Air Routing's new Flight Manager system will be a boon to any flight department with a need to keep close tabs on the status of the flight planning and handling details that go into international trips, as well as the flight itself once it is underway.
B/CA first saw an AirCell airborne cellular phone at an NBAA show about five years ago and thought it was a great idea. Cellular telephones were starting to appear everywhere--why not in aircraft? The sales reps were pumped up about the possibilities of airborne cellular service. It offered an alternative to VHF airborne telephones and the potential of datalink applications. There was just one catch--the FCC had not yet approved the concept. ``When will the FCC sign off on this?'' we asked AirCell. ``We expect it any day now,'' they replied.
The venerable Hawker 800XP isn't the fastest or the highest flying midsize business aircraft. It doesn't have the most range or the best fuel economy. It can't boast the shortest takeoff distances or the most sporting climb performance. Why, then, does it continue to be the best-selling midsize business aircraft?
Safe Flight Instrument and Bombardier have obtained an STC for a limited authority auto-throttle system for the Challenger 604. The lack of ATS on the 604 has been a shortcoming, considering that its heavy-iron class rivals, the Gulfstream IVSP and Dassault Falcon Jet 900EX, both have auto-throttle systems. On the 604, the ATS is a stand-alone system that is not integrated with the FMS or a full performance management computer. The Safe Flight ATS is designed to be used only with the autopilot engaged.
A new player in the Gulfstream hush--kit business emerged at October's NBAA Convention in Las Vegas, claiming to have a ``really quiet'' solution for converting the Rolls-Royce Spey 511 turbofan to FAR Part 36, Stage 3 compliance.
If all goes according to the latest timetable, the first commercially viable FAR Part 36, Stage 3 noise treatment for Gulfstream IIs and IIIs should be undergoing flight tests this month with an eye to FAA certification at the end of the first quarter of 1999 (July, page 34). At the end of November, Las Vegas-based Stage III Technologies planned to begin flight tests with a production prototype exhaust system mounted on one side of a G-II owned by launch customer Hubbard Broadcasting of St. Cloud, Minn.
Another revised schedule pushes the target date for certification of the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 business jet to mid-2000, about six months later than the previously revised date.
Issaquah, Wash.-based Generation Systems' newly enhanced Lube-It software reduces the risks of aircraft failure due to inadequate lubrication by scheduling tasks. Available for $1,295 (single-user) or $1,995 (multi-user). Phone: (800) 613-5525; www. generationsystems.com . . . Some of the new features provided in Version 2.0 of Flyte Comm of Florida's Flyte Trax Windows 95/98/NT aircraft situation display system information (ASDI) include built-in data playback, a new interface, start-up display configuration file and access via the DTN Weather Center.
It isn't often that we come across a book that we know right away could become an industry standard. But that may become the case with Aircraft Acquisition Planning, the first of three texts produced by Conklin and de Decker, a provider of aircraft costing information based in Orleans, Mass.
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. has launched a full-scale research and development effort to create a certifiable prototype of a four-place, piston-powered light aircraft. Dubbed the Toyota Advanced Aircraft, the plane will be constructed entirely of composite media. The R&D project is being conducted under the auspices of Toyota Motor Sales, the automaker's U.S. subsidiary, and is headquartered in the Toyota Technical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena.
AccuWeather, Inc. is offering a new aviation weather service called the AccuWeather Aviation Weather Center. The new service provides users with color radar, weather depictions, surface observations, visible and infrared satellite imagery, and DIFAX charts. Access to the FAA Flight Plan filing system is planned. Users can access a free version or try a premium subscription service ($4.95 per month, $39.95 per year). A 30-day free trial is available for the premium site at www.accuweather.com.
Eau Claire, Wis.-based Delta Technology (www.flightplan.com) has rolled out version 4.0 of its Destination Direct flight planning package. The new 32-bit, Windows 95-compatible software has expanded features, such as SIDs and STARs, and a weight and balance module that suggests fuel adjustments when passengers and baggage exceed c.g. limits.
