Comments are due September 18 on an FAA proposal to permit pilots to perform simple maintenance tasks that currently require written exemptions. The proposal applies to pilots of FAR Part 135 aircraft with fewer than 10 seats and would permit removing and installing seats, stretchers, medical oxygen bottles and some panel-mounted avionics. The FAA said it has granted hundreds of exemptions, and no accidents have been attributed to pilots reconfiguring cabins.
The MORE (Maintenance on Reliable Engines) Company now has some 225 engines on its innovative, STCed program that allows Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6 operators to extend major overhaul intervals to as many as 8,000 hours. The program costs $3,750 per en-gine, and is applied to a specific serial number engine. Engines on the program undergo special FAA-approved inspections that permit many components to operate well beyond original OEM-specified intervals.
America Online's aviation lineup includes access to the following areas: -- Aviation on the Internet for access to Internet newsgroups, mailing lists and World Wide Web ``Aero Links.'' -- Aviation Forum online conferences, such as ``Military Training Routes,'' ``Robin' Hood: Simulated Instrument Flight,'' ``Aircraft Minimum Equipment,'' and ``Aviation Trivia Contest.'' -- A ``What is It?'' contest challenges users to identify the aircraft shown in an online image, and win an hour of free online time.
A video-camera system from Puritan-Bennett Aero Systems is designed to provide passengers with ``high-quality'' external images of the corporate aircraft and landscape during all phases of flight. For the flightcrew, it provides views of the landing gear and certain control surfaces. The system has three cameras and a camera-control unit commanded from within the aircraft. One camera is mounted in the tail, for a wide view of the aircraft and the horizon, while the other two cameras are placed on the lower fuselage (shown) aft of the main gear.
The concept of an independent FAA-as it was created in 1958 and as it existed until being shoved under the DOT umbrella in 1967-has been a dream of much of the aviation community for nearly three decades. However, the idea was only a dream until the Republicans took control of Congress. (The ill-advised proposal by Vice President Al Gore and DOT Secretary Federico Pea in the spring of 1994-and reiterated early this year-to spin off only the ATC system into an unwieldy government corporation was a nonstarter spurned even by most Democrats.)
James Robinson is the new president of Phoenix-based AlliedSignal Engines. Robinson previously was president of the Garrett Engine Division, and most recently held the title of vice president of regional and business aviation propulsion at AlliedSignal Engines. He replaces Robert Choulet, who was named senior vice president of business strategy for AlliedSignal Aerospace, the Torrance, California-based parent of the engine division.
The Annual Helicopter Heroism Award program found a new sponsor after a three-year hiatus. Starting with nominations submitted this year, Rotor&Wing magazine will sponsor the award recognizing individuals' or crews' heroic actions in helicopter rescue missions. Nominations must be submitted by January 1, 1996 for the award to be bestowed early in 1996 in Washington, D.C. Contact Jeanne Aube at (301) 340-1520 for the necessary forms. (After 25 years of sponsoring the award, Textron Lycoming withdrew in 1993 (B/CA, January 1993, page 24).)
In an amendment to FAR Part 61, the FAA makes it clear that only pilots-in-command who meet the recent experience requirements of Part 121 or 135 are exempt from compliance with Part 61.57 recency requirements. Otherwise, PICs must show compliance with Part 61.57 in order to conduct Part 91 flights. Since this requirement was originally adopted in late 1994, the FAA has become aware that some PICs working for Part 121 and 135 operators-and conducting only Part 91 flights-do not comply with any of the recency requirements.
A cargo version of the Aerospatiale TBM 700 now is available, but a stretched model of the single-engine turboprop ``remains in research and development.'' The TBM 700C features a 3.9-foot by 3.5-foot cargo door and an increase in cargo capacity to 1,820 pounds. Previously, Aerospatiale said it had hoped to fly the TBM 700S, a stretched TBM 700 with a 3.5-foot plug for up to nine seats, by early 1996 (B/CA, November 1994, page 20). That date will not be met.
Does your aircraft have enough life rafts? If you think so, you may be suffering from a false sense of security. ``When it comes to the number of life rafts needed on corporate aircraft, the interpretation isn't all that accurate out there,'' said Anthony Adamski, an instructor for HBAcorp's Crewmember Emergency Training (in Olympia, Washington) and a former pilot for Chrysler Corporation. The reason is that the number of required life rafts is governed not only by the operating rules, but also by the aircraft certification rules.
Development of the next-generation TCAS is advancing at Collins Avionics. The company says it will deliver a prototype of a TCAS IV to the FAA in December 1999. A limited-installation program is scheduled to start in December 2000. TCAS IV will use differential GPS signals to determine exact aircraft positions and allow for horizontal resolution advisories (RAs) in addition to the current vertical RAs that TCAS II provides. Tests indicate upgrading TCAS II to provide horizontal RAs of TCAS III is unworkable (B/CA, November 1993, page 24).
