Grob's single turboprop G 160 Ranger made its maiden flight on March 29 from its home airfield of Tussenhausen-Mattsies in Germany. The seven-seat pressurized single was flown by test pilot Ulrich Schell and copilot Toni Uhl. They said that they experienced rapid acceleration, an impressive climb rate and good short takeoff and landing performance. The G 160 is due to make its public debut at Berlin's ILA 2004 aerospace show this month. The $2.4 million carbon-fiber composite fuselage aircraft is aimed at owner pilots and corporate operators.
``If we could close Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport altogether, we would,'' are the words that apparently led off a recent internal Department of Homeland Security report discussing whether general aviation should be allowed access to the airport. David Stone, acting administrator for the TSA, met with an intra-agency planning group to discuss a congressionally mandated plan to allow access to DCA, but reports from the agency are that the plan was not well received.
UVavemex, based at Toluca International Airport (MMTO) outside Mexico City, is the first Latin American FBO to become certified by the National Air Transportation Association's Safety First program. ``It is our goal to provide first-class service with safety and security to each of our clients,'' stated Jorge Alva, operations manager.
FlightSafety International's Web-based customer records service (www.myflightsafety.com) has been upgraded with the capability to e-mail customers' training records so they can be locally printed, complete with electronic signatures, if required. Another new feature permits authorized users to access multiple crewmember records with a single login. MyFlightSafety allows customers entry into their past and present training records and to receive confirmations -- including start and end times and dates. FlightSafety International Marine Air Terminal
Mercury Air Group is out of the FBO business following the sale of its Mercury Air Center chain to Allied Capital Corp. Upon the closing, Allied, which is based in Washington, D.C., said its investment in Mercury Air Centers ``totaled approximately $81 million, including closing costs, subject to adjustment.
NAC Aviation, the U.K. distributor of Beech and Hawker aircraft, has relocated from Farnborough to Oxford Airport, north of London. The company says the move will give it the ability to offer turnkey management packages to buyers of new and used Raytheon products. Meanwhile, Raytheon Aircraft Services will operate a service center at the airport.
During recent years, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has conducted investigations into the practice of certain industries in fixing and advertising list prices. It is the position of the FTC that it is deceptive to the public and against the law for list prices of any product to be specified or advertised in a trade area if the majority of sales are made at less than those prices.
Associated Air Center has a contract with Airbus to complete a head-of-state A-319 ACJ for the Brazilian Air Force. The aircraft will arrive at Associated's Dallas facility on Aug. 10 and is scheduled to be finished by Dec. 15. The aircraft is the third Airbus head-of-state completion in the last 12 months for Associated. Other head-of-state aircraft completed by the company include two Boeing 737-200s for Brazil, a Boeing 757-200 ER for Argentina, a Boeing 757-200 ER and a 737-300 for Mexico, and a Boeing 737-500 for Peru.
Lufthansa Technik Logistik (LTL) signed a long-term cooperative agreement with The Memphis Group under which LTL will provide warehouse management and transport management logistics services for the rotables and repair parts provider. LTL will store and manage the spare parts for the Memphis Group. The parts will be housed in a distribution center near the Airbus Materiel Support Center at Hamburg Airport in Germany.
Triumph Group, Wayne, Pa., has realigned its operating structure into two business groups. The company now comprises Triumph Aerospace Systems Group and Triumph Aftermarket Services Group, headed by Jeff Frisby and John Brasch, respectively. The companies that were formerly in the Triumph Components Group have been consolidated into those two groups.
TWO AND ONE-HALF YEARS after business aviation was kicked out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) because of government security concerns, the aviation community and the House Aviation Subcommittee let the TSA know -- in unequivocal terms -- that it's way past time for a change to that banishment.
Industry groups concerned that the FAA's proposed new air tour and sightseeing rules would ``severely cripple'' the market jointly sent a letter asking members of Congress to intervene. The National Air Tour Safety Standards notice of proposed rulemaking ``will seriously and detrimentally impact the nearly 2,000 existing commercial air tour operators in the United States and negatively impact charitable sightseeing flights as well.
The FAA has extended the comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would require Part 91 sightseeing operations to be certificated under Part 135. The comment period has been extended from April 19 to June 28. In addition to extending the comment period, the FAA also announced that two public meetings will be conducted to hear industry concerns about the proposed rulemaking. The first meeting is scheduled to take place on May 11 in Washington, D.C. The second meeting will be held directly after the NATA Convention in Las Vegas on May 21.
