Midcoast Aviation, St. Louis, has promoted Kurt Sutterer to executive vice president, and has named Kevin Gettemeier as director-operations support and Jay Roever as manager-operations support at its St. Louis Downtown Airport operation.
The AOPA has made its airport directory available for use on both personal computers and personal digital assistants. The Airport eDirectory's database includes pertinent preflight information for more than 5,200 public-use airports, seaplane bases and heliports in the United States and more than 6,000 FBOs/aviation service companies. Included in the directory are listings for restaurants, lodging, transportation and local services.
Edited by David RimmerBy Mike Vines, in Birmingham, England
Photograph: NH90 After deliberating for two years, the four countries participating in the Nordic Standard Helicopter Program have settled on two different helicopters. Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark were striving to define a single helicopter platform, but eventually placed firm orders for 52 NH Industries NH90s with options for seven additional aircraft, and 14 AgustaWestland EH101s. The deals are valued at some $2 billion. The order was a blow to Sikorsky, whose S-92 was the only other short-listed contender in the program.
Concord (N.C.) Regional Airport has built three new hangars, one of which has just been leased to NASCAR. The stock car racing association will sign a 15-year lease for a 12,000-square-foot building. The other two hangars, part of a $2.8 million airport expansion project, are 28,000 and 6,400 square feet, respectively. There are already more than 40 aircraft associated with various race teams based at Concord, which is open 24/7 and staffed by 34 city employees.
Photograph: James D. Raisbeck CEO, Raisbeck Engineering Unabashedly opinionated, Raisbeck worked at Boeing and at Robert-son Aircraft before founding his own firm in 1973. He has been integral in developing performance mods for King Airs, Sabreliners and 30-series Learjets, among other things. Outside aviation, he is passionate about the ballet, opera, vintage cars, his family and Purdue University, his alma mater. 1 Has Raisbeck Engineering been affected by the terrible events of September?
Alaska Airlines is ``hardening'' the flight decks of its aircraft by fitting cockpit doors with bulletproof material, acrylic windows and a special locking mechanism. ``Nothing is more important than the security and safety of our crews and customers,'' said Bill Ayer, the airline's president and chief operating officer.
The Avro RJX-100 flew for the first time in late September at the BAE Systems airfield in Woodford, England. This is the first of the long body 110-seat version to fly and is joining the prototype RJX-85 in the flight-test program. The company reported that on the first flight, the aircraft was airborne for three hours 10 minutes, achieved an altitude of 26,000 feet and speeds up to 250 knots, and all planned tests were completed successfully.
On September 11, the NBAA staff was spread between its Washington, D.C., headquarters and New Orleans, where the business aviation lobby was preparing to open its 54th annual meeting and convention the following week. President John W. Olcott called his staff home and set up a command center at NBAA headquarters to monitor the unfolding events and provide assistance to members. The NBAA Convention, the largest civil aviation trade show in the United States, was postponed.
Honeywell's Bendix/King APEX integrated avionics system for general aviation, with a ``clear day view'' flight display and advanced solid-state air data/attitude-heading sensors, has made a successful first flight at Olathe, Kan. APEX incorporates an out-the-window display of sky and ground, mimicking a clear day, and with significant features such as runways and navaids displayed in proper relative perspective. The sensor package is reportedly all solid state with the attitude-heading sensors featuring an 8,000-hour lifetime, about eight times that of spinning gyros.
Hallmark Jet Center, an FBO based at San Antonio International Airport (SAT), has completed a $2.2 million facility expansion that includes a larger lounge with home theater, a renovated catering kitchen, snooze rooms, two separate passenger lounges, two conference rooms with kitchens and hangar space for aircraft as large as a JetStar or Falcon 900.
Joe Fugere, a pioneer of the commuter airline industry in the 1960s and '70s, died recently after a long battle with cancer. Fugere was founder and CEO of Pilgrim Airlines, a Groton, Conn.-based commuter with service to nearby New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford, Conn., and New York's JFK International Airport. Pilgrim was an early user of the de Haviland Twin Otter and became one of the first commuters to offer trans-border and pure jet service when it introduced a single Fokker F-28 on flights to Ottawa, Canada.
