CENTENNIAL AIRPORT near Denver, Colo. last month recorded its busiest month ever with more than 48,500 operations. The operations top the previous record of 44,000 set in August 1977. Centennial, the nation's second busiest general aviation airport, is expected to have more than 460,000 operations this year, airport authorities said. Authorities credited the healthy Denver economy as well as the improving general aviation industry for the climb in operations.
THREE PROVIDERS of general aviation flight tracking information - RLM Software, Flite Comm of Florida and SkySource - have agreed to follow the National Business Aviation Association's voluntary code of conduct to ensure security over the release and use of such information.NBAA initiated the code of conduct in February after member companies raised concerns about the misuse of Aircraft Situational Display Information (ASDI) (BA, Feb. 16/69).
FIRST TECHNOLOGY FIRE AND SAFETY toilet compartment fire extinguishers (Docket No. 98-ANE-29-AD) - proposes to require inspection of suspect fire extinguishers for leakage and replacement of certain parts, if found leaking. This proposal is prompted by reports of leakage at the fire extinguisher's eutectic tip due to a design change. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent fire extinguisher failure due to leakage, which could result in an uncontained fire and damage to the aircraft.
Galaxy Aerospace, which a year ago selected Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas as the site for its new worldwide headquarters complex (BA, Aug. 4, 1997/54), continued to round out its staff there with a series of senior appointments. The company named former Learjet executive Vern Dyer vice president-procurement for the completions center, product support and vendor contracts. He most recently was vice president/general manager of On Command/Spectra Vision and, before that, was vice president of operations support at Learjet.
BANYAN AIR SERVICE opened an instrument shop at its full service fixed-base operation at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Executive Airport. The shop, which complements Banyan's 16,000-square-foot avionics shop, is approved to overhaul and certify most remote directional and vertical gyros, including Collins, King, Honeywell and Sperry Instruments.
DOUG BOWEN was appointed worldwide sales manager for maintenance technician training programs for FlightSafety International. Bowen, based in Houston, will be responsible for more than 100 training programs that FlightSafety offers at its learning centers or at individual customer locations. He previously served as vice president of operations in St. Louis, Mo.
AVFUEL reached an agreement to add Spokane Airways to its chain of Avnet aviation fuel dealers. Spokane Airways, a fixed-base operation located at Spokane, Wash. International Airport, provides fueling, maintenance flight training, charter and cargo services.
CESSNA promoted Ellis Brady and Paul Kalberer to vice president, product engineering. Brady, formerly director of technical engineering and flight operations, will continue to oversee new and derivative aircraft produced at Cessna's Wichita Mid-Continent Airport facility. He has served with the company for 32 years. Kalberer, who has been with Cessna for 34 years, most recently was director of engineering products, including the Citation X, Ultra Bravo, CitationJet and Caravan. He will lead design of all present and future models.
PILATUS BRITTEN-NORMAN LTD. BN-2, BN-2A, BN-2B and BN-2T series airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-112-AD) - The AD requires replacing the attachment bolts, nuts and washers of the lower fitting of the main landing gear and adjusting the torque values of the nuts. The AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL won FAA Part 142 certification for all 20 of its training programs. The training center first received Part 142 certification in April 1997 and since has added each training program to its certificate. SimuFlite, based at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, provides training on Challenger, Citation, Falcon, Gulfstream, Hawker, King Air, Learjet and Westwind aircraft.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-113-AD; Amdt. 39-10640; AD 98-14-06) - requires repetitive inspections for discrepancies of the spring strut assembly of the main landing gear forward door and replacement of the assembly, if necessary. The also requires eventual replacement as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This amendment is prompted by mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION this week will hold its first committee meeting to discuss the issues surrounding fractional ownership operations under Part 91 (BA, Aug. 10/61). The committee specifically will consider the FAA definition of operational control and interchange. The Aug. 25 meeting will include representatives of Wayfarer Aviation, The Air Charter Guide, Raytheon Travel Air, Shoreline Aviation, Premier Jets, Marc Fruchter and Executive Jet.
