FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION denied a request by air tour operators to postpone implementation of regulations restricting the number of air tour flights over the Grand Canyon National Park and redefining airspace in the area. The agency's new air tour routes and airspace modifications are now slated to become effective Dec. 1.
A pilot and the flight test engineer were killed and a second pilot was severely injured Tuesday when a Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft operating under an experimental type certificate crashed and burned while attempting to take off from Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport.
JENNIFER WHITLOW, manager of media relations for Cessna Aircraft in Wichita since December 1998, will join the CitationShares fractional aircraft program in mid-November. Whitlow, who will relocate to the White Plains, N.Y. area where CitationShares is based, will handle a range of marketing and public relations duties. CitationShares is the joint venture between Cessna and Tag Aviation to sell shares in CJ1 and Citation Bravo business jets (BA, July 17/23). Whitlow joined Cessna in 1996.
FRANCOIS VIGIER was appointed vice president of marketing and engineering for Pacific Precision Products in Irvine, Calif. Vigier has 10 years of experience in the aerospace industry, formerly serving as sales director for the Labinal Group in France.
TO SERVICE those Citations, Cessna continues to expand its service center capacity. Plans call for a new Citation Service Center in Orlando that will be more than five times larger than the 28,800-square-foot facility currently there. The new 155,000-square-foot center, slated to open in mid-2002, will provide service to customers in the Southeast U.S., Central America and South America.
EXECUTIVE JET, already the world's largest fractional ownership provider, continued its practice of announcing major orders at NBAA. Announcements last week included orders for 20 new Gulfstream V-SPs and three Falcon 2000s in deals that collectively could approach $1 billion in value. But that is just a fraction of the orders Executive Jet has placed over the past five years. The fractional ownership pioneer says it has ordered 738 new aircraft valued at more than $13 billion from Boeing, Cessna, Dassault Falcon Jet, Gulfstream and Raytheon.
With more than 170 Gulfstream V business jets sold and more than 95 in customer service, Gulfstream Aerospace announced plans for an advanced version of the long-range business jet that will enter the market in 2003.
CONGRESS last week finished work on the Visa Waiver Permanent Program Act, H.R.3767, which would make the pilot Visa Waiver Program permanent and, for the first time, allow corporate operators and on-demand charter operators to participate. The House Tuesday approved H.R.3767 by voice vote, clearing the legislation for President Clinton's signature. House approval came after the Senate agreement earlier this month on the legislation (BA, Oct. 9/162). The Visa Waiver Program allows passengers to enter the U.S. from 29 specified countries without visas.
ROLLS-ROYCE Tay 650-15 and 651-54 turbofan engines (Docket No. 98-ANE-68-AD) - proposes to require initial and repetitive visual and ultrasonic inspections of fan blades for cracks, and, if necessary, replacement with serviceable parts. In addition, this AD requires recording instances when engines are operated in a stabilized manner in newly prohibited ranges. This proposal is prompted by reports of fan blade failures.
CESSNA last week introduced a new turbo version of its 182 Skylane that will cruise at 170 knots, climb at 1,060 feet per minute and require only 1,475 feet of takeoff distance. The new Turbo Skylane, designated T182, will be powered by a fuel-injected Textron Lycoming TIO-540-AK1A engine providing 235 horsepower at 2,400 RPM. Delivery of the T182 will begin in January 2001. The updated Skylane product line will include avionics upgrades, interior refinements and new optional equipment.
MOST INDUSTRY EXPERTS agree that the market for new business aircraft remains at unprecedented strong levels. But during the National Business Aviation Association's annual meeting and convention last week, several disagreed on how long the growth experienced in recent years would continue. Honeywell, which claims to have enjoyed about 95 percent accuracy since its annual 11-year aircraft forecasts began, predicted that new aircraft deliveries will remain at high levels but growth will flatten (BA, Oct. 9/161). Rockwell Collins agreed with that assessment.
NBAA's annual meeting and convention was a fountain of optimism about the industry's economic outlook, but last week's show marked the second consecutive decline in attendance. Last week's final registration of 29,421 compares with 29,960 last year in Atlanta, Ga., and 31,665 in 1998 in Las Vegas, Nev. The number of spaces sold, however, continued to increase. NBAA sold 4,750 booth spaces, compared with 4,221 last year and 3,927 in 1998.
