TRIMBLE and Honeywell are offering a global positioning system navigator for retrofit on light to medium business aircraft. The HT9000 GNSS Navigator uses a built-in GPS receiver to provide coupled lateral navigation for en route, terminal and non-precision approach. The HT9000 is the third product to be offered by Honeywell and Trimble since the two companies formed a strategic alliance in June 1995. Under the agreement, Trimble manufactures the GPS navigation management systems and Honeywell performs marketing, sales and support.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL said its new Cessna Citation X flight simulator won FAA Level C certification and the training company expects to receive approval to upgraded Level D standards in the first quarter of 1997. The simulator was built by FSI's Simulation Division in Tulsa, Okla.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146 series airplanes and Avro 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-41-AD; Amdt. 39-9768; AD 96-21-09) - requires a one-time inspection for corrosion of the direction link subassembly of the main landing gear assembly and repair or replacement of the direction link subassembly with a serviceable unit, if necessary.
CAPT. ELREY B. JEPPESEN, 89, one of the pioneers of the aviation industry, died Nov. 26 at home after a short illness. Jeppesen began his flying career at 16 with a pilot's license signed by Orville Wright and a World War I surplus Jenny airplane. While flying for Boeing Air Transport, which later merged to form United Air Lines, he began recording obstacles, field lengths, slopes and other pertinent safety information surrounding airports and landing strips, using a 10-cent, loose-leaf notebook.
Nav Canada, owner and operator of the Canadian air navigation system (ANS), will establish a user fee system over the next 10 months to fund air traffic control, with plans to put the system in place once the Canadian transportation tax is abolished Oct. 31, 1998. Nav Canada currently operates the ANS with tax money, which it considers a transition payment as it moves to a privatized system, said Nav Canada Chairman John Crichton Tuesday at an Aero Club of Washington luncheon. The user fee system will be aircraft weight-based and developed in consultation with users.
Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of French manufacturer Dassault Aviation, named Jean Rosanvallon president, effective immediately. Rosanvallon, most recently senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, will continue to oversee worldwide sales and marketing of Falcon business jets in addition to his new duties heading Dassault Falcon Jet. He replaces Jean-Francois Georges, who had served as both president and chief executive of the unit.
JUNEAU, ALASKA AIRPORT installed Wind Profilers, windshear detection equipment, and expects the system to be operational by January. Alaska Airlines, which helped pay for the system, said Hong Kong and Colorado Springs, also located near mountain ranges, are the only other airports with the system, which tracks wind direction and speed up to 10,000 feet.
ALTHOUGH THE AVIATION EXCISE TAXES weren't collected for nearly eight months after expiring at the end of 1995, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund had an uncommitted balance of $6 billion on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. Noting that the excise taxes are scheduled to expire again at the end of 1996, CBO further estimates that the trust fund will not run out of money until early in fiscal 1998 - several months later than many Washington observers had expected.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week issued a rule levying fines on any person or entity that falsifies information to obtain unescorted access to secured airport areas. The announcement of the new rule came the same day in which the television program Dateline NBC ran a segment on accessing secured areas of airports without authorization. FAA said the rule is directed at the employment verification process.
COLLINS said its WXR-700X Forward Looking Windshear radar was certificated aboard an Aero California DC-9-30 airliner, the first such certification awarded to a Latin American airline, according to the manufacturer. The airline, based in La Paz, Mexico, plans to install the system on six additional DC-9-30s. The Collins WXR-700X, which won FAA certification last year, provides both visual and aural alerts of windshear occurring up to 90 seconds ahead of an aircraft's flight path.
JANICE OLVERA was named assistant director of A-10 systems in the avionics and support department at Southwest Research Institute. Olvera, who joined the Institute in 1984, has sinced worked on electronic hardware design, integration, instrumentation, data acquisition and systems design programs.
JIM MATHESON, general manager of Twin Commander Aircraft Corp. for the past three years, was named president of the Arlington, Wash. company that provides the Renaissance Commander refurbishment program. Matheson also serves as president of Kent, Wash.-based Pacific Propeller, which overhauls C-130 propellers. In addition, Twin Commander named Bill Mermelstein sales manager and Dale Ruhmel director of engineering.
