FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1993
1993 - 0330.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION Barents — smiling again after January sales-and-delivery boom Learjet records ten- year delivery high Learjet delivered 14 aircraft in January — its biggest monthly shipment since De cember 1983. Announcing the deliveries, which included the first five Learjet 60s, Learjet president Brian Barents re vealed that the company booked 32 new business-jet or ders in December and January, including sales of the Model 60 and the new Learjet 45. "We're not ready to call this a complete recovery, but it's an indication we are headed in the right direction," says Barents. The Bombardier subsidiary's product line now spans the entry-level Learjet 31A, through the 35A and 36A, to the mid sized Learjet 60. The Learjet 45 is under development for deliv ery in 1996, to fill the gap between the company's 30- NEWS IN BRIEF EXECUTIVE AWARD Executive Wings, of Florida, and Hartzell Propeller, of Ohio, have been awarded a US Federal Aviation Admini stration supplemental type certificate covering retrofit installation of new Hartzell four-bladed propellers on the Cessna Conquest II tur boprop. Executive Wings says that testing revealed that cabin noise decreased by 8-10dB, cruise speed in creased by 5kt (9km/h), climb speed increased by 400ft/min (2m/s) and take off run shortened by 45-60m (150-200ft). and 60-series business jets. The first Learjet 60 has been delivered to Michigan-based of fice-equipment manufacturer Herman Miller. The company is a long-time Learjet customer, upgrading from its original Model 25, first to a Model 35, then a Model 55, and now to a Model 60. The aircraft will be used to fly customers to Her man Miller's sales and manu facturing centres. The Learjet 60 was certifi cated in January after exceed ing performance predictions in flight-testing. Five aircraft ac cumulated l,000h in certifica tion testing, which included a demonstration of the aircraft's US coast-to-cost range capabil ity. During testing, take-off bal anced field length improved from 1,635m to 1,580m (5,360ft to 5,190ft) and maxi mum range increased from 5,070km to 5,095km (2,740nm to 2,755nm), says Learjet. • Re-engined Lama has Miami date Rocky Mountain Helicopters (RMH) is due to introduce a re-engined Aerospatiale SA.315B Lama at Heli-Expo '93 in Miami, Florida, between 25 and 27 February. The heli copter was flown for the first time in January, with a Pratt & Whitney PT6B-35F replacing the original Turbomeca Ar- touste II1B turboshaft. The conversion is being per formed by AeroProducts Inter national, a subsidiary of Utah- based RMH. Re-engineing with the PT6 is expected to reduce maintenance, fuel-consump tion, weight and noise. Aero- Products plans to follow the Lama with a PT6-powered Aerospatiale Alouette III. Financially troubled RMH has signed a letter of intent for a $6 million cash-for-stock in fusion from an institutional in vestor and AH Aviation, a New York-based holding company owned by a major RMH share holder. The deal is contingent on RHM obtaining concessions from its aircraft lessors and an extension of its loan agreement with Washington Square Capital. The cash will allow RMH to sustain operations until heli copter work picks up from its current seasonal low. AH Avia tion has agreed also to provide a $1.2 million credit line, con vertible to stock, to enable RMH to appeal a court ruling that it defaulted on a "verbal agreement" with Klawock Tim ber to perform helicopter log ging in Alaska in 1989. RMH also expects to gain fin ancially from the disposal of two lumber re-manufacturing plants bought by its subsidiary, RMH Aerologging, in 1992. • Volpar 'confident7 of court outcome California-based Volpar Air craft, which plans to re- engine the Dassault Falcon 20 business jet with Pratt & Whit ney Canada PW305 turbofans, was confident that a $7 million cash infusion from a foreign investor would be approved at a bankruptcy-court hearing which was scheduled to be held on 19 February. Volpar Aircraft has been op erating under Chapter 11 bank ruptcy protection. Company president Andy Savva says that the money from the foreigh investor will be sufficient to certificate the conversion of the re-engined Falcon and Grimbergen airfield due to re-open Belgian authorities have re versed a decision to shut the country's main general- aviation airfield at Grimbergen after local people protested over the closure. In what is one of the first instances of its kind in Europe, people living around the air field petitioned for it to be re-opened after the Flemish re gional government closed the operation in May 1992. The Flemish authority changed its mind earlier in February and, as a result, Grimbergen, north of Brussels, will re-open, probably on 1 June — although it will have a smaller runway than was oper ated originally. Aircraft movements will be more than halved, to 50,000 a year, and the airfield will only be open to recreational flying. Helicopter movements will be limited to 10% of the total flights permitted. • prepare for its production. He adds that a re-organisa tion plan to take the company out of Chapter 11 will be presented "two or three weeks" after the funding is approved. The company has already flown a Falcon 20 re-engined with PW305s. Since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, design work has continued on refine ments to the nacelles and new electrical wiring. Savva expects that the aircraft will be flown again "in four to five months". US supplemental type certifica tion is planned before the end of 1993. Volpar returned deposits placed for the $4 million con version when its financial diffi culties delayed certification. Savva expects confidence and customers to return once certi fication is achieved. He says that the market to re-engine Falcon 20s with PW305s still exists, although AlliedSignal Aerospace has converted 60 to Garrett TFE731 power and Noise Re duction Engineering is devel oping a modification to allow the remaining 350 General Electric CF700-powered air craft to meet Stage 3 noise- limit requirements. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 February - 2 March, 1993 W
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
