On a clear mid-June day this year, a group of reporters and dignitaries gathered on the southern portion of the grounds of Dulles International Airport (IAD) to watch the arrival of the last flight of an Air France Concorde. The aircraft was destined for the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the new, cavernous annex of the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), whose main facility on Washington, D.C.'s mall attracts an average of nine million visitors annually.
On a singularly high note, Bombardier Flexjet Europe is teaming with the Royal Opera House to offer Trust members and friends of the House privileged access to its Flexjet Jet Membership service. As part of this agreement, Flexjet Europe will sponsor the Royal Opera House's About the House magazine and air charter clients will receive special behind-the-scenes access to the House.
SimCom Training Centers will provide authorized training for pilots and maintenance technicians of the Ibis Ae270 turboprop. A comprehensive training manual supported with computerized courseware will be augmented with hands-on parts and training aids. SimCom plans to construct a type-specific simulator for the Ae270 within three years following the first delivery aircraft in North America. Price: TBD SimCom Pan Am International Flight Academy 6989 Lee Vista Blvd. Orlando, FL 32822 Phone: (407) 275-3900; Fax: (407) 275-0031 www.panamacademy.com
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Lynnwood, Wash., has been granted two patents for its SAFEtrip ground fault interrupter fuel system safety device. Crane says SAFEtrip substantially enhances fuel system safety by mitigating damage from high-current ground faults and reducing the potential for fuel vapor ignition. It is compatible with the requirements of the FAA's SFAR that addresses fuel tank system fault tolerance evaluation requirements. Crane says the interrupter can be retrofitted into existing aircraft fuel systems.
A new FAA Web site presents graphical depictions of TFR airspace. The site, http://tfr.faa.gov, includes a list of published TFRs with links to a page that shows details of the TFR area overlaid on a sectional chart, and a text description of the restricted airspace. It also offers a U.S. map showing active TFRs across the country. ``This Web site exists largely because the AOPA spent the last two years pressuring the FAA to give pilots a clear picture of where the restrictions are,'' said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
One of the obvious attractions of investing in smaller fractional programs that use preowned equipment is lower share purchase prices. However, maintenance costs for used aircraft are almost always higher than for new ones, and some older types are prone to corrosion. ``So what are your obligations and liabilities?'' Bill Quinn, president of Aviation Management Systems, asked, rhetorically. ``When will the engines come up for mid-life?
Officials of the FAA's Southern Region presented the Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Diamond Award of Excellence to Atlantic Aero, Inc., of Greensboro, N.C., for the fifth time in the last seven years. Ninety percent of its technicians took part in the FAA's AMT Awards program in 2002. The AMT program was established in 1992 to recognize FAA certified aviation technicians and their employers who participated in extracurricular aviation maintenance training and other continuing education courses.
GAMA supports FAR Part 91 Subpart K, the new fractional ownership rule, calling it an important milestone in the evolution of business aviation. According to the association, the most positive aspect of the new rule is that it recognizes fractional programs as private rather than commercial operations. GAMA also praised the new rule for clearly defining fractional ownership, clarifying and assigning operational control responsibilities, and codifying many of the ``best practices'' now being voluntarily used by fractional ownership programs.
Health and security service provider MedAire, Inc. has been certified to new ISO 9001:2000 quality standards. Meeting the new measure is a requirement for continued ISO 9001 certification after 2003. The tougher certification standards require even greater management involvement in the quality process and place additional emphasis on customer and supplier relationships. ISO 9001 is a set of universal standards for a quality assurance system that is recognized around the world. Currently, 147 countries have adopted the ISO standards.
The White House 9/11 terrorist attack commission issued a subpoena last month to obtain documents from the FAA. Nearly simultaneously, the FAA delivered to the commission dozens of boxes of material that agency officials claimed satisfy the request. The commission in May requested all documents relating to the FAA's tracking of the hijacked airliners and communications with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
EagleMed of Wichita has become Sky Connect's latest customer for aircraft tracking services. EagleMed provides patient transport with a fleet of King Airs and helicopters. Allen Zon, EagleMed's director of operations, said, ``We will now have the ability to proactively advise medical centers of patient ETAs without having to constantly interrupt the flight crew for verbal status reports.''
