FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1978.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION North Dakota reforms praised G I NF.RAL-AVIATIONpro duct-liability reforms enact ed by North Dakota have been hailed as a model for other US states. North Dakota has estab lished a ten-year limit on an air craft-manufacturer's liability for manufacturing defects, arguing that the 18-year statute of repose passed by US Congress in 1994 does not go far enough. Buyers and manufacturers will also have to sign an agreement stat ing how much liability risk each side will accept. The reforms, described as "innovative" and designed to cre ate "a friendlier legal climate for die light-aircraft industry", are intend ed to attract manufacturers. Minnesota-based Cirrus De sign has indicated an interest in building aircraft in North Dakota. Local kitplane manufacturer Fisher Flying Products says that it will now "seriously consider" developing and building certifi cated aircraft. 3 Japanese sign up for K-MAX deal KAMAN AEROSPACE has signed a deal to distribute the K-MAX external-lift helicopter in Japan. Japanese distribution com pany Kyokuto Boeki Kaisha (KBK) has purchased one K-MAX for delivery in October and taken options on four more. The contract, which includes a refurbished Kaman H-43 Husky for use as a trainer, is expected to be worth more than $20 million. KBK is already a distributor of Kaman rotor blades for the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter. Four K-MAX are now in ser vice with US operators, and air craft were delivered to Helog, of Su ii/crland, in May, and Midwest Helicopters, of Canada, in June. Kaman has agreed in principle to lease a K-MAX to France's Heli-Union from September to support oil exploration by Total in north-western Bolivia. Kaman plans to use two K-MAX in a commercial-helicopter demon stration for the US Navv. • Jet Aviation backs business- jet timeshare-scheme launch GRAHAM WARWICK/ATLANTA JET AVIATION is backing a new business-jet timeshare scneme, the Corpavia Club, launched by a group of investors from Europe and the Middle East. The scheme will start with two Learjet 31 As, on order for deliv ery in September and October, which will be based with, and operated by, Jet Aviation in Geneva, Switzerland. The Corpavia Club differs from fractional-ownership pro grammes in that members do not become part-owners of the air craft, and pay only for flight hours used. Each aircraft will be shared by six members. They will pay a one-time entrance fee of $225,000 and an annual membership fee of $225,000. This guarantees up to 150 flight hours a year at a "com petitive" hourly rate, with an option for an additional 50h at a slightly higher rate. Membership guarantees use of one of die two identically equipped seven-passenger Learjet 3 lAs within 6h notice. If an aircraft is not available, or a larger business- jet is required, Jet Aviation will provide a replacement from its charter fleet. The company man- Leaijet 3 Is will get new timeshare off the giound ages a fleet of 130 aircraft, among them business-jets operated by the Corpavia investors. Jet Aviation says that the scheme is tailored to Europe, where fractional ownership is problematic. Memberships re quire less capital investment and offer liquidity and tax advantages, the company says. The Club plans to add further light, medium and large business- jets and to base aircraft at Jet Aviation locations in Zurich and elsewhere in Europe and the Middle and Far East. J German authorities resist R44 grounding THE GERMAN Federal Aviation Office (LBA) is resisting calls from the air-acci dents investigation authority (FUS) to ground all Robinson R44 light piston-engined heli copters in Germany. The row has been inflamed by the German R44 accident near Riesa, Saxony, in May, in which all four occupants of the helicopter were killed. According to the FUS, the reason for the latest accident is mast-bumping, which causes the helicopter to break up in mid-air. Four R44s have crashed, caus ing eight deaths, since the heli copter's certification in Germany in early 1994. Three of these acci dents — all of which took place within 13 months — have been attributed to mast-bumping. The FUS says that there are 20 R44s registered in Germany. After consultations with the US Federal Aviation Administration, however, as well as with Robinson Helicopter owner and founder Frank Robinson, die LBA has con cluded that grounding the heli copters would be "an over-reaction". While the causes of the mast- bumping incidents remain unclear, the LBA says that there is no rea son to believe that the accidents were caused by any technical or design fault in the helicopter. Robinson says that, among 165 registered R44s worldwide, no mast-bumping incidents have been recorded outside Germany. A similar row, following a spate of fatal accidents in the USA, led die FAA to resisting grounding rec ommendations from die US National Transportation Safety Board to introduce in March strict new training rules for pilots of the R44 and the two-seat R2 2, (Flight International, 8-14 March). J FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5 - 11 July 1995 13
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
