Editor's Note: As promised last month and in honor of our late former colleague and editor-in-chief, Archie Trammell, we once again offer up his last article for this magazine, published in our March 2016 edition.
Dassault Aviation took the wraps off its 5,500-nm Falcon 6X at a day-long technical briefing at Paris Le Bourget Airport on Feb. 28. The new, top-of-the-line Falcon is slated for first flight in 2021 and entry into service in 2022.
Fifty years ago, BCA covered the Piper PA35-18 commuter liner, JetStar and Fan Jet Falcons. The April 1968 issue contained the Purchase Planning Handbook; the 2018 handbook is coming out in May.
The Silvercrest turbofan engine, whose recurring problems caused Dassault to terminate the Falcon 5X program (see page 56) is being tweaked to better meet the needs of its only remaining application, the Cessna Hemisphere.
FlightSafety International is offering FAA-approved Part 142 Night-Vision Goggle initial and recurrent training in simulators for helicopters built by Bell, Airbus and Sikorsky.
Initial wind-tunnel testing of the Cessna SkyCourier twin turboprop has been completed and Brad Thress, senior vice president-engineering, reported making "outstanding progress" in development of the all-new design.
StandardAero Component Services is expanding its facilities in Cincinnati and Hillsboro, Ohio, and Miami by a total of 260,000 sq. ft. at a cost of $16 million.
According to the U.S. Transportation Department Inspector General's Office, evaluations in 2013 and 2014 found that the FAA's Civil Aviation Registry lacked accurate and complete information on pilots and aircraft registered in the U.S., including aircraft owned under trusts.
Airbus Helicopters plans to build a second commercial helicopter, the EC145e, in the U.S. to support the emergency medical services (EMS) market. The company's Columbus, Mississippi, facility will build 25 of the models, following an order from Metro Aviation, an EMS operator and completion firm.
Textron Aviation is halting production of the high-performance Cessna TTx single. Last year, it delivered just 23 units, down from 31 in 2016 and 44 in 2015.
Bell has officially dropped the word "helicopter" from its name. CEO Mitch Snyder explained that the term had become "very confining" but added "this does not mean we are not going to keep building helicopters or tiltrotors."
Bell is equipping its Model 407GXi single-engine light helicopter with Garmin's G1000H NXi integrated avionics suite and powering it with an uprated version of the Rolls-Royce M250 turbine engine.
The U.S. Air Force recently named Nextant Aerospace as a subcontractor to Field Aerospace on the service's T-1A Avionics Modernization Program. The T-1A is a military derivative of the Hawker Beechcraft 400A business jet.
XOJet has enhanced its XOJet Elite Access Program, giving guaranteed rates on light and midsize business jets, in addition to its super-mid business jet product.
Duncan Aviation's helicopter component repair services business rose 80% in 2017, and the growth is expected to continue through 2018, the company said.
When Duncan Aviation recently installed LoPresti Aviation "Boom Beam" high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting in a Phenom 300 light jet, the technology was described by Vice President of Sales David LoPresti as a work in progress.” Indeed it was, and is. The Sebastian, Florida-based company has already installed the HID lighting in 550 different aircraft models, from owner-flown light turboprops to widebody VIP personal jets.
