Used Retail Deliveries NOV. '96 NOV. '97 NOV. '98 NOV. '99 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 49 27 16 45 32 10 49 26 12 87 93 20 America Jet Outside 4 0 1 7 2 3 6 1 3 7 3 3 N. America Prop North 1 81 1 1 91 1 3 73 2 2 143 3 America
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION will hold its 2000 AOPA Expo Oct. 20-22 in Long Beach, Calif. The association also signed a letter of intent to hold the 2001 event Nov. 8-10 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. AOPA expects to finalize the contract with Fort Lauderdale by the end of the year.
FRASCA INTERNATIONAL reported sales for its flight training devices to customers in the U.S., Sweden, and, for the first time, Israel. CRM Airline Training Center, Scottsdale, Ariz., ordered a Level 3 Model 242 two-place, twin-engine FTD. The training device will be used in an ab initio professional pilot course that takes entry-level students through a commercial certificate with both multi-engine and instrument ratings. Lund University, Lyungbyhed, Sweden, ordered a B200 FNPT II MCC device.
Bombardier Aerospace won European Joint Aviation Authorities approval for its newest regional turboprop, the 66- to 78-seat Q400, with Denmark and Sweden becoming the first European nations to issue type certificates. The Q400, launched in June 1995 after years of study (BA, June 19/259), is expected to receive Federal Aviation Administration certification shortly. Transport Canada awarded its type certificate earlier this year.
ROCKWELL COLLINS received Inmarsat approval for its SAT-2000 system. The SAT-2000 Aero-I includes a single 8 MCU transceiver, the SRT-2000 and an intermediate gain antenna system, the IGA-2000. The system is certified for use on Airbus A319/320/321 aircraft with other certifications pending.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is offering members an association-branded health plan that will provide group health coverage. The insurance is a federal ERISA plan that includes healthy-employee incentives and covers each employee's current primary physician. The plans are preferred provider organizations and work through regional PPO networks. For more information, contract the plan administrator at (877) 291-8499 or by e-mail at [email protected].
PRATT&WHITNEY CANADA and China National South Aero-Engine Co. (SAEC), China's leading manufacturer of small gas turbine engines, have opened a joint venture manufacturing plant in Zhuzhou, China. P&WC has a 49 percent share of the venture, first announced in the spring of 1998. The company will manufacture many of the components used in P&WC engines in service in China and elsewhere.
Model SE 3130, SA 3180, SE 313B, SA 318B, and SA 318C helicopters [Docket No. 98-SW-65-AD] - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires visual inspections and modification, if necessary, of the horizontal stabilizer spar tube. This action would require the same corrective actions as the existing AD but would also require visually inspecting the four half-shell attachment clamps for cracks and fitting a safety wire around the attachment clamps. This proposal is prompted by an in-service report of fatigue cracks that initiated from corrosion pits.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS have become increasingly concerned about the "mistaken belief" of some FAA officials that they - the manufacturers - do not continue to support GA aircraft once the aircraft pass the 18-year threshold for the statute of repose.The statute of repose, established in the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, protects manufacturers from liability for accidents involving general aviation aircraft that are 18 years or older.
DeCrane Aircraft Holdings added another piece to its mini-conglomerate last week with the acquisition of The Infinity Partners, a manufacturer of corporate aircraft interiors and a major vendor to Bombardier. Infinity supplies interiors to Bombardier's Tucson, Ariz. completion center, including manufacturing and fitting cabinetry and installing contour panels on the Challenger 604 and Global Express aircraft.
VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE is counting heavily on union voters in his quest for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, but he hasn't won over the members of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists who install and maintain air traffic control equipment. PASS said Friday its members will be distributing leaflets at 20 U.S. airports over the holidays warning travelers that FAA's mismanagement threatens the safety and reliability of air travel.
Joel Bacon, a veteran Capitol Hill staffer and lobbyist, is leaving the National Business Aviation Association at the end of the year to join the American Association of Airport Executives. Bacon, who was senior manager-legislative affairs at NBAA for most of the past three years, will join AAAE next month as director of federal affairs. Bacon, a graduate of the University of Kansas, spent four years working for former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.) before joining NBAA in November 1996.
