Execaire added an executive-configured Bell 427 twin engine helicopter to its fleet of managed aircraft. The Canadian executive aircraft management company is based at Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ). The 427 is one of only two executive helicopters of its type being operated in the greater Toronto area, and the new aircraft will be used exclusively for executives needing short-haul flights.
Adding to the good mood at the NBAA Convention, Congress extended the 50-percent bonus depreciation benefits for qualified business aircraft placed in service by the end of 2005. Most aircraft ordered in 2004 would not have been delivered until next year. ``Bonus depreciation has stimulated industry sales by nearly 30 percent since it was first enacted,'' said GAMA interim President Ron Swanda.
Harrods Aviation has become sales and distribution agent for both Embraer and Sikorsky for the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Embraer dealership agreement covers sales for the Legacy executive jet, and in the longer term the shuttle/corporate versions of both the 78-seat Embraer 170 and the 106-seat Embraer 190. Harrods has ordered a Sikorsky S-76C+ as its European demonstrator, due for delivery in July 2005. The Sikorsky distributorship covers the S-76C+, the S-92 and all future models. Harrods currently operates a pair of S-76Bs.
Pratt & Whitney Canada will restart new engine production of the JT15D-4 in third quarter 2005. All current-production Service Bulletins will be incorporated to bring the new production model to the latest modification standard. ``This will provide significant benefits to operators of the Cessna Citation II aircraft through improved rental support,'' said Benoot Brossoit, vice president, Service Centers. Additionally, P&WC operators will be able to refurbish their aircraft with new engines through P&WC's Fleet Enhancement Program.
Harrods Aviation and Lufthansa Technik will now offer full maintenance, modification and engineering support to Boeing Business Jet customers operating under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year. A Lufthansa Technik BBJ line support team will be based at Harrods' Luton facility and will be able to travel to any location in the UK. The team will perform warranty service or fix interior or technical problems on BBJs as they pass through Harrods' Luton or Stansted FBOs. Harrods engineering staff has begun BBJ training.
Honeywell's Hardware Products Group has launched a Web site -- www.hpgparts.com -- that lets maintenance shops locate and order hard-to-find hardware such as small fasteners. It offers alternative part numbers, competitive pricing and immediate availability, according to Russ Turner, president of Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services. HPG also offers OEMs on-site logistics management of small parts and fasteners.
Eclipse's Raburn also announced that the company will build its own network of seven factory service centers by mid-2008. The first will be in Albuquerque and the second in Gainesville, Fla. The other five will be sited so that no operator in the lower 48 states will be more than a 90-minute flight from a service center. In addition, Raburn plans to appoint authorized technicians within corporate flight departments and fleet operators' organizations who will perform warranty work on behalf of Eclipse.
It was a bit past 2 p.m. on a typically sunny Hawaiian spring day. The Aloha Airlines 737 had just leveled at 24,000 feet on its routine hop between Hilo and Honolulu. Flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, a 37-year Aloha veteran, was moving along the Boeing's single center aisle and had made it to about row five when there was a loud, ``Clap!'' followed by a whooshing noise. Suddenly, blue sky appeared where the cabin ceiling had been moments before, dust, papers, detritus of all sorts was everywhere.
The November 1982 and October 1985 B/CAs were signal issues for they, respectively, introduced the readership to David Collogan and Fred George, each of whom quickly established himself as a key contributor to our editorial mission. Already a well-regarded Washington veteran, Dave had been serving as editor of the Weekly of Business Aviation since 1978 -- a position he continues to hold to this day -- and invested our Washington column with immediate authority and insight. No one does it better, or has done it longer.
Garmin said it expects its G1000 unit to be adopted for larger aircraft. The G1000, a single unit that combines GPS/inertial navigation, automatic flight control, communications and primary flight instrumentation behind a large-screen display, was certificated by European authorities in May for Diamond's diesel-engine TwinStar, and in June for the Cessna 182 and Diamond DA40. The Cessna Mustang will have a three-screen G1000 system with two primary flight displays and a multifunction display.
Total Aircraft Services is expanding its Enhanced Vision System (EVS) STC to include new options for Bombardier Challengers. Among the enhancements are links to popular electronic flight bags (EFBs) and satellite communications data. The company's nominal installation includes the Max-Viz EVS-1000 camera, which uses an uncooled infrared sensor. The EFB integration is being developed with Advanced Data Research, a provider of Class II and Class III EFBs.
Greg Feith, NTSB accident investigator-turned safety consultant, has several procedural suggestions to help flight departments identify good and not so good pilots, and to act accordingly.
