BRUCE GROSS was named senior accounts manager for Intertrade, Ltd., a supplier of systems and components to commercial, corporate and military operators in the U.S. and overseas. Gross will be chiefly responsible for Intertrade's equipment provisioning and aircraft salvage activities with regional/commuter airlines. He had been manager of airline marketing for British Aerospace USA, Inc. Intertrade is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The only flying prototype of Antonov's An-70 airlifter crashed Feb. 10 during a test flight, killing all seven of its crew, apparently after a midair collision, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
CENTURY FLIGHT SYSTEMS, Mineral Wells, Texas, said it received an FAA supplemental type certificate for installation of the Century 2000 autopilot in Cessna Model 185, 185A-E and A185E-F airplanes. The panel- mounted autopilot is available in one-, two- or three-axis configurations.
Preliminary evidence indicates that only one of the two engines on a Piper PA-31 Navajo was developing power when the Las Vegas Airlines sightseeing flight crashed Monday, killing the pilot and seven passengers and critically injuring the remaining two passengers.
MIDCOAST AVIATION'S Downtown St. Louis-Parks Airport maintenance center was reappointed as an authorized service center by Dassault Falcon Jet, permitting Midcoast to continue providing a range of services for all Falcon aircraft. Reappointment was necessary following Midcoast's purchase by Sabreliner Corp. last year. Midcoast's Falcon program manager is Jim Carr.
AVIALL is hosting Regional Parts and Maintenance Symposiums at several locations in the U.S. this year. The locations and dates are: Seattle, April 19-21; Denver, June 28-30; Atlantic City, Oct. 10-13. A fourth symposium will be held in December in Atlanta. The educational seminars are intended to provide a forum for the exchange of new ideas and procedures among FBOs, business aircraft and regional airline operators. The meetings feature turbine and piston engine operations and maintenance workshops and product seminars.
TRONAIR has introduced its line of BFGoodrich Wheel and Brake tool kits for use on de Havilland DHC-7, Jetstream 31, EMB-110 and EMB-120, ATR 42 and all Cessna Citation business jets. The kits include all necessary tools to disassemble and reassemble the wheels and brakes. For more information, contact Tronair at (419) 866-6301.
The Federal Aviation Administration is seeking comments on a proposal to ease current restrictions on use of aircraft simulators by Part 121 carriers, changes the agency said could save the industry more than $20 million over the next 10 years.
GERO MEYERSIEK was named vice president-Textron International. The company said Meyersiek has 20 years' experience in international business development and strategic planning, including 16 years with General Electric where he was managing director-European Business Development for GE Capital Corp. from 1988 to 1994 and then vice president-international business development. At Textron, Meyersiek will report to Mary L. Howell, senior vice president-government and international.
LATEST VERSION of Pena's plan to create an air traffic control corporation funded entirely by user charges features an escalation in the number of employees who would be transferred to the new corporation's payroll from FAA.When ATC restructuring was broached a year ago, DOT was talking about moving 38,000 FAA employees to the new corporation. This year's version of the plan would see 41,000 FAAers move from the government payroll to the corporation.
FLIGHT TESTING of General Electric's CF34-3B turbofan engine, the new powerplant for the Canadair Challenger 604 business jet, is under way at Canadair's flight test center in Wichita, Kan. Core testing of the CF34-3B was completed in December and FAA certification of the engine is anticipated this spring. GE said the new engine will provide specific fuel consumption at cruise that is approximately three percent lower than that of earlier CF34 models.
After about a year of consultations with Canadair and its customers, General Electric has decided to abandon its original, additive approach to growing the Canadair RJ's successful CF34 powerplant in favor of substantial rework of the configuration - including a bigger fan and a new compressor.
ALLIANCE ENGINES officials signed a lease on a new manufacturing facility last week and told BA they had a very positive response to the company's plans from a group of regional airline operators whose collective fleets include about 350 Garrett TPE331 engines. See article on Page 81.
RUSS KNOWLES has joined Million Air Palm Springs as general manager of that fixed-base operation. Knowles had been director of operations at LaQuinta Aviation at the Thermal, Calif., Airport.
THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY Sheriff's Department, which has operated MD-500 series helicopters since 1972, has selected the MD 520N for its modernization program. The law enforcement agency ordered nine MD 520Ns, with delivery of the first three scheduled before mid-year. McDonnell Douglas said the sheriff's department will be the ninth law enforcement agency to fly the MD 520N.
AIR CREEBEC, a Canadian regional carrier since 1982, has taken delivery of two Beech 1900D aircraft from Raytheon Aircraft Company. Air Creebec, based in Valdor, Quebec and Timmins, Ontario, becomes the first Canadian operator of the 1900D, which recently received certification from Transport Canada.
AIR METHODS CORP., Denver, Colo., signed a five-year contract to provide helicopter and air medical transportation services for St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Ore., for five years, with an option for an additional five years. The St. Charles flight program uses a Bell 222 helicopter and a Cessna 421 airplane that are medically equipped and used exclusively for transporting seriously ill or injured patients. Air Methods has provided service to the hospital since 1985.
SOCATA GROUPE AEROSPATIALE TBM 700 Airplanes (Docket No. 94-CE-26-AD) - This notice proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive that would apply to certain SOCATA Groupe AEROSPATIALE (Socata) TBM 700 airplanes. The proposed action would require installing pneumatic deicers on the elevator horn leading edges. Ice accumulation on one of the affected airplanes during flight testing in icing conditions prompted the proposed action.
Singapore Airlines, which began training its pilots in Model 31 Learjets in 1991, has ordered six new Learjets and taken options on two more to help meet the carrier's training requirements into the next century.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which had proposed takeoff charges on general aviation aircraft in southern California and new emissions standards for airline transport aircraft in an effort to reduce operations and improve air quality in the region, last week backed away from the harshest of those proposals. Instead, the agency said it will place more of a burden on ground vehicles, such as airport ground service equipment (GSE) and auxiliary power units to reduce emissions.
The White House announced its intention last week to nominate veteran union official John Goglia for a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board (BA, Feb. 13/67). Liz Montoya, an official in the White House presidential appointments office, told BA that the nomination still must clear the White House general counsel's office, but she said the process is far enough along that officials felt confident in announcing the president's intention to nominate Goglia.
MACHINE TOOL PURCHASES are expected to hit a cyclical high of $7.6 billion this year, a four percent rise over projected 1994 sales of $7.3 billion, according to the Third Annual Outlook for Machine Tools, compiled by The CIT Group/Industrial Financing. The report stated that domestic machine tool sales are expected to taper off slightly in 1996 and 1997, but will show a much less dramatic decrease than the sharp declines in 1990-1992 that followed the 1989 cyclical high.
PIPER AIRCRAFT President Charles Suma has added the title of chief executive officer. Board Chairman Stone Douglas, who had been CEO, continues as chairman.
Executive Jet Aviation, which placed an order for 25 Cessna Citation V Ultra business jets last summer (BA, July 18/21) for its NetJets fractional ownership program, said Friday it now has commitments for all 16 Ultras it is scheduled to receive this year. Deliveries of the new business jet model are to begin in June. "Having commitments for all 16 aircraft further demonstrates the success of our NetJets shared jet ownership program and acceptance by the customers who are looking for an affordable means of acquiring business jets," said EJA owner Richard Santulli.
