CADE INDUSTRIES, Lansing, Mich., received a $2.7 million contract to deliver General Electric gas turbine engine test equipment. The equipment, scheduled for delivery in 1998, will be used for engine development and certification for flight and will be delivered to I.H.I. Industries of Japan and GE. Cade, which has facilities in San Diego, Calif., and Grand Prairie, Texas, in addition to Lansing, designs, manufactures and repairs high technology components for the aerospace and air transport industries.
CHARLES KAMAN, chairman and chief executive of Kaman Corp., will be the 1997 recipient of the National Aeronautic Association's Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. NAA, which will present the trophy Dec. 12 at a black-tie dinner hosted by the Aero Club of Washington, cited Kaman's "more than 50 years of contributions to the development of rotary-wing aviation."
HONEYWELL appointed Dale Willis director of communications for the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Commercial Aviation Systems unit. He previously was director of communications and advertising for Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Before that, he spent 13 years with McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company and the former Hughes Helicopters in various public affairs and communications positions.
WICHITA got new scheduled jet service Thursday when Continental Express launched EMB-145 service between Mid-Continent Airport and Houston's George Bush International Airport. The carrier is offering three daily roundtrips.
TERI LACOY was named customer service supervisor at Western Aircraft. LaCoy, who has more than seven years of supervisory experience, will be responsible for Western's customer service representatives.
SINO SWEARINGEN AIRCRAFT made a successful flight Thursday of its SJ30-2 business jet, the first time the aircraft has flown with the 2,300-pound- thrust Williams Rolls FJ44-2A engines that will power production models. Previous SJ30-2 flights had been made with the initial 1,900-pound-thrust FJ44 engines. The new powerplant won FAA certification July 7. The first flight took off from and landed at the San Antonio, Texas International Airport. The company plans to display the aircraft with the new engines at this month's NBAA convention in Dallas.
EXTEX LTD., a major manufacturer of Allison 250 helicopter engine parts, will honor the warranty on Superior Turbine's line of Allison 250 PMA parts said President Terry Capehart. "Customers have expressed concern about warranty coverage and want to deal with a company that is still in the Allison 250 business. Superior's customers are the same people we are selling to, and we want to provide them the best possible service." Extex acquired Superior's turbine product line in September 1996, but warranties remained Superior's responsibility.
THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, at the request of House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.), has begun to investigate the progress FAA and the industry have made in equipping aircraft cargo areas with fire detection and suppression systems. GAO is meeting with various industry representatives to gather views on the issue and specifically on the Federal Aviation Administration's proposal to require that Class D cargo holds meet upgraded fire detection and suppression standards (BA, Aug. 25/82).
NEW PIPER Models PA-31T, PA-31T1, PA-31T2, PA-31T3, PA-42, PA-42-720, and PA-42-1000 airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-41-AD) - proposes to require amending the limitations section of the airplane flight manual to prohibit the positioning of the power levers below the flight idle stop while the airplane is in flight. This amendment would include a statement of consequences if the limitation is not followed. The proposed AD stems from several incidents and five accidents involving turboprop airplanes where the propeller beta was improperly used during flight.
HEXCEL CORPORATION agreed to acquire two assets of Fiberite, Inc., for about $37 million in cash. The product lines being acquired include composite materials for satellites and a license to a wide range of Fiberite's structural prepreg technlogy for commercial and military aerospace applications.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE last week said Warnaco Aviation, Nashua, N.H., became the first Gulfstream IV aircraft operator to receive Federal Aviation Administration approval to operate in reduced vertical separation minimums airspace.
MAULE Models MX-7-420 and MXT-7-420 airplanes and Models M-7-235 and M-7-235A modified in accordance with Maule Supplemental Type Certificate SA2661S0 (Docket No. 97-CE-40-AD) - proposes to require amending the limitations section of the airplane flight manual to prohibit the positioning of the power levers below the flight idle stop while the airplane is in flight. This amendment would include a statement of consequences if the limitation is not followed.
