TRIMBLE NAVIGATION signed a pact with Mid-Continent Instrument Co. of Wichita, Kan. to sell the MD 41 series GPS annunciation control unit. Mid- Continent's MD 41 unit is FAA TSO C-129 certified for use in non-precision approach, en route and terminal navigation installations. Under the agreement, Trimble will sell the unit in support of its 2000 approach, 2101 and 2101 I/O navigators.
Greenwich Air Services signed a definitive agreement to buy Aviall's remaining engine service operations in a deal valued at about $250 million, Greenwich said last week. The agreement, first announced in February (BA, Feb. 12/69), would cover the purchase of Aviall's Commercial Engine Service division, including its engine repair, maintenance, overhaul and services operations in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas and Prestwick, Scotland, and the components business in McAllen, Texas.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION commissioned an instrument landing system (ILS) last week on Runway 35 at the Independence, Kansas Municipal Airport, the site of Cessna Aircraft's new single-engine aircraft assembly facility. FAA also announced it plans to provide a $1.9 million Airport Improvement Program grant for runway and taxiway improvements.
Docket No.: 28439 Petitioner: USA Jet Airlines, Inc. Sections of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 121.139(a) Description of Relief Sought: To permit USA Jet Airlines to carry facsimile machines aboard its aircraft in lieu of appropriate parts of its maintenance manual. These facsimile machines would enable USA Jet employees to receive aircraft maintenance technical data via facsimile from Maintenance Control, located at the air carrier's main base, when the aircraft is away from that base. Docket No.: 28485
AAI CORPORATION'S Systems Management unit received a $14.4 million contract follow-on from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency to deliver and install an additional 106 Automated Surface Observing Systems for the Federal Aviation Administration. The original NOAA contract called for 868 systems, of which 703 have been delivered and installed. Installation of the additional 106 systems will begin in mid-1996 and be complete in mid- 1997. The installations, funded by FAA, are slated for small, remote airports.
BELL Model 206A and 206B helicopters (Docket No. 94-SW-16-AD; Amdt. 39-9541; AD 96-06-04) - supersedes an existing AD that requires an inspection of the main transmission input driveshaft assembly at 300 hours time-in-service intervals. That AD also required application of a zinc chromate primer inspection visual aid and daily visual checks of the driveshaft. This amendment requires inspections of the driveshaft every 300 hours TIS; the application of a self-adhesive temperature indicator visual inspection aid, and preflight visual checks of the driveshaft.
BOEING formed a new Aviation Systems unit to focus on domestic and international air traffic management markets. Nancy Price, former president of Hughes Canada Systems Division, where she was responsible for all Hughes air traffic control programs in Canada, was named vice president of the new unit. Aviation Systems will be part of Boeing's Defense&Space Group, which is pursuing several ATM programs including FAA's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement Systems, worth a potential $1 billion.
CONGRESS told FAA last week to consider "such regulatory distinctions as the Administrator deems appropriate" for the state of Alaska. The provision, included in the budget accord that passed the House and Senate last week, follows a meeting in mid-March in which Sen. Ted Stevens (R- Alaska) and a delegation of Alaskan carriers asked senior FAA officials for exemptions from FAA's "One Level of Safety" rule that upgraded standards for Part 135 operators to Part 121.
MESA AIR GROUP, INC. will be getting plenty of attention from regional jet manufacturers following Thursday's announcement that it "anticipates expansion of its jet operations to as many as eight [aircraft] within the next nine months. Negotiations have commenced with aircraft manufacturers and lessors to attain jet aircraft suitable to Mesa's operational requirements within this time frame," the company said. Currently under evaluation are the Canadair RJ, Embraer EMB-145 and AI(R) regional jets in addition to used aircraft such as the Fokker 100.
PRATT&WHITNEY CANADA/MTU European Customer Support Center purchased a 51 percent share of Anglo-African Airmotive, owned by Simera and National Airways Corp., officials announced last week. Simera and NAC will retain interest in the company, which will be renamed Pratt&Whitney Canada Customer Support Center Africa. The main focus of the company, located near Johannesburg at Lanseria Airport, will be to support all P&WC engines in the territory, especially in the corporate and commuter sectors.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION Air Safety Foundation received two $10,000 grants from the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics and Ford Motor Company to conduct aviation safety seminars in Michigan. The Air Safety Foundation will hold a spring seminar series on Safe Navigation with GPS at the end of May at five different locations in Michigan. The foundation also will hold a fall seminar series, which will be announced later. Ford has given the Air Safety Foundation three grants in the last four years.
