The first on-demand charter flight of a Galaxy business jet took place at the end of November 2000, within days of completing FAA proving runs. Cleveland-based Avbase Aviation operated the Galaxy from Raleigh, N.C., to Teterboro on November 22. Retail charter rate for the aircraft is $3,700 per hour, although Avbase President John DePalma expects much of the Galaxy's time to be spent providing supplemental lift to Executive Jet's NetJets fractional program. The flights may be a dress rehearsal for NetJets, which is said to be mulling a possible Galaxy order.
China's Shanghai Airlines has taken delivery of the first of three Bombardier CRJ200s. Bombardier recently delivered the first of four CRJ200s to Japan Airlines subsidiary J-Air.
CompletionAir, located at the St. Louis Regional Airport, has opened a 134,000-square-foot completions hangar with the ability to accommodate six Boeing BBJ size aircraft. The new center will concentrate on narrow and widebody aircraft completions for executive/VIP/head-of-state customers and is exploring the possibility of performing maintenance and interior completions on Bombardier and Gulfstream aircraft.
Shandong Airlines in China has ordered three new Cessna Caravans with options for 37 more, a deal that will make it China's first commercial Caravan operator. Deliveries are scheduled to begin with one Grand Caravan and two Caravan 675s on amphibious floats in the spring. Shandong says it plans to use the single-engine turboprops on ``high frequency flights'' between cities with en route flight times less than one hour. Founded in 1994, Shandong also operates Boeing 737s, Saab 340s and Bombardier CRJs.
Swiss regional carrier Crossair has decided to add something new to its passenger cabins: male flight attendants. The airline says the decision to introduce 40 to 80 male flight attendants came after ``careful consideration'' and that the new crewmembers will be assigned to its MD80 fleet. Crossair employs about 1,300 female flight attendants and operates a mixed fleet of MD80s, Saab 340s and 2000s, Avro RJs and Embraer ERJ145s.
With the onslaught of winter and the price of Jet-A hovering around $2.00 to $3.50 per gallon, the Energy Information Agency (EIA), a subgroup of the Department of Energy, said that future price changes for jet fuel remain uncertain. Factors such as home heating oil value on the commodities market, seasonal temperatures and the supply/distribution of crude oil all have an effect on jet fuel cost.
GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) President and CEO W. James McNerney has left the company after being passed over for the top spot at parent company General Electric. GEAE Executive Vice President and COO David Calhoun will replace McNerney, who has been named chairman and CEO of St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M. Calhoun's first major challenge will be working closely with outgoing GE Chairman Jack Welch on the $45 billion absorption of Honeywell. McNerney was one of three top GE executives vying for Welch's job.
Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance is expanding operations at San Antonio International Airport (SAT) with a $14 million project that will add a 100,000-square-foot completions hangar. The new facility is designed to house two widebody aircraft, four narrow-body aircraft and can accommodate a Boeing 747SP-size aircraft's higher tail. The company expects to increase production by an estimated two- to three-million man-hours annually and the hangar will be dedicated to outfitting and servicing executive/VIP/head-of-state aircraft.
It was approximately 11:30 p.m. when the King Air B200 touched down and taxied to the company hangar. It had been a long day and despite the late hour, the August heat lingered in the Carolina air as the weary flight crew went upstairs to prepare the post-flight paperwork. Meanwhile, the two flight department technicians prepared the engines for a required compressor wash. By the time the two techs pulled off the cowlings, rinsed the engines and towed the aircraft into the hangar, the pilots had signed off the logbooks and departed for home.
Edited By Paul RichfieldMike Vines, in Birmingham, England
Metro Business Aviation, a subsidiary of Harrods group, has become the latest owners of Battersea Heliport. London's only commercial helicopter landing site, Battersea provides full airport services to business and commercial helicopter operators and to emergency services. Air Harrods is a frequent user of the facility. Metro said it will retain the staff of eight currently employed at the heliport, but declined comment on any future plans including the building of a new terminal, a proposal already submitted to London's Wandsworth Council for approval.
Elliott Aviation, Moline, Ill., has made the following appointments: Ron Jennings is director of business development; Jerry Keizer is technical services sales manager at the company's Omaha location; Dan Clark is technical services sales manager at the Minneapolis facility.
The Schreiner Aviation Group of the Netherlands ordered two MD Explorer helicopters. The light-twin helicopters will be used for aeromedical transportation.
This is in response to David Collogan's invitation to comment on John King's views on flight training (Washington, November 2000, page 126). I don't know what part of the aviation community has been ``telling the big lie.'' Surely not us ``old ducks.''
Apparently NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace has some well-heeled fans. A racing or business jet aficionado recently paid $10,105 to fly with Wallace in a business jet from Charlotte, N.C., to the Chicago Grand Prix. The ``Fly with Rusty Wallace'' package on eBay also featured hotel accommodations, pit passes and other amenities for two people. There were four bids in the 10-day auction, which required a minimum $10,000 bid.
As expected, Bombardier's new 70-seat CRJ700 regional jet has received a common type rating with the smaller CRJ100 and 200 series from Transport Canada. The FAA is expected to follow suit shortly. The common type rating will result in reduced costs for operators, since crews can be assigned to the 100, 200 and 700 series aircraft with minimal additional training and no simulator sessions required. Bombardier says it has 182 firm orders for the CRJ700 and that customer deliveries will begin this quarter.
Raytheon has joined the 69-foot composite fuselage and tail section of the first Hawker Horizon business jet, now under construction in Wichita. The next milestone in the Horizon program will be the mating of fuselage and wing, and first flight of the 10/12-passenger twinjet is slated for this year. Two Pratt&Whitney PW308A engines will power the aircraft. Raytheon is guaranteeing the super-midsize jet will have an NBAA IFR range of 3,100 nm at 0.82 Mach with six passengers, plus the ability to cross the United States nonstop regardless of wind conditions.
Rockwell International plans to divide itself into two units -- Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Automation -- in a bid to increase its stock price while making both entities more attractive to potential buyers. Some see the move as a competitive response to General Electric's proposed acquisition of Honeywell International, Rockwell Collins' main rival in the aircraft avionics field. The split is likely to occur by May or June, pending regulatory approval.
Many operators edit (or in some cases, rewrite) their checklists to incorporate company SOPs and adjust the flow of cockpit tasks. In order to train the way you fly and fly the way you train, these modified checklists and SOPs should be handed over to the training center long before your scheduled session so instructors can review them and get them into the syllabus for your session.
The Logbook Organizer Internet system is designed to allow manufacturers, corporations, individuals and other users to follow aircraft (fixed wing and rotary wing), engines, APUs, propellers, spares, parts and subparts anywhere in the world. The system has combined maintenance tracking and logbook functions so that new data are entered only once. Each logbook automatically adds hours, cycles and landings, thereby eliminating redundant entries.
Fuel State: OK Craig Sincock is president and CEO of AvFuel, a 27-year-old company that distributes avgas and Jet-A to some 700 FBOs around the United States, representing about 20-percent of the civilian aviation market. B/CA: How's the short-term fuel outlook? Sincock: It's good. There are adequate supplies of crude oil out there. Adequate supplies of Jet-A and avgas. B/CA: What about price?
