Aircraft repair facilities and modification shops will face sharply higher costs and more federal paperwork under a new FAA regulation that will make it more difficult to obtain supplemental type certification for aviation products.
SUZI CASS VETETO joined Jetcraft Corporation as MIS/marketing assistant in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. headquarters. Veteto, who has a background in computer graphics and pre-press production, will help implement the company's new computer systems as well as assisting in the marketing, sales support and customer service functions.
GENERAL AVIATION community leaders are combining to fight an attempt by some airlines to convince Congress to establish yet another commission to study the air traffic control system and make recommendations for improving it. The airlines hope that the Senate Appropriations Committee will include a measure calling for such a commission in the fiscal 2001 transportation appropriations bill, which is slated to receive consideration this week.
Model EC 135 helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-05-AD; Amdt. 39-11731; AD 2000-10-07) -- requires replacing a certain oil cooler fan splined drive shaft with a different airworthy shaft and re-identifying the part numbers on the oil cooler fans. This amendment is prompted by two incidents in which the shaft broke. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the shaft, loss of oil cooling, and a subsequent engine shutdown during flight. FAA estimates that nine helicopters on the U.S. Registry will be affected by this AD at a cost of $2,160.
UNITED STATES AIRCRAFT INSURANCE GROUP opened a new field claims office in Memphis, Tenn. The office will handle general aviation claims in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. W. Shaen Phillips, associate in claims, will head the office, which is located at 3175 Lenox Park Blvd., Suite 209, Memphis, Tenn. 38115-4259; telephone: (901) 366-0097; fax (901) 366-1687.
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) made a major splash at last week's Berlin Air Show, placing orders for 100 large regional airliners and taking options on 200 more. GECAS ordered 50 728JET regional jets from Fairchild Dornier Corp.
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) wrapped up a busy week Friday with an order for $1.3 billion in regional jets from Bombardier and options for another $2.6 billion in RJs from the Canadian manufacturer. Combined with orders placed earlier last week with Fairchild Dornier and Embraer, GECAS placed orders and options for up to 450 aircraft last week. See article on Page 273.
TEXTS SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL completed its new 164,000-square-foot training wing. SimuFlite expects to begin receiving the new simulators for the wing this month and begin training there this fall. The wing includes 12 simulator bays, 50 classrooms, 22 briefing rooms and office space and will house Gulfstream V, Citation Ultra/Bravo and Citation Excel simulators.
CARL BARROWS was appointed service operations manager for Ronson Aviation. Barrows will supervise the maintenance, parts and avionics department at Ronson. He has more than 12,000 flight hours as an airplane and helicopter flight instructor and spent 15 years as a test pilot for Schweizer helicopters in Emira, N.Y. Since 1975, he has owned Barrows Aviation, which provided airplane and helicopter sales and maintenance.
Federal Aviation Administration Aug. 1 will renew its international overflight fee for aircraft that transit through U.S. airspace but neither take off nor land in the U.S. FAA, under court order to assess fees directly linked to cost, determined the fees based upon a cost accounting system developed recently, the agency said. "This rule assesses fees directly related to services provided by one of the safest air traffic control systems in the world," said FAA Chief Financial Officer Donna McLean.
Model SA-365N1, AS-365N2, and SA-366G1 helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-34-AD; Amdt. 39-11732; AD 2000-10-08) -- requires conducting inspections of each tail rotor blade for bonding separation, measuring the clearance between the tip of each tail rotor blade and the circumference of the air duct, and replacing the blade if necessary. This amendment is prompted by an inflight incident in which the tail rotor blades were significantly damaged due to bonding separation.
BUSINESS AVIATION interests are expected to file a request for an injunction to block implementation of the Stage 2 non-addition rule at the Van Nuys, Calif. Airport (VNY) along with a formal Part 16 complaint with FAA (BA, April 24/189). Affected airport businesses on the airport and national trade associations plan to combine resources and join forces in the legal challenge to the Van Nuys anti-noise rules.
