The Month In Business Aviation: July 2021

Credit: Textron Aviation (top)/Pilatus

When designing an all-new aircraft, a fundamental consideration is: First, select an engine. But based on hard experience, a refinement to that adage might be: Preferably, select one that is certified.

Read the full article

Photo credit: NTSB

When I was a fledgling Boeing 707 copilot, one of my first captains would ask me why I had done something wrong, and I would come up with an answer. He would say, “Well that’s a reason. It isn’t a good reason, but it is a reason.”

Read the full article

Credit: NTSB

The pilot-in-command (PIC) of a Dassault Falcon 50 that landed at Greenville, South Carolina, in September 2018 was caught completely by surprise when he applied the wheel brakes and nothing happened. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded him saying “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where are the brakes—where are the brakes?”

Read the full article

Credit: GrandView Aviation

With the increase in private charter demand due to the post COVID travel surge, Part 135 pilots are flying longer days and piling on more flight hours, increasing the likelihood for fatigue. For some of these pilots, acute and chronic fatigue may reach dangerous levels.

Read the full article

Credit: Molly McMilin/Aviation Week

The restored B-29 Superfortress known as “Doc” has paused its tour and will miss this year’s AirVenture Oshkosh after the historic warbird experienced trouble with one of its engines.

Read the full article

Textron Aviation’s new Model 408 SkyCourier twin-turboprop made its first visit to AirVenture Oshkosh on the opening day of the show, where officials from the company and from FedEx, the aircraft’s launch customer, were on hand to speak with the media.

Read the full article

Credit: Adobe Stock/olga

Consider this international operations scenario: You’re at the helm of your employer’s new ultra-long-range business jet, making Mach 0.87 at FL410 in international airspace on a gorgeous cloudless day and feeling smug at your good fortune. All the bells and whistles are performing perfectly, and the FMS has calculated that you’ll reach your destination early, whereupon the boss will clap you on the shoulder and say, “Good job, keep it up.”

Read the full article

Cirrus Aircraft is expanding its Vision Center, located at the McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. It plans to break ground on three new hangars at the end of 2021. Eventually, the Duluth, Minnesota-based company plans to build a new main facility at the campus.

Read the full article

Credit: NTSB

After a Challenger crashed on landing at a private airstrip in Texas in 2019, the NTSB conducted a limited investigation and decided the cause of the accident was wind shear. That’s an act of nature, and citing natural acts as causes tends to shift focus away from the actions of pilots. It is difficult then to take any useful lesson from the event, except to somehow avoid misfortune. However, I think there are some lessons to be learned from this accident.

Read the full article

The Nextant 400XT and 400XTi are remanufactured versions of the Beechjet 400A type, an airframe that was marketed as the Beechjet 400A and 400XP.

Read the full article