London Executive Aviation has begun offering charters with Great Britain's first Cessna Citation Excel. The Excel, two Cessna Citation IIs, a King Air B200 and a Piper Chieftan are based at three area airports: London City, Stansted and Stapleford.
General aviation leaders in mid-October launched a lobbying and public relations campaign as losses resulting from operating restrictions approached ``catastrophic'' proportions. NBAA President Jack Olcott, AOPA President Phil Boyer and GAMA President Ed Bolen have been speaking to Congress and the press to help spread the word about the plight of general aviation and to build support for a bill introduced in Congress that would provide grants and loans to small aviation businesses.
Goodrich Corp. will supply wheels and brakes for Embraer's Legacy business business jet. The company already produces wheels and breaks for the ERJ-135, -140 and -145 regional jets.
FBO Mercury Air Centers is launching a new online aircraft charter reservation system. ``Mercury Easy Charter by UltraJet'' will be a joint effort between Mercury Air Centers and UltraJet, an Avbase Aviation companion company based in Cleveland, to provide on-demand charter service.
Amphitech International of Laval, Quebec, and DART Aerospace of Hawkesbury, Ontario, have formed a partnership to support the installation and certification of Amphitech's OASYS obstacle avoidance radar system in helicopters. OASYS alerts helicopter pilots to obstacles such as wires, towers and terrain. The first installation will be in a Bell 212 operated by Canadian Helicopters Ltd. supporting a customer in Labrador.
Edited by David RimmerDavid Rimmer Layoffs Take Heavy Toll in Business Aviation
Major business aviation OEMs are continuing to trim their staff -- and say further deep cuts are possible in 2002 -- in light of uncertainty following the September 11 terror attacks. Already weakened by a sluggish economy, companies have been hit by operational restrictions and retrenching among customers. The following cutbacks are representative of the malaise hitting business and general aviation:
Flight2ground.com is a free, Web-based service developed specifically for flight departments, schedulers, pilots and any-one responsible for aircraft travel services. Developed jointly by the Valley Oil Co. and Multi Service Corp., flight2ground. com provides real-time pricing, scheduling and confirmation for services including fuel, catering, ground transportation and hotels. Valley Oil said the Web service was based on input from aviation personnel at companies such as Addison Express, Boise Executive Terminal, Million Air Long Beach and North American Jet.
Duncan Aviation has written a booklet, Straight Talk About RVSM. The company has received the first RVSM Operational STC for a JetStar II. Duncan Vice President of Modifications John Slieter stated that the company is eager to expand its retrofit RVSM program to multiple types and models. To get a copy of the RVSM booklet, e-mail RVSM@ DuncanAviation.com or call (800) 228-4277.
Richard Daley is the Democratic mayor of Chicago. He got the job after his daddy the mayor upped and died whilst still in office. To make things all legal, they had an election, which was semi-farcical, because the Daley Democratic machine runs smoothly in all precincts and has for years. You understand that there is no chicanery involved.
The wake-up call comes much too early. It's still dark and cold outside. You ease out of bed, stretch, and shuffle to the door. A peek out the peephole confirms that the paper's arrived. Unlatch the safety lock, crack open the door and then drag the USA Today into the hotel room. You scan the headlines and suddenly your sleepy eyes are wide open and flying across the columns. An airliner's gone down; there are apparently no survivors.
Avbase, Cleveland, has named Mike Driller as its general manager responsible for all flight operations. Driller will oversee the company's charter scheduling and dispatch operations.
If you think plant-based jet fuel is a far-fetched idea, check out the early results of flight- and bench-testing conducted by researchers at Baylor and Purdue universities. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the two schools are evaluating the use of biodiesel fuel in a King Air 90 and a Garrett TPE331-3U-303V engine, respectively. Biodiesel is made from soybeans and is currently used by farmers for operating tractors, a growing number of Midwestern city transit vehicles and some automobiles.
Jet Aviation is continuing to expand at its London Biggin Hill and Teterboro, N.J. (TEB) facilities, and has recently established a new service called Jet Aviation Engineering services. Construction is now under way at the Biggin Hill hangar, which will be devoted to aircraft maintenance, refurbishment and storage. In addition, a new passenger lounge, workshops and office space will simultaneously be constructed. Jet Aviation expects that the new facility will be operational for maintenance and outfitting by the beginning of 2002.
