IN A LETTER to FAA Regulation and Certification officials Friday, NATA officials said they are anxious about the FAA's action contained in the referenced handbook bulletin that will "dramatically affect the country's banking system and overnight transportation of vital documents and components." The association requested a meeting between senior FAA officials and representatives of NATA member companies to discuss the issue and attempt to resolve the dispute.
BMW Rolls-Royce expects to generate an operating profit after 2000, in the first half of the next decade, says Chairman Klaus Nittinger. Launched in 1990, BMW Rolls is projecting an operating loss this year of DM400 million to DM500 million (US$240 million to US$300 million) on revenues of DM800 million (US$480 million). The pace of losses is slowing, with the red ink last year coming to DM662 million (US$397 million).
AIR WISCONSIN is scheduled to begin service this month with the last of 10 Dornier 328-120 turboprops the company acquired from Fairchild Dornier. The aircraft, painted in United livery and operating as part of the United Express network, will connect Denver International Airport with destinations in a several other Rocky Mountain states.
A joint industry/government task force that began work more than two years ago has developed a list of 99 recommendations designed to improve the safety of Canada's more than 1,000 commercial air taxi operators.
ALLISON ENGINE COMPANY Model 250-C47B turboshaft engines (Docket No. 97-ANE-40-AD) - supersedes existing AD 97-21-09, which requires replacing the engine main electrical harness assembly with an improved assembly, the installation of a new hydromechanical unit (HMU) and electronic control unit (ECU), removing the placard notifying the pilot that the overspeed protection system is disabled and revising the Bell Helicopter Textron Model 407 Rotorcraft Flight Manual.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT said its West Palm Beach, Fla. maintenance shop was approved by AlliedSignal as a TFE731 engine line service center and by Bell Helicopter Textron as a service center for Bell 206 and 407 series helicopters.
Dassault Aviation Chairman Serge Dassault unveiled a three-engine version of a supersonic business jet last month that the company said would cruise at Mach 1.8 and have a nonstop range of 4,000 nautical miles.
VISIONAIRE CORPORATION dedicated its new 116,000-square-foot assembly facility and flight test operation in Ames, Iowa Tuesday and officials said they will begin production of the first two Vantage test articles in September. The company claims a backlog of more than 125 orders for the $1.8 million, composite-construction business jet that will be powered by a single Pratt&Whitney JT15D-5 engine producing 2,965 pounds of thrust.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-133-AD) - proposes to require replacing the existing roll spoiler control rods with improved parts. The proposed action is intended to prevent bending stress to the fork end of the roll spoiler, which could result in failure of the roll spoiler and reduced control of the airplane. The proposal was prompted by notification by LBA, the German airworthiness authority, that insufficient clearance may exist between the fork end of the roll spoiler control rod and the bell crank of the roll spoiler.
BURKHART GROB LUFT-UND RAUMFAHRT Model G115C, G115C2, G115D, and G115D2 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-24-AD) - supersedes existing AD 96-19- 07. The new AD retains the flight and speed restrictions of the existing AD as well as requiring accomplishment of certain inspections and modifications as terminating action for these restrictions. This action is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the German airworthiness authority. The actions are intended to prevent loss of airplane control caused by excessive speed or aerobatic maneuvers.
BFGOODRICH AVIONICS SYSTEMS, INC., Grand Rapids, Mich., said Lancair selected the Stormscope WX-950 weather mapping system as standard equipment for the Lancair Columbia 300. In addition, the Stormscope WX-500 weather mapping sensor was picked as an option for the moving map-equipped Lancair Columbia 300.
DAVID J. FITZPATRICK was named senior vice president and chief financial officer at United Technologies Corp., Hartford, Conn. FitzPatrick, 44, had been controller and vice president at Eastman Kodak Co. since 1995. Previously he held a series of financial positions during an 18-year career with General Motors Corp.
