Dassault Falcon Jet plans to expand operations at the former Atlantic Aviation service facility in Wilmington, Del. Located at New Castle Airport (ILG), Falcon expects to add personnel as well as renovate and upgrade the existing 179,000-square-foot facility. The Delaware River&Bay Authority, which operates the airport, has said it will contribute $8.5 million to the improvement.
While flight crews of supersonic aircraft are subject to the highest radiation dose rates experienced in civil aviation they don't necessarily receive the highest doses. British Airways data for Concorde pilots in 1994 indicates a 12-month average duty time of 382 hours resulting in an effective dose of four to six mSv. Some U.K. long-haul flight crewmembers who predominantly fly polar routes may receive an annual dose of around six mSv, according to the NRPB.
The Legacy's 1,410-cubic-foot cabin has twice the volume of most midsize business jets and 60-percent more volume than most other $20 million class, super midsize aircraft.
Most people in aviation recognize the fly-by-wire (FBW) concept. Many associate it with high-performance, military aircraft even though the first civil aircraft to use FBW for primary control, the Airbus Industrie A320, was introduced in 1988. The art, engineering and science of motion control is about a decade old in corporate and regional aviation applications. Initial application was full authority digital engine controls (FADEC).
Midway Airlines' mid-August bankruptcy filing will result in the grounding of more than half of the carrier's Canadair Regional Jet fleet. Citing a ``calamitous drop'' in business travel, ``stubbornly high fuel prices'' and lower fares on many of its routes, the Morrisville, N.C.-based airline discontinued service to nine cities, slashed staff by 50 percent and ceased flying 13 of 24 CRJs and all four Fokker F100s. Corporate Airlines' code-share service at Midway's RDU hub is unaffected by the filing.
Techtest Ltd. has introduced its FAA-approved triple-frequency 406ELT with two-way voice capability. The unit pinpoints your location within two square miles and transmits on 121.5 MHz, 243 MHz and 406.025 MHz. Compatible with rescue equipment including COSPAS/ SARSAT satellite-based location apparatus, the ELT is a one-piece unit with the transmitter housed in a thermoplastic case. Activated automatically or manually the unit is designed to survive for up to 10 years. Price: Call for pricing Winslow Life Rafts (U.S. Distributor)
The Avro RJX-85 development aircraft, G-ORJX, has been fitted with four ``block 2'' engines and has accumulated approximately 130 hours in more than 60 flights. The aircraft was due to leave the United Kingdom for three months of ``hot and high'' and cold weather trials at Eglin Air Force base, Fla., at the end of August. The plan is for the aircraft to fly to engine-maker Honeywell's base at Phoenix and then on to Colorado Springs, Colo. Cold weather trials will follow in the Freezing Chamber at Eglin.
A potential problem for high-altitude supersonic aircraft is the possibility of magnetic disturbance near the surface of the sun called solar particle events (SPEs). SPEs can produce significant doses of ionizing radiation at high altitudes. SPEs are of short duration -- typically a few hours -- and highly variable in nature. Real-time monitoring of exposure to ionizing radiation including solar flares is standard equipment on high-altitude supersonic aircraft.
Manhattan dwellers got a good look at Embraer's ERJ-190 regional jet mockup on July 23 and 24, when it visited Rockefeller Plaza as part of an eight-week, 12-city tour.
With all those dot-coms bombing, the timing for raising private equity to fund an aircraft start-up venture hardly could be worse. But good time or not, that's precisely what Albuquerque-based Eclipse Aviation is doing now to continue developing its revolutionary twin-turbofan Eclipse 500, an entry-level jet promising to deliver nearly CJ1 performance for one-fourth of the price.
A formal proposal involving changes in operating rules for fractional aircraft ownership programs and on-demand charter operators is on the street. The new rules are significant. The issues involved are contentious. And the FAA wants feedback.
Signature Flight Support says it will acquire Wheeling, Ill.-based Priester Aviation for an undisclosed sum. Priester -- located at Palwaukee Municipal Airport (PWK) -- is Signature's fourth Chicago-area FBO. Plans call for the construction of a 10,000-square-foot executive terminal at the field, where Priester already maintains an executive terminal as well as 463,000 square feet of hangar and office space. Charles E. Priester, president and CEO of the FBO, will become a consultant to Signature after the sale.