Raytheon affiliate Flight Options plans to add an Embraer Legacy to its fractional fleet by the end of this month. The company has signed an MOU for up to four of the RJ derivatives, which will be configured to carry 13 passengers. The aircraft will feature walk-in access to a 240-cubic-foot baggage compartment, the largest in the Flight Options fleet.
In 1994 the Global Positioning System became operational, and since then it has revolutionized our world. Except for those targeted by ``smart'' bombs and missiles, almost everyone benefits from GPS receivers' ability to define locations with great precision. Fishermen mark favorite fishing spots, hikers can navigate dense woodlands, dispatchers can pinpoint fleets of vehicles, and GPS-equipped rental cars help out-of-towners steer with confidence through unfamiliar streets.
DoberDocs, specialists in document and data management, wants to help aircraft operators tackle maintenance tracking issues. The company's Aviation Services Group can review and clean up a flight department's maintenance data, including all airframe and engine logs (and, if they exist, propeller and avionics logs), AD listings, STCs, SBs, 337s, yellow tags, component sheets, maintenance schedules and other documents required by the FAA designee and deliver them in a simple-to-use electronic format.
AvCraft Aviation is planning to restart 328JET production at its facility in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. The company made the announcement after securing refinancing for the stalled project. AvCraft President Ben Bartel said that refinancing was a critical objective for the company, which has been working to bring back the Dornier 328JET since early this year. AvCraft purchased the program out of bankruptcy. As a part of its takeover, AvCraft secured rights to the Dornier name, the 328's type and production certificates and rights to the Dornier 428 as well.
Jacksonville, Fla., has promoted Larry Britt to the position of OEM business unit manager. In his new position, Britt will be Unison's point of contact for United Technologies Corp. Britt has been with Unison for two years, and was previously the company's OEM account manager for Hamilton Sundstrand.
Northrop Grumman Corp. is using its own money to develop Guardian, a compact, relatively affordable directed infrared countermeasures system. Guardian will weigh about 115 pounds, or about 10 pounds less than a predecessor device used to protect Air Force C-17 transports and other large military aircraft against surface-to-air missiles. Guardian will have a smaller laser turret.
Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design, although engineers attempt to optimize the blend of capabilities, performance and passenger comfort. B/CA compares the subject aircraft, in this case the Gulfstream G450, to the composite characteristics of others in its class, computing the percentage differences for various parameters in order to portray the aircraft's relative strengths and weaknesses. We also include the absolute value of each parameter, along with the relative ranking, for the subject aircraft within the composite group.
Research into developing a Supersonic Business Jet (SSBJ) with sonic boom suppression is ongoing at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. According to B/CA's Show News, a team of 50 personnel has been working on the project since 2001 and some of their proposals include an aircraft with a delta planform with two underslung shrouded engines on a gull-wing design with an annular fairing around the nose.
Eclipse Aviation has retired its first Eclipse 500 test aircraft that was equipped with interim engines from Teledyne Continental Motors instead of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F engines, which will be used on production aircraft. ``Testing confirmed that the Eclipse 500 requires no significant redesigns and remains on track for certification in 2006,'' the company said. The aircraft completed 54 hours of flying time in 55 flights, as well as ground testing.
In a Buffalo hotel I laid wrapped in the blissful arms of Morpheus when I was rudely awakened by the jangling of the bedside phone. ``Well . . . ?'' said the voice at the other end. ``Oh, good God,'' thought I, glancing at my watch. ``Well . . . ?'' said the voice again. ``It's eight o'clock, we are at the Elmira airport ready to go to New York City and you are in your hotel room in Buffalo.'' ``No explanation, boss. We'll be there in 45 minutes.'' ``That's too late. We'll go tomorrow . . .
Heli-Dyne Systems, Inc., has customized a new Bell 430 helicopter with a state-of-the-art medical interior and has delivered the aircraft to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Ore. The aircraft will be operated for the Life Flight Network by CJ Systems Aviation Group. Heli-Dyne's Web site is www.heli-dyne.com.
