GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE named Ira P. Berman, 35, to the new post of senior vice president and general counsel, where he will oversee the manufacturer's legal department and report to Chris Davis, executive vice president and chief financial officer. Berman, a 1986 graduate of the New York University School of Law, had been a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver&Jacobsen, Gulfstream's principal outside counsel.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2B29 (Regional Jet Series 100) airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-48-AD) - proposes to supersede an AD that requires revising the limitations section of the airplane flight manual to provide the flight crew with procedures to check the travel range of the aileron. It also requires inspection for damage of the shear pins of the aileron flutter damper and aileron hinge fittings, and various follow-on actions. This action would add a requirement for a modification that eliminates the need for the airplane flight manual revision.
THE THIRD GLOBAL EXPRESS aircraft made its first flight Tuesday. S/N 9003 reached a maximum speed of 340 knots and flew for two hours and 40 minutes over Southern Ontario before returning to Bombardier's de Havilland facility in suburban Downsview, near Toronto. Bombardier said that because of poor weather and first-flight weather limitations, that flight was restricted to a maximum ceiling of 15,000 feet, but S/N 9003 made a four- hour flight Thursday, reaching an altitude of 41,000 feet. Test pilots reported no problems. The No.
REP. BUD SHUSTER (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, had 232 co-sponsors as of last Thursday for H.R. 4, the Truth in Budgeting Act, that would remove the transportation trust funds - including the Airport and Airway Trust Fund - from the unified federal budget. Supporters of the legislation say its passage will ensure that transportation tax revenues collected from users will be used to fund transportation projects, and not for other purposes including helping to offset budget deficits in other areas.
SAAB SF340A and 340B series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-130-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires inspec-tions for improper connections of the wire harness installation to the cartridges of the fire extinguishers in the engine nacelles, correction of any discrepancy, and modification of the wiring. This action would add a revised modification of the wiring, which would terminate the inspection requirements.
KEITH CLEMENS was named lead Hawker technician for Western Aircraft. Clemens, who has 30 years of aircraft maintenance experience, joins Western from Garrett Aviation Services in Springfield, Ill.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-113-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections for cracking of the support beam of the main landing gear fairing and permanent repair of any cracking. The repair would terminate the repetitive inspections. The proposal is prompted by reports of cracking of the support beam of the main landing gear fairing.
U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE this month began providing services at Centennial Airport near Denver, Colo. Customs service is available from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for a fee ranging from $105 to $360, depending on aircraft size. After-hours service is available for an additional $100 fee. Centennial officials estimate Customs will process more than 300 clearances annually at the airport. Customs can be contacted at (303) 768-0309; Customs agent pager: (303) 235-7700. For information regarding fees, contact airport operations at (303) 790-0598.
HARTZELL PROPELLER promoted Michael Disbrow to vice president of marketing and customer support. Disbrow, most recently vice president of product support, will manage the company's marketing and sales efforts in addition to overseeing aftermarket product and customer support. He has held a number of positions during his nine years with the company, including director of both the Hartzell Top Prop propeller STC conversion program and Dornier 328 program.
TRIMBLE this month introduced its 2000 Approach NavTutor and Trimble Trainer instrument flight rules GPS training system for general aviation. The CD-ROM programs allow Trimble GPS users to learn and maintain proficiency. The NavTutor is a multi-media program that provides background and training on GPS and explains features and functions of the Trimble 2000 Approach. The Trimble Trainer is a flight simulator developed by Initiative Computing that is based upon the Elite Electronic IFR Training Environment.
House aviation leaders this month urged the Federal Aviation Administration to reevaluate plans to charge general aviation operators international overflight fees, saying that "given the serious safety concerns...we believe it would be irresponsible to impose these fees."
PETER CHAPMAN joined AAR Corp. as vice president marketing and business development. Chapman previously served in a number of managerial positions with various United Technologies units, including Sikorsky and Pratt&Whitney Commercial Engines, and also headed Dalfort Aviation, Douglas Aircraft-China and Young Bothers Development Co.
