AAR ALLEN GROUP INTERNATIONAL - The Netherlands received a contract from Boeing Commercial Airplane Group to support Boeing aircraft. AAR will warehouse airframe parts for B737-700 aircraft, provide limited inspection and repair services and provide a spares exchange service.
FOKKER Model F28 Mark 0070 and Mark 0100 series engines (Docket No. 97-NM-245-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the operating handles of the overwing emergency exits with improved handles that illuminate. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to ensure that the operating handles of the overwing emergency exists are clearly visible during an emergency evacuation.
PARK OVERFLIGHTS also have gained the attention of House legislators with the aviation and national parks and public lands subcommittees holding a joint hearing next week to explore possibilities for a national parks overflights policy. See article below.
GERHARD NEUMANN, 80, a jet-engine pioneer and General Electric veteran, died Nov. 2 of complications from leukemia. Before retiring as head of GE Aircraft Engines in 1979, Neumann amassed eight patents and is widely credited with being the father of the highly successful CFM International partnership between GE and France's SNECMA.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. was selected by Mexico's civil aviation authority (SENEAM) for the first phase of a multi-year air traffic control modernization program. Northrop Grumman did not disclose terms of the contract, which calls for a new surveillance radar system, the ASR-12, mounted with a long-range monopulse secondary surveillance radar (MSSR) for approach and terminal operations at Guadalajara International Airport.
Ogden Corporation's Aviation Group income more than doubled in the first nine months even though revenues declined because of gains from the sale of some operations, the company reported. The Aviation Group had income of $10.2 million on revenues of $94 million for the third quarter, compared with income of $12.8 million on sales of $114.8 million for the same period a year ago. The income for the third quarter included a one- time gain on the sale of the company's JFK Airport ground services operations.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER will roll out the new 328JET Dec. 6 at Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, with first flight scheduled for Jan. 20. Shipment of the first two Pratt&Whitney Canada PW306B turbofans is set for mid-month with installation planned before the end of the month on S/N3002, the second 328 turboprop built. Four test aircraft will participate in the flight-test program, which is expected to culminate with certification and first delivery in March 1999. The orderbook stands at 10 firm and five operations, with Aspen Mountain Air down for four and four.
ADVANCED AERODYNAMICS&STRUCTURES, INC. broke ground Tuesday on its 200,000-square-foot aircraft factory in Long Beach, Calif., where it plans to build the Jetcruzer 500, a single turboprop, six-place personal aircraft priced at $1.3 million. AASI said it had orders for 70 of the aircraft by late October, a backlog valued at $85 million.
GARRETT AVIATION in Springfield, Ill. won a supplemental type certificate to install a BFGoodrich GH-3000 Electronic Standby Instrument System in Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft. The GH-3000, first installed in a Gulfstream IV by The Jet Center in Van Nuys, Calif., is designed to provide the functions of electro-mechanical standby attitude, airspeed and altitude instruments in one 3ATI-size display.
The Northwest Europe Loran-C System (NELS) Steering Committee has given its go-ahead to implementing the Loran-based "Eurofix" navigation system on all NELS transmitters. The action, taken Oct. 30, follows successful trials of transmitting Global Positioning System differential corrections using the Loran-C transmitter at Sylt, Germany. Modification of the transmitters, expected to take a year, would enable NELS to provide GPS and Glonass differential corrections throughout Europe.
VOLKER WERWICK was appointed director of sales and marketing for McCauley Propeller Systems. Werwick, who most recently was business development manager, has 10 years of marketing and product management experience.
EUROCOPTER Model BO 105C and BO 105S helicopters (Docket No. 96-SW-21- AD) - withdraws a proposal that would have required modification of the main relay box by replacing the voltage regulator, modification of the cockpit overhead panel by installing two additional switches and a functional test of the new voltage regulator, generators and new switches.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR JANE GARVEY will be the keynote speaker at the Presidents' Council luncheon Nov. 18 during the Regional Airline Association Fall Meeting. The meeting, Nov. 17-18 at the ANA Hotel in Washington, D.C., also will include an opening reception, technical briefing and meetings of the Associate Member Council, Presidents' Council, and Board of Directors.
BELL Model 430 helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-24-AD; Amdt. 39-10152; Ad 97-15-16) - publishes AD 97-15-16, which was previously sent to all known U.S. owners and operators of the affected helicopters. The AD requires inspections of all four main rotor adapter assemblies for evidence of flapping contact between the adapter liners and the upper stop assembly plugs, and for evidence of lead-lag contact between the adapter pads and the yoke assembly.
ALLIEDSIGNAL Model T5313B, T5317A and T53 turboshaft engines (Docket No. 97-ANE-38-AD; Amdt. 39-10160; AD 97-21-07) - requires a one-time visual inspection of accessory drive carrier assemblies for affected serial numbers designating a defective assembly, and if the serial number is applicable, replacement with a serviceable assembly. This amendment is prompted by a report of an N2 overspeed condition due to a defective accessory drive carrier assembly.
Triumph Group, Inc., Wayne, Pa., signed an agreement to acquire Stolper-Fabralloy Co., which manufactures precision sheet metal jet engine components. The cash purchase price was not disclosed.
GROEN BROTHERS AVIATION said it expects to be awarded a European patent on the company's variable collective pitch-control rotor head by the European Union patent office in Brussels, Belgium. The company said the patent specifically will endorse the rotor head that provides infinitely variable pitch in gyroplanes.
ELIZABETH ANN LARSON was appointed vice president and director of operations for Jet Professionals, Inc. Larson, who has a back-ground in corporate aviation, will be responsible for marketing, future planning and client contacts for JPI.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER, meanwhile, continues to strengthen its sales and marketing team, tapping former Embraer executive Salo Roth for its South American operations. The company also hired Bob Hawk to be vice president- corporate communications. Hawk previously was director-public relations and advertising at Fokker Aircraft USA and until Friday a public affairs specialist at FAA.
The City and County of Denver and Prima Oil&Gas Co. have signed a five-year lease agreement for the drilling of oil and gas wells on the eastern half of Denver International Airport. Prima, which is already drilling exploration wells, will pay all costs associated with wells drilled on about 12,760 acres leased and will pay the airport 15 percent of the gross oil and gas revenue produced. Prima also paid the airport $127,000 for the right to drill in the new exploration area.
Lufthansa Technik agreed to invest $26 million in Heico Aerospace Holdings Corp. in exchange for a 20 percent ownership stake in the designer, manufacturer and distributor of alternative FAA approved replacement parts for jet engines.
TEXTRON LYCOMING received type certification for the IO-580-A1A piston engine used on the new Cessna 206 Stationair. The six-cylinder engine is rated at 300 horsepower at 2,500 revolutions per minute.
GALAXY AEROSPACE continues to make progress toward a first flight of its $14.5 million mid-size Galaxy business jet in December. The first aircraft, which rolled out in early September, began systems testing Tuesday when its electrical system was powered up for the first time using external power. "We continue to see very swift progress on the first aircraft," said Brian Barents, Galaxy's chief executive officer. "First flight before the end of the year remains an ambitious objective, but one that appears achievable."
CESSNA AIRCRAFT appointed Central Charter de Colombia S.A. of Santa Fe de Bogota an authorized sales representative for the Cessna Citation line of business jets in Colombia. Central Charter, originally established in 1979 as Aeroservicios Ejecutivos Ltda., provides charter and aircraft management services as well as maintenance on light jets through a chain of fixed-base operations.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model ATP and HS 748 airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM- 104-AD) - proposes to require inspection of the main hydraulic accumulator for corrosion, and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
