AVFUEL CORPORATION added Hillsboro Aviation in Hillsboro, Ore. and GMD of Atlanta, Ga., to its network of Avfuel branded dealers. Avfuel, the Ann Arbor, Mich. independent supplier of aviation fuels and services, serves more than 700 dealers nationwide.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL signed an agreement with British Regional Airlines under which FSI will provide an Embraer ERJ-145/135 simulator and related training facilities near the airline's hub in Manchester, England. Under terms of the 15-year agreement between the parties, FSI is committed to having an advanced JAA/FAA Level D simulator ready for training during the first quarter of 2000. British Regional will be operating ERJ-145s by that time.
Atlantic Aviation Corp., which is gearing up for significant expansion of its fixed-base operations business, acquired the Aero Services FBO at Midway Airport in Chicago, a full-service facility with 50 employees that handles both business aviation and airline customers. The Midway FBO was purchased from Aero Services International, Inc. and Beckett Aviation, whose principal was Ted Brant. With the Chicago acquisition, Atlantic now has six domestic FBOs at Teterboro, N.J., Northeast Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia International, Houston Hobby and Wilimington, Del.
Gene F. Langfeldt, a veteran general aviation executive, was named president of Mayo Aviation, Inc., the Centennial Airport-based jet charter, air ambulance and aircraft management company. Langfeldt, an instrument rated pilot, previously served as vice president and general manager of Elliott Aviation in Omaha, Neb. and as executive vice president and general manager of Turbo West, the corporate aviation service and sales firm headquartered at Jefferson County Airport near Denver.
SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D-W.Va.) told FAA's annual Aviation Forecast conference last week that the air traffic system we have today "cannot accommodate" the expected growth. Noting FAA's forecast that enplanements will exceed one billion annually by 2010, the ranking minority member on the Senate aviation subcommittee, said, "Demand for aviation services may so overwhelm us that we end up stifling growth across the country. There is no excuse for failing to put the system in place" for handling this growth, he said.
BOMBARDIER, spooling up production for its Global Express and Learjet 45 aircraft, expects to increase its business jet deliveries by 25 percent this year. Dave Orcutt, vice president and general manager of programs and customer service, said the company plans to ship 125 aircraft to the corporate world in 1999, compared with 102 in 1998 and 83 in 1997.
FAIRCHILD SA226 and SA227 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-65-AD; Amdt. 39-11066; AD 99-06-02) - requires repetitively inspecting the wing spar center web cutout on both wings for cracks between Wing Station 8 and WS 17.5, and immediately repairing any area found cracked. This repair will eliminate the need for the repetitive inspections on that particular wing spar. This AD stems from reports of cracks in the wing spar center web cutout caused by fatigue due to airplane maneuvering and wind gusts.
SABRELINER CORP. will hold its annual Sabreliner Operators' Symposium in conjunction with its Maintenance and Operations meeting Oct. 12 during the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, contact Jack Vaughn at (314) 863-6880.
ALLIEDSIGNAL AVIONICS Models GNS-Xls and GNS-Xl flight man-agement systems (Docket No. 97-CE-07-AD; Amdt. 39-11064; AD 97-05-03 R1) - revises AD 97-05-03, which currently requires inserting a limitation into the Operations Limitation Section of the Airplane Flight Manual or Flight Manual Supplement for all owners/operators of aircraft equipped with an AlliedSignal Avionics Models GNS-Xls or GNS-Xl global positioning system (GPS) flight management system.
Will Dirks, a 19-year veteran of Cessna Aircraft, was named to fill a new position last week, director of flight operations. In the new post Dirks will report to Charlie Johnson, Cessna's president and chief operating officer, and will be responsible for production flight test, Citation Marketing flight operations and the company's Delivery Acceptance Group. Previously, the company's flight test operations were under the Quality Control unit and the Delivery Acceptance Group reported to Marketing.
THE BUDGET AGREEMENT approved by the House and Senate late last week raises concerns that it may open the door to user fees this year.The agreement would cut the Department of Transportation's fiscal 2000 budget by $500 million below fiscal 1999 levels, leaving Appropriations Committee leaders difficult choices over whether to cut Transportation Department programs or increase revenues - possibly through fees.
Lufthansa subsidiary GlobeGround GmbH completed its acquisition of Hudson General Corp., including its handling company Hudson General LLC. GlobeGround said it outbid three other bidders by agreeing to pay $76 per share for all outstanding shares of Hudson General's stock, a total of $134 million. The German company said Hudson General, headquartered in Great Neck, N.Y., is expected to have revenues of $190 million this year. The company has nearly 5,000 employees and provides aircraft handling, tanking, de-icing and other services.
