PETER (JACK) BASSO was confirmed by the Senate as the assistant secretary for the Office of Budget and Programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
EXECUTIVE JET plans to open its first pilot base outside of Columbus, Ohio in Las Vegas in December. A third EJI pilot base in Florida is expected to open next year.
HERBERT NAEF was appointed chief pilot for Jet Aviation Business Jets, Zurich, Switzerland. Naef, who has been flying since 1976, has more than 9,000 flight hours, flying for a number of Swiss aviation companies before joining Jet Aviation seven years ago. He has served as a captain on a Geneva-based Learjet, manager of flight standards, instructor/training captain on Challenger and Falcon and fleet chief, Challenger and Falcon.
Following House and Senate passage last week, President Clinton Wednesday signed the federal omnibus spending bill, H.R.4328, which provides a $9.56 billion budget for the Federal Aviation Administration in fiscal 1999 but only a six-month extension of airport spending authority (BA, Oct. 19/172). The bill reauthorizes FAA programs, including the Airport Improvement Program, for six months, which means Congress must pass another reauthorization bill before the end of March to avert another lapse in AIP spending authority.
DENNIS MULLINS was appointed general manager of Stevens Aviation's facility at Jeffco Airport in Broomfield, Colo. Mullins has 30 years of corporate and airline maintenance management experience. Most recently, he was president of Hollingsead International.
GALAXY AEROSPACE'S worldwide headquarters complex at Fort Worth, Texas Alliance Airport is on schedule for completion in December, the company said last week. The 165,000-square-foot facility will include offices, a factory service center, a completion center and a parts distribution center. The completion center will begin outfitting Astra SPX aircraft in January and Galaxy jets in February. The corporate offices will relocate to the new site in March. The company is increasing employment and plans to have more than 200 on staff by next year.
Bombardier Aerospace is developing a new transcontinental business jet powered by AlliedSignal AS 907 turbofans that is designed to carry eight passengers coast-to-coast under nearly all weather conditions. The new "Continental" model, with a base price of $14.25 million, is designed to plug the gap in the Bombardier product line between the Model 60 Learjet and the Challenger 604.
DASSAULT FALCON JET completed an expansion program at its Little Rock, Ark. completion center, marking the end of a three-year project involving the construction of seven buildings covering 200,000 square feet. The project, which brings DFJ's total space in Little Rock to 478,500 square feet, included a completion hangar for preliminary cabinetry fitting, a cabinet shop, a warehouse, a paint preparation and parts fabrication building, a service center, a delivery hangar and a customer annex building.
B/E AEROSPACE, a provider of cabin interior products and services, has a new operating unit, the General Aviation/VIP Products Group (GAV). GAV, which is working with leading aircraft completion, modification and overhaul facilities to meet refurbishment demand, has been selected to supply seating for Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault and Gulfstream business jets. In addition, it provides lighting, oxygen delivery systems and other interior products.
AT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY "we hope to buy a couple of businesses a year," Buffett told BA, but additional purchases in the aviation field don't appear to be in the immediate offing. "I don't see any [aviation businesses] that jump out at me," he said. Asked specifically if Berkshire Hathaway had any interest in acquiring the Combs Gates chain of fixed-base operations that recently went on the market to support the rapidly expanding EJI fleet (BA, Oct. 5/149), Buffett said that would be a decision for EJI Chairman Richard Santulli.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION plans a meeting Nov. 2 to "begin the process of identifying the best safety practices" of fractional ownership programs and "clarifying any ambiguity that may exist related to the 'operational control' of business aircraft," NBAA President Jack Olcott told a media gathering last week at the NBAA annual meeting and convention in Las Vegas.The Nov.
Dassault Aviation, which launched a feasibility study of a supersonic transport business jet (SST) a year ago, has invested $5 million in that study to date, but still has a number of key issues to resolve including how to power the aircraft, officials told reporters last week during the NBAA annual meeting and convention in Las Vegas, Nev.
CHRYSLER PENTASTAR AVIATION reported continued growth in all areas of its business with almost a 20 percent increase in charter operations over 1997 and the addition of a new 100,000-square-foot dedicated service center. The company plans to take delivery of two Gulfstream Vs in the fourth quarter 1998 and teamed with Gulfstream Aerospace earlier this year to offer Gulfstream Management Services.
