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Garrett Aviation and Rockwell Collins announced that J. R. Tomkinson Inc. is the first to update a Cessna Citation 501 with elements of Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 family of avionics as part of an FJ-44 retrofit program previously announced by the two companies. The upgrade features the large-format Collins IDS-3000 Integrated Display System, designed to replace existing analog and EFIS equipment, expand the information being presented and increase situational awareness. The basic system selected by J. R.
At the recent EBACE convention, National Air Services of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ordered two Airbus A319 executive-configured aircraft to operate business-class-only service between Jeddah and Riyadh. Service is due to start in the third quarter and the 44-seat aircraft interior is to be outfitted by EADS Sogerma. The aircraft will be powered by CFM56-5 engines, as NAS's fleet of five managed BBJs are also CFM powered.
ARM Aerospace has come up with a way to increase the storage capacity of hangars. The Aero-Lift makes it possible to store two airplanes in almost any hangar by lifting one aircraft into the air and using the empty space underneath to store an additional aircraft (or a car or boat). The Aero-Lift can raise a 2,500-pound aircraft, tri-gear or tail-dragger. It is a cantilevered, single-post lift design that uses a jackscrew mechanism and electric motor, rather than a traditional hydraulic system.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Learjet 40 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.
A flight control is said to be ``reversible'' when pressures on the control surfaces are translated back to the cockpit flight controls. Typical wire cable/pulley/bellcrank and pushrod-actuated flight controls do exactly that, and thus provide necessary feedback to the pilot. Once the transition to hydraulic and fly-by-wire systems is made, the controls are non-reversible, and the pilot no longer has feedback through the cockpit controls.
You're an invisible second officer (I-S/O) aboard a Falcon business flight descending to your destination airport. The get-it-done CEO's in back with business on his mind. The terminal weather is IMC. Tighten your seat belt; the F/O will describe what happens next:
Rockwell Collins and LogisTechs, Inc., have entered into a 10-year spare parts service agreement to support the Mesa Air Group and its Mesa Airlines operation. Collins Aviation Services (CAS) will perform repair chain management of Collins and non-Collins rotable components on Mesa's CRJ 200 regional aircraft at a fixed rate per flying hour as part of an overall agreement between LogisTechs and Mesa, under which LogisTechs will own and provide spare parts management for Mesa's fleet of regional aircraft.
The Industry Trends Committee of the National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) recently reported that while turboprop prices remained steady during the first quarter of 2004, compared with 2003, and light jet values actually fell, prices for both medium and heavy jets rose. The committee, which is chaired by Cessna's Dane Jenning, also noted that maintenance shop activity is growing, with many refurbishment facilities booked at 90-percent capacity through the summer.
John Batty went straight into the RAF on leaving school, staying 10 years, flying mostly Hunters, which he thought marvellous airplanes (as does your correspondent, on the basis of just 30 minutes in one). Then he went directly into corporate aviation -- Doves, Challengers, Falcons, Hawkers -- with Brown & Root, Motorola, the Kuwait Airways corporate fleet, five years in Ireland, time in Mexico.
The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. has signed Senate Aviation Ltd. in Dorset, England, to represent it in sales and service in territories in the United Kingdom and Spain. In addition, the new dealership will be responsible for Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
Raisbeck Engineering has completed flight-testing of its ZR drag reduction and takeoff performance improvement technology package for the Learjet 35/36. CEO James Raisbeck said the company now needs to determine if there is ``sufficient real interest in this performance package [expressed in] the form of customer commitments,'' to make the required investments in production tooling.
NetJets Europe has introduced its own block-time access program for non-owners. The NetJets Corporate Card allows users to buy 25 hours of flight time on a Citation Bravo for as little as E115,000. The one-time fee covers all the costs of the flying, with nothing more to pay. Corporate Card holders will also be able to use their hours on the NetJets U.S. fleet when traveling in the States. Customers wanting more than 25 hours can buy extra hours in five-hour increments with no upper limit and have up to two years to use their purchased hours.
You can order printed or CD versions of the proceedings of the Flight Safety Foundation/NBAA's 49th annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar held in Tucson on April 27-29. The CD version includes a built-in search engine and Adobe Acrobat Reader software. It runs under both Windows and Macintosh operating systems and costs $29. The print edition costs $165. Shipping costs are additional. You can order them from the FSF's Ahlam Wahdan at (703) 739-6700, ext. 102.
