FLIGHTSAFETY BOEING TRAINING INTERNATIONAL'S St. Louis Airline Center won its training center certificate under the new FAR Part 142. FlightSafety Boeing also has centers in Atlanta, Dallas, Daytona Beach, Cincinnati, Houston, Long Beach, Louisville, Miami, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Wilmington, and Paris. The joint venture also received Level C approval for its new 737-700 flight simulator installed at the Seattle center. The simulator is the second of the next-generation 737 simulators to be certified for FlightSafety Boeing.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is accepting applications for its Dan L. Meisinger, Sr. Memorial Learn To Fly Scholarship. The scholarship was established nearly a year ago in recognition of Meisinger, who during his 63-year aviation career founded Topeka Aircraft Company, became a Beech Aircraft distributor in Kansas City, Mo. and later expanded to three locations in Kansas and one in St. Louis. The scholarships will be awarded to a college student enrolled in an aviation program. For information, contact Alan Darrow at (800) 808-6282.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Friday announced a plan to replace its traditional grade-and-pay-step salary system with "a simplified structure of pay bands whose value is determined by comparison with similar jobs in government and private industry." FAA plans to test the new system for 18 months on 1,200 employees in the Office of Research and Acquisitions.
USED RETAIL JET DELIVERIES - NORTH AMERICA&OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for May 1998 (see related graphs on Pages 281 and 282 of the hard copy of this issue) 1995 1996 1997 1998 May L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 39 26 13 43 41 11 65 15 12 47 26 19 America
HOUSE LEGISLATORS vowed to take up the issue of "unlocking" the aviation trust fund next year. House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), who spearheaded the provision in the highway reauthorization bill that ensures highway tax revenues will be used for highway projects, called the highway trust fund fight a "dust-up" compared to next year's battle to ensure that aviation tax revenues are used for aviation purposes.
DeCrane Aircraft Holdings, El Segundo, Calif., signed an agreement to acquire Avtech Corp., an electronic systems company based in Seattle, for about $83 million in cash. "We found Avtech attractive because it met several of our fundamental acquisition criteria," Jack DeCrane, chairman and chief executive, said.
European Union transport ministers agreed last week in Luxembourg to establish next year a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to certify compliance of aircraft, equipment and procedures with international safety standards and make sure the standards are applied uniformly by all 15 EU members. EASA will supplant national authorities that currently are responsible for certification and control. Some common decisions are made through the Joint Aviation Authorities, but JAA operates informally and all its decisions require unanimity.
STEVEN MIRMINA joined APCO Associates as a senior associate for aviation services. Mirmina formerly served with the law firm of Crowell and Moring, where he helped air carriers with regulatory issues before the Department of Transportation.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION'S Eighth Annual Fly-In drew more than 640 aircraft from around the nation this month at its headquarters in Frederick, Md. About 6,600 people attended the June 6 event, which "far eclipsed" the previous Fly-In record of 500 aircraft and 5,000 attendees, AOPA said. The static display included offerings from Cirrus, Diamond, Aviat, Cessna, Mooney, Commander, Raytheon, New Piper and Socata.
Bombardier's Learjet unit in Wichita, Kan. hopes to deliver six of its new Model 45 business jets within the next few weeks following completion of a series of extensive modifications designed to fix problems with the new plane's anti-icing system. About 20 percent of the 155 Model 45s on order will have to be modified before they are delivered to customers, while subsequent deliveries will have the changes incorporated during the normal production schedule.
CONCERN about possible regulatory changes is not affecting the growth of fractional ownership. As of last week, Keith said Business JetSolutions had 43 aircraft and 180 pilots dedicated to fractional owners. The number of pilots will grow to 200 soon while the fleet total is expected to reach 65 aircraft by the end of 1998, 100 by the end of 1999 and 140 at the end of 2000.
