Officials of Spirit Wing Aviation, developers of the Williams International FJ44-2C-powered Learjet 25, said they now expect to complete FAA certification flight testing of their SpiritLear by the end of August. In early April, Calvin Burgess, president of the Edmond, Okla.-based company that is reengining the vintage Learjet, said that the program's development schedule had slipped about six weeks. The firm had hoped to receive an STC for the SpiritLear modification during the second quarter of this year.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Challenger 870 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Global Air Strategy of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian distributor of Soloy, has taken delivery of its first Allstar conversion from the Olympia, Wash.-based company that specializes in aircraft modification and powerplant installations. The Allstar is a Rolls-Royce 250-C30-powered version of the Eurocopter AS350. According to Soloy President David Stauffer, the new Rolls-Royce engines are more reliable, burn significantly less fuel and are less costly to maintain and overhaul than the AS350's original Turbomeca turboshaft powerplants.
Duncan Aviation, which is an authorized dealer of Max-Viz enhanced vision systems, recently installed the first EVS-1000 in a Gulfstream GIV-SP. Duncan engineers worked with Max-Viz to obtain an STC for the system. The EVS-1000, one of the smallest and lightest enhanced vision systems, allows pilots to see in low visibility conditions such as haze, smoke, snow, rain and darkness.
The NATA harshly criticized the FAA's proposed regulation to upgrade CVR rules (B&CA, April 2005, page 22) since it failed to consider its economic impact on FAR 135 and fractional operators and called for an immediate halt to any further action implementing the new rules -- at least as they impact those same operators. While the proposed rules would also require upgrades to FDR technologies, the changes would generally impact newly manufactured aircraft, not those already in-service.
Liberty Aerospace plans to lease more than 52,000 square feet on the southeast quadrant of the Melbourne, Fla. Airport that will become the company's new headquarters and manufacturing center. Manufacturing is slated to start this summer, and the headquarters move should be completed by this fall. Liberty said the new facilities will accommodate the production of up to six aircraft per week.
The AOPA ran full-page advertisements in two publications in the wake of the widely publicized May 11 incident in which two Pennsylvania pilots in a Cessna 150 wandered into restricted airspace. The ads ran in the May 18 issues of USA Today and Roll Call, a newspaper that specializes in political and legislative coverage and is widely circulated on Capitol Hill.
Philip Winters has been appointed vice president of aircraft sales at this FBO, which is an authorized dealer for the Pilatus PC-12 and the ATG Javelin. Winters' primary focus will be selling these aircraft throughout the Northwest United States.
Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS), Washington, D.C., an advertising, marketing and public relations firm, announced the addition of Jessica Keegan as an account executive.
The aviation trust fund remains a contentious issue. The May 12 MAC report asserted that trust fund revenues have rebounded and are growing again, and thus ``are not expected to be the [FAA funding] problem going forward.'' It claims that if Congress and the White House adhere to authorized budget targets for the FAA, ``there will be no problem of depletion of the trust fund.'' This observation differs from that of FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
The FADEC-equipped 14,000-pound-thrust class General Electric CF34-8 represents a substantial leap forward in powerplant technology, compared with the original CF34-3 turbofans fitted to Challenger 600-series and 850 aircraft for nearly two decades. The CF34 originally made its debut as the TF34 on Republic A-10 Warthogs and Grumman S-3 Vikings in the mid-1970s. The military versions were designed for low-altitude operations and the subsequent CF34 won no accolades from operators for high-altitude cruise performance.
Remember Sierra Flight Systems, the little synthetic vision EFIS development company in Boise, Idaho? Gordon Pratt's garage start-up dream child was famous for innovation in the little airplane market, but it lacked development money to become a mainline avionics firm. All that changed when Chelton Group, a subsidiary of Cobham PLC, bought the firm in 2001. The acquisition came with a cash infusion that enabled the renamed Chelton Flight Systems to develop a system suitable for installation in jet aircraft.
JB&A Aviation, Inc., Houston, named Hester Smith director of research. She will be responsible for developing an expanded market research and analysis function for JB&A and its satellite offices. Smith joined JB&A from The Boeing Co. She has over 10 years of research and analysis experience in aviation, aerospace, oil and gas, and technology and export.
O'Gara Aviation Co., Atlanta, a corporate aircraft sales and brokerage/acquisition service company, named Johnny Foster company president. He succeeds his father, John Foster, III, who is now chief executive officer. Additionally, Matthew Huff was promoted to chief operating officer.
