The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers won an election last week giving it the right to represent flight instructors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla. The election followed a two-year organizing campaign by the union.
SUSAN McLEAN was appointed customer service representative for Professional Aircraft Accessories. McLean, who has a customer service background, will be the primary contact for customer inquiries on repair or overhaul status.
KAMAN AEROSPACE INTERNATIONAL CORP. broke ground last month for a support center for the Royal Australian Navy's future fleet of SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite helicopters. Kaman will be the first tenant in the new Aviation Technology Park located next to HMAS Albatross near Nowra, New South Wales, the air station where the Super Seasprites will be based. Australia contracted with Kaman for 11 Super Seasprites. Deliveries will begin in 2001.
SCOTT WATSON was named director, business support director for Rockwell Collins' Support Services unit. Watson, who joined Rockwell 20 years ago, most recently was manager-Dallas Service Center.
ON THE WEST COAST, an aircraft management, charter and sales executive says "we're just starting to see the beginning twinges" of a slowdown in aircraft sales. He mentioned one well-qualified prospect who was on the verge of buying a used aircraft but backed away when the stock market slide accelerated, and another company operating multiple aircraft that decided to put a couple of the planes up for sale.
FAA REAUTHORIZATION LEGISLATION, which covered a host of aviation issues, ran into snags last week after senior House legislators, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) opposed airport operating slot provisions in the Senate-passed version of the bill. House and Senate negotiators Friday continued to debate the bills with some factions seeking either a stripped-down, six-month or one-year reauthorization without any other provisions, except for some airline competition language.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION will present its American Spirit Award to Experimental Aircraft Association President Tom Poberezny next week at its annual meeting and convention in Las Vegas, Nev. The association is recognizing Poberezny's "significant contributions to the aviation community," including his efforts with the Young Eagles and GA Team 2000. "Tom is an outstanding supporter of general aviation in all its forms, including the use of general aviation aircraft for business aviation," said NBAA President Jack Olcott.
RAYTHEON COMPANY won a major contract from the Greek government for a number of weapons systems and aircraft trainers. Raytheon will build 45 T-6A Texan II trainers, the same aircraft going to the U.S. Navy and Air Force for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS), for Greece, along with providing spares, a ground-based training system, factory training for the initial cadre of pilots and related services. Deliveries of the T-6As to Greece could begin as early as July and extend through 2002.
DENNIS WALDEN was appointed vice president and general manager-Western region operations for Garrett Aviation Services. Walden served with Gulfstream Aerospace for more than 26 years, leaving the company in 1995 as vice president, general manager of completions and service and support centers. Most recently, he was vice president of Marathon Coach of Eugene, Ore.
NICO BUCHHOLZ was named head of commercial operations for German engine manufacturer BMW Rolls-Royce GmbH, effective Nov. 1. He will be responsible for BR700 engine family marketing, sales and business management. Buchholz, 37, joins BMW Rolls-Royce from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse where he is regional director responsible for commercial activities within Europe and other business projects. He studied at the Berlin Technical University and at Cranfield College of Aeronautics and Management in the United Kingdom.
Sabreliner Corp. won a five-year U.S. Army contract with a potential value of $15 million to repair and overhaul Allison T703 engine for OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters. The work will be carried out by Sabreliner's Premier Turbines facilities in Neosho, Mo., and Independence, Kan. The T703 is the military equivalent of the Model 250-C30R. The initial award is $4.2 million. The contract is the fifth for military helicopter engine work awarded to Sabreliner, the most recent of which was announced in February.
LOUISE B. TIMKEN, one of the first women to operate her own Learjet, died at her home in Canton, Ohio Oct. 3. Mrs. Timken, the widow of Henry Timken who headed the roller-bearing manufacturing Timken Company in Canton, began flying with her husband in general aviation aircraft in the 1930s. She learned to fly in 1943. The Timkens began flying jets in 1958 when they bought a French-built Morane-Saulnier MS 760 "Paris I," which they used until they bought a Model 23 Learjet, S/N 15, in 1965. The Timkens flew together until his death in 1968, after which Mrs.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model 146 and 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-129-AD) - proposes to require a one-time measurement to determine the thickness of the outer links of the side stays of the main landing gear and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposal also would provide for replacement of a thin outer link with a new or serviceable part in lieu of certain follow-on inspections. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
RANDY RAEDLEIN was named turbine service sales representative for the Northwest region for West Star Aviation. Raedlein served for more than 20 years as director of maintenance for Tenneco and Boise Cascade Corporation and also has worked with Western Aircraft of Boise, Idaho and Bombardier Aviation Services of Tucson, Ariz.
