Gulfstream has expanded its dominance of the U.S. government's VIP-transport market with the sale of a Gulfstream V (C-37A) to the U.S. Coast Guard. The service will take delivery of the aircraft in mid-2002 as a replacement for a Gulfstream III (C-20B), which has been used primarily to transport senior federal officials and high-ranking military officers.
The FAA has named Bill Peacock, a 27-year agency veteran and private pilot, to direct its Air Traffic Service. Peacock joined the FAA in 1973 as an air traffic controller in Lubbock, Texas, and has since held positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently he was director of air traffic tactical operations, where he oversaw daily flight operations in the national airspace system. He also managed the agency's Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Va.
Canadian manufacturer CAE reached agreement with BAE Systems-North America to buy that company's Flight Simulation and Training unit for $80 million (U.S.). BAE Flight Simulation and Training, based in Tampa, Fla., was formerly known as Reflectone. It manufactures transport and helicopter simulation equipment and provides training and support services for commercial and military customers. The Tampa unit has nearly 800 employees and posted revenues of approximately $80 million for the year ended December 31, 2000. "This acquisition will strengthen CAE's access to the U.S.
DB Aviation at Illinois' Waukegan Regional Airport (UGN) has taken delivery of one of the first Dassault Falcon 900Cs to be used as an FAR Part 135 charter aircraft. The aircraft seats 12 or sleeps six, and is equipped for flights in Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums airspace on charter flights between Chicago and Europe. DB Aviation also operates a full service FBO and Part 145 repair station.
Mesaba Airlines says a shortage of pilots is forcing flight cancellations that are likely to impact its most recent quarterly earnings. Bad weather also has cut into the Minneapolis-based airline's profits, as has code-share partner Northwest Airlines' refusal to pay $3.4 million in back fees. Northwest maintains that a lower billing rate should apply to some of the flights that occurred during the period in dispute. Northwest and Mesa Air Group offered to buy Mesaba in late 2000, but both deals collapsed.
Elliott Aviation won STC approval to install Honeywell's Mark VII enhanced ground proximity warning system in Falcon 10 aircraft. The installation, initially completed on a Falcon 10 based in Omaha, includes a Collins TCAS-94 TCAS II system, a Collins MFD-85D multi-function display, dual RTU-4210 radio tuning units, a Collins WXR-8450 Doppler radar system and new Collins Pro Line II nav/coms.
Norman Mineta, who was sworn in as secretary of transportation after sailing through the Senate confirmation process, warned Congress that this coming summer likely will be as bad as, if not worse than, last in terms of air traffic delays and congestion, and pledged to ``take whatever steps we need to, no matter how large or small, even if the payoff is not immediate.''
Adam Aircraft, a start-up company based in Englewood, Colo., plans to price its new twin-engine M-309 aircraft at $695,000 for the first 20 production models. The company is taking $25,000 deposits for the composite, pressurized six-passenger aircraft. ``This is a major milestone for us,'' said Adam Aircraft President John Knudsen.
Intercontinental Jet, Tulsa, has appointed James Andrews as its Learjet crew chief and William Wass as a Learjet technician. Andrews has over 33 years of aviation experience, with his last six years as the lead program manager of Learjet and Citation aircraft at Bizjet International.
Ever since manufacturers started building airplanes, they've used their own products for corporate transportation. United Aircraft&Transport Corp. was no exception. Although its subsidiary companies operated airplanes starting in the 1920s, UA&TC entered the world of business aviation in November 1933 when it acquired a Model 247A made by its Boeing Airplane unit.
It used to be part of the accepted wisdom of the used aircraft sales fraternity that prospective buyers were more concerned with hours and cycles than calendar years when evaluating potential buys. Now that many popular models are passing 20 years or more, age may become a greater factor, particularly in view of FAA focus on aging aircraft. Fractional ownership programs are rapidly changing utilization rates. Higher average hours and cycles per year, coupled with standardized fleet maintenance programs are beginning to change community opinions of what is high use.
A U.S. District Judge has given city officials in San Jose, Calif., until the end of this month to rule on the validity of the night noise curfew at San Jose International Airport. The case has wider implications. Easing the curfew or shelving it altogether could open one of the nation's most noise sensitive airports to 24-hour operations, but with the potential loss of up to $1.5 billion in federal airport improvement funding. ``The stakes are high in terms of the enforceability and integrity of our curfew,'' City Attorney Rick Doyle said.
