Chantilly Air, Manassas, Va., an aircraft charter and management service, added five new crewmembers: Luis Berrios, Kevin Alday, Adam Vidoni, Jeff Rash and Jim Musick.
Mooney Airplane Co. received FAA certification for the Garmin G1000 avionics suite on the GX versions of the Ovation and Bravo models. ``The Mooney Bravo and Ovation GX models will be the first high-performance, single-engine aircraft to enter service with the G1000 avionics suite,'' said David Copeland, vice president of sales and marketing.
Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., presented its 10th annual ``Spirit of Noise Abatement Awards'' to based corporate operators that had achieved 100-percent compliance with the airport's voluntary noise-abatement programs during 2003. A total of 29 aircraft operators in three different categories -- helicopter, turboprop and jet -- were honored by Westchester County, which owns the field. Two special noise-abatement awards also were given at the mid-November 2004 ceremony.
The FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) offers a one-day training course to familiarize civilian pilots and flight crews with the physiological and psychological stresses of flight, including loss of cabin pressure, hypoxia, spatial disorientation, trapped gas problems, decompression sickness, acceleration forces, and noise, vibration, thermal and self-imposed stresses.
Lycoming Engines, Williamsport, Pa., made several sales and marketing appointments recently. Todd Stoner was named vice president of sales and marketing; Mike Everhart was named director of distribution and channel management; and Dennis Racine was named director of marketing and customer leadership. Lycoming is an operating division of Textron's Avco Corp. subsidiary and is a unit of Textron Systems.
Jet Aviation Dallas, Texas, appointed Jim McDonough to the position of Southeast regional maintenance sales manager and Allen Walton to the position of Midwest regional maintenance sales manager.
Executive Jet Management, Cincinnati, recently made several personnel changes. Robert E. Mayo, formerly senior vice president, client transition, has become senior vice president, operations. Glenna Edwards was named vice president, owner standards. Larry Lee, formerly director of the company's shuttle operation, was selected as assistant director of operations. Ty Dubay, formerly shuttle program director, was named director, Flight Operations Center. In addition, Fred Robinson and Pete Djordjevic are now assistant chief pilots with the company.
Aviation Technical Solutions of Keller, Texas, has devised an anti-skid testing system for the Dassault Falcon Jet family of aircraft. Designed for one-person operation, the AS-100 uses individual tach/generators to selectively monitor the speed of each drive unit. Cables are long enough to allow the operator control box to be positioned in the cockpit or on the hangar floor.
Tim Travis, 46, media relations manager for Raytheon Aircraft Co. in Wichita, died on Dec. 9, 2004, of a heart attack, just two months after he was married. The editor/managing editor of the Wichita Business Journal from 1986 until mid-1994, Travis joined RAC's Communications Department in January 1997. In addition to two children from his first marriage, Travis is survived by his wife, Nancy, and two stepchildren.
LasVegasConventionTravel.com, an online travel and charter agency handling corporate and individual arrangements, promoted Jack Maxwell to sales director for air charter services.
Unfortunately, aviation often suffers from a tombstone mentality, which finds motivation to solve a critical safety problem only after it causes a particularly nasty airline accident (or two or three). The catastrophic crash of American Eagle 4184 on Oct. 31, 1994, near Roselawn, Ind., is an example; that accident focused attention on the inflight hazard posed by freezing drizzle.
Perhaps the slowest business aircraft in the United Kingdom, this Antonov An-2 ``Baltic Bear'' features four reclining leather seats, a cocktail bar (vodka of course), a rest room, glass cockpit door, concealed cabin lighting, and two small TV monitors that show the aircraft's leisurely progress from two external cameras. Owners John Calverley and David Holland plan to entertain friends and family aboard the ``Bear'' and fly them to out-of-the-way places. The conversion and completion was undertaken by Russian aircraft specialist Termikas Ltd.
Northrop Grumman appointed Carol Zierhoffer vice president and chief information officer for the company's information technology sector. Zierhoffer joined Northrop Grumman in 1988 and most recently was vice president and chief information officer for the company's electronic systems sector.
