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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 1552.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION Pressure builds for single-engine change DAVID LEARMOUNT/LONDON TEN JOINT Aviation Au thorities (JAA) countries, plus Canada and the USA, have submit ted proposals to the JAA in favour of reducing restrictions on single- engine turboprop commercial op erations. Only the UK has filed against the proposals. The Joint Aviation Require ments Operations (JAR Ops) on the subject will be implemented on 1 October. JAR Ops forbid com mercial single-engined operations at night and in instrument meteo rological conditions (IMC). The Scandinavian countries and France have indicated that they would ignore the JAR Ops as they stand. This act of defiance would be the first overt challenge to the JARs, which are not legally binding. National regulations in France, Ireland and Scandinavia allow sin gle-engined commercial FMC operations. To prevent any countries defy ing the JAR Ops, and because the JAA study into the rule change is expected to go beyond the imple mentation date, the countries con cerned have requested that JAR Ops' wording allows for the appli cation of individual JAA nations' own rules until the notice of pro posed amendment study has pro duced a verdict. Submissions to the JAA from 5 5 operators and sendee companies are unanimous in backing JAR changes. Nine out of 10 associa tions which filed comments sup port the proposals, with the British Airline Pilots Association dissent ing. Five out of six aircraft manu facturers are in favour. Brit ten-Norman dissents. Bob Crowe, chairman of UK- based Bob Crowe Aviation Sales, savs the applicants for change are not expecting JAA. clearance "for a few years yet" for single-engined night/IMC passenger operations, but they believe that winning approval for cargo operations is feasible. • New Piper is gearing up for a flood of Meridian orders New Piper stays on target for Malibu Meridian certification ORDERS FOR New Piper Aircraft's Malibu Meridian single-turboprop business aircraft have passed the 100 mark, accord- ingto the manufacturer. Deliveries of the machine are scheduled to begin in mid-2000. The backlog topped 100 with an order from Flightline Group of Tallahassee, Florida, which has been appointed the Piper dealer for that region of the USA The manufacturer says it has 82 Meridian orders from US cus tomers and 19 from customers out side the USA. A Meridian prototype has been in flight testing since August last year and has logged over 250h in 200 flights. Three conforming pre-produc tion prototypes will join the flight test programme later this year, and will be used for powerplant, sys tems and handling qualities certifi cation. A fifth prototype will be used as a static test article, the com pany says. New Piper says the programme is on schedule for US certification and first deliveries in mid-2000, after a 1,500h flight test effort. • Ultra quietens Global Express cabin BOMBARDIER IS installing Ultra Electronics' active noise and vibration control system on its Global Express ultra-long range business jet. The $180,000 system will become an option following certification early next year. Ultra, based in Cambridge in the UK clinched a deal with the Cana dian manufacturer last year to sup ply its "Ultra-quiet cabin system" on the Challenger 604 stablemate. "We have installed seven sys tems since the Challenger system was certified last October," says Rob McDonald, Ultra's director of marketing. The first Ultra Quiet cabin will be installed on Global Express number four at Learjet's Wichita plant. Ultra expects orders from about half of Bombardier's 80-plus Global Express customers. J FAA approval clears way for Boeing to extend BBJ range THE BOEING Business Jet (BBJ) has been cleared for long-range flight following the award of a supplementary type cer tificate (STC) for the auxiliary fuel tank system from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The STC was originally due ear lier in the year, but was delayed because of integration problems with the flight management system and existing aircraft fuel system. The STC for the fully opera tional fuel system, involving up to nine tanks holding more than 14,400 litres (3,800 USgal) was awarded on 20 May. A BBJ equipped with the fall tank capaci- tyrecentlv completed an 11,580km (7,200nm) flight lasting 13h 51min. Boeing has delivered its 20th BBJ out of a planned 29 due for handover this year. The first BBJ is expected to enter service around mid-July and Boeing's own demonstrator is due to begin touring in September. The aircraft's first mission will be to take the Boeing board of direc tors to a meeting, followed soon after by a visit to the US National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) gathering in Atlanta, Georgia, in October. The BBJ is also due to put in an appearance at the Dubai air show in November when Boeing expects to receive an FAA STC for the winglets. The first winglet-equipped BBJ will be delivered to fractional own ership company Netjets at the turn of the new year. • Zenith moves Zenair production to USA SOARING DEMAND for the Zenair CH2000 two-sea multi purpose trainer has driven Canadian manufacturer Zenith to transfer production across the bor der to the USA. "The Midland, Ontario, site will now become a dedicated research and development shop where we will work on new designs and ideas. A30,000fV [2,800m2] plantis being built [to house the new production line] in Eastman, Georgia," says Zenair owner Sebastian Heintz. Zenair has sold more than 80 CH2000 trainers since production began in 1995 and demand contin ues to grow. "With half the Ontario space also being used for Zenith research and development pro jects, the space available for pro ducing the CH2000 was too small," adds Heintz. • 28 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 June 1999
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