FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0095.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION Farnborough business centre plans progress FARNBOROUGH The organisation seeking to build a £60 million business aviation centre at Farn borough Aerodrome, England, has submitted outline pro posals to local government authorities, who are expected to decide within three months whether to give the scheme the go-ahead. The outline planning appli cation was lodged by the Farnborough Aerospace Development Corporation, a consortium which last year agreed to lease a 50-acre site from the Ministry of Defence, which operates one of the UK's leading defence research establishments at the air field. The application requests permission to build a passenger terminal, hangar, fuel farm, and access road. Building would not start until after the Farnborough Air Show in September, but refurbished MoD facilities will be available as soon as outline planning permission is granted, says Sir Ivor Broom, ..the consortium's chairman. Any business aircraft up to 12,500kg all-up weight would be allowed to use the facility, with movements limited to 25,000 per year. A separate annual limit of 200 movements for types up to 20,000kg is also proposed, but scheduled and recreational flights are to be excluded. The business aviation centre would be fenced off from the main airfield site, and taxiing aircraft would pass through • a gateway guarded by military police. McAlpine Aviation would operate the complex. A high- tech business park is also planned. A public meeting to explain the plans to local residents is expected at Farnborough within a month, and Broom is cautiously optimistic that the scheme will be given the green light. The improved facilities are expected to attract business aircraft from London's Heathrow and Gatwick Air ports, where access is limited. The Government's Depart ment of Transport hopes that the private sector will develop improved business aviation facilities at airports around London, maintaining its policy of giving priority to scheduled traffic at London's two main airports. A plan, supported by the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Transport, for a civil enclave at Royal Air Force Northolt, the nearest aero drome to central London, is progressing slowly. The MoD over one year ago invited tenders from operators, but the scheme collapsed when a local council authority turned down a planning application for a new'road that was an important part of the pro posals. The MoD believes that the road access problem can be circumvented, and claims it will invite fresh tenders shortly. Business aircraft already have access to RAF Northolt, but only half of the 28 civil movements per day allowed actually take place. Like Farnborough, RAF Northolt is an active military air field. Walsh leads GA lobby WASHINGTON D.C. ~ Current and former bosses of Beech Aircraft hold the lead ing positions • in the US Gen'eral Aviation Manu facturers Association (Gama) this year. Ex-chief executive James Walsh (now at forgings company Wyman Gordon) succeeds James Churchill at the head of the trade lobby, which represents 36 manufacturers of general- aviation aircraft, engine electronics, and other equip ment. The new Gama vice- chairmen is Max Bleck, the current Beech president, who is likely to succeed Walsh in a year's time. Gama committee chairmen for the year are: Dr Larry Moore of Honeywell/ Sperry (Airport/airway and operations); Malcolm Craig of Garrett (International affairs); Lottie Eubanks of Century Flight Systems (Membership); Frederick Sontag of Unison Industries (Product liability); Robert Rau of Parker Hannifin (Public affairs); Dr Terry Heil of Singer (Safety affairs); and Thomas Smith of Fair- child Aircraft (Technical policy). LoPresti heads Piper "think tank" VERO BEACH Piper has started a "think tank" to assess the market potential of past Piper designs, which, could be modified and updated to become products for the next decade. Roy LoPresti, lured last month from his job as vice- president and chief engineer at Beech, will head the new group, named LoPresti Piper Aircraft Engineering Com pany. LoPresti has no equity in the group, which is wholly owned by Piper's holding company, Romeo Charlie, but lends his name as a highly respected designer, Piper maintains. "From the 50 years of Piper products, there are many fine designs which can be refined and modified to supplement the market needs of the 1990s and beyond," Piper says. "LoPresti's flying and management experience, combined with his keen marketing sense, makes him the perfect choice to lead this complement to Piper's fine engineering department," the manufacturer adds. Piper said earlier this month that it was too early to say which designs would be examined, but it is evident that the "think tank" is less ambitious than Scaled Composites, the advanced engineering company under Burt Rutan, purchased by Beech and responsible for the Starship I and other uncon ventional aircraft. This is the latest 'of a series of moves made siijce a loss-making Piper was -pur chased by entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast Stuart Millar from Lear Siegler last year. ADs released on Malibu engine VERO BEACH ~ The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued two airworthiness directives aimed at the Teledyne Continental TSIO-520BE engine powering the Piper Malibu. Compliance will allow Malibu operators back into the air after a voluntary grounding requested by Piper on November 30 last, and will end the alternative transport programme that is costing Piper $700,000 per mdnth. The ADs are a result of an investigation by Piper, Tele- dyne, and the FAA into the unacceptably high in-service engine failure rate. At least one pilot was recently killed making a forced landing after an engine failure, and Piper admits to other incidents, though it refuses to reveal the number. The ADs demand replace ment of the engine's gudgeon pins and removal of a belt driving a component of the air conditioning system. Coupled to the ADs are a pair of previously released service bulletins calling for changes to the engine's lubrication system. These are not manda tory, but Piper believes they should be. "Only through compliance with the appro priate bulletins do we recom mend resumption of flight," says Douglas Smith, director of Piper's Customer Service Department. One of the ADs leaves oper ators without air condi tioning, but Piper says that a cure for the underlying prob lem is being worked on, and will be ready before warm weather in the USA. Pres- surisation of the high- performance piston-single is unaffected, Piper says. A warranty agreement means that operators will bear little of the cost of the change but, until the ADs can be complied with, Piper will continue to offer first-class air travel to groups of six who would otherwise use their Malibu on an essential busi ness flight. The offer was predicted to cost $700,000 per month and Piper, which says it has been unable to persuade Teledyne to pay up, is footing the bill itself. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 16 January 1988 41
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
