Crossmark Corp., a professional business services company headquartered in Plano, Texas, has started construction of a 10,200-square-foot corporate hangar at McKinney Municipal Airport (TKI), McKinney, Texas. Crossmark spokeman Jeff Rice told B/CA that the company selected McKinney because of its room for expansion, lower congestion/ground time, U.S. Customs office and the opportunity it provided Crossmark for customizing its facility.
Indigo Air has agreed to buy up to 75 Embraer Legacy business jets with a potential value of $1.1 billion. The deal includes 25 firm orders and options for 50 additional aircraft. Embraer Vice Chairman Samuel D. Hill told B/CA at the NBAA convention in New Orleans that the manufacturer has been in discussions with the Chicago Midway-based operator since 1999, when the concept was still in its infancy.
The FAA has reopened the comment period for its rewrite of FAR Part 145 relating to recordkeeping requirements for repair stations. Numerous organizations requested an extension beyond the original October 5, 2001, deadline. In extending the comment period to January 29, the FAA noted the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks: ``The petitioners indicated that the recent events devastated their member companies. In some cases, the personnel needed to collect, compile, evaluate and respond to the request for cost estimates have been laid off.
Cessna is pressing on to support RVSM certifications for older Citations. The company is generating Service Bulletins for Citation I, Citation II, Citation S/II and Citation V aircraft. It reports that it has or has nearly completed certifications for those aircraft groups. Cessna senior vice president Roger White stated, ``Once all Citation legacy aircraft RVSM Service Bulletins are certified, all Citations except early production 500 series aircraft will have factory RVSM solutions.
Airbus has announced a new alliance with Avolar -- UAL Corp.'s fractional ownership division -- to market and operate Airbus Corporate Jet in the United States. The new operation, known as JetSet Solutions, is intended to sell ACJs to corporations and sports teams for joint ownership and use. Officials of both companies stress that this is not a fractional ownership program.
The FAA published a NOTAM on November 29, 2001, correcting the error in the Aviation Information Manual table of visual intercept procedures in Chapter 5. The error was caught by a B/CA staffer on September 19 and an alert was published on the AviationNow.com Web site and in B/CA's November issue. B/CA notified the FAA through the NBAA the day we discovered the error. The AOPA followed up with the FAA on September 28, but it took another month for the NOTAM to be issued and the correction to appear in online editions of the AIM. Printed editions are still incorrect.
Bombardier's new super-midsize Continental flew in to its debut at the NBAA convention after its August 14 first flight. The company estimates the super-midsize market at just under 1,300 aircraft over the next 10 years and has targeted 30 percent of that for the $14.675 million, 3,000-nm range, 0.80 Mach Continental. Certification is scheduled for the third quarter of this year. Service entry is planned for June 2003 and the first two years of production are already booked, according to officials.
Who would have guessed the market for business aircraft would grow as big as that for jet fighters? Honeywell Aerospace, in its latest forecast (revised downward slightly after September 11) predicts deliveries of 8,400 business jets over the next 10 years valued at $130 billion. In contrast, analysts at Teal Group put the potential fighter market at 2,938 combat aircraft worth $134.4 billion in the same period.
Mesa Air Group will inaugurate service from Denver to San Jose, Calif., and Houston Intercontinental (IAH) next month for code-share partner Frontier Airlines. Operating as Frontier JetExpress, the flights will be flown with 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200s, and will supplement Denver-based Frontier's existing Boeing 737 service to the two cities. Service is set to begin on February 17. The two airlines first announced their code-share agreement in September 2001 without disclosing city pairs. Mesa Air Group CEO Jonathan Ornstein says
Delta Scientific has introduced its DSC 900 Portable Barricade for high security locations such as the main entrance to a large office facility or airport FBO. The transportable barricade is crash certified and is modular configured for fast deployment or relocation. The DSC 900 can be sited on paved roadways, level compacted soils or some combination of both. No excavation or sub-surface preparation is required. A ``phalanx'' type rising plate barrier is mounted within inertial pods on either side of the roadway to be protected.
