RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT received a follow-on contract from Boeing Commercial Airplane Group for 200 shipsets of control surfaces for the Boeing 737 airliner. Raytheon has provided the shipsets since 1989 and the latest contract extends production through March 1989. The shipsets comprise 48 separate parts and assemblies that make up control surfaces such as leading and trailing edges and skin assemblies for the wings.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION dedicated a voice switching and control system at the Jacksonville, Fla. air route traffic control center, completing the $1.6 billion program to improve communications between pilots and controllers at 21 such centers nationwide. The digital software system can accommodate a peak traffic flow of more than 1,400 calls per minute. Its design enables air traffic facilities to configure to meet specific needs and respond to changes in traffic volume, weather and controller workload.
The Office of Management and Budget endorses user fees to fund the Federal Aviation Administration and would be willing to work around the budget agreement that the Clinton Administration has formed with Congress to ensure a successful transition from a tax-based system, Michael Diech, OMB associate director for general government and finance, told the National Civil Aviation Review Commission this month.
IF SHE DIDN'T KNOW BEFOREHAND, Linda Barker, the sole general aviation representative on the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, has learned how important her role is to the GA community. Barker, a co-owner of a Sioux Falls, S.D. fixed-base operation, said she has received calls from pilots and FBO owners around the nation expressing their fears of aviation user fees and pledging support for her work on the commission.
CASA Model CN-235 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-144-AD; Amdt. 39- 10019; AD 97-10-07) - requires disabling the brake control valve of the propeller. This amendment also requires that, before restoring propeller brake operation, the propeller brake control unit be replaced with a certain new propeller brake control unit. This amendment is prompted by reports of uncommanded activation of the propeller brake system on in- service airplanes during flight, due to the existing design of the brake control valve.
MARK GOODMAN was named special assistant to the president of The Aerospace Corp. Goodman will act as a principal adviser to President and CEO C. (Pete) Aldridge and have a key role in developing strategic plans. He formerly was director of international programs in the organization's Business Management, Space Technology Applications unit.
FORMER FAA ADMINISTRATOR Langhorne Bond defended the agency's proposal to allow the use of single-engine aircraft in commercial passenger-carrying operations under instrument flight rules after the rulemaking effort was questioned by some airline and manufacturing executives during the Regional Airline Association convention this month in Reno, Nev. Bond argued that the rule would increase safety, rather than make operations less safe as some of the regional executives suggested.
Interturbine Group of Companies consolidated its Dallas-based engine component refurbishment and asset management operations into a new unit to be called Interturbine U.S. Flight Repair Operations. The consolidation includes Interturbine's casings, airfoil and coating business units as well as the component trading, sale and asset management unit. Interturbine promoted General Manager Jeffrey Wood to vice president responsible for U.S. Flight Repair Operations.
S-TEC CORP., Mineral Wells, Texas, received FAA supplemental type certificate approval for installation of its System 40, 50 and 55 autopilots in the new Cessna 172R. S-Tec also is undergoing certification for its new System ThirtyALT altitude hold system with trim annunciation for the 172R.
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY elected Susan Coughlin and Carroll Wilson Suggs to the board of trustees. Coughlin is president and chief operating officer of BDM Air Safety Management, which designs and deploys air traffic control systems. She previously was vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration and deputy vice president of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.
GA TEAM 2000 this week will begin a second two-week run of its "Stop Dreaming, Start Flying" television advertising campaign after the first trial run of the commercial last month drummed up more than 2,000 responses. Response to the ads, which aired on certain cable channels such as CNN and the Discovery Channel, was ahead of projections, said GA Team 2000 Chairman Ed Stimpson.
SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, INC. published an Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard (AS9000), which standardizes quality system requirements for the aerospace industry, the organization said. The standard, originally issued in November as an aerospace resource document (ARD9000), is intended "to promote increased commonality based on ISO-9000, with greater common aerospace industry requirements," SAE said.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT delivered four Beech C99 and two Beech 1900C aircraft to Mindanao Express, a subsidiary of Corporate Air established last fall to provide transportation from rural areas in the Philippines to cities including Manila, Davao, and Cebu. Raytheon valued the contract, including aircraft, technical publications, training and spares, at about $24 million.
