These ``before and after'' photos are of two different helicopters that were registered under the same serial number. The ``before'' photo (top) is the real Serial No. 2065, a Bell 204B that was sold by Bell to a civil operator and subsequently destroyed due to an engine failure.
Brian Jarvis (see photo) has been named Laser Div. national products manager of LVD Corp., Plainville, Conn. He was vice president of a South Carolina machine tool import and distribution company.
GENERAL ELECTRIC IS NEGOTIATING with Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries for IHI to become a revenue-sharing partner in development of the CF34-8C engine that has been chosen by Canadair for its planned 70-seat regional jet. When negotiations are completed, IHI is expected to take a 25% stake in the program. The new engine is not likely to be large enough to power another project in which IHI has an interest--Japan's 100-seat regional jet now under study with Boeing.
Aerospace industry officials are examining new ways to finance the Pentagon's purchases of transport aircraft, in particular a lease-to-buy plan that would defer up-front purchase costs for three years or more.
Photograph: Air New Zealand has grounded 10 hush-kitted 737-200s due to turbine blade failures, but no connection has been found between the hushkits and the blade problems. BILL HOUGH PHOTO Air New Zealand does not expect to have its full fleet of 10 hushkitted 737-200s back in service until mid-April following a series of unexplained turbine blade failures. An airline official said late last week that three of the Boeing transports were flying again after installation of new blades in their Pratt&Whitney JT8D-15A engines.
The FAA is expecting 10,000 applications for parts manufacture approval to be filed by May 30 by companies that are producing and shipping aircraft parts without proper authority. FAA Administrator David R. Hinson on Feb. 24 granted the grace period for companies to file for PMAs and begin complying with FAR 21.303. This regulation deals with the certification of U.S. aircraft and the powers and responsibilities of a Production Authority Holder (PAH) or companies that work under them.
Floyd C. Raynard has been named president of Southern Research Technologies Electro-Optics, Inc., Birmingham, Ala. He owns Stellar Technology Enterprises, Inc. and is a former manager at Rockwell International.
Federal Express has moved closer to its goal of tapping China's huge market with its style of door-to-door air freight and document delivery service by taking over Evergreen International's exclusive U.S. cargo routes to Beijing and Shanghai. The agreement, subject to approval by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and Civil Aviation Administration of China, marks the only direct flights into China for a U.S. dedicated cargo carrier. FedEx expects to begin operations by late spring or early summer. Terms were not disclosed.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) have agreed to team to compete for the upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's T-38 training aircraft. The Air Force is expected to release a request for proposals in September and award a contract in January, 1996. The contract is expected to call for modifying 425 aircraft and providing 16 aircrew training devices. McDonnell will serve as the prime contractor with IAI's Lahav division as a major subcontractor. Lahav recently upgraded F-5 aircraft avionics for Chile.
In a dramatic effort to restore profitability by the end of 1996, Fokker will cut additional jobs, eliminate excess production capacity and reduce the production rate of its commercial transports. The Dutch manufacturer is expected to report a net loss for 1994 of about $280 million, a downturn that could not be halted by last year's severe cost-cutting measures (AW&ST Aug. 29, 1994, p. 32).
AIR ATLANTIC, LTD., WILL START REPLACING ITS FLEET of de Havilland Dash 8-100s late this month when it begins taking delivery of 10 Jetstream 41 regional aircraft. Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Air Atlantic is a regional code-share partner with Canadian Airlines. The first five transports will be delivered by the end of the second quarter with the remaining five scheduled for delivery in 1997. Canadian certification of the Jetstream 41 is scheduled for late March, according to Jetstream officials.
TOP PRIORITIES OF NEW MANAGEMENT OF BWIA International Airways are to increase aircraft utilization, introduce Boeing 757 and 767-300ERs into the fleet, lower operating costs and form strategic marketing alliances. Privatization of the airline was completed late last month when the government of Trinidad and Tobago turned over majority control of the common stock and management of the airline to a group of U.S. and Caribbean investors. The group, headed by C.
