A new EASA rule covering flight-crew licensing would potentially ground hundreds, if not thousands, of general aviation pilots in certain European countries. The rule, which took effect on April 8, enacts EASA requirements for pilot training and the issuance of European pilot licenses, ratings and certificates. One of the more controversial measures in the rule requires European pilots who currently hold third-country licenses to convert their licenses to EASA- or EU-validated licenses.
Aerion, the supersonic business jet developer, has kept a steady orderbook for “just under 50” of its $80 million aircraft, says Aerion Vice Chairman Brian Barents. “We've essentially maintained that $4 billion orderbook with which we entered the recession,” he says. “We're delighted with that.”
In many respects, Cessna and Textron are ideal partners in developing China's general aviation structure. The company's roots extend to the birth of general aviation in the U.S. Cessna knows how to design and build aircraft ranging from light sport and single-engine piston, the single-engine turboprop Caravan utility aircraft, twin turboprops and the light and medium Citation business jets. And it knows how to certify its products internationally. It knows how to set up pilot training and aircraft service center networks.
Associated Aircraft Group (AAG), the East Coast executive helicopter service, is celebrating more than 40,000 hr. of safe flying in its fleet of Sikorsky S-76 helicopters. The company's achievement spans more than 17 years of operating the S-76. AAG operates a fleet of S-76 helicopters in both fractional ownership and full management programs.
For half the cost of a GIV, you can own a 1983 to 1987, Stage III noise compliant GIII that provides access to virtually the same noise-sensitive airports used by newer aircraft. Retrofitted with hush-kits, these aircraft can fly eight passengers about 3,600 nm at Mach 0.75. Their cabin cross sections are the same diameter as all other legacy Gulfstream models, but the net interior length is 3.0 ft. shorter than the GIV and overall interior length is 4.8 ft. shorter.
I just read “SyberJet Introduces SJ30-Plus” (April 2012) and appreciated your candid, honest words and your sensitivity to our confidential issues. Business & Commercial Aviation magazine has a well-earned reputation for offering real-world perspective while maintaining its editorial integrity. Working with you gives me fresh confidence in aviation journalism. A big thanks as well for being tenacious and resolute in finding solutions to early objections and concerns.
Aviation's Washington alphabetters have beat back threats of user fees, NextGen charges, tax shifts from air carriers, new levies from deficit-heavy states, GPS encroachment, and a steady litany of White House denouncements and all the ugliness they imply. So, it came as a terrible surprise when the industry was recently blind-sided by the IRS with what could amount to a huge, even debilitating tax increase — without having to go through Congress or a statehouse. The target this time: aircraft management fees.
GAMA revised its deliveries/shipment totals downward following the release of Hawker Beechcraft's Form 10-K year-end results filing on April 13. The February year-end shipment report was released without the Hawker Beechcraft results. Hawker Beechcraft's decision to halt production of the Beechjet 400XP and supplier issues with the Hawker 4000 held down deliveries in 2011, contributing to a larger decline in industry-wide business jet shipments, according to revised data released by GAMA April 17.
Northrop Grumman and Quest Aircraft of Sands Point, Idaho, are teaming to explore civil, military and government applications of the Quest Kodiak single-engine turboprop aircraft integrated with a modular, reconfigurable C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) system. Quest has delivered a Kodiak to Northrop's Aberdeen Integration Center in Baltimore, at its Martin State Airport facility, for integration of Northrop equipment for use as a demonstrator.
I do hope your optimism in “Different Juice, Same Mission” is the future reality instead of the potential permanence of the subdued aviation industry. I do wonder if your proofreader is currently commuting to work in a Desoto after failing to catch the misspelling of the battery powered automobile as “Telsa” rather than the correct name, which is “Tesla.” via email
All AirBP-branded FBOs in the U.S. and Canada are becoming Epic Aviation fuel dealers. All respective signage changes should occur by midsummer. And, noted Steve McCullough, Epic Aviation senior vice president, the sign change really is just that since Epic had formerly operated under the Air BP name. With the change, Epic is also allying with the UVAir Fuel Program to create a UVair FBO network involving select Epic FBOs, among others.
