RAYTHEON AEROSPACE, Madison, Wis., will absorb the aircraft and logistics programs of Serv-Air, a unit of E-Systems, which was acquired by Raytheon in May. The air and logistics programs operation, based in Greenville, Texas, conducts maintenance, modification and repair on military and commercial aircraft. It will become part of Raytheon Aerospace by yearend, but Raytheon said the "vast majority" of the 1,300 employees at the Greenville operation will remain in place "with some possible readjustments" following evaluation of the combined organizations.
ARINC, Inc., Annapolis, Md., plans to begin offering its GLOBALink/high frequency service Nov. 1 to operators transiting the North Atlantic. The GLOBALink/HF is an air/ground data link service using HF frequencies to enable aircraft equipped with Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) units to communicate with the ground over oceans and other remote areas where traditional VHF line-of- sight communications are not available.
U.S. GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS' shipments and billings show further indication of recovery with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reporting Friday that its members' billings have jumped 42.3 percent and deliveries increased 16 percent through the first three quarters of the year.See story and BA's compilation of worldwide unit shipments below.
Saab 2000 launch customer Crossair has exercised five of its 25 options for the high-speed turboprop, Saab announced. Crossair placed the aircraft in service in September 1994. The order will bring the Swissair subsidiary's total commitment to 25 Saab 2000s and 20 options. The manufacturer has won 40 firm orders for the aircraft.
THOMAS J. SMITH, a veteran aerospace executive who held senior posts with Grumman, Fairchild and Fokker, is the new president of General Electrodynamics Corp., of Arlington, Texas. Omega Acquisition, a company founded by Smith, acquired GEC, which designs, manufactures and markets a range of precision portable weighing systems and instrumentation at its facility in South Arlington, Texas. GEC was founded in 1955.
A NEW CONTRACT between RMI Titanium Company of Niles, Ohio and the United Steelworkers of America was ratified by union members on Oct. 7, ending a strike that had begun Oct. 2 after members of Local 2155 initially failed to ratify a tentative agreement. The new agreement is a three-year pact. RMI Titanium manufactures titanium mill products, hot-formed and superplastically formed parts and titanium powder.
Lucas Industries, plc said Frank Turner, who has served as managing director of the company's aerospace business since 1992, will leave the company at the end of the month. Ken Maciver, managing director of Lucas braking systems, will assume responsibility for aerospace operations Nov. 1.
AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF SCIENTISTS for the first time successfully analyzed the exhaust plume of a supersonic airliner in flight, finding that the number of particles measured in the exhaust plume was higher than expected, based on previous indirect estimates. The test results will be used to assess the potential impact of gases and particles from supersonic aircraft on the ozone layer. The results of the tests, which were conducted with an Air France Concorde, were summarized in an article in the Oct.
Learjet President Brian Barents landed a significant addition to the company's executive ranks last week, announcing that AlliedSignal Engines President James Robinson will join Learjet next month as executive vice president. The move, which surprised most observers, was seen as a major plus for Learjet and a significant loss for AlliedSignal. Robinson, 47, has spent 21 years with the Phoenix-based engine manufacturer, starting as a materials handler after graduating from Arizona State University and working his way to the top.
AIR NEW ZEALAND took delivery of the first of seven ATR 72-210 turboprops for its subsidiary, Mount Cook Airlines, a major tourist air carrier that links the island nation's major cities with tourist destinations.
ROBERT ZEDAKER was appointed chief financial officer for Million Air Reading. Zedaker most recently was vice president/manager of commercial real estate lending for Meridian Bank. He also has served as a commercial and retail lending officer with Hamilton Bank and assistant manager for Signal Finance.
MOONEY AIRCRAFT received FAA approval for flight into known icing conditions for the Ovation and TLS model aircraft. The Ovation and TLS are equipped with a TKS ice protection system developed by Aerospace Systems and Technologies, Inc., of Lawrence, Kan. Mooney officials said the aircraft underwent testing of flight into simulated icing conditions using an ice-generating tanker aircraft. The aircraft also was tested in natural icing conditions ranging from rime and mixed ice to freezing rain.
