EPIC Aviation has chosen to partner with NATA Safety 1st to provide training to its branded FBOs. EPIC and UVair FBO Network locations will receive comprehensive training in an easy to administer, self-paced and self-directed online platform. All locations will have access to the full range of NATA Safety 1st training products at special network pricing, including the Professional Line Service Training and the new Supervisor Online training program, which is FAA approved to meet the requirements of 14 CFR Part 139.321.
General aviation groups are expressing their frustration that the Obama administration's fiscal 2014 budget resurrects controversial proposals such as user fees and business aircraft depreciation extensions, saying that combined with planned contract tower reductions, it gives the appearance of “a widespread attack on general aviation.” “It is unfortunate, but not surprising, that the constant negative rhetoric about business aviation from the White House has once again translated into an onerous policy position from the administration,” says NBAA President and CEO Ed Bole
Pilatus Aircraft ended 2012 with its lowest sales total in at least five years, but a series of contracts for its military, trainer and special mission aircraft propelled the company to its strongest year ever in order intake and positions the Swiss OEM for growth. The company reported 2012 at 593 million CHF ($625 million U.S.), down from 781 million CHF a year earlier and 688 million CHF in 2010. At the same time, though, orders totaled 2.67 billion CHF on the year, more than six times the 416 million CHF taken in during 2011.
House lawmakers have drafted a bill to preserve funding slated to be cut from the contract air traffic control tower program. Reps. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) and Richard Hudson (R- N.C.) on April 10 introduced a bill, H.R.1432, the Air Traffic Control Tower Funding Restoration Act, designed to continue funding for the program. The bill would use unobligated funds within the current FAA budget to pay for the program.
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has acquired 100% of the share capital of FlairJet Ltd., the London Oxford Airport-based aircraft management and charter company. FlairJet will become part of the Group's newly formed Aviation Services business unit and will continue to be led by Managing Director and founder, David Fletcher. In its third year of operation, FlairJet will complement Cambridge Airport-based operator Marshall Executive Aviation (MEA). The acquisition extends the service offering of the recently formed JETability brand.
Despite a serious five-year setback in helicopter sales during the latest recession, aviation forecasters are predicting a slow but steady growth starting this year and continuing through the coming decade. The Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va., research/analyst organization, reported in its August 2012 “World Military & Civil Aircraft Briefing” that while deliveries of civil helicopters fell 19% by value in 2008-2011, with a projected 6.6% drop when 2012 figures come in, it predicted 9,526 deliveries worth $53.5 billion to civil operators through 2021.
Bombardier Aerospace is extending the basic warranty on its Challenger 605 aircraft from three years or 3,000 hr. to five years or 5,000 hr. The new warranty is standard on all aircraft delivered beginning this month. The basic warranty covers systems and components coverage. The primary structure warranty remains at 10 years or 10,000 hr., the engine warranty is still five years or 2,500 hr. and the avionics warranty remains unchanged at five years with no hour limitations.
The NTSB is seeking a ban on “non-operational” use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) for pilots while flying under FAR Part 135 and 91 Subpart K. The recommendation was one of nine the safety board issued following its investigation of the Aug. 26, 2011 crash of an Air Methods Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter that was on an emergency medical services (EMS) mission.
The Obama administration's fiscal 2014 budget plan halves its previously proposed cuts to federal grants for airport improvements by narrowing the reduction's impact primarily to large hub airports. But the administration also wants to impose a new cost on airports, and it still is counting on an unlikely increase in the airport passenger facility charge (PFC) to help offset the reduction in grant money.
Rockwell Collins delivered its 20,000th air transport weather radar system, a MultiScan Threat Detection System — on a new Next-Generation Boeing 737. The fully automatic airborne weather radar system combines the up-to-date weather science with advanced engineering concepts to identify and analyze thunderstorm cells, and display the actual weather threat. All new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 747-800s and Boeing Business Jets delivered today come standard equipped with Rockwell Collins' MultiScan.
A key regional lender sees the Chinese business aviation market beginning to evolve. ICBC Financial Leasing has approached business jet leasing, not as a form of equipment financing, but rather as part of its service to its wealthiest clients. Those clients have opted for the largest, long-range models, rather for prestige, instead of mission suitability.
Brad D. Mottier Vice President and General Manager, Business and General Aviation Operation, GE Aviation, Evendale, Ohio; Chairman, GAMA, Washington, D.C.
Feb. 8 — Approximately 1245 CST, a North American Medore SNJ-4 (N2269U) was substantially damaged during a forced landing south of Garden City, Texas. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual as a VFR ferry flight. The flight departed San Antonio and was en route to Midland, Texas.
Growing demand for convenient alternatives to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports has turned Chicago-Romeoville (KLOT) into a bona fide reliever, as the FBO there doubles the size of its corporate aircraft storage and maintenance facility this month.
Baker Aviation has a new limited time introductory offer for Hawker inspections. The $18,500 special rate includes 12-, 24- or 48-month inspection programs, excluding structural codes and squawks, which will be billed separately at an hourly rate. Contact Joe Wehrle at (972) 248-0457 or email [email protected]. Baker Aviation 4700 Glenn Curtiss Addison, Texas 75001 [email protected]
Gulfstream and FlightSafety International worked together three years prior to the G650's entering service to develop flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance technician training programs. Each G650 pilot instructor has flight time in the actual aircraft and each maintenance instructor has turned wrenches on real aircraft.
The FAA is gauging the interest of aerospace companies in developing upgrades to the ground-based portions of its wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) in advance of dual-frequency GPS operations for the aviation community later this decade. WAAS uses a network of ground-based reference and control stations, and three geostationary satellites, to augment the accuracy of GPS signals to enable satellite-based instrument approaches and precision navigation operations in North America. Similar satellite-based augmentation systems are available in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.
The NTSB, March 12, issued five safety alerts aimed at reducing the number of general aviation accidents: reduced-visual reference; aerodynamic stalls at low altitude; pilot inattention to indications of mechanical problems; risk management of aviation maintenance technicians and risk management for pilots. The five Safety Alerts issued are: “Is Your Aircraft Talking to You?
Sikorsky is insisting it has not abandoned its Schweizer light helicopter product line, but is working to rationalize it in a bid to reduce costs. Sikorsky took over Schweizer in 2004, taking on the product lines of S-300, S-333 and S-434 light-piston and light-turbine helicopters. But since the takeover, production of the light helicopter line has been significantly reduced, and several operators have struggled to get parts for the helicopters, limiting training and operations.
The Obama administration is again accusing business jet operators of enjoying “subsidies” and availing themselves of “loopholes that give advantages to the wealthy and to corporations that average Americans and average businesses don't have.” The so-called loophole is depreciation. For every other business, depreciation is normal course of business. But for business jet operators, apparently it is a loophole.
Duncan Aviation has put together an airframe-specific team dedicated to Gulfstream work at the company's Lincoln, Nebraska, campus. Duncan Aviation's Battle Creek, Michigan, location has been running with a dedicated Gulfstream airframe team since 1993, says Rod Christensen, Airframe Services Manager at Duncan's Battle Creek location.
