Industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp. reached an agreement to purchase the outstanding shares of Aeroquip-Vickers for $58 apiece in a deal valued at $1.7 billion. The acquisition, which must receive approval from both the companies' boards, is expected to close in April. The addition of Aeroquip-Vickers will allow Eaton to extend its "strong position in mobile hydraulics," said Stephen Hardis, chairman and chief executive of Cleveland, Ohio-based Eaton.
THE ORLANDO gathering was the 10th annual schedulers and dispatchers conference, which has grown dramatically in recent years. Last week's attendance was 982.
ROCKWELL COLLINS teamed with Aero Instruments and Avionics as an extension of its Collins Support Services' repair efforts. Aero Instruments, North Tonawanda, N.Y., repairs and tests a range of aircraft equipment with a specialty in flight data recorders.
AIRSHOW was designated a preferred supplier of integrated cabin management systems for the Boeing Business Jet by Garrett Aviation Services. Garrett, selected as a completion center for the BBJ, will offer Airshow's Pacific Systems line of integrated cabin management systems. Garrett's Jet Center facility in Van Nuys, Calif., will install the systems, which include audio and video equipment, audio-video distributors, custom switch panels, call panels, touchscreen control systems and amplifiers.
CASA Model CN-235 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-219-AD) - proposes to require a one-time visual inspection to detect relative movement or deformation of the joint areas of the rear attaching supports and lower skin of the left and right outer flaps; repetitive borescopic inspections to detect cracking of the spar and of the rear internal support fittings of the outer flaps; and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposal also provides for optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
American Chairman and Chief Executive Donald Carty called for cooperation from his competitors in forwarding the industry's agenda at FAA and on Capitol Hill. Carty, speaking recently before the International Aviation Club in Washington, D.C., said industry needs to leave its competitive battles in the marketplace and try for unified positions on important issues such as funding aviation infrastructure, modernizing the air traffic control system and reforming FAA, and reaching a consensus for improved air safety.
AVIONS PIERRE ROBIN Model R2160 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-82-AD) - proposes to require repetitively inspecting the vertical stabilizer spar in the area of the lower fitting of the rudder for cracks, loose rivets, or spar web distortion; and modifying the vertical stabilizer spar either immediately or at a specified time period, depending on whether discrepancies are found during the inspections. The proposed AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for France.
JAMES SMITH, president and chief executive of AIL Systems Inc., was elected to the board of directors of EDO Corp. Smith has served with AIL, a New York-based defense electronics company, since 1967, becoming president in 1991 and CEO a year later. He also serves as chairman of the American Electronics Association (New York Council).
Mesa Air Group of Phoenix, Ariz. signed a merger agreement with CCAIR, Inc. under which CCAIR will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa. CCAIR, based in Charlotte, N.C., is a regional carrier that operates 31 aircraft as USAirways Express, a USAirways feeder. The transaction is valued at approximately $53 million, based on a price of $4.35 per share. The new price is $1.05 per share lower than the $5.40 share price referred to in a letter of intent last summer.
RAYTHEON Model 2000 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-34-AD; Amendment 39-11006; AD 99-02-14) - requires inspecting the stainless steel fuel line, Part Number (P/N) 3035737, for evidence of chafing and a minimum clearance between the fuel line and power lever bracket, P/N 122-940028-1; and replacing the fuel line and modifying the power lever bracket, as necessary. This AD is the result of chafing found on the stainless steel fuel line on several of the affected airplanes.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model 430 helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-68-AD; Amendment 39-10998; AD 98-24-31) -publishes an AD sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Model 430 helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires, within 10 hours time-in-service (TIS), inspecting the lateral control tube assembly and the forward fairing assembly for chafing. If chafing is found, the AD requires replacing the control tube assembly and reworking the forward fairing assembly before further flight.
SCHWEIZER Model 269D helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-13-AD; Amdt. 39-11002; AD 98-26-06) - publishes an AD 98-26-06 previously sent to all known U.S. owners and operators of Model 269D helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires removing the main rotor drive shaft and inspecting it for cracks. If a crack is found, replacing the shaft with an airworthy shaft is required. This AD also requires periodically verifying the torque of the main rotor hub bolts. This amendment is prompted by four reports of cracking in the shaft of helicopters with a large-diameter hub.
