When city officials first proposed a new control tower at Mesquite Metro Airport in Mesquite, TX, they planned for a seven story structure which would cost about $2 million. That proposal was based on a similar tower under construction in McKinney, TX. The FAA gave the city a grant for $1.5 million, and the city agreed to add $500,000 to the effort. Construction was approved in July of 2010, and the design work began.

<strong>Editor's Note:</strong> I hate to say it, but we have a goof in the script that was not caught during the VERY late night editing session that followed all our work at AEA2012. In the Diamond DA52 First Flight Story (Second Story), the DA52 flight test climbed to 17000 FEET -- not knots (obviously -- but its hard to make sure you're on the script with all the distractions of a LIVE convention hall). Under normal circumstances, we'd re-edit the piece right away (which takes a long time in terms of rendering, compression and exporting to the proper formats), but with the hol, strip, h2) ] from C:/inetpub/wwwroot/clients/aero-news.net/components/utils.cfc

<strong>PRODUCT</strong>: Certain The Boeing Company Model 737-600, -700, -700C, -800, and -900 series airplanes.

<strong>PRODUCT</strong>: All Lockheed Martin Corporation/Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Model L-1011-385-1, L-1011-385-1-14, and L-1011-385-1-15 airplanes.

<strong>PRODUCT</strong>: All Bombardier, Inc. Model BD-100-1A10 (Challenger 300) airplanes.

<strong>PRODUCT</strong>: Agusta S.p.A. (Agusta) Model AB412 helicopters with certain tail rotor blades (blades) installed.

<strong>PRODUCT</strong>: All 328 Support Services GmbH (Type Certificate previously held by AvCraft Aerospace GmbH; Fairchild Dornier GmbH; Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH) Model 328-100 and -300 airplanes.

The Space Frontier Foundation's Teachers in Space (TIS) has put out its final call for teachers' applications for free, NASA-sponsored summer workshops. April 15th is the application closing date," said TIS project Manager Elizabeth Kennick. "There are some slots still open, but we can only accommodate 140 total teachers for these extraordinary experiences."

It was an amazing week and we're still trying to recover from it... But there is NO question that the&nbsp;nation's capital was a little busier this week as nearly 1,500 avionics manufacturers, dealers, installers and other general aviation professionals gathered April 3-6 at the 55th annual Aircraft Electronics Association International Convention &amp; Trade Show at the Gaylord National Hotel &amp; Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Cobham Beacon Solutions has appointed David Horton as Senior Sales Manager for Artex aviation product lines. Horton, who brings more than two decades of sales in the aerospace, telematics and satellite industries to his new assignment, will report to Michael Wilkerson, Cobham Beacon Solutions General Manager.

The U.S. Navy awarded a $1.05 billion, five-year contract to Lockheed Martin to provide more than 200 digital cockpits and integrated mission systems and sensors for the Navy MH-60R "Romeo" and MH-60S "Sierra" helicopters.

A TSA employee has been arrested after an altercation in which she reportedly threw a cup of hot coffee at an off-duty pilot exiting a secure area at JFK Airport late last week.

A contract for the supply of six EC725 combat SAR helicopters was signed Thursday between Eurocopter and PT Dirgantara Indonesia/Indonesian Aerospace. The company will customize and deliver these combat search and rescue configured helicopters to the Indonesian Air Force in 2014 under a contract signed with the Indonesian Ministry of Defence last month.

JetBlue Airways has named Captain Craig Hoskins to the position of Vice President of Safety, effective immediately. In his role as Chief Safety Officer, Capt. Hoskins will be responsible for maintaining JetBlue's culture of safety and mitigating risk in operations for the New York-based airline.&nbsp; Capt. Hoskins will report to the airline's Chief Administrative Officer James Hnat.

For the past eight years, the AEA has published the Pilot&rsquo;s Guide to Avionics, a consumer&rsquo;s directory containing educational articles and timely information about the avionics industry, its products and its people. The back portion of the Pilot's Guide is a directory of AEA members. Our aim in publishing this annual guide is to help pilots make better avionics buying decisions and to locate the repair stations certified by international regulatory authorities as capable of installing and maintaining these sophisticated pieces of equipment. Enjoy the Pilot&rsquo;s Guide to Avionics!

A semi-permanent, subtropical area of high pressure in the North Atlantic Ocean that migrates east and west with varying central pressure. Depending on the season, it has different names. In the Northern Hemispheric winter and early spring, when the Icelandic Low dominates the North Atlantic, it is primarily centered near the Azores Islands. When it is displaced westward, during the summer and fall, the center is located in the western North Atlantic, near Bermuda, and is known as the Bermuda High.

<strong>"This was a very productive week for our members, associate members and industry. The new products introduced to the market this week will help our industry continue to grow and recover from the challenging economic realities facing our country and the international community. This year's convention theme was 'Take Pride. Take Ownership. Take Back Your Industry.' Attendees demonstrated a positive outlook toward the future with a collaborative spirit of cooperation. Our members are focused on proactively growing their businesses and developing leaders. This was evident throughout the four days in our training sessions, the Exhibit Hall and our interaction with the regulators."</strong>

<strong>Source</strong>: AEA President, Paula&nbsp;Derks, in comments made after , strip, h2) ] from C:/inetpub/wwwroot/clients/aero-news.net/components/utils.cfc