Within days of the mid-September terrorist attacks, The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) created a Business Aviation Security Task Force to ensure that business and charter aircraft operations can perform their missions ``without fear or misuse.'' NATA Chairman James Christiansen will chair the task force, with participants expected to include representatives of charter companies, flight departments, fractional providers, FBOs, airport management, manufacturers and government.
The days of sniffing out wiring anomalies with a megger meter are becoming numbered with the development of portable wire integrity test equipment. One such system being developed by Honeywell for the airline industry is called the Nova Wire Integrity Program. Nova will perform wiring system modeling, failure analysis, trend monitoring, prognostics, diagnostic analysis, data logging of test results and automatic test generation.
My backyard is a hotbed of tranquility. Each pleasant summer evening Madam Queen and I adjourn to the patio, viewing overhead airliners crisscrossing one another making tic-tac-toe patterns in the sky. An occasional bee drops by our table to sip a drop of merlot, only to find it doesn't taste like nectar. There are scores of tall trees in our hillside neighborhood making a huge cageless aviary for our evening listening pleasure.
One annual tradition at the NBAA Meet-ing and Convention is the release of forecasts on the state of business aviation from Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, the Teal Group and National Aircraft Resale Association. While the recent events are having an effect on the economy, travel plans and the overall economic outlook, thus rendering the forecasters' conclusions questionable, we have summarized the major findings of each of the reports, which were made prior to September 11:
In an effort to improve services, Jet Aviation has combined its avionics resources from the company's Dusseldorf, Saarbrucken, Munich, Hannover and Cologne locations at its facility in Kassel, Germany. In addition, the ``Kassel avionics competency center'' has increased the number of qualified technicians, enlarged the avionics shop and updated the equipment. ``A major investment has been made in new-generation avionics and testing equipment for Honeywell, Rockwell-Collins and S-TEC,'' said Johannes Turzer, Jet Aviation Germany's vice president and general manager.
Multiflight, a U.K. FBO, charter operator and flight school, is undertaking am ambitious expansion plan set for completion in mid- to late 2002. In late September, the Leeds/Bradford International Airport-based operator was slated to take delivery of a new Boeing BBJ2 -- the first of its type in the U.K. or Europe. The green aircraft will be flown directly to Lufthansa Technik in Ham-burg, Germany, for completion.
Flight schools and commercial air tour companies have been especially hard hit by the protracted ban on VFR operations following the September 11 ground stop. ``This will hurt us,'' lamented a Danbury, Conn., flight school operator gazing out over rows of motionless aircraft gleaming under a perfect blue sky. ``If this goes on much longer, I don't think I can recover,'' he added. U.S. Air Tour Association President Steve Bassett echoed the sentiments. His association consists of FAR Part 121 and 135 operators, 100 percent of whose business consists of air tours.
CitationShares, a fractional ownership company formed in 2000 by Cessna Aircraft and TAG Aviation USA, reported that its 13-aircraft fleet will double in size by year-end and will grow to 50 aircraft in 2002. The company said it had expanded operations to encompass all points east of the Rocky Mountains.
Executive Jet Center has opened the first phase of its new Million Air FBO at Mobile (Ala.) Regional Airport. Million Air Mobile has been designated a Phillips 66 Aviation Performance Center (APC). The facilities include a 5,500-square-foot office and reception area, a 3,000-square-foot maintenance area, 12,000 square feet of hangar space and a 9,000-square-foot ramp. The company has installed a Phillips-designed, state-of-the-art fuel farm capable of delivering fuel into aircraft at rates as high as 300 gallons per minute, which is 50 percent greater than average.
AMPORTS Aviation Group has acquired Heritage Flight, an FBO located at Burlington International Airport (BTV) in Vermont. AMPORTS said the facility will be renamed ``FBO AvCenter-BTV;'' however, the charter, training and maintenance side of the facility will continue to operate under its original name. The facility consists of a terminal, two hangars totaling 40,000 square feet, 20 T-hangars and associated ramp space.
A few years ago my wife and I paid a visit to friends who had moved to Broward County, Fla., and the driving directions took us much farther west than I had expected. Finally, as we neared the Everglades we came upon signs welcoming us to Tropical Haven or something like that. It was a built-last-week village of fine, chock-a-block, central air-conditioned homes, smiling children and perfect lawns. Years earlier when I'd lived in Miami, this had been a place of sawgrass and alligators, so I was taken aback. My next surprise was being forced to halt at a guard shack.
