AINalerts
August 24, 2006
In This Issue
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Hawker 4000 Exemptions Granted with Conditions
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Initial Hawker 4000 Customers Might Face Retrofits
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FAA Cutting Back Mailing ADs and SAIBs
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Chicago O’Hare Slot Program Final Rule
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MagnaStar Customers Weigh Options
Also Noted...

 In the ever-changing world of security requirements, NBAA now reports that GA operations can clear customs at several airports in the Dallas area. An item in Tuesday’s AINalerts said GA flights inbound to the Dallas area must clear customs at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which was correct at the time but no longer the case.

Effective September 1, Nav Canada, the nation’s ATC service provider, is withdrawing its average 2-percent service charge implemented on Aug. 1, 2003. Meanwhile, a new daily charge of $10 per day at seven specific airports for aircraft with mtows of 6,600 pounds or less goes into effect March 1, 2008.

The Platinum Wing Alliance, a network of selected charter operators aimed at improving air-taxi safety and quality, held its second-annual closed-door executive meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Boston. Invitees included some 15 operators that are all ARG/US Platinum rated.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Nordam began construction today on a 120,000-sq-ft aircraft interiors and structures facility in Wichita. When it opens early next year, the building will triple Nordam’s current space.

Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Van Nuys Airport, has accepted a bid for an FBO at the former Garrett Aviation facility. But Landmark Aviation’s bid to demolish the facility and build a new FBO at Van Nuys was rejected. No information about the winner was immediately available.

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Breaking Stories
Hawker 4000 Exemptions Granted with Conditions
 The FAA has granted, with conditions, Raytheon Aircraft’s request that the Hawker 4000 be temporarily exempted from having to meet certain Part 25 fuel tank ignition and hydraulic system performance amendments to enable the aircraft to receive type certification (TC) by year-end. Under the conditions of the exemptions, the aircraft will still have to meet certain provisions of both amendments before the FAA will issue the TC. However, the company will have until Sept. 1, 2008, to show compliance with the remaining provisions of the ignition prevention rules (FAR 25.981) and June 1 next year to demonstrate compliance with the remaining provisions of the hydraulic system rules (FAR 25.1435). In addition, the FAA said it would not issue new airworthiness certificates for the type after these dates unless the newly produced airplanes are in compliance. On May 31, Raytheon Aircraft reached the FAA’s five-year time limit for certification of the Hawker 4000 under Part 25 amendments that existed at the time of the TC application. In anticipation of not receiving TC before the deadline, Raytheon applied for an extension on May 11, and the FAA granted an extension of seven months, to December 31.


Initial Hawker 4000 Customers Might Face Retrofits
Operators that take delivery of Hawker 4000s during the exemption period face a mandatory retrofit if any design changes are necessary. If design changes are required to show compliance with the ignition rule, they must be incorporated on aircraft delivered before Sept. 1, 2008, or they cannot operate after Sept. 1, 2009. Likewise, if modifications are necessary to comply with the hydraulic rule, they must be made on airplanes delivered before June 1 next year or they cannot be operated after June 1, 2008. “The granting of these two exemptions will allow us to proceed with the final details in obtaining the type certificate for the Hawker 4000,” a company spokesman told AIN. “The new requirements have been built into our plan and we expect no further delays. Customer deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Once we have completed the appropriate analysis and testing related to the changes in FAA regulations, we will incorporate the required modifications, as needed, into future deliveries of the aircraft.”

FAA Cutting Back Mailing ADs and SAIBs
In what it said is “part of our transition to full electronic distribution of ADs and Special Airworthiness Information Bulletins,” the FAA today began implementing a cutback in the mailing of these documents to affected owners and operators. Specifically, the agency will no longer mail AD corrections that don’t receive a new amendment number and AD number. ADs requiring corrections will continue to be published in the Federal Register and on the FAA Web site. The FAA will mail ADs applicable to a certain engine model only to the owners and operators who have registered their engine, not to the registered aircraft owners and operators referenced in the AD. Mailed ADs will no longer include the preamble information. The agency will continue to mail or fax emergency ADs, but the final rule version of these will no longer be mailed. Finally, the FAA will stop mailing SAIBs. Interested parties can subscribe to an e-mail service on the FAA’s SAIB Web page.


Chicago O’Hare Slot Program Final Rule
A long-awaited interim final rule will be published in the next day or two extending through at least April 2008 the FAA’s mandated flight-reduction program to ease congestion at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, including slot reservations for general aviation operations. Through several six-month extensions, the program has been in effect continuously since November 2004; the latest extension was scheduled to expire on October 28. The program limits all Part 91 and 135 IFR and VFR unscheduled flights to four operations per hour from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. This final rule is intended to be an interim measure only, as the FAA anticipates longer-term solutions to traffic congestion at the airport. Such solutions include plans by the City of Chicago to modernize the airport and reduce delays. For this reason, the FAA said this final rule includes provisions allowing for the limits it imposes to be gradually relaxed, “and in any event the regulation will sunset in 2008.”

MagnaStar Customers Weigh Options
 It didn’t take long for Iridium resellers to start targeting MagnaStar customers after service provider Verizon Airfone announced plans to exit the general aviation business. AirCell has introduced Axxess EZ, a two-channel Iridium satcom system that is intended as a direct replacement for the old MagnaStar phones. The system uses the same wiring and includes wireless capability for buyers who also choose to add a broadband satellite Internet connection. International Communications Group, another Iridium hardware seller, said it is offering single- and dual-channel satcom systems that operate with MagnaStar equipment through a MagnaStar avionics interface unit. Service provider Satcom Direct, meanwhile, introduced PlaneSimple, an Inmarsat calling plan targeted at the 4,000 MagnaStar customers who will be without service when Verizon pulls the plug on December 4.
AINalerts is a publication of The Convention News Co., Inc., 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, NJ 07432. Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from The Convention News Co., Inc., is strictly prohibited. The Convention News Co., Inc., also publishes Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, NBAA Convention News, HAI Convention News, EBACE Convention News, Paris 2007, Dubai 2007, Asian Aerospace 2008 and Farnborough 2008.