Executive Jet Management added three aircraft to its charter fleet in December 1998. The company plans to add a total of 25 managed aircraft to its fleet this year.
(www.rockwell.com) -- Rockwell Collins has set up a Web site for customers who want to check the company's products and systems for any potential problems associated with operation beginning in 2000. The company's Y2K database lists more than 30,000 Rockwell Collins products, including those produced by the recently acquired Passenger Systems business and others manufactured by Rockwell subsidiaries in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The House of Representatives has taken the first steps to reauthorize funding of the FAA, take the aviation trust fund off budget and provide money for the Airport Improvement Program before AIP funds run out on April 1. Because House and Senate conferees could not agree in late 1998 on a full-year funding package for the agency, FAA programs were only authorized through March 31. Sen.
This year the Helicopter Association International returns to Dallas--home of several helicopter manufacturers and service providers, including Bell and Eurocopter--for its 51st Heli-Expo on February 21-23.
Last year, Pilatus Aircraft sold a record 76 PC-12s and delivered 51 of the single-engine turboprops. To reduce the backlog for the Pratt&Whitney PT6-powered airplane, production at the company's Swiss factory is slated to increase from four to five units per month during the second quarter.
CAMP Systems International can provide subscribers e-mail notification of the IFR movements of their aircraft on a real-time, per-leg basis or via a daily summary report. Robert A. Searles
ATR 72: a proposed rule that would require initial and repetitive inspections to detect fatigue cracking in the fuselage. BAC 1-11-200s and -400s: a proposed rule that would supersede an existing AD by adding a requirement to perform a one-time inspection of fasteners in joint-strap installations and replacement of rivets with bolts, if needed. Canadair RJ: an emergency AD requiring a one-time visual inspection (and reinforcement if necessary) of center fuel tank electrical wiring conduits.
Raisbeck expects to receive a supplemental type certificate for its Boeing 727-200 Heavy Gross Weight (HGW) modification in March and anticipates starting deliveries of the retrofit in April. The Seattle company finished flight testing the 727 modification in December and is currently reviewing data to confirm Stage 3 noise compliance.
FAA has reaffirmed its ruling that Colorado's Centennial Airport discriminated against an airline by denying its petition to run scheduled passenger service. Neither the airport nor John Andrews, president of Centennial Express, the carrier that sought to serve Centennial, expressed surprise at the decision. The airport has asked Susan Kurland, the FAA's associate administrator for airports, to overturn the ruling and release AIP funds to Centennial. If that request is denied, the airport said it will take its case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
AlliedSignal's entry into the telecommunications industry is its AIRSAT 1 airborne satellite telephone that uses Iridium World Air Service. AIRSAT 1 provides customers with air-to-ground, ground-to-air and air-to-air global communication. The unit is voice only, and a multi-channel AIRSAT product is in the works. Price: $29,500 AlliedSignal Electronic and Avionics Systems 23500 W. 105th St., Olathe, Kan. 66061 Phone: (913) 712-2613; Fax: (913) 712-2940
When we saw the shark fin, the conversation naturally turned to the IRS. I was fishing in the Gulf on a boat named Rockcrusher #3'' with a good friend and client. My friend's company builds roads in Florida, and I wanted to know if he had ever taken any deductions for entertaining clients on Rockcrusher #3. ``We take 100-percent depreciation,'' he said, eyeing the shark, ``and the IRS didn't say `boo' about it when we got audited.'' Amazed, I asked how the boat showed up in their books.
Duncan Aviation (Lincoln, Neb.)--Bill Prochazka has been promoted to vice president of aircraft and customer service at the FBO chain's Battle Creek, Mich., facility.
Mercury Air Group (Los Angeles)--Joseph A. Czyzyk has been promoted to president and CEO. Seymour Kahn, former board chairman and CEO, will continue as chairman.
(www.oshkoshpilotshop.com) -- Oshkosh Pilot Shop, a store based near Miami International Airport, has an Internet site for shoppers looking for a variety of aviation equipment. The retailer stocks GPS units, headsets, microphones, sunglasses, charts, logbooks, books on flying and other aviation-related items.
During the recent holiday season, the AOPA used the power of the 30-second TV spot on behalf of local community airports. The association ran two half-minute advertisements on The Weather Channel and sponsored 57 segments of the cable TV station's programming from December 24 through January 1. The AOPA commercials touted the value of airports and left viewers with something to think about: ``America's pilots care about local community airports. You should, too!'' The association estimates that its message reached 13.5 million households.
Morris Morgan, 79, former manager of aviation for Texas Eastern's worldwide Gulfstream operation, died January 2 of cancer in Houston. Amassing 59 years in aviation, he began his career as a U.S. Navy pilot in World War II and joined Trans Texas Airlines after the war. In the 1980s, he co-founded Corporate Concepts and Trinity Aviation, an aviation consulting, management, leasing and financing company.
BFGoodrich, a firm that's been providing aircraft with inflight deicing systems for more than 30 years, will now start providing aircraft on the ground with ice detection. The company recently purchased the Robotic Visions Systems Model ID-I ice-detection product line. The ID-I uses electro-optical laser technology to detect ice and frost on wings and other critical surfaces, even through water or deicing fluid, as well as in the dark while the aircraft is on the ground.
Petersen Aviation (Van Nuys, Calif.)--This FBO announced two promotions: Ken Curry to vice president and general manager and George Walker to executive director.
Premier Air Center, a factory-authorized Cessna Conquest and Citation Service Center located at St. Louis Regional Airport in East Alton, Ill., has received Joint Aviation Authorities approval of its maintenance and installation services.
Usually Cause&Circumstance focuses on accidents or incidents that expose subtle causal chains or technical anomalies that if misunderstood or go undetected can lead a professional flightcrew to grief. But then, sometimes people do just plain stupid things in flying machines. Normally, those reports end up in the circular file, but this one was too incredible to pass up.--RNA
UTFlight, the Hartford, Conn.-based aviation department of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), says it has become the first corporate aircraft operator in the world to be registered to ISO 9002, the international quality standard (B/CA, October 1998, page 94). The certification signifies that the flight department has developed a systematic approach to its business, thereby assuring that it can consistently deliver high-quality service. UTFlight launched its effort to gain ISO approval after Steven P.