K-C AVIATION TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (K-CTS) said it participated in a "pre-application" meeting with FAA officials as part of the process of obtaining initial Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums approvals for certain aircraft. K-CTS said "a framework of understanding was established outlining the process of obtaining authority" for RVSM operations under Parts 135 and 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations for its fleet of nine aircraft types that includes more than 30 airplanes.
ANTHONY CHARAF was named vice president, marketing for the Middle East for UNC International. Charaf will be responsible for marketing and sales for all UNC divisions to customers in the Middle East.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION published the 1996 edition of AOPA's Aviation USA. The directory contains information on more than 7,000 landing facilities, 4,322 fixed-base operations and 30,000 on-airport and near-airport services. AOPA Aviation USA is free to members and costs $24.95 for non-members. The publication is available through Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport, Batavia, Ohio 45103; (800) LIFTOFF.
Bombardier this month completed assembly of the first Global Express business jet with the mating of the horizontal stabilizer and successfully conducted the first series of power-on tests. The composite horizontal stabilizer, produced by Bombardier unit Short Brothers, was the final structural subassembly to be installed on the 6,500-nautical mile aircraft at Bombardier's Toronto facility.
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY this month dedicated the Robertson Aviation Safety Center at its Prescott, Ariz. campus. The 3,500-square- foot center will be the headquarters for the university's Center for Aerospace Safety Education. The center includes an aircraft accident investigation laboratory designed for accident scenario recreation and layout testing and a materials laboratory that contains the equipment necessary for disassembly, inspection and evaluation of aircraft components.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL'S center at New York's LaGuardia Airport received Level D certification from FAA for its Beech 1900D flight simulator. FlightSafety said the certification, the first of its kind for the Beech 1900D, will allow airlines to reduce or eliminate in-flight training time. The simulator, designed and built by FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla., includes a daylight/twilight/night color visual system, added runway sensations and complete all-weather cockpit noise replication.
FAIRCHILD AIRCRAFT INC. said Thursday it is engaged with Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) "in negotiations which are expected to lead to Fairchild taking over control of DASA's subsidiary, Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH (Dornier)." Whether those negotiations lead to an agreement remains to be seen. Dornier officials in the U.S. said Friday they had received no guidance from Dornier headquarters on how to respond to the Fairchild announcement, but the company had said earlier in the week that talks were under way with multiple parties.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE was selected to provide its TPE331-12 turboprop engines to power CASA's new 212-400 aircraft. CASA hopes to market the new aircraft for light military transport, government agencies and cargo.
THE HOUSE AVIATION subcommittee will hold a hearing Wednesday on H.R.3267, the Child Pilot Safety Act. The legislation was introduced by Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) following the fatal crash in Cheyenne, Wyo. that killed seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, her father and a flight instructor (BA, April 22/181). Duncan's bill, which was endorsed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, is aimed at stopping publicity stunts like the one that led to the Cheyenne accident.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Friday canceled a $475 million Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) contract with Wilcox Electric, saying the Kansas City, Mo. company was "having problems establishing cost and schedule baselines, accounting for work performed, negotiating subcontracts, engineering the system and managing the program." FAA, which sent a "cure letter" to Wilcox in mid-March citing problems with contract performance, said Wilcox was unable to show that it could correct certain performance deficiencies.
Without renewal of the aviation excise taxes that lapsed Jan. 1, the uncommitted balance in the aviation trust balance will drop to $600 million by Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 1996. In a report released last week, the General Accounting Office said Congress will need to reinstate the taxes by December for the trust fund to provide 75 percent of FAA's fiscal 1997 funding as proposed by the President's budget.
BFGOODRICH AEROSPACE AVIONICS this month introduced its new WX-950 Stormscope thunderstorm detection system. The WX-950 system has two modes of operation - a cell mode that maps thunderstorms and a strike mode that records and displays initial strikes that may be an indicator of a building storm. The 3.7-pound, single-box system encompasses a CRT display/processor. BFGoodrich, which has received TSO authorization for the WX-950 system, expects to begin delivery next month. The system is priced at $6,995.
Embraer won agreement from its employees for a cost-cutting plan that includes elimination of 350 administration and support positions, cutting salaries of production personnel by 10 percent for the next six months, and shortening the work schedule. In return, Embraer will establish an employee pension plan.
KAMAN CORP. promoted Candace Clark to senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary, and J. Kenneth Nasshan to vice president, public relations. Clark joined Kaman's law department in 1985 and became assistant secretary in 1987. In 1994, she was named vice president. Nasshan joined Kaman in 1983 as public relations representative and was promoted to assistant vice president in 1988.