Closing of the U.S. Naval Air Station at Bermuda and the end of U.S. forces' ATC services there has resulted in new ATC management responsibilities. Per a new agreement, the FAA will provide ATC services for en route, transatlantic traffic passing through Bermudian airspace, plus approach-control services for flights to and from Bermuda. The Bermudian government will handle tower control within a distance of eight miles from the island's international airport.
Available from DB Systems is the Model 700/800 series digital audio-control panel. The company says digital control of cockpit audio offers ``improved performance with immunity to noise and interference'' compared with analog-type panels. Also, this digital system has fewer wires to install. Input capability is up to five comms and 10 receivers. Individual volume controls are available with each input. Outputs include headphone, cockpit speaker, pilot-selected comm audio and cockpit voice recorder.
Honeywell and Trimble have signed an agreement to cooperate in the development of GPS-based products. The two companies will collaborate in areas such as technology development and application, joint product development and marketing, and the supply of products to each other. Separately, Honeywell expects certification in January 1996 for the first installation of the Honeywell/Pelorus SLS-2000 GPS Satellite Landing System and the Honeywell vehicle-tracking system, TracLink (B/CA, April, page 24). The initial site for the SLS-2000 and TracLink is Minneapolis/St.
FAA Administrator David R. Hinson has set near-term close deadlines for five rulemaking initiatives: air carrier training rules extended to aircraft with more than 10 seats-final rule, October; expanded use of simulators for pilot training-final rule, October; harmonization of FARs and JARs for small and commuter airplanes-final rule, December; revised pilot duty-time limitations-proposal, November; and installation of enhanced FDRs-proposal, December.
Operational trials of a satellite-based communications, navigation and surveillance system for flights over oceanic and other remote areas are now under way. Known as the Future Air Navigation System (FANS), the technology uses two-way satellite datalink communications to provide accurate, timely and direct pilot-to-controller contact over remote areas. Today, controllers rely on position reports radioed from pilots and relayed by ground-based systems.
Asked whether notes, memoranda and even doodles left on the corporate aircraft were generally collected and discarded after a flight, the chief pilot of a large avionics firm said the answer would have been yes-until very recently.
U.S. manufacturers shipped 74 civil helicopters in the first quarter of this year, up one half percent from the 70 units delivered in the first period of 1994, said the Aerospace Industries Association. The total reflects rotorcraft built by Enstrom, Kaman, McDonnell Douglas, Robinson, Schweizer and Sikorsky. Bell helicopters, manufactured in Canada, are not included in the tally.
Landing permission for Tribbuvan Airport (VNKT) requires pilots to show proof of a successful simulated approach, familiarity with all SIDs and STARs, and a copy of their pilot licenses (Air Routing).
Octagon Process claims its new Octaflo Type I deicing fluid offers ``significant benefits in terms of safety and ease of use.'' The Edgewater, New Jersey company says that in addition to being ``environmentally friendly,'' Octaflo delivers a slightly longer holdover time in water spray and high-humidity conditions, is non-foaming in spray equipment, ``appears'' to be less slippery on tarmac, is ``virtually'' odor free, and is ``easier to pump at low temperatures.''
American Eurocopter and SFIM Industries of France have received FAA approval for Dauphin twin-turbine helicopters to shoot Category II ILS approaches. The approval is notable because CAT II approvals normally require the helicopter to be equipped with a four-axis autopilot. The Dauphin was approved with a three-axis SFIM unit after 50 test flights at Houston Intercontinental Airport. SFIM is offering the required changes at no cost to customers who have had their aircraft's autopilot coupler modified in accordance with the original STC.
AMR Eagle gave Saab Aircraft a boost in June with an order for 25 Saab 340BPlus turboprops. Deliveries will begin this fall and extend through mid-1996. The carrier already operates 116 earlier models of the 34-passenger aircraft.
A book detailing how the aviation industry can implement international quality- assurance standards known as ISO 9000 now is available. The 337-page volume features chapters on integrating ISO standards with FARs, examples of ISO 9000 recordkeeping forms and other required documents, training criteria, worker responsibilities, quality control and inspection methods, and more. Copies of Aviation Industry Quality Systems: ISO 9000 and the Federal Aviation Regulations are available for $66.25 each from Quality Press, P.O. Box 3005, Milwaukee, WI 53201.
Federal agencies are a little schizophrenic when it comes to fractional ownership. Under its auspices, the FAA says the increasingly popular programs are essentially non-commercial FAR Part 91 operations-basically just like owning your own aircraft. However, the Internal Revenue Service sees fractional ownership differently. To the tax collector, it looks like a Part 135 operation, and is, therefore, subject to federal excise taxes.
