ELAINE WEATHERBY joined Midcoast Aviation to manage its Southeast sales region, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Weatherby most recently served as the West Coast sales representative for Corporate Rotable&Supply, Inc.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association last week mailed 60,000 legislative alerts to members in an attempt to drum up opposition to a provision that would allow federal law enforcement officers to order aircraft to land. The provision was included in U.S. Coast Guard reauthorization legislation, S.1259, which the Senate Commerce Committee approved in July and which is awaiting full Senate action.
Citing concerns that current requirements discourage helicopters from operating under instrument flight rules in marginal weather, the Federal Aviation Administration this month proposed changes to the IFR flight plan requirements. Helicopter Association International, noting that the notice of proposed rulemaking culminates a six-year industry/agency effort, last week endorsed the proposal as an improvement in safety.
TRIMBLE NAVIGATION recently underwent a management shakeup as company founder Charles R. Trimble stepped down as president and chief executive officer. He remains active with the Sunnyvale, Calif. company as vice chairman. In addition, Jim Sorden, executive vice president for commercial systems and 11-year company veteran, resigned. He will continue as a consultant. Bradford Parkinson, who has served on the board and as a consultant to Trimble since 1982, assumed the position of president and chief executive while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
Fairchild Aerospace Corp. named seven major suppliers for its 728JET family of regional airliners. "The aircraft have been defined, we have a strong program management team in place and we have an outstanding systems team all fully committed to the program and its schedule," said Jack Pelton, senior vice president and 728JET program manager. The company said: General Electric will supply the CF34-8D engine, which will incorporate a new nacelle and installation design specifically tailored to the 728JET.
FAA proposed imposing a 1,900-cycle life limit - instead of the current 7,000-cycle limit - on Williams FJ44-1A turbofan high-pressure turbine disks. The proposal, published in the Sept. 9 Federal Register, would require replacement or modification of the high-pressure turbine (HPT) disks before reaching the new life limit. Williams International recently conducted a life limit analysis on the disks after a similar HPT disk failed.
PILATUS Models PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-40-AD; Amdt. 39-10681; AD 98-11-01 R2) - clarifies information in AD 98-11-01 R1, which requires replacing the fuel tank vent valves and drilling a 4.8 millimeter (0.1875 inch) hole in each fuel filler cap. AD 98-11-01 R1 also requires inserting a temporary revision in the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) that specifies checking to assure that the fuel filler cap hole is clear of ice and foreign objects.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-90-AD; Amdt. 39-10686; AD 98-16-10) - requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual to require use of the electrical fuel pump for takeoff and landing and performance of an operational check of the electrical fuel pump following landing. This amendment also requires replacement of the jet booster pumps with new or modified jet booster pumps, which terminates the requirement for the AFM revision.
ITASH SAMANI was named manager, engineering for SimuFlite Training International. Samani, who joined SimuFlite in 1995 as senior project engineer, will oversee engineering for SimuFlite's 17 Level C and D business jet simulators.
JET SERVICE received a supplemental type certificate to modify nacelle inlets for the Westwind 1124, Hawker 700 and 800 and earlier models with TFE731 engines. The Bethany, Okla. company provides aircraft component exchange, overhaul and repair with a specialization in TFE731 nacelle inlet repair.
DASSAULT Model Falcon 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-184-AD) - proposes to require modification of the front galley and rear lavatory water heaters. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
GALAXY AEROSPACE last month shipped serial number 100 in the Astra series to Jeld-Wen, a Klamath Falls, Ore. manufacturer of doors and windows. Jeld-Wen, which took delivery of an Astra SPX, operates four Astra business jets to 200 locations around the world. The jets fly about 850 hours annually each, Galaxy said.
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed a $200,000 fine against AirNet Systems, Inc., Columbus, Ohio, for failing to comply with FAA's drug testing regulations. FAA said a March 27 investigation of the small package air carrier showed that 60 AirNet employees performed pilot or aircraft maintenance duties even though pre-employment drug test results had not been verified. FAA said AirNet acknowledged that pre-employment drug test results were not provided to the company until FAA completed the investigation.
ADVANCED AERODYNAMICS&STRUCTURES, INC., which earlier this year claimed orders for 86 its Jetcruzer 500 corporate aircraft (BA, Jan. 19/27), last month said backlog for the single turobprop corporate aircraft has grown to 150 orders valued at $180 million. The company expects to receive type inspection authority for the aircraft late this year and will begin initial production of the first of four aircraft. The Jetcruzer prototype first flew a year ago.
LISA CHEYNE was appointed program manager for Dallas Airmotive Inc. Cheyne, who will manage AlliedSignal TPE331 and TFE731 product lines, joined DAI in February as a customer service representative for the firm's AlliedSignal products.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146 and 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-128-AD; Amdt. 39-10701; AD 98-16-24) - requires a one-time inspection for drill marks and corrosion on the underside of the wing top skin and corrective actions, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
Nav Canada, which last month detailed its revised proposal for small aircraft user fees (BA, Aug. 24/81), last week received approval from the minister of transport to implement the fee package. John Crichton, president and chief executive officer, said the approved proposal culminates "an extensive two-year process of consultation with users and stakeholders that was begun shortly after the transfer of the [aviation navigation system] to the private sector on Nov. 1, 1996." The plan approved last week, Phase II, covers aircraft that weigh less than eight metric tonnes.
SHEILA OPITZ was named regional customer service manager for Signature Flight Support. Opitz, who will be responsible for customer service in the Mid-Atlantic region, formerly was customer service manager for AMR Combs' San Francisco, Calif. location.
Raytheon Company completed its acquisition of AlliedSignal's Communications Systems business for $62.5 million. Based in Towson, Md. outside Baltimore, the business will be known as Identification Systems (IS) and will be part of Raytheon Systems Company's Command, Control and Communication (C3) systems business segment. IS, which is expected to have sales of $122 million this year, develops and manufactures secure communications technology systems for combat identification, military radar and civilian air traffic management, along with tactical information.
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) resurrected a controversial provision that would allow federal law enforcement officers to force down aircraft suspected of smuggling drugs. The provision was included in U.S. Coast Guard reauthorization that the Senate Commerce Committee approved in July. It is similar to a an amendment to the National Tobacco Policy and Youth Smoking Reduction Act that Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.) offered in June (BA, June 15/261). The Coverdell language, however, died with the tobacco bill a week later (BA, June 22/272).
HAWTHORNE AVIATION, on behalf of the Rhode Island Airport Corp. (RIAC), is soliciting bids to install two new 12,000-gallon above-ground modular aviation fuel storage tanks at the Newport and Westerly Airports. There will be a mandatory pre-bid meeting at 9 a.m. Sept. 23 in the lobby of the Newport Airport terminal building in Middletown, R.I. Sealed bids are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 1. For more information, contact Nancy Prohaska at Hawthorne Aviation at (401) 295-5020.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL, which was recently acquired by GE Capital Services, is seeking a new president following the resignation of Charles Carson this month. See article on to follow.