Although the Jan. 1 deadline in Europe for the implementation of ACAS II Phase II has passed, temporary exemptions for those operators experiencing genuine equipment and installation delays is available until March 31, 2006. Operators who are experiencing delays caused by ACAS II Service Bulletins, STC non-availability, or who intend to combine ACAS II installation with that of Mode S transponder certification/installation can apply for a short-term exemption from their state regulatory authorities.
The AvCraft Dornier 328Jet gained steep approach approval from German authorities, according to operator club328, which has eight of the aircraft type on order and holds another six options. ``The 328Jet will also gain its LCY [London City Airport] 5.5-degree steep approach approval fairly soon,'' said Warren Seymour, CEO of club328. According to Seymour, the aircraft's wing spoilers are being modified to change them from ground spoilers/lift dumpers to inflight speed brakes, creating drag necessary to achieve steep approach approval.
In the aftermath of the cluster of business jet accidents (see items in this section), corporate and charter safety is a legitimate subject of interest to the general media and the public. Sure enough, there's bad information floating around.
The FAA intends to issue a contract to replace up to 200 ceilometers and 200 visibility sensors on existing AWOS systems. The agency will issue a formal request for offers, with full specifications and qualification requirements shortly. The competition is expected to be open to large and small businesses. The FAA expects to have contracts in place by March 31, with an initial delivery period of 90 days after order. Contact: Rick Conyac, (405) 954-2602, [email protected].
PrivatAir will start Boeing BBJ2 Business-Class-Only service for Swiss International Airlines on scheduled service between Zurich and Newark Liberty International Airport on Jan. 5. Daily return flights will operate six days per week and the aircraft will have 56 lie-flat business-class seats. Geneva-based PrivatAir will provide the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance as well as onboard service. PrivatAir's scheduled transatlantic business-class-only service started with Lufthansa in 2002.
Robert Agostino, head of Bombardier Business Aircraft's Wichita flight department, just shook his head in disbelief looking back on the past two months of business aviation accidents. A Gulfstream IV slid off a wet runway at Teterboro, attempting to land in blustery conditions in early December. A Challenger 601-1A crashed on takeoff while departing from Montrose, Colo., just after Thanksgiving 2004. Less than a week earlier, a GIII clipped a 125 foot tall light pole more than three miles short of Runway 4 at Houston Hobby Airport, killing all crew members.
YEARS AGO I WAS an executive pilot for Time, Inc., a glamorous job, save one memorable trip. On Nov. 20, 1946, we flew Henry Luce, Time's founder, from New York to Cleveland in the company Lodestar for a business meeting and spent the night. The next day, we discovered a cold front -- with rain, sleet and fog -- was moving rapidly into the Northeast.
BBJs will remain shut out of Teterboro Airport under a provision tacked on to the FY2005 FAA budget. The provision, prohibiting the FAA from using any appropriated funds to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro Airport, was probably placed at the behest of Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) since he placed a similar provision in the FY2004 appropriation.
As a general aviation pilot, Chris Richardson never questioned the accepted procedure for how to purge the pressure building in his ears during a descent. The basic gist of it is contained in the FAA's Flight Training Handbook (AC 61-21A): ``The person should try swallowing, yawning, or holding the nose and mouth shut and forcibly exhaling.'' The latter technique, also known as the Valsalva maneuver, equalizes the gathering pressure on the outside of the eardrum with a self-generated blast of high-pressure air from the inside.
The NATA Aircraft Maintenance & System Technology Committee has developed a formal list of questions that aircraft owners and operators should ask when considering conducting business with an aircraft service facility. The committee's chairman, David Smith of Jet Aviation, described the initiative as a means by which aircraft owners and operators can eliminate uncertainty and errors when looking for quality maintenance service.
Northern Jet Management, Grand Rapids, Mich., made several recent personnel appointments. David C. Canavesio was named chief financial officer. Lt. Jon David Agema, previously with the U.S. Air Force, and Michael Allen Potts, previously with El Dorado Hotel and Casino, were named pilots. John L. Scicluna, formerly with VP Uniprop, LLC, was added to the company's sales department.
