MOLLY MARTIN PEARCE, manager, technical affairs and operations for GAMA for the past four years, will leave the association to join the New Piper Aircraft as manager-marketing programs. Martin Pearce, a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, begins her new duties with Piper April 14.
FLIGHTCRAFT added a King Air 350 to its management fleet and based the turboprop at its Hayward, Calif. facility. Flightcraft operates 26 aircraft from bases in Hayward, Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., and Eugene, Ore.
CESSNA delivered the first Citation Bravo to Fibrebond Corp., a Minden, La., manufacturer of cellular com-munication shelters. Fibrebond first operated a Cessna aircraft in 1985 with the acquisition of a Conquest I, later added a Citation II to its fleet and subsequently replaced both airplanes with a Conquest II and a Citation V. In addition to the Bravo, Fibrebond also has an order for a Citation Excel, which is expected to be delivered in 1999.
Steve Bassett, a pilot with a background in aviation trade association management and communications, was named president of the United States Air Tour Association, an organization for which he has been handling media relations and serving as a policy and management consultant.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION released its 1997 Business Aviation Fact Book, a compilation of business aviation statistics. The 50th anniversary commemorative edition also includes a special section of historical information on the association and the industry. The publication contains data on NBAA members, including fleet size and aircraft utilization. The 48-page publication also has information on the worldwide business aviation fleet, business aircraft sales, pilot population characteristics, taxes and airport, noise, fuel and safety statistics.
BOEING ENTERPRISES, which just formed a joint venture company with FlightSafety International to provide airline training around the world (BA, March 17/120), expects the new line of business to expand quickly. The new entity now has 36 simulators at 12 sites, but Larry Clarkson, Boeing Enterprises president, told BA Thursday that within about a year, FlightSafety Boeing Training International will be operating at 20 sites with a fleet of 50 simulators. That growth is predicated on taking over training for some airlines that now perform that function in-house.
Four employees of Basler Turbo Conversions of Oshkosh, Wis., were killed March 15 when the converted DC-3 and Beech Bonanza in which they were flying collided and crashed near Manitowoc, Wis. Those killed were: Warren L. Basler, founder and chief executive officer; Stephen W. Yantz, 45, airline operations director; David L. Schacheri, 29, materials manager ; and Neil C. Hyerstay, 58, a pilot and instructor.
THE CAYMAN ISLANDS received Category 1 approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, becoming the only Caribbean nation to be granted such status. The upgrade from Category 2 lifts restrictions on Cayman Island- based carriers operating into the U.S. Category 1 allows foreign airlines to operate in the U.S. without restriction, while Category 2 imposes route and aircraft fleet change and expansion restrictions. The Cayman Islands received the Category 2 designation in 1994. The new designation will boost the nation's inter-island carrier Island Air Ltd.
DE HAVILLAND Model DHC-7 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-158-AD; Amdt. 39-9965; AD 97-06-08) - requires certain structural inspections and repair, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by a structural re- evaluation, which identifies certain significant structural items to inspect for fatigue cracking as these airplanes approach and exceed the manufacturer's original design life.
OEING BUSINESS JETS is also part of Boeing Enterprises and Clarkson said interest and order activity for the 737-700 corporate variant "has greatly exceeded our expectations." The company said several new customers have signed final contracts and "order announcements can be expected in the next several weeks." Boeing Business Jets plans to increase the price of the aircraft by $1.5 million to $32 million and upgrade the standard equipment configuration to include the Flight Dynamics Head-Up Guidance System.
Federal Aviation Administration last week issued a rule allowing commercial operators to display the operating certificate number - rather than the name of the certificate holder - on the outside of their aircraft. The rule, published in the March 19 Federal Register, was one of several amendments FAA made to its new Part 119 created under the Commuter Rule (BA, Feb. 10/60).
