Signature Flight Support parent BBA Aviation is bracing for continued volatility in the market for the remainder of the year, but BBA CEO Simon Pryce maintains that “medium term” indicators look much stronger.
TIM BRADY , dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Fla. campus, has joined the board of directors of the National Association of Flight Instructors. Brady joined Embry-Riddle in 1998, and is responsible for the College of Aviation’s five academic departments: Aeronautical Science (Professional Pilot), Flight Training, Applied Aviation Sciences, Aviation Maintenance Science and Doctoral Studies.
Citing the potential effect on the relationship between maintenance, repair and overhaul providers and their customers, as well as the proposal’s overall scope, nine associations have asked the FAA for 90 more days to comment on the agency’s proposed repair station rule changes.
Aug. 13-16—Airports Council International-North America, 2012 Public Safety & Security Fall Conference, Arlington, Va., www.aci-na.org/event/1753 Aug. 16—4th Annual BALA Summit, Business Aviation in Latin America, LABACE, Sao Paulo, Brazil, www.aeropodium.com/cp/bala.html Aug. 18-22—54th NEC/AAAE Annual Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, www.necconference.org Sept. 9-12—22nd Airports Council International World-North America Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition, Calgary, Canada, www.aci-na.org/conferences/
Stronger second-quarter deliveries and order cancellations led to a nearly $1.8 billion drop in Embraer’s backlog, but company executives say they are comfortable with the existing backlog and their mix of orders and have no plans to readjust production schedules. The company began the second quarter ended June 30 with a $14.7 billion backlog, which slid to $12.9 billion by the end of the quarter. This represents a further drop from the $15.8 billion recorded at the end of the same 2011 period.
DONALD SPRIGGS was appointed vice president of quality and technology for PAS Technologies. Spriggs joined the company in 1996 as business unit manager of new product development. He also served as vice president of product development and, most recently, chief technology officer.
Indicators were showing a stronger market for used business jets, while inventories for used aircraft on the market overall continue to inch down, according to data released by industry analyst JetNet.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman concedes the agency was surprised by a safety board study that did not find a measurable improvement in the safety records of general aviation aircraft with glass cockpits. ‘We didn’t see that safety gain that we thought we would,” she says, adding one of the challenges is the familiarity with the technology. The findings underscored the need for pilots with glass cockpits to be fully trained on the technology. But she does not rule out future safety gains.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is expanding its membership by creating a new membership category for students aged 13 through 18. AOPA “AV8RS” was developed to encourage the development of a new generation of pilots by making a connection early and keeping then engaged. “A strong and growing pilot population is vital to the future of our industry,” says Michelle Peterson, vice president of membership marketing.
BELL Model 407 and 427 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0716; Directorate Identifier 2012-SW-011-AD; Amendment 39-17121; AD 2012-14-07] – supersedes an existing AD that requires inspecting certain hydraulic servo actuators to determine whether the shaft turns independently of the nut or the clevis assembly, and additional actions based upon the inspection’s outcome. The AD also requires reidentifying the servo. Since FAA issued that AD, Bell has learned that additional servos may need repair or removal.
Textron’s Lycoming engine maker is using its IE2 electronic engine platform to develop new technologies that Michael Kraft, senior vice president and general manager, says will eventually make its way into general aviation.
Embraer-CAE Training Services (ECTS) received Level D approval from the Brazilian aviation authority Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) for its Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 full-flight simulator at the CAE SimuFlite training center at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The ECTS joint venture provides pilot and maintenance training for the Phenom. The simulator also is FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency qualified, along with a Phenom 100 simulator.
RICHARD LINEVELDT was appointed general manager of Gama Aviation’s UAE operations. Lineveldt will help grow the business aviation group’s base in the Middle East and North Africa. He joined Gama in 2008 to establish the operations department of Gama’s Middle East and North Africa business. He also has held a number of other aviation operations positions internationally.
The Internal Revenue Service has permanently put in place deduction rules involving the use of business aircraft for entertainment purposes, providing little relief to industry on the scope or implementation. Congress in 2004 mandated that the IRS close the gap between what an employee counts as compensation from entertainment-related flights and what a company deducts for its corporate aircraft operations.
DEL DENNY was named director of operations for Wyvern. Denny has 45 years of corporate, charter and airline experience and has been an auditor for Wyvern. He holds an airline transport pilot rating and has type ratings in a number of corporate aircraft. He also has directed several Part 91/135 operations for large corporations.
Edward J. Sowa, 79, a longtime corporate pilot with IBM and founding member and later general manager of SimuFlite, died July 22 at his home in Penn Laird, Va., following a battle with cancer. His aviation career began with the U.S. Marine Corps as a fighter pilot and light attack aviator. He joined IBM as a corporate pilot, and later became chief pilot. In addition to his aviation career, he was a founder and part of the senior management of Sante Pediatrics, which provides outpatient health care services for children.
PIAGGIO Model P-180 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0755; Directorate Identifier 99-CE-65-AD] – proposes to rescind AD 200-07-11 calling for repetitive inspections of brake system rods and tubings. That AD was prompted by mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority for Italy. FAA issued that AD to prevent the brake hydraulic fluid from leaking because of the brake assembly rods contacting the brake valve tubing, which could result in the inability to adequately stop the airplane during ground operations.
MD HELICOPTERS Model 500N, 600N, and MD900 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0746; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-35-AD] – proposes to require determining the cure date for each NOTAR fan blade tension-torsion strap (T-T strap), establishing a calendar-time retirement life for certain T-T straps, reducing the retirement life of certain T-T straps, marking each T-T strap with the expiration date, creating a component record card for each T-T strap, and revising the airworthiness limitations section of the maintenance manual to reflect the changes to the retirement life.
The Environmental Protection Agency is denying – for now – a 2006 petition from the Friends of the Earth (FOE) to issue a finding that lead emissions from general aviation may endanger public health and propose standards accordingly. EPA says insufficient evidence exists to make such a finding. The petition, however, further asks that if EPA can’t make such a finding, that it launch a study to investigate the health and environmental impacts from lead emissions from general aviation aircraft.
CAE began Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 pilot and maintenance technician training programs at its facility in Melbourne, Australia. The training, tailored for King Air 350s with Pro Line 21 avionics, includes a Level-D qualified full-flight simulator that will be used for both business aircraft and military pilots. The facility is located in the Ansett Aviation training base.
Bombardier delivered a Global 5000 jet to Jana Aviation. The aircraft, based in Beirut, Lebanon, will be managed by Executive Aircraft Services. Executive Aircraft already operates a Bombardier Challenger 300.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-100, DHC-8-200, and DHC-8-300 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0271; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-196-AD; Amendment 39-17118; AD 2012-14-04] – requires replacing the affected parking brake accumulator. This AD was prompted by reports of hydraulic accumulator screw cap or end cap failure.
A government/industry working group is looking at a new approach to simplify but strengthen the certification process for Part 23 aircraft that, if implemented, members believe could significantly improve the time it takes to bring new products to market and cut the costs of the lightest aircraft in half.
President Obama Aug. 3 signed Sen. Jim Inhofe’s (R-Okla.) Pilot’s Bill of Rights (S.1335) into law, following House passage late last month. The bill, co-sponsored by nearly two-thirds of the Senate, passed the Senate in June. The bill strengthens protections of pilots rights in cases of FAA enforcement actions. Inhofe, who had his own run-in with FAA after landing on a closed airstrip in Texas in 2010, reiterates that the bill fixes “many of the most serious deficiencies in the relationship between general aviation and the FAA.”
