WOMEN IN AVIATION, INTERNATIONAL elected three new board members to three-year terms, beginning this month. The new members are Robert T. Francis, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board; Renee Martin-Nagle, counsel for Airbus Industrie of North America; and, Debra McFarland, vice president, administration and meeting management, for Aircraft Electronics Association.
National Air Transportation Association last week appealed to Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura to reject a proposal requiring state legislature approval before a runway can be built or expanded beyond 4,000 feet in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan region. The proposal would restrict expansion of reliever airports near Minneapolis/St. Paul, NATA said, adding that it was designed specifically to prevent expansion at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Minn.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION published a new General Aviation Is brochure designed to highlight the various uses of GA aircraft. GAMA is providing the brochure to colleges and universities and libraries. For more information on obtaining the 14-page brochure, contact GAMA at 1400 K St., N.W., Suite 801, Washington, D.C. 20005; telephone: (202) 393-1500.
Garmin International officials in Olathe, Kan. are struggling with a "quality problem" - how to boost production to meet demand for its popular new GNS 430 integrated GPS/Comm unit that includes VOR, LOC and glideslope and a full-color moving map display for a suggested retail price of $9,250.
CLARK COUNTY, NEV., requests proposals until 5 p.m. May 13 for a 72-unit T-hangar development and/or a six-unit commercial office/hangar development at Henderson Executive Airport (RFP-70-99). Proposal documents may be obtained from the office of E. Chris Hilbus, Assistant Director, Business and Development, Clark County Department of Aviation, Fifth Floor North, P.O. Box 11005, McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nev. 89111; telephone: (702) 261-5101.
FAA'S "interpretive rule" on pilots' responsibility for complying with air traffic control clearances and instructions continues to draw fire from the aviation industry (BA, April 5/154).
EMBRAER Model EMB-145 series airplanes (Docket No. 99-NM-33-AD; Amdt. 39-11087; AD 99-05-04) - publishes AD 99-05-04, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Model EMB-145 series airplanes by individual notices. This AD requires repetitive inspections for cracking or failure of the rod ends of the aileron power control actuator (PCA), and corrective actions, if necessary. This action is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
HANS GLASBERGEN was appointed international sales representative for BFGoodrich Avionics. Glasbergen will oversee BFGoodrich Avionics sales in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden.
STEVEN KOENIG was appointed vice president, sales - America for Fairchild Aerospace Corporation. Koenig will oversee sales and marketing of Fairchild's line of airliners in North, Central and South America, including the Caribbean and will be based in San Antonio. He previously served as customer business director for Europe and Latin America for Rolls-Royce Commercial Aero Engines Group.
AVDATA notes that those figures are not the result of the remarkable growth of fractional ownership aircraft providers over the past few years. Even though the three largest U.S. FO providers are operating 249 aircraft, the companies were counted as only three flight departments for purposes of the report.
AS OF FRIDAY, 255 operators of Citation business jets had signed up to help transport more than 1,600 athletes from 28 states to the 1999 Special Olympics Summer World Games. The 1999 World Games will be held in the Raleigh-Durham/Chapel Hill area of North Carolina from June 26 through July 4. "We are optimistic that by departure day we will have the additional airplanes to meet our goal of airlifting 2,000 athletes in 300 Citations.
WYMAN-GORDON CO., North Grafton, Mass., will take a $13.8 million pre-tax charge to settle claims related to a December 1996 industrial accident at its Houston facility. Wyman-Gordon restated its third quarter earnings to include the charge, leaving the company with a $9.4 million loss in the period. The forgings and castings manufacturer reached agreement with the families of three victims and one injured employee following the release of the third quarter earnings statement last month.
