Gulfstream Aerospace has received a Type Certificate for the large-cabin, ultra-long-range G550 from the South African Civil Aviation Authority. The approval allows operators to register the aircraft in South Africa. The G550 fleet has accrued more than 650,000 flight hours and made more than 242,000 landings. At its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.85, the G550 will fly Cape Town to London in 12 hr.
In an Aug. 24 posting to its iPad support knowledge base, Apple listed its international battery safety certifications, thereby meeting the requirements of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 120-76B. “Basically, the compliance statement means the iPad 100% meets FAA requirements spelled out in the new AC,” said Rick Ellerbrock, director of aviation strategy at Jeppesen. “That deals with United Nations transport safety requirements and also Underwriters Laboratories requirements.
Germany and the U.S. have signed an agreement to develop sustainable aviation biofuels on both sides of the Atlantic. The pact, signed at the ILA Berlin air show by German Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer and U.S. Ambassador Philip Murphy, will serve as a guide to accelerate cooperation to bring “drop-in” biofuels to volume production. Unlike other sustainable fuel programs, drop-in biofuels are similar enough to hydrocarbon fuels to allow them to easily “drop in,” or replace, current fuel sources. The U.S.
European business aviation traffic continued its downward trend in July, as the region grapples with the lingering effects of the economic downturn and casts a wary eye toward global anxieties and other concerns. According to the July 2012 Business Aviation Traffic Tracker, published by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), business aviation traffic throughout the European Union slipped 4% from July 2011 figures. That decline also contributed to a 2.6% drop in year-to-date traffic numbers compared with 2011 figures.
“Righting the Wronged” (Washington Watch, September 2012, page 65) reminded me of a similar flight I had in October 2008 in a Cessna P-210. Departing Olive Branch, Miss., the weather en route to Dalhart, Texas, my first fuel stop, required an instrument flight plan, which was filed and accepted. Flight Service gave me the weather information as well as the NOTAMs available for Olive Branch and Dalhart.
The trip began badly. Collecting my carry-on, I realized I'd made it through security with my feet still snug in my shoes. “Change in policy?” I asked the surprised TSAer, pointing down to my footwear. “No,” he scowled, “You can keep your shoes on if you're over 75.” I stared hard at the *#+@! for a few long seconds, and moved on.
Gulfstream Aerospace has opened its first factory service center in Latin America in Sorocaba, Brazil. The Sorocaba facility, 97 km from São Paulo, has a 24,000-sq.-ft. hangar that can accommodate a mix of four to six large- and mid-cabin aircraft, and also includes 8,000-sq.-ft. of office space and a 3,000-sq.-ft. bonded parts warehouse. It is certified to perform maintenance, repairs and alterations on all Brazil-registered Gulfstream aircraft and can also service U.S.-registered Gulfstreams with FAA-certified technicians.
Gulfstream Aerospace has enrolled more than 140 aircraft in its Flight Operations Risk Management Service (FORMS) program, providing operators access to data that has been proven to reduce hazards in airline operations and is now migrating to business aviation. FORMS, Gulfstream's Flight Operations Quality/Assurance/Flight Data Management (FOQA/FDM) program, is modeled after airline programs that have become widely used to analyze operational data and improve flight training.
Screening for drug or alcohol use is a common pre-employment check that has been around for decades. Typically this is something expected and planned for in advance. If a job applicant fails this test you can withdraw your offer of employment. For many of us in aviation, we also face the possibility of random testing due to the passage of the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act.
No pilot would deliberately penetrate turbulence so severe it could jeopardize control of the aircraft or the safety of its occupants. Yet as recent accidents have demonstrated, high-altitude flight can produce upsets due to the combination of high-speed aerodynamics and unique weather characteristics in the upper atmosphere.
Asia Pacific Jets has ordered 10 Nextant 400XT business jets to be delivered over three years, with the first two delivered by the end of this year. Singapore-based Asia Pacific provides medical evacuation and corporate charter services. The company will also become Nextant's sales agent in Asia and has partnered with Hong Kong-based AirMed Asia, a subsidiary of medical transportation specialist AirMed International, to establish a new operating base for that company in Singapore.
At the Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Cessna announced that it has increased the range expectation of its new midsize Citation Latitude from 2,300 nm to 2,500 nm. In 2011, the Latitude was originally announced with an expected range of 2,000 nm, but Cessna engineers responding to customer input pushed the range figure to, first 2,300 nm, and most recently to 2,500 nm. “As we talked with more customers, getting to 2,500 nautical miles was imperative,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president, International Sales, South America.