Numerous airports merit a detailed briefing due to unusual operating procedures. An example is New Mexico's Los Alamos County Airport. Owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the place was recently opened to public use, but it deserves mention due to its unique entry and exit requirements and gusty surface winds. As part of your thorough airport briefing, you'd call the Albuquerque FSS to obtain the airport manager's phone number. After contacting him, he'll send or fax you an airport briefing sheet.
One year after its launch by Cessna and Tag Aviation USA, CitationShares signed the 100th customer for its business jet fractional ownership program. The customer purchased a one-eighth share of CitationShares' first Citation Excel. CitationShares recently expanded its operations to include all areas east of the Rocky Mountains and opened an Orlando crew base. In addition to the new Excel, CitationShares operates CJ1s and Citation Bravos.
West Star Aviation, at Walker Field (GJT) in Grand Junction, Colo., has just completed construction of a three bay, 28,000-square-foot maintenance hangar. The new facility will double the company's maintenance capabilities. A full-service FBO, West Star provides avionics, airframe, powerplant, paint, interior and parts sales for Cessna Citation, Learjet and Hawker series aircraft.
Airplane powerplant manufacturers, pilot groups and regulatory bodies worldwide have taken note of a striking paradox. Simply stated, the more reliable propulsion systems become, the more likely flight crews will take inappropriate action when an engine malfunctions.
A World Trade Organization panel has ruled in the ongoing dispute between Canada and Brazil over subsidies for customers who buy their competing regional jets and, curiously, both sides are claiming a decisive victory.
If you have better things to do at your flight department or FBO than worry about maintaining the grass, then Air-FieldTurf might be the solution for you. Derived from advances in sports playing- field surfaces, this synthetic grass is being tested for certification on runway and taxiway shoulders. Covering areas of the airport infield with Air-FieldTurf could eliminate soil erosion, and because it is nonorganic, the surface will not support vegetation, dissuading birds from habitating the airport. Another benefit of the grass is its bright green color.
During the 1970s, a British Antarctica Survey (BAS) research group monitoring the atmosphere above Antarctica noticed a dramatic loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere as compared to earlier baseline levels. When the first measurements were finally taken in 1985, the drop in ozone levels was so rapid and large-scale (over most of the Antarctic continent) that at first scientists thought their instruments were faulty. It wasn't until the measurements were confirmed with replacement instruments that the ozone depletion was accepted as genuine.
The FAA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on fractional aircraft ownership programs is a remarkable document, both in terms of substance and the process employed in its development.
Dassault Aviation gave the aviation trade press a sneak preview of its new 3,800-nm-range Falcon 2000EX, several weeks prior to its official rollout in late August. In traditional Dassault fashion, the event was as much a celebration of French lifestyle -- complete with a field trip to Chateau Dassault, the family-owned vineyard on the north slope of St. Emilion -- as it was an official business function.
Despite a reputation for aviation-unfriendly policies such as a ``voluntary'' curfew and restrictive lease covenants, new facilities continue to be built at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y. Air charter operator Westchester Air recently moved into its new 18,200-square-foot home at Hangar M, while Panorama Flight Service -- a charter operator, aircraft management firm, aircraft dealer and flight school -- is building a major new facility that should be completed in November.
Metro Business Aviation changed its company radio frequencies at London-Luton, London-Stansted and London-Heathrow to the same frequency of 130.57 on August 13. The FBO said the frequency switch is designed to ensure that arriving crews can communicate quickly and easily with operations personnel. Metro advises that new Jeppesen inserts incorporating the changes are available from its Operations section, and apologizes for any inconvenience.
Jet Aviation Basel (Switzerland) has completed its first Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) interior for Qatar Airways, which plans to operate the 36-seat luxury aircraft on a mix of private and scheduled services from its base in Doha, Qatar. Modifications to the aircraft include a satcom installation and four additional belly fuel tanks to give the aircraft nonstop intercontinental range. The aircraft has a 6,000-cubic-foot cabin divided into an executive seating area for 20 passengers and a first-class cabin with 16 electrically controlled seats.
A Bush administration official has echoed industry fears that U.S. aerospace companies can't compete fairly in Europe, claiming the market is warped by government subsidies and favors for native companies.