Raytheon Aircraft, which won the $7 billion contract two years ago to provide 711 Pilatus/Beech MkII trainers for the U.S. Air Force and Navy (BA, June 26, 1995/271), last week selected FlightSafety Service Corp., a subsidiary of FlightSafety International, Inc., to provide the Ground Based Training System (GBTS) for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System program.
AIRPORT GROUP INTERNATIONAL, INC. (AGI), said Robert J. Aaronson, executive vice president and general manager, will resign that post May 1 after a four-year tenure to acquire Thompson Consultants Inter-national, Inc., AGI's aviation planning subsidiary. Aaronson previously served as president of the Air Transport Association and as head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
U.S. GENERAL AVIATION manufacturers appear headed toward a $4 billion year after reporting record first quarter billings. U.S. GA manufacturers fell just shy of $900 million in first quarter billings, a 60 percent increase over 1996 first quarter billings, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association said last week. The manufacturers recorded an all-time high of $3.1 billion in billings in 1996. See related article on Page 189 of the hard copy of this issue and BA's compilation of worldwide aircraft shipments on Pages 191-192.
SOCATA Model TBM 700 airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-15-AD) - proposes, for airplanes that do not have Modification 70-065-32 incorporated, to require removal of the main landing gear inboard doors and the door locking control mechanism. This AD is the result of an incident on one of the affected airplanes where the main landing gear inboard door locking hooks corroded, caused the doors to jam and prevented the main landing gear from extending. Analysis has shown that removing the main landing gear inboard doors will not cause any airplane safety or per-formance problems.
BELL Model 412 helicopters (Docket No. 96-SW-17-AD; Amdt. 39-9980; AD 97-07-06) - supersedes an existing priority letter AD that requires a daily inspection of certain swashplate support assem-blies. It also requires a reduction in VNE and installation of appropriate airspeed indicator markings and a placard. This amendment requires the same action required by the existing priority letter AD, but restricts the applicability to Model 412 heli-copters with a certain steel main rotor control swashplate support assembly installed.
FLIGHT VISIONS is offering an FV-2000E version of its head-up display (HUD), which will be capable of displaying enhanced vision images. Flight Visions said it is working with a manufacturer to create an enhanced vision system sensor that, when installed on the FV-2000E, "will give pilots the ability to shoot approaches to lower than published minima." The enhanced vision system "paints" the runway environment on the HUD's combiner, Flight Visions said.
Diamond Aircraft, which earlier this month unveiled its new DA20 C1 variant of the single-piston Katana (BA, April 21/182), is hoping to increase order activity in the Western U.S. with the new aircraft. The DA20 C1 will be powered by a Continental IO240B horizontally opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated 125-horsepower engine that will boost the aircraft's sea level rate of climb to 1,050 feet per minute. The earlier Katana, the DA20 A-1, is powered by the 81-horsepower Bombardier Rotax 912F-3 engine that provides a rate of climb of 680 feet per minute.
Avfuel Corporation of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Kansas City Aviation Center, located at Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kan., last week were alerting operators of piston-powered aircraft who purchased fuel at the airport this month that some of the fuel may not have met specifications.
The only general aviation representative on the National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) has serious reservations about the wisdom of dropping the current excise tax system, which provides more than 70 percent of FAA's funding, but she realizes her views could constitute a small minority on the 21-member commission that begins its work this week in Washington, D.C.
U.S. general aviation manufacturers posted record first quarter billings and increases in jet and piston aircraft shipments, starting off what promises to be the strongest year ever for general aviation in terms of dollar sales. U.S. general aviation manufacturers reported billings of $886 million in the first three months of 1997, up 60 percent over billings in the same period in 1996, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Manufacturers shipped 237 aircraft in January through March 1997, compared with 225 units in first quarter 1996.
National Air Transportation Association this month asked Federal Aviation Administration officials to change a recent policy decision to require calibration of tools used for troubleshooting. FAA previously had not required calibration for Part 145 repair station tools historically used for troubleshooting. In a new interpretation, however, the agency's Aircraft Maintenance Division issued a memorandum calling for the calibration of test equipment.
