John W. Sandford, whose resume includes senior executive positions with some of the aerospace industry's leading companies, has returned to the U.S. to head up operations of engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce in this country. Sandford had been president and chief executive officer of Rolls- Royce, Inc. from January 1991 to January 1993, when he returned to England as managing director of Rolls-Royce Aerospace Group in Derby, and he has now rejoined the U.S. entity, effective Jan. 1. George L. Davis, who had been heading Rolls' U.S.
Ben R. Rich, former head of Lockheed Corporation's Skunk Works aircraft development facility, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 69. Rich, who joined Lockheed in 1950, participated in the design of many aircraft programs including the F-104, YF-12 and SR-71 "Blackbird." He led Lockheed's development of the F-117A stealth aircraft.
ACCORDING TO A PRELIMINARY REVIEW of 1994 accident reports by Robert E. Breiling Associates, there were no fatal accidents involving U.S.- registered, professionally flown corporate business jet or turboprop aircraft operated under Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations last year. The Breiling firm, based in Boca Raton, Fla., said the only fatal accident of a U.S. registered business jet last year involved a Model 35 Learjet that crashed in Fresno, Calif. while taking part in a special air operation with the military. Both pilots were killed in that accident.
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY'S Division of Continuing Education is hosting a series of business/corporate aviation management programs later this month and in early February. Programs include: Leadership and Organization Design on Jan. 20-21 in Orlando, Fla.; Finance&Budgeting on Jan. 22-23 in Orlando; Aircraft Selection, Outfitting&Retrofitting on Feb. 2-3 in Denver, Colo., and Managing and Marketing a Flight Department as a Service Business on Feb. 6-7 in Denver. Each program costs $495.
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he will look into privatizing the city's two major airports after lease negotiations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey came to a "quasi-impasse." Deputy Mayor John Dyson said privatization could occur either through selling New York Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport property, owned by the city, to a private entity, or through leasing the land to a private operator.
UNISYS CORP. will eliminate 4,000 jobs this year and take a one-time charge of $175 million to $225 million against fourth-quarter earnings as part of a cost-cutting program in its commercial computer hardware businesses. The company said the action is being taken because of a slowing in Unisys' traditional hardware sales and maintenance business and profit pressures in its European operations that led to "disappointing financial performance in 1994."
FOKKER F28 Mark 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 94-NM-215-AD) - proposes to require an inspection for the presence of a drain hole in certain mounting frames of the auxiliary power unit. If a drain hole is present, the proposed AD also would require an inspection for corrosion of the mounting frame and eventual replacement of the mounting frame. This proposal is prompted by a report indicating that corrosion was found on a number of mounting frames of the APU.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a highly unusual action, called on FAA Friday to ground all Robinson R44 and R22 helicopters following the latest in a series of fatal accidents involving those aircraft.
UNIVERSAL NAVIGATION CORP., Tucson, Ariz., received TSO C115b and C129 Class A2/B2/C2 authorization last month for the company's latest version of the UNS-1M navigation management system. The certification was presented by FAA's Northwest Mountain Region. Universal said it expects to obtain TSO C129 A1/B1/C1 approval in April, which will add the ability to fly non- precision GPS approaches and GPS-overlays for VOR, VOR/DME and NDB approaches.
BOMBARDIER BUSINESS AIRCRAFT DIVISION has expanded its field service network with the addition of representatives in Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. John Brouder, based in Toluca near Mexico City, will oversee support of Challenger aircraft in Mexico, Central America and South America. Robert Habjanic has relocated from the United Kingdom to Dubai, where he will be responsible for the Middle East, Africa and the Asian subcontinent. Mark Abbott was named the new U.K. representative.
SHORT BROTHERS Model SD-3-60 series airplanes (Docket No. 94-NM-96-AD; Amdt. 39-9078; AD 94-24-05) - requires installation of a certain time delay relay and associated wiring into a circuit of the rudder gust lock. This amendment is prompted by reports of inadvertent engagements of the rudder gust lock on in-service Model SD-3-60 series airplanes. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent premature locking of the rudder gust lock, which could reduce controllability of the airplane in flight and during landing roll.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE expects to sign a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars with the Japanese government for delivery of a fleet of Gulfstream IV business jets over the next several years. See article below.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT delivered a Beech King Air B200 to Purdue University in West LaFayette, Ind. The university's School of Aviation Technology will use the aircraft for training. The purchase agreement calls for Raytheon Aircraft to provide Purdue with engineering data to develop a King Air simulator. Raytheon also will help develop a software package with specific flight planning data. In addition to the B200, Purdue operates a King Air C90, two Duchess 76s and a Diamond I-A.
The House Appropriations and Transportation and Infrastructure committees last month began to take shape, with Republicans defining the subcommittee ratios, selecting chairmen and appointing members. As reported earlier, Reps. Bob Livingston (R-La.) and Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), will chair the Appropriations and Transportation and Infrastructure committees, respectively (BA, Dec. 12/257). Reps. David Obey (D-Wis.) and Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) will act as the ranking minority members of the committees.
"We did exceedingly well," the official said. "There was no ice accretion on the wings, no anomalies, no unusual icing phenomena. We passed all facets of the certification requirement, as well as those that were nearly twice the certification requirement." But the second purpose of the test series was to "explore the outer limits of icing," the official said, going "into the difficult and forbidden zone of freezing rain, well beyond certification norms."
But ATR insists that the data are being misinterpreted, and that they prove only that a freak icing condition - one not normally found in nature - could cause a dramatic loss of control.
VICTOR MARONE was appointed vice president for aerospace programs for Sundstrand Corporation. Marone has been leading the Electrical Systems Division as vice president and general manager.
RONALD MCKENNA was named vice president for business development for Sundstrand's newly created Aerospace Business Development organization. McKenna will oversee all Rockford, Ill.-based marketing functions, strategic planning and field marketing.
AT&T has agreed to pay the U.S. government $13.9 million to settle charges that it did not provide accurate pricing information for a $23 million electronic switch lease contract with the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA leased the switches to link the nation's air traffic control system.
FRED BERNARD was named senior vice president of charter sales for Flight Services Group. Bernard will be responsible for managing existing accounts and marketing the company's charter services to major corporations.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL is offering a half-day course that addresses how to avoid controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. The course covers loss of situational awareness, a CFIT checklist and use of ground proximity warning systems. The course is available at all FlightSafety International learning centers.
AVIONS DE TRANSPORT REGIONAL said Pantanal, a Brazilian regional carrier, signed a firm order for two ATR-42-300 aircraft to be delivered in February. Pantanal introduced its first ATR into service in December 1993. Air Truck of Madrid, Spain, ordered two used ATR-42-300s for delivery in March. They will be operated by a new regional company based in Pamplona, Lineas Aereas Navarras, created by Air Truck with the support of the Navarra Region.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION is seeking comment on a proposed advisory circular, AC 21-20B, Supplier Surveillance Procedures. The proposed AC 21- 20B provides guidance on ways to comply with Part 21 - certification procedures for products and parts. Comments on the proposal must be submitted before March 21 to FAA, Aircraft Certification Service, Production and Airworthiness Certification Division, Policy and Procedures Branch, AIR-230, 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.
