MCDONNELL DOUGLAS also said its MD600N production prototype helicopter completed its first flight last month. The MD600N, an evolution of the company's MD520N, comes with a full authority digital engine control to increase the engine's efficiency and a range of up to 460 miles. Basic maneuvers on the first flight included sideward and rearward flight to 20 knots and pedal turns. Forward flight reached 100 knots and altitudes in excess of 1,000 feet.
GWEN WILLIAMS has joined The VanAllen Group in Atlanta, Ga., as project coordinator. Williams will oversee client services including strategic planning and alignment, disaster response planning, flight operations manual review and development and service and operations performance reviews.
FOKKER AIRCRAFT delivered a Fokker Executive Jet 70 equipped with additional fuel tanks to the Kenyan government. The aircraft will be used to transport government officials and VIPs. Fokker Aircraft Services and Hunting of England fitted the interior, which comprises a VIP section, a utility section and a staff seating area. The Kenyan government is the third customer to order the Fokker Executive Jet 70. Ford Motor Corporation ordered two of the aircraft for use as corporate shuttles and the Netherlands government ordered one for delivery in the spring.
BOEING booked more than three times the new jetliner orders as rival Airbus Industrie in 1995, even though the European consortium enjoyed the strongest revenue performance of its 25-year history. Delivering 124 aircraft to 30 customers, Airbus posted $9.6 billion in sales for 1995, more than $1 billion ahead of 1994's pace. But Airbus only won $7 billion in new orders for 106 aircraft, compared with 346 jetliners worth more than $31 billion ordered by Boeing customers.
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of the first flight of the Beech Bonanza occurred Dec. 22. The first V-tailed Model 35 was powered by a four-cylinder Lycoming GO-290 geared engine and was flown by Vern Carstens, Beech Aircraft's chief pilot at the time. Through the end of 1995, Beech and Raytheon Aircraft had delivered 17,066 Bonanzas: 10,403 Model 35 V-tails; 3,088 Model 33s; 2,991 Model 36s; and, 584 turbocharged Model 36s.
Air Baltic signed a memorandum of understanding with Avro International Aerospace to lease three RJ70 regional jet aircraft in a deal officials valued at $60 million. The lease agreement calls for delivery of the first aircraft this month with the other two early in the year. The aircraft will replace two Boeing 727s Air Baltic had on wet lease from Baltic International USA. Air Baltic will operate the aircraft on its routes between Riga and Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London and Stockholm.
Dallas, Texas-based Aero Insurance, which operates as Aero Cooper Aviation Insurance, merged operations and management last month with Aviation West Insurance Brokers, Inc. of Rialto and San Diego, Calif. Reed Clawson, president of Aviation West, will continue in the day-to-day management of Aviation West. Timothy Hutter, executive vice president of Aviation West, will assume the additional title of senior vice president for Aero Cooper.
Pratt&Whitney Canada said its new PW206C turboshaft engine received type certification from Transport Canada. The new engine, with a takeoff rating of 640 shaft horsepower, will power the Agusta A109 Power, the latest version of the Italian-built, twin-turbine helicopter. The first production PW206Cs will be shipped to Agusta this month. The new helicopter is expected to be in revenue service late this year. Earlier versions of the A109 are powered by Allison 250-C20R/1 or Turbomeca Arriel 1K1 engines.
JOHN KLETTLINGER was appointed regional sales manager for Garrett Aviation Services. Klettlinger, previously regional sales representative for Curtin Matheson Scientific in Charlotte, N.C., will be responsible for Garrett Aviation customers in Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana and Western Ohio.
KEYSTONE HELICOPTER CORP. was selected by Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., to provide flight and maintenance management for the hospital's four aircraft, including providing 17 pilots and five mechanics. Keystone said the hospital's "Life Flight" program is scheduled to take delivery of four new MDX 900 helicopters in mid-1996 and will fly BK 117 helicopters in the interim. The hospital's emergency medical service helicopters serve parts of New York, West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio from four Pennsylvania bases.
SOME OPERATORS are continuing to collect the expired commercial transportation taxes (including 10 percent ticket tax, 6.25 percent cargo tax, and $6 per person tax on international travel).
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION is soliciting nominations for the NBAA Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation and the John P. (Jack) Doswell Award. The meritorious service award, first presented in 1950, recognizes an individual who, by a lifetime of personal dedication, has made significant, identifiable contributions to aviation.
