RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT rolled out its 3,000th Beech Bonanza A36 and will begin a six-month tour with the specially configured aircraft. The aircraft, sporting a 3,000th logo, was outfitted with a custom-designed interior, including club seating similar to Raytheon Aircraft's corporate airplanes. The Bonanza A36, a derivative of the Bonanza E33A model, was first introduced in 1968.
Howmet Corp. named Mark Lasker president and director general of its international operation, Howmet, S.A. Lasker, who also will continue as senior vice president for Howmet International Operations, will relocate to Paris, France to oversee Howmet, S.A. units in Normandy, Gennevilliers and Le Creusot. Howmet S.A. manufactures investment cast turbine components and structural parts, including blades, nozzles and turbo wheels.
A Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee has called for improvements in FAA's aircraft inspection system after a subcommittee staff investigation turned up what its chairman described as problems in the system's training practices, data integrity and oversight. The General Accounting Office and the Department of Transportation inspector general also have raised questions about the system.
ROBERT L. WARNER was promoted to senior vice president-airport services for Elsinore LP, based at John Wayne/Orange County, Calif. Airport. Warner will continue to report directly to Denis P. Kalscheur, president and chief executive, and will be responsible for Elsinore's entire Airport Services Group. Warner, a 35-year industry veteran, has been vice president of Elsinore's Southwest Region for the past five years. Before that he was regional vice president for Ogden Aviation Services in Los Angeles, Calif.
VARITY CORPORATION, Buffalo, N.Y., it is in preliminary discussions with Lucas Industries plc "exploring a potential strategic combination of businesses, including their respective braking operations," Varity said Monday. The company emphasized that discussions are at a very early stage and there can be no assurance that any agreement will be reached. Varity has annual sales of $2.4 billion and is a leading provider of braking systems, wheels and diesel engines.
SAAB Model SF340A and 340B series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-121-AD; Amdt. 39-9572; AD 96-08-06) - requires visual and dye penetrant inspections to detect cracks of the rudder nose rib and stop drilling and blending of minor cracks. This amendment also requires replacement of the nose rib with a new nose rib and reinforcement of the nose rib if extensive cracking is found or if an operator elects to terminate the repetitive inspections.
COLLINS COMMERCIAL AVIONICS received certification for its GPS-4000 global positioning system sensor on Learjet 60 aircraft. The sensor will allow Learjet 60 operators to perform GPS-based en route, terminal-area and nonprecision approach navigation.
DOWNTOWN AIRPARK teamed with Transportes Aeros Ejecutivos S. A. (TAESA) to establish Downtown Airpark-Mexico in Toluca, Mexico. The general aviation service facility, equally owned by both companies, is factory authorized to provide sales and service for the Twin Commander line in addition to components from a number of other general aviation manufacturers including AlliedSignal, Collins and Pratt&Whitney.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Federico Pena was scheduled to use Rocky Mountain National Park as a backdrop Saturday during the formal announcement of a notice of proposed rulemaking that would prohibit commercial air tour overflights of the park.
Avcon Industries, Inc., received an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) this month for its Avcon Fin Modification on Model 35/36 Learjets. The STC permits Avcon, a subsidiary of Butler National Corp., Olathe, Kan., to build and install the modification, which is designed to improve the inflight stability of the aircraft.
MCCAULEY'S BlackMac QZP three-bladed aluminum propeller has received supplemental type certificate approval on Cessna 177RG, F177RG and 177B aircraft. The QZP propellers were approved to replace original equipment two-bladed propellers on the four-seat Cardinals. The QZP derived from the technology of a McCauley propeller developed for the Jetstream 41. The propellers have received certification on 22 aircraft models.
FFV AEROTECH, the Nashville, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Swedish conglomerate The Celsius Group, won contracts from Saab Aircraft of America unit Fairbrook Leasing and Atlantic Southeast Airlines for aircraft refurbishment work. Value of the contracts was placed at $4.8 million for work to be performed over the next year. Under the Fairbrook contract, FFV Aerotech will perform major inspections, interior refurbishments and upgrades and exterior painting of Saab 340 aircraft that will be delivered to Mesaba Aviation at a rate of two per month.
