FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL'S Simulation Systems Division received a contract to design and build a flight simulator for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. The contract, an extension of the prime Bell Boeing contract from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, also calls for FlightSafety Services Corporation to provide logistics support for the operation of the simulator. The simulator, which will include a VITAL ChromaView visual system and a MultiView panoramic display, will be installed at New River Marine Corps Air Station, N.C.
IF TIMING IS EVERYTHING, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association probably wishes its most recent letter to President Clinton had been sent a few weeks earlier. AOPA President Phil Boyer wrote to express his concern that, 15 months after passage of legislation providing for establishment of a 15-member FAA Management Advisory Council, Clinton has not named any members to the panel. T60he letter was sent Jan.
Fairchild Dornier's 328JET flew for the first time Jan. 20, making a one hour and 55 minute flight from Oberpfaffhofen, near Munich, Germany and validating the company's prediction that the first flight would occur on that date (BA, Dec. 15/257). Pilots Meinhardt Feuersenger and Peter Weger flew the aircraft to 25,000 feet, conducted initial assessments of handling qualities and ran system checkouts, including landing gear retraction.
SCANDINAVIAN AIRLINES SYSTEM ordered 41 Head-Up Guidance System (HGS) units from Flight Dynamics of Portland, Ore. for installation on its new fleet of Boeing 737-600s. The order, which includes an option for 35 additional HGS units, makes SAS the Boeing 737 launch customer in Europe for the HGS 4000.
Tracor Flight Systems won FAA supplemental type certification and parts manufacturer for its hush kit designed to bring Learjet 20 series aircraft into compliance with Stage 3 noise requirements. Tracor, which is selling the hush kits through Ottendorf Aviation in Daytona Beach, Fla., expects to sell 150 to 250 of the kits to Learjet operators, said Ben Medley, vice president and general manager of Tracor Flight Systems. Medley added that the kits, which cost $110,000 per aircraft, are estimated to increase the bluebook value of the aircraft by $200,000.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT delivered more new airplanes last year than in any year since 1985, and nearly a third of the total were jets. The Wichita manufacturer delivered 618 new aircraft last year, the first time its annual total has exceeded 600 since 1985, when it shipped 859. The 1997 total included 360 piston-powered single-engine models, 78 turboprop- powered Caravan utility aircraft and 180 Citation business jets.
LEO SAWATZKI was appointed vice president of technical services for Atlantic Aero. Sawatzki has nearly 30 years of aviation maintenance experience and was part of the initial team that launched Alliance Engines. He worked for Duncan Aviation for more than 20 years.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT presented a $25,000 contribution to support the efforts of GA Team 2000, the industry-wide effort to increase the number of student pilots.
BAA, the British firm that operates a number of major airports in the U.K. and the U.S., signed a 10-year contract with the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority to manage the Harrisburg, Pa. International Airport (MDT) and its reliever airport, Capital City (CXY). The agreement calls for BAA Harrisburg to manage the full airport operation at the two facilities, including all terminal, airside and administrative services. BAA Harrisburg will receive a fixed annual management fee of $500,000, plus a variable fee based on measurable financial improvements.
MAKING SURE their aircraft meet the technical standards to fly in Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum airspace isn't the only concern of operators who fly across the North Atlantic. The Air Line Pilots Association told FAA its members have experienced persistent warnings from their Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems and encountered wake vortex incidents while maintaining the 1,000-foot vertical separation standard specified in RVSM airspace.
Aviation Methods, Inc., a veteran aviation management and charter company headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., was acquired by a subsidiary of TAG Group S.A., the latest in a series of recent acquisitions by TAG.
SIMAT, HELLIESEN&EICHER (SH&E), thea international commercial aviation consultant, has acquired Kurth&Company, Inc., an aviation marketing and management consulting firm. Kurth&Company will act as SH&E's Washington, D.C. office.
