FAA AND NASA selected a student team from three Kansas universities as the winner of the 1997 National General Aviation Design Competition. Students from the University of Kansas, Wichita State University and Kansas State University won the competition, now in its third year, for a four- passenger, kit plane "for the pilot with limited resources." The design compares with the Cessna 172R in payload, range, cruise speed, balanced field length, rate of climb and handling qualities for about half the cost, about $75,000, officials said.
FRANK P. FLEMING, JR., 76, a veteran aviation company executive, died Aug. 17 at his home in the St. Louis, Mo. area. Fleming joined the former Remmert-Werner Aviation Co. at Lambert Field in St. Louis following World War II and retired as president in 1968. Fleming was a pilot in the Army Air Forces during the war and was a prisoner of war in Germany.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT MONTEK COMPANY installed an aircraft precision landing system at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis. The DIAS-3100 differential global positioning system will enable pilots to land in Category 1, low-visibility conditions. FAA certification of the system is expected later this year.
Operators of corporate aircraft in India will be able to use a separate terminal at the airport in Mumbai, one of the country's major business centers, the state-owned Airport Authority of India said this month. Allocation of the separate terminal for use by private, company- owned aircraft will be a first in India, and AAI officials said establishment of similar separate facilities at other airports is unlikely any time soon. The Mumbai facility is scheduled to become operational in January 1998.
AYRES S2R series airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-65-AD; Amdt. 39-10105; AD 97-17-03) - supersedes AD 97-13-11, which requires inspecting the one- quarter-inch and the five-sixteenths-inch bolt hole areas on the lower spar caps for fatigue cracking and replacement of the lower spar cap if cracking is found. That AD resulted from an accident involving an Ayres S2R series airplane in which the wing separated from the airplane in flight. AD 97- 13-11 incorrectly references Ayres Model S2R-R1340 airplanes as Model S2R- 1340R.
AIR METHODS CORP. won a $1.1 million contract from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to manufacture electrical system components for the U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter program. Air Methods, the Denver, Colo.-based provider of emergency medical transportation systems and services, said it anticipates the contract is the first of several it will receive during the course of the Pavehawk program.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION Air Safety Foundation awarded Wichita State University a research grant to study the use of a new high- lift device for general aviation. Developed by cardiac surgeon and aero- dynamics enthusiast Dr. Roger Nahas, the "Nahas Wing" provides a "potential to lower landing approach speeds, thereby improving landing performance and accident survivability," the Air Safety Foundation said.
SCOTT COCHRAN was named to head Premier Turbines' technical service and sales efforts on the West Coast. Cochran, who will be responsible for the Northwest region, most recently served as managing director of Pacific Aerospace Services in Kapolei, Hawaii.
CIVIL AIR PATROL will field test a TB10 Tobago aircraft donated by Socata Aircraft for 12 months. Nicholas Chabbert, Socata vice president of sales and marketing, handed over the trainer to the CAP during a ceremony this month at Jet Aviation at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nev. The five- place aircraft, specially equipped for CAP use, can be used as a trainer or for cargo carriage. Chabbert noted that more than 750 Socata aircraft currently are used by major flight schools for training.
A few early projects under the Gore Commission-inspired and NASA-led Aviation Safety Program could be launched as soon as October, although formal new starts won't begin until next April at the earliest, NASA's top aviation safety program manager said this month.
NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION REVIEW COMMISSION is expected this week to give final approval to its recommendations for future funding of the Federal Aviation Administration. The commission, which meets this week in Seattle, Wash., is expected to recommend the continuation of the aviation fuel taxes for general aviation's contribution to the national airspace system (BA, Aug. 4/47). Once it finishes its recommendations on FAA finances, the commission will turn its attention to aviation safety issues.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities are asking for public comment on harmonization efforts at a Sept. 11 meeting in Arlington, Va. The Harmonization Work Program is FAA's and JAA's attempt to carry out a commitment to harmonize their rules regarding the operation and maintenance of civil aircraft and their standards, practices and procedures governing the construction of civil aircraft, engines and other components. The meeting will be held at the Crystal City, Va. Hyatt Regency Hotel.
SARKIS GARABETIAN was named to jointly lead technical services and sales on the West Coast for Premier Turbines. Garabetian, who will oversee the Southern California region, previously was sales and service manager for ACRO Aerospace, a division of Canadian Helicopters of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.
AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGIES OF AUSTRALIA Models N22B, N22S, and N24A airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-34-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspection of the aft wing break connectors for arcing damage, deposits between contacts and looseness of contacts. The proposal would require removal of deposits between contacts, tightening of any loose contacts and replacement of any wing break connectors with arcing damage. The proposed AD results from several reports of uncommanded flap extensions and displays of incorrect stall warning indications on the affected airplanes.
TRACY BRANNON was promoted to vice president, training for SimCom International. Brannon has served with SimCom since 1992 and most recently was training center manager of the Orlando, Fla. facility.
National Air Transportation Association last week issued an Action Call, urging members to write to the Federal Aviation Administration in opposition to a proposal that would require upgraded standards for Class D cargo areas in all transport category aircraft. The proposal would require operators to convert Class D cargo areas in aircraft weighing more than 12,500 pounds maximum takeoff weight to meet fire detection and suppression standards of Class C or E cargo areas.
LOU CHURCHVILLE, the veteran aircraft modification marketer, is moving to Signature Flight Support next month as vice president of sales and marketing at the company's headquarters in Orlando, Fla. Churchville joined the sales and marketing team at Associated Air Center, the aircraft completion, modification and overhaul firm at Love Field in Dallas, Texas earlier this year (BA, April 7/157). Before that, he had been senior director of sales and marketing at Aero Corp. in Lake City, Fla., and previously held a variety of marketing posts with Page Avjet.
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE has been gathering pre-hearing questions to submit to George Donohue, currently FAA associate administrator for research and acquisitions, before it holds a hearing on his nomination as deputy FAA administrator.While the usual pre-hearing activity is under way, the committee still has not scheduled a firm date for a hearing.
The U.S. Coast Guard hopes to issue requests for proposals by Nov. 11 for a $10 billion, 20-year program to replace or upgrade its fleet of aircraft and ships. The effort, called the Deepwater Capability Replacement Project, is the largest Coast Guard acquisition project ever and applies to platforms that normally operate 50 miles or more from the coast. USCG Commandant Adm. Robert Kramek told The Coast Guard Reservist magazine this month that it would take two decades to complete and cost $10 billion.
LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS board of airport commissioners last week directed Executive Director John Driscoll to prepare a plan for relocating commuter airline operations at Los Angeles Airport. United Express will not be moved, since it already has a remote terminal for its commuter flights. Under tentative plans, American Eagle, SkyWest and Trans States would transfer their aircraft operations to common-use terminals west of Tom Bradley International Terminal, and passengers would be bused between gates of the terminals.
SPORTY'S ACADEMY this month won FAA Part 141 certification for a recreational pilot certificate course, making it the first U.S. flight training facility to receive such approval, the company said. Sporty's said recent changes in Parts 61 and 141 "helped expand the usefulness of the recreational pilot certificate and made this approval possible." Sporty's Academy Founder Hal Shevers expressed hope that other flight schools would add recreational pilot courses to their curricula.
Model G-159 (G-I) airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-18-AD; Amdt. 39-10096; AD 97-16-05) - supersedes an existing AD that requires repetitive inspections for corrosion in the wing planks under the bottom wing center fairings and repair, if necessary. This amendment requires the installation of a protective pain system, which will allow the inspections to be conducted at longer intervals. This amendment is prompted by the development of a modification that will improve the corrosion resistance of the subject area.
Model Mystere-Falcon 50 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM- 230-AD) - proposes to require installation of a reinforcement fitting at the junction of the baggage floor and Frame 35 on both the left- and right- hand sides of the airplane. This proposal is prompted by a report that during fatigue testing, fatigue cracking was found in the subject areas due to insufficient reinforcement. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent such fatigue cracking, which could reduce the structural integrity of the airframe.
SAE AEROSPACE will hold its Automated Fastening '97 Conference and Exposition Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Wichita Airport Hilton in Wichita, Kan. For more information, call (412) 776-4841.
TBM, INC., formerly the Thomas B. Moore Co., last month merged with Aviation Fluids Service, Inc. The new entity will retain the TBM, Inc. name, and Aviation Fluids Service will be a division of TBM. Aviation Fluids Service manufactures and distributes specialty lubricants, chemicals and hydraulic fluids for aerospace applications. TBM, Inc. distributes and packages adhesives, coatings, chemicals and sealants for aerospace and general industrial uses. The two companies "have been closely associated for three years," TBM officials said. TBM, based in St.
