Aviation General, Inc., Bethany, Okla., appointed Keith A. Martinich president/CEO of its wholly owned subsidiary, Strategic Jet Services, Inc. He succeeds John H. deHavilland, who is now chairman. Martinich was previously vice president of sales and marketing for the company.
On the eve of the NBAA Convention, the FAA awarded the Embraer Legacy its final type certification, further accelerating the acceptance of the Brazilian executive jet. Legacy deliveries have already begun. Since it was launched with great fanfare at the 2000 Farnborough Air Show, the Legacy program has moved forward with speed. The aircraft is based on Embraer's ERJ 135 regional jet.
New Piper Aircraft's first Meridian single-engine turboprop customer believes the manufacturer has been too conservative in certifying the PA-46's maximum true airspeed. ``The book TAS of 263 knots is actually below what it can do,'' Dick Dumais, president of the Texas Moving Co., told B/CA from his office in Dallas. ``Yesterday, coming back from Santa Fe, we trued at 274 knots -- and I videotaped it to prove it. I operate it up where it was meant to fly, between 27,000 and 29,000 feet, averaging 35 gallons per hour of Jet A.''
A CitationJet full flight simulator manufactured by NLX Corp. of Sterling, Va., won FAA Level D qualification at the CAE SimuFlite Center at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The CitationJet simulator is the third of five Level D devices on order from CAE SimuFlite to be delivered. A Falcon 900B/C/EX Level D convertible FFS and a Falcon 2000 Level D FFS will be delivered in the first half of 2003. The contracts for the NLX simulators were issued while SimuFlite Training International was a part of GE Capital.
TAC Air has entered into an agreement to purchase Krystal Aviation at Lovell Field Airport (CHA), Chattanooga, Tenn. ``This transaction allows Krystal to better deploy its assets and management resources into our core business of operating and franchising Krystal restaurants,'' said Phil Sanford, chairman and CEO of the Krystal Co., which is divesting the FBO.
Honeywell is joining the consensus that says there's life in the Iridium satcom network. Honeywell is interfacing Iridium with it's own AIRSAT satellite communication system. An AIU-100 Aircraft Integration Unit converts Iridium's digital voice signal to standard analog audio, which allows for multiple handsets or headsets to be fitted (including hands-free wireless equipment). A connection can be provided to users in the main passenger cabin and on the flight deck via Honeywell's AIRSAT telephone dialer unit, the TDU-100.
Even major airports have concerns about charter screening requirements. ``The private charters that are processed through BWI [Baltimore/Washington International Airport] tend to consist of high-profile passengers/movements such as sports teams, celebrities and special charters,'' said Amanda Baker and Jose Chaves of the Security Division of BWI.
The National Air Transportation Association will present a series of risk management seminars that cover a variety of insurance topics, including selecting an aviation insurance broker, reducing claims by aggressively managing risk and an overview of the current aviation insurance market. Price to attend is $225 for NATA members and $275 for non-members. For more information, contact NATA at (703) 845-9000.
The Transportation Security Administration has extended the comment period and compliance deadlines on two key security rules covering charter and other commercial operators.
The George E. Haddaway En-dowment Fund has awarded its first two annual scholarships to Kathryn Collins Clark of the University of North Texas and Ashlee Fiser of Embry-Riddle Aero-nautical University. The award was created to memorialize George Haddaway, a longtime aviation journalist and publisher of Flight magazine.
Bombardier Aerospace is dividing its business aircraft into three distinct families -- dubbed Learjet, Challenger and Global -- and is giving each its own color coat of arms. Gone is the name Continental -- the new aircraft is now the Challenger 300. And finding a home at last is the Canadair Regional Jet with executive interior, and the Special Edition -- they also become Challengers, with an 800 number. The Challenger 604 remains, well, the 604.
Honeywell surveyed operators on their preparedness for the DRVSM (domestic reduced vertical separation minimum) equipment and certification requirements proposed by the FAA. Some 41 percent of the operators responded that they thought they were compliant and another 32 percent said they had plans to comply. But the remaining 27 percent of the responses came from operators who have no plans to upgrade to meet the RVSM requirements.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is opening a new, expanded classroom site at Lockheed Martin's flight training center near Orlando International Airport to serve attendees in Osceola and Southwest Orange County. The first ERAU class will be Human Factors in Aviation Safety -- a credit toward an Aviation Safety Certificate. Recently highlighted safety issues are expected to stimulate demand, says ERAU director Kim Nelson. Courses leading toward bachelor's and master's degrees will also be taught at the new facility.
