Gulfstream Aerospace continued its string of strong financial performances with a 35 percent jump in third quarter revenues, but net income was down significantly in the three- and nine-month periods ended Sept. 30 due to changes in accounting procedures.
Cirrus Design Corp. won FAA type certification Oct. 23 for the company's SR20, a single-engine, composite construction aircraft. FAA Administrator Jane Garvey presented the type certificate to Cirrus Design President Alan Klapmeier during ceremonies at AOPA's Expo '98 convention in Palm Springs, Calif.
CHUCK URAD was promoted to regional marketing director for FlightSafety International. He has held a number of marketing and sales positions with FlightSafety over the past 14 years. Urad will be based at FlightSafety's Chesterfield, Mo. office at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport.
ORENDA RECIP INC., which recently won certification for its 600-horsepower liquid cooled OE-600A V-8 aircraft engine, is actively studying a six-cylinder variant, which would deliver power in the 350- to 500-horsepower range. Both turbocharged and normally aspirated engines are contemplated.
BRITISH AEROSPACE ASSET MANAGEMENT-JETS sold used BAe 146 Series regional jets to Formula One Administration Limited of the United Kingdom and W.A. Moncrief of Texas. The sales follow six other VIP/corporate-configured 146s operated by No. 32 The Royal Squadron, the Amiri Royal Flight, Pelita Air Service and Executive Aircraft Corp.
TAG GROUP, S.A., long-time distributor of Canadair Challengers in the Middle East, formed a new company, TAG Aviation Holding S.A., to encompass its recent acquisitions - San Francisco-based aviation services and aircraft management specialist Aviation Methods, Switzerland-based charter operator Aeroleasing S.A. and the Farnborough, England fixed-base operator Farnborough Aerodrome. The three companies will operate under new identities as TAG Aviation U.S., Inc., TAG Aviation Switzerland and TAG Aviation UK Limited.
ALLIEDSIGNAL, INC. developed a new flight management system, the Global Star 2100, a navigation computer combining a Global Positioning System receiver, a global navigation database and a multi-function control and display. The system, selected for the de Havilland DHC-8-400, was designed as a direct replacement for the GNS-XL. Global Star provides positioning and en route navigation data as well as remote radio tuning and SIDS/STARS terminal procedures.
BRITISH HELICOPTER PILOTS seeking a bite to eat can visit "the world's first 'Fly Thru' restaurant" where Burger King Corp. and Welcome Break, the British highway service area operator, have teamed up to open the "Whopper Chopper" landing pad at the U.K. company's London Gateway location. Pilots will be able to touch down on the landing pad, place their order and have it delivered by waiters and waitresses on duty at the site.
AVIDYNE CORPORATION was selected to provide its Flight Situational Display on Mooney Aircraft Bravo and Ovation aircraft. The FSD include Avidyne Navigator, Charts and Lightning displays.
GALAXY AEROSPACE is nearing certification of its Galaxy intercontinental, super mid-sized business jet with three test aircraft accumulating more than 600 hours and more than 180 flights by mid-October. The third aircraft joined the flight test program Sept. 24 and made a nonstop, trans-Atlantic crossing from Paris to New York this month (BA, Oct. 19/177). Galaxy officials said the program is on track for FAA and Israeli CAAI certification in December. Europe's JAA certification is expected to follow in 1999.
COLTEC INDUSTRIES named Roger Wright president of its Menasco Aerospace unit, where he will be responsible for all of Coltec's landing gear and flight control operations. He also will continue to have direct responsibility for Menasco's Canadian operations. He succeeds Peter Challinor, who resigned. Wright, 54, held senior management posts at McDonnell Douglas and Dowty Canada before joining Menasco in 1996.
Aircraft manufacturers and their customers displayed similarly rosy outlooks at last week's 51st annual National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, with OEMs announcing several new airplane and engine programs and operators - led by Warren Buffett and Richard Santulli of Berkshire Hathaway and Executive Jet - signing up for billions of dollars of new aircraft.
BEST LINE OF THE WEEK comes from a corporate pilot whose years of dealing with FAA officials has made him just a bit cynical. During a recent meeting with fellow business jet pilots, he joked that FAA has adopted a new motto: "We're not happy until you're not happy."
