TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Rodney Slater, when asked his opinion about taking the transportation trust funds "off budget," last week responded that he felt the trust funds should be counted in the overall totals of the federal budget instead of being segregated. The trust funds are part of a unified budget, enabling government to "exercise fiscal discipline" and balance the budget, he said. Slater did add, however, that the Clinton Administration has been "in discussions" about reducing the uncommitted balances.
EXTEX, the Mesa, Ariz. parts manufacturer that has been operating for three years, delivered its 1,000th Allison 250 engine nozzle to Era Aviation of Lake Charles, La. and 500th compressor wheel to Airborne Engines of Richmond, British Columbia. Extex President and Chief Operating Officer Larry Shiembob, noting "the market has responded very strongly to our offerings," said the company met its sales targets sooner than expected.
CESSNA named Robert Gibbs Caravan regional sales manager and Robert Hollander Citation regional sales manager. Gibbs, most recently Citation field service supervisor for South America, will head Caravan sales activity in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. He joined Cessna in 1992 as a field service engineer. Hollander will oversee Citation sales in the Far East/Pacific. He previously was manager, international sales for Gulfstream Aerospace.
BOEING said design of its Boeing Business Jet is ahead of schedule, which should permit a first flight before the end of August, just 25 months after the manufacturer and General Electric launched the program. See article below.
KEITH FORCINITO was appointed director of turboshaft engines for Airwork Miami. Forcinito, who has served with Airwork since 1990, will be responsible for Allison 250 and Twin Pac programs.
AAR ALLEN GROUP signed an agreement with Topcast Aviation Supplies Co., Ltd, based in Hong Kong, under which Topcast will act as AAR's marketing, sales and component repair representative in most of the Asia-Pacific region.
AASI, Long Beach, Calif., said orders for its Jetcruzer pusher-prop grew from 86 in mid-January to 117 valued at $140 million by last month. "This is beyond our expectations," said AASI Executive Vice Presixent Gene Comfort. "In just one month, we have added 31 aircraft to our orders and we are off and running to a banner year."
ROBERT SWANSON was appointed Northwest regional manager for turboshaft engines for Airwork. Swanson, who will be responsible for sales and customer support for Allison 250 and Twin Pac PT6T engines throughout the Northwest, previously was director of maintenance and chief inspector for Sundance Helicopters.
LARRY LEVEY was named director of sales and marketing for Regent Aerospace Corp. Levey will be responsible for the sales and marketing of corporate aviation and transparency services.
House transportation appropriations subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) last week expressed doubts that the Federal Aviation Administration would have its computer systems prepared to withstand possible glitches in the year 2000 when internal clocks turn over, and indicated he plans to establish an oversight committee for the agency's Year 2000 and air traffic control modernization activities. During a hearing Wednesday on the Department of Transportation's fiscal 1999 budget, Wolf noted that FAA is suffering from a "credibility problem...
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE indefinitely postponed a hearing on the National Civil Aviation Review Commission recommendations, which had been scheduled for March 11. The committee said it is still awaiting the Transportation Department's legislative proposals based on the NCARC report and findings.
A JAA POLICY restricting U.S. training agencies from training European students has alarmed a range of flight schools that specialize in international training. See article below.
FRENCH AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERS had a record year in 1997, with sales increasing to FRF130.2 billion ($20.8 billion), up 19.4 percent compared with the previous year. The industry's professional association, Groupement Industriel Francais Aeronautique et Spatial (GIFAS), also said orders jumped by 33.5 percent to FRF157.9 billion ($25.26 billion). This prompted expectations of another strong rise in sales in 1998.
National Air Transportation Association last week urged FAA Administrator Jane Garvey to help overturn a new European Joint Aviation Authorities policy that requires U.S. training companies to establish an office in a JAA-member country in order for the country to recognize training accomplished at the U.S. company (BA, Feb. 23/81). JAA intends to enforce the rule beginning in June 1999, but individual member countries are indicating that they will implement the policy sooner.
Avfuel Corp., the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based supplier of aviation petroleum products, completed the acquisition of the Aviation Fuel Sales Division of PS Trading, Inc., the fuel sales subsidiary of PS Group, Inc. The acquisition is the sixth by Avfuel in the past decade, part of a strategy of internal growth and targeted purchases that has seen the company's share of the general aviation and business aviation market grow to more than 20 percent, according to President Craig R. Sincock.
CHANDLER EVANS CONTROL SYSTEMS, a Coltec Industries unit, was selected to supply its full authority digital electronic control (FADEC) system for Turbomeca's Arrius 2K1 turboshaft engine that powers the Agusta A109 "Power" helicopter. The FADEC also is in production for the Turbomeca Arrius 2B engine powering the Eurocopter EC-135 and is in operation on, or in development for, 12 other aerospace and industrial applications. Chandler Evans, West Hartford, Conn., produces fuel controls, fuel pumps and FADEC systems for aerospace and industrial use.
EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION introduced a new aircraft finance plan developed with Green Tree Financial Services. The plan includes discounted rates for EAA members, fast quote turnaround and financing for nearly any aircraft. For more information, contact Green Tree at (800) 851-1367.
NTSB REPORTED THAT THE NUMBER OF AIR CHARTER AND GENERAL AVIATION AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS FELL LAST YEAR NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD last week reported that the number of air charter and general aviation aircraft accidents fell last year although the number of fatalities in GA accidents increased slightly. The accident rates for both charter and GA improved, but some Washington observers note that the rates are likely even better than the NTSB suggests since the flight hour numbers used as the basis for the rates are understated.
U.S. general aviation and air charter operators improved in terms of number of accidents and accident rates in 1997, but the number of fatalities in general aviation aircraft rose by 15, according to annual accident information released by the National Transportation Safety Board. The number of general aviation accidents fell to 1,854 in 1997, a 2.8 percent improvement from the 1,905 in 1996 and an all-time low for GA.
Federal Aviation Administration intends to evaluate an airplane's wake vortex characteristics as part of its type certification process, the agency said in a policy statement issued last week. The new policy, printed in the Feb. 25 Federal Register, stems from a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation that FAA require manufacturers to determine "by flight test or other suitable means" an aircraft's wake vortex characteristics.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146-100A, -200A and -300A and Model Avro 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-163-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections of the attachment brackets between the horizontal and vertical stabilizers to detect intergranual corrosion, and follow-on actions. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
In a move that effectively exempts aviation gasoline and jet fuel from new state motor fuel taxes, the Tennessee Department of Revenue last month issued a notice to motor fuel tax registrants stating that it will not enforce the new law's registration requirements for fixed-base operators (BA, Jan. 19/24). The motor fuel taxes exempted both aviation gasoline and jet fuel, but on the condition that jet fuel purchasers register with the federal government.
The City of New York may impose extended nighttime curfews, order the phaseout of weekend operations and require a 47 percent reduction in overall operations at the East 34th Street Heliport in Manhattan because those actions are within its powers as proprietor of the facility, a federal court held in February. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled, however, that the city's prohibition on the operation of Sikorsky S-58Ts, or helicopters of a similar size, for sightseeing operations was unjust discrimination.
