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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 1269.PDF
Cessna delivers Citation CJ1 GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES CESSNA HAS delivered the first Citation CJ1 business jet, and says the Citation CJ2 is on track for US Federal Aviation Administration certification in May and delivery early next year. The initial CJ1, an upgraded ver sion of the Citationjet, was deliv ered to an envelope manufacturing company at die end of March. It is the first of an unspecified order- book, which Cessna says "extends into the fourth quarter of 2001". The CJ1 was unveiled in late 1998 as the Citationjet successor. The three CJ2 flight-test aircraft in the certification effort have amassed 1,008 flight hours be tween them, of which 720 have been logged by the "production conformed" prototype. Two other aircraft, 001 and 002, have flown for 193h and 95h respectively, and are being used primarily for auto pilot and avionics certification. They also collect systems and per formance data for the FlightSafety International training course and simulator. The prototype is com pleting field performance tests and has recently finished stall charac teristic tests, trim certification and anti-skid work. Meanwhile, the fourth Citation CJ2 was expected to make its maid en flight as Flight IntcnuitioiuilwcnX. to press. Cessna says the pro gramme is "on schedule" to sup port the start of customer demonstration flights and tours in the fourth quarter of this year. The aircraft is a larger version of the CJ 1 with higher-thrust engines. • Wipaire, a Minnesota-based conversion specialist, has secured US and Canadian certification for the installation of floats on new Cessna 206 Stationairs and T206 Turbo Stationairs. Cessna says the Stationair, available with a factory- installed float provision kit, is its final new single-engine piston to be granted float certification, join ing the new 172S, 182S,206Hand T206H. Wipline 3450 floats arc- fitted to the Stationair, which is available in amphibious and (Hire float versions. • 25 Air tour firms go to court over Grand Canyon limits US AIR tour operators are to take the US Government to court, fearing new limits on Grand Canyon sightseeing flights will force smaller operators out of busi ness. The new rules are expected to cover other national parks. New Federal Aviation Ad ministration rules will limit the number of flights for each opera tor. The flights allocated will be based on the number of Grand Canyon air tours reported from May 1997 to April 1998. As tour activity during this period was hit by the Asian economic slump, the rule will reduce current flights by between 10% and 70%, depending on the operator, says the US Air Tour Association (USATA). In 1996, in a move to restore "natural quiet" to national parks, the FAA capped operators' fleets, preventing them from adding air craft. As a result, when the tour market recovered from the Asian downturn, operators moved to larger aircraft to meet demand. Their investment in larger, as well as quieter, aircraft is threat ened by the flight limits, USATA argues. "This could put operators out of service," says president Steve Bassett. The legal action will attack the FA.As economic analysis, which the USATA says "dramati cally underestimated" the impact of its new rule. • Switzerland and USA receive Galaxies GALAXY AEROSPACE delivered two 10-seat Galaxy super mid size business jets at the end of March to Swiss charter operator Lions Air and US aircraft management company Veridian Aviation Services. It is Lions' second Galaxy. The Zurich-based company is also awaiting a mid-size Astra SPX in May and another Galaxy in October. Veridian's aircraft, the fourth production Galaxy, will be used by parent company Bancorp Services. Galaxy, based in Fort Worth, Texas, says: "We have reached a delivery' rate equal to one Galaxy a month andwill reach two a month by mid-year". Orenda Recip enters service T HF FIRST certificated com mercial aircraft powered by an Orenda Recip OE600V-8 pis ton engine entered commercial service in March. The de I Iavilland DHC-3 is operated by Air Charter of Quebec, Canada. The liquid- cooled engine, which received Transport Canada and US Federal Aviation Administration certifica tion in 1998, replaces a Pratt &' Whitney R1340. Three more Otter conversions are underway. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 18 - 24 April 2000 NEWS IN BRIEF • OXAERO APPROVAL Oxford-based charter com pany Oxaero has gained approval from London City Airport to operate its Cessna Citationjet. The six-seat air craft operates to "most desti nations in Western Europe". • COLIBRI DELIVERY McAlpine Helicopters has handed over its fourth UK registered Eurocopter EC120 single turbine heli copter to an unnamed cus tomer. The five-seat EC120B, dubbed Colibri or Grasshopper, is powered by a Turbomeca Arrius 2F. • STEWART EXPANDS Rifton Aviation Services is building a business aviation maintenance facility at Newburgh New York's Stewart International Air port, after privatisation approval for the hub. The 9,290m2 (100,000ft-) hangar, set for completion in September, will be the largest of its kind on the US East Coast. It will house up to four ultra-long-range aircraft. • JET ADDITION Jet Aviation has added six business jets, consisting of a range of Dassault Falcons and a Gulfstream IV-SP, to its US management fleet.
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