Aviation General, Inc. named Mat Goodman senior vice president of marketing and sales at Commander Aircraft Company, the Bethany, Okla. aircraft manufacturer. Goodman joined Commander in 1989 as aircraft sales manager. He was subsequently promoted to vice president of marketing and later to vice president of marketing and sales for the company's general aviation division. Before joining Commander, Goodman was vice president of sales for Kenosha Aero Service, a Cessna dealership and fixed-base operation.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association issued 8,800 "Pilot Alerts" to members in New Jersey seeking help opposing two bills that would block runway expansion under certain conditions. The bills, Assembly Bill 2809 and Senate Bill 1682, are ostensibly aimed at curbing development at one airport in particular, but are written in such a manner that they could capture many more airports, said Bill Dunn, vice president of regional affairs.
Bombardier Aerospace signed an agreement with The Jet Center of Santa Barbara, Calif. to perform interior completions for the Global Express business jet. Bombardier has faced long delays in getting completed airplanes to its Global Express customers. At the end of January, the company had manufactured and delivered 42 "green" airplanes, but only 10 of those had been completed and put into service by end customers (BA, April 10/165). As of last week, a spokesman said there are about 70 Global Express aircraft off the production line and 21 in service with customers.
THE BOEING COMPANY tapped Thomas Pickering, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, as senior vice president-international relations. Pickering will join the company in January after he retires from the U.S. government. Boeing called the addition of Pickering "a significant milestone in the company's strategic global efforts." He will oversee the growth and strengthening of Boeing's international relationships, including those with foreign governments.
GARMIN LTD., an avionics manufacturer that specializes in global positioning system equipment, raised $147 million in its initial public offering Dec. 8 and traded between $19 and $21 per share last week, well above its opening at $14 per share. The IPO, underwritten by Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston, will help fund capital expansion, new partnerships and movement into new markets, a company spokesman said.
RAYTHEON Beech Model 58 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-42-AD; Amendment 39-11965; AD 2000-22-18) - requires an inspection of the rudder bellcrank interconnect tube for damage; replacement or refinishing of the interconnect tube, if necessary; and modification of the floorboard. Four reports of damage to the interconnect tube prompted this action. The actions specified by this AD are intended to correct the wrong use of screws and consequent wear in the pilot/copilot pedal interconnect tube, which could result in loss of rudder control.
AIA'S DOUGLASS, who is pushing for increased government spending on research and development, mentioned research into supersonic aircraft as one fruitful area. He cited various plans for a supersonic business jet (SSBJ), noting substantial interest, especially from fractional ownership providers in seeing such an airplane reach the market (BA, Oct. 2/147). But with existing technical difficulties, he said, there is "a need for a lot more R&D in NASA and the Air Force" for such plans to become a reality.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION's Board of Directors Friday agreed to sue the Naples Airport Authority, which last month approved a ban on Stage 2 business jets at Naples, Fla. Municipal Airport.NBAA objects to the ban as "inconsistent with the obligation to provide reasonable access to the airport" and also says that Naples took action despite an incomplete Part 161 study, a requirement for new Stage 2 bans (Nov. 20/231). The lawsuit will be the second legal action that NBAA has taken against airport restrictions in the past four months.
THOMAS GRUNWALD was promoted to vice president and general manager of Wood Group Aero, Inc. Grunwald will be responsible for day-to-day operations as well as for market expansion. He joined the company in 1998 and has served as vice president-flight support services and director-field service.
EMBRAER received a contract valued at more than $900 million from South African regional SA Airlink for 30 37-seat ERJ 135 regional jets with options for 40 more that could be converted to ERJ 145s and ERJ 170s. Delivery of the firm order is expected to begin in April 2001 with the options extending over the next 10 years. The contract boosts the ERJ orderbook to 1,236 aircraft, of which 824 are firm orders and 412 are options. SA Airlink, Johannesburg, South Africa, currently operates 16 BAe Systems Jetstream 41 aircraft.