THE JOINT TAX COMMITTEE recommended that congressional committees use the "independent" FAA cost allocation study ordered by Congress when evaluating future aviation taxes or user fees. That study, being prepared by Coopers&Lybrand (BA, Nov. 25/240), was directed by Congress even though FAA was on the verge of completing its own study of costs imposed on the agency by aviation users (BA, Oct. 14/167).
SECURAPLANE received a parts manufacturer approval (PMA) from FAA for installation of the XL246-A emergency battery system on Falcon 50 aircraft. Securaplane said the XL246-A is a sealed lead acid "dry cell" battery requiring no maintenance that is a direct replacement for the Ni-Cad system used on the Falcon 50. For more information, contact the company at (520) 745-6655; fax, (520) 748-0850.
FAIRCHILD SA226 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-34-AD) - proposes to require modification of the electrical power generation system. Three reports of both generators going off-line while in flight prompted this action. The actions specified by the proposal are intended to prevent failure of both generators during critical phases of flight, which could result in loss of control of the airplane. Comments on the proposal must be sent in triplicate before Feb. 3 to FAA, Central Region, Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel, Room 1558, 601 E.
Officials of Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Co. (SSAC) shied away from talking about how many orders they have for the SJ30-2 entry-level business jet during last month's NBAA convention, preferring to focus instead on how the sales and marketing process will operate under the company's new management team.
Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. will relocate its corporate headquarters from Paramus, N.J. to a site overlooking the Teterboro, N.J. Airport at the end of the year. "This marks a happy return to the airport roots of the Falcon program, which, for many years, was synonymous with Teterboro Airport," said J. Morgan Young, senior vice president of finance and administration.
THE AVIATION COMMUNITY is closely watching the Environmental Protection Agency proposal to strengthen its standards for particulate matter (PM) and ground-level ozone for possible implications on aircraft emissions.
Providence, R.I.-based Fleet Capital Leasing formed a strategic alliance with aircraft charter and management company Prime Airborne to enter the fractional ownership fray. The new venture, called Prime Fleet, will be headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with its aircraft fleet - initially comprising a Gulfstream IIB and III and a Falcon 20 - housed at Elmira-Corning Airport in Elmira, N.Y. Fleet brings its financial capabilities to the venture and Prime Airbone its aircraft management experience.
FAUQUIER COUNTY, VA., is accepting sealed proposals from prospective developers to finance, develop, construct and manage a T-hangar type facility for the Warrenton-Fauquier Airport under a lease agreement. The county intends that the hangars be completed in compliance with the approved airport master plan and layout plan drawings. To obtain proposal documents, call the Fauquier County Procurement Division at (540) 347-8629.
Steve Brown, a 16-year veteran of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, was named president and chief executive of the National Aeronautic Association, where he will assume his new duties Dec. 9. Brown has been senior vice president of government and technical affairs at AOPA and secretary general of AOPA's International Council.
ALLISON 250 series turbine engines (Docket No. 95-ANE-72; Amdt. 39- 9749; AD 96-19-01) - requires initial and repetitive visual inspections of all engine filters for metal particles resulting from premature wear of two bearings produced under parts manufacture approval by Superior Air Parts. In addition, this AD requires replacement of those bearings with bearings that incorporate improved retainers, which constitutes terminating action to the inspection requirements.
JOSEPH F. VORBECK, co-founder of Sporty's Academy and an early provider of weekend ground school seminars, died Oct. 31 after battling cancer. Vorbeck was raised in Rochester, N.Y. and graduated from Cornell University with an engineering degree. After service in both the U.S. Marine Corps and Army, he became a commercial pilot and flight instructor. He served as an aviation professor at the University of Illinois at Champaign and later was chairman of aviation technology at Purdue University.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE won technical standard order (TSO) authorization from FAA for its RE220 auxiliary power unit, which is used on both the Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream V business jets.