BBJs aren't just B737s any more. Boeing's Team BBJ has a clear goal for this year, encapsulated by the slogan: “12 in 12.” Specifically, the makers of Boeing VIP jets plan to deliver a dozen executive airplanes in 2012. These include eight of Boeing's Brobdingnagian 747-8s, two BBJs and a pair of BBJ 2s. In late February, Capt. Steve Taylor, president of BBJ, delivered the first 747-8 to Wichita for installation of an “Aeroloft,” an aft-mounted sleeping berth designed by Greenpoint Technologies for up to eight people.
Cirrus Aircraft announced April 18 that its Cirrus Vision SF50 personal jet program, with major investment by its new owner, China's CAIGA, is now fully funded through certification and initial production. The company anticipates first customer deliveries will take place in 2015. The Cirrus Vision single-engine jet is designed to fill the gap between high performance pistons and traditional turboprop twins and light business jets. “Today is simply a tremendous milestone for Cirrus,” said Dale Klapmeier, CEO and cofounder of Cirrus Aircraft.
The NBAA and NATA have voiced strong opposition to an IRS memo released in March that opens the door for aircraft management programs to be treated as commercial carriers and taxed accordingly. That memorandum finds that a “management [firm] has possession, command and control of the aircraft” and “the monthly management fees, as well as the separately reimbursed amounts paid to management . . . are amounts paid for taxable air transportation of persons” and therefore are taxable under the passenger ticket tax.
The House General Aviation Caucus leadership is circulating a letter to build support for a repeal of the so-called “fuel fraud” measure that calls for aviation jet fuel to be taxed at the highway diesel fuel rate. Caucus members — including Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), and Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) — were collecting signatures for the letter in mid-April to be delivered to the House Ways and Means Committee, which would have jurisdiction over the fuel fraud tax measure.
Global Industry Analysts, Inc. released a report on the global PMA parts market. The world market for FAA-authorized PMA parts is projected to reach $749 million by the 2017. GIA says growth will be partially driven by robust demand gains in South East Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. PMA parts generally cost less than OEM parts.
The financial and operational benefits of NextGen modernization will be slower to emerge than previously expected, according to a March progress report from the FAA. There is no doubt that NextGen will eventually deliver impressive savings and greater efficiency. However, due to a combination of factors the FAA has shifted out by two years its forecast for achieving these benefits. The latest guidance is part of the agency's NextGen implementation plan, which is issued annually.
The NTSB is proposing to alter the review procedures for FAA enforcement applications and to facilitate electronic filings. An NPRM, published in the Feb. 9 Federal Register, follows a December 2010 ANPRM that covered the standard of review for emergency determinations, discovery and information exchange, and electronic filing of documents. The NPRM questioned whether the agency should change its standard position that FAA's allegations against a party are true for the purposes of a five-day review of the emergency status of a revocation.
Government and industry officials need to collaborate on ways to mitigate runway incursions before another disaster happens, says NTSB Commissioner Christopher Hart. “If we don't get our hands around this problem — and we don't have our hands around this — sooner or later it's going to happen again,” Hart told the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium in February.
FAA Flight Standards Service Director John Allen is working to help expedite the process for business aircraft operators to obtain approvals for reduced vertical separation minimums (RVSM). Allen, speaking during the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium on Feb. 29, agreed the agency has fallen behind on the work, but said, “I'll expect improvements,” moving forward. NBAA Vice President, Safety, Security and Regulation Doug Carr notes that as RVSM has become more commonplace, applications for approval have mounted.
The distance from Dubai to Kabul is just over 1,000 nm. That's about two and a half hours in a Hawker 400XP — more than enough time to contemplate what might be awaiting in Afghanistan's war-ravaged capital. I know the unsettling feeling, because I made the trip in August 2007 on assignment for Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Helicopter Association International President Matt Zuccaro is appealing to the FAA to take action to “remove people who shouldn't be in the air.” During a “Meet the Regulators” session at February's Heli-Expo in Dallas, Zuccaro noted that some companies operate at unacceptable safety levels, but their actions get the most attention and hurt the entire industry. He conceded that it may be strange for a community to ask for more enforcement, but he notes that the industry must deal with the fallout of operators flying with thin safety margins.
Nav Canada announced its traffic figures for February 2012 measured in weighted charging units for en route, terminal and oceanic air navigation services, in comparison to the last fiscal year. The traffic in February 2012 increased by an average of 3.6% compared to the same month in 2011.
