ONE YEAR after the White House nominated George Donohue as deputy FAA administrator, not only is there not a deputy administrator, there is no nominee. The position has been vacant since December when the acting deputy, Barry Valentine, left the agency (BA, Dec. 22/270). After months of Senate inaction on his nomination, Donohue withdrew from consideration in February (BA, Feb. 16/71).
Raytheon Aerospace, a subcontractor providing logistics for the U.S. Navy's Joint Undergraduate Flight Officer (UNFO) program, won a one-year contract valued at $21.2 million as the primary contractor on the program. Sabreliner Corp., which had acted as prime contractor on the program for the past eight years, switches roles, continuing as a subcontractor.
AEROSPACE CONCEPTS, a new firm specializing in the management of the interior completion process for ultra long-range business jets, was formed by Terry Habeck, former general manager of aviation for Toyota/AirFlite. Aerospace Concepts is based at 5140 Birch St., Suite 100, Newport Beach, Calif. 92660, telephone, (949) 955-1834.
JOSEPH GRAMZINSKI was promoted to chief inspector for Professional Aircraft Accessories. He formerly was shop manager and director of maintenance. Before that, he served with Beechcraft and World Jet in South Florida.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-312-AD; Amdt. 39-10579; AD 98-12-25) - requires a one-time inspection for corrosion, wear or damage of the main landing gear forward door operating mechanism, operational inspections to ensure smooth operation of the mechanism and follow-on actions. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
National Transportation Safety Board recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration designate a radio frequency at all Part 139 airports that enables direct communication between airport rescue and firefighting personnel and flightcrews during an emergency. The board also recommended development of a universal set of hand signals for use among fire/rescue personnel, flightcrews and flight attendants for situations in which radio communication is lost. NTSB cited an April 28, 1997 incident involving an American MD-82 at Tucson, Ariz.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT named Gary Boekenkamp senior vice president of marketing. Boekenkamp, who has 18 years of fixed-base operation and aviation maintenance experience, previously was vice president and general manager of aircraft and terminal sales for Dallas Airmotive, a Signature sister company under the BBA Aviation Division. "By moving Gary to Signature, the BBA Aviation Division is using the synergies of the group to ensure our ambitious objectives are met," said Signature President and Chief Executive Bruce Van Allen.
DAVE MUTH joined Western Aircraft as an aircraft maintenance technician. Muth, most recently with Phoenix Air Group in Klamath Falls, Ore., also has maintenance experience with Felts Field Aviation in Spokane, Wash., and Galvin Flying Service in Seattle.
National Air Transportation Association urged the Federal Aviation Administration to continue to exempt on-demand aircraft operated under Part 135 from new fire detection and suppression standards for Class D cargo compartments. FAA in February issued a final rule calling for commercial aircraft with Class D cargo compartments to meet either Class C or E fire detection and suppression requirements. The agency, however, provided Part 135 operators a reprieve from the requirements, pending further study (BA, Feb. 16/71).
Cessna Aircraft delivered the first Citation Excel business jet Thursday to a long-time customer, Swift Air of Phoenix, Ariz., one of more than 200 Excels ordered since the program was introduced at the 1994 NBAA convention (BA, Oct. 10, 1994/185).
BRENDON DOCHERTY was named director of worldwide sales for AVSCAT. Docherty most recently was manager of avionics sales for Garrett Aviation Services. Before that, he was director of sales and marketing and director of flight operations for Flight Visions.
SPECIALIZED TRANSPORT INTERNATIONAL completed an extensive restoration of a Bell 212 twin-engine helicopter for the Jamaica Defense Force. STI repaired, replaced or overhauled the helicopter's airframe, engines and rotable components. It replaced all wiring harness and avionics and modified the cockpit to make it compatible for night vision goggles and FLIR system installation. In addition, STI replaced all windows, windshields, tail and main rotor assemblies and skids on the helicopter, which had not flown for almost eight years.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT has taken a number of steps at its Independence, Kan. light aircraft assembly plant to improve training and inspection procedures in the wake of an airworthiness directive on control system problems with the new Model 172R.See article below.