FAA proposed regulations to require employment background investigations and criminal history checks for people who perform checkpoint and baggage screening at airports, and for their supervisors. The notice of proposed rulemaking, published in the March 19 Federal Register responds to a recommendation of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. FAA regulations already require employment background investigation of individuals having unescorted access to security areas at U.S. airports.
A GULFSTREAM V business jet made its first North Atlantic crossing March 18 to land in Europe for the first time. The GV, N502GV, flew from Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah, Ga., to Brussels, Belgium, a distance of 3,853 nautical miles, in seven hours, 30 minutes at a cruise speed of Mach 0.85 at FL 450.
NASA, the Defense Department and industry representatives still are working out the details of the $500 million NASA-led effort to improve civil aviation safety by a factor of five in 10 years, and by a factor of 10 in 20 years, a NASA official said this month. No funding for the effort is planned until fiscal 1999, but NASA could reprogram as much as $50 million in fiscal 1998 if asked to move faster, Robert Whitehead, NASA associate administrator for aeronautics and space transportation technology, told the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee.
Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) will chair the National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) that is supposed to develop funding options to provide for FAA's long-term financial future, but reaction to the announcement centered on who is not on the commission. Mineta, now senior vice president and managing director of Lockheed Martin IMS, chaired the House Public Works Committee from 1992 to 1994 and its aviation subcommittee from 1981 to 1988.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION'S Legislative Action urged its members to write Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater expressing concern over the Federal Aviation Administration's new rule to curb aircraft flights over Grand Canyon National Park. AOPA said the letters should ask Slater to "take back control of the airways from the land managers" and "block these senseless rules."
RAYTHEON Beech 35 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-CE-44-AD; Amdt. 39- 9968; AD 97-06-11) - requires inspection of the rud-dervator differential tail control rod assembly for corrosion or cracks, repair or replacement of any cracked or corroded part and application of an anti-corrosion sealant to the ruddervator control pushrods. This action results from a report of a split in the ruddervator control push rod on an affected airplane that was found during a routine inspection.
WOMEN IN AVIATION Annual International Conference had a record 1,600 attendees this month in Dallas, Texas. The conference was first held in 1990 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with about 150 people attending and has grown every year since. The Women In Aviation, International association, which was announced during the 1995 conference, also continues to expand with more than 1,700 members.
BOB HOBBI was appointed director-account management for FlightSafety International. Hobbi, former director of customer support for FSI, has served with the company for 12 years. In his new position, he will act as liaison with FSI's major training customers from both domestic and international regions.
General aviation industry leaders last week were alarmed by a series of events that set the stage for a transition to a user fee system to fund the Federal Aviation Administration.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT plans next month to announce a partner to produce a computer-based training program for its single-engine line of aircraft, Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer said this month. Meyer said the program will be available at Cessna Pilot Centers and "will revolutionize flight training." The single-engine operation is "doing very well," Meyer said. "I'm frankly amazed at what we've been able to accomplish" in the past two years.
ALAN NITCHMAN, vice president and general manager of Elliott Aviation's Minneapolis, Minn. facility, was elected to a two-year term as president of the Minnesota Aviation Trades Association. Nitchman has more than 27 years of aviation industry experience.
Rockwell International, which has been restructuring for months, will sell off its $3 billion automotive businesses to concentrate on electronics, the company said last week. After disposing of the automotive business, Rockwell expects to be an electronics company with top positions in industrial automation, semiconductor systems and avionics and communications. It projected 1997 sales of $8 billion, employment of 44,000 and operations in nearly 100 countries.
AVIAT Models S-1S, S-1T, S-2, S-2A, S-2S and S-2B airplanes (Docket No. 96-CE-23-AD) - proposes to revise AD 96-12-03, which applies to airplanes equipped with aft lower fuselage wing attach fittings incorporating either Part Number 76090, 2-2107-1 or 1-210-102. That AD requires repetitive inspection of the aft lower fuselage wing attach fittings on both wings for cracks, and modification, if necessary. The modification terminated the repetitive inspection requirements.
