THE U.S. ARMY and the Boeing Sikorsky team signed a six-year, $3.1 billion contract for 13 engineering, manufacturing and development Comanche helicopters. The contract is the latest step in a program to replace the Army's current fleet of AH-1 Cobras and OH-58 Kiowas with the RAH-66 Commanche light attack/armed reconnaissance helicopter. The hope is to reach full-scale production by 2008, a Boeing spokesman said, which would mean an increase in personnel to more than double the 500 workers currently employed at Boeing's helicopter facility near Philadelphia, he added.
C. BARRIE SAMPSON joined Bizjet SA of Geneva, Switzerland as director of international sales. Sampson has a 27-year business aviation career, formerly serving with Cessna, Canadair, British Aerospace, Falcon Jet Center and Eagle Aircraft Services. Most recently he has consulted in aircraft transactions. While with Bizjet, he will develop sales in Britain, Northern Europe and the Middle East.
Docket No.: 30024 Petitioner: Duncan Aviation Regulations Affected: 14 CFR 25.813(c)(1), 25.813(c)(2) Description of Petition: To allow access to the required emergency exits on the Israeli Aircraft Industries Astra SPX to be modified. Docket No: 29986 Petitioner: LifePort, Inc. Regulations Affected: 14 CFR 25.785(b) and 25.562 Description of Relief Sought: To permit installation of a medical stretcher for carriage of non-ambulatory persons on a Cessna Citation 560XL airplane.
Canada's Bombardier Aerospace plans to significantly increase aircraft production and expand its Northern Ireland manufacturing operations, adding 1,200 employees over the next two years. "Continuing strong demand for many Bombardier aircraft products, coupled with our desire to shorten delivery lead times, is driving a realignment of our manufacturing plan," said Michael Graff, president and chief executive of Bombardier Aerospace.
AIR METHODS inaugurated new organ transport service through its Southern California-based subsidiary, Mercy Air. Mercy Air is providing immediate response seven days a week, 24 hours a day, for organ transplants via ground, helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft service. Mercy Air coordinates this service with medical teams.
One year after employees in FAA's Office of the Chief Counsel agreed to unionize, nearly every unit at the agency's headquarters, and others in the field, have sought representation.
Eclipse Aviation Corp., which plans to begin delivering a low-priced, twin-turbofan aircraft in 2003, began accepting orders and issuing delivery positions to customers Friday in Arizona.
Precision Castparts Corp. is buying UEF Aerospace, a division of the United Kingdom's United Engineering Forgings, for $34 million. "The acquisition of UEF Aerospace combines the advantages of increasing our top-line growth through the addition of complementary forging capabilities and of providing further opportunities for bottom-line improvement through the sharing of resources and productivity enhancements," said William C. McCormick, chairman and CEO of Precision Castparts Corp.
The National Park Service will endanger a carefully constructed agreement for air tours over national parks and infringe on FAA's responsibility to manage airspace if it enacts a draft order on soundscapes and natural quiet in national parks, groups representing air tour operators warned (BA, April; 24/189). NPS last month published Draft Director's Order No.
TAG AVIATION HOLDING S.A. reported a strong first quarter in both U.S. and Europe. TAG Aviation USA surpassed charter sales projections by 15 percent in the first quarter and landed 17 new management accounts. TAG Aviation USA credited its positive first quarter to the economy, market momentum from the merger of TAG Aviation and Wayfarer Aviation and the technical capabilities of the staff. Geneva, Switzerland-based TAG Aviation S.A. reported that first quarter revenues grew 10 percent over the same period in 1999. TAG Aviation S.A.
SIKORSKY-manufactured Model CH-54A helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-81-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires initial and recurring inspections and rework or replacement, if necessary, of the second stage lower planetary plate. This action would require the same actions as the existing AD but would add two type certificate (TC) holders to the applicability of the AD and change one TC holder who has transferred ownership of the affected helicopters since the issuance of the existing AD.
BELL Model 430 helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-84-AD) - proposes to require replacing arm clamp screws in the yaw, roll, pitch, and collective syncro resolvers, and installing a guard bracket on the yaw, roll, pitch, and collective syncro resolvers. This proposal is prompted by an operator's report that a yaw control channel jammed during freedom-of-control checks following maintenance. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent a jammed flight control and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. FAA estimates that 33 helicopters on the U.S.
TRANSPORT CATEGORY airplanes equipped with Mode C transponders with single Gillham code altitude input (Docket No. 2000-NM-81-AD; Amdt.39-11686; AD 99-23-22 R2) - rescinds an AD, applicable to various transport category airplanes equipped with Mode C transponder(s) with single Gillham code altitude input. That AD requires repetitive tests to detect discrepancies of the Mode C transponders, air data computer, and certain wiring connections; and corrective actions, if necessary.
LINDA BARKER, vice president and owner of Business Aviation Services in Sioux Falls, S.D., was elected to chair the National Air Transportation Association. Barker has served on the NATA board for four years, most recently as vice chair. Her background spans both industry and government, including three terms in the South Dakota House of Representatives. She also was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to the National Civil Aviation Review Commission that developed recommendations for FAA reform and airspace modernization.
TELEDYNE TECHNOLOGIES INC. tripled the number of engines its Teledyne Continental Motors unit will inspect for possible metallurgical flaws in crankshafts. The engine manufacturer originally said it suspected problems in about 1,000 engines, but Wednesday boosted the number of suspect powerplants to 3,000. "TCM believes that metallurgical issues resulted from several discrete periods of steel production and/or forming operations by its suppliers," the company said.
AIRCRAFT BELTS INC. developed a Dual Action Push Button Restraint System that allows users to release the belt either from the top or from the side. The buckle is available in a polymer housing or in a plateable metal housing to meet a client's specifications. Aircraft Belts, founded in 1981, specializes in safety restraints for general and commercial aircraft and air ambulances.
More than four months before its 53rd annual convention opens in New Orleans in October, National Business Aviation Association officials have sold all available exhibit space in the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center.
U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE opened an office at Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba next to the existing immigration facility to allow U.S.-bound passengers to clear Customs before they leave the Dutch Caribbean island. The upgrade is part of a $67 million renovation that will triple the airport's size. In addition to Aruba, U.S. Customs operates pre-clearance facilities in Canada, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association last week urged the Federal Aviation Administration to restore funding to the National Geodetic Survey for airport and obstruction surveys. NGS, a unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stopped providing the survey data after FAA cut off funding. FAA, facing a severe operating budget crunch this year, told AOPA that it will not be able to pay the $3.5 million NGS bill unless it receives the $77 million supplemental appropriation from Congress.
FAA Friday published a formal notification that commercial air tour operators must apply for an air carrier or commercial operator certificate under Parts 119, 135 or 121 by July 5.Recently enacted FAA reauthorization legislation, AIR-21, requires air tour operators to get commercial certification within 90 days.
NBAA, GAMA and NATA have agreed to join forces with aviation business leaders in Van Nuys, Calif. to take action against the Stage 2 non-addition noise ordinance slated to take effect June 10 at Van Nuys Airport (BA, April 24/189). The GA groups held a conference call last week with the Van Nuys businesses and hope to finalize their plans in another conference call scheduled for Tuesday. NBAA's Olcott said two of the options under discussion are filing a formal Part 16 complaint and seeking a court injunction to stop implementation of the noise ordinance.
THOMAS ZEIDLIK, a classroom and flight instructor at the University of North Dakota's John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, was named a master certified flight instructor by the National Association of Flight Instructors. NAFI has designated fewer than 200 of the nation's 78,000 CFIs as Master CFIs and Zeidlik is one of only five Minnesota CFIs to achieve master status.
