Executive Jet Aviation's recent order for 45 Citation business jets, valued at more than $600 million, may be the largest multi-business-jet purchase in history. The order for 25 Citation Xs and 20 Citation VIIs is certainly the biggest single order Cessna has booked. Starting with deliveries in 1997, EJA will add the Citations to its NetJet fleet of aircraft sold on a fractional-ownership basis. EJA has been buying Citations since shortly after NetJets was formed in 1987 and currently operates more than 50 Citations.
Dallas-based TXI Aviation is considering adding helicopters to its new shared ownership program, ``Jet Partners.'' The company is offering 25-percent shares initially in a Falcon 10 and a Falcon 50, with each quarter-share entitling the buyer to 200 flight hours annually. No set length has been established for the term of the contract, and TXI is offering a money-back guarantee if an owner wants to drop out of Jet Partners within six months. The company also provides a buy-back guarantee of the aircraft's residual value.
Certificate programs are becoming the cornerstone for continuing education in many professions, including aviation. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, for example, offers an aviation safety certificate program through its Center for Aerospace Safety Education (CASE) and its Division of Continuing Education. This program has been expanded and is now offered in fall sessions.
On September 11, legal counsel representing the AOPA, NBAA, GAMA and others filed suit in federal district court to prevent Chicago from closing Meigs Field and turning its property into a park. The Illinois DOT was expected to file a similar suit the next day. Also, the State of Illinois was taking steps to ``exercise its statutory right to acquire the title to Meigs Field'' to ensure the airport's continued operation.
Challenged by a contract guarantee with launch customer Crossair that the average cabin noise for the Saab 2000 would not exceed 76 dBA, Saab and engine-maker Allison Engine Company have come up with a fix. Even with an elaborate electronic active noise control (ANC) system, the noise level has been stuck on 77 dBA since the aircraft were first delivered. Although the company declined to provide details, B/CA is told the fix involves a one-inch propeller shaft extension, which moves the propeller tips down and out in relation to the fuselage.
Learjet Incorporated has modified the leading edge of the Learjet 45 wing to reduce airflow separation at high angles-of-attack. The modification came following a series of stall tests, and the company said the aircraft's stall speeds are on target and that it has ``excellent'' stall characteristics. FAA certification of the new aircraft is scheduled for the first quarter of 1997. Meanwhile, China certificated the Learjet 60, paving the way for delivery of a Model 60 to Hainan Airlines, which already operates a Learjet 55.
News that a business aviation center and a second runway are on tap for Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong's new international airport, triggered about 60 proposals from companies seeking to build and operate the corporate aviation FBO (B/CA, August, page 30). Proposals were submitted by companies in North America, Europe and Hong Kong. The airport is scheduled to open in April 1998, but the second runway will not be completed before October 1998. The business aviation center should open around April 1999.
Mesa Air Group says it will launch ``high-frequency, low-fare'' jet service from Fort Worth next May, answering one question of how it plans to employ its new fleet of 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). A company statement said the service, building up to 60 flights daily within the first year, will operate from Meacham Airport ``to destinations throughout Texas and the region.
By year-end, Bombardier Aerospace expects to decide whether to launch or land the 70-passenger Canadair CRJ-X regional jetliner, a planned stretched version of the current 50-passenger Regional Jet (B/CA, May, page 122). The GE-powered CRJ-X would be offered in two versions-a 72,500-pound MTOW model that would transport 70 passengers 1,702 nm and a 75,000-pound MTOW version that would range to 2,032 nm with 70 passengers. If a launch decision is made by the end of this year, certification could occur in late 2000.
Entering the last month of the election campaign, there is hope we're finally approaching the end of Federico Pea's terrible tenure as secretary of transportation. As Yogi Berra said, ``It ain't over `til it's over;'' but it appears Pea will not continue in that post even if President Clinton is reelected.
In the continuing effort to establish common requirements between the FARs and Europe's JARs, revisions have been proposed to amend engine and airframe design standards. One set of proposals will require aircraft to withstand structural stress caused by the initial pitching motions during the sudden application of maximum braking force. Another set of proposals would upgrade water and hail ingestion standards for turbine engines. Comments on the two sets of proposals are due November 4 and November 7, respectively.
