Timco Aviation Services has rebranded Brice Seating as a product unit of Timco Aerosystems, Timco’s interiors engineering and manufacturing group. Timco says the move is designed to “more clearly convey the full breadth of interiors capabilities and products provided by Timco Aerosystems. Timco acquired Brice in 2002. The unit, which has developed the FeatherWeight line of aircraft seats, will continue operating from its facilities in California, as well as from new facilities near Timco’s headquarters in North Carolina.
Thrush Aircraft has tapped Tropical Aviation Distributors (TAD) to serve as an authorized sales representative, a move that the airframer says will increase the presence of the Thrust line of aerial application aircraft in South America and the Caribbean. TAD will represent Thrush in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the Caribbean. In addition to sales, TAD will provide expanded service capabilities for Thrush operators. TAD is part of Africair, Thrush’s dealer for Africa.
More China business: Cessna, which originally teamed with Avic’s Shenyang Aircraft Co. to build the 162 SkyCatcher light-sport aircraft, is in initial discussions with Avic on expanding that relationship into business jets. “We see potential in China beyond the SkyCatcher program,” says Michael Shih, Cessna’s director of operations in China. “For example, we recently responded to a request for information from Avic Defense for a new business jet, and we’re having exploratory discussions on that.”
SVEN LEPSCHY was appointed program manager for Executive AirShare’s facilities at Dallas Love Field. Lepschy formerly serve as head of training for Embraer CAE Training Services. He also has served as a line instructor, Citation training manager and Embraer OEM manager during his nine-year stint with CAE.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has developed a new computer-generated forecast model that is designed to provide pilots with information on the likelihood of encountering dangerous inflight icing conditions. Develop with funding from an FAA grant, the Forecast Icing Product with Severity, or FIP-Severity, provides 12-hr. icing forecasts that are updated hourly for pilots, air traffic controllers and other users of aviation weather information.
BOMBARDIER DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0381; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-203-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to revise the maintenance program by incorporating a new task related to the main landing gear (MLG) stabilizer extension springs. This proposal, which resulted from an MCAI issued by Transport Canada, was published after several incidents in which the MLG stabilizer extension springs failed.
MANDY MORRISON was named director of service and support at Constant Aviation’s facility at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Morrison previously held a number of positions with L.J. Aviation, most recently as director of maintenance. In her new role, she will lead customer support managers, as well as oversee maintenance planning, material services, technical support and sales support.
Rockwell Collins secured final technical standard order (TSO) approval for its most advanced business aviation avionics suite, the Pro Line Fusion, clearing the way for work to begin on a supplemental type certificate on Bombardier aircraft. Pro Line Fusion was announced in 2007 as the company’s next-generation platform, building off technologies incorporated in the Pro Line 21 suite.
Concerns that a number of airport operators don’t know how certain requirements affect them have spurred FAA to reopen the comment period on a Feb. 1 proposal to upgrade the standards of Part 139-certified airports. The comment period originally closed April 4, but FAA has reopened it through May 13.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals last week overturned a ruling by a lower district court that found Cirrus Design responsible for teaching pilots how to fly their planes.
Solairus Aviation has added an Austin, Texas-based Bombardier Challenger 604 to its charter fleet, and an Oakland, Calif.-based Challenger is currently undergoing the company’s conformity procedures before being cleared for charter operations. The company has already added a Gulfstream GV, a Gulfstream GIV and a Hawker 800SP to its charter fleet so far this year.
The Helicopter Association International and FAA Safety Team are presenting a seminar, Overview of Current Trends in Helicopter Safety, April 29 in Anchorage, Alaska. The event encompasses both operations and maintenance for commercial and general aviation. Fred Brisbois, of Sikorsky and the International Helicopter Safety Team, will present safety discussions on hazard identification and review helicopter accident trends.
FL Technics JETS, a business aviation services provider in Lithuania, has received European Aviation Safety Agency Part 145 certification, which permits the company to provide repair and maintenance services for the Hawker 700, 750, 800, 800XP, 850XP and 900XP. FL Technics JETS recently launched a new business aviation services center at Lithuania’s Vilnius International Airport.
