Docket No.: 29819 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 25.813(e) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit installation of interior doors between passenger compartments on the BD-700-1A10 airplane. Grant, June 29, 2000, Exemption No. 7259
HARTZELL PROPELLER INC. won a contract from Denver, Colo.-based Explorer Aircraft to equip the Explorer family of aircraft with Hartzell propellers. The contract includes the Model 500T, a piston aircraft that completed its first flight in June; the Model 500R, which will be powered by an Orenda V-8 engine; and the 750T extended turbine variant. Designed and engineered in Australia, the aircraft will be manufactured in North America and seek simultaneous certification from the U.S., Australia and Canada.
ATLANTIC AVIATION added a Gulfstream III and a Falcon 50 to its Flight Services Division charter fleet. The G-III will be based in Morristown, N.J. and the Falcon 50 is based in La Jolla, Calif.
Docket No.: 29422 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 43.9(a)(4), 43.11(a)(3), Appendix B to Part 43, and 145.57(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To allow Gulfstream qualified technicians and inspection personnel to use electronic signatures in lieu of physical signatures to satisfy approval for return-to-service signature requirements for the completions processes for Gulfstream aircraft. Grant, April 3, 2000, Exemption No. 7163
MARY UDRY was appointed manager of marketing and communications for Garrett Aviation Services. Udry will oversee all Garrett marketing and communications, including advertising, press relations, trade show exhibits and research. She has more than 15 years of marketing and sales experience, most recently with B/E Aerospace.
Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. reported a $44.4 million net profit for the first six months of 2000, a 43 percent jump from the $31 million in profits reported during the same period last year. Revenues for the first six months were up 7.6 percent to $1.109 billion, compared with $1.03 billion in the first half of 1999. IAI signed new contracts valued at $1.55 billion during the period, compared with $1.6 billion in the first half of last year, but total backlog at the end of June stood at $3.76 billion, a new record.
Docket No.: 29661 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 91.319(a)(1) and (2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit members of the EAA, SAMA, and NAFI who own certain amateur- and kit-built aircraft certificated in the experimental category to receive compensation for the use of the aircraft for the purpose of conducting aircraft-specific flight training and flight reviews under 14 CFR 61.56. Grant, April 6, 2000, Exemption No. 7162
Three members of Mercury Air Group's board of directors bought the Mercury stock held by Chairman Seymour Kahn for more than $11 million, and Kahn has resigned his posts as chairman and as a member of the board of directors. Mercury also announced plans to cut corporate overhead costs to improve profitability.
PRIESTER AVIATION and Gulfstream Aerospace will host the Third Annual Gulfstream I Operators Conference Sept. 26-28 at the Palwaukee, Ill. Municipal Airport (PWK). The seminar will cover parts availability, troubleshooting, engine and propeller overhauls, corrosion and structural issues and airworthiness directive compliance. In addition to Priester and Gulfstream representatives, the seminar will include representatives of Rolls-Royce engines, Dowty-Rotol propellers and FlightSafety International.
Docket No.: 27258 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 135.143(c)(2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit AMC to operate certain aircraft under the provisions of Part 135 without a TSO-C112 (Mode S) transponder installed. Grant, April 13, 2000, Exemption No. 5720C
Docket No.: 29561 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 121.139(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Lorair to operate its Boeing 737-200 (B-737) airplane without carrying the appropriate parts of the maintenance manual aboard the airplane when it is away from its principal base of operations. Denial, June 28, 2000, Exemption No. 7256
National Air Transportation Association and National Business Aviation Association released a new package designed to help operators obtain a Part 135 certificate (BA, May 8/213). The package, Guidelines for Obtaining an FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certificate, includes a booklet and CD-ROM that overviews the necessary procedures to launch an on-demand charter operation under Part 135 of the FARs.
Federal Aviation Administration's proposal to require new emergency procedures for donning oxygen masks on Learjet 35/36 aircraft is an inappropriate use of airworthiness directives "and could set a bad precedent that would affect all of aviation," the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association claimed. National Air Transportation Association said that FAA should alter its proposal because it could cause the flight crews to overreact.