Honeywell Commercial Aviation Systems, Rockwell Collins, Thales Avionics (the former Sextant Avionique/Thomson CSF Sextant) and Universal Avionics Systems Corp. are probably the best-known developers and manufacturers of satellite communication systems and antennas for aircraft.
Buying a used business jet can be similar to scuba diving in tropical waters, according to one of B/CA's readers who went shopping for a used light business jet in December 2000. If you get scuffed up by unknown rocks and reefs, you might become a bleeding bait fish for sharks, he discovered after a few rounds of negotiations with certain brokers. As soon as some brokers found his last name ended in ``M.D.,'' they started circling hungrily.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is seeking to block airline efforts to overturn regulations that mandate a 16-hour duty day for all pilots in scheduled domestic service under FAR Parts 135 and 121. At issue is a lawsuit filed by the Air Transport Association (ATA), which seeks to keep the FAA from enforcing a rule that could force the airlines to pay more overtime or hire additional crews.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey signed off on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would establish a new Subpart K of FAR Part 91, governing fractional aircraft ownership programs, and modify operating rules for Part 135 air taxi companies. The long-awaited proposal was sent to the DOT, which has 60 days to review it. After the DOT is finished, the NPRM will be sent to the Office of Management and Budget, which also will have up to 60 days. When those agencies are through, the FAA will publish the proposal in the Federal Register and solicit comments.
Australian air safety regulators plan to require audible ``loss of pressurization'' alarms on all turbine-powered aircraft by the end of November, reversing their earlier position that such devices would do little to enhance safety.
The IBM corporate flight department won FAA approval to conduct CAT III approaches in Falcon 2000 business jets equipped with the Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System (HGS). The approval, believed to be one of the first such authorizations for an FAR Part 91 operator, permits properly trained company pilots to make approaches to airports in conditions as low as 700 feet RVR and a 50-foot decision height. IBM has been operating a Falcon 2000 since 1995 and had it retrofitted with the HGS system in 1998.
National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is developing two checklists that the association hopes will assist its members when they obtain insurance. The checklists stem from growing concerns about the dramatic increases in insurance rates and the realization that those rates are not likely to drop anytime in the near future. In fall 2000, aviation businesses reported insurance rate increases of up to 300 percent, a trend that analysts believe was driven in part by the declining number of insurance providers.
Checklists have popped up in several recent Cause&Circumstance columns and safety articles -- checklists ignored, misread, misplaced and misunderstood. We all agree, I think, that checklists deserve better treatment from us in that they are the undisputed mom and apple pie of cockpit management philosophy.
Horizon Air has come under FAA scrutiny for allegedly failing to follow its own maintenance manual after repairing an aircraft. The agency has proposed a $90,000 fine against the Seattle-based regional, for returning a de Havilland Dash 8-100 to service for more than 2,000 flights with an inoperative attitude/heading reference system. The maintenance in question occurred in May 1999, the FAA says.
Primedia has joined the group of companies providing flight tracking software, releasing its AC-U-KWIK Flight Tracker Web-based product that will allow FBOs, charter companies and corporate flight departments to monitor inbound and outbound flights through any public airport in the continental United States or Canada. The program allows companies to access real-time flight information through the Internet using aircraft tail numbers.
The Encore inherits the Ultra's very capable Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics package, which embraces the familiar hub-and-spoke architecture. The three eight-by-seven-inch CRT displays -- left- and right-side PFDs and a central MFD -- are the most visible elements of the system. The MFD is flanked by twin Honeywell Primus II radio management units.
Schedulers and dispatchers met in Nashville at the NBAA's 12th annual conference seeking training and answers to their flight department issues. Over 1,300 S&Ds attended the three-day conference, with more than 50 classroom sessions on a variety of flight department issues. ``This is the first time that I have walked away from the conference having all of my questions and concerns addressed,'' said Paul Mainville, flight control officer at Knighthawk Air Express.
AgustaWestland's EH101 helicopters have logged 26 hours flying under a 10-day evaluation by the Nordic Helicopter Consortium, which requires 60 to 100 helicopters over the next 10 years. The flight demonstrations took place at Yeovil, England and Cascina Costa, Italy using two different military marks of the machine and two of the civil development aircraft PP8 and PP9. The Nordic group consists of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
