Midwest Jet Center at Cincinnati's Lunken Field (LUK) is building a state-of-the-art 35,000-square-foot hangar and office facility. The hangar is a clear-span design that's sized to accommodate ultra-long-range, large-cabin business jets, such as the G550 and Global Express. The facility is being built adjacent to the existing FBO hangars and ramp area and will double the hangar capacity of the operation. Groundbreaking is scheduled for June 15.
Delta AirElite, which has teamed with Bombardier Flexjet to offer block time on fractionally owned aircraft, is renaming the Fleet Membership Select program to Flexjet Membership. Under the program, customers can buy 25-hour increments of occupied time in either a Bombardier Learjet 31A, Learjet 45, Learjet 60 or Challenger 604 aircraft. Through the program, customers can access fractional business jets without long-term investments. Customers also receive ``Medallion'' status in the Delta SkyMiles program.
Pro Sports and Entertainment, Inc. is acquiring the Air Show Network with its purchase of the Umbrella Entertainment Group. The Air Show Network (www.airshownetwork.com) offers aerial entertainment, ground displays and sponsorship opportunities. Pro Sports and Entertainment says it intends to expand corporate partnerships, television broadcast opportunities and onsite attendance throughout the 24 to 35 annual events operated by the Air Show Network.
The Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va., consulting organization, said that business jet deliveries in 2004-2006 will likely be a low point in demand. However, the company's ``Business Jet Overview'' states that as a result of positive trends in fleet utilization, demand and the retirement of older aircraft, conditions are favorable for industry growth. It said its forecast delivery of 6,413 aircraft worth $91.7 billion between 2004 and 2013 represents a 21-percent increase over the $75.9 billion in deliveries between 1994 and 2003.
Checking the condition of static wicks on an airplane would seem to be pretty cut-and-dried. We might simply adopt the attitude that if a static wick is broken or missing, it should be replaced. Otherwise, if it looks good, leave it alone. But as Bill Senneff, an engineering technician with Dayton-Granger in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., explains, the performance of static wicks can degrade over time, making them ineffective in spite of the fact that they appear undamaged.
Acting TSA Administrator David M. Stone told members of the General Aviation Coalition May 7 that it will be at least six months before his agency comes up with a security threat mitigation plan for reopening the airport to anyone but scheduled air carriers. Even if the TSA sticks to the six-month schedule to develop such a plan, it still would have to be vetted by other members of the government security community before implementation could begin.
Macquarie Bank also owns the AvPorts FBOs that use the AvCenter brand. Those five facilities are at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT); Louisville, Ky., International (SDF); New Castle County, Del., Airport (ILG) near Wilmington; Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., International Airport (GPT); and Burlington, Vt., International Airport (BTV). Asked about a possible consolidation of the AvCenter facilities with Atlantic's bases, Atlantic's Lou Pepper said the two chains will continue to operate separately under their own brands at least for the time being.
Static electricity is a phenomenon with which we're all familiar. In grade school, we learn hands-on how scuffing our feet along a wool carpet can cause a charge to build, which is then rapidly discharged as we touch a doorknob or an unsuspecting (and lower voltage) friend. In a dark closet, we see how tiny static discharge sparks appear as we pull pieces of masking tape off the roll. Rub a balloon on your shirt, and then it will stick to the wall. We've all seen how in dry winter conditions, static cling can make clothes ``stick'' in an unattractive manner.
Timken Co. purchased the assets of Alcor Engine Co., Inc., and its affiliate Advance Repair Technologies, Inc. Based in Gilbert, Ariz., Alcor manufactures and repairs a broad range of direct replacement parts for gas turbine engines and components used in the aviation industry. The company also provides specialized repair and restoration services through its proprietary technologies. It currently has 22 employees and expects to expand its work force.
Jet Aviation's U.S.-based aircraft sales division set a new sales record during 2003. According to Walt Wakefield, vice president of Jet Aviation Aircraft Sales, the firm sold a total of 19 corporate aircraft last year. ``This reflects an improving economy, and buyers have sensed that we have reached the market bottom in pricing,'' said Wakefield. ``Despite the increased market activity, values still remain attractive in almost every segment when compared with historical levels.
Lufthansa Technik Logistik (LTL) in Hamburg, Germany, has won a competition to coordinate parts shipments to and from Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) facilities at Berlin-Schunefeld and Cologne, Germany, and Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, Canada. This agreement is the first large contract that LTL has been able to conclude with its sister subsidiary LBAS, which was founded in 1997 as a joint venture of Lufthansa and Bombardier. The company offers services for Bombardier business aircraft, ranging from short-term maintenance checks to 12-year checkups.