Docket No.: 29324 Petitioner: Centurion Flight Services, Inc. Sections of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 135.163, 135.181, and 135.421 Description of Relief Sought: To permit CFS to conduct passenger-carrying operations in a single-engine aircraft in certain limited instrument flight rules conditions as were permitted previously by Sec. 135.103. Docket No.: 29332 Petitioner: SkyWorld Aviation, Inc. Sections of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 135.163 and 135.181
ERA AVIATION CENTER now has a Gulfstream aircraft maintenance technician on its staff to help support international flights by corporate Gulfstream operators who visit the Anchorage fixed-base operation. Era said Ron Pauley, an experienced airframe and powerplant technician and veteran of the company's airline maintenance team, recently completed a formal course of instruction on Gulfstreams, with emphasis on G-IVs. Era, which says it is located at "the air crossroads of the world," handled nearly 400 Gulfstream aircraft in 1998.
GARMIN INTERNATIONAL partnered with Sandel Avionics to create software that will link the Garmin GNS 430, a combination GPS/Comm/Nav with color moving map with the Sandel SN3308, a three-inch electronic horizontal situation indicator. Garmin said a newly created ARINC 429 serial interface will simplify the installation process by using only six wires instead of 50 to link the Garmin and Sandel instruments. The interface eliminates the need to wire for relays, annunciators, resolver, discrete and other signals. The technology, Garmin said.
Russell W. Meyer, Jr., who has served as chairman and chief executive of Cessna Aircraft for a quarter-century, plans to retire as chief executive at the end of the year, part of a management succession plan that has been unfolding at the Wichita manufacturer for several years.
Dayton International Airport officials are putting the finishing touches on a three-phase master plan to expand capacity needed by cargo airline Emery Worldwide.
GLOBAL EXPRESS ORDERS still stand at 80, but Bombardier officials say 13 of the long-range business jets have been delivered to completion centers for outfitting. Robert E. Brown, Bombardier's president and chief executive, reiterated plans to boost Global Express production to three units per month, saying that will happen "fairly soon." Brown would not say how long the initial Global Express completions are taking, but said the rate should come down "to something like 25 weeks eventually."
AGUSTA Model A109E helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-10-AD; Amendment 39-11080; AD 99-03-10) - publishes AD 99-03-10, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Agusta Model A109E helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires, before further flight, inspections of the exhaust ejector locking system, clamp, and dampers for each engine.
CLIFTON STROUD joined the National Air Transportation Association as director of communications. Stroud has served in management posts with a number of aviation magazines and most recently was editing ATC Market Report, a BA affiliate published by McGraw-Hill. At NATA, Stroud will be responsible for day-to-day communications. Stroud is a graduate of Syracuse University.
GENERAL ELECTRIC began FAA certification testing of its new CT7-8 turboshaft engine, which was selected to power the twin-engine Sikorsky S-92 Helibus. The engine is undergoing testing at the National Research Council in Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian Transport Authority will oversee certain aspects of the testing, including foreign object, ice and water ingestion tests. The CT7-8, part of the T700/CT7 family of military/civil turboshaft and turboprop engines, includes a full authority digital electronic control system.
BFGoodrich acquired Advanced MicroMachines, Inc. (AMMI), a developer of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. AMMI employs 17 and reported 1998 sales of $2.5 million. It will be operated as part of BFGoodrich's Aircraft Sensors Division (ASD). The facility will continue to focus on product design, modeling and prototype development, while production and marketing will be located at ASD in Burnsville, Minn.
KURT ARNER was named international sales representative for BF Goodrich Avionics Systems. Arner will be responsible for Air Transport, Military and Business&General Aviation sales in Switzerland and Austria.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD will discuss the Jan. 13, 1998 crash of a Gates Learjet near George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas at a board meeting in Washington this week. The airplane, operated by American Corporate Aviation, was making a positioning flight from Houston's Hobby Airport to pick up passengers at IAH when it crashed about two miles from the airport in fog and light rain (BA, Jan. 19/27). The accident claimed the lives of both pilots.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE won a follow-on order from Midway Airlines for three Canadair Regional Jet aircraft valued at $65 million U.S. The contract, which converts three options, raises the number of firm orders for the CRJ from Midway to 26. Midway Airlines first ordered 10 CRJs in late 1997.
