LISA SCHIEBELHUT was appointed charter sales supervisor for Jet Aviation's Burbank office. Schiebelhut has more than 16 years of charter experience in the Los Angeles area. As charter sales supervisor, she will develop new and maintain existing client relations and oversee daily operations.
Jet Aviation's Teterboro facility conducted the first unscheduled removal of a BMW/Rolls-Royce engine from a Gulfstream V business jet recently, but officials of the engine manufacturer said they do not believe the problem is cause for concern.
A veteran private and commuter pilot joined the staff of the National Business Aviation Association to handle members' questions about tax issues. Greg Jackson, 39, is the new manager of tax issues for NBAA. He will succeed Nel Sanders, who is leaving the association to join Conklin and DeDecker (BA, Sept. 20/135).
JEFFERY SNYDER was appointed director of domestic general aviation sales for Aerospace Products International. Snyder has 20 years of aerospace, distribution, sales and management experience. Most recently he was director of sales for Stevens Aviation and president of Raytheon Aircraft Parts and Distribution Company. He also has held management posts with United Beechcraft, Dassault Falcon Jet and Atlantic Aviation Corporation.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT said the S-92 development program is on target to achieve certification in 2001. The flight test program will include five aircraft that are scheduled to log more than 1,400 flight test hours. Aircraft No. 1 recently completed a 200-hour ground test to check the entire drive system, including main, intermediate and tail rotor gearboxes, No. 2 has flown nearly 90 hours and No. 3 is expected to fly soon.
KLM ENGINEERING&MAINTENANCE and Hamilton Sundstrand formed a joint venture company to repair and overhaul large commercial aircraft pneumatic components for operators in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The new company, to be called European Pneumatic Component Overhaul and Repair (EPCOR) B.V., will begin operations April 1. Hamilton Sundstrand holds a 51 percent stake in the new enterprise and KLM will hold the other 49 percent.
ALLIEDSIGNAL won a contract valued at more than $100 million to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul for auxiliary power units on more than 300 business jets in Executive Jet's fractional ownership program. The 10-year agreement covers AlliedSignal APUs installed on the Dassault Falcon 2000; Raytheon Hawker 800XP and Hawker Horizon; Cessna Citation Excel, VII, X and Sovereign; and Gulfstream IV and V aircraft.
For the first time in more than two years, House and Senate legislators last week began negotiations on comprehensive aviation reauthorization, but addressed only the less controversial items with staff members left to iron out the bigger provisions. The House-Senate conference, which met briefly on Monday and Wednesday, approved more than two dozen provisions addressing issues including aviation security, runway incursion prevention, whistleblower protection, and use of quiet technology aircraft for national park air tours.
Model DHC-8-100 and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-384-AD; Amdt. 39-11324; AD 99-19-37) - requires replacement of the main landing gear (MLG) uplock actuator on both the left and right MLG with a new redesigned uplock assembly. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the MLG to extend when a "gear down" selection is made. FAA estimates that the AD will cover 148 airplanes on the U.S.
ATLANTIC AVIATION last month broke ground on a new general aviation terminal at Philadelphia International Airport. The $10.5 million facility will be built near the new reliever runway on the east side of the airport. The facility is slated to open by July. Atlantic Aviation won a 20-year lease with Philadelphia and has two additional five-year options. The lease also covers operations at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Atlantic Aviation plans a $1 million refurbishment of its facilities at Northeast Philadelphia.
Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-344-AD; Amdt. 39-11322; AD 99-19-35) - requires repetitive tests for the serviceability of the nose landing gear compensator; and corrective action, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent a nose wheel shimmy, which could lead to the collapse of the nose landing gear during landing. FAA estimates that the AD will cover 10 airplanes on the U.S.
The Accident Investigation and Prevention (AIG) meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) called for a number of changes in Annex 13 to improve the flow of information regarding accident data and the use of routine operational data to prevent accidents.
Galaxy Aerospace officials, just starting to ramp up deliveries of its signature Galaxy super mid-size business jet, are busily considering a number of other programs, including a new conventional aircraft and possible involvement in development of a supersonic business jet.
Germany's DaimlerChrysler and France's Lagardere Group signed an agreement to merge their aerospace activities, creating Europe's largest aerospace company and the third-largest in the world. The combination of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) and Aerospatiale Matra essentially is the birth of the European Aerospace and Defense Company (EADS), talked about for years and in negotiation since 1997, an industry analyst said.
Hexcel Corp. said an internal consolidation effort and a slowdown in third quarter orders from customers could result in breakeven earnings for the period or "could even reflect a small loss."
FAIRCHILD AEROSPACE President Jim Robinson said Embraer's recent decision to launch a 44-seat regional jet program "says we were right on track with the 428JET." In fact, Robinson said he's talked with Embraer President Mauricio Botelho and the two agreed that "if we could go back two years we wouldn't do the 328 and they wouldn't do the 135," opting instead for the larger models. The 428JET is where Fairchild is going to record major sales, Robinson said.
ALEXANDRA SPENCER was named public relations officer for three AECOM companies - Daniel Mann, Johnson&Mendenhall (DMJM), Homes&Narver, Inc. (H&N) and the McClier Corporation. Spencer previously was public relations director with DMJM.
6,000 pounds is the figure Bombardier was allowing for the weight of cabin interiors in the Global Express, but after specing out interiors in 15 of the long-range business jets, interior weights were averaging 6,800 pounds. Bombardier just announced a 1,000-pound increase, to 95,000 pounds, in the maximum takeoff weight of the aircraft to help alleviate that crunch and said a 96,000-pound MTOW should be approved by yearend.
National Business Aviation Association, which annually holds the largest U.S. convention and exhibition devoted to business aviation products and services, plans to expand into Europe. NBAA President Jack Olcott told attendees at last week's show in Atlanta, Ga., that NBAA will partner with the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) "to produce a major business aviation exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland from April 18-20, 2001."
Dassault Aviation boosted the number of Falcon 2000s slated for fractional ownership programs to 54 after finalizing orders from National Air Services of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for 12 and from Executive Jet for three more.
The four largest fractional owners - Executive Jet's NetJets, Bombardier's FlexJets, Raytheon's Travel Air, and the Flight Options program - combined have some 1,600 owners, according to Michael Riegel, vice president of marketing and sales for FlexJets. He sees a market potential for more than 200,000 owners, noting the "market is almost unlimited." Bombardier currently has 365 owners, but expects that number to grow to 480 by yearend.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE is not among the companies working on development of a supersonic business jet. "We've got plenty of things on our plate" without worrying about an SSBJ, said John Holding, executive vice president-engineering and product development. Holding has overseen technical development of 10 new products certificated in the past 10 years and the company expects to begin cutting metal in November on the new Continental business jet.
TWELVE DAYS into the government's new fiscal year, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey already was expressing concern about where she would find the funds to make ends meet at FAA. "We didn't quite get the budget we need from the appropriators," Garvey told attendees Tuesday at the opening session of NBAA's annual convention in Atlanta, Ga., adding that she was looking at what impact the budget shortfall will have on modernization efforts (BA, Oct. 11/161).
National Business Aviation Association saw the first drop in attendance in several years at its 52nd Annual Meeting and Convention in Atlanta, Ga. last week. Final registration for the three-day event was 29,960. That compares with 31,665 at last year's meeting in Las Vegas, Nev. Next year's venue is scheduled Oct. 10-12 in New Orleans, La.
