Hudson General Corp., the provider of airport services in the U.S. and Canada, said it is negotiating with Lufthansa Airport and Ground Services GmbH (LAGS) regarding the acquisition of a minority interest in Hudson's North American aviation services business.
MASSENA, N.Y. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT officials applied for FAA permission to impose a $3 passenger facility charge from April 1, 1996 to Jan. 1, 2009. The PFC is expected to generate $362,428 to help fund a number of airport and airfield improvement projects. The PFC would apply to all carriers. For more information, contact Philip Brito, manager of the New York Airport District Office, at (516) 227-3803.
A new cockpit voice recorder (CVR) developed by AlliedSignal Aerospace that can record up to two hours of flight deck conversation won FAA certification. Most current cockpit voice recorders save only the last 30 minutes of sound before recording over previously recorded material, but AlliedSignal said the European Joint Aviation Authority is about to propose a requirement for a two-hour CVR capability. The National Transportation Safety Board also has recommended that CVRs have two-hour recording capability.
Mercury Air Group of Los Angeles said it and Carnival Air Lines have backed away from a letter of intent agreed to last month for a potential merger (BA, Oct. 23/176). Mercury said the transaction cannot go through because of the inability of the companies to agree on "certain material terms and closing conditions." Mercury, a provider of petroleum products, cargo and aviation services, was to acquire all of the common stock of Carnival. A Carnival representative said the talks ended simply because the two could not reach an agreement.
THE HONEYWELL/RACAL SATCOM TEAM delivered its 500th multi-channel aeronautical satellite communications system to Swissair. The Honeywell/Racal team, which was formed in 1989, has sold more than 800 systems to corporate and air transport markets.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE GROUP-NORTH AMERICA is opening the Bombardier Aerospace Training Center and Bombardier-CAE Research Center this week in Saint Laurent, Quebec. The training center will house both Canadair Regional Jet and Challenger pilot training, including a new Challenger 604 flight simulator built by CAE Electronics Ltd. (BA, Oct. 17, 1994/167).
The Federal Aviation Administration should permit operation of "commercial, passenger-carrying flights under IFR in turbine-powered, single-engine airplanes" in Alaska, the National Transportation Safety Board said last week, providing those aircraft are equipped with redundant sources of electrical power and gyroscopic instrument vacuum/pressure.
BOMBARDIER'S Canadair Challenger 604 won Federal Aviation Administration certification last month, following similar approval from Transport Canada in late September (BA, Oct. 2/147). FAA previously issued special conditions for the 604 because the aircraft is equipped with new avionic/electronic systems that provide critical information to the flightcrew. The special conditions are necessary to protect those systems from effects of high-intensity radiated fields, FAA said.
DE HAVILLAND Model DHC-3 airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-47-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 90-12-08, which requires repetitive inspections (using dye penetrant methods) of the tailplane main rib forward and lower flanges at the front attachment fitting for cracks, and repair of any cracked flange. This proposal would retain the repetitive inspections but would allow the incorporation of a certain modification as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
SHANNON AIRCRAFT MOTOR WORKS, Shannon, Ireland, and Novatronics, Toronto, Canada, signed an agreement to form an aircraft rewind joint venture. The company, to be known as Shannon Rewinds Canada Ltd., will operate from the existing Novatronics rewind facility in Mississauga, Ontario. The venture will be equally owned by Shannon and Novatronics. The companies plan to enter into a sales agreement with MIRAJ Corp., the New Jersey-based aircraft services company. MIRAJ will be responsible for developing new business in North and South America.
EUROCOPTER Model AS 350B, BA, B1, B2 and D and Model AS 355E, F, F1, F2 and N helicopters (Docket No. 95-SW-04-AD) - proposes to require, for helicopters without an autopilot installed, a visual inspection to determine whether the cyclic pitch change control rod end fittings were safetied, and, if not, removal and replacement of the rod. This proposal is prompted by a manufacturer's report that some of the rod end fittings had not been safetied at the factory.
MIDCOAST AVIATION received a contract from the Defense Fuel Supply Center to provide aviation fuel to military and other government aircraft at its St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport facility. The contract, valued at approximately $300,000 over a three-year period, designates Midcoast's Parks Airport facility as an authorized U.S. Government fueling center. Midcoast also inspects, supports and maintains Gulfstream C-20 aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps under a contract recently awarded to parent company Sabreliner Corp.
