BOMBARDIER SERVICES, through its United Kingdom unit Shorts Support Services, was selected as the "preferred bidder" to provide flight training and related services at 13 University Air Squadrons (UAS) and Air Experience Flights (AEF) locations in Great Britain. Bombardier said nearly 70 percent of Royal Air Force pilots receive elementary flying training through the UAS system, while AEFs provide flying experience for Air Cadets. Bombardier is engaged in detailed discussions with the U.K.
VISIONAIRE CORP. signed an agreement with Aero-Dienst in Nurenburg, Germany, to be a service center for the VisionAire Vantage single-engine business jet for Eastern and Central Europe. Aero-Dienst has serviced business jets, turboprops and helicopters for 40 years.
CHICAGO AVIATION COMMISSIONER Mary Rose Loney promised that Chicago was "committed" to operating Merrill C. Meigs Field only until Feb. 10, 2002. She made it clear that the downtown general aviation airport will be closed and turned into parkland after that date. After a long battle between Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar over the fate of Meigs, both sides agreed that the airport would remain open until Feb. 10, 2002 (BA, Jan. 13, 1997/14).
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued the first segment of a phased Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) for the Cirrus SR20, according to Cirrus Design Corp. The initial TIA allows FAA pilots to fly the company's two conforming airplanes to validate FAR Part 23 flight tests. The manufacturer said it expects all FAA flight tests to be concluded in July.
AlliedSignal Inc. completed the acquisition of a controlling interest in Normalair-Garrett Ltd. (NGL) from U.K.-based GKN plc. NGL manufactures environmental control systems for the aerospace industry. As part of the transaction, AlliedSignal also acquired from GKN 100 percent of Hermetic Aircraft International Corp., a Holtsville, N.Y.-based repair and overhaul facility. NGL had sales of $155 million in 1997, while Hermetic had sales of $18.5 million. AlliedSignal had held a 48 percent stake in NGL since 1967 and now has a 52 percent interest.
EARL ROBINSON, president of Fairchild Dornier's Regional and Business Aircraft unit and the engineering power behind the company's new 728 series of aircraft, resigned this month. He was said to be uncomfortable with some major top management changes made within the organization.
AIRNET SYSTEMS, INC., said a proposed merger agreement with Quick International Courier was terminated because of "mutual differences in the management approaches, philosophies and corporate cultures of the companies." AirNet entered into a definitive agreement in April under which it planned to acquire Quick for 3.1 million AirNet common shares (BA, June 1/240). AirNet operates a fleet of 114 aircraft delivering 18,000 shipments daily for the banking, medical, legal and media businesses.
The General Electric Company, p.l.c., completed the merger of Tracor, Inc., with its U.S. subsidiary GEC-Marconi. The British conglomerate, which is not affiliated with the similarly named U.S. company, paid $40 per share of Tracor common stock, with the total cost, including assumed debt, amounting to $1.4 billion. Tracor will be managed by the North America operations of GEC-Marconi, a major subsidiary of GEC.
BMW ROLLS-ROYCE is engaged in a long-term weight reduction program for the BR710A2-20 turbofans that power the Bombardier Global Express. The aircraft manufacturer says the engines are about 400 pounds too heavy per shipset, and the engine maker said it is making progress on a number of weight reduction changes, some of which are expected to be retrofitable.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model BAe 146 series airplanes and Avro 146-RJ series airplane (Docket No. 98-NM-52-AD; Amdt. 39-10554; AD 98-11-29) - requires a one-time inspection to detect corrosion of the threads of the eyebolt and piston rod on the retraction jack of the main landing gear and repair, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
AMR COMBS added a 24,000-square-foot hangar to its fixed-base operation in Indianapolis, Indiana. The hangar, large enough to accommodate the Gulfstream V and Global Express aircraft, will have secured, private entrances, line service and conference rooms.
BOMBARDIER has orders for 80 Global Express business jets, and expects to have delivered 16-20 "green" aircraft to completion centers by the end of January, which is the end of Bombardier's fiscal year. Type certification is still expected late this month or in early July following a successful "Type Board" meeting earlier this month that included representatives of Transport Canada, FAA and JAA. "We're right on time with this project," adds Michael Graff, president of the company's Business Aircraft unit.
