BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Models 3101 and 3201 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-76-AD; Amdt. 39-11046; AD 99-04-21) - re-quires, for Jetstream Model 3101 airplanes that have a certain wheel assembly incorporated and all Jetstream Model 3201 air-planes that are equipped with Dunlop AH54450 brake units, inspecting the main landing gear brake units for correct setting of the wear indicator pins, and re-setting the pins if incorrect. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness in-formation issued by the airworthiness authority of the United Kingdom.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE AVIATION OFFICIALS elected Harold Miller, Iowa statewide aviation manager, as secretary. Miller has headed the Iowa aviation office since 1985. Before that, he was chief of airport development for the Iowa Department of Transportation. As NASAO secretary, he succeeds Kim Stevens, former director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received an 11-year exclusive provider agreement to train Skywest Airlines pilots in EMB-120 and Canadair Regional Jet simulators. FlightSafety will provide the training at its centers in Long Beach, Calif. and Salt Lake City, Utah. FlightSafety, which has provided EMB-120 simulator training for Skywest at the Utah center for years, plans to install a Level D CRJ simulator at the end of the year. In addition, a second EMB-120 simulator is slated for certification later this year at the Long Beach center.
AGUSTA Model A109K2 helicopters (Docket No. 97-SW-57-AD; Amdt. 39-11045; AD 99-04-20) - requires replacing a certain Breeze-Eastern rescue hoist with a different part-numbered air-worthy rescue hoist. This amendment is prompted by an inci-dent in which a rescue hoist cable broke due to cable damage, resulting in one fatality.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION will hold its 24th annual Commercial Aviation Forecast Conference March 24-25 in Washington, D.C. The theme of this year's conference is "The Demand for Commercial Aviation Services in the 21st Century." FAA will release its annual FAA Aerospace Forecasts Fiscal Years 1999-2010. First-day activities, which will be held at the Washington Convention Center beginning at 8 a.m., include speeches by Rep.
The European Union will postpone its decision on banning hushkitted aircraft, which was scheduled to be formalized on March 9. "We have interest in defusing the tension with the United States," a spokeswoman for EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock said last week in Brussels. The U.S. opposes EU plans to forbid the addition of hushkitted aircraft to EU carrier's fleets as of April 1. The EU's draft regulation is now scheduled to be adopted by the Council of Transport Ministers, which is due to meet March 29 in Brussels.
JOHN D. (JACK) COSGROVE, who recently retired as president of Rockwell Collins, now has an endowed scholarship in his name at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, his alma mater. Rockwell officials gave ISU officials $50,000 to endow a scholarship for students in the school's College of Engineering. Cosgrove and his wife, Dilla, have been active in supporting Iowa State since he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineer-ing in 1956. Their four children also earned degrees from ISU.
GORDON DIXON was named chief executive officer for Oasis International Leasing Company in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. Dixon formerly was managing director, global aerospace for Chase Manhattan Bank.
EXECUJET AVIATION GROUP of South Africa signed a letter of intent to purchase a Global Express and a Model 60 Learjet from Bombardier. Value of the contract is approximately $50 million (U.S.). Execujet, based at Lanseria Airport near Johannesburg, is the exclusive sales and service representative for Bombardier in several African countries.
The ICAO Council has adopted more stringent limits on aircraft engine exhaust emissions based on a recommendation of its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP), Council President Assad Kotaite said last week. Kotaite reported that CAEP is acting on engine noise as well, resuming deliberations recently on certification standards more stringent than the current Chapter 3 rules.
Dassault Aviation, which announced 17 months ago it would "explore seriously the idea of a supersonic Falcon business jet," has pulled the plug on the program because it was unable to identify suitable powerplants. Word of the decision to shelve the SST program came from Charles Edelstenne, Dassault's executive vice president, during a discussion of the manufacturer's recent financial performance.
GKN plc completed a cash tender offer last month for all outstanding shares of The Interlake Corp. and accepted shares representing about 87 percent of Interlake's total shares outstanding. Interlake comprises three businesses: The Hoeganaes Corp., which supplies ferrous powdered metals; Chem-tronics, Inc., which makes lightweight components for aerospace engines and does engine fan blade repair; and Interlake Material Handling, which specializes in pallets, storage and conveyor systems.
