An immensely talented man and fervent aviator, Toni Onley, was lost this past Sunday when his Lake Buccaneer was involved in an accident on the Fraser River near Vancouver, British Columbia. Onley, 75, was enjoying some tough and goes when his LA4 Buccaneer when it went down in 35 feet of water near Maple Ridge. Onley was justifiably famed for his work in watercolors, a distinction that won him the Order of Canada and numerous honors from around the world. His abilities as a pilot allowed him to access parts of the earth unseen by many and available only through talents such as his.

Company Signs 30-Year Airport Lease

Mooney Airplane Company has entered into a new lease for its buildings and land in Kerrville (TX). Mooney, the City of Kerrville, the Kerr County Commission and the Kerrville Airport Authority have been negotiating for several months according to Mooney President, J. Nelson Happy. The terms of the new agreement reduced Mooney's leased acreage from 51 acres to the 17 acres the company actually uses.

Contractor's Financial Woes Won't Affect Ae270 Program

Ibis Aerospace Ltd. announced Monday that it expects continued strong support from its Ae270 primary contractor, Aero Vodochody. The company made a public statement that Czech authorities are fully behind Aero and its Ae270 program despite Aero publicized financial woes last week. Ibis Aerospace Ltd. is a joint venture company consisting of Aero Vodochody of the Czech Republic and AIDC of Taiwan R.O.C. Established in 1919, Aero is the largest aerospace concern in the Czech Republic and is also known as a producer of military aircraft. In a statement, company officials claim Aero Vodochody and the Czech government are fully committed to Ibis Aerospace and its Ae270 Propjet—scheduled for certification later this year.<

Thief Leaves Behind Wrecked Plane, Few Clues

After breaking into 16 hangars at the Brazoria County Airport (TX) early Sunday, an unidentified suspect finally found an airplane he could steal. But the plane thief didn't get far. The Cessna 172 crashed after the pilot flew the plane into a series of high-tension power lines about two miles southeast of the airport. "It's just an absolute miracle that he lived," said Louis Jones, Brazoria County's aviation director. "The aircraft was, of course, totaled." Brazoria County Sheriff's deputies, however, found only a heap of mangled metal when they arrived at the scene sometime after the 6:45 a.m. crash.

Organization Concerned With Direction Of Agency's Review

Last Friday, February 27th, the TSA held a public meeting to discuss proposed new security requirements for domestic and foreign Part 145 repair stations. However, NATA is expressing cocnern with the direction its review is taking. This initiative is the result of a provision that was included within the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act that Congress approved and the President signed into law late last falls. The new law directs the TSA to conduct security audits of all foreign repair stations. These audits must then be completed within 18 months. Two members from NATA's Aircraft Maintenance and System Technology Committee, Michael Mertens from Duncan Aviation in Lincoln (NE) and Ed Green from Garrett A

Nine Receptients Anounced

The Whirly-Girls International will present their 2004 scholarships to nine women at the annual Whirly-Girls Scholarship Banquet held during Heli Expo 2004. Together, the scholarships are worth a total of $40,490 of helicopter flight training. Some scholarships were donated by training facilities and helicopter manufacturers while $19,000 in cash gifts to the scholarship fund were also awarded. In addition to the scholarships, each winner was presented with a copy of "Cyclic and Collective," donated by author Shawn Coyle.

Officials: There May Be A Link With Last Year's Queens Crash

Police in Italy have seized thousands of aircraft parts in connection with an investigation into the suspected fraudulent sale of used equipment to airlines. The raid, by 150 police officers on a warehouse belonging to Panaviation -- a company which deals in airplane parts -- at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Saturday, follows a similar seizure on Friday when police raided a ship in Naples. Investigators say they believe the parts are sold with false documentation as new, or at least as properly inspected, when they were actually stripped from redundant planes by unqualified people. Police are looking at possible links with two plane crashes - one in the New York suburb of Queens, which killed 265 people last November,

To Pay For Revamp, City Hopes To Catch Some Breaks

Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a $6.6-billion bill to expand O'Hare last August, but critics now argue that the total cost is likely to be higher. With the full $15-billion price tag for Chicago's plan to expand O'Hare International Airport coming into focus, questions are emerging about how the city will pay for the costliest public works project in its history. City airport planners argue that the plan is flexible, and the decision to go ahead with any of the new runways or terminals will depend on step-by-step approval by the airlines and bond markets over time. The city's first phase of improvements, particularly a new parallel runway on the north side of the airport, promises to sharply reduce delays at a relatively modest c

Delivers 16th Joint Aircraft To USAF

Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered the 16th E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) aircraft to the U.S. Air Force, a month ahead of schedule. The company is the Air Force's Joint STARS prime contractor. Like all Joint STARS aircraft, the new aircraft, designated P-16, will be assigned to the Georgia Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Wing, a "blended wing" with both active duty Air Force and Air National Guard personnel. The Wing is based at Robins Air Force Base (GA). Northrop Grumman claims the E-8C Joint STARS is the world's most advanced airborne ground surveillance, targeting and battle management system. From a standoff position, it detects, locates, classifies, tracks and targets hostile gr

Primagraphics Wins US$300k General Dynamics Contract

Primagraphics, the command & control, video and graphics specialist, has been awarded a US$300,000 contract by General Dynamics Canada to supply its Cobra quad video windows solution for use on board the CP-140 Aurora, Canada's long-range maritime patrol aircraft. Under a contract from Canada's Department of National Defense, GD Canada is responsible for the supply and integration of a new data management system on board the CP-140 Aurora - part of the ongoing Aurora Incremental Modernization Project (AIMP).

