WIGGINS AIRWAYS moved into a new $6 million, 97,000-square-foot facility at Manchester, N.H. Airport. Wiggins, which operates 32 aircraft under contract with Federal Express and seven Beech 99s and a Twin Otter for UPS, moved to Manchester Airport in 1997 after it acquired Stead Aviation. It formerly was based in Norwood, Mass. The new facility at Manchester includes full fixed-base operation services, Texaco fuel, aircraft maintenance, three hangars, tenant facilities and a 4.5-acre ramp.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model SA 330J helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-42-AD; Amdt. 39-11092; AD 99-07-07) - requires visual inspection and, if any crack is found, replacement of the affected main rotor head sleeve. This amendment is prompted by the discovery of a crack through the thickness of a lower lug of a blade sleeve. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent main rotor head sleeve failure, which could cause main rotor blade failure and subsequent loss of helicopter control.
Jet Aviation is making a number of management changes in its Swiss and U.S. operations, including the appointment of a new general manager at its Basel, Switzerland base.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is upset about FAA's new "interpretive rule" regarding pilots' responsibilities to correctly hear and follow instructions from air traffic controllers (BA, April 5/154). "It is unbelieve-able that the FAA is relieving a controller from the shared responsibility for safety," said NATA President James Coyne. "Readbacks supply a vital check on information transmitted between the pilot and ATC that can expose an error before that error becomes dangerous.
THOMAS F. (TONY) PIPER, SR., 84, the third of five children of Piper Aircraft founder William T. Piper, Sr., died April 3 after a lengthy illness in Ft. Myers, Fla. Tony Piper was a graduate of Harvard University who spent most of his career with Piper Aircraft, beginning while a high school student during vacations and summers. He was the first member of the Piper family to become a licensed pilot and flight instructor. He put those skills to good use in World War II when he received a commission as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1942 and was assigned to Ft.
THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE has cut more than $42 billion from the projected long-term surplus in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund from the year-ago estimate. CBO reduced the estimated uncommitted trust fund balance for the end of fiscal 2008 to $37.2 billion, down from $79.3 billion projected a year earlier. The reduction stems from a change in the formula for funding FAA.
Fokker F28 aircraft are vulnerable to lightning strikes and FAA should require that they be modified for increased protection, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended. The board cited a US Airways F28 that experienced a dual hydraulic system failure after it was struck by lightning Feb. 26, 1998. The crew made an emergency landing at Birmingham, Ala. Three main landing gear tires failed and the aircraft left the runway, but none of the 87 passengers was injured.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER SYSTEMS Model 600N helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-16-AD) - proposes to require applying serial numbers to several life-limited components related to pitch control and removing and replacing the components according to new life-limits. This proposal is prompted by fatigue tests that indicate a need for shorter service lives for these components.
VAISALA INC., Plain City, Ohio, received a contract valued at more than $985,000 to install Automated Weather Observing Systems at 16 airports in Texas.
ROBINSON Model R44 helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-71-AD) - proposes to require installing a shutoff clamp on the auxiliary fuel tank sump drain tube and a placard decal to alert operators to the proper use of the auxiliary fuel tank drain. This proposal is prompted by a report of fuel leaking from a drain tube opening in the area of the horizontal and vertical firewalls. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent fuel leaks from the drain tube that could cause a fire and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
PIAGGIO P-180 Airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-97-AD; Amdt. 39-11095; AD 99-07-10) - requires inspecting the upper and lower engine nacelle inner panels for any loose or partially detached inner film, and removing any loose or partially detached inner film. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Italy.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION Friday proposed a new rule that would impose significant cost and operating restrictions on a wide range of aircraft operated under Parts 135, 121 and 129 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.
HONEYWELL'S automatic flight control system for the new Sino-Swearingen SJ30-2 has undergone early flight tests and is "performing exceptionally well," Honeywell officials said. Sino-Swearingen announced the selection of the Primus Epic CDS (Control Display System) for the aircraft during the National Business Aviation Association annual meeting and convention last fall. Honeywell officials have worked with Sino-Swearingen in early flight testing to evaluate new flight control system functions, including secondary-surface yaw damper and rudder bias.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION last week held a series of meetings with officials from Capitol Hill, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to continue to campaign against impending European Joint Aviation Authorities restrictions on U.S. flight schools. The restrictions, slated to take effect June 1, essentially would render U.S. flight school training useless for foreign students because it would not be sanctioned by European officials.
COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER SALES should reach a 10.5 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years, mostly due to increased high-end, multi-engine turbine helicopter sales, according to JSA Research. International helicopter manufacturers, however, continue to consolidate, placing pressure on U.S. manufacturers.
MERCURY AIR GROUP tapped David Kucko as general manager for its Mercury Air Center fixed-base operation in Fresno, Calif. Kucko joined Mercury in 1997 as a line service supervisor in Ontario, Calif. and most recently was general manager of its Santa Ana, Calif. commercial fueling operations.
SHORT BROTHERS Model SD3-60 and SD3-60 SHERPA series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-106-AD; Amendment 39-11071; AD 99-06-07) - requires repetitive inspections to detect corrosion and/or wear of the top and bottom shear decks of the left and right stub wings in the area of the forward pintle pin of the main landing gear (MLG), and repair, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
ATLANTIC AVIATION CORPORATION named Douglas Shaw senior vice president, responsible for human resources, training and development and labor relations. Before joining Atlantic, Shaw was president of the business aviation consultancy Business Innovations Group. He also has held senior management positions with Signature Flight Support and Butler Aviation.
ROBIN Model R2160 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-78-AD; Amendment 39-11007; AD 99-02-15) - confirms March 29 as the effective date of AD 99-02-15. AD 99-02-15 requires repetitively inspecting the engine bearer for cracks and replacing the engine bearer with a reinforced part either immediately or at a certain time, depending on whether cracks are found during the inspections. Replacing the engine bearer with a reinforced part terminates the repetitive inspection requirement.
WILLIAMS FJ44-1A turbofan engines (Docket No. 98-ANE-36-AD; Amdt. 39-11088; AD 99-07-04) - requires removing the high pressure turbine (HPT) disk from service before it accumulates reduced cyclic life limit of 1,900 cycles since new (CSN) and replacing with a serviceable disk. As an option, the HPT nozzle can be modified, thereby increasing the HPT disk cyclic life limit from the new reduced cyclic life limit. This amendment is prompted by a revised life analysis conducted by the manufacturer after the failure of a similarly designed HPT disk.
EMBRAER Model EMB-120 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-265-AD; Amdt. 39-11100; AD 99-02-18 R1) - requires removing the thermal insulating blankets from the upper rear nacelle structure; re-positioning the engine exhaust duct; and replacing the engine exhaust bracket with a new engine exhaust bracket, if necessary. For certain airplanes, that amendment also currently requires installing new stainless steel plates onto the upper rear nacelle structure.
The National Business Aviation Association is warning its members of a potential problem with some older Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which could report inaccurate locations compounded by incorrect dates as a result of the "rollover" or "end of week" (EOW) design issue.
The Federal Aviation Administration, alarmed by a series of NTSB decisions, Thursday issued an "interpretive rule" saying pilots are required "by regulation to comply with the clearances and instructions of air traffic controllers except in very narrow circumstances." The agency, over the signature of Administrator Jane Garvey in the Federal Register, exhibited concern that a "series of recent NTSB enforcement decisions has raised a question regarding the regulatory responsibility of pilots to hear and to comply with air traffic control clearances and instructions."
AIR SECURITY INTERNATIONAL opened a Washington, D.C. area office to "provide security services to multi-national corporations, international and non-government organizations, government agencies and private clients." Carl Provencher, Air Security's new director of international consulting and services, heads the new office. Provencher has been with the International Monetary Fund for the past five years where he "played a key role in the creation of its international security program," according to ASI.
The business jet market, which logged record billings and double-digit increases in shipments last year (BA, Feb. 15/71), is expected to decline in dollars and remain relatively stagnant in rate of new deliveries over the next five years, according to a report released late last month by independent analyst JSA Research, Inc. JSA, a Newport, R.I. firm that conducts aerospace research for investors, predicted a steeper decline for the turboprop market, but healthy growth for piston aircraft deliveries over the next five years.
