CHARLES GIANARIS was appointed facilities business development representative for Woodland Aviation. Gianaris, a retired physician with 25 years of aviation experience, will assist corporate flight departments and aircraft owners in maintaining, managing and operating their aircraft.
SIKORSKY Model CH-54A helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-60-AD; Amdt. 39-11102; AD 99-07-16) - requires an initial and recurring inspections and rework or replacement, if necessary, of the second stage lower planetary plate. This amendment is prompted by cracked plates found during overhaul and inspections. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the plate due to fatigue cracking, which could result in failure of the main gearbox, failure of the drive system, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
CHROMALLOY GAS TURBINE CORP. Chairman Martin Weinstein named a new management team. Kenneth Binder is president of strategic initiatives operations, which includes all joint ventures and the company's newly formed Engine Services Division; Paul Pace, president of OEM operations, which includes the business units providing manufactured products to the major engine manufacturers; and Christine Richardson, president of repair operations, which includes the company's 22 Part 145 repair stations and U.S. military repair divisions.
DENNIS PHILLIPS was named to the newly created position of manager of avionics engineering and sales for Western Aircraft. Phillips will be responsible for large installation projects.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. Thursday flew its second production SR20, the first flight of the experimental category airplane since the first prototype crashed last month (BA, March 29/147). Cirrus test pilot Gary Black conducted several high-speed taxi tests before takeoff and checked the aircraft's systems during the one-hour flight. "The flight went exactly as planned," Black said. "It felt responsive and was fun to fly." Cirrus has planned a series of tests for the second prototype to confirm that the production line model matches the certification prototypes.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION last week urged FAA to "exercise restraint" in considering the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation calling for terrain awareness and warning systems on all turbine aircraft with six or more passenger seats within three years.NTSB last month issued that recommendation following its investigation of a January 1998 crash of a Learjet 25B (BA, April 26/187). The recommendation comes as FAA considers comments on its own proposal to require TAWS on turbine aircraft within four years.
U.S. general aviation manufacturers reported record first quarter billings and the highest number of aircraft shipped during a three-month period since 1984, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. U.S. GA manufacturers posted billings of $1.7 billion in the first three months of 1999, a 49.2 percent jump from the $1.1 billion reported for last year's first quarter, GAMA said. The increase in first quarter billings resulted in part from the addition of Boeing's BBJ to GAMA totals with seven of the high-end business jets shipped.
MIKE FITZGERALD was appointed director of maintenance for the charter department of Stevens Aviation. Fitzgerald joined Stevens in 1993 and has 20 years of A&P experience and more than 13 years of turbine engine shop management experience.
EUROCOPTER Model SA. 3160, SA.316B, SA. 316C, and SA. 319B helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-58-AD; Amdt. 39-11112; AD 99-08-06) - requires inspecting the spar skin and main rotor blade root reinforcement strip area for a bonding separation, corrosion, or cracks, and replacing the blade, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by the in-flight failure of a blade.
BFGoodrich, Richfield, Ohio, earned $65.8 million in its 1999 first quarter, excluding special items, up 21 percent from profits of $54.2 million a year ago, the company reported. Including a $16.5 million after-tax charge related to restructuring, earnings dropped to $49.3 million in the first three months of 1999. First quarter sales reached $1.04 billion, up from sales of $937.7 million a year ago.
FORTIS AVIATION was appointed by Bakrie&Brothers, Jakarta, Indonesia to sell its B727-100 executive aircraft. The aircraft, manufactured in February 1966 for Eastern Airlines, was fitted with an executive interior in 1981 by Dee Howard for corporate use. Bakrie, a conglomerate with interests including oil, plantations, telecommunication and manufacturing, acquired the aircraft in 1994 and Associated Air Center in Dallas refitted it.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and the Professional Airways Systems Specialists announced agreement last week on a revised plan to implement the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). FAA Administrator Jane Garvey said the revised plan will focus on developing the full STARS as soon as possible while meeting short-term requirements for controller displays at a small number of facilities.
