UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA'S Darden Graduate School of Business Administration will host a three-day seminar - Developing Leadership Capability in the Corporate Aviation Function - Oct. 8-11, 1996 and Sept. 23-26, 1997. The program, geared for chief pilots or executives with aviation department responsibilities, will focus on strategic thinking, leadership skills, high-performance service operations and personal planning. The program costs $2,900 for this year's session and $3,000 for the 1997 event.
MCCAULEY PROPELLER SYSTEMS will host a propeller care and maintenance forum Aug. 5 during the Experimental Aircraft Association's Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wis. The forum will cover general care and maintenance, pre-flight inspection, propeller damage repair, overhauls, oil filling modifications and dynamic balancing.
THOMAS WHIPPLE joined Smiths Industries as vice president of finance for the U.S. defense business locations. Whipple has more than 22 years of experience in financial management.
Netherlands industrial firm Stork N.V. will acquire Fokker Aviation, the surviving services and components businesses of Fokker Aircraft, for 302.5 million guilders (about US$178.5 million), the company said last week. Terming the acquisition a "logical extension" of its businesses, Stork said its takeover agreement requires it to "provide the maximum possible support in the event of any decision to recommence Fokker aircraft production," something it would do anyway for the sake of the service business it is acquiring.
CESSNA FINANCE CORP. named Robert Knowles credit manager of the company's Wichita, Kan. branch office. He joined CFC in 1992. Chad Anderson was named regional sales manager after joining CFC from American Eagle Insurance Company of Dallas, Texas. Anderson will assume Knowles' former duties in Dallas, overseeing the sales activities of both retail and wholesale financing services.
CHARLES KIENZLE was named vice president of Aviall. Kienzle, previously senior vice president of operations for Aviall's former U.S. Engines Services unit, will be responsible for quality, purchasing, planning, warehouse operations, logistics and product repair services for the company.
FlightSafety International, Inc., reported higher earnings for the second quarter and first half that ended June 30. Second quarter net income was $21.3 million, compared with $20.9 million a year ago. Revenues were $90.7 million, an increase of more than $11 million over the 1995 period. Six-month profits were up more than $1 million to $42.1 million and first half revenues jumped more than 14 percent to $179.9 million, an increase of more than $22 million. All areas of the company contributed to the revenue growth, said A.L.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION commissioned an AWOS 3500 Automated Surface Observing System at Summit Airport in Middletown, Del. The AWOS 3500, manufactured by AAI/Systems Management Inc. in Hunt Valley, Md., produces a surface weather report for flight planning. Summit Aviation will provide the AWOS weather information to pilots by VHF ground-to-air radio, dial-in phone line and video display in the fixed-base operation. The system measures precipitation, temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction, visibility and cloud height up to 12,000 feet.
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded a $13.7 million contract to provide three full-scale development Airport Movement Area Safety Systems (AMASS) to Northrop Grumman Norden Systems, Norwalk, Conn. The systems are designed to detect potential runway incursions and alert air traffic controllers. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will develop, test, install and integrate the AMASS systems. The AMASS development versions are slated for installation in Detroit, Mich. in September 1997, St. Louis, Mo. in November 1997 and Atlanta, Ga. in February 1998.
National Transportation Safety Board, which this month issued 26 new recommendations stemming from its investigation of the October 1994 ATR 72 fatal accident near Roselawn, Ind. (BA, July 15/28), emphasized a need for more comprehensive weather reporting as well as improved certification requirements for icing conditions.
DE HAVILLAND Model DHC-8-301, -311, and -315 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-268-AD; Amdt. 39-9685; AD 96-14-03) - supersedes an existing AD that requires modification of the air-speed limitations placard and revision of the airplane flight manual to specify operating at lower airspeed when the airplane is operating at full flaps. That action also provides for an optional modification that would terminate the requirements for certain airplanes.
FAA delegated the authority to administer Special Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 74 - Airspace and Flight Operations Requirements for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. - to the Southern regional administrator. FAA said the delegation will allow it "to respond to the immediate needs of the Olympic Committee, local and federal law enforcement officials and other safety personnel during the Olympic Games." For more information, contact Steve Alogna, Olympic project manager at the FAA, at (404) 305-5051.
