SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL and FlightSafety International both issued press releases last week claiming to be the "first" recipient of FAA Part 142 Training Center certification by FAA. The new Part 142, effective Aug. 1, 1996, established national standards for training centers that use aircraft simulators and flight training devices for pilot training, testing and checking.
SAE INTERNATIONAL will hold its 1997 Airframe/Engine Maintenance&Repair Conference&Exposition Aug. 5-7 at the Landmark Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. For more information, call SAE at (412) 772- 7131.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE was stretching the legs on its new Gulfstream V business jet last week, with the manufacturer claiming records for nonstop flights from Los Angeles to London, and London to Hong Kong.The same aircraft is scheduled to make a triumphal arrival at Atlantic Aviation's facility in Teterboro, N.J. today (April 14) - where it will be welcomed by a group of company executives including Chairman Ted Forstmann - after a nonstop flight from Tokyo.
YOU'D BEST MOVE QUICKLY if you want to rent exhibit space at this fall's 50th annual National Business Aircraft Association convention in Dallas, Texas. By last week NBAA had already sold 3,106 booth spaces for the Sept. 23-25 event - one shy of the total sold for last November's convention in Orlando, Fla. - and had only 136 spaces remaining for sale. Prospective exhibitors should contract Kathleen Hull, vice president of convention and seminars, at (202) 783-9000.
JUDITH NORTHUP was promoted to vice president-materiel operations for Northrop Grumman Corporation's Commercial Aircraft Division. Northup will oversee control of all externally supplied products and materials. She joined the company in 1979 as a cost accountant in pricing and most recently was director of manufacturing control systems for the division and director of manufacturing controls and industrial engineering for the division's Vought Center operations.
Coltec Industries, Charlotte, N.C., signed an agreement in principle to acquire AMI Industries Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo. AMI, which makes flight attendant and cockpit seats for commercial aircraft, expects to have 1997 revenues of about $30 million, said Coltec. The transaction is scheduled to close during the second quarter of 1997.
UNC's Aviation Services business won a contract to maintain older model jet engines for U.S. Air Force trainers. The Jet Engine Intermediate Maintenance (JEIM) contract, valued at $29 million, covers a five-month startup period beginning May 1, and four option years. UNC will perform all intermediate depot maintenance on General Electric J69 and J85 jet engines used on the T-37 and T-38 trainers flown at six USAF Education and Training Command bases.
TOM MEKIS joined American Beechcraft Company of Leesburg, Va. Mekis will oversee American Beechcraft's aircraft sales staff as well as develop new sales and marketing strategies for new and used aircraft. He formerly was manager of sales administration for Raytheon Aircraft Company.
A TEXAS House Committee this week is expected to consider a proposal that would impose a jet fuel tax and lift the commercial aviation exemptions from the state sales taxes on aircraft, parts and labor. The proposal, House Bill 4, which is before the House Committee on Revenue and Public Education Funding, however, calls for a four-cents-per-gallon jet fuel tax instead of the 10-cents-per-gallon levy legislators originally envisioned (BA, March 31/142). If adopted, the tax would take effect Jan. 1, 1998. The measure, which is supported by Gov.
Aero International (Regional), the European aircraft manufacturing consortium whose shareholders are Aerospatiale, Alenia Aerospazio/Finmeccanica and British Aerospace, signed an agreement with the Korean Commercial Aircraft Development Consortium "in order to define the principles which could eventually lead to a future industrial partnership in the AI(R) jet project.
Federal Aviation Administration this month issued a comprehensive rewrite of pilot certification and training requirements that, for the most part, won praise from industry leaders. The rewrite updates certification requirements for pilots, flight instructors, ground instructors and pilot schools under Federal Aviation Regulations Parts 61, 141 and 143. FAA, which issued the notice of proposed rulemaking for the new training standards in August of 1995 (BA, Aug.
NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION REVIEW COMMISSION is slated to hold its initial meetings April 28 and 29. David Traynham, senior Democratic staff member of the House aviation subcommittee, was named staff director of the commission. Traynham will take a leave of absence from his congressional duties to work on the commission, which is chaired by his previous boss, former Rep. Norman Mineta.