DAVID D. THOMAS, 85, one of the architects of the U.S. air traffic control system who later served as deputy administrator of FAA, died June 17. After beginning his career with American Airlines, Thomas joined the former Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1938 as an air traffic controller and remained associated with the agency in a variety of management posts as it became the Federal Aviation Agency and then the Federal Aviation Administration. Thomas was deputy administrator from July 1, 1965 through Feb.
ALL 11 PEOPLE on board a Fairchild Metro II were killed Thursday morning as the crew attempted to make an emergency landing at Montreal's Mirabel Airport. The plane, carrying 11 General Electric employees, had just departed Dorval, the city's primary commercial airport enroute to Peterborough, Ontario. The pilot first reported an unspecified hydraulic problem, but declined to declare an emergency when questioned by controllers. A few minutes, later, however, the crew reported smoke in the cockpit and the Propair flight was redirected to Mirabel.
CONTINENTAL EXPRESS said the Independent Association of Continental Pilots informed the carrier that its members voted down a five-year labor agreement. The rejection by pilots of the regional carrier follows acceptance of a new five-year pact by pilots at the parent company, Continental Airlines. Continental said it will reopen talks with the regional pilots.
UNITED TURBINE CORP., Miami, Fla., purchased the PT6A and PT6T inventory of North American Turbines (formerly Aviation Enterprises International), also of Miami. The acquisition will more than double United Turbine's PT6A/PT6T overhaul, repair and test capacity. The inventory comprises parts, tooling and test equipment, including a PT6T dynamometer test cell.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued advisory circular AC 145-7, which streamlines the approval process for repair stations in European Joint Aviation Authorities states. The AC provides for the JAA to gather the appropriate documentation and conduct an oversight audit of the repair station and submit the paperwork to FAA for certification. The process applies only in JAA-member states that have a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement with the U.S. and for stations that follow the Maintenance Implementation Procedures (MIP) of that agreement.
Model SD3-30, SD3-60, SD3-SHERPA and SD3-60 SHERPA series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-102-AD; Amdt. 39-10549; AD 98-11-24) - requires revising the airplane flight manual to modify the limitation that prohibits the positioning of the power levers below the flight idle stop during flight and to provide a statement of the consequences of such positioning. The amendment is prompted by several incidents and accidents involving turboprop airplanes in which the ground propeller beta range was used improperly during flight.
JULIUS MALDUTIS joined CIBC Oppenheimer's U.S. research group as managing director and transportation analyst. Maldutis previously spent 26 years covering the airline industry for Salomon Smith Barney.
Model EMB-145 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-279-AD; Amdt. 39-10555; AD 98-11-30) - requires inspection of the main landing gear bushing seats for cracks and repair of the bushing hole or replacement of the strut bushings, if necessary. This amendment also requires replacement of the main landing gear shock absorber plain bearings. This amendment is prompted by the issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
RICH TEICHER was appointed director of design for Marketing Alternatives. Teicher, who previously was a partner and creative director for Lamb&Teicher Advertising, will oversee all creative design and graphics activity.
Model SD3-60 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-32-AD; Amdt. 39-10547; AD 98-11-22) - requires a one-time inspection for discrepancies of certain diode mounting assemblies on specified electrical panels, follow-on actions, and repair or replacement, if necessary. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
PAIGE HALL was named director of account services for Marketing Alternatives. Hall, who will oversee all client account services and sales activities, has served with Marketing Alternatives for more than four years as an account executive.
In its largest acquisition deal to date, Heico Corp., will buy Teleflex-Lionel-Dupont (TLD), a Paris-based maker of niche aeronautical products and ground support equipment, Heico announced. The stock exchange agreement - reached with certain shareholders of TLD and certain shareholders of Compagnie de Gestion Industrielle et Financiere (GIFI), which owns about 42 percent of TLD's outstanding shares - is subject to U.S. and French regulatory approvals and other closing conditions that must be satisfied by July 31.
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP. increased the price of its four-place, single-engine SR20 aircraft. The standard price will increase from $159,600 to $168,800 for orders taken after July 17. The new price will include as standard equipment Trimble TrimLine avionics (IFR approach GPS), the ARNAV 10-inch moving map display, the PS Engineering stereo audio panel, the S-Tec System Twenty autopilot and a BRS parachute recovery system. Cirrus said it has 156 firm orders for the aircraft, each secured by a $15,000 deposit.
