House and Senate lawmakers continue to signal that they plan to move expeditiously on FAA reauthorization. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) announced last Friday that he has reintroduced a long-term FAA reauthorization bill that is identical to legislation introduced in the Senate in the previous Congress. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), meanwhile, last week called passage of FAA reauthorization his top priority.
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) is looking for nominations for the Robert J. Collier trophy. The award is presented annually “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America” in the preceding year and can go to individuals, groups, companies or institutions. Anyone is eligible to submit a nomination, yet the NAA has said the entries for certain categories, particularly from the general and business aviation community, are often few in number and it would like to see that change.
EMBRAER ERJ 170 and ERJ 190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1310; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-067-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to modify the forward escape slide and conduct a borescope inspection of the aspirator body and inlet cross valve, per the instructions of Goodrich Interiors Service Bulletin 4A4030-25A379 (dated Aug. 10, 2009) for ERJ 170 airplanes or Service Bulletin 104003-25A380, Rev. 2 (dated July 7, 2009) for ERJ 190 airplanes.
SOCATA TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0948; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-041-AD; Amendment 39-16575; AD 2011-02-02] – Remove the pulley drive assembly, torque limiter, compressor drive belt and alternator/compressor support of the vapor-cycle cooling system. Inspect for cracks in the pulley drive surfaces and the alternator/compressor support welds. If any cracks are found, replace the pulley drive assembly before further flight.
Deliveries remained relatively stable in the fourth quarter of 2010 for Gulfstream Aerospace, but a slightly improving market for midsize aircraft boosted the Savannah, Ga., manufacturer’s total for the year to 99 aircraft, Gulfstream parent General Dynamics reported Jan. 27.
SAAB 340A, SF340A and 340B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0042; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-010-AD] – This revised proposal would require operators of certain airplanes to remove the external adapter plate of the antennae installation and conduct a general visual inspection of the fuselage surface for corrosion and cracking behind the adapter plate. If any corrosion or cracking were found, operators would need to repair it before further flight.
Florida’s Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) will rename three of the four facilities it manages as part of a new branding campaign to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Under the changes, Cecil Field will become Cecil Airport, Herlong Airport will become Herlong Recreational Airport, and Craig Airport will be renamed Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport, spokesman Michael Stewart says.
Robert J. McCarthy, group president of Marriott International, was selected as the honorary chairman for the 23rd Annual Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO), to be held April 25 at the Lansdowne Resort, Leesburg, Va. GWAO raises funds for the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), the Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) and the Alexandria Scholarship Fund through sponsorships, tournament fees and a live auction. The 2010 event raised $95,000 for CAN, which makes unused seats aboard business aircraft available to cancer patients to fly to and from treatments at no cost.
JERRY BEMIS has taken the role of vice president of manufacturing with Nextant Aerospace. Bemis will be responsible for all aspects of Nextant’s remanufacturing process. He has more than 25 years of aviation experience with United, Delta Air Lines and Flight Options.
40 Years Ago Jan. 18, 1971 – FAA prepares a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require emergency crash locator beacons on general aviation aircraft. 30 Years Ago Jan. 19, 1981 – The General Aviation Manufacturers Association predicts industry billings would top $3 billion and production would total 12,000 units for the year. 20 Years Ago
Piper Aircraft recently delivered 14 new aircraft to Qatar Aeronautical College, a leading provider of airline pilot training in the Persian Gulf. The fleet sale consisted of four Piper Seneca Vs and 10 Piper Archer IIIs, which have a combined retail value of about $6.7 million. The aircraft for Qatar are equipped with advanced Garmin avionics: The twin-engine Seneca V trainers have four-screen dual G600 systems, while the single-engine Archers have four-screen dual G500 systems.
StandardAero has received a supplemental type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency to upgrade the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135-powered Hawker Beechcraft King Air F90 to the -135A engine.
The Transportation Security Administration is believed to have completed its work on the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, and the proposal is said to be at the administrator’s office awaiting approval. The proposal must still undergo Office of Management and Budget review, but officials are hopeful that the LASP proposal will be issued in the spring.