ANDREW GRANUZZO, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, was named vice president of safety for Emery Worldwide Airlines. Granuzzo will be responsible for strategic planning, safety audits and assessments, regulation compliance and safety management for Emery.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY named one of its former airframe and powerplant mechanics as the recipient of an award for improving aviation safety and product development. David E. Newell, director of aviation and travel for VF Corp., Greensboro, N.C., received the annual Vern Lowe Award from Cessna officials. The award is named for the former chief of maintenance for Upjohn, who made significant contributions to the Citation III maturity process by providing operational experience and data to Cessna's engineering staff.
DASSAULT FALCON JET achieved ISO 9002 certification last month for its Teterboro, N.J. headquarters operation. The company hopes to achieve ISO 9002 certification for its Little Rock, Ark. manufacturing facility by the end of the year.
GE SUPPORT SERVICES, a supplier of engine support equipment for commercial and military aircraft, partnered with Hydro USA and Aircraft Tool&Maintenance to provide mechanical and electrical ground support equipment. "With Hydro and ATME on our team, and our growing e-commerce capabilities, we offer customers a one-stop-shop solution for ground support equipment," said Ron Ettinger, manager GSE sales and marketing.
LEE COUNTY PORT AUTHORITY said construction is under way on a 10,000-square-foot airplane and helicopter maintenance facility at the Page Field General Aviation Airport in Fort Myers, Fla. The building will include seven offices, a conference room, a parts-storage area and hangar space large enough for corporate jets. Gulfshore Maintenance, which owns the building, is expanding its business from flight training, sight-seeing and aerial photography to aircraft maintenance and repair.
The United States Air Tour Association, represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, asked a U.S. Appeals Court to suspend implementation and enforcement of two final rules issued by FAA and the National Park Service restricting air tour flights at Grand Canyon National Park.
JAMES WALIZER was named field service representative for Dassault Falcon Jet. Walizer, who will be based in the Chicago area, has more than 20 years of aviation maintenance experience with the U.S. Coast Guard. He specialized in the HU-25 Falcon fleet and received the USCG Commendation Medal for superior fleet-wide technical support.
JOHN HOUSE, director of communications for Dassault Falcon Jet, plans to retire this summer. House has been in charge of public relations for the French aircraft manufacturer's North American operations for nearly 20 years. Announcement of a successor is anticipated within the next few weeks.
NASA'S Small Aircraft Transportation System initiative (SATS) received another setback this week after the House Appropriations Committee narrowly defeated a proposed amendment (23-22) to restore $321.7 million in mostly aeronautics funding that was cut from the agency's fiscal 2001 budget request. Included in that funding cut was NASA's request for $9 million in seed money for SATS research.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION's Board of Directors named Edward W. Stimpson as the recipient of the 2000 NBAA Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation and Rodney K. Kauber as the recipient of the John P. (Jack) Doswell Award. The Meritorious Service award is presented to an individual "who, by virtue of a lifetime of personal dedication, has made significant, identifiable contributions that have materially advanced aviation interests." Stimpson, the U.S.
FRASCA INTERNATIONAL'S King Air C90B flight training device installed at SimuFlite Training International won FAA Level 5 Qualification. The FTD, used by SimuFlite's QuickTurn division, includes a two-tube Collins EFIS 84 system with autopilot controls and GPS. The C90B FTD is the first of four new devices QuickTurn ordered. QuickTurn, which also operates an earlier C90 model FTD, also ordered FTDs for Cessna, Aero Commander and Piper aircraft. Frasca will build those FTDs to Level 5 Qualification standards as well.
Model MD900 helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-04-AD; Amdt. 39-11730; AD 2000-10-06) - requires visually inspecting the drive shaft to determine the assembly part number (P/N) and marking the drive shaft assembly P/N and serial number (S/N) on any unmarked drive shaft. This AD also requires creating a component history card or equivalent record for certain drive shaft assemblies and replacing any drive shaft assembly that has reached its life limit.
