Sun Air Jets, Camarillo, California, announced the addition of Greg Paxson to their Maintenance Management team. Greg will fill the role of Part 135 Director of Maintenance. Dave Anderson, Sun Air’s current Part 135 director of maintenance, will move laterally and fill the role of Part 145 accountable manager.
FlightSafety International, New York, promoted Tracy Clough to director, International Teammate Resources. Neil Whiteman has joined the company as vice president and senior counsel for FlightSafety Services Corporation.
NetJets, Cincinnati, named Robert Molsbergen president of Cincinnati, Ohio-based Executive Jet Management He will also serve as chief operating officer of NetJets Inc.’s international aircraft management business.
Summit Aviation, Middletown, Delaware, hired Jeremy Bennett as manager of Business Development. Christin Sherwood is the new Over-the-Counter Parts sales representative.
Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Georgia, appointed John R. “Bob” Ranck as the designated successor to Buddy Sams, senior vice president, Government Programs and Sales. Sams will retire at year-end. Ranck will become a member of the Gulfstream Leadership Team and report to Larry Flynn, president, Gulfstream, in January 2015.
Designers attempt to give exceptional capabilities in all areas, including price, but the laws of physics, thermodynamics and aerodynamics do not allow one aircraft to do all missions with equal efficiency. Trade offs are a reality of aircraft design.
Bell Helicopter received orders from the first two customers to take delivery of Bell 429s in Poland. The orders were taken through JB Investments, Bell’s independent representative in Poland. Bell previously had sold three Bell 407GX to customers in Poland.
Business aircraft flight operations are poised to increase in September, marking the 10th consecutive month-over-month increase and the 17th out of the last 18 months, according to business aviation research specialist Aviation Research/U.S. (ARGUS) and FAA data. ARGUS, which tracks business aircraft flight operations in the U.S. and Canada, recently reported a 0.9% gain in business flight operations in August, and said operations are on pace to climb another 2.7% in this month.
Yingling Aviation recently acquired the assets of ICT Aircraft Services, enabling the Wichita services company to provide Type One deicing and Type Four anti-icing services for aircraft at Mid-Continent Airport. The acquisition includes two Premier deicing trucks equipped with heated 1,800 and 1,500-gal. Type One glycol tanks, 300-gal.
Rated at 5,907 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+16C, the PW306D is a 2% higher output and reduced emissions version of the 306C that powers the original Sovereign. The engine is a conventional twin-spool turbofan with a 4.4:1 bypass ratio.
Cessna Aircraft’s M2 entry-level jet was granted approval from the civil aviation authorities of Brazil and Argentina, clearing the way for deliveries to those countries. The approvals follow U.S. FAA certification in December and European Aviation Safety Agency validation in June.
Family-owned business jet completions specialist Flying Colours will triple its outfitting capacity at its Peterborough, Canada, base by early 2016 with a major expansion that will increase its dedicated production bays from three to nine. “Our 120,000-sq.-ft.
Jet Aviation Basel recently expanded its authorization status with Bombardier to include the Challenger 350. The Swiss facility is authorized to provide line maintenance on the new Bombardier Challenger. The facility is factory authorized to service Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer and Gulfstream aircraft.
The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the U. S., which became a controversial subject recently — a fact that took aerospace manufacturers and other exporters by surprise — may have secured at least a short term future by now. By late September the Congress was expected to pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government in business.
Construction of 250,000 sq ft in new production and completion space is underway at Dassault Falcon Jet’s already sprawling facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, the largest in the French planemaker’s network.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) says a new study by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) showing a steady increase in fatally injured pilots with drugs in their systems should be “regarded with caution,” while the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) noted that the board’s own researchers considered the findings inconclusive. The study, released Sept. 9, looked at toxicology tests from 6,677 U.S.
The National Business Aviation Association is honoring two former longtime staff members — Kathleen Blouin and William (Bill) Stine — with Pillar of Association Awards. NBAA has previously only recognized two other former employees, Fred McIntosh and John Pope, with the award, formerly known as the Staff Lifetime Achievement Award. Blouin stepped down earlier this year from her role as senior vice president of conventions and forums.
Initial testing of an unleaded avgas replacement fuel at FAA’s technical center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is to begin this fall. The agency selected two fuels from Swift Fuels, one from Shell and another from a consortium of BP, TOTAL and Hjelmco for lab and rig testing. Following that, the FAA plans to narrow the candidates to one or two fuels to undergo Phase 2 testing on engines and aircraft. Congress set aside $6 million in fiscal 2014 to support the fuel testing, and has indicated plans to match that in fiscal 2015.
Sikorsky Aircraft is working to expand its penetration of the Asian market, and while its primary focus is on its military product line, including Black Hawks and Sea Hawks, its commercial helicopters are finding buyers as well.
Gulfstreams are favorite conveyances among the top brass in the U.S. government, but Northrop Grumman is hoping to put some G550s to work identifying bad guys on the ground. The company has conducted more than 500 hr. of flight testing various radars in the model.
