RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT delivered the 50th RC-12 Guardrail airplane to the U.S. Army. The airplane, a derivative of the Beech King Air B200, is one of seven in the Army Aviation and Troop Command's current modification contract for the aircraft. In addition, the Army ordered five more RC-12s. The first RC-12s were delivered in 1971. The current version, the RC-12P, carries a mission payload using fiber optics for all data, commands and audio distribution.
CANADAIR Model CL-215-1A10 and CL-215-6B11 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-173-AD; Amdt. 39-9411; AD 95-22-04) - requires inspections for cracking of main landing gear axles that have been reworked by chromium plating and replacement of cracked axles. This amendment is prompted by reports of fatigue cracking found on several main landing gear wheel axles that had been chromium-plated during rework.
CAROL MCLENDON is the new outside sales representative for Cooper Aviation's Cooper Express organization. McLendon, who spent 12 years in sales for AVSCO Aviation, will cover the Southeast sales territory.
ROBERT L. BAXTER was named president of Bechtel Civil Company. Baxter, 49, has been the company's Hong Kong-based senior vice president. He joined the company in 1988 as manager of airport projects development worldwide.
Canadian conglomerate Bombardier, Inc., continued its strong financial performance with increased revenues and earnings for the third quarter and first nine months of the company's fiscal year. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the Montreal-based manufacturer had revenues of $1.6 billion, compared with $1.3 billion a year ago. (All figures are in Canadian dollars). Net income for the period was $73 million, compared with $57.9 million a year ago.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146-100A, -200A and -300A airplanes and Model Avro 146-RJ70A, -RJ85A and -RJ100A airplanes (Docket No. 95-NM-206- AD; Amdt. 39-9426; AD 95-23-06) - requires inspections for cracking and checks for evidence of exhaust leaks in the auxiliary power unit bay forward firewall central panel, and replacement of the central panel with a new panel, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by a report indicating that leakage of hot exhaust gases led to cracking in the forward face of the forward firewall of an APU bay.
Bombardier's Shorts Group, anticipating that it will add 155 jobs in the next few years at its advanced composites facility, has undertaken a multi-million-dollar improvement program at the Dunmurry plant in Belfast, company officials announced last week. The 5.1-million-pound (about $8.2 million U.S.) investment program will "extend significantly the plant's advanced composites capabilities enabling it to achieve sustainable growth in its composites business," Shorts officials said.
AVIATION MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT, St. Louis, Mo., received certification for the installation of an AlliedSignal Mark VII ground proximity warning system in Sabreliner 65 aircraft. The Mark VII, the newest in AlliedSignal's Commercial Avionics Systems line of GPWS equipment, was part of an installation package that also included AlliedSignal TCAS II and GNS-X1s systems.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS elected Richard Goldstein, Regents' professor at the University of Minnesota, as president. Goldstein, who will assume his new role in June 1996, has served as a member of the Board of Governors and chair of the Council of Engineering for ASME.
PENNYE SALAZAR was appointed Western regional manager for AVSCO Aviation Service Corp. Salazar, who joined AVSCO in 1993 as a branch manager in the Dallas office, will be responsible for the Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and Dallas branches.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received U.K. Civil Aviation Authority approval for its ATR-42/72 regional aircraft simulator located at FSI's Houston, Texas training center. The simulator received Level 3 certification, the CAA equivalent to FAA's Level C approval. The approval allows the simulator to be used for ILS Category II approach and night landing training. FSI uses the simulator for its pilot training program for Gill Airways of Newcastle, Great Britain.
BOB PHILLIPS was appointed vice president of marketing and sales for AVSCO Aviation Service Corp. Phillips had been a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner&Smith and, before that, was president of Phillips Aerospace International.
KEITH MCGANN was named to the newly created position of manager-Maintenance Resource Management (MRM) program for FlightSafety International. McGann, formerly a maintenance training services marketing representative for FSI, will market the new MRM training programs nationally from his office at the FSI center in Teterboro, N.J.
CONGRATULATIONS to Eastman Kodak Company, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its company flight department. The company got its first aircraft in 1945 when Edward P. Curtis, a Kodak vice president and retired major general, convinced officials the purchase of a war-surplus C- 47 (DC-3) would help company sales personnel and executives to reduce travel time. Kodak's first business flight occurred July 30, 1946, carrying 14 passengers on a two and one-half hour flight to Boston, Mass.
