SECURAPLANE received FAA parts manufacturer approval (PMA) for the installation of its XL246-A Emergency Battery System aboard Canadair Challenger 601-3A and 601-3R aircraft. Canadair issued an optional service bulletin for the installation of the XL246-A sealed lead acid dry cell batteries as a direct replacement for the existing emergency battery systems, Securaplane said. Securaplane also is in the process of obtaining PMAs for the system on Gulfstream III and Falcon 50 aircraft.
CANADIAN AIRLINE INVESTMENT 96, a major aircraft and airline finance conference, will be held June 10-11 in Toronto, Ontario. Topics scheduled for discussion include: How the Canadian aircraft finance market is changing; How "Open Skies" is affecting the market; specific operator needs for fleet planning and replacement; and, key issues affecting the value of aircraft. For more information, call (416) 777-1242.
FLIGHT DYNAMICS, Portland, Ore., won an order for 60 Head-Up Guidance Systems from United Parcel Service for its fleet of Boeing 727 aircraft. The HGS will permit UPS pilots to land in visibility as low as 700 feet and to take off when visibility is as low as 300 feet. The UPS order pushes total Flight Dynamics HGS sales to more than 700 units to a wide range of customers including package carriers, major airlines, corporate and regional operators and military transport commands.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL named Harry Houckes assistant manager of its Savannah, Ga., learning center and Gaylon Chamberlain director of standards at its Cessna Citation center in Wichita. Houckes previously spent 20 years with Mobil Oil Corp. in various flight-group management and piloting positions, including chief pilot and aviation manager of the Dallas-based Mobil fleet. Most recently he was manager of worldwide flight operations for the Mobil air fleet from its Fairfax, Va., base.
William D. (Bill) Reynard, 53, who spent more than 25 years in the aviation industry including two decades running NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System, died April 10 in California from complications following a kidney transplant.
An International Conference on Aircraft Inflight Icing, being sponsored by FAA next month, is seen as a prelude to new rulemaking designed to prevent icing related aircraft accidents.
DASSAULT AVIATION'S new Falcon 50EX trijet made a successful first flight April 10 from the company's Bordeaux-Merignac assembly facility in France. The flight lasted just under two hours and included a climb to 10,000 feet after takeoff and then a climb directly to 41,000 feet. The 50EX is powered by three AlliedSignal TFE731-40 turbofans. The new model, which will replace the Falcon 50 in the Dassault product line, is designed to reach an initial cruise altitude of 41,000 feet in 23 minutes, versus 39,000 feet in 30 minutes for the Falcon 50.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-231-AD) - proposes to require replacement of a bus power control unit and two generator control units with improved units. This proposal is prompted by results of the manufacturer's re-certification and laboratory testing of a bus power control unit, which revealed abnormal functions of the bus power control and generator control units. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent such electrical short circuits in the electrical power distribution systems and a subsequent fire.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION will hold a business pilot operations manual workshop May 18 at Signature Flight Support at Washington Dulles International Airport. For more information, contact NBAA at (202) 783-9000.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT had been scheduled to fly the first new-production Model 172 last Thursday, but high winds prevented a takeoff that morning. After hearing reports of the accident in Cheyenne, Cessna officials decided to postpone the first flight until this week.
The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking comments on proposed revisions to its advisory circular that provides guidance for airplane performance and handling characteristics flight tests required in Part 25. The revision to AC 25-7, Flight Test Guide for Certification of Transport Category Airplanes, updates certain sections to reflect the most recent FAA regulations and policy and harmonize with the European Joint Aviation Authorities and Transport Canada aviation standards.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved a $166 million airspace modification surrounding Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that will increase capacity in the area by about 75 percent and have "worldwide effect on all air traffic," Administrator David Hinson said this month. The project, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Air Traffic System, will boost national airspace capacity by 15 percent, Hinson said, saving the aviation industry and the traveling public $10 billion over the next 20 years.