CENTRAL FLYING SERVICE began a $2 million construction project for two more hangars, which will increase the Little Rock, Ark. operation's hangar and maintenance space by 32,000 square feet. Once construction is completed, expected by mid-year, Central Flying Service will have 11 aircraft hangars covering 300,000 square feet with 39,000 square feet dedicated to maintenance.
One day after the rollout and first flight of the first production Model SR20 composite aircraft, Cirrus Design officials were dealing with the crash of the No. 1 aircraft and the death of Scott Anderson, who headed Cirrus's flight test department.
BOMBARDIER won an order from Piedmont Airlines of Salisbury, Md. for nine 37-seat DHC-8 Q Series 200 regional turboprops. The order will increase the US Airways Express carrier's fleet of Dash 8 aircraft to 93. Piedmont purchased its first de Havilland aircraft, a 50-passenger Dash 7, in 1979. Bombardier has received orders for 87 Q200 aircraft.
IN AN ERA when many communities are seeking to close their general aviation airports, Indianapolis, Ind. has awarded a $1.5 million contract for the first phase of development of a new small airport west of the city. See article on Page 144.
GENERAL AVIATION "has been driving the FAA workload" recently, according to John Rodgers, FAA director-aviation policy and plans. Tower operations in the U.S. rose 2.5 percent overall last year, but the GA portion grew 3.3 percent. Instrument operations increased 2.3 percent overall, while GA's total rose 4.3 percent.
NEW PIPER Models PA-31, PA-31-300, PA-31-325, PA-31-350, and PA-31P-350 airplanes (Docket No. 97-CE-152-AD; Amdt. 39-11065; AD 99-06-01) - supersedes AD 81-15-04 R1, which currently requires repetitively inspecting for cracks at the elevator outboard hinge attachment on the horizontal stabilizer rear spar, and if cracks are found, incorporating a spar and hinge bracket assembly kit. This AD requires repetitively inspecting the horizontal rear spar in the area of the outboard hinge attachment and the outboard hinge attach bracket for cracks.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport plans to award $350 million in contracts this year for a variety of expansion projects, including groundbreaking for a new 8,000-foot runway that was long delayed by environmental hurdles and litigation. The runway should increase the airport's capacity by 25 percent and is scheduled to be in operation in 2003. The airport awarded $223 million for projects in 1998. The sums are part of a $2 billion program, called MSP 2010, undertaken after state lawmakers decided to expand the airport rather than build a new one.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS Model MD-900 helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-34-AD; Amdt. 39-11056; AD 99-05-08) - requires estab-lishing or reducing certain life limits, applying serial numbers, determining hours time-in-service, and creating component history cards or equivalent records for various parts. This amendment is prompted by analysis that indicates a need for establishing or reducing life limits to avoid fatigue failure of certain parts. The actions specified by this AD are intended to apply appropriate life limits to various parts.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL won FAA Level D certification for a Falcon 50EX simulator at its Teterboro, N.J. learning center. The simulator is the third Falcon trainer at Teterboro. FlightSafety also operates Falcon 2000 and Falcon 900EX simulators there. In addition, FlightSafety plans to install a Beech 1900D simulator at its Toronto, Canada center in the third quarter of this year. The facility, the fourth FlightSafety center to provide Beech 1900 training, also is the major training center for the de Havilland Dash 8 regional aircraft series.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION promoted Marti Smith to manager, convention services. Smith joined NBAA in June 1998 as assistant manager, convention services. Smith oversees exhibitor registration for the association's annual meeting and convention as well as the NBAA Directory of Exhibiting Companies. In addition, she assists with exhibit management and is the staff liaison for the convention spouse program. Smith reports to Kathleen Hull, vice president-convention and seminars.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAC 1-11 200 and 400 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-27-AD; Amdt. 39-11059; AD 99-05-11) - supersedes an existing AD, which requires repetitive visual inspections for cracks in the flight deck canopy area, and repair, if necessary; and repetitive detailed visual and eddy current inspections for cracks of the top sill members at Station 82.5, and replacement of cracked parts with new parts, or repair of the top sill members.
EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT increased its charter fleet in the West with the addition of a Falcon 2000 in Denver. The Falcon 2000 is one of 24 aircraft EJM has added to its charter fleet in the past 11 months. EJM said the company has targeted the West as an area of growth and said demand for private jet charter in Denver "has never been stronger." EJM also operates a Gulfstream III based in Los Angeles, a Hawker 800 based in San Jose and a Citation III based in San Francisco.
