Business & Commercial Aviation

Rennes, France-based charter operator Voldirect SAS and Daher-Socata announced the French civil aviation authority has granted Voldirect and Air operator's Certificate (AOC) that enables the airline to fly commercial passengers on the TBM 850 in IFR conditions. The company is operating its first TBM 850 from Rennes Airport serving customers in western France. EASA is currently working on the development of its rules in order to add this type of operation.

In the hinterlands it is not uncommon for the pilot of a scheduled commercial flight to manage all flight dispatch duties himself.

The Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) has appointed Rudy Toering president and CEO. Most recently he served as vice president, operations and business development for FlightPath International. Earlier in his career Toering worked for CAE Industries and FlightSafety International, and he also has experience with business aviation groups, including the European Business Aviation Association, the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations Board and the British Business and General Aviation Council.

Cirrus Aircraft is expanding its Grand Forks, N.D., facility to accommodate a new autoclave oven that will be used in manufacturing the Vision SF50 personal jet. Delivered in late June, the autoclave should be operational by mid-August and will cure the carbon fiber main spar of both the SR-2X series piston engine aircraft and the SF50. The autoclave pressurizes nitrogen gas up to 125 psi during the cure cycle, which more effectively compresses the composite part, enhancing its strength and durability properties. The oven has is an 8.5 ft .diameter, is 40 ft.

Have a good understanding of the approaches — you're going into mountainous terrain, and the weather is characterized by convective buildups,

Business jets may be pummeled by pols in Washington, but they're certainly valued in Vegas. The annual National Business Aviation Association convention, set for Oct. 22-24, is now the fifth-largest trade show in the U.S. This year it will feature more than 1,000 exhibits displayed across 1 million sq. ft. of floor space, as well as the two static aircraft displays — 100 larger aircraft will gather out at Henderson Executive Airport, and another 10-15 piston singles, light turboprops and helicopters will be inside the Las Vegas Convention Center itself.

Nineteen years after being awarded certification of its single-engine PC-12, Pilatus Aircraft planned to deliver the 1,200th unit. The delivery ceremony was set for Aug. 7 in Portsmouth, N.H., where Thomas Bosshard, president and CEO of Pilatus Business Aircraft will hand the keys to George Antoniadis, his counterpart at PlaneSense, Inc. The fractional ownership provider's fleet will then expand to 49 of the Swiss-made turboprops, the world's largest civilian fleet of PC-12s.

Cessna has resumed deliveries of the Corvalis single-piston aircraft, now called the TTx and equipped with a number of enhancements. Cessna announced in April 2012 that it would restart the TTx's production line, and began production later that year. The company flew the first of the new production TTx aircraft in early March. The first of the new TTx aircraft were handed over to customers during a ceremony at the company's facility in Independence, Kan., in late June. The TTx includes a number of updates, including Garmin G2000 avionics with dual 14.1-in.

I read Ross Detwiler's “Two Tiers of Training” (June 2013, page 40) with great interest. I agree that we must leave the technology aside and “fly the plane” with basics when in a critical phase of flight. Let's not get distracted by the technology. Use it in its proper modes, and if idiosyncrasies occur, put it aside if in a critical phase of flight. I recognize Ross's name from TEB from decades back when I flew for several charter operations there, followed by a few different corporate flight departments.

The seven-year-old Independent Fixed Base Operators Association (IFBOA) reports its membership has topped the 500 mark. “Reaching 500 members is a terrific milestone for us,” said John Wraga, founder and executive director of the organization comprising flight schools, repair stations, aircraft management and sales organizations, and other aviation businesses, along with FBOs.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) has changed reporting requirements and certain entry-airport restrictions for its Southern Border Overflight Exemption, a move that should ease cost and administrative burdens for companies that have southern border crossings. CBP is also no longer requiring operators to seek passenger clearances and will let operators depart from any foreign airport south of the U.S. border, not just those included in the operator's overflight exemption, according to the NBAA.

With the introduction of new HIRF regulations in 2007, the FAA published Advisory Circular AC 20-158, “The Certification of Aircraft Electrical and Electronic Systems for Operation in the High-Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF) Environment.” This document also provides some good information for ensuring aircraft protection from radiated fields. You can download this document at www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/ and then search for 20-158.

Regarding “Command Presence” (Cause & Circumstance, June 2013, page 56), I would have called it “Raw Hider Results” since I have a different perspective on how this month's scenario ended in such a tragic way. I don't think anyone will question your excellent job of painting the perfectly clear picture of what must have happened. The personality of the guy holding that little girl in his lap is what I'm mindful of.

