CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Texas, invites bids until 2 p.m. Feb. 5 for bulk Jet A fuel (Bid No. A713). To receive a bid package, call the Purchasing Department at (210) 207-7260.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Model 3101 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-100-AD; Amendment 39-10974; AD 99-01-07) - requires installing additional stringers at the lower fuselage skin panels between the main and rear spar frames. This AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for the United Kingdom.
JAMES L. (JIM) LIGHTSEY joined Des Moines Flying Service (DMFS) as an aircraft sales representative. Lightsey was a career pilot with the U.S. Navy, a former administrator of the Iowa Aeronautics Division and worked for U.K. aircraft manufacturer Short Brothers. Most recently, he had been a Visionaire Corp. manager. DMFS is celebrating its 60th year on the Des Moines International Airport, where the company specializes in sales and service of Piper and Pilatus business airplanes.
National Air Transportation Association and National Business Aviation Association, tasked to develop proposals on reserve duty/rest time for Part 135 operators (BA, Aug. 17/71), this month submitted their recommendations for consideration by the full Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) and, ultimately, the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA, which has wrestled with developing new flight and duty time proposals for years, asked the ARAC to draft recommendations on the narrow issue of reserve duty and rest time (BA, May 18/217).
The safety of aircraft and communications equipment at the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) are threatened by the invasion of thousands of rats from nearby palm oil estates. Since the airport opened last June, three Malaysia Airlines aircraft had to turn back after rats were spotted in the cabin while airborne, with the most recent event on Jan. 14 involving an A330 on a flight to Perth, Australia. The three flights were delayed by four to seven hours until the rats were caught and destroyed.
MCCAULEY Models 2A36C23/84B-0 and 2A36C82/84B-2 propellers (Docket No. 98-ANE-34-AD; Amendment 39-10939, AD 98-25-13) - supersedes priority letter AD 89-26-08, which requires penetrant inspections for cracks in the propeller blade threaded retention area, and modifying the propeller hub to a red dye filled configuration. This action adds an explanatory note to better define the AD applicability and makes minor adjustments to compliance section language to reflect current AD practice.
A Cessna 210 crashed Wednesday in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, claiming three lives including executives of two Wichita aviation companies. The victims were identified as Terry Chapman, founder and president of Advanced Industries; Mark Valverde, a marketing executive with B and S Aircraft Parts and Accessories; and Leland (Joe) Robertson, a retired employee of the City of Wichita. The three were returning to Wichita from Scottsdale, Ariz. after a golf outing.
JOUVE DATA MANAGEMENT was selected as a preferred supplier of digital data products/services to support Honeywell's Aircraft Maintenance and Operations Support System (AMOSS), a software package designed to reduce maintenance-related delays, inventory and no-fault component removals and improve productivity. Honeywell will offer the Jouve AirGTI product line and services as a component piece of AMOSS.
The Boeing Company, which has been shopping the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co. to prospective buyers for months, reached agreement last week to sell the company's commercial helicopter business to a Dutch defense contractor. The buyer is MD Helicopters Holding, Inc., a subsidiary of RDM Holding, Inc., of The Netherlands. Details of the sale, which is subject to approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), were not disclosed, but closing of the agreement is anticipated by mid-February.
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
Bombardier received a follow-on order valued at $560 Million from SkyWest Airlines, St. George, Utah, for 25 Canadair Regional Jet Series 200LR aircraft. The order includes options for 25 more of the 50-passenger jets. Deliveries are slated to begin in mid-2000 and continue through December 2002. SkyWest was the first U.S. airline to sign a memorandum of understanding for the CRJ before the program was launched. SkyWest subsequently converted the MOU to a firm order for 10 RJs, with the first entering service for the regional carrier in March 1994.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL'S training center in Houston, Texas, received a three-year contract from Air Dolomiti of Trieste, Italy for ATR 42/72 flightcrew and maintenance technician training. Air Dolomiti, which serves points in Italy, Germany and France, plans to standardize its fleet with 16 ATR 42s and 72s by the end of 2001. The airline also has trained at FlightSafety's Wilmington, Del. center.
