MILLION AIR RICHMOND added a Bell LongRanger helicopter to its charter fleet. The LongRanger is the first rotorcraft to be added to the Richmond, Va. facility's fleet, which also comprises a Learjet 31, Learjet 24D, Citation II, Beech King Air 200, Beech King Air E90, Piper Navajo Chieftain and Beech Baron.
Fairchild Dornier is switching suppliers for the Do-328 and 328JET fuselage from Daewoo of Korea to OGMA of Portugal. Fairchild Dornier signed a letter of agreement with OGMA earlier this month after failing to come to terms with Daewoo on contract value, said Earl Robinson, vice president-programs aircraft development, who added the decision was based on economics. Tooling transfer from Daewoo to OGMA could begin in the next couple of weeks and the first OGMA-produced fuselage is expected to be on a production 328 by the end of 1998.
Four months after the fatal crash of a Comair EMB-120 Brasilia during icing conditions, FAA last week proposed requiring installation of ice detector systems on the 30-passenger regional airliners.
GREG WEDDING was appointed assistant manager at FlightSafety International's Gulfstream learning center in Savannah, Ga. Wedding previously was assistant manager at FlightSafety's Teterboro, N.J. learning center. He spent 25 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a captain.
(Docket No. 96-NM-188-AD; Amdt. 39-10015; AD 97-10-03) - requires repetitive ultrasonic inspections for cracking of the lugs of the engine mounting beams, and replacement of the beam with a serviceable part, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by reports of fatigue cracking of the lugs of the engine mounting beams. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect and correct such cracking, which could reduce the structural capability of the engine mount.
ERA AVIATION will begin 18-passenger Twin Otter service in June between Anchorage, Alaska and Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. The new route is the second addition for the Anchorage-based carrier this year. Era also is adding service to Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon Territory later this month. Era said it will take advantage of a soon-to-be installed global positioning system instrument approach at Seward.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT Chairman Art Wegner acknowledged that "we've looked very hard" at the idea of starting Raytheon's own fractional ownership program featuring a mixed fleet of King Airs and Beechjets, but he said Tuesday "we're not ready" to make an announcement yet.It appears that such an announcement may be forthcoming. Raytheon recently hired Gary Hart, who had been vice president-flight operations at the Bombardier/AMR Combs Business JetSolutions fractional share program, to head Raytheon's new, but unannounced program.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION plans to resurrect the controversial flight and duty time rulemaking effort. FAA nearly a year ago shelved a notice of proposed rulemaking to impose more stringent flight and duty time requirement after it received more than 2,000 comments - nearly all negative. Regional Airline Association President Walt Coleman last week called the NPRM "one of the most disappointing rulemakings ever to come out of FAA." FAA is expected to issue a supplemental flight and duty time proposal within the next few months, Coleman said.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT expects to deliver a total of 40 of its top-of-the-line Citation X business jets by the end of 1997. The next available delivery position for the Mach .92 aircraft is in 1998.
(Docket No. 97-NM-35-AD) - proposes to require revising the airplane flight manual to prohibit positioning power levers below the flight idle stop during flight, and to provide a statement of the consequences of positioning the power levers below the flight idle stop during flight. The proposal is prompted by incidents and accidents involving turboprop airplanes in which the propeller ground beta range was used improperly during flight.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION published advisory circulars on turbine engine vibration surveys and continued rotation and rotor locking. AC No. 33.83, Turbine Engine Vibration Survey, provides guidance on compliance with vibration tests and surveys. AC No. 33.74/92, Turbine Engine Continued Rotation and Rotor Locking, discusses acceptable methods for complying with continued rotation and rotor locking test requirements. For more information on the ACs, contact FAA's Engine and Propeller Standards staff in the New England Region at (617) 238-7117.
FRANK RAMIREZ was appointed aircraft maintenance shop foreman for Western Aircraft. Ramirez previously was chief of maintenance for Hunt Wesson's flight department in Ontario, Calif. He also has served with AlliedSignal Aerospace Corp.
