In celebration of B/CA's 40th anniversary, each month throughout 1998, we will present excerpts from the top features published 40 years ago. We hope you will find them interesting and fun. From the September 1958 issue: Special Theme-This issue was dubbed the Planning Guide for Business Aviation to help readers increase the effectiveness of their operations. Pilots were given the latest performance data and specs on business aircraft of the day, plus complete specifications on their radio and radar equipment.
When B/CA flew Global Express S/N 9001 all of the avionics components had been brought on line except the performance pages of the FMS (awaiting last minute flight test data) and a few autopilot modes. These items will be cleared, said Bombardier, before first customer delivery in early 1999. Honeywell was the principal avionics integrator for the Global Express and provided many components for the suite from its Primus 2000XP line.
Some observers have criticized Free Flight development for being too dependent on technologies that are already out of date and/or management and controller union philosophies that favor the status quo of ground-based air traffic control.
The mandate was issued in November 1996. Due to communications-channel congestion over the heart of Europe, all aircraft would have to transition from 25 kHz channel spacing to 8.33 kHz spacing by January 1, 1999 for flights above FL 245 generally and FL 195 in France. At press time, it appeared that deadline would slip to September or October.
Company managers are the "point people" who have to field calls from the media, the public and the company's employees in the wake of a business aircraft accident. And the response must be quick, sensitive and effective. To provide guidance for management in this type of crisis, the NBAA has produced a memorandum titled "Company Response to an Aviation Accident." It is accessible to members now on the NBAA's Web site at www.nbaa.org/member/safety/response.htm. Non-members can view the memo on the public side of the Web site (www.nbaa.org).
This hangar with a 65-foot, cantilevered canopy was commissioned by Morris Communications Corp. at Bush Field Airport in Augusta, Ga. to hold its present mix of aircraft with no wing overlap and to keep its passengers' powder dry. Kuhlke Construction Co., contractor for the 150-by-122-by-28-foot building, utilized the expertise of Butler Heavy Structures, a specialist in the design and fabrication of hangars with unusual dimensions.
What's it like to fly an Airbus? Accompanied by William Wainwright, chief test pilot at Airbus Industries' Toulouse facility, I strapped into the left seat of its A320-001 veteran flight test aircraft, the 22-feet longer and older sibling of the A319. Airbus Industrie intends to tank and trim the A319 to transform it into a corporate jetliner (CJ) capable of flying 10 passengers up to 6,300 nm.
FAA has approved a performance envelope expansion for the Boeing MD 600N that will enable operators to increase the weight and altitude at which takeoff and landing operations will be permitted.
PS Air of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was appointed a factory sales and service center for Sino Swearingen's SJ30-2 business jet expected to receive certification in late 1999
Beginning in the second quarter of 1999, Galaxy Aerospace will introduce an optional CD-ROM version of the maintenance manuals for its IAI 1125 and 1126 business jets. The program, being developed by Jana, Inc. of San Antonio, will have an annual subscription price of $3,000, including revisions, for Astras, and $4,000 for Galaxies. Hard copies of the manuals cost $7,300, plus $1,500 annually for updates.
SkyWest will replace Delta service effective October 1 at Fresno, Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Jackson Hole, Wyo. This will enable Delta to use its assets to increase service from Salt Lake City to Boston and Washington's Dulles Airport.
VisionAire of Chesterfield, Mo. selected Nuremberg, Germany's Aero-Dienst to be a service center for European operations of the Vantage jet scheduled to receive certification in late 1999
Aircraft Technical Publishers, a Brisbane, Calif. provider of maintenance and regulatory libraries on CDs and microfiche, has released a CD library for 19 models and their derivatives of Textron Lycoming engine service letters and instructions
The Citation Ground Handling and Servicing Manual is a comprehensive reference from Cessna designed to familiarize line service and maintenance personnel with the care and feeding of all Citation models. Tabs separating information for the various aircraft models simplify navigation through the document. The three-and-one-half-inch thick publication includes sections on towing, taxiing, parking, fuel servicing, external cleaning, toilet servicing, hydraulic fluid systems, and deicing or anti-icing servicing. Price: $75.
At press time, the FAA was expected to announce that IFR-certificated GPS receivers may be used in place of ADF and DME readouts and/or NDB bearing information on many instrument approaches. Details are to be published in NOTAMs and in the next editions of the Airport Facility Directory. The new policy won't apply to NDB approaches that don't have a GPS overlay and some GPS databases will need DME and LOM waypoints added.
With the recent sale of its commercial aircraft maintenance business, The Dee Howard Co. returns to focusing primarily on its signature product-thrust reversers for corporate jets (November 1995, page 18). The San Antonio-based firm, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica/Alenia Aerospace Group, sold its airline and cargo operators maintenance business to Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance, L.P., a newly formed company owned by Code, Hennessy&Simmons, a Chicago-based private investment group, and the management team of the purchased maintenance unit.
Galaxy Aerospace, the Fort Worth-based marketing and service arm for IAI business jets, designated Jetport at Ontario's Hamilton Airport as an authorized sales and service outlet
It's been almost two years since business aviation veteran James A. Robinson joined Fairchild Aerospace and, apparently, he's engineered an impressive turnaround. "We've taken a lot of cost out of the operation. The [dollar-to-mark] exchange rate is working in our favor; we couldn't have picked a better time for a turnaround," Robinson explained to B/CA. "The 328JET market has taken an interesting turn in the past couple of months. We now believe there is a market for 1,200 jets with less than 50 seats.
