After some "very tough and very difficult years" in the early 1990s, 1997 was a "turning point" in the history of Israel Aircraft Industries, President and Chief Executive Moshe Keret told reporters last week at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., predicting that the company will continue to see profits climb.
Federal Aviation Administration is hoping general aviation operators will be able to receive certain weather and other safety information digitally in the cockpit free of charge as part of a new program the agency announced last week. FAA plans to facilitate the transmission of weather graphics and text, special use airspace information, notices to airmen and other information to general aviation aircraft through the Flight Information Services (FIS) program.
JEN MCSKIMMING joined Helicopter Adventures as marketing manager. McSkimming will oversee HAI's marketing and public relations. She previously served as executive director of Vertical Flight Association Northwest.
BOEING is scheduled to roll out the first 717-200 airliner, formerly designated the McDonnell Douglas MD-95, Wednesday at Boeing's Douglas Products Division in Long Beach, Calif. The 100-seat aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight this summer and enter airline service in the summer of 1999.
The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a preliminary study on airport deicing in preparation for possible rulemaking. In a May 28 Federal Register notice, the agency invited comments until July 27 on its plans for development of effluent guidelines and preliminary studies in a number of areas, including airport deicing. EPA formally began the airport deicing study in January 1998, although some site visits were conducted as early as last summer.
American Capital Strategies (ACS) of Bethesda, Md. invested $20 million in The New Piper Aircraft, Inc., last month in the form of subordinated debt with warrants that give ACS the right to buy stock in the company in the future. ACS officials told BA the $20 million would refinance some of New Piper's existing debt. Paul Newman, Piper's chief financial officer, told BA the new funds would be used for debt refinancing and general corporate purposes. Asked if any of the $20 million would help fund development of the company's new Meridian turboprop program (BA, Sept.
Boeing is testing the use of winglets on a Boeing 737-800 for possible use on the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). Boeing said Friday that winglets designed and manufactured by Aviation Partners, Inc. of Seattle "are being tested as a possible range-performance enhancement for the BBJ." The two winglets on the 737-800 are eight feet tall and are "blended and vertically mounted" to the end of each wing.
COREMAX AEROSPACE, INC., a new firm offering customer interiors, cabinetry and interior components, opened this month in Denton, Texas. The firm is headed by Fred Hensley, president, who formerly worked for King Aerospace, Bizjet International Sales and Support, Inc., Duncan Aviation and Page Avjet. The company located in Denton, 30 miles north of Dallas, because of the proximity to other aviation businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. CoreMax Aerospace is located at 1025 Shady Oaks, Suite D, Denton, Texas 76205.
IN LITTLE MORE THAN FIVE YEARS since Cessna Aircraft delivered its first entry-level CitationJets, the company has produced 250 of the $3.4 million, seven-place aircraft. The 250th Model 525 rolled out last month with a commemorative paint scheme and a special tail number, N250CJ. It has gone into service as a Cessna demonstrator and will make an extensive U.S. tour. "The popularity of the CitationJet has exceeded our most optimistic expectations," said Roger Whyte, senior vice president-sales and marketing.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-199-AD; Amdt. 39-10513; AD 98-10-02) - requires replacement of certain wheel tie bolts with new bolts and imposes a life limit on the wheel tie bolts. The AD is prompted by mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority. The AD is intended to prevent metal fatigue failure of the wheel tie bolts and possible tire burst or loss of the main wheel/tire assembly. FAA expects the AD to cover 57 aircraft in the U.S.
Several of the Pemco operating subsidiaries of Precision Standard, Inc., Denver, Colo., have relocated and/or combined recently. Pemco's engineering and product support departments have been relocated from the Pemco Aeroplex, Inc. facility in Birmingham, Ala., to a new facility near Denver International Airport and have been spun off into a new, autonomous company. It will now be called First Engineering.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, whose tenure at the agency has been plagued with vacancies in a number of key positions, announced a number of changes in FAA's organizational structure and named several individuals to new positions.
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
AIR METHODS CORP., Denver, Colo., won a contract with the Denver Police Department to equip a Bell 407 helicopter with a sophisticated avionics suite and surveillance equipment.
STEVE MASSE was appointed vice president-finance and treasurer of British Aerospace North America. Masse will be responsible for financial management for all British Aerospace operations in the U.S.
RTCA published Version 7.0 of the performance specification for Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II. The document, DO-185A, The Minimum Operational Performance Standard for Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II (TCAS II) Airborne Equipment, can be obtained by calling RTCA at (202) 833-9339.
Pratt&Whitney named a former General Motors executive to assume responsibility for much of the engine company's manufacturing operations. Robert H. Harvey, 41, was named to the newly created post of vice president-operations where he "will lead Pratt&Whitney's major product manufacturing centers as well as their support functions such as quality assurance, finance, product integrity and human resources," according to a company statement.
JEPPESEN, Denver, Colo., signed a strategic alliance agreement with Marinvent Corporation for long-term research and development of next- generation cockpit and ground-based electronic chart systems. Marinvent, based in Canada, developed the JeppView software and chart database for Jeppesen. Jeppesen officials, noting Marinvent supplies technical expertise and programming skills, said, "This partnership enhances our ability to achieve our goals for providing electronic charts and a full suite of aviation information services to our customers."
Martin Stieglitz was named vice president and program manager for the Apache (AH-64) and Mesa, Ariz., site manager. The former Hughes Helicopter/McDonnell Douglas Helicopter site is now called the assembly, integration and flight test center. He will be responsible for the day-to- day operations at Mesa, reporting to James Morris, vice president and general manager of Boeing Philadelphia. Stieglitz, who had been vice president, Comanche (RAH-66) program, will replace Dean Borgman, senior vice president at Mesa, who is retiring.
ATLANTIC AVIATION FLIGHT SERVICES added a Falcon 50 and Citation V to its managed fleet. Company officials said the additions "keep our fleet growth expectations on-track for 1998. We will be adding several more charter aircraft soon."
GALAXY AEROSPACE has firm orders for more than 10 Galaxy business jets and more than 20 options, according to Moshe Keret, president and chief executive of Israel Aircraft Industries. IAI, which manufactures both the Galaxy and Astra SPX for Galaxy Aerospace of Ft. Worth, Texas, is attempting to increase the share of non-defense work the company does. Keret said, "I'm very optimstic about" the Galaxy program. See related articles below.
MIKE BELDIN joined Hammonds Companies as fuel quality specialist in its sales division. Beldin will be responsible for new business development, sales and service in the aviation and marine industries.
EVENTIDE appointed Technical Software Services (TSS) of Germany as its exclusive European distributor for Argus Moving Map Displays and related avionics products. TSS has distributed Eventide avionics products in Germany since 1992 and other Eventide products since 1983.
In an effort to reduce communications congestion in European airspace, the International Civil Aviation Organization has mandated that all aircraft operating above flight level (FL) 245 in much of the airspace, and above FL195 in French airspace, modify or replace communications radios to accommodate a reduction in channel spacing from 25 kilohertz (kHz) to 8.33 kHz.
BRENT MOLDOWAN was named manager, customer service for Mayo Aviation. Moldowan will be responsible for charter and management aircraft flight scheduling as well as aeromedical transport. He joined Mayo as a flight dispatcher in 1995.