The integrated avionics suites found in modern business aircraft come in a variety of sizes -- mostly industry-standard boxes. Deciding which to buy depends on the aircraft and the complexity of the avionics installed. The large-format display tubes found in the integrated cockpit systems of high-end aircraft are replacing many electromechanical instruments.
Eurocontrol recently completed a series of live trials of Medium Term Conflict Detection (MTCD) and concluded that it has ``clear technical and operational benefits that will provide cost-efficiency and environmental gains.'' The two-year trials were performed using Eurocontrol's PROVE validation platform, connected to the live ATC environment. Trial controllers operated in shadow mode, monitoring the radio frequencies of the operational sector, entering clearances into the system and evaluating the information presented by the system.
Sporty's Pilot Shop has an $8.95 Pilot's Weather Computer in circular slide-rule format that presents a wealth of weather information on its two faces. One side presents weather map and teletype report keys and symbols together with concise descriptions of the characteristics of air mass and frontal weather patterns. The obverse presents icing and thunderstorm conditions, their related causes, the nature of hazards they represent and recommended pilot actions. It's also printed with icing profiles and thunderstorm cross sections.
The de Havilland DH125, so quintessentially British, made its debut at the 1962 Farnborough Air Show. It had a proper cabin for carriage class conveyance, including a fully enclosed lavatory, an ample galley and a luggage closet. The first delivery occurred two years later to a Swiss customer and delivery rates quickly soared to 50 per year. Ongoing demand was spurred by de Havilland's making successive improvements to Series 1, 2 and 3 aircraft.
Bonus depreciation ``was truly a lifesaver for the industry'' in 2003, said Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer. ``It works, it creates jobs, it's much more effective than the old Investment Tax Credit.'' (See ``Bonus Depreciation: Is Time Running Out?'' page 78.) Addressing a general aviation panel at the FAA Forecast Conference in Washington, D.C., Meyer said the industry has ``a very good chance'' to enact legislation that would extend the ``placed-into-service'' date for newly purchased business aircraft from Dec. 31, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2005.
Cessna Aircraft has upgraded the CJ3 to include a standard FMS performance database and has improved the aircraft's specified payload by 70 pounds, giving operators the option of adding equipment, passengers or baggage as the entry-level business jet nears certification. Cessna originally offered the FMS performance database as an option on the CJ3. The company said the CJ3 would be the first in its class to come standard with the FMS performance database, which will provide takeoff and landing performance data as well as V-speeds through the primary flight displays.
In 2003, total general aviation aircraft sales were flat, but overall sales revenue dropped 15.5 percent, according to GAMA. Leading this slump was the 23.4-percent decline in 2003 turbofan business aircraft shipments, compared to the previous year. The turn down in turbine business aircraft sales reached a seven-year low. Moreover, export billings by U.S. general aviation manufacturers dropped by more than one-third and more than one in 10 of their employees lost their jobs.
The NBAA continues to refine its ``Secure Access'' plan, unveiled at a March 16 hearing on DCA Secure Access evolved from the association's TSAAC (TSA Access Certificate) plan designed to allow flight departments to obtain improved airport/airspace access in exchange for demonstrating heightened security. The NBAA has been working closely with the TSA on Secure Access, which the association hopes will serve as a foundation for the TSA's plan to facilitate general aviation access to DCA.
Meanwhile, Piedmont Hawthorne, Associated's parent, announced that its Winston-Salem, N.C., facility has been elevated from Gold to Platinum status as a Raytheon Authorized Service Center. A platinum rating indicates a superior level of audit compliance with Raytheon Aircraft's service center standards for tooling, spares, technical library, training and facilities based on an annual review. Seven of Piedmont Hawthorne's 13 facilities are authorized Raytheon centers, including its Leesburg, Va., operation.
Productivity is the essential quality for making a profit in the regional airline industry, and as one leading airline executive put it, ``You build from profitability, not to profitability.'' Productivity is derived from operating cost, block-to-block speed, runway field performance, passenger and freight capacity, and the versatility to operate profitably over widely ranging mission distances.
Proposed Rules -- Cessna 208 airplanes -- Conduct additional inspections of the inboard forward flap bellcranks. -- Eurocopter EC155B helicopters -- Clean the auxiliary system unit board and modify the wiring and wiring harness. Also, insert a placard regarding on-ground operation of the emergency landing gear pump and revise the ``limitations'' section of the rotorcraft flight manual to limit operation of the pump.
Savannah Air Center, Savannah, Ga., has hired Stephen A. Taylor as vice president of sales, responsible for all the company's sales activities including maintenance, completions and exterior paint.
