FORTIS AVIATION, a jet remarketing agent, assisted in the sale of a Boeing B757-200ER executive jet for Diamond International Aviation Limited of the Cayman Islands to an owner in the U.S. The aircraft originally was delivered to Sterling Airways of Copenhagen in 1991 and Fortis remarketed the aircraft to Diamond in 1994 after the airline ceased operations in late 1993.
Canadian accident investigators say the failure of a Pratt&Whitney PT6A-67B turboprop that downed a V. Kelner Airways PC-12 in Newfoundland on May 18 resulted from a bearing lubrication problem, and officials now are trying to recreate the failure scenario to find a way to prevent similar problems on other PT6A-67B engines.
EMBRAER Model EMB-145 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-34-AD) - adopts a new AD to require a one-time visual inspection of the pilot valve harness tubes for bulges and cracks, cleaning the tubes, applying sealant at the tube end opening, and replacing any discrepant tubes with serviceable tubes. This amendment also requires the replacement of the pilot valve harness tubes and vent valve tubes with new tubes with anti- corrosion protection.
CAROL ZUNIGA was named controller for Sino Swearingen Aircraft Co. Zuniga will oversee the company's financial activities, including both day-to-day functions and strategic planning and budgeting. She previously served with residential home builders Kaufman and Broad as controller for the San Antonio and Austin Divisions.
INTERJET ONLINE SERVICES expanded its database to include 2,600 Canadian aviation companies, including air carriers, maintenance and repair stations, manufacturers and flight training facilities. Interjet also added some 900 Canadian airports to its database. With the additions, InterJet's website - www.interjet-osi.com - contains a directory of more than 56,000 aviation products and services. InterJet also provides the Aircraft Locating System, a proprietary, commercial information system for the air charter industry.
The head of the Air Force's Air National Guard praised the procurement effort that led to acquisition of two Israel Aircraft Industries Astra SPX aircraft (C-38A) by the service, and said that new procurement procedures permitted the service to cut years from the aircraft acquisition process.
ALTHOUGH FAA ADMINISTRATOR Jane Garvey was optimistic about the possibility of the European Joint Aviation Authority easing restrictions on flight training (BA, April 13/161), JAA officials last week indicated they plan to keep the restrictions intact. During the 15th Annual FAA/JAA International Harmonization Conference last week, JAA officials said they did not plan changes in language requiring flight training schools to locate their principal place of business in a JAA-member country for that country to recognize the training.
REGIONAL AIRCRAFT DEMAND over the next 10 years will be 4,700 units, of which 75 percent will be jets, according to a study by the Boyd Group, Evergreen, Colo. Of the total, about 17 percent, or 750 to 800 units, will be sub-50-seat "microjets." "But the real growth will be above 50 seats in the 70- to 90-seat large regional-jet category, where the demand will be for 1,500 units," said group President Michael Boyd, noting that the availability of first-class cabins "will be critical." He questioned whether the three existing manufacturers can handle that demand.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-113-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections for discrepancies of the spring strut assembly of the forward main landing gear door and replacement of the assembly, if necessary. The proposal also calls for eventual replacement of the assembly as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. The Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom warned that the spring strut assembly could fail on certain ATP airplanes and prevent the main landing gear door from extending.
CAMP SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL formed a "strategic joint venture" with Aviation Information Services to create CAMP Systems/AIS, LLC. CAMP will continue to offer all of its existing aircraft maintenance programs, analysis and data services for aircraft operators and now will offer a number of software products integrating flight scheduling, aircraft maintenance, inventory control and expense tracking.
GA TEAM 2000 organizers say responses to the learn-to-fly effort's "Stop Dreaming, Start Flying" television commercials have increased 33 percent over the same period in 1997. The commercials, running on cable channels including The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel and CNN Financial, among others, have garnered 4,889 responses. The commercials will continue until June 28 with a second round beginning July 6 and running through Aug. 23.
CORPORATE AVIATION SYMPOSIUM, sponsored by the Institute for International Research, will be held Sept. 28-29 at the Marriott East Side Hotel in New York City. The symposium will discuss regulatory decisions, ownership options, financing strategies and services for corporate jet acquisition and operation. Scheduled speakers will include senior officials for corporate flight departments, charter companies, airframe manufacturers, financial organizations, FAA, the National Business Aviation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
RALPH FISCH joined Sporty's as vice president, avionics sales for Cincinnati Avionics. Fisch will oversee sales and installation of avionics packages for general aviation aircraft as well as be involved with electronic products sold through the Sporty's Pilot Shop catalog. He previously was aviation products sales and marketing manager for Magellan Systems.