EMS Technologies' EMS AMT-50 Aero High-Gain Antenna has been selected by Dassault Falcon for the first satcom installation on a Falcon 7X. In making the announcement, EMS Satcom Vice President and General Manager Dr. Neil Mackay said, ``The AMT-50 antenna's design was initially perceived as radically different from those available at the time, but a very light, efficient and reliable aviation solution for all of our customers.
Thousands of business jets, particularly older, smaller models, have not yet been modified to permit them to operate in RVSM airspace. That's the findings of an FAA survey conducted this summer. The new 1,000-foot separation requirements for domestic airspace are scheduled to take effect Jan. 20, 2005. After that date, any aircraft that has not been modified for compliance will be restricted to flight levels below FL 290.
Jean-Pierre Mortreux, President and CEO, CMC Electronics Inc., Montreal, Que. An engineering graduate of the Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics in Paris, Mortreux also holds a Public Administration and Economics degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. In 25 years, he's been an executive with Thomson-CSF, Sextant Avionique and most recently with Thales Avionics North America, where he served as president and CEO. He moved to CMC, a $300 million (Canadian) company in September.
Fractional aircraft operators remain keenly interested in supersonic business jets (SBJ). Two different groups outlined their plans for SBJs in October at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas (see ``A Double-SBJ Surprise: Take Your Pick,'' page 62). When SBJ programs were under study a few years ago by Dassault and Gulfstream, Richard Smith, executive vice president of fractional provider NetJets, said the company would buy 50 SBJs if the aircraft made it to market. Smith's interest hasn't waned.
Honeywell granted an exclusive worldwide license to Weco Aerospace Systems to manufacture, repair, overhaul and modify TEF731 engine indicators. The licensed indicators are installed on Learjet 31/35/36/50/55 models, Hawker 700 and earlier models retrofitted with TFE731 engines, Citation 650s, and JetStar II and JetStar 731s.
If aviation really is a fraternity of sorts — a "band of brothers" — then it is the responsibility of each of us to help our weakest siblings, even if that means doing the hard thing of clipping their wings.
Dassault Falcon Jet's decision to authorize CAE SimuFlite ended FlightSafety International's long-time exclusivity in the training. Dassault Falcon Jet President and CEO John Rosanvallon told B/CA that the decision to broaden factory-authorized simulator training options was to the benefit of Falcon Jet operators. Specifically, Falcon has given CAE SimuFlite the green light to conduct pilot and maintenance training for the Falcon 2000EASy and Falcon 900EASy.
It has been noted by many throughout the global aviation community that while the American effort to update its maintenance training and certification regulations came to naught, other countries did adopt higher standards. Specifically, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the Europeans all recognized the increasing complexity of new aircraft and modified their rules to reflect that fact.
When Cessna opens its new Citation maintenance facility at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport (ICT), it will be the world's largest general aviation maintenance shop. And when Ron Chapman, Cessna's senior vice president of customer support, throws the grand opening party in early December, there will be plenty of room for the festivities. The 250,000 square feet of hangar space can accommodate 100 Citations and an additional 200,000 square feet will house the company's entire Citation customer service organization plus a customer lounge and restaurant.
On Jan. 15, 1999, Anthony St. George and George Allen from St. George Aviation in Sanford, Fla. were arrested and later convicted for falsifying records that document the amount of time they spent administering FAA A&P oral and practical examinations. The test typically takes at least eight hours, yet St. George and Allen were found to have performed the ``tests'' in a few minutes. In early 1998, FAA officials in Florida heard about the unusually short oral and practical tests offered by St. George Aviation.
TSA chief David M. Stone helped open this year's NBAA Convention with a boost for the NBAA's airport access efforts, headlined by the TSA Access Certificate program (TSAAC). ``TSA fully supports the TSAAC,'' Stone said at opening ceremonies at the Las Vegas Convention Center, ``and part of my being here today is to signal that commitment.'' NBAA President Ed Bolen, speaking after Stone, said access is the business aviation issue of the moment in terms of both airspace and airport freedom.
Cessna's new Cessna Citation Performance Calculator (CPCalc) for Citation Excel operators is an FAA-approved electronic performance program that simplifies flight planning. It is Windows-based and allows crews to perform detailed electronic flight planning in three to five minutes. The calculator determines takeoff speed and distance, departure climb gradients, and landing speeds and distance once the pilot has entered the airport identifier, current weather and aircraft configuration. Introductory price for the CPCalc is $350, with a $250 annual subscription fee.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's Service Center Network is offering a new parts ``kitting'' service. ``These kits, the first of their kind offered in the market, consist of 100 percent of the replacement parts used by facilities that maintain P&WC aircraft turbine engines,'' says Rick Cramblet, general manager of P&WC's parts distribution center in Muskegon, Mich. Each kit will be customized to a specific engine model as well as to the level of maintenance required.
