ROBERT F. CLOSSIN was named director of interior engineering at Dassault Falcon Jet's (DFJ) completion center in Little Rock, Ark. Clossin has 15 years of structural, mechanical and interior engineering experience. He was chief of interior engineering at Learjet in Wichita, Kan., director of structural engineering with K-C Aviation, in Dallas, manager of structural engineering at Midcoast Aviation, St. Louis, and a structures engineer with Cessna Aircraft.
HEXCEL CORP., a major manufacturer of composite materials and carbon fibers for the aerospace market, is expanding into the construction industry. Hexcel and Sika Finanz AG announced formation of "a global alliance to develop and market composite systems for the construction industry." Initial applications will focus on strengthening and repairing existing structures using composite materials.
VISIONAIRE CORP., St. Louis, Mo., manufacturer of the VisionAire Vantage business jet, selected Norton Performance Plastics, Corp., Ravenna, Ohio to supply the radome for the new aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in December and VisionAire said the contract calls for delivery of radomes for 326 aircraft.
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY recently took delivery of 10 new Cessna 172R Skyhawks, bringing their total to 18 units. The flight training program at WMU has 500 students and is expanding rapidly due to recent contracts signed with British Airways and Air Lingus for ab initio training.
AVIONS PIERRE ROBIN Model R3000/160 airplanes (Docket 97-CE-88-AD) - adopts a new AD applicable to all Model R3000/16 airplanes, which requires replacing the top bolts in the front wheel fork assembly and the top bolts attaching the front landing gear to the engine mount. The AD, which resulted from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the French airworthiness authority, is designed to prevent collapse of the nose landing gear.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued an advisory circular concerning certification of agricultural aircraft. The AC, 21.25-1, Issuance of Type Certificate: Restricted Category Agricultural Airplanes, provides information and guidance for obtaining a type certificate in the restricted category for small, single-engine piston and turbo-propeller driven airplanes, which will be used for agricultural special purpose operations.
RTS REWORK, INC., Fort Worth, Texas, installed the equipment and established a new department at its facility to begin a new Pratt&Whitney Canada-approved insulation blanket restoration process. The repair procedure used by RTS repairs cracked or torn sections of blanket foil by applying patches of new foil and attaching it using tack welding. Voids in the blanket's interior are filled with clean fiber from new blanket material. The repairs are being done on all series of P&W Canada PT6A, JT8D and PW100 turbine engines.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES opened a new $10 million flight operations training center adjacent to the airline's headquarters in Dallas. The 110,000- square-foot center houses five Boeing 737s, including a 737-700 equipped with a Head Up Guidance System. "Research for this facility was gleaned from visiting training centers all over the world, and the best ideas are incorporated into this gem of a building," said Paul Sterbenz, Southwest's vice president of flight operations.
TRANSPORT CANADA approved an increase in inspection intervals for the de Havilland DHC-8 regional airliner. The interval for "A" checks, (detailed visual inspection and routine maintenance) increases from 400 hours time- in-service to 500 hours TIS, and from 4,000 flight hours to 5,000 flight hours for a "C" check (a more extensive inspection, including functional checks and servicing). The interval for "D" checks (a very detailed inspection and upgrade procedure) remains at 40,000 flight cycles.
A three-year effort to achieve European critical mass in the highly competitive regional airliner market came to an end last week as British Aerospace and ATR announced Monday in Toulouse, France that they will dissolve their regional aircraft consortium - Aero International (Regional). AI(R), outlined at the 1995 Paris Air Show and launched in 1996, was formed to market aircraft made by BAe and ATR, an alliance of France's Aerospatiale and Italy's Alenia. AI(R) also intended to develop a range of regional jets - the Airjet in 58-, 70- and 84- seat versions.
ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES board of directors declared a two-for-one common stock split, payable as a stock dividend on May 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 24. The stock split is contingent upon approval by the company's stockholders, at their first annual meeting set for May 5, of an increase in the number of shares authorized. Atlantic Coast operates nearly 220 departures every business day to 46 cities in 20 states. It operates seven 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets and 60 Jetstream 41 and Jetstream 32 turboprops.
NAV CANADA officials are "extremely disappointed" by the outcome of a Canadian Air Traffic Control Association vote on a proposed new contract. CATCA members rejected the proposal by a 95 percent margin. Nav Canada said the contract, negotiated with a CATCA bargaining team since October, offered wage increases of 11 to 38 percent. CATCA President Dave Lewis told BA that Canadian controllers had been prohibited from engaging in collective bargaining since 1991 and their wages have been frozen since then.