Affinity Solutions has developed a two-component paint touch-up kit called EZ2-PaintKit. The kits are self-contained and eliminate personnel exposure to mixing isocyanated paint products. When you are ready to paint, insert the pick-up tube into the preval sprayer, penetrate the upper and lower barrier seals, shake and apply. After the paint is used, the remaining material can be left in the package to solidify overnight and then be discarded. No cans to drain and no Hazmat material requiring documented disposal.
Daytona Beach International will get a new taxiway and an FBO, with construction currently under way on both. The new 7,500-foot taxiway Papa is on the south side of the main runway. Site work has also begun on the new full-service FBO, Executive Flightline.
According to Glenn L. Stoutt, Jr., M.D., and senior FAA aviation medical examiner, the number-one problem most pilots have during their routine FAA medical examination is elevated blood pressure (hypertension). Hypertension is often called ``the silent killer,'' because it usually causes no symptoms at all. For this reason you should know your pattern of blood pressure readings, and -- if consistently high -- get medical advice. Years of straining to pump blood will deteriorate your cardiovascular system.
InspecTech Aero Service has completed its first suspended particle device (SPD) window installation on a Learjet 25C and is now offering this new technology for other aircraft. SPDs use a film in which droplets of liquid suspension are distributed. Light-absorbing microscopic particles are then dispersed within the liquid suspension. The film is enclosed between two pieces of glass or plastic plates coated with a transparent conductive material. When an electrical voltage is applied to the suspension, the particles are forced to align.
GAMA President Ed Bolen is concerned that a U.S. DOT request for public comment on using ``market-based'' approaches to relieve airport congestion and flight delays diverts attention from the overriding objective of increasing system capacity to achieve the same ends. He equates ``market-based'' measures with ``demand management'' and says DOT Secretary Norman Y.
Christie Electric Co., a division of Marathon Power, has launched a special trade-in-program for owners of RF80-H, RF80-GT, Superceder or PCA131 battery maintenance systems. Qualified customers either can receive $500 towards the purchase of a new RF80-K or U-60, or they can request that Marathon donate the old equipment to a trade school.
Sporty's next-generation SP-200 Nav/Com transceiver is based on its JD-200. A new ``last frequency'' features lets you toggle between two frequencies and the SP-200 uses the new 8.33-kHz spacing already in effect in Europe. The transceiver is compatible with all JD-200 accessories and comes with a five-year warranty. Other features of the 16.9-ounce radio include a Localizer/VOR with CDI, OBS and to/from indicator, automatic ``bearing-to-station,'' and 2,280 com, 200 nav and 20 memory channels. Price: $295 Sporty's Pilot Shop
Aviation Personnel International, New Orleans, has appointed Sheryl Barden as vice president. She will be responsible for business development and recruiting.
Honeywell, in partnership with Cessna Aircraft, will provide reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) equipment for Citation 500, I, II, S/II and V models. The package, which includes digital air data computer, air data/altimeter and a vertical nav controller, will be installed at authorized Citation Services Facilities. In addition, Honeywell announced certification of its N1 Digital Electronic Engine Control for the Raytheon Hawker 800XP and the TFE731-powered Dassault Falcon 900 and 20 aircraft.
Air charter broker FlightTime is leasing two Southeast Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32s for its collegiate basketball charter program. The 56-seat aircraft previously flew for Legend Airlines, the short-lived Dallas Love Field-based carrier. Southeast Airlines is a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based FAR Part 121 carrier. FlightTime now operates charters for about 100 men's and women's college basketball teams, including such giants as the University of Notre Dame, Penn State University and the Universities of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.
Romania's Angel Airlines has taken delivery of the first of five BAE Systems Jetstream 32s. The regional upstart is targeting its service at business travelers to 17 Romanian cities, beginning with Baneasa International Airport near downtown Bucharest. Angel's aircraft, the first Jetstreams in scheduled service in Romania, will be covered under BAE's MACRO (Material&Component Repair and Overhaul) fixed-cost maintenance program.
Nav Canada, a private, non-share capital corporation, bought the country's entire air navigation systems and facilities from the federal government on November 1, 1996, for $1.5 billion. Previously, ATC was the responsibility of the federal Department of Transport, which retains oversight responsibility for regulatory matters. Nav Canada was created after several years of lobbying for the privatization of ATC by the major aviation associations and organizations, including airline, corporate and private pilot groups, and the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association.
August 24: An Ameristar Jet Charter Learjet 25 crashed on departure from Tompkins County Airport, in Ithaca, N.Y., killing the two pilots aboard. The aircraft was destined for Jackson County-Reynolds Field in Jackson, Mich., after a one-hour layover in Ithaca, where it picked up fuel and additional cargo. Weather at the time of the accident was IMC, with one-half mile visibility in fog, calm winds and a 100-foot overcast ceiling. An investigation into the cause of the accident is continuing.
