The FAA has rejected the privatization of Niagara Falls International Airport, N.Y. (IAG) after investors' revised post-September 11 projections showed the airport would not be profitable for years, sharply reducing or eliminating the investment and airport modernization for which the pilot privatization program was created.
Continuing its quest to get business operators back into Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA), the NBAA in February sent a revised proposal to the FAA that details its security plan for use of the airport and stepped up its lobbying campaign to win political support for reopening DCA to business flights.
The Marquis Private Jet Card has been launched in Europe following its start-up in the United States last June. The scheme offers members the ability to purchase 25 hours or more of occupied annual flight time in four types of corporate aircraft in the NetJets Europe fleet. Owned by Marquis Jet Partners Inc. of New York, the new European offshoot is known as Marquis Jet Europe and is headed by CEO and co-founder Rob Hersov. The company's headquarters is based in London, England.
An avid golfer we know described the U.S. Open this way: ``They take a perfectly decent golf course and --'', well, since we're a G-rated publication we won't print his colorful description, but suffice it to say the Open can be humbling.
Mike Vines, in Birmingham, EnglandEdited by David Rimmer
Icing is being viewed as a possible factor in the January crash of a Bombardier Challenger CL-604 in the United Kingdom. The crash killed all five aboard -- three crewmembers and two passengers.
Skip Madsen was named president of Executive Aircraft Corp. in Wichita. Madsen was most recently executive vice president and chief operating officer of Duncan Aviation, where he had worked for 22 years.
Sabreliner operators might want to check out a package of incentives and discounts offered by Sabreliner Corp.'s Perryville, Mo., facility. The company is offering substantial discounts on 48- and 60-month corrosion inspection packages accompanied by incentives including 500 gallons of fuel on departure, a $2,000 voucher for future work performed at Perryville, and a discount on FlightSafety training.
CAE announced a total of $18 million (Canadian) in new simulator business from Bombardier and WestJet. They will build and install a Level D 737-700 simulator for WestJet and will upgrade some of Bombardier's CRJ700 training systems (a full flight simulator, a flight training device and two systems trainers) to be fully convertible to CRJ900 training.
The history of Churchill Downs dates back to 1789, but the track in its current form was built in 1875 and became known as the site of the Kentucky Derby. Held annually on the first Saturday in May, the Derby is the world's most-famous horserace and an amazing spectacle. The Kentucky Oaks, held on the Friday of Derby week, is a smaller-scale version of the Derby but draws a considerable crowd.
Imagine flying along, verbally asking your flight computer for the distance to a particular waypoint, and then having it respond with the answer verbally. A computer program that could give cockpit instruments the ability to talk back has been developed by a Siemens laboratory in Princeton, N.J. The system was developed by project researcher Yacop Genc to aid engineers and maintenance technicians.. He said the system could be operating in a real working environment by midyear.
Regal Aviation has completed the first phase of its $5.5 million, 85,000-square-foot customer care center located at Dallas Love Field (DAL). The initial 28,000-square-foot phase includes a new lobby, office space and maintenance hangars.
Cleveland-based air charter operator AvBase has received worldwide charter authority from the FAA. According to the company's president and CEO, John DePalma, the approval will help the company respond to increased demand for international travel on the company's two Gulfstream G-200s. AvBase was the first U.S. charter operator of the former Galaxy and considered a test-bed for Executive Jet's interest in the aircraft.
There are plenty of reasons to upgrade to electronic flight bags (EFBs), according to Jim Miller, Flight Options' executive vice president. For three years, Flight Options has been using portable, non-certified Fujitsu EFBs that are not connected to any aircraft system, except a simple battery-charging circuit through a cigarette lighter adapter.
Jeppesen Academy now formally offers its customized flight crew Distance Learning System, or DLS. TAG Aviation was its launch customer, and Jeppesen is ready to build a program for any operator with formal recurrent training requirements. Jeppesen's FliteCrew DLS is computer-based and uses client-server architecture to let crewmembers take required recurrent training on a PC in the office, on the road or at home. Users get customized CD-ROMs containing their course content. They access Jeppesen's DLS Learning Management System to track and record training.
Susan C. Friedenberg, president of Corporate Flight Attendant Training, teaches a specialized training course that covers every aspect of a corporate flight attendant's duties, from trip preparation to issues dealing with catering and preparing multicourse meals in cramped galley space. It includes corporate-specific emergency and first-aid training.
The U.S. Air Force has received FAA approval to conduct lights-out (no position lights) operations at or above FL 180 in Class A airspace where ATC can ensure safe separation for non-participating aircraft. Previously, such training was conducted in restricted airspace, which can be cramped.
Nimbus Group has lined up $1.2 billion to buy as many as 1,000 Eclipse 500 small jets, which it will operate in air taxi service. Nimbus, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., got a commitment from Royal Bank of Scotland affiliate DAFIN Asset Management for the money to buy the aircraft and an equity position in Eclipse. Eclipse first cut metal on the aircraft in September 2001 and hopes to fly it in July. Under the Eclipse plan, the aircraft will be certified in late 2003 with first customer deliveries following in early 2004.
In January, B/CA reported the recommended General Aviation Security Procedures developed by the AOPA, Experimental Aircraft Association, GAMA, Helicopter Association International and NBAA (page 32). No sooner had the drafters of this document sat down to catch their collective breath, than its subject became the topic of the moment in the general press after a 15-year-old student pilot flew a Cessna 172 into a building in Tampa, Fla.
CMC is looking for an airframe partner to help certify its enhanced vision system (EVS) entry into the marketplace late this year. CMC Electronics' system is a compact, dual-band, infrared sensor and image processor package mounted in a radome modified with a small IR-transparent window. Images from CMC's IR-EVS displayed on a HUD could be used for approach guidance. Displayed on an MFD or other head-down display, they would provide taxi guidance.
Norway requires all personnel working on the oil rigs in the North Sea to undergo helicopter training and refresher courses. Additionally, certain individuals receive special instruction to become certified as Helicopter Landing Officers (HLO), or simply heliguards. A heliguard is the person on board the rig responsible for the helicopter deck and who ensures safety before every takeoff and landing.
In the early 1990s, Sikorsky Aircraft marketers surveyed the commercial helicopter market and determined that aging S-61s and other medium-lift helicopters would eventually need replacement. Their initial mindset was to mate the dynamics of their well-proven S-70/H-60 military Black Hawk with a new and more utilitarian airframe. The resulting S-92 looks a bit like a downsized H-53 Sea Stallion. But that's not to suggest there's anything diminutive about this aircraft; the S-92 is a big machine.
The first air traffic control tower was established in 1935 at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Source: Aviation Resource Center In 1968, FBOs charged operators an hourly labor rate of $9.50 to $10.50 for A&P mechanics and $8.50 to $12.00 for avionics technicians. Source: 1968 B/CA Survey The first commercially accepted flight simulator (Link Trainer) was sold to American Airlines in 1937. Source: Flights of Fancy
Pratt&Whitney Canada has announced plans to acquire Altair Avionics Corp. of Norwood, Mass. Altair designs and manufactures advanced diagnostic and engine monitoring systems and provides Internet-based data management services to the aerospace industry. P&WC intends to use Altair's expertise to capture engine data in flight and enhance its engine-condition trend-monitoring capabilities and services to its engine customers.