Falling Foam Causes Concern

A chunk of foam that fell off a rocket forced the European Space Agency to delay the launch of a comet lander Friday for the second straight day. The Rosetta probe -- meant to be the first spacecraft to land on a comet -- had been scheduled to blast off from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane-5 rocket 24 hours after high winds in the upper atmosphere delayed a first attempt. But scientists called off the start of the 10-year journey after discovering the 4-by-6-inch piece of insulation during a routine inspection of the launch pad. Fearing that ice could form over the hole left in the insulation and strike part of the rocket if it broke off after launch, scientists decided to repair the damage and aim instead for a launch on Tuesday or Wednesd

Rover Prepares to Explore More of Mars   

The Opportunity rover temporarily stowed its robotic arm and cleared a six-inch bump on its way to taking another bite out of the martian surface, NASA said.  Over the weekend, the six-wheeled robot ground into the upper part of a rocky outcrop dubbed "El Capitan," then take extensive measurements, NASA said late Friday. Last week, the rover drilled into a different section of the glossy formation that has intrigued scientists.  "El Capitan" has been the rover's primary interest for several days. The outcrop, about the height of a street curb, rings a portion of the crater in which the robot is maneuvering.

Issued Due to Local Hazards NOTAM: 4/1635 Issued: 03/01/2004 19:53 Effective: Immediately - Until Further Notice State: AK Facility: ZAN - ANCHORAGE (ARTCC),AK. Type: HAZARDS Description: FAIRBANKS, ALASKA.

Ground Screening Is Country's Preference

Italy opposes using armed guards on transatlantic flights, preferring tough pre-boarding measures instead, the interior minister said in an interview published on Saturday. "The best strategy for us is to concentrate all of our energies on pre-boarding controls," Giuseppe Pisanu told la Repubblica daily following US calls for the introduction of so-called sky marshals on some flights. The United States has tried to convince skeptical European Union countries of the need for armed guards on selected flights, but the requests have sparked criticism from some members worried about the risk to passengers of guns on board. Last month, the European Commission transport spokesman said most EU countries were undecided or not in favor, with

Aero-News: Quote of the Day

"I think this is a great step, frankly. The cooperation between all the entities showed a lot of good communication." Source: Mooney President, J. Nelson Happy commenting on the company's new 30-year lease at its current location. Happy claims the city of Kerrville (TX), the Kerr County Commission and the Kerrville Airport Authority negotiated the deal with Mooney for several months.

AD NUMBER: 2001-13-18R1

MANUFACTURER: Raytheon SUBJECT: Wing Spar Cracks SUMMARY: The FAA is revising Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2001-13-18, which applies to Raytheon Aircraft Corporation (Raytheon) Beech Models 45 (YT-34), A45 (T-34A, B-45), and D45 (T-34B) airplanes. AD 2001-13-18 currently requires you to repetitively inspect the wing spar assembly for cracks and replace any wing spar assembly found cracked (unless the spar assembly has a crackindication in the filler strip where the direction of the crack is toward the outside edge of the fillerstrip). AD 2001-13-18 also requires you to report the results of the initial inspection and maintain the flight and operating restrictions required by AD 99-12-02 unti

AD NUMBER: 2004-04-11

MANUFACTURER: Dassault SUBJECT: Feeder Tank Sealant SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to certain Dassault Model Mystere-Falcon 50 series airplanes, that requires applying PR (fuel tank sealant) and installing PR patches over the internal side panel recesses of the left-hand and right-hand feeder tanks at certain frames and stringers. This action is necessary to prevent possible fuel ignition in the event of a lightning strike and consequent uncontained rupture of the fuel tank(s). This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.

AD NUMBER: 2004-04-09

MANUFACTURER: Pratt & Whitney SUBJECT: JT15D Impellers SUMMARY: The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) JT15D-1, -1A, and -1B turbofan engines with certain impellers part number (P/N) 3020365. This AD requires a one-time borescope inspection of the rear face of certain impellers for evidence of a machined groove or step, and repair or replacement of the impeller, if a groove or step is found. This AD results from three reports of uncontained failure of the impeller. The FAA issuing this AD to prevent uncontained failure of the impeller and possible damage to the airplane.

AD NUMBER: 2004-05-01

MANUFACTURER: Bombardier SUBJECT: Elevator Servo Tab SUMMARY: The FAA adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier Inc. (formerly deHavilland Inc.) Model Otter DHC-3 airplanes that have turbine engines installed per one of three supplemental type certificates (STC). This AD prohibits you from operating any affected airplane with these engine and propeller configurations unless a new STC for an elevator servo tab with a redundant control linkage is installed. This AD is the result of reports of the control rod to the elevator servo-tab system detaching from the elevator servo-tab, which caused the elevator servo-tab to flutter on airplanes with a turbine engine installed. Th