AviationNow.com, the Aviation Week Internet portal, has introduced eight new content channels tailored to individual users' areas of interest and expertise. The new channels include breaking news and information in business aviation, commercial aviation, eBiz, maintenance/safety, finance, space and military. The Web portal also features links to B/CA's Web site, job listings, aviation reference materials and Aviation Week's Next Century of Flight educational program.
Fear of gridlock has led the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to block the increase in slot exemptions authorized for La Guardia Airport under the AIR-21 legislation passed earlier this year. Airlines have agreed to comply with the moratorium for now, but they contest the Port Authority's power to regulate traffic: ``This is something our lawyers are taking a close look at, and the airlines are crafting a detailed response,'' said Dave Fuscus, spokesman for the Air Transport Association.
Flight Options will team with Chauffair -- a U.K.-based charter operator -- in a bid to sell shares of new Cessna Citation Excel aircraft and open Europe to U.S. fractional customers. The deal represents a departure for the Cleveland-based fractional ownership business, which hitherto has stuck to selling shares of used business jets in the U.S. domestic market.
Socata's distributor in the Western United States has ordered 31 new Socata aircraft worth $33 million, all to be delivered in 2001. Camarillo, Calif.-based New Avex ordered 10 TBM 700 turboprops, 10 TB20 Trinidads, 10 TB21 Trinidad GT Turbos and one Tobago GT. Excluding sales for flight schools, the order is Socata's largest ever from the civil market. New Avex CEO Terry Winston said Socata's commitment to support its products gives him ``the confidence to place an order of this size.'' Socata's new parent is the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
In a move to complete a $70 million expansion project, Hastings Aviation has acquired Avionair, an executive and cargo aircraft operator based in Montreal, Canada. This merger is the latest of Hastings acquisitions, which have included the purchase of Osmoco Emergency Team, six additional Cessna corporate jets, and a new $7 million FBO at Montreal International Airport.
A healthy back is strong, flexible and pain-free. Its three natural curves are in their normal balanced position, supported by a surrounding cast of strong back, abdominal, buttock and leg muscles.
These three graphs are designed to be used together to provide a broad view of CJ2 performance. Do not use these data for flight planning. For a complete operational analysis, use the Approved Aircraft Flight Manual and flight planning data supplied by Cessna Aircraft Co.
Galaxy Aerospace has appointed Castagnet&Associates as Argentinean sales representative for its SPX and Galaxy jets. Castagnet says it also specializes in the sale of pre-owned piston and turbine aircraft, including aircraft configured for military and medevac missions.
After two years of operation, Yelvington Jet Aviation of Daytona Beach, Fla. (DAB), says it has outgrown its facility and is expanding. The company says the first stage of the project is the addition of a second 12,000-gallon Jet-A fuel farm, with a new self-serve avgas fuel farm on the FBO's west ramp. Chadd Collins, Yelvington's general manager, said he intends to offer ``a substantial reduction in avgas price for . . . economy-minded pilots who require no other FBO services.''
New rules require Australian aircraft registrations to be held by the individual responsible for the aircraft's maintenance. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says it made the change after determining that airworthiness directives and other critical information were being lost in transit. ``With almost 11,600 aircraft on the Australian register, it is very important that the right safety information gets to the right people who maintain these aircraft,'' said Richard Yates, a CASA safety official.
Business aviation consultant Aerospace Concepts Inc. (ACI) is opening the first general aviation facility on Guam. ACI President Terry Habeck says the new location will serve as home base for three Gulfstream aircraft his company manages, as well as provide hangar facilities for up to five Gulfstreams and a full complement of maintenance and support personnel. He hopes to launch a fractional ownership program from Guam, as well as an air charter service using a recently refurbished Gulfstream IV for Pacific Rim customers in early 2001.
The University of North Dakota's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Science has awarded a full scholarship to Robert Claven, a university undergraduate who aspires to become an airline pilot. The scholarship, which is valued at more than $80,000, covers tuition, flight training costs, room and board, and other expenses for four years.
General Electric Engine Services is launching a new Maintenance Cost Per Hour (MCPH) program for CF34-equipped Bombardier Challenger 601 and 604 aircraft. According to GE Engine Services marketing executive Steve Gardner, the new program will allow operators to accurately forecast operating costs, reduce the cost of ownership and improve asset utilization. GE offers a similar program for its airline customers.
Central Florida's Kissimmee Airport (ISM) says traffic increased between nine and 17.6 percent during June, July and August. The airport is being upgraded from Class G to Class D airspace this month.
Endevco is offering a miniature tri-axial piezoelectric accelerometer with integral electronics designed to measure modal responses in three orthogonal axes simultaneously. The device is adhesive-mounted and comes in models ranging from 500 g to 50 g in sensitivity. Designed to survive a 10,000-g shock, the five-gram accelerometer has a hermetically sealed four-pin receptacle that mates with a standard 10-foot cable. Typical applications for the accelerometer include aerospace component testing and vibration analysis. Price $1,450
Dallas Airmotive will maintain and support Pratt&Whitney Canada's JT15D and PT6A engines for Executive Jet Management's 57-aircraft fleet under the terms of a new five-year agreement. Dallas Airmotive's main engine overhaul facilities in Dallas and Millville, N.J., will provide shop services, while its various Regional Turbine Centers will do EJM's hot-section inspection work. Field support teams also will be provided. Cincinnati-based EJM operates Cessna Citation S/II, Citation V, Citation V Ultra and Raytheon Beech 1900 aircraft.
KeraVision of Fremont, Calif., has received FAA approval for its INTACS prescription inserts to correct nearsightedness. KeraVision said the approval covers all classes of FAA-licensed private, commercial and transport pilots. The inserts are constructed from a clear, biocompatible plastic that has been used in contacts and cataract surgery. In 1999, the Food and Drug Administration approved the INTACS inserts for correcting -1.0 to -3.0 diopters of myopia, or about up to 20/400 vision.
Pointing at an x-ray of my lower lumbar, my back surgeon explained his diagnosis and my dilemma. I needed surgery to fuse three vertebrae. It was the only viable option to correct a deteriorating situation. I thought my flying career was over. After 20 plus years of constant increasing LBP, which my HMO could never correctly diagnose, my lower lumbar sent a message I could no longer ignore. One night the pain curve accelerated sharply and was so intense I sweated profusely.
ARG/US has introduced an interactive management tool called the Comparative Performance Report (CPR) on CD-ROM. Taking into consideration location, equipment, annual flight hours and international activity, the CPR software searches the ARG/US databases for flight departments that are similar to the user's. The report allows the user to compare its financial and operational performance to these flight departments. The interactive function allows you to generate ``what if'' conditions.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, executive vice president/publisher of The McGraw-Hill Cos.' Aviation Week, has been named to the board of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Calling the appointment a ``privilege,'' Gazzola cited the importance of the museum's mission, saying it will ``inspire generations of young people to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace.'' The museum is building a new 711,000-square-foot facility at Dulles Airport that, when completed in 2003, will house more than 280 aircraft and spacecraft.
Illustration: Graph: Comparison Profile (Percent Relative to Average) Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design, although engineers attempt to optimize the blend of capabilities, performance and passenger comfort. In order to portray graphically the strengths and compromises of specific aircraft, B/CA compares the subject aircraft to the composite characteristics of other aircraft in its class, computing the percentage differences for the various parameters.
