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.
AIR ROUTING INTERNATIONAL said Tokyo's Haneda Airport is now open to general aviation, with the Japan Civil Aviation Board allowing four GA operations per day, but the company said several restrictions are still in place. Presently only select international commercial flights receive customs services at Haneda, which means foreign-registered private flights must first land at an international airport in Japan, clear customs and then pro-ceed to Haneda.
A Pilatus PC-12 with 10 people en route from St. John's, Newfoundland to Goose Bay, Labrador suffered a complete engine failure May 18, but the 30-year-old pilot managed to keep the aircraft aloft for another 20 minutes and made a controlled crash landing in a bog. All aboard survived, but the pilot and at least two passengers suffered serious injuries.
Model ATR42 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-44-AD) - proposes a new AD that would require modification of the electrical power supply for the standby horizon indicator. The Direction Generale de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC), the French airworthiness authority, advised FAA that an operator experienced an aborted takeoff attributed to loss of power at the direct current (DC) emergency bus, which disabled the standby horizon indicator.
GROWTH CAPITAL ASSOCIATES, a financial advisory company located in Santa Monica, Calif. said it completed financing approximately $6 million for Applied Aerospace Structures Corp., an aerospace component manufacturer in Stockton, Calif. The firm will use the $6.1 million in funds to construct two new manufacturing facilities, thus creating more than 200 new jobs.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL added a special feature to its Gulfstream IV initial maintenance course, offering instruction on the installation and repair of hydraulic lines. The training is conducted by representatives of Deutsch Metal Components, which will provide Permaswage training cards to technicians who successfully complete the course.
Bombardier Aerospace selected North Bay, Ontario as the new site for final assembly of its Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft. The company announced in April that it planned to move final assembly of the large CL- 415 from Montreal to Ontario to make room for construction and assembly of the company's 70-passenger Canadair Regional Jet. North Bay is about 200 miles north of Toronto and about 30 miles west of the Quebec border.
BTR PLC sold its two Australian aerospace companies, Hawker Pacific and Hawker de Havilland, for $102 million. Hawker Pacific, which overhauls airframes, sells aircraft and distributes parts, was purchased by a division of Sweden's Celsius AB. Hawker de Havilland, which makes airframe structures and develops software, was acquired by the Tenix Group of Australia.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION established an interactive Internet website to make human factors information accessible to the public. The Human Factors Program Management System includes a suggestion box, which will be reviewed periodically, as well as a user-friendly search engine to help FAA human factors research. The address of the site is http://www.hf.faa.gov/database/welcome.html.
Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-123-AD) - proposes a new AD that would require a one-time visual inspection to detect cracking in the axle adapter of the shock absorber of the nose landing gear (NLG), and corrective actions, if necessary. The German airworthiness authority, the LBA, notified FAA that one operator found a crack in the axle adapter of the shock absorber during a maintenance check.
JET AVIATION of Switzerland and Lufthansa Technik of Germany were selected by Airbus as approved cabin outfitters for the Airbus Corporate jetliner (A319CJ). Airbus said both companies have outfitted other Airbus aircraft for private customers. The manufacturer said the endorsement of the two outfitters follows extensive discussions between the parties that resulted in specification of six different cabin layouts, plus 17 standard modules from which others can be created.
ELLIOTT AVIATION added a seven-passenger Cessna Citation II to its Part 135 certificate and is basing the jet at its Eppley Airfield facility in Omaha, Neb., where, the company said, it is "the first charter jet based in the Omaha metropolitan area." Elliott Aviation operates a fleet of 25 jet, turboprop and piston aircraft from its FBO facilities in Moline, Ill., Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Minn. and Omaha.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved Type III(a) certification last week for the Flight Dynamics HGS-2850 Head-Up Guidance System available as an option on the Dassault Falcon Jet 2000. FAA certification follows similar action in February by the European Joint Airworthiness Authorities. Dassault said the JAA and FAA certifications make the Falcon 2000 "the first business jet" to win III(a) approval from those airworthiness authorities.
INTERNATIONAL WATER-GUARD, which makes water purification systems for aircraft, said the Canadian government will provide a $235,845 (Canadian) investment to help fund the company's development of the NPS-A3 potable water treatment system. The NPS-A3 program, designed for the new generation of very long range aircraft, was launched in August.
TOBY SMITH was named manager of the new Dallas office of JB&A Aviation. Before joining the Houston-based aircraft brokerage and consulting firm, Smith had been with the Commercial Lending Division of Comerica Bank. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University with majors in finance and accounting. He also is a private pilot. JB&A also has offices in Chicago, Tucson and Denver.
CADE INDUSTRIES, an aerospace and air transport supplier, told shareholders at its annual meeting that the company expects 1998 earnings to rise 60 percent, on a 50 percent gain in revenues. The company's president, Richard Lund, said he was "encouraged by first quarter results" and a strong order intake that boosted backlog to $84 million. The company designs and manufactures jet engine test facilities and related ground testing equipment.
CRAIG FAHNING was named vice president-corporate aircraft sales for Fairchild Dornier and will be based at corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. Before joining Fairchild Dornier, Fahning spent five years as regional sales manager of Gulfstream Aerospace covering the central U.S. Before that, he was responsible for the aircraft sales division of Midcoast Aviation in St. Louis, Mo.
THE 10TH ANNUAL International Women in Aviation conference will be held March 18-20, 1999, at the Radisson Twin Towers Hotel in Orlando, Fla. For more information, call (937) 839-4647.