The Federal Aviation Administration has created an Aviation Weather Division to strengthen its ability to prevent accidents and reduce delays attributable to weather, which the agency said accounts for 73 percent of all delays. The new division, part of FAA's Air Traffic Services, brings together weather experts from the offices of Regulation and Certification and Air Traffic Services. The announcement followed a National Research Council report, issued recently, calling on FAA to take the lead in improving the dissemination of weather information to pilots.
DPI LABS, La Verne, Calif., won a contract to supply a cabin management system for a Boeing 737-300 that is undergoing a complete VIP outfitting by Jet Aviation AG of Basel, Switzerland. DPI Labs will provide the interior switching in the three passenger cabins as well as the vestibule area, including control functions for reading and table lights, ceiling and fluorescent indirect lighting, entertainment and attendant call.
GLEN BAILEY, chief engineer at Stead Aviation, has acquired an FAA Designated Engineer Representative certificate for systems and equipment. Bailey has been with Stead for 18 years.
Joseph C. Sprague, manager of government and industry affairs for the National Air Transportation Association, is joining ERA Aviation in Anchorage, Alaska as director of marketing for the company's fixed-wing division. Sprague, 27, is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was a line pilot and flight dispatcher for a Part 135 operator in Juneau, Alaska and served as a first officer on a Model 35 Learjet operated by a corporate flight department.
SAAB Models SF340A and 340B series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-187-AD; Amdt. 39-9412; AD 95-22-05) - requires repetitive inspections for damage of the brake and wheel assemblies and repair, if necessary; and installation of a heat shield. This action also provides an optional installation, which would constitute a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. This amendment is prompted by reports of failure of the brake assembly due to separation of the stator clips from the stator disk.
APPROVAL OF SINGLE-ENGINE IFR OPERATIONS by scheduled carriers won the endorsement of the National Transportation Safety Board last week, which should help accelerate FAA's approval of single-engine IFR flights. See article below.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will cease funding seven low-activity control towers after Dec. 31 because their activity levels fall below its criteria for continued funding. The move will affect towers at Wheeling, W. Va., Shreveport, La., Bloomington, Ind., Muncie, Ind., Lake Tahoe, Calif., Greenbrier Valley, W. Va., and Cape Girardeau, Mo. "In a time of declining budgets, the FAA must spend its money wisely," said Administrator David Hinson in a statement last week.
K-C AVIATION appointed Robert Nelson executive vice president. Nelson previously spent more than 20 years at Textron Lycoming Division, most recently as general manager of Textron Flight Services. While at Textron, Nelson oversaw aviation services and customer support.
GARRETT AVIATION SERVICES appointed Peter Hokason vice president and chief financial officer. Hokason, promoted from the office of the controller, replaces Dale Ziegler, who will continue with the company as vice president, taking responsibility for new projects. Hokason joined Garrett Aviation 1994 after a management group bought the aircraft service and support organization from AlliedSignal. He previously held a number of key accounting and finance positions with AlliedSignal, including director of business operations.
DASSAULT FALCON JET named Ron Scheer as a technical representative in the Dallas, Texas office. Scheer, who has nearly 20 years of aircraft maintenance experience, will provide technical support for Falcon operators in Texas and New Mexico. He previously served as a technician with Emerson Electric Company and Anheuser-Busch Companies in Chesterfield, Mo., and with Midcoast Aviation.
THE TOWN OF SILER CITY, N.C. is soliciting proposals for either full or limited fixed-based operation services, beginning in January. To obtain specifications for proposals, contact the Town Manager, P.O Box 769, 311 North Second Avenue, Siler City, N.C. 27344; telephone: (919) 742-4731. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. Dec. 15.
Gulfstream Aerospace, which formally launched the Gulfstream V program in September 1992 at the Farnborough Air Show, last week conducted a successful first flight of the No. 1 flight article, N601GV. The aircraft, piloted by John O'Meara, the company's chief test pilot, and co-pilot Gary Freeman, took off Nov. 28 at a gross weight of 62,000 pounds and flew for one hour and 18 minutes. The aircraft, painted white with distinctive blue and gold trim, reached an altitude of 12,000 feet and a top speed of 220 knots.
THE DEE HOWARD COMPANY plans to open its new Paint Center at Hangar 5 tomorrow. The state-of-the-art, computer-operated facility, covering three million cubic feet, will be large enough to accommodate all wide-bodied aircraft, including the Boeing 747-400 and Lockheed L-1011. Dee Howard officials said that with the opening of the new paint hangar, commercial and private aircraft brought in for routine maintenance, modification or refurbishment also can be chemically stripped and painted at the same time.
