AIRCELL, INC., a privately held company based in Louisville, Colo., received a $12 million cash infusion from private investors, led by Blumenstein/Thorne Information Partners (BTIP). The investment will help fund nationwide installation of AirCell's new air-ground telephone service network for general aviation and regional aircraft. AirCell won approval from the Federal Communications Commission in December to offer air-ground wireless communications through the existing cellular network spectrum.
SMR TECHNOLOGIES, a unit of B/E Aerospace Inc., won supplemental type certificates and parts manufacturer approvals from FAA for pneumatic de- icers for the Beech Baron 58 and Beech Duke 60. The company's pneumatic de-icers also are approved for installation on Piper PA-31, Beech King Air 200, Twin Commander, Cessna 421C, Fairchild Metro/Merlin, Cessna 340A and Piper PA-34 Seneca models.
BELL Model 222, 222B, and 222U helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-49-AD; Amdt. 39-11153; AD 99-09-20) - requires initial and repetitive visual inspections and verification of the torque of the bolts on the main rotor hub. This amendment is prompted by a report of fatigue cracks around the bolt holes of the main rotor pitch horn and a cracked main rotor flapping bearing assembly on a BHTC Model 222 helicopter.
AlliedSignal Aerospace, which pioneered development of the enhanced ground proximity warning system, said Friday it is working on a low-cost version of the system designed for general aviation operators that will be priced at under $10,000 for the basic system.
LUCILLE FISHER was appointed director of operations control center for Flight Options, Inc. Fisher, previously flight coordinator for NCC Services in Cleveland, will be responsible for owner services and dispatch functions.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Tuesday expects to issue new recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation on flight and duty time regulations.The recommendations stem from a draft safety report on DOT's progress in revising its regulations governing operator hours of service across all modes. NTSB originally urged DOT to revise its hours-of-service regulations for transportation operators in 1989.
WAYNE FISCHER was named global sales and marketing manager for PPG Industries' Huntsville, Ala.-based aircraft products business. Fischer, who joined PPG in 1966, will be responsible for military transparencies and Prist products.
GEN. RONALD FOGLEMAN, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, joined the board of directors of Derco Holding, Ltd. Fogleman had a 34-year military career and amassed more than 6,800 flight hours in fighter, transport, tanker and rotary wing aircraft.
Flight Safety Foundation is developing an aviation safety audit program, Q-STAR Certified Quality Charter Providers, for charter operators. The program, unveiled at the FSF's 44th annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar last month in Cincinnati, Ohio, received a "tremendous response" and will be finalized shortly, an FSF executive said.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-214-AD; Amdt. 39-11145; AD 99-09-12) - requires repetitive inspections for damage of the structure associated with the engine nacelle fairing attached to the wing flaps, and repair of any damage found; drilling a new drain hole in each engine nacelle fairing; and applying a sealant to the gap between the wing flap and engine nacelle fairing. This amendment also requires correction of discrepancies, and modification of the wing flap structure, which terminates the repetitive inspections.
New air traffic control user fees and new or increased charges for aircraft registration and pilots licensing are two of a series of options the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office recently issued on exercising fiscal discipline. The CBO last month released a report, Maintaining Budgetary Discipline: Spending and Revenues, providing some 250 suggestions on belt-tightening and revenue-raising initiatives.
ARINC, INC. won FAA certification as a repair station for its San Diego, Calif. engineering center. The scope of the license includes removal, inspection, test, repair and installation of radio and radionavigation equipment in all airframes. The license also permits test and inspection of altimeters, static systems, automatic altitude reporting equipment and air traffic control transponders.
