Jessica is Executive Editor of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. She started as Editor of ShowNews Online, Aviation Week's on-site trade show daily published at the Paris Air Show, NBAA Annual Convention, Singapore Air Show and at other significant aerospace gatherings.
Jessica has worked in television production and management consulting. While not yet a licensed pilot, Ms. Salerno has received flight instruction and has soloed.
Clay Lacy Aviation, working with Envoy Aerospace, is hoping to secure certification next year for a Universal Avionics package that would enable Gulfstream IV and IVSP aircraft to meet new equipment requirements for North Atlantic crossings. Clay Lacy plans to begin installation of the package — which includes FANS 1/A+, CPDLC, Link 2000+ and ADS-B — in January. The package initially will be installed on a G-IVSP, with certification expected to follow in April.
Turbomeca and China's Avic Engine have completed the first test bench runs of the new Ardiden 3C turboshaft that is destined for use on the Chinese version of the Eurocopter EC175. The tests, completed at Turbomeca's Bordes facility in France, confirmed what the company called “good aeromechanical behavior and performance,” and allow the manufacturer to proceed to the test and certification phase of the engine's development program. The trial is a major milestone in the development of the Ardiden 3C, which will be called the WZ16 by Avic.
Aerostar Aircraft Corp. of Hayden Lake, Idaho, is developing a turbofan-powered version of the speedy twin. A fully conforming pressurized model, with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW615s slung below each wing, has been flying since July 25 when it lifted off the runway at Coeur d'Alene Airport, Aerostar's home field. The aircraft is expected to have a cruise speed in excess of 400 kt. The aircraft's designer, the late Ted Smith, had contemplated fitting it with jet engines either under the wings or mounted on the empennage, but that didn't come to pass until now.
