Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ), seeking an East Coast maintenance facility to serve its growing customer base, acquired the Wilmington, Del. operations of Atlantic Aviation.
ADAM AIRCRAFT plans to open in December a new 50,000-square-foot research and development and manufacturing facility in Englewood, Colo. next to Centennial Airport. Adam Aircraft will build prototypes of its planned six-seat twin-piston aircraft, the Adam M-309, at the Englewood facility. "Combining the testing and manufacturing under one roof will facilitate efficiencies that allow us to leap forward in obtaining FAA certification for the Adam M-309 in 2003," said Adam Aircraft President John Knudsen.
Beech Models 1900, 1900C, and 1900D airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-29-AD; Amendment 39-11918; AD 2000-20-07) - requires a modification of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) system. This AD is the result of instances in which the recording quality of the CVR in the affected airplanes was so poor that the information was practically unrecoverable.
BFGOODRICH AEROSPACE announced the next iteration of its SKYWATCH line of traffic advisory systems. The SKYWATCH HP will include a 20-mile surveillance range and a 15-mile or more display range with enhanced display options such as an ARINC 429 electronic flight information system output. It also is ADS-B-compatible in anticipation of development of FAA's Free Flight initiative.
KIM WHEELER, formerly marketing services manager at The New Piper Aircraft, joined Aircraft Technical Publishers in Brisbane, Calif., as director of marketing and e-commerce. Wheeler will oversee marketing communications, product development and e-commerce marketing initiatives.
AIRSHOW won FAA supplemental type certificate approval and parts manufacturing approval for its AirShowM@IL e-mail service for corporate aircraft. The system will enable email transmissions through in-flight telephone links, operating through the Airshow Cabin File Service that integrates communications media including ARINC, LAN, radiotelephone and SATCOM interfaces.
Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who called 1999 "the year of aviation" and this year succeeded in pushing through legislation committing revenues and interest from the Airport and Airways Trust Fund to aviation, could become the next chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, congressional sources said last week. At first glance, the change seems a step down for Shuster, who heads the parent Transportation Committee. But it could be his best option in the next Congress, assuming Republicans retain their majority in the coming elections.
General Electric and Honeywell officials last week, detailing their tax-free $45 billion proposed merger, called the deal one of the "cleanest in history" and predicted that it would be a "home run." GE warded off a potential Honeywell/United Technology merger Oct. 27 and in 72 hours put together the largest industrial merger ever and sold it to Honeywell's board.
BOB EAST was appointed vice president of information technology for Piedmont Hawthorne. East, formerly chief information officer for TK Holdings, Inc., also has served with Burlington Industries, AMF Hatteras Yachts and Sara Lee Corp.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL won FAA Level D certification for two new Falcon Jet simulators at its Dallas/Fort Worth Airport learning center. FlightSafety, which plans to install 16 simulators at its new Dallas/Fort Worth location, began training the first customers this month. FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla. designed and built the simulators. In addition to Dallas/Fort Worth, FlightSafety provides Falcon business jet training in Teterboro, N.J., Paris, France and Houston, Texas.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION elected John Kuss of Eastman Kodak Co. Aviation Services and Sylvia Jennings of Wotan America, Inc. to three-year terms on the board of directors. Kuss, who served on the NBAA Operations Committee from 1997 to 1999, is serving his first term on the board. Jennings, who was the first woman to be elected to NBAA's board of directors, returns after a three-year absence. Also re-elected for three-year terms were Donald Baldwin of Texaco, Kenneth Emerick of GM Worldwide Travel Services and Kenneth Peartree of Hewlett Packard.
U.S. general aviation manufacturers reached their highest third quarter shipment totals since 1984 with 684 units delivered and continued to set new billings records with $2 billion in sales, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported Wednesday. "This is another great quarter for GA," said GAMA President Ed Bolen. "The enthusiasm that was so evident at the NBAA Convention and AOPA Expo are reflected in these billings and shipment numbers."
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE won a major government contract last week, a $477.3 million firm-fixed-price award to provide five C-37A (Gulfstream V) business jets under the Commanders-in-Chief Support Aircraft Replacement Program.The contract covers a 10-year lease of the aircraft, plus service and maintenance. The new Gulfstreams will replace a number of aging aircraft in the Defense Department inventory, including five C-135s (Boeing 707s).
PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY last week began a 3,700-foot move of the original Airport Terminal Building at Newark International Airport. The Port Authority is moving the 7,000-ton terminal nearly three-quarters of a mile, where it will become the center of a new airport police and administration building. Contractors used 29 hydraulic jacks to slowly lift the building and support structure eight feet into the air. This allowed rubber-wheeled dollies to be slipped underneath the building - which was divided into three sections - for the move.
Model AS-350B, BA, B1, B2, B3, C, D, and D1, and AS-355E, F, F1, F2 and N helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-25-AD; Amendment 39-11931; AD 2000-20-19) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires inspections of the main rotor head components, the main gearbox (MGB) suspension bars, and the ground resonance prevention system components. This amendment requires those same inspections, but also would apply to Model AS-350B3 and AS-355N helicopters. This amendment is prompted by the inadvertent omission of those model helicopters from the previous AD.
Beech Models 35-C33A, E33A, E33C, F33A, F33C, S35, V35, V35A, V35B, 36, and A36 airplanes (Docket No. 99-CE-63-AD) - proposes a new AD for aircraft models that incorporate a certain Teledyne Continental engine configuration. The proposed AD would require replacement of the existing Aeroquip V-band exhaust clamp. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent the exhaust stack from detaching from the turbocharger due to failure of the V-band exhaust clamp.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators found damage to gears in the combiner gearbox and a separated transmission oil pump drive shaft in the wreckage of an Aerospatiale AS-355F2 helicopter that crashed in North Carolina Oct. 16 - just three and one-half flight hours after the aircraft's transmission was overhauled.
Model CL-600-2B19 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-312-AD; Amendment 39-11928; AD 2000-20-03 R1) - revises an existing AD that currently requires installation of shields for the aileron quadrants in the wheel bay of the main landing gear (MLG). This amendment revises the compliance time for the requirements of that AD. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent accumulation of water, ice, or slush on the aileron quadrants and control cable pulleys in the wheel bay of the MLG, which could freeze and result in reduced controllability of the airplane.
AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION teamed with Jeppesen to offer an instructor certificate renewal program online. The program, ASF-Jeppesen CFI Renewal Online, will allow instructors to complete certificate renewal at home. Participants can ask course questions through AOPA's Pilots Assistance Hotline or through e-mail. Jeppesen will file the flight instructor's certificate renewal paperwork with FAA and issue a new temporary certificate. The program, slated to be available early next year, is priced at $149.
Cirrus Design Corp., the Duluth, Minn.-based manufacturer of the SR20, hopes to win certification by yearend for its new SR22, the second product in what the company expects will be a line of general aviation aircraft. "After the overwhelming success of the SR20, the SR22 represents a natural progression for Cirrus," said Cirrus President and CEO Alan Klapmeier.