MAGELLAN AEROSPACE CORP., Toronto, Canada, promoted J. Stephen Tosi to the newly created post of president of Magellan Aerospace, USA. Tosi, formerly vice president of turbine engine component manufacturer Middleton Aerospace Corp., will direct planning and operations for the three Magellan U.S. facilities - Middleton Aerospace in Middleton, Mass.; Aeronca, Middletown, Ohio, and Langley Corp., San Diego, Calif.
AERO INTERNATIONAL (REGIONAL) is monitoring Jetstream 41 production on a month-to-month basis. The 30-seat market is "frankly quite weak," said Jeff Marsh, senior vice president-sales and marketing for AI(R). AI(R) reduced the production rate on the J41 from 22 to 12 a year and Marsh said, "we will not build the aircraft on speculation." AI(R) logged 13 orders for the aircraft last year, 12 of those from Atlantic Coast Airlines.
EMBRAER'S board of directors will meet in the next few weeks to consider which new regional jet design to pursue and Embraer officials hope to provide details on that aircraft during the Paris Air Show. Embraer is weighing whether it should next develop a 35-seat EMB-135 or a 70-seat EMB- 170 to complement its 50-passenger EMB-145. The -135 would be a near-term project based on the -145, while the -170 would be a new aircraft since the -145 cannot be stretched that much.
BOEING 737-600, -700 AND -800 airplanes will have to meet special conditions under a proposal published last week by FAA. Boeing will have to show that the next-generation 737s will be protected from the effects of high intensity radiated fields (HIRF), particularly digital avionics such as the Air Data Inertial Reference System (ADIRS) and Common Display System (CDS). FAA also is imposing special conditions relating to engine torque loads.
HARTZELL PROPELLER won a supplemental type certificate for installation of a two-bladed prop on the Piper PA24-180 (Comanche 180). The new prop is designed to replace McCauley threaded models as well as Hartzell steel hub systems, and Hartzell said it offers the same performance, but substantially improved service and maintenance benefits, including a 2,000- hour time between overhauls. List price is $5,595.
NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION REVIEW COMMISSION will hold its first public hearing May 28 at the U.S. Department of Commerce Building Auditorium at 9 :30 a.m.
Days before the first meeting of a special Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee that is supposed to address the issue of commercial air tours operating over national parks, the United States Air Tour Association accused the Interior Department of "regulatory manipulation" for the way the process is being handled.
While acknowledging the continuing downturn in demand for the 19- passenger airliner in the U.S., regional industry executives last week maintained that the market niche is healthy and predicted it will not disappear anytime in the near future. "I'm a little surprised by all the negative media" surrounding the 19- seat market, said Mike Scheidt, vice president-airline sales for Raytheon Aircraft. Market niches below and above 19-seats remain strong, Scheidt said, and questioned why some believe 19-seat aircraft will not flourish as well.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued a contract worth up to $250 million to the Department of Agriculture's National Information Technology Center in Kansas City, Mo. for the Integrated Computing Environment-Mainframe and Networking (ICE-MAN) system. NITC will establish a system to support FAA's administrative information systems. ICE-MAN is a follow-on to the Computer Resources Nucleus (CORN) contract.
GULFSTREAM dedicated a new 64,000-square-foot aircraft paint facility last week at the Long Beach, Calif. Airport, where Gulfstream operates a major service center. The manufacturer said the expansion is part of plans to double 1996 production to a combined total of 60 Gulfstream V and Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft by 1999 (BA, Nov. 25/242). Painting operations in the new facility are to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
National Air Transportation Association's board of directors drafted a position statement supporting the elimination of the 10-percent ticket tax for charter operations and, instead, advocating an increase in the jet fuel tax to 24 cents per gallon for all turbine aircraft operators. NATA mailed the draft position as well as a user-fee questionnaire to its members seeking feedback.