Air traffic control towers at airports in three states are closing or being turned over to non-federal operators, FAA said last week. Effective Dec. 31, towers at Delaware County Airport in Muncie, Ind., and South Lake Tahoe, Calif., will be closed. Aviation services in the Muncie area formerly provided by the Muncie tower now will be provided by the Indianapolis air traffic center. In addition, FAA was scheduled to cease operation of the airport traffic control tower at the Monroe County Airport in Bloomington, Ind., on Jan. 7.
UNC AIRWORK will host a three-day Pratt&Whitney PT6 Airline Operators Conference at the company's Millville, N.J. facility Feb. 27-29. Fenton Appleby, PT6 airline program manager for Airwork, said that "unlike other engine schools conducted by turbine support companies, the conference will be devoted exclusively to the interests of operators of PT6 engines in airline service...we are opening the program agenda to the attendees themselves.
THOMAS CONNOLLY, professor, chairman and dean of aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was selected as the 1995 recipient of the Frank G. Brewer Trophy. The trophy, which will be awarded during the annual meeting of the Congress on Aviation and Space Education April 12 in Little Rock, Ark., recognizes Connolly "for over 32 years of continuous outstanding classroom teaching, significant national leadership and unique accomplishments in aviation education at all levels."
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued special conditions for the Allison Engine Company Model 250-C40 turboshaft engine. The engine will have ratings that are not defined in current regulations, FAA said. The special conditions will establish appropriate safety standards for the engine, the agency said. For more information, contact Chung Hsieh in the Engine and Propeller Standards Staff at (617) 238-7115.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT Chairman Russ Meyer will deliver the keynote address at the National Air Transportation Association 56th Annual Convention and Trade Show April 22 in Las Vegas, Nev. "No one is better positioned to deliver the keynote address this year than Russ Meyer," said NATA President James Coyne. "Russ and Cessna have taken a leadership position in the revitalization of the single-engine aircraft market and no other group is as affected by these developments more than NATA's members."
PETER SMITH, president and chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, was elected chairman of Airshow Canada. Smith has represented AIAC on Airshow Canada's board of directors since November 1994. Smith succeeds Victor Bennett, the former Innotech CEO, whose term as Airshow Canada chairman began in 1991.
LEARJET will hold its biannual Owner/Operator Symposium May 1-3 at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz. The symposium will provide information on maintenance operations, flight operations, Learjet programs and special projects. For more information, call (316) 946-3079.
Kaman Corp. said Charles Kaman, the chairman and chief executive, is resuming the title of president of the corporation. The position was held by Harvey S. Levenson, who in September announced his intention to retire at the end of 1995.
SINCE THE TAXES on noncommercial aviation fuel are assessed at the refinery and included in the pump price, aircraft operators will probably have to file for refunds from the Internal Revenue Service to recoup the 15-cent and 17.5-cent per gallon levies.
DE HAVILLAND Model DHC-8 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-219-AD; Amdt. 39-9444; AD 95-24-14) - requires eddy current inspections for cracking of the pivot tubes in the drag strut of the nose landing gear and repair or replacement of any cracked tube with a serviceable or new tube. This amendment is prompted by reports that the pivot tubes cracked or failed completely due to fatigue. The actions specified in this AD are intended to prevent such fatigue cracking and subsequent failure of the pivot tube, which could result in a nose gear-up landing.
GARY BOEKENKAMP was promoted to vice president, aircraft maintenance and terminal services for Dallas Airmotive. Boekenkamp joined Dallas Airmotive in February 1994 as senior manager, sales and support for aircraft services, and was promoted to general manager of Dallas Airmotive's fixed- base operation in December 1994. In his new position, Boekenkamp is responsible for marketing, sales operations and customer services for the FBO and aircraft maintenance facility at Dallas Love Field.
AIR OSTRAVA, the Czech carrier that began service in 1994, signed an agreement to buy two used Saab 340 aircraft. The 340s, which will be used to develop the airline's Prague hub, will be the first western-built aircraft in Air Ostrava's fleet, which previously only comprised Czech- produced LET 410 aircraft.
ROLLS-ROYCE INC. named Kenneth W. Bushell vice president of the company's St. Louis, Mo. office, where he will be corporate liaison for all current and future programs with Mcdonnell Douglas and other area customers. A Rolls-Royce employee since 1967, Bushell had been in the company's Long Beach, Calif. office since 1989.