AEROSPATIALE Model ATR42 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-44-AD) - proposes to require modification of the electrical power supply for the standby horizon indicator. The proposal is intended to prevent loss of the standby horizon indicator in the event of failure of emergency direct current power, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane during instrument flight rules conditions.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT Friday acquired Air Luxor, a fixed-base operation at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France. Signature President Bruce Van Allen said Alain Genouille, a native of France and currently an employee at the company's FBO at Washington Dulles International Airport, will return to France to manage the Paris FBO. Signature has been operating an FBO in Zurich, Switzerland for the past year (BA, Dec. 23, 1996/289).
HAMILTON STANDARD opened a parts distribution center in Frankfurt, Germany that will be managed by Lufthansa Technik Logistik GmbH, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik. The propeller manufacturer said the new Frankfurt facility, along with the recently opened Singapore distribution center, "make it possible to get parts to our customers anywhere in the world within one or two days."
VISIONAIRE CORP., which is developing the six-place VisionAire Vantage business jet, opened a European sales center office in Luxembourg that will be headed by Karl Marcus, a European-born Canadian businessman who has more than 30 years experience as a pilot.
UND AEROSPACE at the University of North Dakota, Raytheon Systems Ltd., UK, and Oxford Air Training School formed an aviation training team that will provide a complete range of pilot training services for customers anywhere in the world. The new team "combines the ab initio to ATP-level training capabilities of both Oxford Air Training School in the United Kingdom and UND Aerospace in the U.S.
JOHN MCNAMARA was named president and chief executive officer of Emulation Systems Flight Simulators Inc. (ESFS) by Chip Adkins, founder of the Santa Maria, Calif. firm. McNamara has a background in sales and marketing of twin-engine turboprops and helicopters and was founder and chief executive of American CASA Distributors, Inc., the firm that introduced the CASA 212- 200 to the North American market. ESFS provides flight simulation, software development and electronics hardware development services and products for the general aviation market.
GOLFER NICK PRICE took delivery last month of a new Bell 407 helicopter. The manufacturer said Price decided to buy the seven-place, turbine-powered helicopter after getting to know Terry Stinson, Bell's president and chief executive, who also is a helicopter pilot.
MARSHA BELL was appointed director of marketing at the Seattle training center of FlightSafety Boeing International. Bell had been product marketing director for FlightSafety International in Wichita, Kan. In her new post, she will provide a close liaison between the center's pilot and maintenance technician services with the Boeing Company and Boeing's customer airlines.
KING AEROSPACE, Addison, Texas, recently completed the 75th aircraft refurbishment since the company began business in 1993. Aircraft painting services generated about two-thirds of King Aerospace revenues in the company's early years, but now about 75 percent of revenue comes from refurbishment work. King expects to refurbish about 25 aircraft this year and paint about 40.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model 204B, 205A, and 205A-1 helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-32-AD) - require modification and inspections of the vertical fin spar. If any crack is discovered, replacement of the vertical fin spar with an airworthy spar is required before further flight. This action is prompted by several failures of the vertical fin spar, including those with steel doublers, caused by fatigue cracks.
W. NOLAN UNTIEDT was appointed president of Willis Aeronautical Services, Inc. (WASI), a division of Willis Lease Finance Corp., San Francisco, Calif., a lessor of spare commercial aircraft engines, aircraft and spare parts worldwide. Untiedt, a veteran of more than 30 years with United Air Lines, takes over as president of WASI from Ted Dibble, who has been president of the unit since it was formed in 1994.
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL said union employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Coralville, Iowa and Newport Beach, Calif., rejected a tentative agreement and went on strike Thursday. The company said that the two businesses involved, Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, "anticipate little or no impact in meeting customer requirements. These units are continuing operations and non-striking employees have been asked to report to work as usual."
JEFFREY YAKER was named president of Coltec Industries AMI Aircraft Seating Systems division, Colorado Springs, Colo. Yaker, 47, had been president of Walbar Arizona since joining Coltec in November 1994. Before joining Coltec, Yaker was vice president and general manager of the Airfoil Division of Interturbine Corp. and prior to that he had been with the Aircraft Engine Division of General Electric.