A NARROW PROVISION in the House FAA reauthorization bill to allow certain airports to bar Part 380 charter operations has not drawn strong opposition, but the precedent it sets continues to raise concerns. Colorado Republican Joel Hefley tailored the provision to appease residents around Denver's Centennial Airport who want to prevent a Part 380 public charter from operating there (BA, June 29/284). Close followers of the situation note that the measure should not have wide-ranging ramifications because the airports and operators covered are limited.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model SA.315B helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-02-AD; Amdt. 39-10575; AD 98-12-21) - requires initial and repetitive visual inspections of the horizontal stabilizer spar tube and modification, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by an in-service report of fatigue cracks that initiated from corrosion pits. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent fatigue failure of the spar tube, which could cause the horizontal stabilizer to separate and hit the main or tail rotor.
TITAN CORP. and PointCast Inc., which formed a partnership to build an intranet system for FAA's Air Traffic Service (ATS), said Phase One of the system is nearing completion. The Executive Information System will deliver a variety of time-sensitive data and information to agency executives through their desk-top computers.
SINO SWEARINGEN DEUTSCHLAND, the authorized Sino Swearingen distributor for Germany and The Netherlands, facilitated the sale of an SJ30-2 business jet to USA Global Link Deutschland GmbH. The aircraft is slated for delivery in the first quarter of 2000.
FOKKER Model F27 Mark 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-98-AD; Amdt. 39-10588; AD 98-12-35) - requires replacement of the main landing gear actuating ram bobbins and O-ring seals with new bobbins and improved O-ring seals. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
WINGLETS on the Boeing Business Jet are expected to improve the range of the BBJ in the neighborhood of five to seven percent, according to Aviation Partners, which is working with Boeing on the winglet project. Boeing officials said earlier that initial results of preliminary tests using a Boeing 737-800 indicated the winglets would improve the range of the BBJ by approximately four percent (BA, June 15/259).
GALAXY AEROSPACE contracted with Jana Inc. to develop an advanced CD-ROM- based maintenance manual for Astra aircraft. The new system, to be completed by the second quarter of 1999, will include a maintenance manual, illustrated parts catalog and wiring diagram manual.
K-C AVIATION delivered a Canadair Challenger aircraft equipped with AIRSHOW TV, a live television system transmitted via direct broadcast satellite. The installation included a special radome created by Montreal-based Siddhis for the Challenger. The radome, designed for Challenger 600, 601 and 604 aircraft, accommodates both television and SATCOM antennas.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received FAA Level C certification for a Learjet 55 flight simulator at its West Palm Beach, Fla. learning center and for a CitationJet simulator at its San Antonio, Texas facility. In addition to Learjet 55 training, the West Palm Beach center provides Learjet 35/36 training for pilots in the Southeast as well as in Latin America. With the latest certification, the San Antonio center is equipped with three Citation series full flight simulators, supporting operators in the Southwest, Mexico and Latin America.
ATR, the French-Italian regional aircraft consortium, won an order from the Corporation de la Aviation Cubana S.A. (CACSA) for four ATR 42-300 aircraft. The aircraft will be delivered to Aerocaribbean and Aerogaviota Airlines this year.
NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION members contributed an "astounding average" of $31.48 per member to political campaigns between 1995 and 1996 election cycles, the union said. That compares with the Teamsters' average of $1.86, United Transport Union's $9.60, Air Line Pilots Association's $17.96 and the average flight attendant's $4.76.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY is inviting papers, workshops or posters for the Tenth Annual Symposium on Aviation Psychology. The symposium, scheduled May 2-6, 1999 at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio, is co-sponsored by the OSU Aviation Program, the Association of Aviation Psychologists and The International Journal of Aviation Psychology. One-page, 300-word abstracts should be sent by Aug. 30 to Richard Jensen, OSU Aviation, Room 300, Aviation Building, 164 W. 19th Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43210-1110 or e-mail to [email protected].