Ogden Corp., which provides ground and cargo handling, fueling and passenger services at airports worldwide, acquired Flight Services Group, a growing air charter operator and aircraft management and sales business headquartered in Stratford, Conn.
DHL AIRWAYS, INC. and the United States Postal Service formed a strategic alliance that initially "will extend the Postal Service's international delivery capabilities by combining the strengths of each organization to pro-vide a two-day, guaranteed, trackable express document from 11 U.S. cities to 19 countries in western Europe." The new product, Priority Mail Global Guaranteed (PMGG), will be available from participating post offices beginning in mid-April, with DHL providing the transatlantic transportation and international delivery.
FAIRCHILD SA226-T, SA226-T(B), SA226-AT, and SA226-TC air-planes (Docket No. 99-CE-04-AD) - proposes to require replac-ing the existing brake master cylinders with brake master cylinders of improved design. The proposed AD is the result of an accident involving a Model SA226-TC airplane in which the master cylinder did not totally release the brake hydraulic pressure at the beginning of the takeoff roll. This caused the brakes to drag and the left-hand main wheel brakes to overheat, resulting in a wheel well area fire.
MATT EATON was appointed senior sales and marketing manager-de-icing systems for SMR Technologies, a B/E Aerospace company. Eaton formerly served with BFGoodrich Aerospace for 14 years, holding a number of sales and marketing positions for aircraft tires, wheels, brakes and services.
AIR BP is developing an exclusive FBO management computer software package for Air BP dealers. The fuel company is working with aviation software provider Cornerstone Logic on a product called FBO Manager with Air BP Enhancements, based on Cornerstone's Windows-based FBO Manager program. The new software package will manage "all major aspects" of an FBO's business including inventory, preflight dispatch, reservation and aircraft tracking, while also creating reports on sales, equipment and insurance, Air BP said.
Gilbert T. (Gil) Wolin, a 27-year veteran of the business aviation industry, was named publisher of Business and Commercial Aviation magazine, which is headquartered in Rye Brook, N.Y. Wolin, who also will oversee operation of the A/C Flyer and Show News publications, will be responsible for strategic direction, overall management and product development of those titles and related print/electronic services. Wolin reports to Ken Gazzola, executive vice president of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week group.
QUALITRON signed a new 15-year lease on its 16-acre FBO at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and announced plans for an $850,000 project to update the passenger terminal, pave three additional acres of ramp with concrete and build new fuel storage facilities. Qualitron has operated at IAH as an Exxon Avitat, the first in the U.S., since 1970. The FBO is operated by President Barry Rooker and General Manager Tom Ransom, who have worked together since 1977.
NASA changed the name of its Cleveland, Ohio Lewis Research Center to the John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field. The name change, proposed in legislation by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), honors Glenn, the four-term Ohio senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 and who became the oldest person to fly on a space mission last year when he was a crew member on the STS-95 mission, and George Williams Lewis, former research director for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, who died in 1948.
RAYTHEON Model 1900D airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-127-AD) - proposes to require replacing the passenger oxygen container and mask assembly with an improved passenger oxygen con-tainer and mask assembly. The proposed AD is the result of an incident in which a passenger donned an oxygen mask and the lanyard pin did not automatically pull and initiate oxygen flow during a loss of airplane pressurization.
VALLEY OIL COMPANY is dedicating $4 million to produce 42 new aircraft refueling vehicles, 24 for jet fuel and 18 for avgas. Valley Oil established its Aviation Refueler Division in 1995 and has built 54 new refuelers and refurbished numerous others.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Model 4101 airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-308-AD) - proposes to require modification of the pulley assemblies of the elevator and rudder control cables on the rear pressure bulkhead. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAC 1-11 200 and 400 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-307-AD) - proposes to require an inspection for cracking of the flap control lever and to identify the material from which the lever is made; replacement of the flap control lever with an improved part, if necessary; and repetitive inspec-tions for airplanes having a lever made from certain material. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
MERCURY AIR GROUP has ceased discussions with an unnamed company that had initiated discussions late last year about the possible acquisition of Mercury. The Los Angeles-based fixed-base operator and cargo handler said it had been "approached by a company concerning the possible acquisition of Mercury Air Group" and that it was in the early stages of discussion to determine if an agreement could be reached (BA, Dec. 14/267).
