BELL Model 430 helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-1-AD-1; Amendment 39-11959; AD 2000-22-13) - requires calibration of the fuel quantity indicating system. This amendment is prompted by an operator's report of an inaccurate fuel quantity indicating system. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent an inaccurate fuel quantity indicating system reading, engine flameout due to fuel starvation, and a subsequent forced landing. FAA estimates that 50 helicopters on the U.S. Registry will be affected by this AD at a cost of $6,000. The rule is effective Dec. 12.
Bombardier Aerospace is forming a joint venture with ExecuJet Aviation Group to build a new aircraft service facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 28,000-square-foot facility, based at Dubai International Airport, will accommodate up to four aircraft at one time. The center will provide support and maintenance and include a spares depot. The venture is slated to be operational by next summer.
ANTHONY BAUCKHAM was named executive vice president of Evergreen International Airlines. Bauckham, who also serves as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Evergreen, has served with the company for more than eight years. He formerly was vice president of sales and marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
AIRCRAFT TECHNICAL PUBLISHERS released an enhanced version of its Maintenance Director software. The new software, Version 3.0, provides more specific component tracking capabilities, automatic updates and, on the Enterprise versions, maintenance worksheet/checklists. Maintenance Director tracks maintenance and records airworthiness directive and service bulletin compliance into aircraft records.
Raytheon Company agreed to sell its optical systems business to The BFGoodrich Co., a deal that is expected to close by the end of the year. Details of the transaction were not disclosed, but Raytheon said it would use the proceeds to reduce its debt.
Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. announced appointment of its executive staff this month, slightly more than three months since the Dallas-based company began operations July 24 under new ownership. The company was created when Northrop Grumman Corp. sold its commercial aerostructures business to The Carlyle Group, the Washington, D.C. private equity firm, in a $1.2 billion deal (BA, June 19/285).
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION elected Michael Smith, president of Honeywell Aerospace Electronics Systems, to a one-year term as chairman and Ray Siegfried, chairman and chief executive of The NORDAM Group, vice chairman. Smith has served on GAMA's board since 1994 and most recently was vice chairman. Siegfried joined the board in 1994 and formerly headed the association's International Affairs Committee.
AJ WALTER AVIATION, a distributor and repairer of aircraft spare parts, appointed Aero-Craft Hydraulics Inc. to market some of its services in the U.S. AJ Walter said Aero-Craft, a California-based repair and overhaul specialist, will strengthen its presence in the North American market and enhance its global supply network.
TIMOTHY VASTINE joined AirLiance Materials as engine program director. Vastine formerly was with Pratt&Whitney in a number of positions, including program management, and also has served with American Airlines and Boeing.
MIDCOAST AVIATION received a supplemental type certificate for installation of Honeywell's AIS-1000 OneView airborne information system on a Challenger 604. The OneView system, which allows the aircraft to receive Direct Broadcast Satellite programming throughout the U.S., includes Honeywell's MR-400 multi-channel receiver/decoder unit, a vertical stabilizer-mounted DBA-1150 antenna and other hook-up hardware. Midcoast's facility at St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport is performing the installations, which the company estimated will take about three weeks.
BOTH PILOTS aboard a Cessna Model 425 Conquest turboprop were killed Nov. 10 while conducting a maintenance test flight. The aircraft had departed from the Idaho Falls, Idaho airport shortly after 7 p.m. local time and the crew had reported they were level at 8,000 feet. Radar contact was subsequently lost and the aircraft crashed.
LEGG MASON, the investment banking firm that owns the Atlantic Aviation chain of fixed-base operations, is believed finally to have reached a deal to sell the bases to an investor group headed by CD Ventures of Berwyn, Pa. following months of talks between the parties. A month ago the fixed-base operation and maintenance facility at Wilmington, Del. that served as Atlantic headquarters was sold to Dassault Falcon Jet (BA, Oct. 30/200). Officials of CD Ventures were unavailable for comment Friday and an Atlantic official said he was unable to comment.