DASSAULT FALCON JET is offering its computer-assisted troubleshooting system (CATS) on CD-ROM for personal computers. CATS, initially developed by Dassault to enable its Help Desk to quickly review the symptoms of a malfunction, contains a database of more than 10,000 field technical reports on most Falcon models, integrating case-based reasoning and probability of failure rates to develop a list of suspected components. The database is divided into categories listed alphabetically. Dassault will offer revisions to the CD-ROM to Falcon operators every June and January.
IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED, the arrival in the New York area of the G-V nonstop flight from the Orient will cap a recent roll for the high-profile Forstmann. Gulfstream announced an order for 11 more Gulfstream IV-SPs early in the month (BA, April 7/151), Forstmann's "Wild Ride at Gulfstream" was the cover story in last week's Business Week magazine, and an FAA type certification board was scheduled to meet Friday at Gulfstream to consider certification of the G-V.
ROBERT R. ROPELEWSKI, 54, a former Marine pilot and veteran aviation journalist, died April 4 after a heart attack at his home in McLean, Va. Ropelewski, who flew helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft while serving in the Marine Corps from 1965 to 1970, including service in Vietnam, flew more than 150 types of aircraft during his military and reporting careers. Those included the SR-71 Blackbird supersonic high-altitude reconnaissance plane, the Concorde supersonic airliner and a number of high-performance fighters.
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
GULFSTREAM AMERICAN Model G-73 (Mallard) series airplanes modified in accordance with Supplemental Type Certificate SA2323WE (Docket No. 96-NM- 282-AD) - proposes to require revising the airplane flight manual to prohibit positioning the power levers below the flight idle stop and to provide a statement of consequences of positioning the power levers below the flight idle stop. The proposed AD is prompted by incidents and accidents involving airplanes equipped with turboprop engines in which the propeller beta was used improperly during flight.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT received an order from Regional Air Lines of Morocco for four Beech 1900Ds. The contract was valued at $20 million, including training, spares and publications. Regional Air Lines, based in Casablanca, was established last year to provide commuter air services to Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir, Fes, Rabat and Tangier. In addition, Raytheon delivered the 500th Beech 1900 to Impulse Airlines. The Sydney, Australia operator now has nine 1900s in service.
Michael L. Meshay, a veteran AlliedSignal Engines executive who has been general manager of the former Textron Lycoming Turbine Engine plant in Stratford, Conn., has been selected to run day-to-day operations at Dornier Luftfahrt, the German company that is developing the 32-passenger 328JET for the regional airline market.
NATIONAL AIRCRAFT SALES ASSOCIATION has been established to represent aircraft dealers and brokers. The new association will provide aircraft sellers "a unified platform for legislative matters as well as being able to participate in seminars, conventions, etc. as a group," said John Forehand, president. The group plans to announce the formation of an advisory board comprising aircraft dealers and brokers that will develop the agenda for the association. The association also will develop a code of ethics for its membership.
Most regional airlines met the March 20 "Commuter Rule" deadline for operating aircraft seating 10 or more passengers under the same rules as the major airlines, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA said 33 of 39 successfully made the transition and the other six carriers, which have a total of 13 aircraft, are continuing to work with FAA to meet the upgraded standards.
KAMAN AEROSPACE delivered a K-Max aerial truck helicopter to Rainier Helicopter Logging, Inc. of Kirkland, Wash. Rainier will use the helicopter for its logging operations in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana and Idaho. The K-Max helicopter first entered service in 1994 and the fleet has since accumulated more than 23,000 hours of operation. The helicopter, designed specifically for repetitive external lift operations, combines intermeshing, counter-rotating main rotors with servo-flap rotor control, eliminating the need for a tail rotor.
SOUTHERN AVIATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. received FAA repair station certification that covers work on 500 and 600 Series Cessna Citations, Israeli Aircraft Industries 1124 Westwinds and Piper Cheyenne PA-31Ts. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., said it also is one of only three companies in Florida to win certification status from Venezuelan airworthiness authorities, covering work on a wide range of aircraft.
ELLIOT EPSTEIN was promoted to director of system ground services for Eagle Canyon Airlines. Epstein will be responsible for ground and surface transportation for Eagle Canyon Airlines and Eagle Jet Charter.
ADRIA AIRWAYS, the Slovenian carrier, signed an agreement to purchase two Canadair Regional Jet Series 200LR aircraft, plus options for two additional aircraft.
