State-owned Embraer was privatized on December 7, 1994, less than two years after being placed on the privatization list by the federal government. Through a public auction of shares of common and preferred stock, the company became controlled by a stockholders' consortium associated with CIEMB-the Investment Club of Embraer Employees. It controls 52.11 percent of the company's capital. Since privatization, the consortium has invested $320 million in new capital through November.
Bing T. Lantis is this small-aircraft manufacturer's new president and CEO. He succeeds Jacques Esculier, who left the company to accept a position with AlliedSignal Aerospace in Singapore. Jeffrey Dunbar, former vice president of sales, is now COO.
International Aviation has opened a renovated FBO at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport. International Aviation purchased the facility from the former Teterboro Aircraft Services. Areas remodeled include the passenger lounge, two crew lounges, a conference room and showers. The company also added another hangar. Christopher A. Breese is operations manager. (201) 288-1880.
AlliedSignal dropped a plan to coproduce engines in China after the U.S. Commerce Department warned the Morristown, New Jersey firm that a request to export engine technology know-how to China would be denied. Commerce and other U.S. regulators expressed concern about the Chinese government's possible use of the technology for military applications. Despite its deferring to Washington's wishes, the company remains convinced that the government's concerns are misplaced.
General aviation airports finally may have an advocacy group. Supporters of the newly established General Aviation Airport Coalition are looking forward to what they feel will be a better representation of their special interests before government officials and public entities as compared to existing trade organizations' advocacy efforts (See B/CA, September, page 28).
This full-service FBO, under new ownership since July, announced a new management team headed by Allen G. Hoyt as president and Ken Hawk as vice president of FBO services. L.M.
Richard W. Emery and J. Robert Duncan forged this partnership to foster the development of new businesses and services in aviation and related industries. Emery is the former president of KC Aviation; Duncan is current chairman of Duncan Aviation and Alliance Engines.
When a cloud first develops, it consists of droplets that are 10 to 20 microns in diameter. Each droplet forms around a tiny 0.1- to one-micron-diameter aerosol particle or cloud nuclei. The mass of a 100- and 1,000-micron drop is 1,000 to one million times as large as a 10-micron droplet. The critical question is, ``How do 1,000 to one million drop-lets that are 10 microns in diameter get together to form 100- and 1,000-micron drops, respectively?'' There are two ways.
Strong sales of new business aircraft continued through 1995's first ten months, showing an 8.0 percent increase in worldwide deliveries of new turbines over the same period in 1994. The market's year-to-date position is supported by a 20.4 percent jump in U.S. sales of new jets and turboprops-an uplift that more than offset a 17.1 percent drop in sales of new aircraft overseas, and a 13.4 percent global slump in resales.
COMSAT Mobile Communications disbanded its COMSAT Aeronautical Services unit, consolidated the unit's operations into a single marketing group and reduced the number of staff handling aeronautical satellite communications products. However, the Clarksburg, Maryland firm says it remains ``fully committed'' to continuing customer support and to introducing new and enhanced products. An example is the recently announced update of its Aero-C messaging service that makes it ``easier and faster'' to send data, fax and e-mail messages to and from aircraft.
Noise-abatement programs under FAR Part 150 have been proposed for Wisconsin's Kenosha Regional Airport and Georgia's Savannah International Airport. Under Part 150, interested parties can submit comments on the programs to the FAA. The agency is scheduled to approve or disapprove the programs by March 1996. For further information on the proposal for Kenosha, contact the local FAA Airports District Office in Minneapolis. Phone: (612) 725-4222. For more details on the Savannah proposal, contact the Airports District Office in College Park, Georgia.
Things are very different at Embraer today. There is a new president, new officers, and the company now reports to bottom-line-minded shareholders rather than the Brazilian government. With such a dramatic change, however, come new options and new decisions as to the direction the regional aircraft manufacturer will take under its new owners. Ozires Silva, the former air force colonel and founding chief executive of Embraer, recently sat down with B/CA in his So Paulo office and talked about some of those options.