Model DHC-8-102, -103, and -301 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-58-AD; Amdt. 39-10546; AD 98-11-21) - requires a one-time inspection for wear and breakage of wire segments of the individual lighting units of the ceiling and the sidewall lights and replacement of any damaged wiring. This amendment also requires installation of teflon spiral wrap on the wiring of the ceiling and sidewall lights. The AD is prompted by reports of the cabin ceiling lighting system chafing.
HOW IMPORTANT is it to fractional aircraft ownership providers to continue flying under Part 91 rather than the more restrictive provisions of Part 135? Dennis Keith, president of Bombardier's Business JetSolutions, told BA that 60 percent of trips flown by his company would be affected by having to meet Part 135 standards. Of particular concern are requirements for on-site weather observations at destination airports and rules that limit operators to 60 percent of the available runway length when calculating minimum requirements for landing.
STEVE EGERT was promoted to parts and instrument sales manager for Elliott Aviation. Egert joined Elliott in 1979 and most recently served as assistant parts manager at the Moline, Ill. facility.
SNH AEROSPACE SERVICES, San Antonio, Texas, has doubled its production space and increased its welding capacity by 20 percent at its facility near San Antonio International Airport. It also has expanded its services to include work on helicopters as well as fixed-wing aircraft . A certified repair station specializing in aerospace welding, SNH has more than 100 DER-approved repair procedures.
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL, based at Houston's Hobby Airport, added a Model 35 Learjet and a Beech King Air 200 to its charter fleet. Both aircraft can be configured for a medical stretcher and air ambulance crew.
Raytheon Corp., in a move that surprised a lot of people in the aviation industry, named AlliedSignal executive Daniel P. Burnham president and chief operating officer of the Lexington, Mass.-based company and said he is in line to succeed Dennis J. Picard as chief executive officer of Raytheon.
Model 340B and 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-134-AD; Amdt. 39-10551; AD 98-11-26) - requires modification or replacement of the airfoil de-icing system check valves. 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 check valves, which could result in loss of airfoil de-icing capability during single-engine operation and consequent reduced airplane controllability.
DAVE GARVEY joined Elliott Aviation as parts manager for its Moline, Ill. facility. Garvey has more than 25 years in management of parts purchasing, sales distribution and operations.
Model F28 Mark 0070 and Mark 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-153-AD; Amdt. 39-10529; AD 98-11-02) - requires revising the airplane flight manual to provide the flight-crew with instructions not to arm the liftdumper system before extending the landing gear. The AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information from the airworthiness authorities of The Netherlands. The actions are intended to prevent inadvertent deployment of the liftdumpers during approach for landing, and consequent reduced airplane controllability.
Rockwell Collins unveiled an ambitious and comprehensive management initiative last week designed to radically change the way the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based avionics manufacturer conducts business.
SECURAPLANE won a contract from Bombardier Aerospace to supply its BC-1301 main ship battery charger for the Canadair Regional Jet Series 700. Securaplane also supplies battery chargers to Bombardier for its Challenger 604 and Canadair Regional Jet Series 200 aircraft. Securaplane, Tucson, Ariz., designs and manufactures emergency battery systems, aircraft electronic security systems and wireless aircraft smoke detection/reporting equipment.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE opened a new test facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that officials hope will help save the service millions of dollars in aircraft stripping and painting costs. The Air Force Research Laboratory, run by the Coatings Technology Integration Office, will replicate numerous climates where U.S. Air Force aircraft could be painted with temperatures ranging from 40 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit with 10 to 90 percent humidity.
JIM JOHNSON was appointed director of operations for Downtown Airpark's Downtown AirCharter operation. Johnson has more than 9,800 flight hours in fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and extensive charter experience.
CN-235 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-331-AD; Amdt. 39-10538; AD 98-11-11) - requires modification of the passenger and crew doors and repetitive visual inspections, adjustments and tests of the passenger and crew door latching and locking systems to ensure correct operation. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent the door from inadvertently opening during flight.
