NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION President James Coyne said he was encouraged following a meeting last week with White House officials that they are receptive to industry ideas on FAA reform. Michael Deich, special assistant to the president for economic policy, requested the meeting after an editorial Coyne wrote appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Coyne criticized McCain's FAA reform proposal, which has received strong support from FAA and DOT officials.
Transportes Aereos Regionais (TAM), Cessna Aircraft's authorized sales representative in Brazil, placed an order for 100 of the new single-engine, piston-powered aircraft that Cessna plans to begin building late next year at a new factory in Independence, Kan. The new order signals a return to the single-engine market in Brazil, which used to be a major customer for Cessna's line of light, personal aircraft.
PACIFIC SCIENTIFIC began low-volume shipments of its Solium electronic lighting systems. Pacific Scientific, which is manufacturing the Solium products at its state-of-the-art facility in Randolph, Mass., said Solium lighting devices - which will consume 75 percent less energy while providing the same levels of warm light - will have a normal life more than 10 times longer than the conventional bulbs they will replace.
FAIRCHILD SA226 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-40-AD) - proposes to require drilling inspection access holes in the elevator torque tube arm, inspecting the elevator torque tube for corrosion, replacing any corroded elevator torque tube, and applying a corrosion preventive compound. This proposal is prompted by several reports of corrosion found in the torque tube area on the affected airplanes. The actions specified by the proposal are intended to prevent failure of the flight control system caused by a corroded elevator torque tube.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN reached life-of-contract agreements with Gulfstream Aerospace and Fokker Aircraft to provide engine nacelle systems for all future Gulfstream IV Tay engine installations and for all Rolls-Royce Tay 620/650 or derivative engine nacelle systems applied to any Fokker 60-to- 107-seat aircraft. In addition, Northrop Grumman also will continue producing translating cowl engine sets for the CF6-80C2 thrust reverser under a new five-year agreement with Lockheed Martin.
SUMITTE FONSEKA was appointed avionics operations manager for Atlantic Aviation Services Division. Fonseka previously was an avionics estimator for Atlantic's sales and marketing department.
Barry Harris, who served as deputy administrator of FAA for more than two years during the second half of the Bush Administration (BA, March 19, 1990/92), was elected chairman and chief executive officer of a new airline, Independence Air. The prospective carrier, which will be based in Atlanta if it receives government approval to begin service, plans to operate long-haul passenger and freight service with 270-seat A300B4s. Independence Air hopes to begin low-fare service this year between Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.
Bombardier Aerospace Group-North America named Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan to develop and produce the fuselage and tail sections for the 350-knot, 70-seat de Havilland Dash 8-400 high-speed turboprop, the Montreal-based manufacturer announced. Bombardier Aerospace Group-NA President Robert Brown said, "This further reinforces Bombardier's business associations in the Asia/Pacific region and, in particular, with Mitsubishi which already participates in our Global Express business jet program with responsibility for the wing and centre fuselage sections."
MERCURY AIR GROUP, Los Angeles, Calif., which has specialized in providing fueling and ground handling at Los Angeles International and several other U.S. airports, is entering the housing market. The company said Thursday its wholly-owned Maytag Aircraft Corp. subsidiary won a one-year contract with four option years from the U.S. Air Force to provide housing maintenance and restoration at Yokota Air Base in Japan. If all add-ons are exercised, revenue from the contract is valued at up to $2.65 million in the first year beginning Oct. 15, 1995, the company said.
CHARLES KAMAN, founder, chairman and chief executive of Kaman Corp., was named an honorary fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). Kaman, one of only four helicopter pioneers to receive such recognitions from RAeS, founded Kaman Corp. in 1945 and oversaw development of the first gas- turbine helicopter in 1951, the first twin-turbine helicopter in 1954 and the first unmanned helicopter in 1957.
Mercury Air Group, Inc., the Los Angeles, Calif.-based fixed-base operator, said it acquired the assets of Excel Cargo, Inc., which provides cargo handling services at airports in Toronto and Montreal. According to Mercury, Excel generated pre-tax operating income of approximately $1 million (Canadian) on revenue of approximately C$2.5 million for the most recent 12-month period. Excel will become part of Mercury Aircraft Group. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
BRITISH MIDLAND ordered two additional Fokker 70s for delivery in winter 1996-97. Two years ago, British Midland placed an order for five 74-seat Fokker 70s and four 106-seat Fokker 100s to replace its fleet of Douglas DC-9s. The decision to order two more Fokker 70s comes following successful trials and positive customer feedback, particularly on key regional routes where the Fokker 70s have been operated since April, the airline said.
