Cessna's Citation Bravo and Dassault's Falcon 50EX business jets have received FAA certification. The Bravo certification, originally scheduled for April 1996, is a provisional approval, but deliveries of fully certificated aircraft are expected to begin this spring (B/CA, October 1994, page 21), said Cessna. The Falcon 50EX has full certification, and the first delivery of the tri-engine aircraft was expected to have been made at the end of January to an operator in Europe. The first U.S.
More than 200 pages of data on Jet Aviation's global aircraft services and operations. Access to each of the company's facilities is provided through geographical or type of service inquiries. Pilots also can get fuel prices at each U.S. Jet Aviation FBO.
Gulfstream hopes to receive FAA certification of a Honeywell/GEC Marconi HUD for G-IVs in March, followed soon after by approval for G-IVSPs. Certification in the G-V is expected in July. The HUD was originally slated to receive approval on the G-IVSP in July 1996 (B/CA, November 1995, page 20). Certification took longer than expected because the HUD includes the software and redundancy required for Category III approaches as well as for an enhanced vision system, according to a company official.
Honeywell and Trimble Navigation offer the HT9000 GPS Navigator as a retrofit option for light- to medium-class business jets and regional airliners. The HT9000 system offers the choice of a 330-key compact control-display unit or 350-key compact ARINC CDU. The system supports ARINC digital, analog and discrete input and output interfaces. Price: $33,000 to $41,000, depending upon configuration. Honeywell, 5353 W. Bell Rd., Glendale, Calif. 85308. (602) 436-8000.
Gulfstream expects that customer G-Vs will start entering service by the end of March. Deliveries of green aircraft to completion centers started in December 1996, when the FAA granted provisional certification. This provisional approval came just two months later than originally scheduled when the G-V program was officially announced four years ago (B/CA, October 1992, page 52).
In consolidating its corporate headquarters and other functions at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport in January, Dassault Falcon Jet left behind the spares distribution center in Moonachie. However, this facility will be absorbed within the company's new headquarters later this spring, said Falcon Jet. The new main phone number for all of Dassault Falcon Jet's offices is (201) 440-6700.
Effective July 17, the ceiling of the Los Angeles Class B Airspace will be lowered from 12,500 feet msl to 10,000 feet msl. Other changes include raising the base altitude west of Santa Monica from 4,000 feet msl to 7,000 feet msl, and expanding the eastern, southern and southeastern boundaries. The revised configuration comes nearly five years after the FAA held public meetings on the proposed changes (B/CA, June 1992, page 26) and two years after publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking (B/CA, January 1995, page 18).
FAA adopted a rule requiring the lowering of the maximum allowable concentration of carbon dioxide in occupied areas of future transport aircraft from the present ceiling of three percent to 0.5 percent (B/CA, June 1996, page 16). Since virtually all currently manufactured business jets and airliners already meet this requirement, the rule was enacted to apply to new aircraft designs, according to an FAA official.
Electric-motor-driven fuel pumps are being given a new lease on life by Parker Hannifin Corporation's Airborne Division. The company is offering factory-rebuilt fuel pumps that comply with the higher FAA standard for a rebuilt product, with the added bonus of a much-improved warranty. In the rebuilding process, the latest design improvements are included, and all worn components are replaced with new, original FAA/PMA replacement parts. Price: $737 to $2,500, depending upon manufacturer and model of aircraft being serviced.
Federal excise taxes on aviation fuel, cargo hauling and commercial passenger transportation expired on New Year's Eve. Therefore, as in early 1996, FBOs and air-taxi operators must revise their tax-collection policies and methods (B/CA, September 1996, page 17). The expired wholesale distributor tax should reduce jet fuel prices by 17.5 cents per gallon. Other federal taxes that have expired are the 10-percent passenger-ticket tax, the 6.25-percent cargo tax and the $6 international departure tax.
Charter customers may shop around for an operator and book an aircraft from their computer terminals via the Air Charter Net. The site also provides fees for a proposed itinerary.
An interesting idea is taking shape within the Washington aviation community. The underpinnings of this idea are these thoughts: -- The U.S. ATC system has been stretched to its limits and must be rejuvenated to take advantage of new technologies before it collapses. -- The FAA must be restructured to ensure its effectiveness in meeting its mandate to provide a safe and efficient aviation infrastructure.
American Airlines affiliate American Eagle has opened a major maintenance, repair and overhaul center to service ATR 42 and 72 regional airliners operated both by American Eagle and other airlines. The new facility, known as AMR Eagle Regional Aircraft Maintenance Center (RAMC), is located at the former site of Sawyer Air Force Base in Gwinn, Mich. More than 400 of the French/Italian built twin-turboprops are in operation worldwide.
Feasibility research on good aircraft prospects is nothing more than determining whether or not a company can afford to own and operate an aircraft. There is an extensive amount of information available on how to go about producing a feasibility study. (The NBAA and B/CA are good resources.) Compiling a list of likely prospects is a first step. As a follow-on, you'll need to be ready to help with an actual feasibility study.
The acquisition of FlightSafety International by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the Omaha-based company that is a parent to a number of diverse business activities, is not expected to affect the day-to-day operations of the Flushing, N.Y.-based pilot training company. Berkshire completed the purchase of FSI in December 1996. Al Ueltschi, the 76-year-old former Pan Am pilot who founded FSI in 1951, is expected to remain chairman and CEO of the firm.
It is no secret that inflight icing compromises the function of airfoils. In all cases, ice accumulation reduces the efficiency of an airfoil so that its ability to produce lift is decreased and its stall speed is increased. Ice is a detractor to all airfoils at all times and has serious safety implications.
The Lynton Group, an aircraft services and management firm, is launching a helicopter fractional-ownership program. Called HeliShare, the program is headed by Jeff Bulmer, Lynton's new senior vice president and sales director based at its Morristown, N.J., facility. Bulmer said that HeliShare costs associated with a one-quarter share of a Eurocopter 355N include a $600,000 buy-in price, a $5,000 monthly fee to cover all fixed-costs and a $600 per-flight-hour charge for 100 hours annually.
Hanging over the burgeoning helicopter marketplace like incipient ground fog is the prospect of heliports and special landing sites not being able to keep up with the needs of corporate helicopter users. According to the FAA, the total number of heliports in the United States is 4,792, down from 4,799 in 1995. Of these, about 180 are strictly public use, with 90 on airport locations. Some corporations have been able to establish heliports near their plant or office locations.
Should twin-engine business jets be required to adhere to the same ETOPS criteria as airliners? Aviation authorities in the European Union believe they should, if they're operated on charter certificates. U.S. and European operators want to know what's coming next. Is the JAA camel sticking its nose into business aviation's tent?
