CHARLIE MARINELLI was named senior vice president of charter sales for Solairus. Marinelli has held numerous senior management and leadership positions ranging from vice president of sales to serving as president of CornerStone Title Company. Most recently, he founded and was a principal of an executive/business coaching company.
JOSEPH RIVERA has rejoined Gulfstream Aerospace as director of international operations. Based in Savannah, Ga., Rivera will oversee Gulfstream’s international service centers in Luton, England and Sorocaba, Brazil, along with the new Beijing center that is expected to open shortly. He served with Gulfstream from 1997 to 2006 before joining Bombardier, where he most recently was general manager for the Tucson, Ariz., service center. He also had served as general manager for the Bombardier service center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
FAA last week formally reopened the comment period for a joint Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)/Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) petition to permit certain operations without the pilot holding a third-class medical. The comment period, which originally closed July 2, will stay open until Sept. 14 at the request of AOPA and EAA.
Katie Pribyl, who has served as director of communications for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association since 2005, was named vice president of communications for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Pribyl succeeds Andrew Broom, who departed to join HondaJet. Before joining GAMA, she was a line pilot on the Bombardier CRJ200 for Atlantic Coast Airlines and Independence Air. A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a certified flight instructor, Pribyl also served with the FAA National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND Model EC135 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0566; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-008-AD; Amendment 39-17065; AD 2012-11-02] – revises an emergency AD that requires inspecting the ring frame between the rear structure tube (tailboom) and the tail rotor fenestron housing for a crack before the first flight of each day and replacing any cracked ring frame with an airworthy ring frame. Since FAA issued the AD, the agency determined that a pre-flight pilot check in conjunction with a recurring 25-hr.
BOMBARDIER Model BD-100-1A10 (Challenger 300) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-1089; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-110-AD; Amendment 39-17097; AD 2012-12-17] – requires an inspection to determine if a certain oxygen cylinder and regulator assembly (CRA) is installed and the replacement of affected oxygen CRAs. This AD was prompted by reports of deformation found at the neck of the pressure regulator body on the CRA.
AGUSTA Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0013; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-043-AD; Amendment 39-17090; AD 2012-12-10] – requires, for helicopters with a certain generator control unit (GCU), replacing each affected GCU with an airworthy GCU. This AD was prompted by laboratory tests which revealed a potential fault in the overvoltage protection on a certain part-numbered GCU.
Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is poised to expand a lawsuit it has filed against about two dozen fixed-base operations for selling aviation gasoline without warning people of their potential exposure to lead. CEH filed the lawsuit in the fall against up to 250 named and unnamed entities, but since narrowed its target to about two dozen companies that include Signature Flight Support’s facilities.
Quest Aircraft has begun displaying an Air Claw special mission demonstrator that is based on its Kodiak airframe. The demonstrator is part of a teaming agreement formed earlier this year between Quest, the Sandpoint, Idaho manufacturer of a single-turboprop aircraft, and aerospace giant Northrop Grumman. Quest is marketing the aircraft for potential uses in law enforcement, aerial intelligence and observation, air medical and search and rescue. The Kodiak, powered by the Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop, takeoff at under 1,000 ft.
AERONAUTICAL ACCESSORIES, high landing gear aft crosstube assembly [Docket No. FAA-2012-0083; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-022-AD; Amendment 39-17077; AD 2012-11-13] – requires, for aft crosstubes installed on certain Bell and Agusta model helicopters, certain recurring visual, dimensional, and fluorescent penetrant inspections of each aft crosstube, and replacing any cracked crosstube. This AD also requires establishing a life limit and creating a component history card or equivalent record for one of the affected part-numbered aft crosstubes.
The U.S. and Canadian business aircraft summer travel season has gotten off to a slow start , with both year-over-year and month-over-month operations declining in June, according to the latest data released by business aviation safety expert and industry analyst Argus. Business aircraft operations slowed across the board by 3.2% in June, compared with May, and by 1.3% compared with a year earlier, Argus reports.
Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company (HBDC) is putting its AT-6 light attack/armed reconnaissance aircraft into low rate initial production (LRIP) in Wichita.
Hawker Beechcraft’s proposed sale to a Chinese firm was not a complete surprise. But that the smaller Superior Aviation Beijing emerged as the possible bidder instead of the larger AVIC or CAIGA leaves some industry experts wondering whether the deal will close at the $1.79 billion asking price. Hawker Beechcraft announced July 9 that it had reached an exclusivity agreement to explore the potential sale of all but its military business to Superior Air Beijing.
Hawker Beechcraft’s proposed $1.79 billion deal with China’s Superior Air Beijing leaves open the fate of its defense business and raises issues about the control and supply of the venerable King Air line that is in special-use roles around the globe. Hawker Beechcraft next week will seek U.S. bankruptcy court clearance to begin exclusive negotiations for the sale of all but its defense business to the Chinese firm.
July 16-17—Airports Council International-North America 2012 Small Airports Conference, JW Marriott Hotel, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.aci-na.org/event/562 July 23-29—Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, who leads a state long known for its aerospace presence, is hoping for a rebound after Boeing’s recent departure from the state.
AgustaWestland and Russian Helicopters have signed a preliminary agreement to jointly develop an all-new, 2.5 metric-ton, single-engine light commercial helicopter. Shared 50-50, the collaborative program builds on the HeliVert joint venture established by the two companies to assemble AgustaWestland’s popular AW139 medium twin in Russia.
DAHER-SOCATA TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0250; Directorate Identifier 2011-CE-043-AD; Amendment 39-17063; AD 2012-10-14] – adopts a new AD that requires repetitive checks of the nose landing gear and replacement of the existing bolt attaching the actuator hinge axle. This action is designed to prevent partial disengagement of the actuator hinge axle, which could lead to collapse of the nose landing gear. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 448 aircraft on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S. operators a total of $53,760, or $120 per airplane.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701, & 702), CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705) and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0293; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-034-AD; Amendment 39-17081; AD 2012-12-02] – adopts a new AD that requires installation of new sensing elements in the main landing gear wheel well and the overwing area, protective blankets on the upper surface of the wing box and fuel tubes, and protective shields on the rudder quadrant support-beam in the aft equipment compartment.
July 9-15—Farnborough International Airshow 2012, www.farnborough.com July 15-17—Large Hub Winter Operations & Deicing Conference, Dulles, Va., www.necaaae.org July 16-17—Airports Council International-North America 2012 Small Airports Conference, JW Marriott Hotel, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.aci-na.org/event/562 July 23-29—Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org Aug. 18-22—54th NEC/AAAE Annual Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, www.necconference.org
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has issued a type certificate for the Avicopter AC311, a key product in the development of China’s rotorcraft industry. Certification came at least six months later than the manufacturer expected. No reason for the delay was given.
Avic and Cessna, which are still negotiating details of a wide-ranging partnership, are aiming to deliver the first Citation Sovereign from their planned Chengdu, China assembly line within 18 months. The plant will supply aircraft to the Chinese market, says Michael Shih, Cessna’s vice president for strategy and business development in China. “Negotiations are going well and we are working toward a joint-venture contract within this year,” Shih says.
