Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Allegheny General Hospital is replacing its fleet of MBB BK-117 LifeFlight helicopter ambulances with four no-tail- rotor McDonnell Douglas MD-900 Explorers, and said the first NOTAR air ambulance will enter service this week. The hospital expects to get the remaining twin-engine MD-900s by September, and will station the aircraft at regional LifeFlight bases throughout the state.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT Beech Model C90A airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-82-AD; Amdt. 39-9637; AD 96-11-12) - requires, for C90A airplanes equipped with an optional Beech electrical trim system or a Collins autopilot system, modification of the elevator electrical trim tab actuator assembly. This action is prompted by a failure of the elevator electrical trim tab system on a C90A. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent failure of the elevator electrical trim tab system, which could cause loss of airplane maneuverability and control.
CANADAIR said the Italian Department of Civil Protection accepted delivery of two additional CL-415 amphibious turboprop aircraft, which will bring its fleet of the water-carrying, firefighting aircraft to six. Italy also operates five CL-215 aircraft powered by piston engines.
DE HAVILLAND Model DHC-7 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-110-AD; Amdt. 39-9631; AD 96-11-06) - requires modification of the emergency lights circuitry. This amendment is prompted by reports of the emergency lights turning on inadvertently due to voltage spikes from other equipment and reports that the existing emergency light switch arrangement allows the flight compartment and flight attendant's panel switches to override each other.
LUSCOMBE Model 8 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-99-AD) - proposes to require installation of new inspection holes, modification of the wing tip fairings and inspection of the wing spars for intergranular corrosion. This proposal is prompted by reports of intergranular corrosion in the wings and is intended to prevent wing spar failure. Comments on the proposal must be sent in triplicate before July 31 to FAA, Central Region, Office of the Assistant Chief Counsel, Room 1558, 601 E. 12th St., Kansas City, Mo. 64106. Specify docket number.
HARPER CHAFFEE joined The Avion Group as an account manager. Chaffee, formerly an advertising manager for Private Pilot and Kitplanes magazines, will provide marketing and public relations support for The Avion Group's aviation accounts.
ELLIOTT AVIATION, the fixed-base operator and aircraft modifier with bases in Des Moines, Iowa, Moline, Ill., Minneapolis, Minn., and Omaha, Neb., is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Herb and Arlene Elliott founded the company in 1936 in the small eastern Iowa community of DeWitt, later moving to several airports in the Davenport area before finally landing the Davenport-area base at the Moline Airport. The Des Moines operation was added in the late 1950s, followed by Minneapolis, at Flying Cloud Airport, in 1972 and Omaha in 1982.
RUNZHEIMER INTERNATIONAL predicts business travel costs will rise 4.7 percent during 1997. The Rochester, Wis., management consulting firm forecast that air travel costs will rise four percent next year while lodging will rise 7.5 percent, car rental costs will jump 8.5 percent and meals and ground transportation costs will rise five percent, and four percent, respectively.
TELEDYNE and Allegheny Ludlum Corp. plan to hold special meetings of shareholders in mid-August to vote on the proposed combination of the two companies in a new entity to be called Allegheny Teledyne Inc. Under terms of a definitive agreement, Teledyne shareholders will receive 1.925 shares of common stock in the new company for each of their Teledyne common shares, while Allegheny Ludlum shareholders will receive one share of common stock in the new company for each of their shares. The companies said Thursday that the U.S.
HEXCEL CORP., Pleasanton, Calif., completed the acquisition of the Composites Products Division (CPD) of Hercules, Inc. and entered into a new $310 million credit agreement with a group of bank lenders led by Credit Suisse. Under terms of the acquisition agreement, Hexcel paid Hercules $135 million in cash, subject to certain post-closing adjustments. CPD manufactures prepregs and carbon fiber for aerospace and other markets. The division has plants in Salt Lake City, Utah, Decatur, Ala., and Madrid, Spain.
THE HOUSE Thursday approved the fiscal 1997 transportation appropriations bill that provides an $8.155 billion budget for the Federal Aviation Administration and assumes collection of $30 million in fees for international overflights. Before adopting the bill, H.R.3675, the House defeated 193-212 an amendment offered by Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) to transfer $1 million in funds from the DOT Inspector General's budget to FAA for aircraft inspection training.