SOLOY CORPORATION'S Cessna 208B Grand Caravan modified with a twin-engine, single propeller Dual Pac powerplant completed its first flight last month. The airplane successfully operated through normal maneuvers as well as one engine back to idle on climb-out, Soloy officials said. The Dual Pac has twin 650-shaft horsepower PT6D-114A engines that operate through a combining gearbox. Soloy officials said the conversion also includes a modified landing gear and an increase in maximum gross weight from 8,750 pounds to 10,500 pounds.
JAMES BOULWARE was named manager of the Sterling Card for North and South America for Air BP. Boulware, who will be based in Atlanta, Ga., will manage existing Sterling Card accounts as well as work with prospective customers.
ALLIEDSIGNAL forecasters also anticipate strong growth, predicting that the world business jet fleet will grow by more than one-third over the next 10 years. See article below.
De HAVILLAND DHC-6 series airplanes (Docket No. 91-CE-22-AD; Amdt. 39- 9357; AD 95-18-10) - supersedes AD 81-10-11, which requires repetitive inspections of the elevator root ribs for cracks and replacement of any cracked part. FAA's policy on aging commuter-class aircraft is to eliminate, or in certain instances, reduce the number of repetitive short- interval inspections when improved parts or modifications are available. This action requires modification of the elevator root rib as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
DEE HOWARD thrust reversers received Federal Aviation Administration and European Joint Aviation Authority certification on the Falcon 2000 business jet. The thrust reversers can be used at full power down to 20 knots, Dassault officials said, noting that the design imposes almost no drag penalty in cruise. The thrust reversers are included as part of the aircraft's standard equipment.
Executive Jet announced formation of a marketing alliance with Zimex Aviation of Zurich, Switzerland under which Zimex will be responsible for marketing EJA's NetJets fractional ownership program to companies and individuals based in Europe. EJA Chairman Richard Santulli said his company will start positioning a small fleet of Cessna Citation S/IIs in Europe during the fourth quarter, adding that he hopes to have the NetJets program operational during the first quarter of next year.
BOMBARDIER'S CANADAIR CHALLENGER 604 received Transport Canada certification late last month. Canadair plans to deliver four 604s by the end of January and claims orders for the 4,000-nautical-mile Challenger are in "double digits." Bombardier said the aircraft eclipsed many performance targets including range (4,060 nm), takeoff field length (down 440 feet), and landing distance (275 feet shorter than anticipated).
The U.S. Global Positioning System Industry Council (USGIC) announced that Charles Trimble, president of Trimble Navigation, will be its chairman for 1995-97 and that Honeywell has joined the Washington, D.C.-based organization. Other officers include Chairman Emeritus Randy Hoffman, president of Magellan Systems; and Vice Chairman Robert Denaro, director, Motorola. Directors include Charles Boesenberg, president of Ashtech, chairman and founder of the new USGIC Standards Committee; H.W.
THE RAPID PACE of new product introductions represents a dramatic departure from the way Raytheon Aircraft, and its predecessor Beech Aircraft, have operated in recent years and underscores the company's very aggressive growth targets. Raytheon Aircraft President Roy Norris told BA that corporate parent Raytheon Company wants the aircraft division to double its total business every three and one-half to four years.
RICHARD FRIEDL was named director of sales and business development for Asia/Pacific for Emery Worldwide. Friedl, a 34-year veteran of the air freight industry, is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
JACQUES ESCULIER, who headed Mooney Aircraft for the past several years, has left the Kerrville, Texas small plane manufacturer to accept a position with AlliedSignal in Singapore.
BRITISH REGIONAL CityFlyer Express, a British Airways Express operator, ordered two new 66-seat ATR 72-200s, ATR said last week. The first of the new planes will be delivered in November and the second in February. The two will bring CityFlyer's fleet to four ATR 72s and six ATR 42s.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL signed an agreement to acquire the Hawker 800/1000 full flight simulator currently operated by Reflectone Training Center at Dulles International Airport. The simulator, which will be acquired from British Aerospace Holdings, will become SimuFlite's 17th business jet simulator and third simulator acquisition this year. The Hawker simulator will be shipped to SimuFlite's Dallas, Texas facility this fall and officials said training will be available in first quarter of 1996.
