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.
EUROCOPTER Model MBB-BK117 A-1, A-3, A-4, B-1, B-2 and C-1 helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-15-AD; Amdt. 39-10153; AD 97-20-16) - supersedes an existing AD that requires initial and repetitive inspections of both surfaces of the tail boom vertical fin spar, the skin, and the left-hand and right-hand frame sheets for cracks or loose rivets.
Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.) Friday introduced legislation that he called a "marker" to spur the Federal Aviation Administration into issuing regulations requiring traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS II) in large cargo aircraft. In a letter Friday to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, Lipinski said his legislation is "intended to serve as a 'marker.' It is a way of letting you know that if FAA does not act to resolve this issue, I will resolve it legislatively." Lipinski expressed frustration that FAA still has not acted on the issue.
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.
The Senate Commerce Committee last week passed legislation to authorize FAA's Research, Engineering and Development account at $229.7 million for fiscal 1998, establish a $750,000 grant program to use undergraduate and technical colleges for relevant research, and include a Sense of the Congress resolution on the need for FAA to immediately assess the year 2000 date-logic problem.
EMBRAER changed the marketing designation of the 50-passenger EMB-145 to the RJ145 because the EMB-145 does not show up on computer systems as a jet and competitive regional jets do. The Canadair Regional Jet appears on the CRS screens as the CRJ and the British Aerospace Avro RJ85/100 shows up as the ARJ.
Boeing will discontinue MD-80 and MD-90 production in mid-1999, when current purchase commitments end, but it will continue to produce the MD-11 and is committed to build at least 50 MD-95s for launch customer AirTran Airlines, Boeing Commercial President Ron Woodard said last week. The MD- 80/90 decision kills an aircraft dating from December 1965, when Boeing acquisition Douglas Aircraft delivered the first DC-9. It has been produced as the MD-80 derivative since September 1980. Douglas delivered 976 DC-9s, and as of Sept.
A THREE-JUDGE PANEL of the U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments last week in the case arising from the federal government's Dec. 31 rules limiting commercial air tour overflights at Grand Canyon National Park. Several of the parties involved in the litigation asked the court to remand the rule back to the Interior Department and FAA for more work. See article below.
A federal government attorney told the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Thursday that FAA will delay implementation of flight-free zones over Grand Canyon National Park beyond Jan. 31, 1998, the second time the government has pushed back the implementation date since park overflight restrictions on commercial air tour operators were adopted Dec. 31, 1996. In February, FAA issued a final rule delaying until Jan. 31, 1998 implementation of the flight-free zones.
