Five Hawaiian airports received $23.3 million in Airport Improvement Program grants from the U.S. DOT to update infrastructure and increase capacity. Of the total, the DOT gave $13.7 million to Honolulu International Airport for several projects, including the rehabilitation of six taxiways, new electrical and air conditioning systems for the terminal building, and roof repair. The airport also will use the new funds to update its master plan and complete a noise compatibility study.
The FAA is working to install a software patch in the Voice Switching Systems installed at Los Angeles Center and 20 other centers and facilities across the United States. The goal is to fix the glitch that shut down the system at the Palmdale center and shut off radio communications between center controllers and as many as 800 aircraft under the center's control Sept. 14 at 1700 local. The voice switches routes and controls communications between a controller and the radio systems -- as well as among the controllers themselves.
Corporate Angel Network, the national public charity that uses the empty seats on corporate and fractional jets to provide free air transportation for cancer patients traveling to treatment, said it arranged a record-breaking 242 patient flights in August. This, on the heels of July's previous all-time record of 217 flights arranged in a single month.
Pete West, the NBAA's senior vice president of government and public affairs, will leave the organization on Nov. 1. For much of his 17 years with the NBAA, West has been its principal representative on Capitol Hill, helping draft legislation, lobbying Congress and working to promote the interests and concerns of business aviation operators. Newly installed President Ed Bolen is also acknowledged to be a master congressional lobbyist and may take a far more active role on Capitol Hill than did his predecessors at the NBAA.
Kathleen M. Blouin, Vice President, Conventions & Seminars, NBAA, Washington, D.C. A onetime buyer for Belk Stores Services in New York, Blouin later joined B/CA where she managed Show Daily (now called ShowNews) at conventions around the world. She moved to the NBAA staff in 1992 as senior manager, convention services, and today heads a 10-person department that, in addition to the annual meeting, oversees business conventions in Europe, Brazil and, soon, Asia, as well as seminars and regional forums.
Cessna has authorized Atlantic Aero in Greensboro, N.C., to perform non-destructive inspections on Citation aircraft. This includes radiography, eddy current, ultrasonic, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle and bond testing. Atlantic Aero is an FAA repair station.
In September, Cessna Aircraft Co. released Class A Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) Service Bulletins for several Citation models: 525 Citation CJ Mark V and Mark VIII; 550 Citation Bravo Mark VII and VIII; 560 Citation Ultra Mark VIII; 550 Citation II Mark VIII; and 650 Citation VII. Service Bulletins for Sandel Class A and Class B TAWS solutions will be available this month, the company said.
Day 1 -- Screening Day An ORBIS volunteer doctor and a local doctor join together to form a ``training partnership.'' They meet in person for the first time, although they usually have been e-mailing or faxing one another to discuss cases, training requirements and any needed resources. The local doctor presents a list of approximately 30 cases that he is unable to treat due to lack of skills or equipment. The two doctors then review the list and assess each patient's suitability for treatment.
In 1972, Dr. David Paton had a vision. The chairman of the Baylor College of Medicine's ophthalmology department, who had co-designed a specially equipped bus for delivering eye care in inner-city Houston, wanted to take the concept of mobile eye care international. He discussed with his friend Betsy Trippe DeVecchi the idea of outfitting an airplane so it could serve as an eye-care facility. Naturally, she sought the advice of her father, Pan American World Airways founder Juan Trippe, who responded: ``Anything can be put on an airplane.''
It looks like a mini-AWAC or possibly a spy plane. It is not. It is the unique solution for those who want television in flight, and it comes at about one-half the cost of current systems. Three companies, Flight Display Systems, The Maintenance Group and DAC International, have joined to offer a new DIRECTV product called Ellipse Direct. Hardware cost is listed at $99,650 and installation time is estimated at 100 work-hours, a figure they say is about one-sixth the time required for competing products.
The Jeppesen Instrument Procedures Guide provides information about rapidly evolving technologies emerging in the IFR environment, including GPS, Local and Wide Area Augmentation System (LAAS and WAAS) and RVSM. Thorough coverage of IFR operations in the National Airspace System, all regimes of IFR flight (takeoff, departure, en route, arrival, approach and landing) and safety-related human factors are also included.
Bell Helicopter now expects to receive FAA approval of the Bell 210 -- a civil-certified, improved version of the U.S. Army's UH-1H -- in mid-2005. The rotorcraft, which is based on the Huey II program, is designed to provide ``a significant increase in capability over comparative models at greatly reduced direct operating costs.''