The number of on-demand fatal accidents increased from two in 2009 to six in 2010, but the number of accidents overall for both Part 135 on-demand and general aviation operations declined, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) annual aviation accidents report.
TODD BITGOOD was promoted to assistant manager of FlightSafety International’s St. Louis center. Bitgood has served with FlightSafety since 2001, initially as an instructor in the Tucson, Ariz., facility, and later as program manager of the Bombardier Learjet 60 training program and then director of training. He also has served as a standards pilot at Lufthansa’s Airline Training Center in Phoenix.
Cessna Aircraft has appointed Genesis Aviation of Shanghai as an authorized sales representative for Citation business jets in China. Genesis is the second Citation sales representative in China, joining longtime Cessna dealer Aviation Supplies.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 700, 701,702, 705 and 900 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0703; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-093-AD; Amendment 39-16654; AD 2011-08-04] – Before further flight, perform a one-time detailed inspection of the main landing gear’s shock strut assembly and take all necessary corrective actions on the torque link apex joint, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 670BA-32-019, Rev. A (dated Sept. 18, 2008). Also, replace or rework the apex nut.
Piper Aircraft is expecting to complete renovations this summer to accommodate production of its Altaire business jet as work continues on the first of four conforming test articles, the company says. Piper last week updated the status of its first jet offering, the $2.6 million single-engine Altaire, noting that it has selected all “Tier 1” vendors, including tooling specialist Hampson/Global Tooling Services, which has tooling designers on site at the Piper facility. The airframe maker says the Altaire production facility will be ready to manufacture aircraft next year.
FAA’s plan to curtail most use of the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program is “dangerous, invasive and unwarranted” and could have far-reaching implications, says the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
STEPHANE LEROY was named sales director, South America and Caribbean for Bombardier Business Aircraft. LeRoy, who has served with Bombardier since 2001, has more than 13 years of international sales experience in the aviation industry. In his new role, he is responsible for all Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft sales in South America and the Caribbean, excluding Brazil.
Jet Aviation Flight Services—Jet Aviation’s aircraft management and charter division for the Americas — added a Cessna Citation XLS, Bombardier Challenger 300 and Global Express to its fleet. The Global Express and Challenger are based at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, while the Citation is at Chicago Midway. The newest members of the fleet follow the additions last month of a Dassault Falcon 50 and Citation Encore.
JP Morgan analyst Joseph Nadol is “guardedly optimistic” about a recovery in new business jet demand this year, but in his latest Business Jet Monthly report, he warns that the path is a winding one with mixed signs of improvement. Used aircraft inventory inched up slightly in March, marking the first increase since October, Nadol says. “The increase was slight, but a further decline would have inspired more confidence,” he says. Prices were up on many models, and Nadol says, “We still see a trend toward firming prices.”
Metrojet has become an approved line maintenance facility under Maintenance Center Malta’s European Aviation Safety Agency Part 145 maintenance organization approval. Maintenance Center Malta is a Transport Malta Civil Aviation Directorate-approved maintenance organization at Luqa Airport, Malta, that specializes in maintenance of business jets.
FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center—which coordinates national air traffic at a strategic level—has completed its transition to a new purpose-built facility in Warrenton, Va. Construction of the 64,000-sq.-ft. building started in late 2008. The new facility was built beside the existing Potomac terminal radar approach control (TRACON) facility, which opened at the Warrenton site in 2002. The cost of the project was initially estimated at $46 million, including a $22 million contract for Corinthian Construction Co.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation has acquired the assets of ground support vehicle supplier Douglas Equipment for about $20 million in cash. Curtiss-Wright plans to fold the business into its Flow Control segment. Founded in 1947, Douglas supplies commercial aviation ground support vehicles, including a range of towbar-less and conventional aircraft tractors and runway friction measuring devices. Douglas also has a range of products for the defense industry, including battery-operated traversers for moving helicopters and fighter jets.
