HAMILTON STANDARD'S technical publications, including component manuals and service bulletins, are now available on-line at the company's web site, www.hsvas.com. The search capability permits users to look up information by part number, model number, aircraft type and nomenclature.
Model S-76A, S-76B, and S-76C helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-05-AD) - proposes superseding an existing AD that currently requires, before further flight, performing a fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI) of the main rotor shaft assembly. Also, a recurring FPI and visual inspection for a cracked shaft are required by that AD. That AD also requires replacing the shaft with an airworthy shaft before further flight if a crack is found. This action would require replacing certain serial numbered shafts with an airworthy shaft before further flight.
SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORP. delivered two Model 300CB helicopters to Georgia Aviation&Technical College in Eastman, Ga. The college will use the 300CBs for flight training in the helicopter flight technology program, preparing students to become commercial helicopter pilots. Georgia Aviation&Technical College opened in 1996 as a satellite campus to the Heart of Georgia Technical Institute and will convert to a stand-alone campus July 1.
TRW launched a new business, TRWAeroservices Company, which will provide a new repair and overhaul e-business solution for "all aircraft parts regardless of the original manufacturer." TRW said the service was successfully beta-tested with several customers and is ready for commercial use. The service will communicate with repair facilities worldwide to arrange advance exchange units, request and approve quotations, place on-line repair orders, arrange and track shipping and track the product through the repair cycle.
AGUSTA AEROSPACE CORP. selected BFGoodrich to supply collision avoidance, navigation and standby instrumentation systems for the A-109E "Power" helicopter. Agusta supplies the A-109 to the U.S. Coast Guard.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER used a Veridian Flight Research Group Learjet simulator for its initial round of test flights of the 728JET fly-by-wire flight control system. Fairchild Dornier loaded 728Jet aerodynamic characteristics and flight control parameters into the Learjet for the series of 10 test flights that were flown at Veridian's Buffalo, N.Y. facility.
House Transportation&Infrastructure Committee leaders last week introduced their own version of legislation to tackle aviation congestion problems, but limited their bill only to antitrust exemptions that would allow carriers to discuss scheduling practices during peak hours under certain conditions.
Buoyed by the success of running a geared-fan Advanced Technology Fan Integrator demonstrator engine for the first time on March 17, Pratt&Whitney Canada President Gilles Ouimet hopes to win backing for a formal launch of the geared PW800 regional- and business-jet engine in about a year. "We need to have a [launch] customer that, obviously, has the credibility and that we know will come through with an aircraft that will succeed in the marketplace" to go ahead with the program, Ouimet told BA affiliate AviationNow.Com.
Model Hawker 800XP series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-176-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to confirm the installation of rivets at Fuselage Stations 251.975, 262.35, 272.725, and 283.10, and installation of new rivets, if necessary. This action is necessary to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the fuselage skin, and consequent loss of cabin pressurization. FAA estimates that the AD will cover 87 airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $10,440, or $120 per airplane.
iSHOT IMAGING developed a new, portable MoleCam camera system to inspect underground storage tanks. The system provides high-resolution color video of the inside of tanks, displaying rust, cracking, corrosion, deposits and physical damage. The video camera has a 72:1 variable zoom capability and a 250-watt lamp that can illuminate targets up to 100 feet away. Based in Flanders, N.J., iShot Imaging makes and distributes remote vision, ultrasonic, eddy current and x-ray fluorescence test and inspection equipment.
JOANNE FOTHERGILL was promoted to supervisor of the Western charter sales offices for The Air Group. Fothergill joined The Air Group in 1999 as air charter travel manager. She also has held charter sales and management positions with Elite Aviation, Chapman Freeborn and Spirit Aviation.
TEXAS JET broke ground on a new 12,000-square-foot hangar at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. "The hangar is accommodating the growing demand for space at Meacham Airport," said Reed Pigman, Texas Jet president. Texas Jet operates 13 hangars covering more than 225,000 square feet and provides two-thirds of the fuel at Meacham. Pigman bought Texas Jet when it was an aircraft sales company called Piper Southwest in 1978.
OPERATORS at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. are becoming increasingly concerned about the county's efforts to force tenants to agree to language in new lease agreements that would compel tenants to abide by the requirements of HPN's voluntary curfew or risk losing their leases.
THOMAS CULLIGAN was appointed Raytheon executive vice president of business development and president of Raytheon International. Formerly vice president and general manager of Honeywell's Defense&Space market segment, Culligan will be responsible for Raytheon's government relations activities.