The FlightOp 200 EFIS incorporates a 10.4- or 8.4-inch, sunlight-readable LCD. The display unit is driven by a computer, housed in a separate enclosure to allow for mounting in a dedicated avionics bay, or within the cabin. In addition, the low-profile display platform requires less than two inches of clearance behind the instrument panel. Op Technologies says the FlightOp 200 has been designed to interface with a wide variety of navigation radios, an air data computer and a choice of Crossbow or Watson Industries AHRS products.
The United Kingdom is not likely to follow the FAA's lead on how to regulate fractional ownership. In comments to the docket on the FAA's proposal to keep fractional operations under FAR Part 91, the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority wrote that ``given the fact that fractional owners will not, in substance, be undertaking any significant functions normally associated with being an operator, we do not view the arrangements described in your proposal as being different from any other commercial air transport operation.''
ARINC Airport Systems and Visionics Corp. will team to market a face recognition system for airport security. Visionics' FaceIt system creates a digital map of a person's face and compares it with an image database. Applications include positive passenger identification, access control for airport personnel and crowd screening. ARINC favors FaceIt for its scalability. The FaceIt Argus system can handle an unlimited number of camera positions and has an unlimited database size.
One often confusing concept is the notion of fuel pump cavitation. Pumps are generally used to ``push'' a fluid at pressure, and the problem comes when this results in too low a pressure at the pump inlet. As the pump draws in fluid at its inlet, it creates a suction, and the pressure is significantly reduced at the inlet side of the pump. If the pressure drops too low, the fluid vaporizes or ``boils'' at the inlet, so the pump is trying to draw in vapor rather than liquid.
A Collins Pro Line 21 Continuum package is now certified on the Cessna Citation III. This brings the total of such certifications to six, according to Rockwell Collins. The Citation installation features three Collins FDS-200 five-inch LCD systems, dual AHS-3000A attitude heading and reference systems, and a TWR-850 turbulence weather radar. Columbia Aviation performed the installation and obtained the STC.
BAE Systems will cease production of its line of Regional Airliners. It cites rapidly falling sales of the four-engine aircraft, having delivered only four Avro RJ-85s and four RJ-100s so far this year. The company will complete and deliver four aircraft currently being assembled.
The demise of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, over Long Island ignited interest in the safety of fuel systems and research into aircraft fuel system fire protection. A number of design features and approaches are commonly used to minimize the potential for a fuel tank ignition or explosion, and new approaches are in the offing.
Picture this scenario. It's winter. You're westbound toward the Rockies in a high-performance business jet, loaded with fuel and passengers. You're stretching its range performance because of strong headwinds associated with the fierce winter jet stream. You will cross a cold front, and clear air turbulence is likely.
Wood Group, East Windsor, Conn., has named Robert Gambe as vice president and general manager of Wood Group Turbine Support, its parts and engine sales division.
The FAA has granted Bombardier Aerospace Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) group approval for Learjet 35/36 aircraft, following completion of five aircraft STC modifications.
TAG Aviation and Clay Lacy Aviation have signed on as two of the latest participants in CharterX, the Air Charter Guide's online reservation, scheduling and marketing system. CharterX also recently signed its first British and European licensee -- London Executive Aviation. With the additions, CharterX now has 51 participants, including some of the charter industry's leading operators.
American Airlines Flight 587's vertical tail is to go to NASA's Langley research center for detailed analysis. Langley is the agency's center of excellence for structures and materials and has developed a wide range of expertise in analyzing composite materials. The A300-600's vertical tail is made of carbon fiber. Investigators, including composite experts from Iowa State University, Sandia National Laboratories, NASA and the FAA could find no evidence of a problem from their intensive visual inspections.
November 10, 2001: While in-flight near Abbeville, La., the tiedown rope of a Bell 407 fell from a loose baggage door and got caught in the helicopter's tail rotor. The drive shaft then split, forcing the pilot to autorotate safely to the ground.