Fresno start-up Air 21 has taken delivery of its first two former USAir F28-4000s and may take up to 14 before all is said and done. The carrier-headed by former Wings West President and Fairchild Aircraft executive Mark Morro-concluded a lease and leasing options agreement with USAir in mid-October. However, it said that due to a mutual non-disclosure agreement between the two companies, ``neither company may disclose the terms of the leasing agreement or how many lease options are involved in the multi-aircraft transaction.''
Raytheon posted the only new international turboprop sale in October, a King Air 350. There were six deliveries of new turboprops in October last year. October figures included three resales-two previously owned Piper models and one Cessna turboprop. There were 24 resales posted in October 1994. While September revisions did not affect new delivery tallies, seven additional resales were added to the three reporter earlier. Year to date, 23 new turboprops have sold overseas.
Pacific Systems presents Virtual i-glasses!, an inflight video-viewing alternative. This eight-ounce personal video viewer is said to deliver a big-screen effect with hi-fi stereo sound-equivalent to watching an 80-inch color television from a distance of 11 feet. Video sources such as videocassette recorders, laserdisc players and videocamera systems can ``plug into'' i-glasses to show movies, views from the cockpit, or training and sales videos (user-provided). Virtual i-glasses!
Setting up a business meeting in Russia is as different from the way it's done in the United States as borscht is from onion soup. According to the BISNIS Bulletin, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is best to plan a meeting held in Russia with respect for the Russian style, even though many top-level Russians are used to American business customs and will ignore our unwitting errors in protocol.
The latest in noise attenuating headsets from David Clark Company is the series H20-10, made of ``advanced'' composite materials. For cushioning, the headset features a custom-comfort system with a patented, adjustable headpad suspension assembly, and ``no hot spots'' is the claim. A ratcheted latch assembly with gauge markings on the headband allows for exact vertical adjustment of the headpad for a comfortable fit. Price: $315. David Clark Co., 360 Franklin St., Worcester, MA 01615. (508) 751-5800.
ICAO has sobering statistics to show concerning general-aviation aircraft crossing the North Atlantic. Business aircraft and other non-commercial flights account for three percent of the traffic, but 35 percent of the gross navigational errors.
AMR Combs plans to begin FBO services at San Francisco International Airport out of temporary facilities on January 2, 1996. A permanent facility is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 1996. (See accompanying artist's rendition.)
Nine new jets were delivered to U.S. customers in October 1995 compared to 12 sales in October 1994. Cessna led with four: three Citation V Ultras and one CitationJet. Learjet listed single sales of its 31A and Model 60. Also included this month were single sales of Canadair's 601-3R, Dassault's Falcon 2000 and the Gulfstream IV-SP. Preliminary data included reports of 39 domestic sales of previously owned jets in October, down from the 75 resales reported for October 1994 (revised.)
The IA (Inspection and Authorization) Professional Library on CD-ROM is a newcomer to Aircraft Technical Publishers' ATP Navigator product line. The library was devised to meet the regulatory publication needs of professional aircraft inspectors, airframe and powerplant technicians studying for the IA exam for light aircraft, as well as for smaller FBOs and repair stations. Among the referenced U.S. regulatory publications are: FAR Parts 1, 43, 65, 91 and 183; manufacturer service bulletins; ADs for small airplanes and rotorcraft; and STCs.
Aircraft equipped with ARINC's Aircraft Communications and Reporting System (ACARS) now can receive ATIS messages via datalink for certain airports in Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto, Canada. ARINC says the service will be extended to about 60 U.S. airports in 1996. Datalink enables ATIS to be displayed on a computer screen or printed out, and allows ATIS to be received beyond an airport's VHF line-of-sight range. Also in 1996, ARINC hopes to introduce datalink access to terminal weather information.