AlliedSignal broadened its aerospace services with the acquisition of aerospace consultant The Canaan Group Ltd., the company announced last week. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "Consulting services is a fast-growing, attractive component of the aerospace services market," said Joe Leonard, president of AlliedSignal marketing, sales and services.
In a move that will strengthen its position in the fastener distribution business, Pentacon Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire ASI Aerospace Group Inc. The transaction is expected to close in September. ASI, which has annual sales of about $73 million, supplies fasteners and other related components to the aerospace industry with facilities in San Diego, Torrance and Pasadena, Calif. and Arlington, Texas. Pentacon, based in Houston, distributes fasteners and other small parts and provides inventory management services.
RONALD WILKINSON was appointed vice president of engineering and quality for Electrosystems, Inc. Wilkinson has 30 years of experience in piston and turbine engine design, development and research with Teledyne Continental Motors and Pratt&Whitney.
ROBERT BLAIR was appointed flight test operations pilot for Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc. Blair is a graduate of the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School and served as an F-14 fighter pilot. He will act as operations pilot on both the Jetcruzer 500 turboprop and the Stratocruzer 1250 twin jet.
RAYTHEON TRAVEL AIR, the fractional ownership program Raytheon Aircraft launched last summer (BA, June 9/253), is sharing in the growth of the fractional market with more than 100 customers and 40 airplanes in the program to date. Raytheon Chairman and Chief Executive Art Wegner said the program will add about 25 aircraft this year.
Federal Aviation Administration needs a "more realistic schedule" for implementation of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and "should formally acknowledge that its current schedule for the operation of the final phase of WAAS, December 2001, will not be met," Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead told the agency this month. FAA also should delay commitments for additional communications satellites until it gains operating experience with the initial phase of WAAS, Mead said in a memo to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.
PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD. Model PC-7 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-30-AD) - adopts a new AD that requires replacing the seal unit on both main landing gear (MLG) legs and the nose landing gear (NLG) leg. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the Swiss airworthiness authority. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent MLG or NLG failure caused by deterioration of a MLG or NLG leg seal unit, which could result in damage to the airplane or airplane control problems during takeoff, landing or taxi.
Nav Canada, the corporation charged with running the Canadian air traffic control system, last week detailed a revised proposal for small aircraft user fees, including delayed implementation, but the proposal continued to draw concerns from operators. Implementation of the small aircraft fees (eight tonnes or less) under Phase II, originally set for Nov. 1, 1998, is now planned for March 1, 1999. Nav Canada said the decision to delay the fees stems from an over-collection of revenue in the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 1998.
DON STEINHAGEN joined Elliott Aviation as flight department manager of the company's Moline, Ill. location. Steinhagen will oversee the facility's aircraft charter sales, administration and operations. He has 29 years of aviation experience, serving as a fixed-base operation manager, a chief pilot/aviation manager and a Part 135 charter pilot.
ALLIEDSIGNAL KT 76A air traffic control transponders (Docket No. 97-CE-30-AD; Amdt. 39-10637; AD 98-14-03) - requires replacement of two resistor network modules with glass-coated modules on affected transponders. This AD stems from reports of the transponders transmitting misleading encoding altimeter information to ground-based ATC radar sites and nearby aircraft equipped with Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems.
BOEING won type certification for its next-generation 737-600, the company said last week. Deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled to begin in September.
Less than a month after announcing plans to buy completions specialist K-C Aviation from Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Gulfstream Aerospace Wednesday completed the purchase for $250 million in cash (BA, July 27/38). The acquisition includes the addition of 1,200 employees and facilities in Dallas, Texas, Appleton, Wis. and Westfield, Mass. K-C Aviation will operate under the Gulfstream Aerospace name and John Rahilly, formerly K-C president, will be vice president and general manager for the Dallas and Appleton facilities.
