Japan's Fuji Heavy Industries has delivered the first wing for the new Hawker Horizon midsize business jet to the Raytheon plant in Wichita. The aluminum wing includes integral fuel tanks and a bleed-air anti-icing system. Raytheon has completed the three composite fuselage sections for the Horizon prototype, which will be mated to the wing later this year, and a second forward fuselage section was built for bird-strike testing. First flight of the Horizon is set for late this year, with certification and first deliveries scheduled for spring 2001.
Operating a business aviation aircraft in Europe is a more difficult, more complex, and less flexible enterprise than it is in the United States. And it won't be getting better soon. Delays in Europe were up 31 percent in 1998 from the prior year, and traffic growth continues to outstrip capacity expansion, according to Ian Jones, head of the Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU).
FlightSafety International (FSI) is planning to build a second training facility at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Containing a two-story 110,000-square-foot building with 16 simulator bays, the 6.8-acre site will be located on the Dallas side of the airport, east of the main runways. According to FSI spokesman Roger Ritchie, the existing center is ``non-extendible,'' and a new location is needed to house simulators for the Galaxy business aircraft and American Eagle's new Embraer ERJ-135 regional jets.
Truckin' on the Airport Rampstar refueling trucks from Air BP are custom-designed for airport use. These vehicles are available with either stainless steel or aluminum tanks varying from 1,500 to 7,000 gallons in hydrant configurations to two tractor/trailer variants in 8,000- and 10,000-gallon capacities. Steering gear and controls are designed so they can be converted from left- to right-hand drive. The Rampstar is built on a customized eight-inch channel frame and is powered by Cummins diesel engines.
The Cirrus Design SR20 is flying again, just weeks after the fatal crash of a prototype. The go-ahead came after a week of static tests; Cirrus aims to confirm that the production model matches the certification prototypes. ``The flight went exactly as planned,'' says Gary Black, acting director of Cirrus' flight operations. ``It felt responsive and was fun to fly.'' The test article is the second experimental category aircraft to come off the production line, and will later be used as a maintenance test bed.
For a vicarious hot-air balloon adventure, you can tune into PBS's broadcast of ``The Great Balloon Race,'' a two-hour program to air on Wednesday, July 14 (check local listings for exact time). Viewers will follow the 'round the world flight of Dr. Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones aboard the Breitling Orbiter 3 in a nonstop trip that started in the Swiss Alps on March 1 and concluded with their landing in Egypt 20 days later.
The Austrian Aeronautics Industries group, representing the aeronautics industry in Austria, was admitted as a member of AECMA, the European Association of Aerospace Industries
Changan Airlines of Shaanxi Province in central China has ordered three Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-Q400 aircraft to expand its route network. The $60 million deal is the first sale of the 78-seat Q400 in China. Changan flies to approximately 30 destinations throughout China, using a fleet of seven 50-seat Xian Y-7 aircraft. The Y-7 is a license-built copy of the Ukrainian Antonov AN-24 turboprop. The sale brings to 40 the number of firm orders for the Q400 from eight airlines in Europe and Asia.
Be A Pilot is running another schedule of cable television commercials until June 27 on The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, CNN Financial, The Golf Channel and Speedvision
The company has recruited five people to its European sales force, which encompasses business and general aviation: Kurt Arner, Alexandre Lang, Hans Glasbergen, Edmond Schneider and Pino Zani.
Three days before Easter, the FAA served notice to pilots that a claim of miscommunication with controllers will no longer constitute a valid excuse for busting an altitude or failing to adhere to a clearance. In an ``interpretive rule'' (an unusual, if not unprecedented, term), published April 1, the FAA said it isn't fooling about putting the onus on pilots to understand and comply with the instructions issued by air traffic controllers.
The Learjet 45's TFE731-20 engines are becoming peppier because of software upgrades installed in the Digital Electronic Engine Controls (DEECs). The latest software revision transforms the basic -20 into the -20R. Most apparent is a one-half-percent increase in thrust. The -20R's takeoff rating remains unchanged at 3,500 pounds of thrust, flat rated to ISA+16C, and 3,650 pounds in the automatic performance reserve mode. However, the original -20 actually fell short of its rated performance numbers, resulting in slightly longer takeoff distances.