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES board of directors has approved in principle "a major strategic alliance to enhance the competitiveness of Astra Jet," according to Moti Boness, vice president of IAI and chairman of Astra Jet. The partnership "will provide significant resources to enhance the marketing, customer support and program development, and further demonstrate IAI's commitment to the business jet market." The company confirmed the resignation of Roy Bergstrom as president of Astra Jet and appointment of Wayne Oedewaldt as interim president (BA, May 6/203).
AMERICAN EAGLE is negotiating with Northern Michigan officials to expand its Marquette, Mich., maintenance facility. The carrier said it hopes to enlarge the operation by relocating it to existing facilities at the former K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base. The expansion would add 70 new jobs - all to be filled locally - increasing the facility's work force to 250 and its annual payroll beyond the current $4.5 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking proposals on ways to set up a privately owned, worldwide network to share safety information in an attempt to reach the agency's goal of zero accidents. Christopher Hart, FAA assistant administrator for system safety, said the Global Analysis and Information Network (GAIN) will help meet the zero accident goal by collecting safety data, analyzing the data for safety-related trends and sharing the analyses with the aviation community.
House aviation subcommittee leaders are drafting legislation that would create a formal study of the Federal Aviation Admini-stration's financing needs, boost the percentage of grants slated for general aviation airports and establish a pilot airport privatization program. The draft bill, which would reauthorize FAA funding levels, incorporates provisions found in FAA reform bills for a select panel, appointed by the secretary of transportation and Congress, to evaluate FAA capital and operating needs as well as expected airport capital needs.
CASA Model C-212-CB, -CC, -CD, -CE and -CF series airplanes (Docket No. 92- NM-75-AD; Amdt. 39-9564; AD 96-07-14) - requires supplemental structural inspections, and repair or replacement, as necessary, to ensure the continued airworthiness of the airplanes. This amendment is prompted by a structural reevaluation, which identified certain significant structural components to inspect for fatigue cracks as these airplanes approach and exceed the manufacturer's original fatigue design life goal.
EMBRAER Model EMB-120 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-192) - proposes to require repetitive inspections to detect cracks in the wing rib-to-skin support bracket (shear clips), and replacement of cracked brackets with new or serviceable brackets. This proposal is prompted by reports of cracks in the wing rib-to-skin support brackets in both lower and upper skin of the wings.
HAROLD (PETE) GRIFFITH, a retired IBM chief pilot, was named director of aviation for MBNA Corporation's corporate flight department in New Castle, Del. Griffith retired from IBM in 1993 after serving with the company for 31 years. He has served as a consultant since his retirement. MBNA Corp. operates four business jets-three Westwinds and one Citation VII.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer began a 12-city tour with its 50-seat EMB-145 regional airliner last week, part of an effort to boost the order book for the aircraft. Beginning in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the aircraft will visit Houston, Texas, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Fla., Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., Minneapolis, Minn., Salt Lake City, Utah, Palm Springs, Calif., Farmington, N.M., Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Ga.
HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE last week voted 23 to 13 along party lines to repeal through Dec. 31 the 4.3 cents-per-gallon transportation fuel tax enacted in 1993. The short-term repeal would take effect seven days after enactment of the proposed legislation (H.R.3415). The bill includes language expressing the opinion of Congress that the full benefit of the repeal should flow to consumers and it orders a General Accounting Office analysis of whether this occurs.
WAYFARER AVIATION added a 1996 model Cessna Citation V Ultra to its Part 135 certificate. The aircraft is based in Portsmouth, N.H. to address "a shortage of light jets to service the charter marketplace" in upper New England, Wayfarer officials said.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE took delivery this month of the 25th production C-17 Globemaster III airlifter built by McDonnell Douglas and flew it to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. where it joined the 437th Airlift Wing.
Raytheon Aircraft sold five Beech 1900Ds to Air Alliance, an Air Canada Connector airline. The contract, which includes options for five more aircraft, was valued at more than $25 million, including spares, training and product support. Delivery of the aircraft will begin in June and continue through September. The airplanes will have 18-passenger configurations with an externally serviceable aft lavatory. Air Alliance will operate the aircraft to cities in northeast Canada and the U.S.
Moody's Investors Service continues to have "strong reservations" about the use of passenger facility charges as sole security for long-term airport debt, the company said this month. "These concerns center on the termination provisions of the [PFC] legislation and the FAA's use of termination as a management tool," Moody's said. "FAA's ability to terminate the PFC revenue without bondholder recourse represents a serious impediment to the use of PFCs to secure long- term debt as was Congress' original intention in the authorizing legislation."