BOMBARDIER Models DHC-6-1, DHC-6-100, DHC-6-200, and DHC-6-300 airplanes (Docket No. 91-CE-87-AD) - withdraws a supplemental NPRM that would have applied to all Bombardier Models DHC-6-1, DHC-6-100, DHC-6-200, and DHC-6-300 airplanes. The NPRM would have superseded both AD 80-13-11 R2 and AD 80-03-08, which currently require repetitive inspections of the flight control rods for cracks on the above-referenced airplanes, with replacement of any cracked flight control rods.
Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
Dean Thomas, 46, a veteran of Piper Aircraft's marketing department who was named president of Commander Aircraft Company this spring, died Dec. 4 in his sleep. The death was a shock given Thomas's age and apparent good health, Commander officials said.
FRANK WOLF (R-Va.), chairman of the House transportation appropriations subcommittee, said Administration and congressional leaders need to take a comprehensive look at FAA and its problems rather than addressing them through separate proposals such as user fees and peak-hour pricing. FAA "probably needs to be independent," Wolf told BA, saying the agency could be modeled after NASA. He noted all the funding and flexibility Congress has given FAA, and yet problems persist.
MAYO AVIATION added a Challenger 600 to its charter fleet. Mayo is managing the Challenger for a private customer and expects to begin flying the aircraft for charter next month. The Challenger increases Mayo's charter fleet to 16 aircraft.
MATTHEW HUFF joined Signature Combs Aircraft Sales Inc. as vice president of the Dallas operation. Huff has more than 24 years of aviation marketing experience serving as associate publisher for A/C Flyer and vice president at Tyler Jet.
Rockwell International is splitting in two, creating stand-alone avionics and communications companies by spinning off Rockwell Collins to shareholders in a tax-free share distribution, the company says.
GENERAL AVIATION LEADERS were shocked by Rep. Duncan's remarks and are concerned that growing frustration with airline delays at major airports could lead to similar calls for bans or restrictions on GA flights. One GA trade association president noted that general aviation operations at the big airline airports constitute only a low-single-digit share of total operations.
Model BH.125, DH.125, and HS.125 series airplanes Docket No. 99-NM-345-AD; Amendment 39-11943; AD 2000-21-11) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires a one-time inspection to detect scoring of the upper fuselage skin around the periphery of the cockpit canopy blister interface, and repair, if necessary. This amendment expands the applicability of the existing AD to include additional airplanes, and requires that the actions be accomplished in accordance with revised service information for the newly added airplanes.
Docket No.: 28557 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR Secs. 43.9(a)(4), 43.11(a)(3), and 145.57(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Chromalloy and other persons holding return-to-service authority under the relevant, respective Inspection Procedures Manuals, to use electronic signatures in lieu of physical signatures to satisfy the requirements of FAA Form 8130-3, Airworthiness Approval Tag. Grant, Sept. 29, 2000, Exemption No. 6513B
Model 402C airplanes (Docket No. 99-CE-66-AD; Amendment 39-11971; AD 2000-23-01) - supersedes AD 99-11-13, which currently requires inspecting (one-time) the forward, aft and auxiliary wing spars for cracks on certain Cessna Model 402C airplanes and repairing any cracks found. AD 99-11-13 also requires reporting the results of the inspection to FAA to help determine whether the inspection should be repetitive.
Docket No.: 28517 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.109(a) and (b)(3) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit James to conduct certain flight instruction and simulated instrument flights to meet the recent experience requirements in Beechcraft airplanes equipped with a functioning throwover control wheel in place of functioning dual controls. Grant, Oct. 3, 2000, Exemption No. 6532B
Model Hawker 800XP and Hawker 800 (U-125A) series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-46-AD; Amendment 39-11970; AD 2000-22-22) - requires inspection of the wire bundle to relay "KT" on panel "JA" for correct routing, adequate clearance from the fuel cross-feed valve operating lever, and the presence of chafing; this amendment also requires corrective action, if necessary. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect and correct chafing of the wire bundle exiting panel "JA" due to insufficient clearance from the fuel cross-feed valve operating lever.
JOHN DUNCAN (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, suggested general aviation may have to shoulder part of the burden of easing congestion at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA).FAA conducted a lottery Dec. 4 to cut back on slots awarded at LGA through AIR-21, but FAA and others say the airport still will be congested.
