Despite cumulative losses expected to approach $1 billion, Raytheon Aircraft believes a combination of layoffs, new model deliveries, production efficiencies and a customer-first focus will help it return to profitability.
Garrett Aviation has won an STC for a Collins Pro Line 21 Continuum retrofit for Falcon 20s and is working on a similar package for Falcon 50s. Garrett Springfield completed the first Falcon 20 installation for launch customer Cobalt Resources in late March.
In a mid-April letter to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, the NTSB said the aeronautical definition of ``night'' ``does not adequately describe the conditions under which darkness exists in mountainous terrain and . . . may not adequately restrict potentially hazardous flight operations.''
It was 1973. I had just resigned my Naval commission and was searching for a flying job. The oil embargo had cars backed up at every gas station and the majors were worried about fuel -- getting it and paying for it. They weren't interested in new hires. So I began poking around business aviation -- a world unknown to me. But I would deign to fly a Gulfstream. I was somewhat taken aback when no one wanted to entrust one to a 29-year-old fresh from years of carrier bashing, with 1,600 hours logged and a single-engine commercial license in his wallet.
Advance Technologies, Inc. says its infrared Enhanced Vision System (EVS) technology is being used in the first FAA-certified EVS to go into production, with one of its licensees receiving an order for 140 shipsets, the company announced. EVS President Gary Ball said even though it's a ``commercial'' sale, he can't reveal who sold the systems and to whom they were sold. EVS will be paid for each system sold by its licensee in the commercial market, and expects to sell more, but Ball is hoping that either the buyer or seller will come out with a press release.
A Thales Avionics HUD will be standard equipment on the Bombardier Global Express Global 5000. The system was certified in the United States and Canada in September 2001.
Two Antonov An 38-100, 27-seat regional twin turboprops are currently on lease to Lyang Lyang Aerospace of Malaysia from Russian operator Vostok. This lengthened version of the original An-38 (which is still built in Poland) is one of three owned by Vostok. The 38-100 is powered by two Honeywell TPE331 engines, but the 38-200 model available to Russian operators is powered by 1,380-shp Omsk/Mars TVD-20 turboprops. The An 38-100 has a rear ramp and can carry 2,500 kg (5,512 pounds) of cargo over 783 nm.
NetJets will use Flight Explorer for real-time flight tracking, according to a recent announcement. Executive Jet, Inc., NetJets' parent, will install the Internet-based Flight Explorer software at its Columbus, Ohio, operations center and at 11 other locations across the country to improve arrival and turnaround forecasting.
Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics&Surveillance Systems has developed a laser-based system that detects and identifies mechanical systems faults or failures resulting from excess wear and is now adapting the technology for use in aviation. Early military reviews of aviation applications have touted the technology as a breakthrough in wear-particle analysis, since the work can be accomplished on the aircraft without having to send material to a laboratory.
Unhappy neighbors of Teterboro Airport got some good news recently, as airport management announced a ban on Stage 1 aircraft and the FAA upheld the existing prohibition on aircraft weighing more than 100,000 pounds, which had been challenged by Boeing and BBJ operators. Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.), a vocal opponent of the airport, hailed both actions, praising the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- Teterboro's owner -- for ``this much-needed step to ban the loudest and most obnoxious sounding aircraft engines . . . ''
Dassault authorized the first Falcon 900 and 2000 repair station in Asia. A memorandum of understanding named STA Systems in Singapore an authorized repair station to maintain, repair and overhaul Falcon 900/900EX and Falcon 2000/2000EX aircraft components. The agreement should be formalized by midyear.
Regular SJ30-2 production is under way in Martinsburg, W.Va., at Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp.'s factory, eight months ahead of the original schedule, the company announced on March 12. Employees in Martinsburg have begun assembling the fuselage and wings for the first production aircraft, S/N-005. Originally, the fuselage and wing sets were to be manufactured by a subcontractor in Spain, but that contract was withdrawn in 2001.