A STREAM OF AVGAS is coursing down my right hand, launching off the heel of my palm and on to the concrete below. Pals Lou Churchville and Jamie McIntyre have worked harder at damming the cataract and now reek of 100 low lead as a result. Normally, I find the smell of avgas appealing, but not now. I have just topped off my Starduster, only to see the stuff pour out of the airplane's faulty sump valve and puddle noxiously, expensively on the ramp.
Executive Jet Management added two aircraft to its charter fleet in May -- a Falcon 2000 based at Teterboro, N.J., and a Gulfstream 100 that will operate out of Garfield County Regional Airport in Rifle, Colo.
Borge Boeskov, a successful transport salesman and retired president of Boeing Business Jets, died June 9, one day short of his 69th birthday, following a long illness. Admired by colleagues and well liked by almost all who met him, Boeskov was most closely identified with the BBJ, a concept born in 1996 by Phil Condit and Jack Welch, CEOs of Boeing and General Electric, respectively. Many thought no market existed for a 6,000-plus nm, $50 million 737, but Boeskov proved them wrong with 88 sold to date.
The third SJ30-2 flight test aircraft is the first to be assembled of structures from Sino Swearingen's Martinsburg, W.Va., assembly plant. The Martinsburg plant will produce the main and critical structures for the SJ30-2 such as the main fuselage, wing and empennage. The 97,000-square-foot facility employs 73 people. More information on the aircraft and its status is available at www.sj30jet.com.
The NBAA is concerned about the Corporate Jet Tax Shelter Reform Act of 2004 -- introduced by a first-term Chicago congressman, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a liberal Democrat, and 10 co-sponsors. The bill, H.R.4352, would amend the Internal Revenue Code ``to deny a deduction for the portion of employer-provided vacation flights in excess of the amount of such flights which is treated as employee compensation.'' Emanuel said the legislation would ``close the $3 billion corporate jet tax shelter loophole in the U.S. tax code.''
Superior Helicopter has taken delivery of two more Kaman K-Max helicopters, bringing its fleet of the heavy-lift machines to six. Superior, headquartered in Grants Pass, Ore., will use the K-Max helicopters in fire fighting and construction support applications. The K-Max is specifically designed for external load work. It has a 5,000-pound on-the-hook lift capacity at 8,000 feet and 6,000-pound lift capacity at lower altitudes. A K-Max equipped with a sling tank can carry 700 gallons of water per drop.
A number of regulations affect the design of aircraft flight controls. One of the more pertinent regulations from a pilot's perspective is FAR Part 25.397 (b), which deals with control system loads, and establishes the ``limit pilot forces and torques'' as follows: Maximum Force Minimum Force Control or Torque or Torque Aileron Stick 100 lb 40 lb Wheel 80 D inch-lb* 40 D inch-lb* Elevator
Both GAMA and the National Air Transportation Association applauded the public release of the TSA's General Aviation Security Recommendations. The guidelines are a result of months of work by the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (ASAC) General Aviation Working Group and the TSA. The ASAC developed a list of recommendations based on best practices of the general aviation community in seven areas: personnel, aircraft, airports/facilities, surveillance, security plans, and communications and specialty operations.
GAMA President Ed Bolen says the timing is becoming ``dicey'' for bonus depreciation legislation. After the legislation passes the House, it must go through a House-Senate conference committee to resolve differences between the two bills and then survive a final vote in each chamber. Precious few days remain in this session's congressional calendar because the weeklong 4th of July recess will be followed by the Democratic and Republican conventions. Congress has a target adjournment date of Oct. 1.
PrivatPort is to begin handling Club Airways corporate aircraft and passengers at Geneva, Switzerland, through Terminal C3. Club operates scheduled business jet services on which members can book flights (See ``ber Class,'' page 84) after paying an annual fee of 1,500 and around 15 percent more than a standard business class airfare to fly FBO to FBO between European city pairs. Club Airways is handled by PrivatAir at Le Bourget, at Nice by partner Swissport Executive Aviation and at other locations across Europe.