AIR BP won an aviation fueling contract from the recently formed Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation. Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation became the nation's second largest fixed-base operation chain this summer with the merger of Piedmont Aviation Services, Hawthorne Aviation and American Beechcraft (BA, Aug. 3/49). Air BP will provide fuel through Eastern Aviation Fuels and brand support to Piedmont Hawthorne's 16 locations.
ALLIEDSIGNAL ALF502 and LF507 series turbofan engines (Docket No. 96-ANE-36) - proposes to supersede two existing ADs that require rework or replacement of No. 4 and 5 bearing oil system hardware, initial and repetitive inspection of the oil system, optional installation of an improved oil filter bypass valve and repetitive inspection of the No. 4 and 5 bearing oil inlet tube to ensure the integrity of the reduction gear system and overspeed protection system.
ALLIEDSIGNAL won FAA approval to extend the major periodic inspection interval for TFE731-5B engines powering the Falcon 900B and Falcon 20-5 from 2,100 hours to 2,500 hours. The company plans to issue service bulletins on the extended MPI interval for the -5B in early 1999. Operators of Raytheon Hawker -5B-powered aircraft must have an analytical inspection before extending the MPI intervals on their engines, AlliedSignal said.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL promoted Jeffrey Roberts to president, succeeding Charles Carson who resigned in September to become president of American International Airways (BA, Sept. 21/127). Roberts, who has 17 years of experience in the flight training industry, has served with SimuFlite for six years, most recently as vice president-sales and marketing. "Jeff Roberts' vast knowledge of the business aviation industry has helped guide SimuFlite's growth over the past several years," said Jeff Smith, manager, GE Capital Corporate Aircraft Group.
GATX CAPITAL CORPORATION elected Jesse Crews president and chief executive officer. Crews succeeds Joseph Lane, who became general manager of IBM Global Financing and president of IBM Credit Financing. Crews joined GATX Capital in 1977 as a financial analyst and has held positions of increasing responsibility. He was named executive vice president in 1994 and chief investment officer in 1995.
A controversial provision to allow federal law enforcement officers to force down aircraft suspected of smuggling drugs died this month in a House/Senate conference on U.S. Coast Guard reauthorization legislation. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) had inserted the provision into Coast Guard reauthorization legislation, S.1259, shortly before Senate passage (BA, Sept. 21/125).
STOCK MARKET FLUCTUATIONS may have delayed or prevented some aircraft sales, but the market's recent volatility also brought some good news to at least one original equipment manufacturer. Chuck Suma, president of New Piper Aircraft Co., said he knows two individuals who pulled funds out of the stock market and bought airplanes because they figured the aircraft were a safer investment.
TWIN COMMANDER AIRCRAFT CORP. Model 680FL airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-89-AD) - proposes to adopt a new AD that would require revising the FAA-approved Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to specify procedures that would prohibit flight in severe icing conditions (as determined by visual cues), limit or prohibit the use of various flight control devices while in severe icing conditions, and provide the flight crew with recognition cues for, and procedures for, exiting severe icing conditions.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION this month wrote members seeking support for establishment of a political action committee. Noting congressional leaders who have supported industry causes, the association told members it "wants to help friends of aviation businesses who represent and defend your business by contributing to their success." The association said contributions will be overseen by a NATA member PAC Steering Committee.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Jetstream Model 3101 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-63-AD; Amdt. 39-10836; AD 98-21-28) - requires modifying the propeller deicing system to assure system performance at low ambient temperatures. This AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent propeller-induced vibrations from occurring during icing encounters at low ambient temperatures.
BOMBARDIER CONTINENTAL JET General Powerplant Twin AlliedSignal AS 907 High bypass ratio 6,500 lbs. of thrust, flat turbofan engines rated to ISA+15 degree C DIMENSION External Length overall 69 ft. 8 in. Wingspan 64 ft. 11 in. Height 20 ft. 2 in. Internal
AVIATION PARTNERS, which is incorporating its Blended Winglet technology on the Boeing Business Jet (BA, June 15/259), has sold 80 of its Blended Winglet Performance Enhancement systems to Gulfstream II operators, representing 40 percent of the 200 GIIs in service. The winglet system provides the same range with 3,475 pounds less fuel and a 900-pound reduction in empty weight, the company said.