Small airports have fewer funding options and need more flexibility to pay for capital projects, two industry leaders told FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater last month.
TWO PIECES OF GOOD ADVICE imparted to attendees at last week's NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference in Orlando, Fla. - "Don't assume anything" and "Always have an alternative" when the original plan goes awry. The latter is particularly important, an 11-year veteran of the industry told her peers, because she works for some demanding top executives. "We have hollerers for bosses," she said. "They don't talk in a normal tone of voice, they scream."
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena, Calif. Airport Commission last week agreed to hire Cincinnati, Ohio consultants Landrum&Brown to study potential noise restrictions, including "a possible ban of the noisier business jets" at the airport. The Part 161 study - one of the few undertaken since Congress established the process in 1990 to provide communities a means to impose noise restrictions - will consider ways to reduce aircraft noise at the airport, including flight operations caps, curfews and/or bans, the airport authority said.
ELLIOTT AVIATION received FAA supplemental type certification to install AlliedSignal's Mark V enhanced ground proximity warning system in the Beechjet 400A. Elliott also has STC approval to install the EGPWS aboard the Beechjet 400.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Rodney Slater, who last week revealed a few details about the Clinton Administration proposal for comprehensive FAA reauthorization legislation, noted that DOT is willing to seek "common ground" on aviation proposals. "If you have better ideas, I urge you to step forward," Slater said. "One of the lessons we learned from the passage of last year's landmark surface transportation bill was that we can forge a consensus by exchanging ideas."
PRATT&WHITNEY CANADA said its PW127TH turboprop engines that power the Ilyushin IL-114-100 regional airliner made a first flight on the aircraft on Jan. 26 from Tashkent. The 15-minute flight of the 52-seat airliner was witnessed by a number of government officials, including Uzbekistan Prime Minister Sultanov.
The Clinton Administration proposed a record $10.1 billion in spending authority for FAA in fiscal 2000, but the budget documents had barely arrived on Capitol Hill last week before members of Congress and the aviation community unleashed a barrage of criticism about proposals to impose $1.5 billion in new user fees on aviation users and eliminate general fund contributions to FAA's budget.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT named Joseph Bagosy area general manager for Europe, Vincent Papke general manager of its La Guardia, N.Y. fixed-base operation and Francis Zenisky avionics manager at the Hartford, Conn. regional maintenance center. Bagosy, who has served with Signature for 10 years, will be responsible for the company's Paris Le Bourget and Zurich operations. Before joining Signature, he held senior positions with Transtar Transportation and Atlantic Aviation.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT signed a contract with the Turkish government for 50 S-70 Black Hawk helicopters valued at more than $500 million for the Turkish Armed Forces. The aircraft will be procured through a direct buy from Sikorsky, using a U.S. Export-Import Bank guaranteed loan to Turkey. Deliveries will begin immediately and run through 2001.
DASSAULT FALCON JET delivered the first Falcon 2000 for the NetJets fractional ownership program to Executive Jet Aviation. EJA ordered 38 Falcon 2000s in 1997 and 1998, becoming DFJ's largest customer. Of the 2000s on order, 26 are slated for NetJets U.S. operations with the remaining 12 to be operated for NetJets Europe.
The Clinton Administration plans to propose a user-funded "performance based organization" (PBO) to run the nation's air traffic control system, according to Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. In remarks prepared for a Wings Club luncheon Wednesday in New York, Slater "previewed" a few provisions in the Administration's proposal for FAA reauthorization legislation, including the PBO recommendation.
COLTEC INDUSTRIES won follow-on order valued at more than $5.5 million to provide medevac units for Sikorsky's UH-60Q Medevac Black Hawk helicopters supplied to the U.S. Army. Coltec previously received orders valued at more than $7 million for the units. Coltec will begin delivery of the latest order in September and continue through May 2000. Coltec's AMI Aircraft Seating Systems division is producing the units at its Colorado Springs, Colo. facility.
Aviation Sales Company (ASC) of Miami, Fla., a major provider of airframe and engine parts and repairs, broke ground on a 41-acre site last month for a new corporate headquarters in Miramar, Fla. The 630,000-square-foot facility will consolidate the company's present headquarters in Miami and the offices of several of its subsidiaries including Caribe Aviation, Aviation Sales Leasing Company and Aviation Sales Distribution Company. ASC said it will now be able to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul and spare parts distributions from a single location.