Jan. 24-28—Aviation Week Advantage: Forecast 2011 Webinar Series: Business Aviation, Commercial and Defense, Time: 12 Noon-1 p.m. EST. For more information call Keith Gregory at 1-212-904-4166 or go to www.aviationweek.com/forecast2011 Feb. 7-8—National Air Transportation Association FBO Leadership Conference, Savannah, Ga., (703) 845-9000, www.nata.aero Feb. 9-11—National Business Aviation Association’s 22nd Annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, Savannah, Ga., (202) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org
Duncan Aviation continues to expand its line of supplemental type certificates involving the installation of Aircell’s cabin telecommunication router, which provides Wi-Fi access for the Gogo Biz inflight Internet service. The newest STCs cover the Hawker 800XP/850XP, 900XP, Falcon 2000 and Falcon 2000EX EASy aircraft. Aircell’s Gogo Biz service provides high-speed inflight connectivity in the cabin, enabling passengers to use their laptops, BlackBerrys, iPhones and other Wi-Fi devices at connection speeds of 1-3 Mbps.
Hartzell Propeller has developed a new two-bladed Top Prop propeller conversion kit for the Piper PA-23-250 Aztec. The 77-in.-dia. propeller uses blade-mounted counterweights to provide redundant assistance to the propeller pitch control and feathering system, versus the original configuration, which relied heavily on an air pressure charge for these functions.
Bell Helicopter recently sold two Bell 407 helicopters to PHI, a helicopter services company, for use in the transportation of oil and gas workers in the Gulf of Mexico. PHI currently operates a fleet approaching 250 aircraft, and offers services to the onshore mining, international, air medical, and technical services industries.
Reps. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) and Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), who on Jan. 20 were officially tapped as the chairman and ranking Democrat of the House aviation subcommittee, respectively, formally sent their letter opposing aviation user fees to President Obama on Jan. 21. The letter, which garnered the signatures of 116 House members in all, expresses support for the existing excise taxes and says the lawmakers believe user fees “would have a detrimental impact on general aviation and the flying public.”
BENJAMIN DOW has joined FirstFlight, the Elmira/Corning, N.Y. aviation services company, to support development of global aircraft sales and acquisitions. The son of FirstFlight founder and CEO John Dow, the younger Dow brings a background in corporate account sales and business development, most recently as vice president of Sand Springs Development in southern Florida. He also has served with Time Warner.
Management at Czech Sport Aircraft (CSA) agrees with Piper Aircraft that “differences in business philosophies” led to the demise of its partnership to market the PiperSport light-sport aircraft (BA, Jan. 17/3). But the Czech Republic-based company maintains that the program is continuing to move ahead without the partnership.
Piper Aircraft has added another former Hawker Beechcraft employee to its staff. Michael Hinderberger was appointed vice president of engineering for Piper Aircraft. Hinderberger will be responsible for all Piper engineering and new product development activities. He joins Piper with a background in program management and engineering, most recently with Belcan Corp. as an airframe integration and certification consultant for Rolls-Royce Deutschland. Before that he was vice president for Hawker Beechcraft and chief engineer for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
Czech business jet operator Grossmann Jet has added a Cessna Citation CJ2+ to its fleet. The company currently operates three private jets out of Prague Ruzyne Airport: a Legacy 600, a Hawker 900XP and now the CJ2+.
AERO Specialties, a Boise, Idaho manufacturer and distributer of aircraft ground support equipment (GSE), has purchased Australia-based JetGo International. AERO Specialties previously had been the exclusive distributor for JetGo, which produces a line of diesel-electric hybrid ground power units.
Nav Canada continues to see strong year-over-year traffic growth, with December movements up 4.6%. For the fiscal year-to-date, traffic is up 5.2% from the same period last year. Nav Canada’s fiscal year runs through Aug. 31. For the three months ending Nov. 30, traffic rose 5.4%. This helped Nav Canada achieve revenues of C$297 million ($299.5 million) for the quarter (before rate stabilization), up from C$281 million in the same quarter in the previous year. Operating expenses were C$235 million, up by C$7 million.