From the bottom end of Africa — Johannesburg to be precise — I would like to say how much I particularly enjoy your monthly Viewpoint editorial. Always informative, interesting and amusing! BCA is such a superb product — all of us in our small aircraft management and air charter business appreciate the hard work that goes into the well-presented articles. Great work. Director Swift Flite Pty Ltd. Lanseria, South Africa

Corporate Fleet Services, Cornelius, N.C., announced that Mike Thomas recently joined the company as vice president Business Aircraft Sales and Acquisitions. He comes to CFS from Nextant Aerospace. He has held positions at General Electric Credit, Chase Aircraft Finance and CIT Financial. Thomas also was regional sales director for the Hawker at Beechcraft Corp.

During the second quarter of 2013, Embraer delivered 22 jetliners 29 executive jets comprising 11 Phenom 100s, 12 Phenom 300s, five Legacy 650s and one Lineage. For the first half of the year, the Brazilian manufacturer delivered 31 Phenoms and ten Legacy and Lineage models and had a firm order backlog for commercial and executive jets worth $17.1 billion, an increase of $3.8 billion over the first quarter and its highest since the third quarter of 2009.

A preliminary report of the facts involved in the July 7 Alaska crash of a TPE331-powered de Havilland Otter that killed the pilot and nine passengers was expected to be issued by the National Transportation Safety Board within weeks of the accident. However, no probable cause is likely to be determined for several months. The late morning crash of the DHC-3T occurred on takeoff from Runway 25 at Soldotna Municipal Airport. The aircraft (N93PC) was operated by Rediske Air, Inc., a long established charter firm and well regarded in the Kenai area.

The Government of Aruba has introduced a ministerial ordinance codifying the use of designated inspectors (DI) by the director of the Department of Civil Aviation of Aruba (DCA). This framework allows DI's to be engaged by the Registry in procedures regarding airworthiness, crew licensing, operators' manuals and compliance of flight simulators with the local regulations. The Designated Inspectors will be located around the world to best service the industry (USA, Europe, Russia, and CIS Middle East and Asia-Pacific).

Safe Flight Instrument Corp. received an STC for its AutoPower (Automatic Throttle System on the Citation X. The system's advanced technology is tailored and manufactured specifically for Cessna and it is fully compatible with the existing Citation X avionics suite providing potential fuel savings for extended range.

Jeppesen completed upgrades to its JetPlan flight-planning engine to enhance flight planning capabilities for business and commercial aviation operators within Europe. The European Route Availability Document (ERAD) and route optimization functions work to quickly comply with Eurocontrol routing requirements and determine flight plans that maximize efficient fuel consumption and flight scheduling. The JetPLan engine powers Jepp's flight planning solutions, including the JetPlanner application and FlitePlan Online tools. Jeppesen

Yukon, Okla.-based Legacy Aviation Services was given DGAC (Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil) authority to repair and service Mexican-registered aircraft. With the lengthy paperwork process streamlined, Mexican aircraft can enter the U.S. for regular repair and maintenance, and for special modifications work at Legacy.

As of Aug. 1, new first officer (FO) qualification rules for first officers on scheduled U.S. airliners take effect. The rules require that every FO have an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificates and 1,500 total flight hours — with some exceptions — and require a type rating on the aircraft being operated. A restricted ATP certificate will have a 750-flight-hour minimum for military pilots, or at least 1,000 hr. of time as a pilot, plus an aviation degree. The rules also set a minimum of 1,000 hr.

The National Research Council Canada (NRC) has formally launched a concentrated research effort to find and test potential replacement fuels for 100LL avgas. Such an alternative is vital to ensuring the long-term operational viability of piston-powered aircraft, says Jerzy Komorowski, general manager of the NRC's aerospace division. General aviation is a key part of Canada's transportation infrastructure, particularly in rural and northern parts of the country where it provides the main mode of air transport for people and cargo.

In a bizarre and embarrassing gaffe while reporting follow-up details on the July 6 crash of Asiana Flight 214 during a landing at nearby San Francisco, a daytime anchor on KTVU in Oakland, Calif., told viewers on July 12: “KTV was just learned the names of the four pilots on who were on board the flight. . . . The NTSB has confirmed these are the names of the pilots on board Flight 214 when it crashed.

FlightSafety International, LaGuardia Airport, N.Y., promoted Christopher Weinberg to chief Information officer responsible for all aspects of FlightSafety's Information Technology programs as well as FSI's Competitive Advantage, Continuous Improvement, and Business Systems teams.