Textron Aviation is betting that its much-improved, 3,000-nm range Cessna Citation Sovereign+ will offer the quickest point-to-point trips for six passengers on many business missions.
Robert A. (Bob) Hoover and R.W. (Bill) de Decker were selected to receive the National Business Aviation Association’s Meritorious Service to Aviation Award and John P. “Jack” Doswell Award, respectively. NBAA will present its top honors in October during its Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.
The reorganization at Bombardier saw additional departures in September as Ralph Acs, head of the Learjet line, Stephane Leblanc, his counterpart for Challenger programs, and Marie-Helene Pelletier head of the business aircraft unit’s supply chain, cleared out their desks.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of Citation Sovereign+ under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Textron Aviation senior sales engineer Dave Champley provided the data for all charts. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they do not take into account ATC delays, and less than optimum routings and altitudes.
Blackhawk Modifications is developing a new engine upgrade for the Cessna 208A Caravan and 208B Grand Caravan that will replace the standard 600-hp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114 or 675-hp PT6A-114A-hp turboprop engine with the 867-hp PT6A-140 engine.
Mountain Aviation, a Broomfield, Colo.-based charter and management firm, has come under new ownership by a private investment firm, a move the company says will help it expand its core markets in the Rocky Mountain region along with looking at new opportunities in the oil and gas and government markets. The company notes that it has extensive experience operating in rugged environments, giving it “a strong foundation for expanded capabilities” in the oil and gas and government markets.
The Sovereign+’s avionics suite, featuring Garmin G5000 equipment, is the most-advanced flight deck ever developed for a Citation. It’s also the most-capable G5000 system in any current-production business aircraft. Yet, the Sovereign+’s cockpit is also one of the least cluttered of any business aircraft flying. Frequently used systems all have dedicated cockpit control panels. Some manual functions are automated and seldom-used functions, such as cockpit and cabin temperature control and cabin lighting, are controlled through avionics system submenus.
Embraer’s U.S. footprint expanded considerably last month when it opened it’s a new $26 million Engineering and Technology Center adjacent to its Phenom assembly and customer center at Melbourne Airport in Florida. The 75,000-sq.-ft.
The Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association is planning to focus on industry growth during its next MEBAA convention Dec. 8-10 in Dubai. The event is expected to draw more than 8,000 participants, building on 20% growth in 2012 when 7,549 attended from 84 countries.
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.
Light plane and business jet shipments increased across all categories in the second quarter of 2014, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA). A total of 592 aircraft were delivered by GAMA members in the period, up 5% from the 567 shipped in the same period last year. As a result, billings inched up from $5.723 billion in second quarter 2013 to $5.739 billion in the most recent quarter.
Textron’s Lycoming Engines report work underway on as many as 25 aircraft engine integration projects for general aviation, most of which are outside of the U.S.
