Component-maker and overhauler Orenda will let certification of its new line of aviation V-8 reciprocating engines slip anywhere from nine months to nearly a year to give engineers time to put customers' suggestions into the engine right away.
DORNIER received an order and option from Swiss regional Air Engiadina for the Do 328 high-speed turboprop. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery in the fall. Air Engiandina, the Do 328 launch customer, already operates three of the aircraft. The airline operates from Berne to Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London City Airport.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT donated two Starship airframes for use in NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments. The airframes will be used for nondestructive testing and crash simulation testing. The airframes, stripped of the engines, avionics and systems, were two of the three Starship prototypes used for FAA certification. Initial tests will focus on noise transmission characteristics of composite structures. Other tests will explore long-term exposure to environmental conditions or damage propagation under high stress loads.
Commander Aircraft Company has received FAA certification and begun delivery of a high-performance, turbocharged variant of its 114B single- engine aircraft. The 114TC, introduced during Commander's International Fly-In this month in Bethany, Okla., was certified after a two-year development and testing program. The aircraft joins the 114B and the 114AT advance trainer version in Commander's product line.
A FORMER INVESTIGATOR in the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General is seeking assistance from the Office of Special Counsel under the Whistleblower Protection Act. John Deans told BA sister publication Aviation Daily that he was fired in June after his inquiry into Denver Airport revealed information containing "political information that might have been embarrassing to [former mayor] Federico Pena and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb." Deans says his investigation involved the misuse of funds for the new Denver Airport.
AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION has produced a new video and pamphlet to teach pilots how to avoid wire strikes. The Terrible Truth about Wire Strikes, developed by the California Wire Strike Prevention Working Group, provides tips to avoid wire strikes and exposes many myths surrounding them. The video is available for $10 plus $3.25 shipping and handling. AOPA Air Safety Foundation will provide the pamphlet for free. To order the video, call (800) 638-3101.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT appointed Taneja Aerospace and Aviation, Ltd. (TAAL) as an authorized sales representative for Citation business jets in India. TAAL, a subsidiary of Indian Seamless Metal Tubes, is based in Bangalore and employs 85 at its 120-acre site. The company formed a separate Corporate Aircraft Sales Division to facilitate Citation sales and is acquiring a parts inventory and tooling.
THE SENATE, just before breaking for the August recess, confirmed Robert Francis and John Goglia as members of the National Transportation Safety Board. Francis, who has served on the board on a temporary basis since January, spent 17 years with the FAA, most recently as senior representative in Western Europe and North Africa. His term as board member expires at the end of 1999.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model Viscount 744, 745D, and 810 airplanes (Docket No. 94-NM-166-AD; Amdt. 39-9311; AD 95-15-08) - requires an inspection for corrosion of the tailplane assemblies and correction of discrepancies. This amendment is prompted by a report of corrosion on the main spar top and bottom forward boom of the tailplane assemblies and reports of cracking in the upper root joint attachment fitting.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S extensive proposal to revise flight training standards follows a review that began almost eight years ago of its Parts 61, 141 and 143 regulations. Noting the changes are necessary to accommodate advancements in aviation technology and training, the agency said it has received "numerous" petitions for exemption and letters from the public suggesting changes. In fact, FAA has made 41 amendments and granted more than 3,600 exemptions to Parts 61 and 141.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
BOMBARDIER BUSINESS AIRCRAFT DIVISION sold its first Canadair Challenger to a Macau operator. Canadair will deliver the nine-passenger executive jet to Sociedada de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau in early December in time for the official opening of the new Macau International Airport. The Challenger will be the first business jet permanently based in Macau, Bombardier officials said. Innotech Aviation of Montreal, Canada is equipping the aircraft with a custom interior.
MILLION AIR has added a fixed-base operation at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport, Conn. to its chain. The FBO, formerly operated as Textron Flight Services, has 44,000 square feet of hangar space and 12,000 square feet of office space. Tom Sullivan, owner and operator of Million Air Hartford, owns and operates Million Air Bridgeport. The chain, launched in 1985, has 25 FBOs in 16 states and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
BART LALLA was appointed director of aircraft services for Atlantic Aviation. Lalla, formerly director of airframe sales and support for BizJet International sales and support, will be responsible for new business and special programs for the Aircraft Services Division.
UNC's Airwork unit is touting a new "Engine Life Protection Plan" that covers overhaul and major maintenance for the full time-between-overhaul, or TBO, on Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6As and JT15Ds, AlliedSignal's TFE731, and Rolls-Royce's Spey engines, as well as engine modules.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD named Bernard Loeb director of the Office of Aviation Safety, effective Sept. 1. In that position, Loeb will lead NTSB's staff of more than 100 aviation accident investigators. He replaces William Laynor, a 25-year NTSB veteran, who will retire at the end of the year. Loeb, currently head of the Office of Research and Engineering, is an aeronautical engineer who has held several high level positions during his 18-year career with the safety board.
Responding to recommendations by a special working group, FAA is proposing changes in the requirements for conducting emergency evacuation demonstrations of transport category aircraft. The agency said the proposed change is a result of recommendations from the Performance Standards Working Group (PSWG) of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, which expressed concerns about the number of injuries suffered by participants in emergency evacuation drills.
THE PISTON-ENGINE AIRCRAFT REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE, formed earlier this year by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association to develop ideas to jump start the industry (BA, April 17/161), hopes to finalize its recommendations next month. The committee's plan is expected to recommend that various organizations - including FAA and NASA - address problems such as reducing the costs of flying and time required to learn to fly.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL is upgrading two of its Falcon Jet flight simulators at its Teterboro Center. The enhancements, scheduled for installation in the first quarter of next year, include new VITAL ChromaView visual systems on the center's Falcon 50 and Falcon 900 simulators. The ChromaView system, which offers a wide range of weather conditions, recently received its first certification at an airline training center in Japan. The initial business aircraft installations are expected to be completed this year at FlightSafety Centers in Houston and Savannah.
WALTER BERTCHHOLD was appointed vice president-aircraft maintenance at Jet Aviation's West Palm Beach facility. Bertchhold previously served as maintenance planning manager for Jet Aviation Geneva.
Annapolis, Md.-based UNC Inc. reported a net profit of $959,000, or five cents per share, for its second quarter ended June 30. Revenues totaled $131.3 million and operating income $6.4 million. For the comparable period last year, the overhauler and systems integrator had a net loss of $54.6 million, or $3.12 per share, on revenues of $122.3 million and an operating loss of $63.7 million.
JIM CLARK was named general manager of AAR Allen Group's aircraft component maintenance facility in The Netherlands. Clark previously was commercial director at the facility, where he managed the performance of AAR's European and Asian satellite facilities.
POLITICAL CLOUT of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is expected to grow as the union considers merging with the Steelworkers and United Auto Workers unions. A recent IAM survey of members found that of 8,000 respondents, 95.8 percent voted in the 1994 elections and 79.3 percent backed the candidate endorsed by labor. Job security was ranked by 55 percent as the key issue.
Schweizer Aircraft's new Model 300CB training helicopter has received its type certificate from FAA, and the manufacturer has delivered three of 10 aircraft on order to the model's launch customer, Helicopter Adventures of Concord, Calif. Schweizer plans to deliver 26 aircraft this year. The Model 300CB shares with the Model 300C the drive train, rotor and flight control systems; skid-type landing gear; crushable sub-floor, and yielding seat structure.
WILLIAM BAILEY was appointed vice president, operations for AAR Corp. Bailey will be responsible for certain AAR strategic business units as well as companywide inventory policies and process improvement measures.