ROLLS-ROYCE plans to lay off another 600 workers at its Derby, United Kingdom, large commercial engine facility, the company announced this month. The 600 job cuts are in addition to 400 layoffs announced last month. In total, the company will cut 7.8 percent of its 13,000 workers at Derby in central England. Layoffs affect only large commercial engines, according to spokesman Robert Baugniet. Lower commercial aircraft deliveries and increased engine pricing pressures are blamed for the layoffs.
Models BR700-710A1-10 and BR700-710A2-20 turbofan engines [Docket No. 98-ANE-74-AD; Amendment 39-11425; AD 98-24-03 R1] - requires initial and repetitive visual inspections of the engine compressor and combustion core fairings (also referred to as the engine core fairings) and fasteners for correct installation and damage, and verification that the engine core fairing fasteners are torqued to a higher torque value.
CF34 series turbofan engines [Docket No. 98-ANE-19-AD; Amendment 39-11422; AD 99-23-26] - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires installation of a main fuel control (MFC) that incorporates a flange vent groove and installation of an MFC with improved overspeed protection. This amendment requires replacement of Buna-N O-rings with Viton O-rings or a new location of the vent groove on the MFC mounting flange, or installation of an MFC with improved overspeed protection.
BRICE ALLEN was named service manager for Atlantic Aviation's Flight Support Division at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Allen will manage the facility and its 17 employees. He formerly was operations manager for Atlantic's Chicago Midway Airport facility and also has served with Aero Services.
An FAA Y2K contingency plan for dealing with air traffic control outages "will be done" by Dec. 31, a National Air Traffic Controllers Association official said last week. Chris Sutherland, NATCA's Y2K representative with FAA, earlier said FAA's contingency plan is "nothing more than an unworkable dream."
GARMIN INTERNATIONAL has developed an Echo Flight satellite-based weather data-link system that interfaces with the GNS 430 and GNS 530 displays. Echo Flight uses OBRCOMM's network of low-earth orbit satellites to deliver NEXRAD weather information to the cockpit on request. The data-link has no altitude restrictions and can provide weather information for any location. The data-link also enables pilots to view graphical and textual weather information such as METAR and TAF. Garmin is offering Echo Flight for a monthly subscription.
INMARSAT BOARD OF DIRECTORS is issuing requests for proposals for its fourth generation satellite system, which will have an estimated cost of $1.4 billion (U.S.). The Inmarsat-4 will provide a range of personal multi-media communications. Contracts for the ground network and for user terminal development will be coordinated with the satellite procurement. The new satellites will be in service by the end of 2004.
JET SUPPORT SERVICES INC. teamed with Fleet Capital Corp. to offer financing options with various aircraft maintenance programs. The Fleet Encompass Program covers a number of the JSSI programs, including the Complete hourly cost maintenance program; the Select program covering scheduled and unscheduled maintenance; the Unscheduled program; and Term, an inclusive hourly rate coverage.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD issued a warning about "the fire hazards posed by lithium batteries in an air transportation environment." The board's concern arose from an April 28, 1999 fire in a Northwest Airlines cargo facility at Los Angeles International Airport. The batteries were on a pallet that had been unloaded from a Northwest flight from Japan and caught fire after the shipment tipped over.
JOHN BURR is the new president of the North American Construction and Transportation Division of the CIT Group. He will be responsible for the business development efforts of equipment financing throughout North America in a number of markets, including business aviation. The division has more than 700 employees throughout North America. Burr, 56, has been with CIT Group/Equipment Financing since 1967. CIT Group completed the acquisition of Newcourt Credit Corp. on Nov.
FAA last week issued updated requirements for aircraft dispatcher certification. In the past 30 years few changes have been made to the dispatcher requirements despite the number of technological advances within the industry, FAA noted. The revisions stem from a concern that the dispatcher requirements did not keep pace with those technological advances, the agency said. The final rule, published in the Dec.
Honeywell Officials will be able to enjoy a new experience next month if development work on the AlliedSignal AS 900 engine continues on track (BA, Aug. 16/74). Engineers hope to begin flight tests of the new engine family on the AlliedSignal Boeing 720 testbed in January. Next month's planned flight would mark the first aerial test of a new engine under the Honeywell banner, following the recent merger of the two companies (BA, Dec. 6/256).
Model A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes [Docket No. 99-NM-106-AD; Amendment 39-11405; AD 99-23-09] - adopts a new airworthiness directive, applicable to certain Airbus Model A319, A320, and A321 series airplanes, that requires modification of the electro-distributor for the nose wheel steering servo-control. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
