You too can have the zero gravity experience -- but it ain't cheap. Zero Gravity Corp. is the first, and so far the only, FAA-approved provider of weightless flight, which it's branded as The ZERO-G Experience. It uses a modified Boeing 727-200 (G-Force One) operated by Amerijet International of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The $2,900 fee buys a one-day program led by an astronaut in which the customer experiences 1/3-g Martian, 1/6-g lunar and 0-g conditions. Participants must be age 15 or older. Zero Gravity Corp. is headquartered in Dania Beach, Fla.
Dassault Falcon Jet, Teterboro, N.J., has named Eric Monsel vice president of programs. Monsel will coordinate all new Falcon options and the new projects developed for the completion programs.
Sikorsky Aircraft will buy Schweizer Aircraft Corp. in a deal that will give Sikorsky instant access to the light helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) markets. Sikorsky expected to complete the deal quickly. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Elmira, N.Y.-based Schweizer will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sikorsky, and the Schweizer workforce and management team are expected to remain at the company, with Sikorsky veteran Randy Simpson as general manager.
Cessna has developed several Service Bulletins that will enable its worldwide Citation Service Center network to install and certificate the new Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) on the Citation X, Bravo, Encore and Excel.
Besides using his personal government-affairs expertise to help work the access issue, Bolen promised NBAA members that the association would strive to provide information ``that will raise the bar on safety and efficiency.'' The NBAA also will continue to be ``a world-class operational unit'' and ``provide learning opportunities that will increase the education and professionalism'' of member company personnel. ``Business aviation is a world-class industry, and you deserve a world-class association,'' Bolen declared.
Sounds like a chief pilot trip to me,'' said our scheduler. ``Honolulu, Sydney, Tokyo and home with 45 hours of flying time and only out of the office for four work days.'' These guys are always looking out for me.
An analysis of numbers provided by AMSTAT -- the New Jersey-based provider of aircraft fleet and market data -- indicates that U.S. sales of Beechjet 400 and 400A business jets improved during the first seven months of 2004, compared to the same period last year. However, the average asking prices for both types have dipped slightly.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Air and Marine Operations (AMO) fleet of Eurocopter AS350 B2/B3 and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are to be equipped with Precise Flight's Pulselite system. Pulselite allows flight crews to pulse any combination of an aircraft's existing external lights in patterns that create an illusion of exaggerated motion. The pulsing lights make an aircraft visible for miles, even in fog or smog.
Looking forward, Bolen anticipates a congressional battle in 2005 over aviation user fees, especially in light of recent comments made by Northwest Airlines CEO Richard Anderson, who suggested that business aviation is not paying its fair share of ATC system costs.
AvCard, Hunt Valley, Md., has hired Jamie R. Barrett as vice president of fuel programs and flight operations, a newly created position. Most recently, Barrett was senior vice president and national sales manager of Jet Aviation's Aircraft Management Group.
According to the chief pilot of a major West Coast charter/management firm, life would be easier for commercial operators if the feds would make an effort to coordinate their security databases.
The Falcon 7X is on schedule to be rolled out in Bordeaux by year-end, marking an important milestone in new aircraft design achievement at Dassault. Notably, it will be the first business aircraft to be fitted with fly-by-wire flight controls and a sidewall-mounted control stick, a system intended to ease pilot workload, provide greater flight envelope safety margins and improve ride comfort for passengers. The 7X will be capable of flying eight passengers 5,700 nm at 0.80 Mach.
Midcoast Aviation is now approved as an FAA Designated Alteration Station (DAS). As such, it can issue STCs and special airworthiness certificates for aircraft that are altered under an STC and require flight tests, and amend standard airworthiness certificates for such aircraft. Issuance of a DAS is a way for the FAA to delegate functions, reduce its workload, and hasten turnarounds for aircraft modification projects, Midcoast said.