The tarmac at Oshkosh was jammed with a consistently changing mix of business aircraft of all shapes and sizes. A Gulfstream V was there for two days, a Dassault Falcon Jet 900B dropped in for several hours, a Learjet 60 made a 48-hour appearance and a Sabreliner was parked there for a couple of days. A new Bell 407 settled into a spot close to the G-V, a Learjet 55 was parked nearby, as were a Cessna Citation Ultra and a Raytheon Beech-jet, along with various piston and turboprop workhorses of today's business aircraft fleet.
Vancouver, B.C.-based Mercury Scheduling Systems, Inc. has developed a new entry-level crew planning package for Windows 95 and NT. The new NOVA-Lite builds on Mercury's DOS predecessor, Northstar. The new package features multiple Windows user interface and online help. NOVA-Lite is designed to meet the needs of smaller airlines with 250 flightcrews or less. It provides crew planners with tools to maintain flight plans, construct pairings and publish rosters.
Flat-panel multi-function display technology is much closer to becoming a reality in smaller business aircraft, now that Avidyne has obtained FAA TSO C63c radar interface certification, in addition to its TSO C113 EFIS and TSO C110 lightning sensor approvals (July, page 47).
Professional Flight Management (PFM) and Pensacola, Fla.'s Advanced Aviation Services International, Inc. (AASII) have teamed up to cross-promote and market each others' products and services. Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based PFM has selected AASII's maintenance management software to interface with PFM's flight operations programs. Both organizations will maintain their own identities, and will be exhibiting together at the NBAA convention in October.
Reduction of cabin noise levels by as much as 50 percent is being claimed by a Southern California manufacturer of new lightweight acoustic and thermal barriers.
At least four firms are developing diesel engines for non-turbine, high-performance light aircraft that will run on Jet A1, thereby freeing operators from dependency upon leaded high-octane avgas that is headed toward extinction early in the 21st century. The new diesels promise one-third better specific fuel consumption than current leaded gas piston engines.
Jouve Data Management, Inc. has added AirGTI Task manager to its AirGTI software product suite. The program is designed to help aircraft maintenance planners maintain regulatory compliance and controls that are aircraft tail-number specific. The program, which can run stand-alone or can be integrated with other maintenance support systems, also generates corrective action task cards, comes with its own browser, provides reports, and can be used with popular word processors and graphics editors. Phone: (949) 474-4200; fax: (949) 474-4201.
The economy is doing fine and flight hours are up significantly. Therefore, business aircraft operators that are planning on major maintenance, interior and paint work should schedule their appointments now for work to be performed three to five months from now. That's the word from shops we contacted.
Dassault Falcon Jet's 900B is getting a large-scale avionics upgrade and, in the process, will become the 900C. Certification efforts are underway using a Falcon 900B as the prototype. Customer deliveries are scheduled to start in early 2000 with serial number 180. (SN 179, the first actual 900C, will become a Dassault demonstrator.)
Tired of cruising along at 460 to 490 knots on those 12- to 14-hour international business trips? At the 22nd Dassault Falcon Jet Maintenance and Operations Symposium held in Nice, France in May, Serge Dassault, chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, along with Bruno Revellin-Falcoz, executive vice president for research, engineering and cooperation, unveiled a scale model of a supersonic business jet that could cut travel times by one-third to one-half, compared to ultra-long-range, sub-sonic business aircraft.
In late May, Boeing commenced four to six weeks of winglet feasibility tests with the goals of boosting the climb, cruise and fuel economy performance of the BBJ. If all goes well, the BBJ might lose its 10th belly fuel tank and still achieve a 6,200-nm maximum range.
An attendee to the recent Society of Automotive Engineer's "Advances in Air Safety" conference, held in Daytona Beach recently, might have been surprised to discover that this was the first time the SAE had ever convened a conference devoted entirely to air safety. By the end of the three-day event, however, one could conclude that those assembled here were well versed in safety issues..
When California decided it would convert Mather Air Force Base for civil use, the rumor started flying that this was the death knell for nearby Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC). Not so. In fact, SAC is alive and well, and strengthening its ties with the local community. So reports airport manager Glen Sanders, who was on hand for the opening of the new Trajen Flight Services FBO at Mather Airport across town (see item above).
