RICK SCREEN was named Gulfstream program manager for Stevens Aviation. Screen will oversee the companies Gulfstream services, which were recently expanded to include GIII, GIV and GIVSP models. He previously held management positions with Gulfstream Aerospace and West Star Aviation.
The general aviation community is holding a roundtable discussion with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to delve into a number of general aviation issues, such as notice of arrival procedures, processing and operational differences of CBP installations at different airports.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, & CL-604 variants) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0725; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-207-AD] – proposes to require revising the maintenance program. The proposed AD is prompted by reports of cracking found on the upper and lower web of the engine support beam. FAA is proposing this AD to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the engine support beam, which could result in failure of the engine support beam and affect the structural integrity of the airplane.
Associated Air Center recently delivered its 23rd Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) in a completion project involving a “green” aircraft. The aircraft was handed over to an Eastern European-based energy company customer. The completion comes as the Dallas-based facility recently won a contract to complete an Airbus A330-200 series aircraft. Associated Air Center continues to expand its facilities to accommodate the work, including the opening of a 4,000-sq.-ft. customer interior design center housing a full-scale interior of a narrowbody BBJ/Airbus Corporate Jet cabin.
Nextant is building a presence in Asia for its Nextant 400XT program with the sale of 10 of the remanufactured business jets to Asia Pacific Jets and a distributor partnership. The Asia Pacific Jets order calls for the aircraft to be delivered over three years, with the first two delivered by the end of this year. Singapore-based Asia Pacific provides medical evacuation and corporate charter services.
40 Years Ago Aug. 14, 1972 – Full development gets underway on Dassault-Breguet Aviation’s Mystere 10. 30 Years Ago Aug. 9, 1982 – Gulfstream American ends nine-week shutdown of Commander business turboprop production. 20 Years Ago Aug. 24, 1992 – Justice Department approves the merger of Page Avjet Airport Services and Butler Aviation International, clearing the way for nation’s largest chain of fixed-base operations that becomes Signature Flight Support.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) board of directors has approved Flight Design and Sandel Avionics as members, bringing membership for the association to 78. Based in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, Flight Design makes the recently EASA-type certified CTLS light-sport aircraft and is developing the C4. Sandel Avionics produces avionics for rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft.
The dispute over an airport-built fixed-base operation (FBO) at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) continues to draw national attention as lawmakers recently wrote FAA Administrator Michael Huerta urging new guidance on airport competition. The letter, sent by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and 10 other House members, notes a “recent trend” of airport-sponsored fixed-base operations competing with privately-owned FBOs.
GRAEME SHANKS has joined CIT Business Aircraft as vice president of sales. Shanks formerly was senior vice president/head of marketing for AMS Aircraft Ltd. Before that, he was a customer support account manager for Thales Aerospace.
BETSY WINES was appointed to the Corporate Aircraft Association Advisory Board as fixed-base operation advisor. Wines is vice president of customer service and human resources at Meridian. She has served with Meridian – then called General Aviation – since 1985, beginning as a flight school dispatcher. She later became customer service manager.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS350B3 and EC130B4 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0794; Directorate Identifier 2006-SW-04-AD] – proposes to require revising the Limitations section of the Rotorcraft flight Manual (RFM) to reduce the starter generator operating current to 180 amperes (amps) and installing a placard in the instrument panel indicating the revised limitation.
An FAA/industry working group is developing recommendations to smooth out and speed up the process of obtaining approval to operate in Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) airspace. The 25-member RVSM Action Team recently agreed to focus the recommendations on three key areas – expediting approvals for new aircraft, improved inspector guidance for administrative changes and temporary authorizations for manufacturers and repair stations.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Friday (Aug. 24) overwhelmingly approved a pension proposal from Hawker Beechcraft that the union believes could save the pension plans. The IAM recommended approval of the proposal – which captured a 97.3% yes vote. IAM Aerospace Coordinator Ron Eldridge says the proposal “represents a significant improvement over earlier proposals.”
EMBRAER Model ERJ 190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-1251; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-017-AD; Amendment 39-17132; AD 2012-15-03] – requires performing a one-time general visual inspection to determine if a certain part number is installed on the main landing gear (MLG) retraction actuator; if necessary, performing a general visual inspection for discrepancies between the actuator rod end and shock strut lug of the MLG retraction actuator; and corrective actions, if necessary.
VARIOUS RESTRICTED CATEGORY HELICOPTERS [Docket No. FAA-2010-0488; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-20-AD; Amendment 39-17126; AD 2012-14-12] – requires inspecting each affected tail rotor blade forward tip weight retention block (tip block) and the aft tip closure for adhesive bond voids and removing any blade with an excessive void from service. This AD also requires modifying certain blades by installing shear pins and tip closure rivets.
FAA is moving to decommission the last of the direction finders (DF) in the U.S. – 29 DFs in Alaska – saying the technology is “beyond its useful life cycle.” The agency, which decommissioned DFs outside of Alaska in 2007, requested comments on a plan to shut down the remaining DFs.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is siding with union representatives in arguments that Hawker Beechcraft should not be permitted to distribute bonuses under a “key employee incentive plan” (KEIP). The court on Aug. 24 denied the company’s plan, saying Hawker Beechcraft failed to prove that KEIP is a incentive plan rather than a retention program.
Aviation industry groups are urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase pressure on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to issue long-delayed foreign repair station certification rules. The TSA failed to meet a congressional mandate to develop security rules for repair stations by August 2004, and as a result the FAA has been prohibited from issuing new foreign repair station certificates until the rule is issued; the TSA says it plans to issue the rule by the end of this year.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has scheduled a meeting for today (Aug. 27) to discuss the probable cause of the Sept. 16, 2011 crash of an experimental, vintage P-51D Mustang during the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada. NTSB last week opened the public docket containing the investigation files. The aircraft, The Galloping Ghost, crashed into a spectator box, killing the pilot and 10 people on the ground and injuring more than 60 others. The Mustang had experienced an upset while turning between pylons 8 and 9 on the race course.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS332C, L, and L1 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0795; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-53-AD] – proposes to require a one-time inspection of the main rotor head (MRH) swash-plate upper bearing for a nonsmooth point (friction point). This proposed AD is prompted by a report of the premature deterioration of the MRH bearing of the rotating star installed on a Model AS332L1 helicopter.
RON LADNIER was appointed director of military business development for FlightSafety International’s Simulation facility in Tulsa, Okla. Ladnier joined FlightSafety after serving with the U.S. Air Force as a pilot, logistician and commander, obtaining the rank of major general. He has more than 4,700 hr. as a pilot and instructor flying C-141A/B, C-17A, KC-135R (Boeing 707) and C-21 (Learjet 35) aircraft.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is looking at “see and be seen” practices for visual flight rules (VFR) as part of its investigation of the May 28 midair collision of a Hawker Beechcraft V35 Bonanza carrying a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) employee and a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee flown by an FAA accident investigator employee near Warrenton, Va.
Aero Air, at the Portland-Hillsboro International Airport (HIO), broke ground on a new 30,000-sq.-ft. hangar that will provide additional space for the company’s maintenance and hangar lease business. The project also will include 3,000 sq. ft. of office space. The facility is slated to open in November. Aero Air currently occupies a 75,000-sq.-ft. facility at the airport and operates a Class IV repair station.
While the focus in Washington has remained on possible $1 trillion across-the-board budget cuts, business aviation advocates are concerned that negotiations to avoid those cuts could open the door to user fees, extended depreciation or other proposals.
