JETCORP completed the first installation of the CAL Corporation AMT 100 Inmarsat satellite telephone on a Falcon 900. The installation of the dual satcom system involved mounting CAL's AMT 50 Inmarsat antenna subsystem in the vertical stabilizer. JetCorp officials expect to integrate the new CalQuest North American Aeronautical Satellite Telephone System with the AMT50 Inmarsat antenna in about six months, giving aircraft two satellite communication systems through one antenna and providing the aircraft with global voice, data and fax communication capability.
HELICOPTER ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL named William Wanamaker legislative assistant. Wanamaker, former legislative assistant for Reps. Richard Schulze (R-Pa.) and Jay Kim (R-Ca.), will represent the association before Congress and various federal agencies.
FOKKER AVIATION received type certification of its Fokker 60 utility turboprop this month during ceremonies marking delivery of the first two Fokker 60s to The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNAF). The Fokker 60 is a stretched version of the Fokker 50. The other two Fokker 60s on order by the RNAF are scheduled for delivery late this month and in July, respectively. The Fokker 60 can carry 45 equipped troops over ranges of 1,400-1,750 nautical miles.
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF AIR SHOWS (ICAS) said it will extend its peer review program for evaluating and certifying air show pilots to Canada. ICAS, headquartered in Jackson, Mich., said more than 500 pilots are evaluated annually for FAA in the U.S. from the Aerobatic Competency Evaluation (ACE) program. The ACE program in Canada will be administered by ICAS with Transport Canada providing regulatory oversight. For more information, contact ICAS at (517) 782-2424.
New U.S. aviation technician and training regulations - the re-written FAR Part 66 - are expected to be issued this summer as a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), and one FAA official allowed that the complicated new rules have broad implications even though existing technicians are "grandfathered."
NEW PIPER Models PA31, PA31-300, PA31-325 and PA31-350 airplanes (Docket No. 90-CE-63-AD; Amdt. 39-9622; AD 96-10-15) - supersedes AD 80-14- 06, which requires repetitive inspections of the outboard flap tracks, wing rib flanges and the rear spar web at Wing Station 147.5 on each wing, and modification of the area if any cracks are found as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This action retains the repetitive inspection requirements and requires modification on both wings as a terminating action.
MARK DENNEN joined Wayfarer Aviation as director of finance and administration and a member of the senior management team. Dennen, who has 11 years of financial, accounting and management experience, previously served with Nippon Zeon of America, Inc. and Coopers&Lybrand.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee scheduled a series of hearings to probe the adequacy of FAA's inspection program in the aftermath of the May 11 ValuJet accident. Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), citing "very, very disturbing reports" that FAA inspectors fear retribution from their managers, threatened to issue subpoenas to compel testimony. "We will not tolerate any intimidation" of those testifying, Shuster said.
1. Effective immediately, the agency's senior inspectors will require airlines to demonstrate the regulatory compliance of each of their major contract maintenance and training programs.
"COMMON SENSE has been kicked out of the door at FAA along with Tony Broderick," National Air Trans-portation Association President James Coyne said last week, echoing the sentiments of many industry officials after FAA lost its top regulator, called for a series on new inspections and regulations and DOT Secretary Federico Pena proposed eliminating promotion of air commerce from FAA's legislative mandate. See article and reaction below.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE installed the first shipset of BMW/Rolls-Royce BR710 engines on Gulfstream V, S/N 504 and plans to begin FAA noise tests July 1. A Gulfstream spokesman said the production engines eliminate a low- frequency rumble that had been noticeable on the test engines.
The House Appropriations Committee Wednesday approved an $8.155 billion budget for the Federal Aviation Administration in fiscal 1997, but declined to approve the Administration's request for up to $150 million in new user fees. The fiscal 1997 transportation appropriations bill assumes the collection of $30 million in fees for international overflights, but the Appropriations Committee called the Administration's proposal for $150 million in new user fees "extensive and unspecified" (BA, June 10/255).
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT said the U.S. Air Force provided incremental funding of $15.8 million for the manufacturing development phase of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program. The additional funding will cover one manufacturing development Mk II aircraft, including testing and certification. The latest funding brings the total obligated amount of the acquisition contract to $28.4 million.
U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE celebrated the opening of a newly refurbished Customs facility at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Executive Airport (FXE). Customs began operating out of a small trailer at the airport in 1976 and cleared 114 aircraft during January of that year. The airport now claims to be the fifth busiest general aviation airport in the country and says the new Customs facility will clear 6,000 aircraft per year.