Saudi Arabia's National Aircraft Services (NAS) will acquire 12 Dassault Falcon 2000 business jets for NetJets' Middle East fractional ownership business. NAS will buy 10 of the twinjets, and lease two others. New Jersey-based Executive Jet Inc. will configure the aircraft identically to the Falcon 2000s ordered for its NetJets Europe program. Jeddah-based NAS will market the fractional business, primarily to Middle Eastern customers.
Edited By Paul RichfieldMike Vines in Birmingham, England Flight School Flap Spurs New U.K. Center
Oxford Aviation Services of the United Kingdom will soon open a pilot training center in Perth, Scotland, that aims to complete the training of FAA-rated pilots seeking European licenses. Named the European Advanced Air Training School (EAATS), the new venture stands to benefit from the present ambiguity surrounding Europe's flight crew licensing rules.
General aviation manufacturers recorded their strongest ever first quarter billings and the highest first quarter unit shipments since 1984, according to GAMA. Compared to first quarter 1998, aircraft billings rose 49.2 percent to $1.7 billion, while aircraft shipments were up five percent with 479 units. GAMA attributed the results to strong backlogs for new aircraft models and a strong economy. New jet deliveries (107) were up 59.7 percent from first quarter 1998; piston aircraft shipments stayed at 1998 levels.
Russell W. Meyer, Jr., the company's chairman and CEO, will be retiring at year-end. His successor will be Gary Hay, the current vice chairman of the company.
DeCrane Aircraft Holdings has acquired Wichita-based Precision Pattern, Inc. (PPI), making it the largest supplier of aircraft interior products to business aircraft manufacturers. The purchase was justified, CEO Jack DeCrane says, by the surge in business aircraft deliveries and the growth of fractional ownership programs. ``The combination of PPI with our existing companies, Audio International and Dettmers Industries, gives us a unique capability,'' he says.
This aircraft sales and marketing firm added three staff members: Gordon J. Wishart, vice president of marketing and sales in the Arizona office; Robert C. Williams, vice president of aircraft sales in the New Jersey office; and Matt Malone, vice president of purchasing in the Texas office.
AlliedSignal is rolling out two new Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS) that put the price of the technology more in reach of operators. The most sophisticated of the two, the Mark VI EGPWS, is intended for operators of on-demand air charter and small regional aircraft and is priced at $23,900. The box will meet the proposed FAA requirement for Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS).
The U.S. Army will be the first to receive a new air-bag system that could one day enhance the safety of the commercial helicopter fleet. Phoenix-based Simula has won a $7.1 million contract to install its Cockpit Air Bag System (CABS) in the Army's fleet of Sikorsky UH-60A/L Black Hawk helicopters. Plans to adapt CABS for the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior are in the works. Simula had developed a ``bulkhead air-bag system'' (BABS) for the BAe Jetstream 41, but shelved it when production of the regional airliner ceased.
The growth of democracy in Romania has seen a surge in business aircraft operations, according to Romanian Airport Services (RAS), an FBO at Bucharest's Baneasa Airport. Corporate flights in and out of Baneasa have increased from just 65 in 1995 to 453 last year, thanks to tax incentives for foreign investors, a lack of slots at Bucharest's other airport -- Utopeni -- and cheap fuel. RAS charges $0.77 for each gallon of Jet-A. Despite the growth, RAS President Dorin Ivascu fears the war in Kosovo will force a decrease in business aircraft use.
As any business traveler can tell you, block time is the real measure of any trip's length. One of the advantages general aviation aircraft have always had is the ability to use smaller airports that usually are closer to travelers' final destinations. Since the advent of the hub-and-spoke airline system, the block-time advantage of GA aircraft has actually increased. But virtually all airplane passengers -- whether traveling by business or commercial aircraft -- must still drive to and from the airport.