These three graphs are designed to be used together to provide a broad preliminary view of the Citation Sovereign's performance. These data are subject to change prior to type certification. The March 2002 Sovereign Preliminary Flight Planning Guide, available from Cessna Aircraft Co., contains additional runway, climb, cruise and descent data.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Chief John Magaw agreed to support reopening Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) to business aviation and to keep the national airspace system open to business aircraft during periods of heightened security, according to Bob Blouin, senior vice president-operations for the NBAA. Magaw made the commitment at a recent meeting with the NBAA's board of directors.
A tiny Welsh commuter airline is receiving worldwide attention for hiring only flight attendants of modest stature. Air Wales was featured on one Australian TV station as the being the world's smallest airline with the world's smallest flight attendants. ``Two or three reporters asked if we had been accused of heightism. I told them this was purely a health and safety matter,'' said Air Wales General Manager Ray McInerney.
Pentar Avionics sold its avionics test equipment business to Ideal Aerosmith, Inc. in order to concentrate exclusively on its cockpit and cabin data communications products for regional and business aircraft, the company said. Pentar is headquartered in Seattle, and will maintain a sales and support office in Wichita. Ideal is headquartered in East Grand Forks, Minn., with facilities in Glendale, Ariz., and will acquire Pentar's facilities in Seattle and Shawnee, Kan.
Rockwell Collins selected ZNYX Networks' embedded switch design and OpenArchitect software to integrate into its new eTES commercial inflight entertainment systems. The new systems will provide inflight Ethernet connections for Web browsing and e-mail, as well as audio and video to individual seats. The systems are scheduled to ship by midyear.
Jet Aviation Geneva recently performed its first complete de-mate of a Gulfstream II wing. After corrosion was found, the aircraft was ferried to Geneva for the procedure. In order to perform the job, Jet Aviation arranged to ship special shoring equipment to Geneva from the company's West Palm Beach, Fla., facility. Officials said x-ray and ultrasonic inspections revealed corrosion under the main landing gear locks, between the fuselage and the wings, in the clothespin fittings and along the torque box.
The U.S. Navy told Orange County officials that it plans to auction off one of the most-prized pieces of real estate in California's Orange County -- El Toro Marine Base. The Navy suggested that developers could buy up sections of the former airbase, which would nullify a March 5 county vote on the measure, in which officials proposed to use the land as a public park. The measure passed by a margin of less than 1.6 percent.
Two Chicago-area operators have formed CaravanShares LLC, a joint ownership program using Cessna Caravans. CaravanShares is the brainchild of Planemasters -- a charter firm whose fleet includes 11 Caravans as well as two King Airs and five assorted business jets -- and J.A. Aero -- the Chicago area's Caravan sales representative. Both companies are based at DuPage Airport in West Chicago.
The U.S. government will more than double its Gulfstream fleet under the terms of a new contract with the manufacturer with a potential value of $1.6 billion. Gulfstream says the agreement calls for the U.S. Air Force to acquire as many as 20 of the ultra-long-range G-V and G-VSP business jets. The contract also calls for Gulfstream to provide 10 years of ``full or partial contractor logistics support [CLS] for the aircraft.''
Gulfstream has signed a deal with Hainan Airlines of China for three Gulfstream 200s valued at $60 million. Delivery of the first pair of these intercontinental 10-seat corporate aircraft (previously known as the Galaxy) corporate aircraft is set for the third quarter of this year and the third aircraft slated for first quarter 2003.
Despite a reservations system that couldn't handle initial demand for slots into the four gateway airports, industry and FAA officials agreed that business/corporate aviation operations in Salt Lake City during the Winter Olympics ran well despite unprecedented security requirements.
If you have enough US Airways Dividend Miles, you can go into space, says the airline in announcing a partnership with Space Adventures, the outfit that put Dennis Tito on the International Space Station. If you can't rack up that many miles, they can also be applied to a MiG-25 ride, a zero-G ride in the Russian Vomit Comet or an astronaut-escorted shuttle-launch tour. Find more information at www.usairways.com.