Eurocopter Group reported 10 percent higher sales of 11.1 billion francs ($2 billion) in 1998, with 56 percent of sales coming in the commercial markets and 44 percent in the military market. The Franco-German venture delivered 216 new helicopters during the year and received orders for 272. The total number of orders, which includes used helicopters, is valued at about $11.9 billion francs ($2.1 billion), with 66 percent coming from commercial orders and 34 percent from the military.
VisionAire, the St. Louis-based company attempting to develop the Vantage single-engine business jet, has encountered serious technical and financial problems that have forced officials to terminate or furlough nearly half the company's work force while seeking additional funding to continue the program.
Federal Aviation Administration, preparing to present its proposals for reauthorization of agency programs, plans to address "budget treatment" of the Airport and Airways Trust Fund in its recommendations, a senior FAA official told Senate aviation leaders.
NASA ADMINISTRATOR Dan Goldin will be among the keynote speakers at the 10th Annual International Women in Aviation Conference March 18-20 at the Radisson Twin Towers in Orlando, Fla. Other speakers include Vicki Escarra, executive vice president for customer service at Delta Air Lines; Linda Lang, president/owner of Arizona Rotorcaft; U.S. Customs Service Assistant Commissioner Bonni Tischler and FAA Regional Administrator Carolyn Blum.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Model 3101 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-99-AD; Amendment 39-10973; AD 99-01-06) - requires installing a standard bonding socket that is fitted flush with the upper surface of each wing at the fueling points (Station 297). This AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for the United Kingdom.
SUSAN HOWARD, the veteran director of international marketing for Avcard/Oasis in Baltimore, Md., was named director of marketing for Mercury Air Group of Los Angeles, Calif. Howard will be based at company headquarters in Los Angeles and will focus on marketing activities for Mercury's chain of 15 fixed-base operations.
NEWLY ELECTED Illinois Gov. George Ryan apparently is an advocate of Chicago's Meigs Field, expressing support during his inauguration last week to keep the lakefront airport open past the scheduled closing date of February 2002, according to Friends of Meigs Field, a coalition of aviation interests that hopes to preserve the airport. The coalition noted that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, however, responded by reconfirming the city's plans to close the airport as scheduled.
Confronted with three inflight shutdowns in a week of its Allison 3007 engines due to loss of oil, Rolls-Royce technicians at the company's Indianapolis, Ind. plant developed two short-term solutions to keep the affected aircraft types flying with minimal interruption.
National Transportation Safety Board recommended Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration bar pilots with heart conditions or those taking certain kinds of medication from aerobatic flight.
GARY SCHANDL was promoted to director-quality assurance for Midcoast Aviation. Schandl is a 19-year Midcoast veteran, who recently was named National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year. He will oversee quality assurance for all Midcoast facilities, including St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport, Little Rock National Airport and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
ALLIEDSIGNAL VN 411B Very High Frequency (VHF) Navigation Receivers (Docket No. 95-CE-91-AD) - proposes to revise an earlier proposed AD that would have required replacing certain AlliedSignal VN 411B VHF navigation receivers installed on aircraft if the receivers do not have Modification 20 incorporated. The proposed AD was the result of a report of navigation receiver interference during landing operations.
BRITISH AEROSPACE BAe Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-216-AD; Amdt. 39-10934; AD 98-25-08) - requires repetitive inspections for wear damage on the nosewheel steering control cables located in the nose landing gear (NLG) nosewheel bay; repetitive testing of the cable pulleys to detect seizing; and corrective action, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
The United States Air Tour Association wrote to the powerful chairman of the House Transportation&Infrastructure Committee pledging "the support of America's air tour industry to your aviation reform efforts, with particular emphasis on separating the Federal Aviation Administration from the Department of Transportation, and once again make it an independent agency and taking the multi-billion Aviation Trust Fund off budget."