EXECUTIVE JET added the eighth Gulfstream IV-SP to its NetJets fleet as part of the Gulfstream Shares fractional ownership program it is offering in conjunction with Gulfstream Aerospace. Two additional GIV-SPs are scheduled to enter the program before yearend.
RALPH FISCH was named national sales manager for aviation products for Magellan Systems. Fisch, formerly of Garmin International, will be responsible for all North American sales activities for Magellan's line of aviation products.
LONDON SOUTHEND AIRPORT said its new terminal building includes a duty-free shop for passengers and air crew members departing for international destinations. The airport, which has a single 5,000-foot runway, was purchased two years ago by Regional Airport Ltd., which also owns Biggin Hill Airport. Southend, which also has a customs office, dates from 1914.
Raytheon Aircraft, calling its 32-year-old line of Beech King Air turboprops the "most successful series of turbine powered business aircraft ever built," last week handed over the 5,000th King Air, a Model 350, to JELD-WEN of Klamath Falls, Ore. During a ceremony Monday at the Raytheon Aircraft factory in Wichita, Kan., company President Roy Norris noted that the King Air is owned and operated in more than 100 countries and said the business turboprop is the "most prolific airplane in America and...in the world."
FAA certified a Cessna 152 aircraft to run on ethanol, which Baylor University in Waco, Texas said resulted from "the work of Dr. Max Shauck, professor and chair of aviation sciences" at the university "who has pioneered the use of alternative fuels for aviation."
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION will hold an FAA Air Traffic Users Dialogue from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 10 at the Jeppesen Sanderson offices in Englewood, Colo. The Users Dialogue, held in conjunction with FAA, will provide a forum for NBAA members and FAA to discus air traffic issues. For more information, contact Paul Smith, NBAA senior manager, air traffic services, at (202) 783-9255.
SAAB 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-102-AD; Amdt. 39-9639; AD 96-11-14) - requires inspections to detect cracking of the lower rib of the rudder, and repair, if necessary. This action also provides for an optional action, which terminates the repetitive inspection requirement. This amendment is prompted by reports of fatigue cracking of the lower rib of the rudder. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent such fatigue cracking and subsequent failure of the primary structure of the rudder, which could reduce airplane controllability.
CANADIAN AERONAUTICS AND SPACE INSTITUTE presented its 1996 C.D. Howe award to C. Eric B. McConachie for "lasting achievements in the fields of planning, policy making and overall leadership in Canadian aeronautics and space activities." McConachie, who has been involved in aviation for more than 40 years, was a marketing executive at Canadair during two separate periods. He was instrumental in conceptual planning and product definition of the CL-44 swing-tail freighter, the CL-215 water bomber and the Canadair Regional Jet.
Commander Aircraft Co., Bethany, Okla., delivered three aircraft to Egyptian officials under a contract valued at more than $1 million. The aircraft, Model 114ATs, were handed over to representatives of the National Civil Aviation Training Organization (N.C.A.T.O) of Giza, Egypt in a formal ceremony in Bethany. Gen.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION said the Federal Communications Commission agreed to automatically issue refunds of up to $75 to aircraft owners who filed for radio station licenses during 1996. The association, which had lobbied for a waiver of radio licensing fees for aircraft, noted that the FCC received the authority to grant such waivers in the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The agency adopted the rule removing the licensing requirements on April 12, but AOPA noted that because of international treaty agreements, aircraft flying outside the U.S.
Citing a potential fallout from the May 11 crash of ValuJet flight 592, Moody's Investors Service Friday lowered its outlook on Sabreliner from stable to negative. The action comes almost a week after Sabreliner announced that it has initiated a number of measures to improve the company's quality, safety and environmental control efforts.
Executive Jet Aviation formally launched its NetJets Europe fractional ownership program last week in conjunction with Zimex Aviation in Zurich, Switzerland and Air Luxor, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. The European operation, which is starting business with a core fleet of three Cessna Citation S/II business jets, is an extension of EJA's rapidly growing NetJets program in the U.S.