UNC AIRWORK plans to expand the turbine maintenance capabilities of its Van Nuys, Calif. satellite shop to include Allison 250 engines. The Van Nuys facility will be equipped to provide factory-authorized A250 engine and engine module overhaul and repair, beginning in June. UNC Airwork said its facilities in Millville, N.J., Miami, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., and Dayton, Ohio also provide A250 services. In addition to the A250, UNC Airwork's Van Nuys shop is a factory-authorized service center for Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6 and JT15D turbine engines.
BENET WILSON, senior editor of Commuter/Regional Airline News since 1993, was named to the newly created position of director of public relations for the Regional Airline Association. Wilson, who has more than 10 years of media relations and communications experience, will act as a liaison between RAA and the media as well as with members and associate members. In addition, she will be responsible for writing and editing RAA publications and developing promotional materials.
An FAA panel is calling for a three-year overhaul of the agency's regulation and certification activities, including greater self-regulation for some air carriers and manufacturers with proven safety records (BA, April 8/157). Booz-Allen&Hamilton, which worked closely with FAA's Challenge 2000 Senior Executive Panel, prepared a report that also calls for "redesigning" the rulemaking process and "resizing and restructuring" the Office of Regulation and Certification (AVR), headed by FAA Associate Administrator Anthony Broderick.
A group of new investors, along with employees of startup overhaul facility Alliance Engines, pooled their resources last week to acquire the company from K-C Aviation and Duncan Aviation, the founding investors in the Maryville, Tenn. firm (BA, April 8/157). Jim Spinder, chief operating officer of the engine overhaul and repair facility, said the participation of new investors became necessary when K-C Aviation parent Kimberly-Clark merged with Scott Paper and decided to shed some non-core businesses, including Alliance.
THE QUESTIONABLE DECISIONMAKING that preceded last week's accident hasn't deterred a legislative response. Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, said he would introduce legislation "that would not allow children to actually fly airplanes." One veteran industry leader said he had not seen such intense media coverage of a general aviation accident since the 1986 midair collision between a small Piper and an Aeromexico Airlines DC-9 over Cerritos, Calif. (BA, Sept. 8, 1986/73).
MARC BELANGER was appointed avionics manager for Elliott Aviation's Omaha, Neb. facility. Belanger, who has 12 years of avionics maintenance experience, will be responsible for the growth and development of Elliott's avionics business activity.
NEW PIPER PA31, PA31P, PA31T and PA42 series airplanes (Docket No. 95- CE-84-AD) - proposes to require inspection for cracks in the area of the inboard aileron hinge bracket on the aileron spar and rib using dye penetrant methods, replacement of any cracked aileron spar or rib, and replacement of the inboard aileron hinge bracket with an improved hinge bracket. This proposal is prompted by several reports of cracks in the area of the inboard aileron hinge bracket, aileron spar and aileron rib.
A consortium led by TRW reports "dramatic improvements" in cutting graphite epoxy materials. The Precision Laser Machining (PLM) Consortium, a group of 20 companies working on a dual use technology project supported by the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), said diode-pumped, solid-state lasers being developed have the potential to bring about higher-quality and lower-cost manufacturing techniques.
JACKIE HUGHES was promoted to assistant director of aviation-accounting for the Kansas City Aviation Department. Hughes will direct the planning and operations of the Aviation Accounting Division as well as work with airlines and concessionaires at the airport.
Raytheon wants to buy two defense-related units from Chrysler's aerospace and defense division for $475 million and combine them with the E-Systems subsidiary, top Raytheon executives said last week. It still has to pass the usual antitrust reviews, but the company expects the all-cash, debt-financed deal for Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems, or CTAS, and Electrospace Systems Inc., or ESI, to close by the end of June. Pentastar, the remaining unit in Chrysler Technologies Corp., isn't included in the deal.
Signature Flight Support, already the nation's largest fixed-base chain, signed an agreement to acquire all four of International Aviation's FBOs, including facilities at three of the nation's premier corporate aviation airports.