Al Higdon, who has spent 35 years in the aviation public relations and advertising business, will retire at the end of the year from the Wichita- based agency he co-founded 25 years ago (BA, April 29/193). Higdon, who is chairman and chief executive of Sullivan Higdon&Sink (SHS), told BA he turned 60 this year and decided to pursue other activities.
ROLLS-ROYCE, Inc. appointed Rebecca Blackman vice president, human resources. Blackman, who has held several human resources positions for Rolls-Royce during her 17 years with the company, previously was director, human resources. She also aided the consolidation of Rolls-Royce's engineering activities into the recently-acquired Allison Engine Company.
Concern that FAA's dual mission of promoting air commerce and safety are causing confusion among the public and the news media, four U.S. senators have initiated two separate pieces of legislation to address the issue.
DEAN PHILPOTT was appointed director-wings programs for Northrop Grumman Corporation's Commercial Aircraft Division in Dallas, Texas. Philpott will head the Gulfstream V integrated product team as well as be responsible for the development of new business. He joined Northrop Grumman in 1962 and most recently directed the C-17 and B-2 programs.
RAYMOND CASPER joined Smiths Industries in Grand Rapids, Mich. as vice president of human resources. Casper is responsible for human resources functions for the company's U.S. aerospace businesses.
THE PROFESSIONAL AVIATION MAINTENANCE ASSOCIATION changed the dates for its 1997 symposium and trade show in Fort Worth, Texas. The annual event had been scheduled for May 14-16, but PAMA officials decided to move their show to May 20-22 to avoid a conflict with the Regional Airline Association's convention in Nevada, which is scheduled for May 12-14. "We had some flexibility in our schedule whereas RAA had none.
WILLIAM TURNER was promoted to vice president, North American military marketing for Smiths Industries Aerospace. Turner, who joined the company in 1992 as regional manager in the St. Louis office, will direct the North American military field office operations.
JETSTREAM Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-271-AD) - proposes to require a high-frequency eddy current inspection for cracks of the boundary angle and joint angle of the rear pressure bulkhead and repair, if necessary. This proposal also would require modification of the rear pressure bulkhead of the fuselage. This proposal is prompted by a report of fatigue cracking in the rear pressure bulkhead of the fuselage.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model 146-100A, -200A and -300A series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-162-AD; Amdt. 39-9694; AD 96-14-09) - publishes an AD previously sent to all known U.S. owners and operators of the affected airplanes. This action supersedes an AD requiring installation of a placard prescribing special procedures to be followed when operating at certain flight levels with the engine and airframe anti-ice switch on.
Bill Monroe, president of the North American subsidiary of Socata Groupe Aerospatiale, left the French manufacturer Friday as Socata planned to move its U.S. base from Grand Prairie, Texas to a new site on the East Coast.
FARGO JET CENTER has opened at Hector International Airport in Fargo, N.D. The new fixed-base operation provides 24-hour services, including aircraft charter, FAA-approved repair station, sales and leasing, flight instruction and aircraft fuel sales. The company is located at the airport's new general aviation area in a 22,000-square-foot building that also is home to Fargo Jet Center's sister company, Weather Modification, Inc.
K-C AVIATION established a team to research and monitor new Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) standards that take effect Jan. 1. The standards will allow a 1,000-foot vertical separation at altitudes between FL290 and FL410 for flights operating over the North Atlantic. K-C Aviation also completed the conversion of an analog air data-equipped Canadair Challenger CL-601 to a digital format in a step toward meeting the upcoming RVSM requirements.
SOCATA sold four TB-20 Trinidad single-engine piston aircraft to the Civil Aviation Training Center in Thailand. The four aircraft, which will be added to a fleet that also includes five Socata TB-9 Tampico aircraft, will be used for ab initio training for Thai Airways, Royal Thai Navy and Royal Thai Police pilots. The aircraft will be IFR-equipped with a double instrument panel, stormscope, autopilot and GPS.