Low-fare air services are spreading to new markets at medium-sized airports in America's Middle West, boosting traffic growth rates far higher than last year's 7% national average. Southwest Airlines and other discount carriers, magnets for passengers, have transformed airports at Louisville, Columbus (Ohio), Omaha and Milwaukee. Passenger boardings have doubled, even quadrupled, over periods of a year or more. Average fares from these hubs have plummeted under the influence of low ticket prices.
Improving the firepower of stealth aircraft is a growing concern as U.S. Air Force officials move to diffuse any criticism of the limited strike capability of some of the Pentagon's most expensive weapon systems.
MUCH TO THE CHAGRIN of noise-sensitive residents near Washington National Airport (DCA), airlines may soon be conducting more flights there. Citing the new Canada-U.S. bilateral agreement as impetus for its decision, not to mention increased capacity for their most convenient airport, members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed last week that landing slots at DCA should be increased. By how many is uncertain. Major airlines currently are allowed 37 landings per hour; regionals, 11, and other aircraft, 12.
KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES is adding 10 Boeing 767-300ERs to its fleet and is scheduled to receive the first transport in July. The 767s, which will replace KLM's 10 Airbus A310s, will be powered by General Electric CF6-80C2s. All 10 767s will be leased from the International Lease Finance Corp., which will in turn receive ownership of the A310s, according to KLM.
GINGRICH ALSO HAS A TONIC for preserving the Atlantic Alliance. Because America and Europe no longer have a Cold War threat to unite them, he said, they should establish a ``toughly negotiated'' free trade zone to maintain a common purpose. ``We're not going to stay together out of nostalgia,'' he warned.
EUROPE'S FUTURE LARGE AIRCRAFT (FLA) military transport project, currently in the exploratory phase, is encountering severe turbulence. Key participants Aerospatiale, British Aerospace, Daimler-Benz Aerospace and Spain's CASA have different views on the program's management and industrial organization, according to Jean Pierson, Airbus Industrie managing director. Airbus will manage the FLA program on condition the consortium's expertise in designing and manufacturing commercial transports is applied and protected.
USAIR AND ITS LABOR COALITION are close to an agreement that would reduce wages and operational costs $2.5 billion over five years in exchange for 20% employee equity and participation in management of the airline. USAir's labor coalition presented a counter-proposal to the airline's senior management last week in response to an earlier offer from the company. Despite some ``movement on both sides'' recently, management's latest proposal ``still does not adequately address'' key labor issues, a member of USAir's Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Assn. said.
George K. Webster has been promoted to senior vice president of Miltope Corp., Montgomery, Ala. Edward F. Crowell has been promoted to vice president-human resources and administration from senior director of human resources.
F-22 PRICES ARE WITHIN $200,000 of the target per-unit cost to the military, according to L. Gary Riley, F-22 program manager. The airframe unit cost from Lockheed is just over $40 million. After the addition of engines and other government-furnished equipment, the flyaway cost is pegged at $73 million. The program has now successfully completed its air vehicle critical design review, and the Lockheed Ft. Worth company has begun building graphite-composite parts for the mid-fuselage of the first F-22 engineering and manufacturing development test aircraft.
Following are excerpts from a recent speech by White House national security adviser Anthony Lake on U.S. non-proliferation initiatives for 1995. Lake addressed a meeting of the Carnegie Endowment for World Peace. In 1995, in this year of decision, we must gain ratification of START 2 by the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma, so that--as Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin have agreed--the treaty can be entered into force at their next summit [probably this summer].
Engine designations discussed in the Feb. 20 issue (p. 25) by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the OH-X military and RP1 civil helicopter programs need clarification. The OH-X is to be powered by an XTS1 derivative of Mitsubishi's basic MG5 engine and the RP1 by an MG5-10 derivative.
NATIONS AIR IS OFFERING A 50% COMMISSION through early March to travel agents booking customers on the new carrier's flights between Boston and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This rate will drop to 11% by mid-month. Although higher by a percentage point, it is closer to the standard 10% that commission-capped agents receive. Nations does not have a cap.
