Jet Support Services (JSSI) opened a new office in White Plains, N.Y. Walter Given, Jr. is managing the new office and can be reached at (914) 682-0317. JSSI's Tip to Tail program now offers maintenance programs for select Dassault Falcon 50, 50EX, 2000, 900, 900B, 900C and 900EX aircraft as well as Raytheon Hawker 800XPs, Beechjet 400As, and King Air C90s and B200s.
In a bid to improve service, Mercury Air Group has altered the management structure of its Mercury Air Centers FBO operations on the West Coast. Dan McDyre was named western regional director, Wes Daniels will be general manager of the company's Reno, Nev., facility and Fred Allega will return to manage Mercury's FBO at Los Angeles International Airport.
Midcoast Aviation (St. Louis) -- Mark Lange joins the company's St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport facility as avionics manager. Karin Tennstedt joins Midcoast-Little Rock as manager of interior design.
Micco Air scored two firsts in January: They became the first Native American-owned company to receive an FAA type certificate on the first new aircraft certified in 2000. The Fort Pierce, Fla.-based manufacturer will produce the SP-20, a single-engine, two-place, 200-hp retractable gear airplane with deliveries scheduled to begin this summer. Micco also plans to produce a 260-hp aerobatic version to be known as the SP-26. Both aircraft are based on a 1940s Meyer Aircraft design. The SP-20 will be priced between $147,000 and $192,000.
In the 21st century business paradigm, where the forces of change course at the speed of light, author and wag Tom Peters (of Peter Principle fame) opines that we will have to ``re-invent'' ourselves on the order of once every six months.
Citing the availability of improved international shipping and the ``ease of [shopping on] the Internet,'' Sporty's Pilot Shop closed its European retail and catalog facility in Wiesbaden, Germany. A contributing factor to the closure, according to President John Gauch, was the company's inability to locate the operation at an airport as it has at the retailer's Batavia, Ohio, headquarters. Rauch says European customers can order through a toll-free fax number or on the Internet.
At first glance, Internet-based parts ordering from corporate operators doesn't seem too impressive a business sector for parts distributing leader Aviall: Corporate aviation accounts for about 20 to 25 percent of its business, according to Vice President Sales&Marketing Jim Quinn; Internet orders are but five percent of the business. But then you hear the growth number: ``The growth rate for the B/CA reader is about 16 percent -- per week,'' Quinn said.
UPS-AT (nee II Morrow) has developed a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)-compatible GPS engine, one capable of improved navigational accuracy, integrity and higher signal availability than the current generation of IFR-certified GPS receivers. Developed in conjunction with NavCom Technology, a Redondo Beach, Calif.-based GPS engineering firm, the unit will equip UPS Airlines' entire fleet of 229 jet freighters, and integrate smoothly with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) hardware now being tested.
Photograph: S-92A civil helicopter mockup Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft says it intends to keep its flight test center in West Palm Beach, Fla., open, though plans to move S-76 testing to a new, undisclosed site will proceed. Work at West Palm now will focus on flight testing the new RAH-66 Comanche military helicopter and the 25,000-pound, dual-role S-92A.
Officials from the FAA and aviation groups continue to fault each other for the imminent gridlock of the U.S. ATC system. Yet, at the RTCA's annual meeting held just outside Washington, D.C., in October 1999, several hundred experts on the subject were cautiously upbeat on the future of ATC.
Following a one-year trial, U.S. Customs said it will continue to offer inbound aircraft customs clearance at Burbank and Van Nuys Airports in California. Previously, international aircraft were obligated to stop at LAX or other en route airports before continuing on to VNY or BUR. Pacific Coast Forecasting's Mike Wittman, who spearheaded the effort to bring customs to the airports, said inbound flights would often plan for fuel stops at airports with customs agents and less congestion than LAX.
NTSB Chairman Jim Hall has called for the creation of a ``task force'' to combat bird strikes. Two recent incidents prompted the action: the collision of a USA Jet Douglas DC-9 with a large flock of birds near Kansas City, Mo., on March 4, 1999; and a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757's ingestion of birds on takeoff from Cincinnati on February 22. Both aircraft were damaged, but no injuries were reported.
Meggitt Avionics, the British company developing an EFIS for turboprops, piston aircraft and entry-level business jets has selected Woodland Aviation as its first dealer. An independently owned Raytheon Aircraft sales and service center in Northern California, Woodland plans to help Meggitt develop EFISes for Raytheon aircraft. Testing of Meggitt's MAGIC system is under way on New Piper's Malibu Meridian, and also is planned for the proposed Century Aerospace CA-100 business jet.
After two and one-half years battling government proposals to restrict the air tour industry, United States Air Tour Association (USATA) President Steve Bassett is calling it quits. Bassett said he's leaving to concentrate on a family owned media and public relations firm, though he will continue to consult the organization. Reflecting on his tenure, Bassett said that he's ``never been in anything as intense and unfair as the [Clinton] administration's attempts to bury the air tour industry.''
The National Air Transportation Association aims to produce a ``public relations tool-kit'' to help FAR Part 135 operators and FBOs fight local efforts to close airports or limit their operations. The trade group has enlisted the help of PR firm Weber McGinn, which will measure anti-airport sentiment at four airports including: Palwaukee near Chicago, Flying Cloud in Minneapolis and Solberg-Hunterdon in New Jersey. Results of the survey will be announced at the next Aviation Services and Suppliers SuperShow (AS3), in Tampa from May 9-11.
Officials at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS) got creative when faced with a government directive to build a storm-water detention system. Instead of digging a large containment basin, they're building a $4.2 million, 18-hole golf course funded by a local golf course development company. Water is no laughing matter at SUS, where a new Flight Service Station is under construction to replace one destroyed by flooding in 1993. Both the golf course and the new FSS are slated to open later this year. SUS claims to be one of the few U.S.
The Fractional Ownership Aviation Rulemaking Committee (FOARC) has concluded its meetings and expects to issue recommendations to the FAA late this month or in early February. Although operating under a self-imposed gag order, committee chairman Jim Christiansen -- executive vice president and chief operating officer of TAG Aviation USA -- did say that members have arrived at a ``100-percent consensus'' on its conclusions and that he expected everyone in the aviation community to be happy with the results.
Hartzell Propeller is offering a new ``Top Prop'' STC kit that will reduce noise levels on Cessna 208, 208A and 208B Caravans. The four-blade, 96-inch propeller adds five inches of ground clearance and comes with a three-year/1,000-hour war- ranty. Top Prop STC kits are now available for over two dozen aircraft models from five manufacturers. Price: $18,900 without deice; $21,000 with electric deicing Hartzell Propeller Inc. One Propeller Pl. Piqua, Ohio 45356-2634 Phone: (937) 778-4200
