The Do328 was originally designed for the FAR Part 121 environment, and the Envoy 3 Corporate Shuttle takes advantage of its commercial lineage, which includes economic line maintainability. ``Admittedly, the platform was created with airline customers in mind,'' said Clayton Calihan, Fairchild Dornier's communications director. ``Yet, with no design alterations needed to step into the corporate marketplace, the Envoy 3 operates for less per hour than any airplane anywhere near its size and capability, with more reliability and greater comfort.''
Ten years after the end of the Cold War, the door to Russian airspace was fully opened with the inauguration last February of four Polar Routes linking North America and Asia. Flying these routes, however, requires extremely careful planning, as they take aircraft across some of the world's most forbidding and inhospitable terrain, the High Arctic. There is no ATC radar, there are no ground-based navaids, and GPS signals are unreliable above 75N.
The National Air Transportation Association, working with high-tech companies including Lockheed Martin and Microsoft, is developing biometrically encoded identification cards for passengers and employees of aviation businesses. The program includes the ``SkyD'' card for ``trusted travelers'' on commercial and GA aircraft; and the ``SkyGuard'' card for flight crews, aviation employees and student pilots. Both programs would use plastic ``smart cards,'' containing digital certificates and signed biometric template information.
Jet Aviation West Palm Beach will be an Embraer Legacy service center. According to Jet Aviation Vice President for Maintenance and Outfitting William Stuck, Jet will be getting in on ``the ground floor'' of the Embraer's corporate jet venture. The corporate-configured Legacy will carry 10-18 passengers 3,200 nm.
CAE added a second Fairchild Dornier 328JET and a Boeing 737NG simulator at its Dallas training center. The four-bay facility also has a Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprop simulator. CAE built both the simulators and their visual systems. They will be certified to FAA Level D. The company has four other training centers worldwide.
While many, if not most, of those on Forbes magazine's annual list of the 400 richest Americans are business aviation users, several have made investments (some successful, others not) in aviation. At the top of the list is Warren Buffett, America's second wealthiest man, with a net worth of $20.8 billion. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns FlightSafety International and Executive Jets, among other companies. His wife, Susan, placed 78th with $2.5 billion and, with $1.3 billion, business associate Charles Munger placed 172th.
Avidyne is now offering the FlightMax EX5000 FSD, a new flight situation display designed to fit most aircraft despite its large (10.4-inch diagonal) display format. The FSD occupies just 3.75 inches behind the panel and is available in either horizontal or vertical configurations. Avidyne states that the 800-by-600-pixel active matrix LCD offers more than four times the pixel count of a five-inch display.
NetJets Middle East/National Air Service is building a $5 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is due for completion in the next 18 months to two years. The facility, which is necessary to meet the Middle East company's growing fractional program, will have full FAA/JAR approval, and will be built adjacent to the Al Salem Aircraft Co.'s heavy airline maintenance base.
The Regional Airline Association has launched a Web site to inform the public about the value of regional jet service. The Regional Air Service Initiative (RASI) site comprises eight areas with background information, high-resolution photos, and a comprehensive resources database to help visitors understand the contributions of regional jet service to the national air transportation system. In addition, industry market conditions and in-depth analysis of the U.S. regional airline industry are available.
Deliveries of the new Goodrich SkyWatch HP TAS/TCAS I are under way with the receipt of TSO approval for the upgraded system. The HP allows closure rates of 1,200 knots and features a variety of optional EFIS and MFD outputs, including an ARINC 429 option. The system can be installed as either a traffic advisory system (TAS) or traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS I) depending on the display and antenna configuration.
Klein Tools is introducing its new Journeyman line of premium pliers for aviation professionals. The pliers have contoured, cushioned handles and are designed for strength and durability. They are available in 13 styles including a nine-inch side-cutting (regular, crimping and tape-pulling in both standard and 2000 Series), eight-inch diagonal-cutting (straight and angled-head in both standard and 2000 Series), heavy-duty long-nose (with or without stripping hole) and high-leverage cable cutters.