Thiokol Corp., and the Carlyle Group have formed a jointly owned affiliate to acquire Howmet Corp. from Pechiney International, S.A., a French conglomerate. The purchase, which includes Howmet's Cercast operation, will cost $750 million.
THOMSON-CSF signed a contract with Swisscontrol, the air navigation services provider of Switzerland, to supply air traffic control centers in Geneva and Zurich with a short-term conflict alert (STCA) device, which will help controllers better anticipate aircraft trajectories and assess the risk of potential conflict. The STCA device has been ordered for Thomson-CSF-supplied centers in Ireland, Belgium, Finland, Bulgaria, Greece, Singapore and Denmark.
FAA Administrator David Hinson announced creation Thursday of a nationally coordinated program to identify unapproved parts and to keep them out of operator inventories. The new bureaucracy that FAA will set up to ferret out unapproved parts will be somewhat burdensome and costly, acknowledged Nicholas Sabatini, chairman of a task force which came up with the recommendations for the national program.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and GE Aircraft Engines signed a memorandum of understanding under which Lockheed Martin will acquire GE's engine controls manufacturing and service business in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Indiana plant builds and services full-authority digital electronic controls (FADECs) and other electronic controls for GE's commercial and military aircraft engines, employing approximately 550 people. Those controls are used on CT7, CF34, CFM56, CF6 and GE90 commercial engines, as well as the T700, F101, F110, F404 and F414 military engines.
ROBERT E. BREILING ASSOCIATES, which provides detailed accident reviews for business jets, turboprops and turbine helicopters, has developed an international database that includes the accident records of air carriers and large air taxi/charter operators worldwide. Breiling said development of the new database resulted from inquiries by operators whose personnel frequently travel internationally and who use airlines and charter operators whose safety records are unknown. For more information, contact Robert E.
A Lockheed Martin team will conduct a feasibility study of a proposed airport that will serve both Israel and Jordan, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) said last week. The airport, intended to serve Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel, was described by the agency as "the first major joint Israeli-Jordanian venture announced since the historic peace talks between the two nations last year, [which] is expected to result in $100 million to $200 million in U.S. exports, depending on the final size of the facility."
MERCURY AIR GROUP'S board of directors declared the company's fourth consecutive cash dividend of one cent per common share, payable Nov. 1 to shareholders of record on Oct. 18.
The initial board of directors for the new General Aviation Airports Coalition has settled various aspects of the new group's operation, including a mission statement and legislative priorities. Michael Stephens, who has spearheaded the effort, was voted president by the coalition's initial five-member board. After the first of the year, the board will be expanded to 20 members with each of the nine FAA regions represented by at least one board member. In addition, the coalition plans to select a representative from each state to act as a liaison to the group.
The Federal Aviation Administration scheduled a two-day public meeting in Seattle, Wash., this month to discuss the agency's controversial 16G standard for transport category seats. FAA said the purpose of the meeting is to "present information to the public regarding certain aspects of the dynamic test requirements for seats, and to hear comments from the general public on the current 16g seat dynamic test regulatory and compliance issues."
The administration-backed proposal to convert the Federal Aviation Administration to a completely user-fee-funded agency came under fire again last week, this time from executives of low-fare carriers who fear such a system would hurt their competitiveness. Airline executives joined the general aviation industry in opposing the user fees, but also agreed with FAA claims that GA receives more benefits than it pays for and said air carriers should not be asked to cover the costs of other users.
ONE MAN'S OPINION: When FAA Administrator David Hinson last week restated his public opposition to an independent FAA, House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) asked why every former living FAA administrator - with one exception - has endorsed the concept of an independent agency. Hinson responded that those administrators worked under different circumstances and added that "[Transportation Secretary Federico Pena] and I have a very good working relationship. In fact, I'm essentially independent now."