FOKKER Model F27 series airplanes equipped with Rolls-Royce 532-7 "Dart 7" (RDa-7) series engines (Docket No. 98-NM-364-AD) - would require a revision to the Airplane Flight Manual to provide the flightcrew with modified operational procedures to ensure continuous operation with the high-pressure cock (HPC) levers in the lockout position. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
BFGOODRICH AVIONICS SYSTEMS received FAA technical standard order certification for its new radar graphics computer RGC250. The system enables the display of traffic and lightning information on radar screens. The RGC will display traffic information from either the BFGoodrich TCAS I or Skywatch traffic advisory system and interfaces lightning data from either the Stormscope WX-1000E system or WX-500 sensor.
RAYTHEON AEROSPACE won a one-year, $32.5 million contract to provide partial contractor logistics support for the U.S. Air Force's fleet of 180 T-1A Jayhawk trainers. The contact includes up to nine one-year options with a potential value of $491.4 million. The contract, which also includes options for T-1A trainers at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., calls for off-equipment maintenance and supply provided through local contractor operated and managed base supply (COMBS) facilities.
DUNCAN AVIATION is hosting a two-day engine symposium concurrently with an open house reception at its newly expanded engine service center in Lincoln, Neb. The symposium, May 25-26, will include an AlliedSignal TFE731 workshop and a TFE731 line maintenance troubleshooting class. The expanded service center is located in a remodeled 20,000-square-foot facility on the west side of Lincoln Airport. The facility includes a nondestructive testing area, separate room for flow and balance equipment, and parts cleaning capacity.
DUNCAN AVIATION'S facility in Battle Creek, Mich. recently installed a Collins ProLine 4 avionics retrofit in a Falcon 50 as part of an extensive completion/modification package on the aircraft. The new avionics suite includes TCAS II, EGPWS, a fully digital autopilot with RVSM-capable air data computers, a new instrument panel with EFIS displays, nav/comm transceivers with compact radio tuning units, dual Universal UNS-1C flight management systems, Honeywell Laseref III laser gyro systems and a Collins Doppler radar.
MOONEY AIRCRAFT is offering the Bendix/King KLN 94 color GPS navigator/moving map display, when it becomes available, to original purchasers of the company's 1999 model airplanes. Mooney said the KLN 94 is a direct plug-in replacement for the KLN 89B being installed as original equipment in the 1999 models. The advanced unit is expected to be ready for installation in the first or second quarter of 2000, Mooney said.
VINCE HOURIGAN joined CH2M Hill as senior project manager in the Transportation Business Group. He most recently was vice president and Southwest district development director for PB Aviation, Inc.
Federal Aviation Administration finally provided relief last week from controversial night takeoff and landing currency requirements for pilots-in-command (BA, Feb. 1/49). In a direct final rule that was published and took effect Friday, FAA said it would permit PICs who operate more than one type of airplane to meet the night recency requirements in just one of the types, rather than in each type of aircraft they fly. The rule also establishes certain qualifications, aeronautical experience and training requirements as an alternative means of compliance.
STEVE STRETCHBERRY joined CH2M Hill as aviation market segment director, Transportation Business Group. Stretchberry most recently was director, aviation services for Parsons Infrastructure&Technology, where he was on the program management team for the $1.4 billion terminal project at San Francisco International Airport.
PILATUS BUSINESS AIRCRAFT, which delivered six aircraft in the first quarter, said first quarter orders for its single-turbine PC-12 "show promise for another record year." The company logged orders for 22 PC-12s, including 19 from operators in North and South America. Pilatus plans to boost production from four to five aircraft per month beginning in June to meet increased demand (BA, Jan. 18/29).
AlliedSignal Aerospace technicians are turning out the first hardware for production test units of the new AS900 turbofan engine and officials say they remain on target to win FAA certification of the new powerplant in March 2001.
AEROMECH AND KOHLMAN SYSTEMS RESEARCH established a joint venture company with Aerodata Gmbh of Braunschweig, Germany, to assist European business aircraft operators with reduced vertical separation minima compliance. The company, Aeroflight Servicegesellschaft GmbH, based in Braunschweig, will provide RVSM services for all aircraft, particularly those "for which the aircraft manufacturers no longer provide the resources to assist with this task."
