Avplan Trip Support, an Avfuel flight planning company, has partnered with JSSI, an independent provider of hourly cost maintenance programs, to offer Avplan customers access to JSSI’s global team of experts. Under the partnership, Avplan will connect its customers with JSSI technical advisors when needed. JSSI in turn will serve as a liaison between the operators and local maintenance providers during the repair process, including providing recommendations, making maintenance arrangement and serving as a general point of contact.
The European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS) singles out business aviation for political reasons, Leo McStravick, Gulfstream Aerospace senior flight operations technical specialist, said March 28 at a roundtable on Capitol Hill.
FAA is continuing to assess cost and pricing information as it develops a proposal to charge for digital chart products, the agency says. FAA last fall had indicated a possibility of beginning to charge for digital charts beginning in April, but in a recent notice says, “The FAA has not set any dates for completion of the final proposal or a timeline for implementation.” The agency adds it would keep the community updated about its progress.
BURL A. ROGERS (type certificate previously held by William Brad Mitchell and Aeronca) Models 15AC and S15AC airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0318; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-033-AD; Amendment 39-16966; AD 2012-04-10] – requires repetitive inspections of the upper and lower main wing spar cap angles for cracks and/or corrosion and installing inspection access panels. This AD also requires replacing the wing spar cap angles if moderate or severe corrosion is found and applying corrosion inhibitor.
Hawker Beechcraft recently sold three Beechcraft King Air C90G Tx turboprops to two aviation colleges in China for multi-engine pilot training. The Civil Aviation University in China (CAUC) bought two of the aircraft, and Xinjiang Tianxiang Aviation College purchased the third. All three will be delivered this year. Hawker Beechcraft previously has sold the C90G Tx for training in China to Shenzhen Kunpeng International Flight Academy, Xi’an Tenglong General Aviation Co, Ltd. and Ordos General Aviation Co.
ALPHA AVIATION Model R2160 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0279; Directorate Identifier 2012-CE-007-AD] – Proposes to require replacement of oil pressure transducer hoses, in addition to oil lines. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information originated by the aviation authority of New Zealand that cites reports that the oil lines fitted to affected aircraft are not fire resistant. FAA estimates the AD will affect 10 aircraft on the U.S. Registry at a cost $8,500, or $850 per aircraft. FAA will accept comments on the proposal through May 3.
Cessna’s teaming agreement with China’s state-owned aerospace conglomerate Avic will provide an avenue for the Wichita airframer to move into a larger jet segment. The U.S. aircraft maker late last month signed two separate agreements with Avic and its related companies, one covering a joint venture to produce midsize business jet models and a potential new product, and another to “pursue various activities pertaining to the development of general aviation businesses in China, including the establishment of an aircraft service network in China,” says Cessna.
United Technologies Corp. (UTC) will have to wait a little longer before it completes its proposed $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich. European Union antitrust officials are examining competition concerns arising from the combination of the companies’ operations, a move that could delay the deal’s closing beyond UTC’s midyear target.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-102, -103, and -106 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0190; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-033-AD; Amendment 39-16979; AD 2012-05-07] – requires a general visual inspection for chamfer of the upper edge of each leaf spring, and rework if necessary. This AD also requires installing a new friction brake nut.
Confronted with changes in industry economics and what seems to be the inevitable demise of small, and possibly larger, regional jets, governments and small communities in the U.S. may soon face tough choices over the future of scheduled service at small regional airports. “I think we’re coming to a tipping point where we’re going to have to decide what the real needs are,” Kelly Johnson, airport director for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, said at the recent FAA Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) board of directors selected James Sweeney, president of Fargo Jet Center, as chairman and Marian Epps, chief financial officer of Epps Aviation, as treasurer, effective immediately. Sweeney replaces Duncan Aviation Chairman Todd Duncan, and Epps succeeds Robert (Buddy) Stallings, president, Eastern Aviation Fuels.
NASA is claiming a breakthrough in the design of supersonic aircraft, with wind-tunnel tests proving it is possible to design configurations that combine low sonic boom with low cruise drag, characteristics once thought to be mutually exclusive.