CONKLIN&DE DECKER released the fall 1998 edition of The Aircraft Cost Evaluator, databases covering more than 290 jets, turboprops, helicopters and pistons. The new releases update aircraft direct costs and acquisition prices and expand the Fractional Ownership and Guaranteed Maintenance supplements. The software, ACCE$$ for Windows, is available on CD Rom and can run on Windows 3x, Windows 95/98, Windows NT 3 and NT 4. The piston database is priced at $350 and the jet, turboprop and helicopter databases are $465 each.
MICHAEL C. CULVER and Robert L. Kirk were appointed to the board of directors of First Aviation Services, Inc., Westport, Conn., the parent company of National Airmotive Corp. (NAC) and Aircraft Parts International (API). Culver is president and chief executive of First Aviation.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS SYSTEMS UNS-1C flight management system and CVR-30B cockpit voice recorder successfully completed flight testing on the Galaxy business jet at the Israel Aircraft Industries factory in Tel Aviv. Both systems will be standard on the aircraft, which is expected to receive certification later this year. The installation will include dual UNS-1C FMS systems that interface with the Collins Pro Line 4 electronic flight instrument system. The UNS-1C includes a 12-channel GPS receiver and all control/display functions in a single Dzus-mounted unit.
MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP., Kerrville, Texas, anticipates FAA certification by Dec. 1 for its M20S Eagle, a derivative of the M20R Ovation that uses a longer fuselage and a Continental IO-550G engine derated to 235 horsepower. Mooney said the Eagle, with a base price of $319,000, is being positioned as an economical entry-level aircraft that will offer a maximum cruise speed of 175 knots and a maximum range of more than 1,200 nautical miles at long-range cruise.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION has invited public comment on an advisory circular that provides guidance for complying with fuel venting and exhaust emission requirements for turbine-engine aircraft. To obtain a copy of AC 34-1, contact Edward McQueen in the Research and Engineering Branch at (202) 267-3560. Comments on the AC must be sent before Dec. 1 to Curtis Holsclaw, Manager of Research and Engineering, AEE-110, Office of Environment and Energy, 800 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20591.
PRATT&WHITNEY will cut 2,000 jobs over the next two years, about 1,000 each in Connecticut and Florida. The company has 13,000 employees in Connecticut and 5,000 in Florida. The cuts, aimed at increasing company profits, are to be completed by mid-2000.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE is the first customer for AlliedSignal Engines new AS900 turbofan family, selecting the AS907 to power the new Continental business jet that will be unveiled at the NBAA convention this week. Rated at 7,595 pounds of thermodynamic thrust each, the AS900 powerplants are designed to push Bombardier's new large-cabin business jet "coast to coast with eight" passengers.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended last week that FAA require all Part 135 scheduled passenger night flights to be operated under instrument flight rules except when such operations are unfeasible. FAA, responding to an earlier recommendation following the crash of a de Havilland Dash 6-300 into a mountain in Hawaii, required that multi-engine airplane operations be conducted under IFR in darkness or poor visibility. FAA further responded when it changed the regulatory basis of 10 or more passenger seats to Part 121.
RMI TITANIUM COMPANY, Niles, Ohio, said the 504 production and clerical workers who went on strike following the Sept. 30 expiration of a labor agreement remain off the job (BA, Oct. 5/151). A spokeswoman said Wednesday that no negotiations with the striking members of Local 2155 of the United Steelworkers of America have been scheduled.
AMERICAN AIRLINES is looking for a few good pilots with at least 4,000 hours of flight time. The Dallas-based carrier, faced with a large number of senior pilots taking early buy-outs to maximize their retirement funds, is accepting applications Nov. 2-30. Applications will be accepted only by mail, with a self-addressed return envelope carrying $1.01 in postage.
LARRY CLARKSON, Boeing senior vice president who had been president of Boeing Enterprises (BA, Oct. 12/160), will resign Feb. 1 to pursue "a variety of alternatives," including becoming a consultant in international relations, strategic planning and aerospace issues.
The widely anticipated annual AlliedSignal Aerospace forecast of demand for new business jets says the industry will deliver nearly 6,500 aircraft valued at $78 billion for the period 1999-2009, an average of nearly 600 aircraft per year during the period. The new forecast represents a dramatic increase - 22.6 percent more aircraft with an estimated value 30 percent greater - over last year's report, which called for 5,300 business jets valued at $60 million in the 1998-2008 period (BA, Sept. 29, 1997/139).