National Transportation Safety Board Member John Goglia, who probably will preside at the public hearing into last month's ValuJet crash, this month defended aviation repair stations and the FAA rules that govern them. Speaking in Washington, D.C., Goglia said, "This industry cannot exist without repair stations," and FAA's rules for them "are very good." But the rules "have to be followed. The trouble is it is very difficult to understand the rules.
ACQUISITION of Chrysler Technologies' aircraft modification and defense electronics businesses by Raytheon Company was completed this month. Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems and Electrospace Systems, Inc. will become part of Raytheon E-Systems. Raytheon said the acquisition "continues Raytheon's successful strategy of remaining a top tier defense contractor while aggressively growing its three commercial businesses."
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD published its Special Investigation Report on a series of Robinson Helicopter Co. R22 accidents involving loss of main rotor control. The 107-page report details 31 R22 accidents and three involving R44 helicopters, many of which occurred after the main rotor blades struck the tailboom of the aircraft. For further information about the report, (PB96-917003, NTSB/SIR-96/03), contact NTSB's Public Inquiries Section at (202) 382-6735 or the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Va.
"CORPORATE JET TRANSACTIONS," a seminar on financing, marketing and documenting the lease and sale of corporate aircraft, has been rescheduled by the sponsor, Strategic Research Institute. Originally planned for June 10-11, the seminar is now set for July 15-16 in New York at the New York Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, 212 East 42nd St. Topics on the agenda include financing shared corporate jet ownership structures, assessing corporate aircraft valuation and negotiating lease return conditions and bankruptcy, foreclosure and repossession issues.
JETSTREAM Models 3101 and 3201 airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-18-AD; Amdt. 39-9626; AD 96-11-01) - requires modification of the automatic airframe de-ice system to allow the wing and tail de-ice boots to automatically operate through one cycle. The present system repeats the wing de-ice boot inflation cycle before starting to inflate the tail de-ice boots. This action is prompted by reports of ice accumulating on the tail faster than the automatic de-ice boots inflate.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT is waiving handling charges and extending a 50- cent-per-gallon fuel discount at all its locations to charitable medical flights operated by the Air Care Alliance and participating volunteer pilot organizations. Signature, and the Air Care Alliance - which initiates and promotes communication and cooperation among organizations involved with charitable GA flights for health and related purposes - also are working with airport authorities to convince officials to waive landing and parking fees for such flights.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE named three men to executive posts. Dean M. Flatt was named vice president and general manager of Guidance and Control Systems, with responsibility for all aspects of that unit of the company's Government Electronics Systems business. Flatt joined AlliedSignal from Hill Phoenix, a commercial refrigeration business where he was president.
A SERIES OF MAPS designed to show aircraft passengers in flight where they are in relation to highways and towns is being distributed by Sporty's Pilot Shop. The Pilot's Highway Reference Maps, developed by an airline captain, are designed to make it easy for passengers to follow their route as the flight progresses. The maps come in two sets - Flightrivia and Jetrivia - for flights below, and above 18,000 feet, respectively. Each set of three maps covers the entire U.S.
SIKORSKY received FAA certification for its S-76C+ helicopter and expects British Civil Aviation Authority certification later this year. The S-76C+ is powered by Turbomeca Arriel 2S1 engines, which attain 22 percent more one-engine-inoperative power and 18 percent more takeoff power than the 1S1 engines on the S-76C model, Sikorsky officials said. Sikorsky will deliver the first five S-76C+ aircraft this summer. Sikorsky has orders for 12 S- 76C + helicopters from customers in Western Europe, Central Asia, the Pacific Rim and North America.
RAYTHEON Model Hawker 1000 and BAe 125-1000A series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-54-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive that requires inspections for various discrepancies of the fuel hose assemblies on the auxiliary power unit and correction of any discrepancy. That AD was prompted by several reports of heat damage to the fuel hose assembly on the APU. This action would add a requirement to replace the existing conduit of the fuel feed hose with an improved conduit, which would terminate the repetitive inspections.
David Sisson, former president and chief executive of Superior Air Parts, Inc., has joined Heads Up Technologies, Inc., as vice president of aviation products. The company, located in Carrollton, Texas, supplies digital voice systems for applications in the aviation, mass transit and theme park industries. In the aviation field, Heads Up Technologies builds cockpit checklist systems for corporate and commercial aircraft and passenger briefing systems for airliners.
