PIAGGIO AVIATION confirmed that it has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. One official noted that the U.S.-based company of Rinaldo Piaggio S.p.A. does not intend to "close up shop," but to reorganize. Piaggio, which produces the Avanti pusher-prop, has not reported any commercial deliveries in over a year.
SANDRA WALLS was named vice president of business management for Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems. Walls, who joined Lockheed in 1969, has served as director of enterprise business planning since July 1994. She also has been manager of budget and forecast, manager of forward pricing and overhead control and director of financial planning.
FAA REFORM LEGISLATION will be introduced by Reps. John Duncan (R- Tenn.) and Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) this week. The Duncan/Lightfoot bill, which has drawn praise from many industry leaders, would establish FAA as an independent agency and create a Management Advisory Committee to oversee the agency (BA, July 3/2). The House aviation subcommittee is considering scheduling hearings this month on the legislation. The Senate aviation subcommittee also hopes to introduce its own FAA reform legislation in the near future.
T. WAKELEE SMITH was promoted to vice president for Simat, Helliesen&Eichner. Smith has worked on a number of projects since joining SH&E in July 1990, including the restructuring of troubled and/or bankrupt airlines, valuations of aviation assets, and the sale, valuation and reorganization of flight training operations and assets.
FLIGHT DYNAMICS has begun delivery of the first Head-Up Guidance System for installation on Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Southwest last year ordered 236 of the systems, which will allow the airline to perform Cat IIIa landings in visibility conditions as low as 700 feet runway visual range. The Boeing Company will complete the installations on its production line in Renton, Wash. The Head-Up Guidance Systems received FAA certification on the 737-300 last year.
AMR COMBS AIRCRAFT PARTS INTERNATIONAL has moved all its offices and warehouse operations to a new distribution center. The new shipping and mailing address is 3778 Distriplex Drive North, Memphis, Tenn. 38118. The local telephone numbers are (901) 365-3470; fax, (901) 375-2626.
The estate of a man killed in the crash of a Beech Baron in Orlando, Fla., in June has filed a lawsuit seeking $20 million from Teledyne Continental Motors and Air Orlando, Inc., the charter firm that was operating the aircraft. The accident, which involved N4403Q, S/N TH809, occurred June 23 shortly after takeoff from Orlando Executive Airport (BA, June 26/275).
ASTRA JET CORPORATION named John Yates manager of its Great Lakes Region. Yates will be responsible for marketing the Astra Jet family of business jets in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Yates formerly served as sales manager for Simulation Sciences, Inc.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL received a three-year contract for initial and recurrent training of the Bolivian Air Force's C-130 Hercules flight crews. SimuFlite will train the crews at its Hercules Flight Training Center in Marietta, Ga. In addition to the Bolivian Air Force, SimuFlite also provides Hercules training to the U.S. Naval Reserve and the Air Forces of New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Denmark and Kuwait.
Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a draft advisory circular that would define for the first time an owner produced part. FAA said AC 20-62D is intended to provide "guidance for use in the determination of quality, eligibility and traceablitiy of aeronautical replacement parts intended for installation on type-certificated products." FAA is seeking comments on the draft through Oct. 3. Comments should be sent to FAA, General Aviation and Commercial Branch, AFS-340, 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.
Federal Aviation Administration has proposed to require replacement of the outflow/safety valves on nearly 120 Cessna Model 441, 500, 550 and 560 series airplanes. The proposed airworthiness directive follows a similar proposal the agency issued in March for Learjet Model 24, 25, 31, 35, 36 and 55 series airplanes. That proposal was issued after FAA received a report of a failed safety valve in the pressurization system of a Learjet Model 31A. The failed valve led to depressurization of the aircraft cabin. FAA said its investigation revealed cracks in the valve.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION Friday said all 2,760 booth spaces available for its convention in Las Vegas this month have been sold. Kathleen Hull, director of the association's convention and seminars, said the 1995 total is eight percent higher than at the 1994 convention in New Orleans, La.
