MICHAEL FRAZIER has joined Dallas Airmotive as regional engine manager, selling engine services for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A, JT15D, PW500 and PW306C engines. He will cover the Northeast U.S. from Pennsylvania through Maine. He spent nearly 20 years working for Pratt & Whitney Canada Engine Services, starting as an assembly and test inspection supervisor, then customer service manager, technical sales, service center operations manager and customer service manager/mobile repair team coordinator.
Italy’s Iacobucci HF, which has traditionally concentrated on building galley insets for business and commercial aviation customers, has decided to go into the VIP aircraft seat market.
FAA has determined that the noise exposure maps submitted by Florida’s Naples Airport Authority for Naples Municipal Airport (APF) are in compliance with FAR Part 150 requirements. The approval of the maps is a prerequisite for the airport authority to submit for FAA approval a noise compatibility program. Copies of the noise exposure maps and documentation, as well as FAA’s evaluation of the maps, are available at FAA’s Orlando Airports District Office.
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA PW305A and PW305B engines [Docket No. FAA-2010-0892; Directorate Identifier 2010-NE-23-AD; Amendment 39-16524; AD 2010-24-05] – Update the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of Engine Maintenance Manual to incorporate Temporary Revision AL-8 (dated Jan. 20, 2010), which specifies reduced in-service limits for engine impellers. This AD, which resulted from an MCAI issued by an aviation authority of another country, was issued to prevent failure of the impeller, which could result in an uncontained event and possible damage to the airplane.
Business jet production, which has dropped sharply since late 2008, will continue declining through 2011, while a recovery in overall business jet build rates will not occur until 2012, according to a new report by Newtown, Conn.-based aviation consultancy Forecast International (FI). The report’s conclusions are not unlike those made recently by several business jet maker executives.
New Jet International, an aircraft and charters sales company based in Monaco and Milan, Italy, confirmed that it has ordered a Bombardier Global 7000 for an undisclosed Swiss customer. This is the first international order for the new Global 7000 after the launch of the long-range jet in October at the National Business Aviation Association annual show, the company says.
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA 40 and DA 40F airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0845; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-044-AD; Amendment 39-16534; AD 2010-25-01] – Change the emergency open-doors procedure by incorporating a temporary revision into the FAA-approved Airplane Flight Manual. Also, on certain airplanes, replace the passenger-door retaining bracket with an improved retaining bracket. This AD was prompted by several reports of the rear passenger door departing the airplane in flight. FAA estimates that this directive will affect 699 airplanes on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S.
DORNIER 328-100 and -300 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1163; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-233-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to conduct repetitive eddy-current inspections of the left-hand and right-hand wing panel rear trailing edges from Rib 3 to Rib 9, modify those wing panels and report inspection findings to the type certificate holder, 328 Support Services GmbH.
The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) welcomed FAA’s decision to return Mexico to its Category 1 safety rating, but warned the same fate could befall other countries throughout the region. “ALTA recognizes the hard work and commitment of Secretary Juan Molinar, Director General Hector Gonzalez, along with Mexico’s aviation industry, in achieving this recovery in just a few short months,” says the organization’s executive director, Alex de Gunten, in a statement.
The Lancair Evolution will be offered with a speed control system manufactured by Safe Flight Instrument Corp. The system, which interfaces with the single-engine, kit-built aircraft’s Garmin G900x avionics, provides stall warning and angle-of-attack information to help optimize the aircraft’s performance throughout the flight profile while supplying critical lift information to the pilot.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened the public accident docket as part of the safety board’s continuing investigation into a 2009 Pilatus PC-12 accident that killed all 14 people aboard when the single-engine turboprop crashed on approach to Bert Mooney Airport (BTM) in Butte, Mont. The airplane (N128CM), which was owned and operated by Eagle Cap Leasing of Enterprise, Ore., was flying under Part 91 rules at the time of the crash. The docket includes various factual reports, and additional material will be added as it becomes available.
Nextant Aerospace has completed research and development flight testing for the 400XT, a substantially upgraded version of the Hawker Beechjet 400A/XP. Nextant has flown more than 120 flight test hr. toward the certification of the Pro Line 21 avionics and Williams International FJ44-3AP engine installations on the 400A/XP airframe. “The aircraft is exceeding our expectations in all key performance and handling aspects,” says James Miller, president of the Richmond Heights, Ohio-based remanufacturing company.
