March 2010

FAA issues wing skin AD for Twin Commander

By David A. Lombardo

irworthiness Directive 2009-25-02, requiring owners of 690, 690A and 690B Twin Commanders (with the exception of six serial number-specific aircraft) to have their aircraft inspected for corrosion between the upper wing skin panels and engine mount beam support straps. The inspection must be performed within
the next 150 hours time in service beginning January 8, or by Jan. 8, 2011, whicheve more

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SIA Engineering Invests in PW1000G Geared Turbofan

By David A. Lombardo

SIA Engineering (SIAEC) has signed an agreement to participate in Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1000G engine risk-revenue sharing program (RRSP) with a 3-percent stake in the Bombardier C Series engine program and a 1-percent stake in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet engine program. As part of the agreement, Pratt & Whitney will designate Eagle Services Asia, a joint venture between SIAEC and P&W, th more

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Peterson honored with r-r mx award at Heli-expo

By David A. Lombardo

The 2010 Rolls-Royce Excellence in Helicopter Maintenance Award was given to Robert Peterson, a consultant with Columbia Helicopters of Aurora, Ore., at last month’s Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo event. According to HAI, over a span of 46 years Peterson has become a “renowned authority on aircraft hydraulic systems and, thanks to an exceptional memory, Peterson can recall near more

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Hunter To Head Flightsafety Maintenance Training Sales

By David A. Lombardo

FlightSafety International has promoted Scott Hunter to director of maintenance training sales. “Our customers will appreciate and benefit from Scott’s experience, in-depth understanding of aircraft maintenance training and commitment to excellence in customer service,” said Mike Lee, director of maintenance training business development. Hunter replaces Doug Bowen, who has been named direct more

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Gulfstream adds rep in china, expands service team

By David A. Lombardo

Gulfstream Aerospace recently added a representative to its field service organization. Jenson Saw will assist Gulfstream customers in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas.
Before joining Gulfstream, Saw worked for Jet Aviation in Hong Kong as an aircraft engineer, performing aircraft management, line maintenance and regional aircraft-on-ground (AOG) support. He began his 16-year aviation more

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Hawker Beechcraft Appoints India-Based Field Service Rep

By David A. Lombardo

“To better support our customers in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, we have appointed Hugh Waud to serve as Hawker Beechcraft’s field service representative based in New Delhi, India,” said Christi Tannahill, vice president for global customer support. Waud will be based at Hawker Beechcraft’s authorized service center, InterGlobe General Aviation.
Waud, who has aviation maintenan more

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Report: Asia-Pacific Market Growth Driven by Mx Demand

By David A. Lombardo

Research conducted by Frost & Sullivan has found that a growing population of wealthy individuals and improving government regulations are making their mark on the business aviation market. As a result of these trends, a greater adoption rate of private business jets can be seen in Asia-Pacific. “There is significant latent potential in the market for original equipment manufacturers to form str more

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Private charter firm offers Part 145 maintenance

By David A. Lombardo

Elite Aviation entered the maintenance business as a result of lessons learned from contracting out service work on its charter fleet. “As a Part 135 international operation we did much of our own maintenance. We had control and we did things right, but if we had to send an airplane out for maintenance it would always come back over-budget and beyond the agreed-upon time line; it was frustrating more

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Retired Midcoast v-p reflects on his career and looks ahead

By David A. Lombardo

Gary Driggers, vice president of Midcoast Aviation, retired at the end of last year after more than 20 years with the company. Driggers began flying when he joined the Army in 1965 and went into the warrant officer candidate program to fly helicopters.
“I was assigned to Fort Riley, Kansas, to form the 9th Infantry Division, became armament officer and was deployed to Vietnam in January more

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FBO PROFILE: First Aviation Services, Teterboro

By Nigel Moll

First Aviation exemplifies the architect’s wisecrack to a client planning expansion: “First, the good news–you have a building in place to work with. Now the bad news–you have a building in place to work with.”
First Aviation’s previous owners, Joe and Florence Ritorto, bit the bad-news bullet when contemplating taking their Teter- boro FBO (which they had owned since 1985) to t more

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