BUSINESS AVIATION leaders last week were pleased that Assad Kotaite, president of the International Civil Aviation Organization, addressed attendees of NBAA's convention in New Orleans. Kotaite's rare appearance before a business aviation forum signifies the growing importance of the segment in the international arena, officials said. Kotaite spoke of that increasing importance, citing the strong growth of business aviation, and said it is noteworthy because of the role such growth will play in safety and congestion.
PRATT&WHITNEY CANADA PT6A25C and - 114A series turboprop engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-26-AD) - proposes to require initial and repetitive visual inspections and eventual replacement of the compressor bleed valve assembly, with a redesigned valve assembly for the -114A engines, and initial and repetitive visual inspections only for -25C engines. This proposal is prompted by reports of two occurrences of uncommanded engine power loss.
CESSNA, which delivered its 3,000th Citation a year ago, some 27 years after the first Citation entered service, expects that it will deliver its next 3,000 Citations in 10 years, said Chief Executive Gary Hay. This prediction is based on continued sales success and a $6.1 billion backlog for its product line. The company continues "to believe that the future is bright," Hay said.
DELBERT L. (DEL) ROSKAM, 86, a former president of Cessna Aircraft, died Oct. 7 in Wichita. Roskam joined Cessna in 1942 as director of education and held a variety of positions before being named president in 1964. He held that post until 1975 while Dwayne Wallace served as chairman of the company. A Wichita native, Roskam was active in community civic affairs throughout his life. He managed an investment company after leaving Cessna, but retained an active interest in aviation. He is survived by his wife, Frances, two sons, three grandchildren and a brother.
DAVID COLLOGAN, editor of The Weekly of BUSINESS AVIATION, received the National Business Aviation Association's Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence last week for his coverage of the fractional ownership issue.
Raytheon Aircraft Company announced a new business jet program last week and quickly claimed orders for more than 100 of its new Hawker 450s, but potential customers will have to wait until next year to find out what the specifications of the new aircraft will be.
Piaggio Aero Industries, which until just a year ago had fewer than a handful of its high-performance pusher-prop Avantis in the North American market, has stepped up its presence there with 10 more aircraft delivered to U.S. and Canadian customers and the formation of a new base in Greenville, S.C.
Cessna last week announced orders valued at $118 million for 21 Citations from customers in Brazil and Mexico. Taxi Aereo Marilia (TAM), Cessna's authorized sales representative for its entire product line in Brazil, ordered 14 Citations - three CJ1s, five CJ2s, an Encore, three Bravos and two Excels - in a deal that Cessna said exceeds $73 million. Delivery of the order will begin in April 2002 and continue through November 2003. The order is in addition to the previous 15-Citation agreement that Cessna had with TAM.
GALAXY AEROSPACE and Executive Jet are in detailed negotiations about a potential order for up to 50 Galaxy business jets and options for another 50, a deal that could be announced within the next 60 days.Both parties want to work out the details of establishing an aircraft support network in EJI's 10 most frequently visited destinations before a sales agreement is signed.
RAYTHEON COMPANY continues to seek a buyer for Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC), according to widespread reports throughout the industry, but the parent company is apparently not finding much interest at the current asking price, said to be in the $3 billion range. Asked to characterize Raytheon's long-term intentions with regard to the Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer, RAC Chairman and CEO Hansel Tookes reiterated the standard company response about not commenting on rumors.
Boeing Business Jets, dissatisfied with delays in completions of its 737 BBJ aircraft for the Executive Jets NetJets fractional ownership program, has signed an agreement under which Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg, Germany will do BBJ completions for the NetJets program.
RAYTHEON Beech Models 1900C, 1900C (C-12J), and 1900D airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-02-AD; Amdt. 39-11905; AD 2000-19-04) - requires installation of a spiral wrap around the wing fuel quantity wiring harness and application of an adhesive sealant to the Wiggins couplings on the internal fuel tank wiring carry-through conduit. This AD is the result of reports of chafed or shorted wing fuel quantity harness wires on the affected airplanes. These occurrences were found during regular maintenance inspections.
OLD TIMERS who can still remember when business jet prices first broke through the $10 million barrier may find this shocking, but Boeing Business Jet officials say the cost of BBJ completions is averaging between $10 million and $15 million. That pushes the average price of the completed aircraft to between $48 million and $53 million.
