FLIGHTSAFETY SIMULATION is building a fourth full flight simulator for the Beech 1900D regional turboprop to be delivered to FlightSafety International in the last quarter of 1998. The simulator will meet Level D standards, including a panorama-style display with the VITAL MultiView projection system. FlightSafety provides Beech 1900D simulator training at its learning centers in Wichita, Kan., LaGuardia Airport, New York, and Daytona Beach, Fla.
MAG Aerospace Industries, a Compton, Calif. company that manufactures toilets and trash compactors for the aviation market, will be sold to a French firm under an agreement announced by Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York merchant bank that currently owns MAG. Castle Harlan bought MAG in December 1993 and said it is selling the company to Zodiac S.A., a French aeronautical and marine equipment company in a transaction valued at $180 million.
GRUMMAN Model TS-2A series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-75-AD) - proposes to require revising the airplane flight manual to prohibit the positioning of the power levels below the flight idle stop during flight and to include a statement of the consequences of such action. This proposal is prompted by incidents and accidents involving turboprop airplanes in which the ground propeller beta range was used improperly during flight.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION last week determined that the minimum percentage rate for random drug testing of aviation employees in safety- sensitive positions should remain at 25 percent for 1998, but that the random alcohol testing rate should drop to 10 percent. FAA has the option of raising or lowering the random testing rates based on the percentage of positive test results for random drug testing and the violation rate for alcohol testing over two consecutive years for covered employees involved in transportation for hire.
FORTUNE magazine named Southwest Airlines the best company to work for in the U.S. Southwest Chief Executive Herb Kelleher called the announcement "a tribute to the 25,000-plus employees of Southwest, who have made our work environment one which is admired in corporate America." The carrier was named one of the top companies for job security, one of the 10 best for opportunities and a place where fun is a way of life.
Dow-United Technologies (Dow-UT) Composite Products Inc., Wallingford, Conn., has developed and patented a process that enables the manufacture of complex composite aerospace components. The firm said the new process increases the quality of composite aerospace components at the point where two or more sections are molded together.
LINDA FOX joined Unison Industries as senior mechanical engineer for the ignition exciter design team. Fox, who has 10 years of aviation industry experience, previously served in various design and engineering positions for Champion Aviation Products, including designer, associate engineer, design engineer and engineering group leader.
GALAXY AEROSPACE achieved its goal of flying the new Galaxy midsize business jet by yearend and ushered in 1998 with another flight on New Year's Eve. See article below.
PATS, INC. executives are enthusiastic about the success of efforts by state, county and local officials to recruit and train workers for the company's new fuel tank assembly operation in Georgetown, Del. (BA, Sept. 22/121). PATS now has 23 employees in Georgetown, including the first 11 graduates of the training program designed by PATS and Sussex County to equip workers with the necessary production skills. Another class of 10 graduates is scheduled to join the work force this month, with a similar number to be added in February.
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
EUROCOPTER Model SA-365N, SA-365N1, AS-365N2, and SA-366G1 helicopters (Docket No. 96-SW-22-AD) - proposes to require an inspection of the transmission deck for cracks, repair or replacement of any cracked transmission decks and replacement of the transmission deck support beams with redesigned support beams. This proposal is prompted by several reports of cracks in the transmission deck and support beams.
R.V. JONES, considered the father of electronic warfare, died Dec. 17 of a heart attack in a hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland. He was 86. Reginald Victor Jones, born in 1911 in London, was instrumental in developing a means of countering German radio beams that were intended to guide Luftwaffe pilots to targets during the Battle of Britain in World War II.
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS issued a clarification to an impending tax on kerosene to explain that aviation-grade kerosene, or Jet A fuel, should be covered by aviation taxes rather than the 24.4-cent-per-gallon tax on kerosene (BA, Dec. 1/229).
BRITISH AEROSPACE ASSET MANAGEMENT-JETS leased three BAe 146-200s to Air Wisconsin Airlines. The aircraft were formerly operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Air Wisconsin has taken delivery of one of the aircraft and expects to receive the other two in February. The three additional aircraft will boost Air Wisconsin's BAe 146 fleet to 18.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE, which has made a habit of selecting "big name" board members, announced last week that former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger is now part of the Gulfstream team. See article below.
GREATER TORONTO AIRPORT AUTHORITY this month completed an initial public offering of $947 million (Canadian) in revenue bonds, which, according to the authority, is the largest bond issue in Canadian corporate history. Proceeds from the offering will be used to pay down debt related to the authority's acquisition of Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
MIKE CROITORU was promoted to manager of FlightSafety International's Learjet learning center in Wichita, Kan. Croitoru, who joined FlightSafety 11 years ago, spent the past three years as manager, Learjet business development. He also has served as FlightSafety's Minneapolis-based regional marketing manager.
Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and AMR Combs, which joined together two and one-half years ago to compete against Executive Jet in the fractional ownership business jet market (BA, May 8, 1995/193), said last week Bombardier will acquire AMR Combs' share of the program. Terms of the separation agreement were not disclosed.
AMR EAGLE'S Regional Aircraft Maintenance Center won a contract from Atlantic Southeast Airlines to provide maintenance on 12 of ASA's ATR 72 aircraft. The contract calls for AMR Eagle's maintenance center to perform C checks on each ASA aircraft. Regional Aircraft Maintenance Center will provide the maintenance at its new facility, which spans 126,000 square feet at the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Gwinn, Mich.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 and CL-600-2A12 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-256-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the anti-noise filter on the standby and auxiliary power unit fuel pump assemblies with a new filter. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT received an order from Proteus Airlines in Lyon, France for 10 Beech 1900Ds in a contract Raytheon valued at about $50 million, including aircraft, training, spares and technical publications. Proteus is expected to take delivery of the first aircraft this month with the remaining units to be shipped through the third quarter of 1998. Proteus will operate the aircraft throughout France, including its hub at Saint- Etienne as well as Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nantes, Lille, Strasbourg and Nice.
Sullivan Higdon&Sink was named agency of record for Allison Engine Company, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Aerospace. Allison, headquartered in Indianapolis, manufactures and supports turbine engines for aviation, marine and industrial applications. Its products include the Allison 250 series engine line that powers more than 60 percent of the light-turbine helicopter market and the 3007 turbofan that powers the Embraer RJ145 airliner and Cessna's top-of-the-line Citation X business jet.
Boeing plans to lay off 12,000 workers next year once it resolves production line problems and nears completion of its current development programs, Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said last week. The company has stopped hiring except in some critical areas, Woodard told a press conference. He said he did not know how the layoffs will be apportioned among the company's facilities, but that they would occur in the second half of 1998.