An airport reservation system and other special ATC procedures will be in effect for the Orlando area before, during and after the NBAA annual convention there. From November 15 through November 25, all turbine IFR and VFR aircraft arrivals and departures will be required to have a slot time for the following airports: Orlando Executive (site of the convention's aircraft static display), Orlando International, Orlando Sanford and Kissimmee Municipal. For IFR departures, the FAA expects aircraft to be ready to take off within five minutes of the slot reservation time.
Fairchild Dornier said it will decide soon whether to build a turbofan-powered, 30-passenger version of the twin-turboprop Do 328. Technical and marketing studies for the proposed $10-million regional jet were nearly complete at press time. The company said the Do 328 wing would be retained and that by moving the engines a little closer to the fuselage, no changes would be required for the empennage. Three engine models are being considered: the Pratt&Whitney Canada PW306, the AlliedSignal/GE CFE738 and the AlliedSignal LF5607.
The implementation on August 17 of increased IFR separation standards for ``small'' aircraft in-trail behind Boeing 757s also encompassed the re-classification of 57 types of aircraft, including most business jets, from the category of ``large'' to ``small.''
The former Midway Island Naval Air Facility has reopened as a mid-Pacific fuel stop after being closed to military and civil aircraft since 1992. Through an agreement with the U.S. government, Mercury Phoenix Corporation is providing 24-hour fueling, overnight accommodations, food facilities, limited maintenance, and other aircraft, crew and passenger services. Available activities include fishing as well as guided historic and ecology tours. A landing fee of $350 applies to aircraft up to 80,000 pounds MTOW, and advance permission to use Midway is required.
Saab Aircraft delivered its 400th Model 340 to AMR Eagle in late August. It was number 115 for Eagle, the world's Saab 340 fleet leader. The airplane was the last of a 25-plane package announced at last year's Paris Air Show, but it may not be the carrier's last Saab order.
Following the successes of its presence on the CompuServe Information System, The McGraw-Hill Companies' Aviation Week Group has opened a site on the Internet's World Wide Web at http://www. awgnet.com
We had planned the trip for a year. On Thanksgiving morning of 1977, the Manninghams would fly from White Plains, New York to Columbus, Ohio for a holiday weekend with my sister and her family. We had done it several years in a row, and everyone was excited about flying across country in a borrowed Cessna 310, and about visiting with my terrific sister, the beloved ``Aunt Natalie.''
Installations of a recently developed fiber-optic lighting system have started, said Avtec, Incorporated, the St. Louis-based repair and completion facility that received FAA approval of the system earlier this year (B/CA, May, page 14). The system emits light from a high-intensity lamp or ``illuminator'' through one or more bundles of flexible polymer fibers. Avtec claims fiber optics are safer, cheaper, lighter and more durable than fluorescent systems, and installations can be made virtually anywhere in the cabin.
The latest version of the FAA's GPS transition plan reaffirms the target date of 2110 for completing the changeover from land-based navaids to full reliance on GPS. The plan also restates that it will progressively discontinue support for a large number of ground-based systems, such as VORs, DMEs and ILSes. The FAA plans to terminate support of Omega by the end of 1997 and, despite efforts by thousands of Loran-C users to retain the system, the U.S. is set to end Loran-C funding by 2000 (B/CA, May 1995, page 16).
Ever wonder what the business aviation community did to President Bill Clinton to turn him into our number-one nemesis? It seems, at least monthly, the tireless folks at the NBAA, GAMA and the other Washington-based alphabet organizations have to pound down yet another silly aviation-penalizing idea from the Clinton administration or its friends on Capitol Hill. This time it's a $225 per-flight fee on turbine business aircraft to help fund the President's campaign promise to wipe out illiteracy.
Bombardier directors have authorized their Bombardier Regional Aircraft Division (BRAD) to ``offer'' airlines the 70-passenger CRJ-X, but there will not be an official launch of the project until at least the end of November. BRAD President Pierre Lortie said his sales team has authority to offer customers firm pricing, guaranteed range and performance, a detailed type specification and delivery dates.
An aggressive competitor with a sharp pencil on the bottom line, Mesa founder Larry Risley, a former A&P mechanic, launched an expansion program ranging from the West Coast to the East Coast and from Arizona to New England. Today Mesa calls itself the nation's number one independent regional airline, operating six airline units-Air Midwest, Desert Sun, Florida-Gulf, Liberty Express, Mountain West and WestAir-that serve 170 communities in 28 states with a fleet of 173 aircraft. That in itself draws a lot of attention.
