NBAA has signed up 765 exhibiting companies who have contracted for 3,791 10-foot by 10-foot booth spaces for this year's show, compared with 875 companies who took 3,464 booth spaces at the 1997 show in Dallas. To accommodate the strong demand, NBAA has opened up another entire section of the Las Vegas Convention Center for exhibits.
Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-103-AD) - proposes a new AD that would require modification of the ground cooling fan. The proposal was prompted by a report from the German airworthiness authority, the LBA, that an unsafe condition may exist on certain 328-100 series airplanes. The LBA said it received reports of smoke in the flight deck and cabin due to an overheating condition caused by oil contamination of the heat exchangers and the failure of the ground cooling fans to dispel the smoke from the flight deck and cabin.
KEN WEAVER joined Showalter Flying Service, Orlando, Fla., as the Mooney Aircraft Sales manager for the state of Florida. He will be responsible for new business development, sales and service throughout the state. Before joining Showalter, Weaver had been marketing and sales director for Davis Air, a jet charter company in Pittsburgh, Pa. He also served as an aircraft salesman for Piper Aircraft in the Northeast.
Model A200CT, B200, B200C, B200CT, 200T/B200T, 300, B300 and B300C airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-148-AD) - proposes a new AD that would require replacing the main landing gear left and right actuator clevis assembly. FAA said reports of main landing gear failure on two of the affected airplanes, a B200 and a B200C, prompted the proposed action. Investigation revealed that the main landing gear actuator clevis in those airplanes failed from fatigue cracking in the threaded shank portion of the clevis. FAA estimated that 897 airplanes on the U.S.
AlliedSignal Electronic&Avionics Systems is engineering a variety of new models of its Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) that "will make advanced terrain alerting available to virtually every type of aircraft," according to the company. FAA announced a month ago that it will require owners of all turbine- powered aircraft with six or more seats to install EGPWS units by 2003 and AlliedSignal officials said then they were working on different versions to accommodate different aircraft types (BA, April 20/173).
ATLANTIC AVIATION FLIGHT SERVICES added a second Gulfstream III and a Hawker 700 to its growing charter fleet. The G-III, based in Wilmington, Del., became available for charter this month. The Hawker is equipped with a new interior and is based in Teterboro, N.J.
WILLIAM H. TRACHSEL, 55, a veteran employee of United Technologies Corp., was named senior vice president and general counsel, reporting to George David, UTC's chairman and chief executive. Trachsel succeeds Irving B. Yoskowitz, who is retiring to become a senior partner in Global Technology Partners, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based venture with Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette's Merchant Banking Partners. That venture, whose partners include former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former CIA Director John M.
The Federal Aviation Administration has modified the Gulf of Mexico High Offshore airspace area in an attempt to improve the efficiency of air traffic operations in the area.
PILOT HIRINGS continue to be strong with 1,244 new jobs opening in April, according to AIR, Inc., which projects the current rate of hiring will mean about 4,000 new jobs at the majors and more than 4,800 at national carriers this year. Overall, AIR projects more than 12,500 new cockpit jobs in 1998 (BA, April 13/161).
Operators of corporate jets filed a legal challenge this month to a new system for allocating takeoff and landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport, which they say will damage their business. High Court officials said it was "abundantly clear" that an application by operators for judicial review was arguable and that a full hearing should take place quickly.
HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE Wednesday marked up legislation amending the Fastener Quality Act by recognizing FAA as the authority on aviation fastener standards. The amendment also would delay implementation of the Fastener Quality Act until June 1999 and require the Commerce Department to conduct a study to determine whether changes in manufacturing practices have obviated the need for the FQA. House action is expected relatively soon. Similar legislation previously was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee.
HAMILTON STANDARD named Gregory J. DeSantis vice president of operations for aircraft products and Sebastian (Bas) Demarteau to succeed DeSantis as vice president of worldwide customer support. Both report to Robert R. Moore, executive vice president of aircraft systems. DeSantis, an engineer, has been with Hamilton Standard for more than 30 years. Demarteau has more than 25 years experience in the industry and joined Hamilton Standard in 1989 as managing director of Hamilton Support Systems in The Netherlands.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE said its secondary public offering of 18 million shares of the company's common stock will be priced at $43 per share. The shares are being sold by affiliates of Forstmann Little&Co. and current and former Gulfstream officers, directors, employees and advisors.