Fractional aircraft provider Flight Options has opened its fifth regional maintenance center, this one at Teterboro Airport (TEB), N.J. The new maintenance shop is housed within Atlantic Aviation's facility and encompasses 18,000 square feet of leased space. The company will employ a staff of 10 avionics specialists and approximately 30 A&P technicians. The hangar will be operational 24 hours a day to service Flight Options aircraft, which perform more than 5,000 flights annually out of TEB.
Eclipse Aviation has revealed order commitments for more than 2,000 Eclipse 500s, of which 1,752 were backed with non-refundable deposits worth a total of $65 million. International orders accounted for about 10 percent of the total, including a single order for 112 aircraft from the Swiss flying club Aviace AG.
The camel's nose may be in the tent. A recent FAA memo authorizes Boeing Business Jet operators to operate the aircraft under FAR Part 135 with certain provisions. However, the memo also said that the FAA plans to ``initiate rulemaking efforts to determine if additional safety and operational requirements should be established for these large airplanes'' whether operated under Part 91 or Part 135.
Universal Weather and Aviation will offer Air Security International's security services to its clients under a newly announced agreement. The deal will allow Universal to focus on trip support services, including weather briefings, international flight planning and air-to-ground communications, while meeting customer security needs. Founded 13 years ago, ASI is a full-service air security company that provides intelligence, aircraft guarding, executive protection and VIP reception.
ElectronicFlight Solutions has added a new EGPWS module to its CompleteLearning line of computer-based aviation training products. The new module is dedicated to the use of Honeywell's enhanced ground proximity warning system, the low-cost Bendix/King KGP650 EGPWS. It also covers Honeywell and Avidyne displays commonly used with the system. GPWS inventor Don Bateman, chief engineer with Honeywell's flight safety systems unit, said he's ``very impressed'' with the training package.
Beauty may prove to be only skin deep once Honeywell's SAM is unleashed on your favorite business jet. SAM -- that's Structural Anomaly Mapping -- can see through the gloss to flaws within, discovering cracks and corrosion in metal and debonding and delamination in composites, flaws that quietly lurk in wait of a structural failure. SAM is, in effect, the first CAT scan for business jets. Its robotic sensors can inspect and diagnose an airplane overnight, without taking it out of regular service.
Thales' air traffic management unit will supply up to 375 low-power DME systems for ILS sites under a new five-year FAA contract. The procurement includes new locations and replacements for existing installations. The FAA in March 2000 contracted with Thales ATM for more than 100 Mark 20A ILS systems. Potential value of the new contract -- which also includes training, spares and support services -- is up to $18 million.
Edited by David RimmerMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
Ford Flight -- Ford Motor Co.'s flight department -- plans to replace its two U.K.-based Boeing Business Jets with a pair of brand-new Boeing 737-700s. The BBJs started operations from London Stansted in January 2001 and mainly serve Ford's automobile plants in Cologne, Valencia and Bordeaux on mainland Europe.
GAMA membership is now open to non-U.S. manufacturers following a vote by the group's board of directors. Association President Ed Bolin said the move comes as GAMA becomes more involved in international regulatory matters through the Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA), ICAO and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). GAMA has already included foreign-company manufacturing data in its reports, and given the global nature of aviation, the move seems a logical one. Bombardier, Dassault Falcon Jet, Embraer and Piaggio have applied for membership.
Randall Greene President&CEO, Safe Flight Instrument Corp. Founded by Leonard Greene in 1946, Safe Flight produced the first stall-warning system and went on to introduce a series of revolutionary systems including the angle-of-attack indicator, stick shakers, wind-shear alert and autothrottles. Son Randy, a veteran aviation executive and 6,000-hour ATP, was asked to head the company after his brother, Donald, the COO, was killed on 9/11 in the crash of UAL Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.
Corporate Angel Network, the volunteer organization through which U.S. companies volunteer their aircraft to transport ill patients between their homes and distant medical facilities, reports that it transported 35 percent more people in fiscal 2002 than in the previous year, setting a record for the generosity of participating firms. Frequent CAN participants include Coca-Cola, ConocoPhillips, Corning, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Ford Motor, GM, International Paper, The Limited, Meredith, Motorola, Pepsico, Verizon and United Space Alliance.
Mercury Air Centers, Inc. appointed Kimberly Phillips as general manager of the company's Addison, Texas, FBO. Prior to joining Mercury, Phillips was supervisor of quality development for Bombardier Aerospace/Flexjet. In addition, Mercury named two program managers for the company's new Customer Programs Department: Brian Swift, who was previously in Mercury's marketing and sales department, and Steve Bowlin, who came to the company from Signature Flight Support, where he worked in FBO operations.