A Canadian firm has begun marketing telephones designed to provide voice, fax and data services on business jets via American Mobile Satellite Corporation's (AMSC) new AMSC-1 satellite.
MICHAEL FELDBAUER joined Sennheiser Electronic Corporation as manager, aviation/industrial products. Feldbauer, who has been involved in the aviation industry for 15 years, will be responsible for the growth and development of Sennheiser's Aviation division.
Fokker last month reported a record net loss of 651 million Dutch guilders, or about $407 million, far more than the 500 million guilders expected by analysts who follow the company. This compared to a net loss of 196 million guilders the same period last year. Fokker attributed the results to the dollar exchange rate, which it said affected both turnover and the book value of leased aircraft. A "substantial portion" also went to cover the costs of reducing its work force, said Fokker, a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz Aerospace and the Dutch government.
JOHN PANARELLO was promoted to assistant airport manager for Teterboro Airport. Panarello had been with Johnson Controls World Services, operators of Teterboro Airport, for five years. In his new position, he will head the airport's operations department, noise abatement office, maintenance department and administration.
JOHN GOGLIA, who won Senate confirmation for a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board in mid-August (BA, Aug. 21/77), participated in his first public meeting as a board member last week. In welcoming Goglia, the former USAir mechanic and Machinists union official, as the fourth member on the safety board, NTSB Chairman James Hall commented, "hopefully we'll have a full [complement of five board members] before the end of the year."
WHEN ALLISON ENGINE COMPANY agreed to build walls between the super-secret parts of its business and the rest of the company acquired by Britain's Rolls-Royce, it wasn't kidding around. While typically companies establish what executives call "Chinese Walls" - functional divisions between groups, so they don't communicate - Allison is literally dividing up its Indianapolis plant and buildings.
THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY and SAE are sponsoring an icing conference this month in Montreal, Quebec to discuss the latest developments in ice accretion and shedding modeling, ice protection systems for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, icing test facilities, icing regulatory and flight operations issues and icing weather prediction techniques. The AHS SAE International Icing Symposium '95 will be held Sept. 18-21 at the Hotel The Radisson Gouverneurs, 777 University St. in Montreal.
PIEDMONT AVIATION SERVICES received supplemental type certificate approval for installation of the Bendix King traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS II), dual Mode S transponders and the Mark VI ground proximity warning system on Beech 200, 300, 350 and 1900 series aircraft. Piedmont said it was awarded a further STC for installation of the Bendix King KLN- 90B GPS-based, long-range navigation system.
Era Aviation, Inc., a unit of Rowan Companies, Inc., of Houston, Tex., agreed in principle to purchase certain assets of Alaska Helicopters, Inc., for approximately $11 million. The purchase includes a hangar and office space adjacent to Era's facilities at Anchorage International Airport, 17 Bell helicopters and related spare parts. Officials expect to conclude the purchase, which is subject to execution of a definitive agreement and various regulatory approvals, during the fourth quarter.
DESIGN DIVE SPEED REQUIREMENTS for transport category aircraft are the subject of a proposed advisory circular from FAA, which is soliciting comments on the proposed AC. Part 25.335(b) of the FARs requires that the design dive speed of the airplane be established so that the design cruise speed is no greater than 0.8 times the design dive speed, or that it be based on an upset criterion initiated at the design cruise speed. At altitudes where the cruise speed is limited by compressibility effects, Part 25.335(b)(2) requires the margin to be not less than 0.05 Mach.
The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that a proposed airworthiness directive (AD) calling for inspections of crankshafts in some 15,500 Teledyne Continental Motors reciprocating engines will cost operators $3.8 million annually. The latest proposal would supersede an existing AD (87-23-08) and a notice of proposed rule-making published in 1993.
The global market for air traffic control/air traffic modernization (ATC/ATM) equipment, systems and services will top $92 billion over the next decade, and satellite technologies will play a significantly larger role in the market, according to a newly published study by consulting firm Booz Allen&Hamilton, McLean, Va.
