Business & Commercial Aviation

Dassault Aviation delivered its first Falcon 8Xon Oct. 5 to longtime Falcon operator Amjet Executive, marking the entry into service of the company's new top-of-the-line, ultra-long- range flagship. The delivery occurred at Dassault’s Bordeaux-Merignac facility. The 6,450 nm (11,945 km) Falcon received its EASA and FAA certification in June and, Dassault noted, is entering service precisely on schedule, two years after it was first announced.

Robert Sumwalt from the National Transportation Safety Board has won Bombardier's 2016 Safety Standdown Award, which was presented at the event held Sept. 27-29 in Wichita.

Gogo is overhauling its ground-based connectivity system over the U.S. and Canada to bring inflight speeds in line with its satellite-based offering.

TRU Simulation + Training has entered the second phase of expansion for its Pilot Training Center in Lutz, Florida. It is enlarging its facility by 30,000 sq. ft. to accommodate four additional flight simulators in order to diversify its training programs. TRU Simulation is a Textron Aviation company headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Citing slower business jet engine aftermarket shipments and defense and space business declines, Honeywell International said early last month it expected to report up to 2% lower core organic sales for the third quarter of 2016.

Embraer is cutting 1,463 employees from its workforce in Brazil as it moves to reduce costs in the midst of a challenging market. The departing workers represent 99.5% of those who applied for a Voluntary Dismissal Program, the company reported.

The consolidation of Europe's business aircraft charter operations continues apace. The most recent pairing is the takeover of UK's Blink by Wijet of France, to create a single fleet of 15 Citation Mustang light jets.

Daher recently completed its 800th TBM single-engine turboprop, a TMB 930 that rolled off the assembly line at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport in France.

Blackhawk Modifications has announced details of its new engine upgrade for the King Air 350. Blackhawk is developing the STC to permit installation and operation of the Pratt & Whitney 1,200-shp PT6A-67A to replace the 1,050-shp PT6A-60A.

The long-running fight over Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) entered a new phase recently when the FAA initiated an investigation requiring the California city to explain its rationale for issuing eviction notices to two FBOs at the key business and general aviation facility after the municipality declared its policy included closing the place.

The first Legacy 450 mid-light business jet assembled in Embraer's Melbourne, Florida, facility made its first flight in early October and is on track for delivery to a customer in December.

Gulfstream says it will cease production of the G150, the smallest aircraft in its lineup, after a 10-year run; the last G150 will be delivered in mid-2017.

Rockwell Collins’ offer to buy B/E Aerospace is a pricey ploy that will take more work to see to fruition, but it could secure the former as a leading provider of aircraft content while finding a successful exit for the latter.

Gulfstream’s newest aircraft is setting a new benchmark in business aviation technology. BCA Senior Editor Fred George strapped into the left seat of the new $44.65 million G500. Read his pilot report.

When pilots first belt into the cockpit of the G500, they will discover a Honeywell flight deck that has little in common with any Gulfstream they have flown.

The G500's electrical distribution and data communication network is far more advanced than found in previous Gulfstreams. Taking advantage of the latest Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet architecture, introduced on the Airbus A380 and the latest military fighters, it uses distributive processing and ARINC 664 communications protocols to slash wire count, reduce weight, decrease power consumption, boost reliability and increase system redundancy. Virtually every component on the data concentration network (DCN) has a redundant communications link.

Post-hurricane helping hand: It’s hard to know its worth until you need one.

Rated at 15,144 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+15C, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW814GA is the most advanced general aviation turbofan in its thrust class. Up front, it has a single-piece, wide-chord, 50-in.-diameter damper-less titanium fan and a two-stage, axial-flow, low-pressure booster with single-piece rotors that are powered by a three-stage low-pressure turbine.

In September 2016, Teterboro Airport ranked at the top of the list of business aviation airports viewed by acukwik.com users, according to traffic metrics. Analyze the rest of the top 50 in September.

There are risks inherent to any act of aviation. How can we best improve our levels of safety?

Alexandre Couvelaire is a former French air force pilot and founder of the charter company Euralair. He is also a director of the startup, Aero Electric, which has designed and developed the Sun Flyer, the world’s first certificated, all-electric training aircraft.

The NTSB believes installing a crash-resistant fuel system into existing helicopters would help mitigate the safety risk of post-crash fires in survivable accidents. However, the board is concerned that owners and operators of FAR Part 27 and Part 29 helicopters may be unaware of retrofit kits to do just that.

Can GE’s Advanced Turboprop carve out a niche in a market dominated by P&WC’s highly successful PT6A?

Introduced to the market in 2012, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6A-140 turboprop series has achieved broad acceptance in utility and agricultural markets for both forward-fit and retrofit application on a variety of aircraft.

For more than a decade, Cessna’s mantra has been “It’s a sure thing.” The Citation M2 appears to epitomize everything that slogan entails.