Docket No.: 29955 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 45.21(a), 45.25, and 45.29(a) and (b) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Ross to operate his RV-8 aircraft (Registration No. 207RV; Serial No. 80094) displaying three-inch-high nationality and registration markings on the vertical tail surface and 18-inch-high markings on the top of the right wing and the bottom of the left wing instead of the 12-inch-high markings required by the regulation. Denial, May 23, 2000, Exemption No. 7230
CESSNA AIRCRAFT is offering a new Instrument Computer Based Instruction program (I-CBI) through its Cessna Pilot Center flight training network. The multimedia training system follows on to the private pilot CBI program that Cessna introduced two years ago. The I-CBI kit includes 28 interactive CD-ROMs, textbook, Skyhawk pilot information manual, course syllabus, the FAR/AIM on CD, course management module and an IFR flight organizer. King Schools, which partnered with Cessna to develop the private pilot CBI, also developed the instrument program.
HANSEL E. TOOKES, was named chairman of Raytheon Aircraft Co. Tookes, who was elected a Raytheon Company executive vice president in June, has been president and chief executive officer of RAC since January 2000. He joined RAC in September 1999 as president and chief operating officer and the company announced that he would take over as chairman following the planned retirement of Art Wegner.
JAMES McCABE was named chief operating officer of Sermatech International. McCabe will oversee Sermatech's protective coating, turbine component repair and manufacturing businesses. He joined the company in 1991 as treasurer and most recently was chief financial officer of TFX Sermatech.
Model 407 helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-24-AD) - proposes to require inspecting the brackets that attach each horizontal stabilizer slat to the stabilizer for a crack and replacing the slat assembly if a crack is found. Installing airworthy segmented slat assemblies would be required prior to flight after Dec. 31, 2000 and would constitute terminating action for the requirements of this AD. This proposal is prompted by an incident in which a slat separated from a helicopter.
Associated Aviation Underwriters, which has been in the aviation insurance business for more than 70 years, is scheduled to be sold to British Aviation Insurance Group Ltd. before the end of September, under an agreement signed July 31 in New York following several months of discussions and due diligence reviews.
Model EMB-120 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-130-AD) - proposes to require inspections of certain components, and corrective action, if necessary. This action is necessary to prevent deterioration and deformation of the mass-balance weights of the aileron, which could affect the surface balance of the aileron and result in loss of aileron control and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane. This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.
Aviation accident investigators and industry leaders late last month reiterated warnings that the trend toward criminalization of aircraft accidents will hinder safety investigations and cause people involved in an accident to "clam up," but one Justice Department attorney disputed those claims, saying "we don't charge mistakes." At a hearing before the House aviation subcommittee, former FAA chief counsel and aviation attorney Kenneth Quinn reiterated his charge that "the increasing criminalization of aviation threatens the post-accident learning process, and, absen
AVIATION DATA SERVICE, INC. named Vernon L. Almond director of sales for the Wichita-based provider of aircraft and engine data. Almond previously was a sales representative for Century Aircraft Instruments of Wichita. Almond succeeds AvData veteran Barney Bayard, who accepted a position outside the aviation industry in Wichita.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION is hosting two meetings this week in the Denver area to discuss items of interest to business and corporate pilots and hear their concerns about regulatory and operational issues. The meetings are scheduled Aug. 2 at 7:30 a.m. at the Paragon Ranch Hangar at Jeffco Airport (BJC) in Broomfield, Colo. and at 11:30 a.m. the same day at the Denver JetCenter Hangar at Centennial Airport (APA) in Englewood, Colo. Persons planning to attend are asked to call June DeFontes at NBAA at (202) 530-0979 or e-mail her at [email protected].
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE is offering the Sanders AN/ALQ-204 Matadora infrared countermeasures system on its aircraft to protect them from ground- and air-launched infrared-guided missiles. "In certain parts of the world, government, VIP and corporate business aircraft can be vulnerable targets to terrorist organizations equipped with infrared-guided missiles," said Dobie Gilfillan, IRCM program manager for Gulfstream.
BFGOODRICH AEROSPACE was selected by C&D Aerospace to supply emergency evacuation systems for the new Embraer ERJ 170 and ERJ 190 regional aircraft. C&D is the interior and cabin systems supplier to Embraer. BFGoodrich also won the contract to provide wheels and brakes for Embraer's new ERJ 140 regional airliner.