DeCrane Aircraft Holdings, Inc., which has been busily acquiring firms that provide services to the business aviation community, said it bought Precision Pattern, of Wichita, Kan. The Kansas firm designs, engineers, certifies and sells interior furniture components for middle- to high-end corporate jets. PPI will be operated as a separate subsidiary, retaining the existing management team led by: Don Zerbe, chief executive officer; Ed Markel, president; Bill Allen, treasurer; M.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT received a follow-on order from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for eight more 172 Skyhawks. The order is part of a 12-year agreement Cessna and Embry-Riddle signed in 1997 calling for the university to purchase up to 300 Skyhawks. Embry-Riddle has 53 aircraft in service at its Daytona Beach, Fla. campus and eight operating at its Prescott, Ariz. facility.
Raytheon's Control-By-Light business segment delivered the first Distributed Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU) to Raytheon Aircraft's facility in Wichita Friday to prepare to test the system on a Beech 1900D, Raytheon executives told BA affiliate Aerospace Daily last week.
RAYMOND ANDERSON joined Los Angeles World Airports to direct business development. Anderson has 12 years of airport manage-ment experience, holding posts with the Kansas City Aviation Department, the Lehigh-Northhampton, Pa. Airport Authority and the Naples, Fla. Airport Authority.
Daniel Burnham, who joined Raytheon last July as president and chief operating officer and assumed the role of chief executive in December, will take on the additional title of chairman of the board following the planned July 31 retirement of Dennis J. Picard.
JULIE WRENN, aircraft sales representative for Stevens Aviation, relocated to the company's Denver location. Wrenn joined Stevens in 1993 in the customer service department.
WORLD FUEL SERVICES CORP. retained NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC "to explore strategic options to maximize shareholder value," the company said. "We will look at all of our options," said Ralph R. Weiser, World Fuel Services' chairman. Headquartered in Miami Springs, Fla., World Fuel is a major aviation and marine fuel marketer, providing services at more than 1,100 airports and seaports worldwide.
ALLIEDSIGNAL TFE731 series turbofan engines (Docket No. 97-ANE-51-AD) - revises an existing AD that requires installation of an improved flexible (flex) fuel tube. This action would clarify that installation and explain that the use of a clamp on the original rigid fuel tube, are optional for engines installed on Learjet 35, 36, and 55 series airplanes. This proposal is prompted by confusion from operators regarding the applicability of these Learjet engine installations.
The CitationJet 2 prototype, the follow-on to Cessna Aircraft's successful CitationJet program, made a 65-minute first flight April 27. The aircraft, piloted by engineering test pilots John Siemens and David Bonifield, made a direct climb to 10,500 feet where stability and control tests were performed and the landing gear, flaps and speed brakes were cycled. The CJ2 departed from McConnell Air Force Base, which is located just across the street from Cessna's Pawnee Division where the prototype was built, and landed at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport at 2:58 p.m.
A scholarship fund in the name of Arnold M. Lewis, Jr., the aviation journalist who died April 21, has been established at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. Details on how scholarship recipients will be selected will be determined after university officials have an opportunity to discuss the matter with the Lewis family.
Federal Aviation Administration last month called for new life limits for certain General Electric CF34 turbofan high-pressure compressor (HPC) spools and disks in a proposal that could cost operators more than $4 million. The proposal would cover CF34-1A, -3A, and -3A2 engines installed on Canadair CL-600-2A12, -2B16 and -2B19 aircraft and seeks to reduce life limits for both forward and rear HPC spools and Stage 9 HPC disks.
ALLIEDSIGNAL TFE731-40R-200G turbofan engines (Docket No. 99-ANE-08-AD; Amdt. 39-11103; AD 99-07-19) - requires inspection of the fuel flow meter tube assembly, Part Number (P/N) 3061157-2, which connects the fuel control to the fuel flow meter, and eventual replacement of the tube and fuel flow meter mounting bracket. This amendment is prompted by two in-flight shutdowns on two recently certified TFE731-40R turbofan engines within the last six months that resulted from fuel flow meter tube assembly failures.