Since most torpedoes are intended for one-time useand are expensive, the U.S. Navy likes to use unarmed ``fish'' assigned for testing and practice multiple times. Originally, the service used small boats with hoists to retrieve spent torpedoes. The problem with that method was torpedoes don't float very long, and they'd frequently sink to the bottom before the boat could reach them. And so the service gave the job to helicopters equipped with tracking gear.
Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design, although engineers attempt to optimize the blend of capabilities, performance and passenger comfort. B/CA compares the subject aircraft, in this case the Global 5000, with the composite characteristics of others in its class, computing the percentage differences for various parameters in order to portray the aircraft's relative strengths and weaknesses. We also include the absolute value of each parameter, along with the relative ranking, for the subject aircraft within the composite group.
The National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) will hold its annual fall meeting at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel from 1 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 10, just two days before the opening of the NBAA convention in Las Vegas. Following the NARA meeting, officials of the association are planning to host a reception at the hotel from 6 to 8 p.m. in conjunction with the National Aircraft Finance Association.
Steven J. Hill is the new president of Boeing Business Jets, taking over the joint venture between Boeing and General Electric Aug. 16. He replaces Lee Monson, who became Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of sales for the Middle East and Africa region. Hill was formerly business director of Boeing Aircraft Trading and before that was responsible for all technical, operational, completion and fleet support activities of BBJ. He joined Boeing in 1974 and has held various positions in Boeing Defense & Space Group as well as Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Max-Viz -- the Portland, Ore.-based manufacturer of enhanced vision systems -- has received from the FAA an STC for installation of the EVS-1000 on the Pilatus PC-12. The STC for the single-engine turboprop was completed and is owned by Boise, Idaho-based Western Aircraft, which is one of six authorized Pilatus sales and service centers in the United States.
Contrary to some news media reports, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is not setting up a helicopter plant in South Korea. Sikorsky confirmed that it did sign a memorandum of understanding to explore ``the potential of non-financial assistance to Washington Times Aviation in its effort to establish an S-61 helicopter service and component manufacturing center in Kimpo, South Korea.'' Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. of Hartford, Conn., stopped making the S-61 more than 20 years ago.
Boeing Business Jets (Seattle) -- Steven J. Hill has been named president of the Boeing-General Electric joint venture, replacing Lee Monson, who has been appointed vice president of sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the Middle East and Africa. Bombardier Aerospace (Montreal) -- The airframe manufacturer has named two new sales directors to its business aircraft sales organization in Europe. Eckhard Breuer is now responsible for sales in Germany and Austria, while Christophe Degoumois is handling sales in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Avidyne is offering upgrades for its FlightMax EX500 multifunction displays to present XM WX satellite weather. The upgrade gives pilots graphical information about weather conditions across the U.S., including full-color, high-resolution NEXRAD radar overlaid on the EX500's moving map; graphical and plain-English textual METARs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs and TFRs; and lightning strikes from the National Lightning Detection Network. According to Avidyne, XM provides full continental U.S. coverage with no gaps or altitude restrictions.
Wulfsberg Electronics, a Chelton Avionics company, has received FAA certification for a compact suite of control display units (CDUs). The Chelton FliteLine navigation and communications equipment was designed to allow installation of a complete six-unit suite -- two comm, two nav, an ADF and a transponder control -- in one-third less panel space. In addition to saving space, the FliteLine equipment features full-color displays. FliteLine CDUs can directly replace Bendix, AlliedSignal and Chelton Series III controls.
The last vestige of TWA officially disappeared Aug. 31, more than three years after American Airlines took ownership of the carrier's assets. During the interim, despite the new liveries and uniforms, TWA Airlines LLC operated as an AA subsidiary under its own certificate and operations specifications. The final flights on TWA's FAA operating certificate flew to St. Louis and Dallas/Fort Worth.
In 2002, the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) assumed responsibility for administering Transport Canada's Private Operator Certificate program as a government outsourced function. The CAR 604 POC is a mandatory licensing of turbine-powered pressurized passenger-carrying flight operations, from single-engine turboprops flown by the pilots who own them to corporate flight departments with multiple jet aircraft.
Tampa International Jet Center (TIJC) will open as a full-service FBO at Tampa International Airport (TPA) this month. The $11 million dollar facility covers a total of 160,000 square feet including the terminal area. The facility will also boast a 12,500-square-foot canopy to provide cover for aircraft arrivals and departures. TIJC will offer a full range of pilot and guest amenities including snooze rooms, high-speed Internet access and an exclusive on-site, commercial kitchen with a staff chef to provide catering services.