SA 330F, G and J helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-43- AD) - proposes a new AD that would require removal and replacement of each tail rotor electrical bonding braid. The French airworthiness authority, the DGAC, said the bonding braids and their attachment clamps were to be removed and replaced before Sept. 1, 1995. The problem is addressed in Eurocopter France Service Bulletin SA 330 No. 65.73, dated June 22, 1995. For more information, contact Robert McCallister in FAA's Rotorcraft Directorate at (817) 222-5121; fax, (817) 222-5961.
SPENCE M. (SAM) ARMSTRONG, a retired Air Force three-star general who has been NASA's human resources and education chief since 1991, was named head of the agency's Aeronautics and Space Technology Enterprise.
STANLEY P. FELIX, a veteran Gulfstream pilot, was named manager-Gulfstream programs for SimuFlite Training International. Felix, a 25-year aviation industry veteran, has 8,000 hours total flight time, including 4,000 hours in Gulfstream aircraft. He has been a SimuFlite instructor pilot since 1995 . He was formerly director of operations for U.S. Army Priority Air Transport, where he coordinated flight crews and flight operations worldwide.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee last week deferred FAA's request to develop a new rulemaking proposal addressing the reserve status portion of flight and duty time regulations governing pilots (BA, May 4/195). Instead, following more than two hours of discussion, the FAA's "tasking statement" was handed over to a working group for more study and consideration of a number of issues raised by members of the Executive Committee.
PRESIDENT CLINTON announced his intention to nominate Norman Mineta as a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports authority board of directors. Currently senior vice president and managing director of Lockheed Martin IMS's Transportation Systems and Services division, served in Congress for 21 years and chaired both the House Public Works Committee and its aviation subcommittee during his tenure. Most recently he chaired the Administration's National Civil Aviation Review Commission.
AlliedSignal, Inc., which makes a range of navigation products for larger aircraft, purchased a British company that builds moving-map displays for general aviation aircraft.
LAS VEGAS is proving a sensational draw as a venue for the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention. After purposely avoiding LAS as a convention location for decades because of concern about the city's image, the association shattered its attendance records when the show first visited the desert in 1995, drawing 24,884 registrants - an increase of nearly 40 percent over the previous record.
RTS SERVICES, INC., Fort Worth, Texas, launched "a major new and used parts buying and turbine engine purchasing program," according to President Roger Sickler, who said the company is "aggressively seeking firms who want to sell their new and used (repairable or not) parts for turboprop and turboshaft engines. RTS also is purchasing a number of new and used operating turbine powerplants and engine cores.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY is quickly becoming the bane of the aviation industry. First NIST officials issued new fastener regulations that would subject airframe and component manufacturers to a new set of standards in addition to FAA requirements (BA, May 11/207). Now NIST is requiring installation of ticket printers on aviation fuel trucks, a move that is expected to affect half the fuel tankers in the industry. See article below.
ROBERT BIAL is the new president of Professional Aircraft Accessories, Titusville, Fla. Bial was formerly vice president of operations for Solair, Inc., a Banner Aerospace company. "Bial brings professional expertise in repair administration for major OEMs and extensive airline experience, domestic and international, as well as operations management skills necessary in the industry," said Tom Chastain, president of Professional Aviation Associates, parent company of Professional Aircraft Accessories.
Model F27 Mark 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-98-AD) - proposes a new AD that would require replacement of the actuating ram bobbin and O-ring seals of the main landing gear (MLG) with new bobbins and improved O-ring seals. FAA said it was informed by the Rijksluchtvaartdienst (RLD), the Netherlands airworthiness authority, of reports of broken lockstruts on the main landing gear due to loss of dampening of the MLG actuating ram, which extends and retracts the MLG.
A SAFETY RECOMMENDATION LETTER regarding AlliedSignal TPE331 engine flameouts in icing conditions is on the agenda for the National Transportation Safety Board's meeting May 19. The board will consider a staff recommendation stemming from investigation of two Fairchild SA227 aircraft accidents.