Flight testing of the second Galaxy business jet began last month in Israel and officials expect the third Galaxy to begin flying in August. The No. 2 aircraft, which will be used for performance testing and certification of the aircraft's avionics and auxiliary power unit, made its maiden flight May 21 from Israel Aircraft Industries facilities and made a second flight May 27 when it spent 4.6 hours aloft at altitudes up to 45,000 feet.
BANNER AEROSPACE named Warren Persavich chief operating officer and Eugene Juris chief financial officer. Persavich served as senior vice president, chief financial officer and a director of the company since 1990. Before that, he was vice president and treasurer of The Fairchild Corporation, which owns a majority stake in Banner. Juris has held positions of increasing responsibility since 1990 for Banner, including treasurer and controller and vice president-finance and secretary.
LONG-AWAITED NOMINATIONS for the 15-member Management Advisory Council should be announced soon, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told industry leaders late last month, adding that the nominations have been made and currently are at the Office of Management and Budget for review. FAA reauthorization legislation adopted in fall 1996 mandated the establishment of the MAC as a forum for FAA to receive input from the aviation industry and community.
After some "very tough and very difficult years" in the early 1990s, 1997 was a "turning point" in the history of Israel Aircraft Industries, President and Chief Executive Moshe Keret told reporters last week at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., predicting that the company will continue to see profits climb.
Federal Aviation Administration is hoping general aviation operators will be able to receive certain weather and other safety information digitally in the cockpit free of charge as part of a new program the agency announced last week. FAA plans to facilitate the transmission of weather graphics and text, special use airspace information, notices to airmen and other information to general aviation aircraft through the Flight Information Services (FIS) program.
JEN MCSKIMMING joined Helicopter Adventures as marketing manager. McSkimming will oversee HAI's marketing and public relations. She previously served as executive director of Vertical Flight Association Northwest.
BOEING is scheduled to roll out the first 717-200 airliner, formerly designated the McDonnell Douglas MD-95, Wednesday at Boeing's Douglas Products Division in Long Beach, Calif. The 100-seat aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight this summer and enter airline service in the summer of 1999.
The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a preliminary study on airport deicing in preparation for possible rulemaking. In a May 28 Federal Register notice, the agency invited comments until July 27 on its plans for development of effluent guidelines and preliminary studies in a number of areas, including airport deicing. EPA formally began the airport deicing study in January 1998, although some site visits were conducted as early as last summer.
American Capital Strategies (ACS) of Bethesda, Md. invested $20 million in The New Piper Aircraft, Inc., last month in the form of subordinated debt with warrants that give ACS the right to buy stock in the company in the future. ACS officials told BA the $20 million would refinance some of New Piper's existing debt. Paul Newman, Piper's chief financial officer, told BA the new funds would be used for debt refinancing and general corporate purposes. Asked if any of the $20 million would help fund development of the company's new Meridian turboprop program (BA, Sept.
Boeing is testing the use of winglets on a Boeing 737-800 for possible use on the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). Boeing said Friday that winglets designed and manufactured by Aviation Partners, Inc. of Seattle "are being tested as a possible range-performance enhancement for the BBJ." The two winglets on the 737-800 are eight feet tall and are "blended and vertically mounted" to the end of each wing.
COREMAX AEROSPACE, INC., a new firm offering customer interiors, cabinetry and interior components, opened this month in Denton, Texas. The firm is headed by Fred Hensley, president, who formerly worked for King Aerospace, Bizjet International Sales and Support, Inc., Duncan Aviation and Page Avjet. The company located in Denton, 30 miles north of Dallas, because of the proximity to other aviation businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. CoreMax Aerospace is located at 1025 Shady Oaks, Suite D, Denton, Texas 76205.
IN LITTLE MORE THAN FIVE YEARS since Cessna Aircraft delivered its first entry-level CitationJets, the company has produced 250 of the $3.4 million, seven-place aircraft. The 250th Model 525 rolled out last month with a commemorative paint scheme and a special tail number, N250CJ. It has gone into service as a Cessna demonstrator and will make an extensive U.S. tour. "The popularity of the CitationJet has exceeded our most optimistic expectations," said Roger Whyte, senior vice president-sales and marketing.