With the sudden but not unexpected demise of Belgian State airline Sabena, U.K. regional airline British European (BE) quickly took over three of its routes to Brussels.
Aeronautical Information Publication (A.I.P.) Canada covers all the rules and procedures in effect. Contact CGP, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0S9; phone: (819) 956-4802. Single copy ,$32.95 Cdn; annual subscription, $30.50.
Embry-Riddle added certificate programs in logistics, safety and aircraft maintenance to its online ``Extended Campus'' offerings. The logistics and safety courses are introductions to their respective subjects. The aircraft maintenance certificate program prepares a student for the FAA general examination that must be passed prior to pursuing an A&P license. Extended campus information is available at www.ec.erau.edu.
FlightSafety International will consolidate its three Wichita Cessna Learning Centers under a single management and customer service staff. FSI is also in the final stages of preparation to add five simulator bays to the complex, at least four of which, sources say, will house new state-of-the-art Citation simulators. Wichita city officials have estimated the investment in new facilities in the neighborhood of $2.5 million.
New York City Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg will be the city's first mayor with long-standing ties to general and business aviation. A long-time pilot who wrote about his flying experiences and mishaps in his autobiography Bloomberg by Bloomberg. The billionaire owns a Dassault Falcon 900B on the Bermuda registry, as well as a U.S.-registered Agusta A109E helicopter and Mooney M20M. He formerly owned and piloted a 1980 IAI Westwind 1124.
For nearly three months now, everyone in the aviation business has been confronted with a list of urgent action, must do, ad hoc imperatives. One minute it was business as usual and the guys in the business jet cockpit were thinking about whether the proper catering would be delivered to the airplane before the boss showed up for his flight.
Wahl Instruments has introduced its newly modified DIGI-STEM series of self-powered digital thermometer systems that measure temperatures to 0.1F resolution. The system incorporates a K type thermocouple sensor and features a NEMA-4X stainless steel housing that is waterproof and can withstand hose-down with caustic cleaning solutions. Wahl said that the system is immune to vibration and cannot be shaken out of calibration or broken from continuous stress. Price: Call for pricing Wahl Instruments 234 Old Weaverville Rd.
Beechjet training is under way at SimuFlite's DFW base. The company's new Beechjet 400A simulator received Level D FAA certification in October. SimuFlite now has simulators for four Raytheon aircraft: the Hawker 700 and 800/1000, King Air 200 and the Beechjet. Two more Raytheon aircraft simulators are on order, both to be certified to Level D. A King Air 350 simulator will be available for training in February 2002 and a Hawker 800XP device is scheduled to come online in July.
The National Air Transportation Association advises that Immigration and Naturalization Service agents are reviewing employee records at FAR Part 107 airports for compliance with all applicable employment laws as they relate to immigration status and eligibility to work in the Untied States. In particular, the agents will be looking for a completed INS Form I-9 for all employees, whether they are U.S. citizens or eligible aliens.
Rolls-Royce signed a memorandum of understanding with China Aviation Industry Corp. to explore the use of the BR710 engine on China's new ARJ21 regional jet. Still in the early stages of development, the ARJ series will be a 70- to 90-seat regional jet family. Rolls-Royce also signed an agreement to work with China Aviation Industry Corp. and the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment on aerodynamic issues surrounding the new aircraft and the fuselage-mounted engine installation.
On September 10, a crowd gathered in the town hall of Islip, N.Y., on Long Island to debate a new nighttime fine planned for MacArthur Airport. The town council wanted to impose a $50,000 landing fee on airplanes flying in after the airport's 11 p.m. curfew. Pro-airport advocates came out in force hoping to persuade town leaders that such an onerous charge is unnecessary and unreasonable. Nearly a dozen people testified against the $50,000 fee, arguing that critical businesses would suffer and that the FAA would oppose it.