A 43-year-old commercial pilot and four passengers were killed and a fifth serious injured on March 16, 2011, when a Beech Super King Air 200 crashed following a loss of control during takeoff from Long Beach (Calif.) Airport. Carde Equipment Sales LLC operated the airplane. At 0700, the pilot had filed an IFR flight plan to Salt Lake City — a 2-hr. flight — anticipating three passengers and a departure at 0830. VMC prevailed in the Long Beach area.
Robert Clare, Director of Sales for Universal Avionics, announced that Universal will open a new European satellite sales office in London, U.K. to support the region's growing avionics sales activity there. The office is slated to open in September. The London office joins Universal's other European office in Basel, Switzerland, which opened in 2004. The Basel office currently oversees all sales in Europe.
More diesel plans. Continental Motors Inc. (CMI), working with its Chinese parent AVIC International, is planning to invest in a line of diesel engines ranging from 160 hp to 350 hp or more. At the same time, CMI is pursuing the supplemental type certificate market, recently obtaining the first for a diesel option on the Cirrus S22. CMI President Rhett Ross stresses that the company plans to continue to support the aviation gasoline engine market and sees it remaining in the U.S. for some time.
Anticipating STC approval, Hawker Beechcraft factory-owned service centers are scheduling Blackhawk engine upgrades for King Air 200s equipped with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. The installation will replace the original Pratt & Whitney PT6A-41 or -42 engines with factory-new PT6A-52 engines. Blackhawk Modifications expects certification of the engine upgrade on Pro Line 21-equipped aircraft in the fourth quarter of this year. Pro Line 21-equipped King Air 200s require a separate STC to modify the engine instrument displays.
GKN Aerospace has won a contract from Triumph Aerostructures to design, build and supply composite winglets and ailerons for the Bombardier Global 7000 and Global 8000 ultra-long-range business jets. The ailerons will be developed and manufactured at GKN Aerospace's Munich wing structures operation, with the winglets work conducted by the GKN team on the Isle of Wight, U.K.
When your airplane is over the high seas far from a suitable alternate and something breaks especially at night or in bad weather—the elements grow to seem immeasurably large and hostile.
NATA is reaching into the airline industry for a successor to longtime President James Coyne, announcing July 24 that Thomas Hendricks will take the helm as of Sept. 1. Hendricks was senior vice president, safety security and operations of Airlines for America, responsible for technical and operational functions, as well as advocacy and policy positions on flight operations, safety, engineering, air traffic management and security.
Modern aircraft cabins, equipped with sophisticated arrays of electronics designed to keep passengers comfortable, entertained and in touch, are wonders to behold. But keeping all of today's cabin components in harmony requires an integrated, easy-to-use control hub.
GE Aviation is launching two derivative engines of its recently certified H80: the H75 and H85 turboprop engines, the company announced July 23. The H75 will be rated at 750 shp for both takeoff and maximum continuous operation, and the H85 will be rated at 850 shp. Like the H80, the H75 and H85 engines will be manufactured at GE Aviation's facility in the Czech Republic and aimed at the agricultural, commuter, utility and business turboprop aircraft segments.
“The most important thing with international procedures for contingencies is an equal understanding between the pilot and the controller on the actions the former is required to take,” Chris Dalton, ICAO's chief of air traffic management and a former oceanic controller, told BCA. “The pilot must have an understanding of what the controller wants him to do, otherwise the controller can't maintain separation and keep the airspace safe.”
Breitling is offering its star model, the Chronomat 41 Limited, in a 2,000-piece limited series that will appeal more strongly than ever to enthusiasts of the original design, says the company. The original and generous lines of the steel case are enhanced by all-polished finishes, as are the bracelet and rotating bezel. The watch is water-resistant to 200 meters (660 ft.). Breitling www.breitling.com
NBAA President Ed Bolen calls the slow progress on improving temporary flight restrictions “a tremendous frustration . . . The instruments put into place after 9/11 were dull, blunt-force instruments.” By now, Bolen told a panel during the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., he had hoped that those instruments would have become “precision instruments.” While the process is improving, it's slow and comes at a cost to operators.
As we go to press, Bombardier is expecting to kick off final assembly of the first Learjet 85 “shortly” as components begin to arrive at the company's expanding plant in Wichita. But the company still is not publicly revealing a target date for the aircraft's rollout or first flight.