The winds preceding the incoming blizzard had already picked up to nearly 30 knots and the visibility was almost zero. I thought about how lucky I was to not be on duty that night. I threw another log in the fireplace and turned on the television just in time to see a breaking news report. There on the screen was one of my colleagues at the EMS outfit standing next to a helicopter in a darkened ski resort parking lot awaiting an avalanche victim. At 10:30 p.m., with the pilot still waiting, I turned off the TV. Better he than me.
Embraer has received a firm order from Ecuadorian airline TAME Aerea del Ecuador for two 76-seat Embraer 170 jets and one 104-seat Embraer 190. Delivery will take place in 2005 and 2006.
From the earliest battery-equipped aircraft through the end of World War II, the bulk of aircraft batteries were the `flooded cell' or `wet cell' lead-acid types. That battery still provides good service to this day, but it is heavy, requires frequent maintenance, and vents corrosive sulfuric acid and explosive hydrogen gas. A major leap in battery technology took place shortly after the war, with the introduction of the nickel-cadmium (ni-cad) battery on the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and has been standard in jets ever since.
In 1947, the accident rate for helicopters was 135 accidents per 100,000 hours flown, a horrific statistic. By comparison, in 2003, the Helicopter Association International (HAI) reported that the accident rate for multiengine helicopters was 4.93 accidents per 100,000 hours. Even more telling is the fact that corporate helicopter accidents are exceedingly rare, with an average of just 0.5 accidents annually.
To: Business Aircraft Operators From: The FAA Subject: Straighten Up and Fly Right There is a problem festering in business aviation, and it isn't getting any better. We're talking, about gross navigation errors, or GNEs, racked up by business aviation flight crews engaged in oceanic operations.
THE WEATHER AT BALTIMORE-Washington International Airport (BWI) just after sunrise on May 14, 2004, was good for spring on the Chesapeake. Winds were calm, the visibility was six miles and the temperature was 70F. There were a few clouds at 15,000 feet, the temperature/dew-point spread was wide and the baro pressure was high. A Mitsubishi MU-2B-60, operating as Epps Air Service flight 101, was arriving in the BWI area after a quick hop from Philadelphia International -- one of those approach control-to-approach control flights.
Duncan Aviation recently received an STC for the installation of the Universal EFI-890R in a Bombardier Challenger 600. This completion is part of Duncan Aviation's Glass Box Project, a plan to keep classic aircraft operating far into the 21st century. The latest approval follows the company's August 2004 installation of the EFI-890R in a Challenger 601-3A owned by Universal Avionics' parent company.
Seeing the glowing eyes of 400,000 AOPA members circling his campfire, the Reason Foundation's Poole noted in his just-issued report that general aviation is ``too large and politically popular'' for it to be charged for air traffic control services, regardless of how much of the system is used by light aircraft operators. ``We think he still misses the point,'' said AOPA President Phil Boyer. ``More than 90 percent of piston-powered aircraft flights are VFR, yet every one of those flights helps pay for the system through the fuel tax.
Honeywell introduced a new Web Flight Planning service that will eventually replace its current offering. It enables operators to create and file flight plans using any personal computer connected to the Internet -- with no special software required. The new system became available in May. While Honeywell's legacy flight planning system will remain available for a period of time, the new system eventually will replace it. Additional information on Web Flight Planning is available online at www.mygdc.com.
Eclipse Aircraft announced another price increase for its Eclipse 500 VLJ. As of May 9, the new base price is $1,295,000, in 2000 dollars. That equates to $1,424,000 when inflation is added through the end of 2004. The manufacturer last raised the price in January 2003 when it boosted the price for new orders to $1.15 million. While stressing that the Eclipse 500 remains ``the lowest-cost'' VLJ on the market, the company said the latest price boost was made necessary by cost increases it is experiencing.
IN 1996, CONGRESS REQUIRED the FAA to revise its regulations to allow state and local candidates, like federal candidates, to be flown by companies under FAR Part 91. Effective March 2, 2005, the FAA finally managed to smooth out the wrinkles and under the newly revised Part 91.321, your company can fly candidates for mayor, governor or president wherever they want to go, and be appropriately compensated for the ride. But what if your company needs to fly a government official who is not a candidate? Read on.
