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.
UNISON INDUSTRIES joined the Corporate Angel Network and is making its Beech King Air B200 turboprop available to transport cancer patients to and from treatment centers, one of more than 550 companies accommodating patients on regularly scheduled business flights.
SUSAN BAER was named general manager of Newark International Airport by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Baer, a 22-year veteran of the Port Authority, had been general manager of LaGuardia Airport since April 1994. At Newark, she will be responsible for a staff of 500 with a budget of nearly $300 million. Baer began her Port Authority career as a management analyst and served as manager of the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan before moving to the aviation side of the agency in 1988.
LANCAIR named Avidyne Coporation and AvroTec Corporation as its suppliers for a comprehensive multifuction cockpit display system to be installed in the new Lancair Columbia 300. The system uses Avrotec's sunlight-readable, full-color 10.4-inch display as well as Avidyne software products Avidyne Navigator, Lightning, and Charts.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, who has been handicapped by numerous vacancies in key positions since she took office last summer, found a replacement on Capitol Hill for one important post just as another critical job opened up.
The United States Air Tour Association charged last week that the National Park Service dramatically overstated the noise impact of aircraft overflights on the Grand Canyon in an effort "to show more aircraft overflight noise than actually occurred."
Executives for British Aerospace Regional Aircraft Ltd. (BARAL), now independent from the Aero International (Regional) European consortium with Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy, say they are looking at a new RJX quadjet with new powerplants and reduced costs. They also plan to expand their existing production and maintenance businesses for outside customers. The company built 217 earlier-model BAe 146s, all of which are operating, and has taken 147 total orders for the newer Avro RJ70/85/100 series, of which 105 have been delivered.
(formerly Piper Aircraft Corp.) airplanes equipped with wing lift struts (Docket No. 96-CE-72-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 93-10-06, which currently applies to all models of Piper airplanes equipped with wing lift struts. AD 93-10-06 requires repetitively inspecting the wing lift struts and wing lift strut forks for cracks or corrosion, and replacing any strut or fork found cracked or corroded. The proposed AD, which is designed to prevent inflight separation of the wing, is intended to correct a number of mistakes FAA made in the original AD.
R. DIXON SPEAS, 82, an aviation pioneer who headed several consulting firms, died May 14 at his home in Tucson, Ariz. He began flying while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where, in 1937, he won first prize in the William E.