DB AVIATION FBO, INC., Waukegan, Ill., received a letter of intent from a Fortune 500 company to build a hangar, office and parking facility for occupancy in October. The hangar will be large enough to accommodate jet aircraft that weigh more than 100,000 pounds.
AVREPS INTERNATIONAL received a marketing agreement renewal from Castleberry Instrument&Avionics following a one-year hiatus. Castleberry, a division of BFGoodrich Aerospace, supplies exchanged and over-hauled aircraft instruments and avionics.
STEVEN WHITLOCK was named senior vice president of Aero Insurance, Inc., Dallas, Texas. Whitlock has nearly 20 years of experience in aviation risk management. He held various executive positions with Fred S. James/Sedgwick Aviation for 12 years - most recently as director of Sedgwick Aviation North America.
NATIONAL AIRCRAFT SALES ORGANIZATION, recently formed to represent aircraft sales professionals, changed its name to the Professional Aircraft Sales Association, Inc. PASA President John Forehand said the association changed its name because "it was felt in several quarters that confusion might develop over the similarity of the name we chose and that of the National Aircraft Resale Association." The association said membership continues to grow and is expected to reach 100 by the end of June.
CANADIAN BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION will hold its 36th Annual Convention, Trade Show and Static Display Aug. 6-10 in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information, call (613) 236-1757.
NEW PIPER Model PA-38-112 airplanes (Docket No. 96-CE-53-AD) - proposes to require, for airplanes with Serial Numbers 38-80A0166 through 38-82A0122, repetitive replacement of the upper rudder hinge bracket, Part Number 77610-03. This proposal is prompted by reports of fatigue cracking on the upper rudder hinge bracket (P/N 77610-02) and the manufacturer of an improved bracket (P/N 77610-03).
Federal Aviation Administration said it will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking within weeks - by late spring - requiring fire detection and suppression systems for Class D cargo holds within three years rather than the five years the Air Transport Association estimates for the job. FAA will "make every effort" to issue a final rule by the end of the year, acting Administrator Barry Valentine told the House Transportation aviation subcommittee this month at a hearing on fire protection and hazardous materials.
DASSAULT FALCON JET CORP. promoted Robert Basso to vice president of personnel and Armand Priore to corporate controller. Basso joined Dassault in 1976 as a personnel administrator and most recently was personnel manager. Priore has served with Dassault since 1982 in various accounting and financial management positions, including his most recent post of controller.
TELEDYNE CONTROLS introduced a new cockpit headset interface panel (CHIP) to complement the MagnaStar C-2000 airborne telephone. The dzus-rail mounted unit interfaces with the MagnaStar CDBR-2 to the cockpit headset via the aircraft cockpit audio system, allowing the crew to use the MagnaStar phone system without removing their headsets. Teledyne Controls expects to have CHIP available in mid-June.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER, also making plans for a family of jets with a 50- passenger 528JET to join the 328JET program (BA, Feb. 3/47), should complete the definition phase by mid-summer and begin the program in earnest in January, said Dornier Vice President Earl Robinson. The company is planning an 18-foot stretch of the 328 fuselage and is looking at the Allison 3007, Pratt&Whitney 308 and a new offering from AlliedSignal, the AS908, as powerplant candidates. That decision is expected in the fall.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which has been repeatedly criticized for understating the cost impact of airworthiness directives and other rulemaking activities, has developed a new rationale to explain why such cost-benefit analyses are unnecessary. Basically, the agency claims prudent operators would voluntarily take remedial action even in the absence of a mandatory AD "in the interest of maintaining safe aircraft," and, as a result, a full cost-benefit analysis would be "redundant and unnecessary."
Innotech Aviation, which sold its new aircraft completion center at Montreal's Dorval International Airport to Bombardier late last year (BA, Dec. 16/274), launched a major expansion of its remaining facilities there and plans to open a new 70,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance and interior refurbishment center in November.