JOHN GREEN, a 26-year veteran with Continental Airlines, was appointed director of sales for TriStar Airlines. He will be based in Las Vegas, Nev. The airline serves Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Reno and Aspen with 100-passenger British Aerospace 146- 200 jet aircraft. While with Continental, Green served in a variety of capacities including regional director-Philippines, marketing and government affairs manager-Guam and district sales manager-Nevada.
Honeywell is extending a price freeze on commercial avionics through the end of next year, holding prices at June 1993 levels in an effort to nurture the aviation industry's emerging economic recovery .
SHERIDAN COUNTY, WYO. AIRPORT officials are seeking FAA approval to impose a $3 passenger facility charge from March 1, 1996 to Aug. 31, 2001. The PFC is expected to generate $211,299 to help fund airport planning studies, aircraft rescue and firefighting improvements and airfield capacity and safety improvements. The PFC would apply to all classes of carriers. For more information, contact Chris Schaffer in the Denver Airports District office at (303) 286-5525.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT will detail the latest certification schedule for its top-of-the-line Citation X this week. The engineering prototype for the Mach .92 business jet first flew Dec. 21, 1994, and certification had been expected in August (BA, Jan. 3/4). That schedule slipped to November, with first deliveries set for early 1996 (BA, May 15/209). Now, deliveries of "a fully certified" - as opposed to a day/VFR-certified - Citation X are expected in "late spring," according to a company spokesman.
Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America selected AlliedSignal Aerospace to provide the integrated electrical power system for the de Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 regional aircraft. The contract calls for AlliedSignal to supply AC and DC generators and controls, AC and DC distribution equipment and fixed frequency inverters, and other equipment. AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada's facility in Toronto will produce the electrical distribution panels and be responsible for the program management and systems integration.
AirTran Airways signed a letter of intent to purchase one of Page Avjet's maintenance hangars at Orlando International Airport, AirTran parent company AirWays Corp. announced last week. AirTran, based in Orlando, hopes to occupy the 65,000-square-foot hangar in January. Company officials said the facility will allow AirTran to maintain its "rapidly expanding" fleet of Boeing 737-200 aircraft. "The planned acquisition of this hangar further demonstrates our long-term commitment to Orlando," said AirTran President John Horn.
WAYFARER AVIATION, the White Plains, N.Y. aircraft management and charter company, has doubled its fleet in the past year to 12 aircraft based at five airports in the Northeast, according to company officials. Wayfarer President Jim Christiansen noted that when he joined Wayfarer in November of 1994, the company managed six aircraft for four clients.
ROLLS-ROYCE Aero Engine Services and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (HAECO) have formed an aircraft engine overhaul company, to be based in Hong Kong. The 50-50 joint venture company will be called Hong Kong Aero Engines Services Ltd. (HAESL). HAECO will transfer its existing engine overhaul business at Kai Tak Airport to HAESL facilities at Tseung-Kwan-O.
Brazilian regional Transportes Aereos Regionais S.A. (TAM) last week signed an agreement with Dutch manufacturer Fokker for eight Fokker 100 jet aircraft and 10 Fokker 50 turboprops. Also, an undisclosed customer has ordered six F100s, the Dutch manufacturer said. The TAM contract was signed in Sao Paulo in the presence of Fokker's new owner, Manfred Bischoff, chairman of the management board of Daimler-Benz Aerospace. With the latest orders, TAM will increase its F100 fleet to 23 by the end of the first quarter of 1996.
SMITHS INDUSTRIES AEROSPACE was awarded a contract valued at $3.5 million to provide voice and data recorders to the U.S. Coast Guard for its fleet of HH-60J and HH-65A helicopters. Delivery of the VADR recorders will begin this fall. The VADR family can be configured for cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder or CVR/FDR combination use. Smiths Industries supplies avionics systems to commercial and military airframe manufacturers and the armed forces.
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to propose new flight and duty time rules for airline pilots in December that will contain the "latest scientific data available," David Harrington, manager of the air transportation section of FAA's Flight Standards Division, said last week. Harrington, in a telephone interview with BA sister publication Aviation Daily, said the proposed new rules are a "separate effort" from the agency's drive to bring the safety standards of regional airlines to the level of larger carriers.