What is likely to be one of the priciest acquisitions of a fixed-base chain in U.S. history is scheduled to unfold over the next few weeks as AMR Corp. divests its AMR Combs holdings to concentrate on the company's airline businesses.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS SYSTEMS CORP. entered into a business agreement with Thrane&Thrane (TT) of Denmark under which Universal Avionics will have exclusive rights to market TT SATCOM systems to corporate and commercial operators. Universal will market the TT-5000 series Inmarsat Aero-I system, a three-channel system which can simultaneously support two voice/fax or modem data channels and one packet data channel. Universal called the system "a logical extension" of its UniLink multi-mode data link.
Comair, the North American launch customer for Bombardier's Canadair Regional Jet and the largest RJ operator in the world, ordered another 50 of the aircraft last week as part of a long-term agreement with the Canadian aircraft manufacturer.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which launched its Airport Support Network nearly a year ago in an effort to stymie the continued loss of general aviation airports, reported early success with the program and the appointment of nearly 450 airport representatives to date (BA, Dec. 15/259).
THE EUROPEAN JOINT AVIATION AUTHORITIES Operations Committee last month proposed up to a 180-minute extended-range, twin-engine operations (ETOPS) threshold for commercial aircraft weighing less than 100,000 pounds, provided that operators meet an acceptable means of compliance (AMC).At an initial glance, the AMC appears to closely follow common practices of commercial business jet operators, leading U.S. officials to believe the "JAA acted in a responsible manner," said Ron Swanda, vice president-operations for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and the U.S.
A General Accounting Office ruling last week could lead to the overturning of a U.S. Air Force decision to award a $1.1 billion contract to the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah and its main subcontractor Boeing under which they would assume maintenance of KC-135 and A-10 aircraft now done at the Sacramento Air Logistics Center in California. The Air Force last month selected the Ogden-led team over Lockheed Martin, whose bid would have cost about $150 million more over nine years. It was the first competition involving a public-private team.
George Edward Haddaway, 89, an elder statesman and icon of U.S. civil aviation for more than six decades, died Sept. 26 in Durango, Colo. of leukemia. Born July 9, 1909 in Ft. Worth, Texas, Haddaway was a 1930 graduate of the University of Texas. In 1934 he founded the U.S. trade journal, Flight Magazine, in Texas and for more than 50 years served as editor and publisher of Flight. Known throughout the aviation world, Haddaway was a friend of Walter and Olive Ann Beech, Bill Piper, Sr., Dwane Wallace of Cessna, William P.
MICRO CRAFT, INC., Tullahoma, Tenn., which provides a wide range of services for aeronautics, propulsion and space customers, celebrated its 40th anniversary last month. The company, which has nearly 700 employees and offices in Virginia, California, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Quebec, Canada, was started in a garage workshop in 1958 by Charles Folk.
EVENTIDE AVIONICS received FAA technical standard order approval for use of its enhanced monochrome Argus 5000 and 7000 models in BFGoodrich Stormscope weather mapping sensors with WX-500 software. In addition, BFGoodrich received a supplemental type certificate to install the WX-500 Stormscope with Argus 7000/CE color displays in a Beech Baron. Both the monochrome and color models display strike and cell modes of the WX-500. The Stormscope model can overlay weather data directly on the Argus-generated moving map.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model SA 3180, SA 318B, SA 318C, SE 3130, SE 313B, SA.315B, SA.316B, SA.316C, SA.319B and SE.3160 helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-36-AD; Amdt. 39-10716; AD 98-16-02) - requires initial and recurring visual inspections of the upper and lower surfaces of the tail rotor blade skin for cracks. If a crack is found, the AD requires replacement of the blade with an airworthy blade. The amendment is prompted by a report of a crack on the blade skin near an attachment bolt on the blade cuff stem.
FLYTE COMM OF FLORIDA released version 2.0 of its Flyte Trax real-time flight tracking system for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT. Flyte Comm said the new version more than doubles the features on the software, including an updated user interface, built-in data playback capability, start-up display configuration, full flight information display that runs independently of the graphic display and a number of performance enhancements. Flyte Comm is offering its tracking software as a stand-alone or networked system.