Jet Aviation Hong Kong recently opened a new 483.10-sq.-meter (5,200-sq.-ft.) interior shop designed with four work bays. The shop adds comprehensive interior refurbishment capabilities to the company’s maintenance facility, the company says. Each work bay supports upholstery, carpeting, faux finishing and spray-painting. The shop has also been outfitted with a clean room, a buffing area and a cyclone dust collection system, along with a rotary screw air compressor.
WINSTON LEONG was promoted to marketing manager, commercial simulation for the Asia Pacific region for FlightSafety International. Leong joined FlightSafety in 1998 as an associate engineer at the company’s training device design and manufacturing facility in Broken Arrow, Okla. He most recently was remote assets manager.
MOONEY Models M20B, M20C, M20D, M20E, M20F, M20G, M20J, M20K, M20L, M20M, M20R, M20S, and M20TN airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0275; Directorate Identifier 2012-CE-009-AD; Amendment 39-16981; AD 2012-05-09] – supersedes an existing AD that is applicable to certain Model M20R and M20TN airplanes. The existing AD currently requires inspecting the tail pitch trim assembly for correct positioning and proper attachment and inspecting the Huck Bolt fasteners for proper security with repair as necessary for certain Models M20R and M20TN.
The LEAP Electric Flight Program (LEAP), which includes the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize, has merged into the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, effective last week. The boards of directors of the Lindbergh Foundation and Creative Solutions Alliance (the nonprofit organization that runs LEAP) agreed to the merger since the missions of both organizations were so closely aligned, the Lindbergh Foundation says.
Flying Colours, a Canadian business jet cabin completions specialist, is preparing to deliver three more newly outfitted Challenger 850 aircraft to Asia-Pacific customers, bringing the total number of 850s it has delivered in the region to seven. The three aircraft will be handed over to private clients in mainland China and Hong Kong. The aircraft were completed at Flying Colours’ facilities in Canada and U.S., each taking eight months to finish. Flying Colours has another five in the pipeline, all destined for customers in China.
While final attendance figures weren’t available yet late last week, the National Business Aviation Association says the return of the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) this year met all of the association’s expectations for the event. NBAA, working in partnership with the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA), the Asian Business Aviation Association and Shanghai Exhibition Centre, last week held the three-day event after a five-year hiatus from the 2007 ABACE held in Hong Kong.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model SA-365C, SA-365C1, SA-365C2, SA-365N, SA-365N1, AS-365N2, AS 365 N3, and SA-366G1 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2011-0454; Directorate Identifier 2009-SW-54-AD; Amendment 39-16973; AD 2012-05-01] – requires inspections and modification of the frequency adapters and bushes to improve the ventilation in the area on the star arm end of certain helicopters. This AD was prompted by some reports of deterioration and two reports of failure of Starflex star arm ends.
Capitol Hill’s passage of a 90-day extension of highway programs last week provides aviation groups more time to build support on Capitol Hill for a repeal of the so-called “fuel fraud” tax. The extension gives Congress time to come up with an agreement on a long-term highway bill. Aviation groups are hoping that Congress will include a repeal of the fuel fraud tax in the long-term bill. The tax requires noncommercial jet fuel to be taxed at the highway diesel fuel rate until the fuel is proven to be used for aviation purposes.
Metrojet is planning to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region with an additional base planned for Clark International Airport in the Philippines. The Philippines location would be Metrojet’s first maintenance base outside Hong Kong. The company is planning to offer a range of services that will be equivalent to its Hong Kong capabilities, hoping to attract additional business from China. The company is investing “multimillions of dollars” in a facility that includes a 13,000-sq.-ft. hangar. Metrojet will call the operation Metro Jet Engineering Clark.
Dallas Airmotive’s Singapore Regional Turbine Center (RTC) received an operating certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), clearing the way for the company’s newest RTC to perform maintenance on both domestic and regional aircraft. “CAAS certification is a prerequisite for obtaining individual country certifications such as from China, Australia, India and other countries in the region as well as EASA and FAA authorities,” says BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul Group President Hugh McElroy.