MILLION AIR DALLAS added a Gulfstream I turboprop to its charter fleet. The addition is the fourth Gulfstream in the fleet. The G-I will have capacity for up to 18 passengers. Million Air Dallas also operates two G- IIs, a G-II SP, two Falcon 20s, three Hawker 700s, four Learjets and two King Air 90s.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT said the high-time S-76 helicopter logged its 20,000th hour last month. The aircraft, S/N 760214, originally was manufactured as a corporate/VIP model and delivered in 1982. The S-76A was operated in the Northeast U.S. until 1987 when it was traded in and refurbished by Sikorsky with a 12-seat airline configuration. Now operated by Helijet Airways of Vancouver, British Columbia, the aircraft has logged 30,000 flights carrying an estimated 240,000 passengers.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and Experimental Aircraft Association have undertaken initiatives aimed at improving the pilot medical certification process. AOPA President Phil Boyer last week sent FAA Administrator Jane Garvey several "easy-to-implement" proposals for immediate relief as well as ideas for long-term restructuring of the medical certication process, Boyer told the Civil Aviation Medical Association in New Orleans Thursday.
CESSNA FINANCE CORPORATION named Dan Mihelic international finance manager. Mihelic will be responsible for the company's international finance activities that support Cessna's worldwide sales effort. He joined Cessna in 1989 as a design engineer and moved to Cessna Finance Corp. in 1994.
JIM BEARD, veteran salesman at Saab Aircraft of America, has joined Embraer as vice president-sales in Europe. Beard left Saab at the end of last year after being responsible for Saab 340 sales to both American Eagle (115) and Northwest Airlink Mesaba (50 plus 22 options). He had been with the company for 12 years. He is a former corporate pilot and worked in airline marketing in London. Beard is based at Embraer's Paris subsidiary and will be responsible for EMB-145 regional jet sales throughout the region.
General Electric Co. completed the acquisition of Greenwich Air Services for a combination of GE stock and cash valued at $530 million, the company announced last week. GE also obtained the rights to complete the acquisition of UNC Inc., also an aircraft engine and aviation equipment services company. The Justice Department approved the Greenwich acquisition of UNC, but the transition is subject to approval by UNC shareholders (BA, Aug. 25/81). That vote is expected this month.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE retired the last operational T-33 trainer in ceremonies at the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio last month. Designated the NT-33A In-Flight Simulator, the aircraft retired was a specially modified variant of the "T-Bird" trainer used to simulate the performance of other aircraft types. The last T-33 was "one of the most productive Air Force aircraft ever built," and was "the oldest Air Force aircraft still flying since delivery in 1952," said Steve Markman, NT-33A program manager at Wright Laboratory.
Several aviation industry trade associations have asked the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider proposed changes to the type certification process, saying that the changes could prevent safety improvements to existing aircraft as well as inhibit the return to production of an older aircraft type. FAA in late May proposed changing the certification process by applying the latest standards "to the greatest extent possible" when considering design changes to aircraft, engines and propellers (BA, June 9/255).
ROLLAND A. VINCENT, director of strategic planning for Learjet who also handled public relations duties for the company, resigned from the Wichita manufacturer Thursday.
STANDARD&POOR'S last week revised its rating for American Eagle Insurance Co. to R from triple Cq as a result of the company being placed in conservation (BA, Aug. 4/56). S&P said the rating is used "to designate an insurance company that is named in a regulatory action that reflects concern about the insurer's financial strength."
BYRON EDWARDS rejoined The CIT Group/Equipment Financing as vice president of the business aircraft division. Edwards joined The CIT group in 1989 as vice president of credit financing and was one of the founding officers of CIT/Equipment Financing's business aircraft division.
FAA last month decided it would no longer provide airmen accident/incident records to prospective employers requesting background information under the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996 (PRIA). A Regional Airline Association official said airlines have had a long practice of requesting this information - even before the new pilot record-sharing requirements were implemented - and FAA until recently supplied it. PRIA, however, does not require airlines to obtain accident/incident records and FAA determined it could not supply them under PRIA requests.