The SafetyCell plugs cell phones into aircraft headsets, enabling the wearer to hear radio and phone transmissions simultaneously. The standard system unit is compatible with any cellular telephone that accepts a hands-free 2.5-mm jack. Adapters are available for other types of phones. The standard system unit works without batteries and thus requires a VOX style intercom for it to work properly; however, a battery-operated unit is available as well. Price: $109 Standard System Elite Solutions, Inc. 15455 N. Greenway/Hayden Loop
Kaman hopes to restart its K-MAX medium- to heavy-lift helicopter production line. Recently, Roger Wassmuth, director, K-MAX marketing and business development, said, ``The company has sold or leased seven of the aircraft so far this year. We are selling and leasing K-MAXs to a mix of new and repeat customers. The aircraft has established itself in the heavy-lift arena as a highly reliable performer.
Even though $100 million has been authorized to compensate general aviation businesses for losses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the House version of the FY 2005 transportation appropriations bill included no compensation funding. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) continued to urge funding for at least the three small Maryland airports that lie within the no-fly zone over the Washington, D.C., area.
Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S) -- a Pennsylvania-based maker of systems that measure and display critical fight data -- is offering a new analog-interface unit that will support RVSM certification of aircraft equipped with Rockwell Collins AP-104 autopilots, including the Dassault Falcon 20 and Raytheon Hawker. The interface unit provides the autopilot with the altitude-hold signal that is required to obtain RVSM approval. The first interface units have been delivered to USA Jet for retrofit on its Dassault Falcon 20s.
While general aviation businesses continue to struggle for compensation for losses incurred in the aftermath of 9/11, the airlines, which already have received their compensation, are now pushing for tax relief. B/CA affiliate Aviation Daily quoted Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune complaining that the airline industry is overtaxed and the government needs to "take the word 'airline' out of its vocabulary . . . I don't want to see airlines in any more congressional bills, taxes or fees."
ICAO defines RNP as ``a statement of the navigation performance necessary for operation within a defined airspace.'' Another description might be that the RNP value required of an aircraft's nav equipment takes into account all on-board error sources, and those of the space- or ground-based navigation aids in use, in order to enter and fly in that airspace. That is, an aircraft's navigation capability will no longer be specified by the navigation equipment suite carried on board, but by its achievable required navigation performance.
Proposed Rules Bell 407 helicopters -- Create a component history card or equivalent record for each crosstube assembly and establish a retirement index number for those assemblies.
Bank of America has formed the Corporate Aircraft Finance Division (CAF), a new group that combines the assets of The Private Bank's Aviation Finance Division with Banc of America Leasing, Corporate Aircraft Finance to create an entity that has more than 700 clients and $4 billion in aircraft loans and leases.
It was a ``midlife crisis'' that spurred safety-minded Richard Longlott, aviation manager and chief pilot at Harrisburg, Pa.,-based Mi Windows and Doors, Inc., to enroll in the IS-BAO program. ``I was wondering if my operation was safe enough, whether we were doing all we could to make it as safe as possible,'' he told B/CA from his office at Middletown-Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) where Mi bases its single Cessna Citation III.
Air Alsie of Sonderborg, Denmark, will take delivery of the first Danish-registered Falcon 2000EX EASy this month. The aircraft is owned by the Danfoss Group and will be managed by Air Alsie. Jens sterlund, the managing director of Air Alsie, was just back from a three-week EASy flight deck conversion course at FlightSafety International's Teterboro training center when B/CA caught up with him. ``It's the most fantastic thing I've seen for a long time in aviation. It's a major step towards a totally new cockpit concept,'' he said.
You may think it's only a particle filter. . . . But replacing a standard particle separator with a high-technology Inlet Barrier Filter (IBF) system was a key factor in the success of a Bell 407 that recently landed at 24,971 feet density altitude during high-altitude testing in Nepal, according to officials from Aerospace Filtration Systems and Bell Helicopter. ``Reaching that altitude would just not be possible in that helicopter equipped with a standard particle separator,'' said AFS Engineering Sales and Marketing Manager Jay Foster.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation subcommittee passed legislation that encourages President Bush to pursue diplomatic efforts to limit the proliferation of man-portable air defense systems
