Avfuel Corp., Ann Arbor, Mich., completed the acquisition last month of Riverside Oil, Inc./JETS of Evansville, Ind. Riverside, founded by David Searl, Sr. in 1968, had about 220 aviation customers, according to Avfuel, including 30 branded JETS dealers in the Midwest and East.
MIDCOAST-LITTLE ROCK received a supplemental type certificate that permits replacement of existing Peri-Seal couplings on certain Citation business jets powered by Pratt&Whitney JT15 engines that have an engine bleed air modification. The STC kit, priced from $4,500 to $6,000 depending on Citation model, comprises four flexible expansion couplings and can be installed in one day.
Mercury Air Group, the Los Angeles-based provider of aviation fuel and related services, reported record revenues and earnings for the three- and six-month periods ended Dec. 31. Net income was up 56 percent to a record $2.2 million, or 43 cents per share, for the six months on revenues of $84.7 million, an increase of 64 percent. During the second quarter, net income was up 47 percent to $1.2 million and revenue soared 87 percent to $49.1 million.
DAN PROSSER, avionics manager for Stevens Aviation, Broomfield, Colo., was named chairman of the board of directors of the Aircraft Electronics Association. Prosser, who had been AEA's vice chairman, succeeded Jim Cook, who stepped down to devote full time to his business, Palm Beach Avionics, Boca Raton, Fla.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT is scheduled to deliver two Beechjet 400A aircraft to China Airlines Tuesday to inaugurate the Jet Spectrum Pilot Training Program that will be offered through the University of North Dakota's aerospace program.
DAVID VORSAS, general manager of the J.D. Chapdelaine Co., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was named vice chairman of the board of directors of the Aircraft Electronics Association.
SCOTT DAVIS was selected to head engineering and manufacturing activities for PATS, Inc., Columbia, Md., a leading supplier of auxiliary fuel systems and auxiliary power units. An aeronautical engineering graduate of Auburn University, Davis spent five years as head of engineering and manufacturing for Page Avjet in Orlando, Fla. Before joining Page Avjet, Davis worked for American Trans Air and Piedmont Airlines.
Executive Jet Aviation, which currently has an agreement with FlightSafety International to provide aircraft proficiency and safety training for EJA's pilots, is adding a new training course for flightcrew personnel focusing on customer service. FSI said the new "Service Excellence" program "provides added resources to complement the personal service orientation of EJA crew members," adding that "the workshop-style training presents refinement and standardization of passenger service procedures, combined with applicable exercises in interpersonal development.
Austrian Airlines placed a firm order for four Fokker 70 aircraft and took options on four additional aircraft. The first two aircraft are scheduled for delivery in September and October, with the third and fourth aircraft scheduled to go to the carrier in March 1996. The aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Tay engines.
Two West Coast distributors of aviation fuel, Valley Oil Company of Salem, Ore., and D.Z., Inc., of Red Bluff, Calif., have merged, creating a network of 200 dealers that provide branded aviation fuels. The combined firms will operate under the name Valley Oil, which now has completed its fourth merger or acquisition in as many years. Valley claims to be "the largest marketer of aviation gasoline and jet fuels in the western United States," carrying the Phillips 66 and Texaco brands.
Honeywell and Pelorus Navigation Systems have joined forces to develop and produce a new local-area Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS). The local-area DGPS is designed to transmit satellite navigation information to airborne aircraft for navigation and precision landing.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL, INC., said a new Falcon 20 simulator at the Teterboro, N.J. training center received FAA's "Level D" certification, the second Level D certification for an FSI business jet simulator. The new simulator is currently approved for operators of Falcon 20F aircraft powered by the original General Electric engines. Certification of that unit to provide simulation of aircraft that were retrofitted with Garrett TFE731 engines is expected soon.
Contractor teams vying for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) have a little less than a month to rework all their proposal numbers to accommodate a 20-year program instead of a 12-year program, under an Air Force modification request released to the teams last week. "It makes all the numbers irrelevant," a senior executive on one of the contractor teams said Friday. "It's fair to say [the program] is significantly restructured," although the program total stays at 712 aircraft for the Air Force and Navy.
AN EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN who is also a student pilot was presented with the keys to the "Better Than New 172" by Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer last week at ceremonies in Athens, Tenn. Marshall Stambovsky won AOPA's Membership Sweepstakes, which was open to all new or renewing AOPA members in 1994. The prize, a 1978 model Cessna 172B, was extensively modified with new navigation, instrumentation, aerodynamics, safety and appearance upgrades by the editors of the AOPA PILOT magazine.
ELDON KRAMER, director of communications for Honeywell's Space and Aviation Systems, was elected chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association's Communications Council. James P. Linse, director-public relations for United Technologies Corp., was elected vice chairman.
FlightSafety International and Mitsubishi are offering two seminars during the next several weeks for operators of MU-2 aircraft. FSI began the seminars, which are presented at no charge to attendees, a year ago and said they were well-attended. The one-day Pilot's Review of Proficiency Seminars includes discussion of cockpit resource management, icing conditions, autopilot/flight control systems and general operating tips.
CARL SCHELLENBERG, regional administrator for FAA's Western-Pacific Region, was named to head the agency's Office of System Capacity. He will work with industry to structure an FAA capacity agenda.
Harvey Bennett, who has doubled the number of fixed-base operations he owns in the past several months, said all four of the facilities will be known as International Aviation. Bennett purchased International Aviation Services in White Palins, N.Y., in 1987. He added Bizjet in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1991 and Capital Aviation of Santa Fe, N.M., in 1994. This month Bennett concluded the purchase of Teterboro Aircraft Service at Teterboro Airport.
In response to a recent series of aircraft accidents that involved upsets or loss of control by the crew, FlightSafety International has added unusual attitude/loss of control training in both its initial and recurrent pilot training programs. The expanded training, which is being introduced in all of FSI's airline, commuter and business aircraft simulator programs, will include an expanded simulator briefing to discuss recognition and recovery procedures, followed by event training in the simulator.
ROBINSON HELICOPTER Model R44 series helicopters (Docket No. 94-SW-18-AD; Amdt. 39-9105; AD 94-26-10) - supersedes an existing AD that requires removal and replacement of specific parts of the cyclic control system. This amendment requires the same removal and replacement of specific parts of the cyclic control system, corrects a replacement part number, and changes the applicability to cover certain serial-numbered helicopters.
Air Methods Corp., the Denver-based helicopter modification and operations company, reported a loss of $915,000, or 11 cents per share, on revenues of $6.6 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31. For the six-month period ended Dec. 31, the company's losses totaled $1.1 million, or 15 cents per share, on revenues of just under $14 million.
ATLANTIC AVIATION'S Aircraft Services Division completed a GTE MagnaStar installation on the U.S. Coast Guard VC-20 (Gulfstream III) aircraft. The installation included three cabin handsets and fax interface. Atlantic is installing another MagnaStar system in a Mexican-registered Gulfstream II.