IT WILL COST $540.80 to land a Gulfstream IV at the new Hong Kong International Airport and park for 24 hours, according to the new pricing formula for the airport's Business Aviation Center announced May 1. Business aircraft will pay a landing charge based on aircraft weight and a parking charge.
Buoyed by positive feedback from both registrants and exhibitors at a joint Aviation Services&Suppliers Supershow last month in Kansas City, officials of the National Air Transportation Association and the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association are planning to hold another joint industry exhibition in conjunction with their respective conventions next April in Phoenix, Ariz.
GEORGE J. KLEROS was appointed technical manager-Northeast U.S. for Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) of Chicago. Kleros, who is based in New Haven, Conn., will oversee all maintenance work and technical matters on behalf of JSSI's clients in the Northeast section of the country. Most recently he was president of Shoreline Aircraft Maintenance, a division of Shoreline Aviation, Inc., of New Haven. He formerly was a contract maintenance technician with a Canadair/Learjet service center and was a quality assurance inspector for Textron Lycoming Flight Services.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION has been inundated in recent weeks with calls from members who want to know where the association stands on fractional aircraft ownership programs.As a result, NATA plans to solicit the views of members to help it determine how best to respond to proposals being considered by FAA for regulating operations involving fractionally owned aircraft.
LADISH COMPANY, INC., a manufacturer of engineered forgings, invested $1.6 million to upgrade its six-story, 15,000-ton hydraulic forging press. The upgrades include installation of a new fabricated ram with quick-tool- change capabilities, a total rebuilding of the press's hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic power systems; and installation of computerized controls. Ladish, headquartered in Cudahy, Wis., with operations in Wisconsin and Connecticut, produces high-tech components for the jet engine, aerospace and general industrial markets.
GAMA also got some good news on Capitol Hill last week when the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved an amendment to the Fastener Quality Act that would recognize FAA as the sole oversight authority for aviation fasteners. GAMA members have been concerned that the Fastener Quality Act of 1990, as interpreted by rules issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), would require aviation fasteners to meet a whole new set of standards in addition to meeting FAA requirements. The NIST standards are scheduled to become effective next month.
Raytheon Aircraft reported record first quarter sales of $459.5 million, an increase of six percent compared with the same period a year ago, and operating income jumped 18 percent to $34.2 million.
Cessna named three employees to directorships at the company's single- engine production facility in Independence, Kan. John Daniel is director of assembly, responsible for production aspects of all single-engine piston models, assembly, paint and flight operations. He had been product manager of the Caravan and CitationJet assembly lines at Cessna's Mid-Continent facility in Wichita. He's been with Cessna for nearly 20 years.
ELITE AVIATION, INC., an aircraft management and charter company based in Van Nuys, Calif., moved into a new facility at the Van Nuys Airport. Richard Hodkinson, president and chief operating officer, named James Baroni, vice president and general manager, a move designed to accommodate the "continued growth and expansion" of the company. Baroni has logged more than 14,000 hours of jet time and served as director of flight operations and chief of maintenance for a Gulfstream IV operator.
Randall P. Lincoln, a veteran avionics marketer who joined McGraw-Hill last year as publisher of Business&Commercial Aviation magazine and A/C FLYER, will return to the avionics marketing business later this year. Lincoln accepted an offer to join Sony Trans Com of Irvine, Calif., as vice president of sales and marketing, effective in mid-June. The California firm has positioned itself as a major provider of in-flight entertainment systems for the commercial airline market.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS recorded "their best first quarter billings in history," according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. First-quarter billings were up 28.8 percent over the same period last year to $1.14 billion. Total aircraft shipments soared 92.4 percent to 456 units, compared with 237 units in 1997's first quarter. Jet deliveries also set a record with 82 units shipped, up 30.2 percent over a year ago. "The numbers really speak for themselves," said GAMA President Ed Bolen.
Researchers at Ohio State University are developing a color-changing paint that, in time, could save maintenance crews from having to tear aircraft apart to check for corrosion. The paint reveals newly formed corrosion cavities "as shallow as 15 micrometers," according to Gerald Frankel, associate professor of materials science, and graduate student Jian Zhang. The pair presented their results to date at a recent meeting of the Materials Research Society. The U.S.
BRUCE VAN ALLEN, the veteran fixed-base operation executive, was named president and chief executive officer of Signature Flight Support Friday. Van Allen, 43, was named executive vice president of the FBO chain just last summer (BA, July 14/16). He has been in the FBO business for more than 25 years and joined Signature in 1993. Dick Dodson, who had been president of Signature, is president of the BBA Group's Aviation Division, which includes Signature and five other companies.