KIMBERLY THORNBURG was named manager for Professional Aviation Associates. Thornburg previously was an interior designer with Stevens Aviation and an applications engineer for a major lighting manufacturer.
J. MICHAEL MORGAN was named manager of PPG Industries' aircraft products plant in Huntsville, Ala. Morgan joined PPG in 1978 at the Meadville, Pa. flat glass manufacturing plant and has since held positions of increasing responsibility.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts "to meet market demands," is targeting a number of operational shifts that will result in the loss of as many as 1,300 jobs. "The reduction in jobs in 2001 will continue at a rate no greater than in the last year or so," said Chief Executive John Rose. "But in the reorganization program as a whole, there will be different impacts in different locations and it is inevitable that some activities will decline and others will rise."
BBA Group plc, the British conglomerate that keeps expanding its role in the aviation business, has agreed to acquire Ranger Aerospace Corp., the parent company of ASIG (Aircraft Service International Group, Inc.), for $152 million, the companies announced last week.
EUGENE PENNING was appointed TFE731 sales manager for Dallas Airmotive. Penning formerly was lead technician at the company's TFE731 facility in Minneapolis, Minn.
BUSINESS AVIATION leaders from the U.S. and the international community this month encouraged operators in Asia to form an Asian Business Aviation Association. Officials from the National Business Aviation Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, International Business Aviation Council and several vendors met with representatives from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and Indonesia on incorporating ABAA. Mark Turner of Metrojet Hong Kong is among the leaders in the Asian community working toward incorporation.
ATLANTIC AVIATION'S Flight Services Division added a Challenger 601, Gulfstream IV and Westwind I to its charter certificate, increasing its fleet of turbine aircraft to 25. The Challenger 601 is based in Teterboro, N.J., the Westwind I in Wilmington, Del. and the Gulfstream IV in of St. Louis, Mo.
The House Republican Conference last week refused to repeal its current six-year limit for committee and subcommittee chairmen, which has the practical effect of ensuring that House Transportation Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) will step down from that role in January. By a lopsided vote of 27-141, the Republican Conference, comprising all Republican House members, rejected an amendment that would have repealed the limit of three consecutive terms for committee and subcommittee chairmen.
N.S. (MIKE) WATERMAN, JR., 57, founder of Dallas-based SimuFlite Training International, Inc., and the Waterman Group., died Nov. 8 after a brief illness. A Yale graduate who later joined the Air National Guard, Waterman was involved in the plastics business in Florida before joining International Aviation Industries in White Plains, N.Y.
Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for October 2000 (see related graphs on Pages 241 and 242 of the hard copy of this issue.) Used Retail Deliveries Oct. 1997 Oct. 1998 Oct. 1999 Oct. 2000 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 64 44 18 41 25 11 71 29 11 69 47 33 America
CONKLIN&DE DECKER will hold a financial accounting cost and tax seminar for business aviation Nov. 30-Dec.1 in Houston, Texas. The seminar will cover the Federal Aviation Regulations, federal excise taxes, depreciation, like-kind aircraft exchange, state taxes, cost and financial analysis and planning. In addition, Conklin&de Decker will hold a separate workshop at the end of the seminar to concentrate more specifically on state taxes, including sales and use taxes, aircraft registration fees, personal property taxes and planning.
ROCKWELL COLLINS ADC-85, ADC-85A, ADC-850C, and ADC-850F air data computers (Docket No. 2000-CE-14-AD) - proposes to require replacement of any air data computer (ADC) with one that has a reprogrammed and tested central processing unit (CPU) circuit card and circuit card assemblies. The proposed AD is the result of a flight test that showed that these ADC's could display an unwarranted ADC flag in response to the airplane's "Normal/Alternate Air" static source selection capability.
The Air Transport Association, which represents the nation's largest scheduled air carriers, plans to sponsor a conference next year that will provide a "forum to discuss the latest scientific findings" concerning pilot fatigue, approaches to managing "this complex safety issue," and recent advances in alertness management. ATA said it hopes to hold the conference by early June, but a firm date has not been set.