Sikorsky has begun final assembly of the first production S-76D helicopter, with delivery scheduled for 2012. Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody delivered the first production fuselage to Sikorsky Global Helicopters in Coatesville, Pa. in mid-November. The upgraded S-76D – with composite rotor blades, dual-speed rotor, active vibration control, Thales integrated flight deck and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines – is Sikorsky’s response to increased competition in the intermediate helicopter market.
EMBRAER E170 and E190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1161; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-152-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to replace the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) balance screw with a new balance screw in accordance with the instructions of Embraer Service Bulletin 170-24-0048, Rev. 01 (dated May 12, 2010) or Embraer Service Bulletin 190-24-0019, Rev. 01 (dated May 11, 2010), as applicable.
Look for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to form a group to try to advise governments around the world on how to craft laws that advance justice without threatening to disrupt aviation’s largely no-fault approach to safety. Last week’s criminal conviction and fines imposed on Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics in a French court a decade after the crash of an Air France Concorde supersonic transport is just the latest in what ICAO insiders see as a disturbing global trend toward “criminalizing” aviation accidents.
A new VIP version of the Dornier 328 has been launched by Germany’s 328 Support Services, the type certificate holder for the twinjet regional airliner. The so-called 328DBJ, which made its debut at last week’s Middle East Business Aviation show, replaces the Envoy version of the 328 and will be the standard for all future VIP conversions, says 328 Support Services.
Lufthansa Technik and Panasonic Avionics Corp. are establishing a joint venture for the development, manufacture and sale of inflight entertainment (IFE) and cabin management systems (CMS) for VIP aircraft. Officials from the two companies say their new systems for VIP aircraft will be based on a combination of the technologies seen in Panasonic’s X Series commercial IFE system, Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite (eXConnect and eXPhone) and the “nice” CMS/IFE system developed by Lufthansa Technik’s Innovation Business Unit.
Flight Display Systems has begun offering inflight entertainment (IFE) retrofits for Cessna Citation Mustangs and Embraer Phenoms. The Alpharetta, Ga., manufacturer of IFE systems has introduced the Club CMS product for Cessna and Embraer light jets. The package includes a moving map; adapter cables for iPods, iPhones and iPads; a DVD/CD player; six audio channels that can provide up to 90 hr. of MP3 music; two new seven-in. LCD monitors; and four passenger switching panels with headphone jacks. The entire system costs $25,000, plus installation.
The Transportation Department’s inspector general is calling for better oversight of aircraft grants after an audit revealed that about $161 million of the U.S. government’s Fiscal 2008 payments to Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grantees nationwide were improper. The estimate — made only for AIP payments made electronically — is for $3.2 billion in electronic payments made that year, or about 5%. Total AIP funding in the year amounted to more than $4 billion for 1,500 grantees.
The House of Representatives last week passed a measure to extend FAA’s authorization through Sept. 30, 2011. The measure was included in a larger Fiscal 2011 continuing appropriations omnibus bill, H.R.3082, which the Senate is expected to clear this week.
Lee Juan Lanford, 87, a co-founder and longtime head of Associated Air Center (AAC), has died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, AAC parent company StandardAero announced last week. Lanford helped establish the Associated Radio Company in 1948 at Love Field in Dallas, initially as a three-man operation that specialized in the repair and installation of surplus radio equipment in ex-military aircraft that were being converted into private/corporate aircraft.
Max-Viz and One Sky Aviation have received FAA supplemental type certification for the installation of the Max-Viz EVS-1500 dual optical-zoom infrared enhanced vision system (EVS) on the Agusta A109 helicopter. “This STC has been the most globally customer-driven certification program we have initiated, with four additional follow-on orders, with multiple systems, prior to the STC even being completed,” says Bob Yerex, VP-sales for Max-Viz.
The 700th Embraer E-Jet was recently delivered to British Airways. The 98-seat Embraer 190 will be operated by British Airways’ wholly owned subsidiary, BA CityFlyer, which flies domestic and international routes from London City Airport. This milestone comes just more than a year after Embraer delivered the 600th E-Jet in September 2009.
CHRISTOPHE ROBIN was appointed vice president-engineering for Daher-Socata Airplane Division. He will oversee future development of the TBM 850 single-turboprop aircraft. Robin formerly established his own company, Dyn’Aero, which has designed and developed more than 17 light and ultralight aircraft, such as the CR 100 two-seat aerobatic trainer. He also has participated in competition aerobatics at the French national level.