DENNIS YAMAUCHI was named regional manager, engine sales for K-C Aviation. Yamauchi, who spent 22 years with Garrett General Aviation/AlliedSignal, will be responsible for engine sales in the West Coast, Hawaii and Pacific Rim.
National Business Aviation Association recently promoted a number of its staff members, including Robert Blouin and Pete West to senior level positions. Blouin, who joined the association in March as vice president, operations (BA, March 31/142), was promoted to senior vice president, operations. West, a 10-year NBAA veteran and former vice president, government affairs, will take on additional responsibility for public affairs in his new position as senior vice president, government and public affairs.
Models M20F, M20J and M20L airplanes (Docket No. 96-CE-51-AD; Amdt. 39-10251; AD 97-26-08) - requires removing the fuel cap retaining lanyard from the fuel filler cap assemblies. A report of lost engine power during flight because of fuel starvation prompted the action. The investigation revealed that the airplane fuel float became trapped by the fuel cap retaining lanyard, keeping the float from following the fuel level. This condition caused the pilot to get a false fuel quantity reading.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION adopted a resolution calling for its members to phase out operation of Stage 1 aircraft by 2005. NBAA estimated that less than one percent of more than 6,800 business aircraft operated by its members are Stage 1. FAA currently bans Stage 1 aircraft weighing more than 75,000 pounds and the resolution stems from a joint effort with FAA to call on "all NBAA members to refrain from adding Stage 1 aircraft to their fleets beginning in January 2000 and furthermore recommends ending operation of such aircraft by January 2005."
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer wrote to President Clinton and other top Administration and congressional leaders this month, asking for action in finding and appointing members of an FAA Management Advisory Council (MAC). Creation of a 15-member MAC was specified in the FAA Reauthorization Act that Clinton signed in October 1996, but 15 months later Clinton still has not appointed any members.
Pilots looking for jobs had a banner year in 1997, according to a survey by Atlanta-based AIR Inc. The company reported more pilots were hired in 1997 than at any other time in history, with 11,936 pilots finding work. Major airlines hired the most pilots, 32 percent, or 3,854, and national carriers hired 3,194. Jet operators added 1,946 employees to the payroll and non-jet operators 1,762. December was a strong employment month with 178 of 227 carriers hiring. Eight of the 14 major airlines produced 269 new pilot jobs in December.
IAN LOWDEN was promoted to vice president for Simat, Helliesen&Eichner. Lowden has served with SH&E for eight years, helping develop the company's business in commercial strategy for airlines and airports.
BMW ROLLS-ROYCE hopes to generate operational profits "around the year 2000," according to the managing director, Klaus Nittinger. The joint venture, which was set up in 1990, has so far invested 1.8 billion Deutsche marks. To date, it has won 500 firm orders for its BR700 engine series. The company puts the value of its order book at 2.5 billion marks. The manufacturer is aiming at increasing its sales from 500 million marks in 1997 to about 1 billion marks in 1999.
DASSAULT ELECTRONIQUE and Sextant Avionique are forming a joint venture to market products developed by the parent companies to airlines and aircraft manufacturers.
Preliminary figures show that western-built turboprop and commuter hull losses in 1997 totaled 36, or five more than in 1996, according to Airclaims. "Based on previous experience, the final number of turboprop total losses for 1997 is likely to increase as more losses become known, a poor result," it said. Estimated cost of major hull losses suffered by turboprop and commuter aircraft was $109 million, "which is considerably up on 1996 but is similar to the annual average for the first part of the 1990s which is $100 million," Airclaims said.
Model HS 748 (Jetstream) series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-222-AD; Amdt. 39-10248; AD 97-26-05) - requires inspections of the inspection holes in all engine "W" frame socket fittings to determine if certain fasteners have been installed, or if the inspection holes have been reworked, and corrective action, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
BRIAN SCHANK was promoted to regional sales manager for K-C Aviation, responsible for sales in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin. A 10-year K-C Aviation employee, Schank formerly was technical service administrator on Canadair, Falcon, Gulfstream and Raytheon aircraft.