GAMA announced increased billings and shipments of general aviation aircraft in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2003. Billings were up 21.1 percent while shipments increased 9.7 percent. Significantly, the industry posted gains in all three model segments -- piston-engine, turboprops and business jets. ``The recovery that began last year in the piston market is not only continuing but spreading to the other model segments,'' said GAMA President and CEO Ed Bolen.
Several aircraft certification regulations pertain to lightning protection systems. The following are perhaps the most notable of the requirements: 25.1309 Equipment, systems and installations (a) The equipment, systems and installations whose functioning is required by this subchapter must be designed to ensure that they perform their intended functions under any foreseeable operating condition. 25.581 Lightning protection (a) The airplane must be protected against catastrophic effects from lightning.
YOU KNOW THOSE little wooden toy sets with different shaped pegs that kids can pound into place with a little hammer only if they put the properly shaped peg into the correct hole? Depending on their age, and assuming normal intelligence, it usually doesn't take kids too long to realize that no matter how hard you hit it, the square peg just will not fit through the round hole.
The Environmental Protection Agency now says it plans to delay the implementation of changes to its Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations governing fuel storage. But the EPA hasn't said when official notice of the delay will be released or how long the deadline will be extended. The SPCC rule applies to owners or operators of facilities that drill, produce, gather, store, use, process, refine, transfer, distribute or consume oil and oil products.
The Ukraine became the 33rd member of Eurocontrol on May 1 after being a member of the European Civil Aviation Conference since December 1999. A bilateral agreement has been in place since 1995 concerning the billing and collection of air navigation charges and the Ukraine has been part of Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management system since 1998. ``We are delighted to become a full-fledged partner in the European aviation system.
AVCON Industries has an FAA STC group approval for its RVSM package for Learjet 20 series airplanes. The AVCON test program began in March 2003. AVCON modified and flight-tested six different Learjet 20 series airplanes equipped with the company's RVSM package and the JET FC-110 autopilot. AVCON has completed 11 installations and booked more than 50 orders for the retrofit. The company is selling the RVSM installation for just under $157,000, plus the cost of autopilot component inspections and repairs.
Maurice Weinberg, director of small turbofans for P&WC, said the 610F actually was run slightly higher than its planned maximum power rating to check the engine's durability. After just a few more hours of testing, Weinberg said, the No. 1 engine would be torn down for examination and then reassembled and put back into the test cell. The engine manufacturer is attempting to develop a family of small turbofans that are an entire order of magnitude easier to build and maintain, and Weinberg said the program so far is promising. The No.
Max-Viz Inc. -- the Portland, Ore.-based maker of enhanced vision systems for aircraft -- has obtained an FAA STC for installation of its EVS-1000 enhanced vision system on the Bombardier Global Express. Earlier this year the company won a Transport Canada STC for the installation.
Cessna Aircraft received an order from the Chinese government for two Citation XLS business jets. Cessna will deliver the aircraft to the China Flight Inspection Center of Air Traffic Management Bureau, General Aviation in second quarter 2005. The center will base the aircraft at Beijing's Capital City Airport and use them for flight inspection missions. A Cessna Citation Authorized Sales Representative, Alfred Lau of Aviation Supplies in Beijing, facilitated the sale.
Access to FAA maintenance information has come a long way. Not so long ago, maintenance managers would fumble through flimsy strips of microfiche (for you readers raised in the digital age, these were transparent film-like pages that were then projected onto a glass screen) to search out applicable Airworthiness Directives (ADs) and other official information. As awkward as microfiche could be, it was an improvement over the hard copy binders of biweekly AD reports, since the film took up less space -- not a small consideration even today.
Flight Explorer won a contract with Air Charter Team to track its leased aircraft using Flight Explorer's FastTrack system. Air Charter, which leases aircraft ranging from twin Cessnas to Boeing 747s, will use a customized version of FastTrack on a secure Web site that will enable it to track the airplanes in real time.
Honeywell will provide Primus Epic ``Rehost'' software to FlightSafety International for the training company's personal computer-based classroom devices that will train pilots and technicians on the Primus Epic integrated avionics system. With Primus Epic Rehost, students will train using the aircraft software rather than special training software, which reduces functional differences in the training devices.
