Business & Commercial Aviation

Astronics Corp. has been selected as a supplier for Textron Aviation's new Cessna Denali single-engine turboprop. Astronics will supply an aircraft power system that features Astronics’ Corepower Induction Starter Generator System and Corepower Electronic Circuit Breaker Unit and the 28-Volt DC Empower In-Seat Power Supply. The Empower in-seat power systems allow passengers to simultaneously use and charge multiple personal electronic devices in the air. The Denali’s first flight is expected in 2018.

In the little more than two months since releasing its Part 107 Small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) rule on Aug. 29, the FAA had received more than 30,000 new aircraft registrations from commercial operators and more than 22,500 remote pilot applications. Jay Merkle, the FAA’s Director of Systems Integration and Requirements Analysis, said more than 10,000 of the applicants for the remote pilot license had passed the test. The Part 107 rule takes the place of what was previously an onerous Certificate of Authorization process for each operation.

Increased business jet deliveries in North America and Western Europe during the third quarter helped offset declining shipments to emerging market regions, along with China and Latin America, according to a recent UBS market research report. Global business jet deliveries fell 5% during the third quarter compared to a year ago. Deliveries to North American customers rose 9%, while deliveries increased 13% in Western Europe during the quarter.

BCA: We are too shortsighted to realize that the fewer accidents we have, the more people will fly and the more airplanes we will sell in the long run.

West Star Aviation has received a supplemental type certificate for the installation of a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) Controller Pilot Data Link Communications application on Dassault Falcon 900B aircraft. The application updates and supplements current communications equipment and allows direct exchange of text-based messages between the controller and pilot and improves communication capabilities in areas that usually require third-party HF communication relay such as oceanic and en route airspace.

Once again, BCA editors and our business aviation colleagues from the Aviation Week Network have recommended BCA content from this year that readers might want to revisit.

From line boy to flight instructor, charter pilot and CEO, Charlie Priester helped steer Priester Aviation to prominence.

The ability to quickly diagnose a problem and come up with a solution is a valuable skill, even when you earn your living working on multimillion-dollar aircraft.

Teterboro Airport ranked No. 1 again, and the rest of the top five business aviation airports measured by acukwik.com user traffic during October 2016 were mostly stable, according to site metrics.

Jet-A And Avgas Per-Gallon Fuel Prices November 2016

Cessna Aircraft and Piaggio America, a subsidiary of Piaggio Aerospace, announced aircraft orders at the recent NBAA Convention. Cessna took an order for three Citation X+ midsize business jets from Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Piaggio signed a contract with West Coast Aviation Services for five Avanti EVO aircraft. West Coast Aviation will use them for charter and fractional ownership. It is the first Avanti EVO sale in the U.S. market.

FlightSafety International filed a lawsuit Oct. 25 related to the 2014 crash of a King Air B200 into a FlightSafety training facility shortly after takeoff from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. The crash killed four, including the pilot, and injured six others. The lawsuit, filed in Sedgwick County District Court in Wichita, names more than a dozen defendants alleged to have contributed to the crash through negligence, breach of warranty or other factors.

Although Boeing does not market used BBJs, it has decided it is in the best interests of operators, potential buyers and the company to help facilitate the process and, further, to help establish fixed maintenance costs for those considering a pre-owned BBJ.

Selected Accidents and incidents in October 2016. The following is NTSB information.

Russian investigators concluded that alcohol use by a shift supervisor and a snowplow driver at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport played role in the October 2014 nighttime collision that destroyed a departing Unijet Airlines Dassault Falcon 50EX and killed all four on board. The snowplow driver was crossing Runway 6, but stopped as the jet began its takeoff roll. The Falcon hit the plow with its right wing and right main gear at a speed of 133 kt., rolled inverted, crashed and burned.

Winglet specialist Aviation Partners and joint venture partner FlexSys are working with an undisclosed customer to retrofit an aircraft with the first commercial morphing wing. The potentially game-changing aerodynamic innovation has wide-ranging implications for performance-boosting retrofit of existing business jets or clean-sheet designs. The wing-morphing “flexfoil” demonstrator illustrates how the airfoil shape can change in flight to boost performance over a wide range of angles of attack, indicated airspeeds and Mach numbers.

The space-based Global Positioning System could be said to be the keystone of the FAA's NextGen ATM modernization but just how reliable is GPS? To find out, we asked John Hansman, Ph.D., an aeronautics professor and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The preceding elements are “greater than” the subsequent. But theory is often overwhelmed by reality.

The NTSB has recommended that the FAA require all FAR Part 135 operators install flight data recorders (FDR) capable of supporting flight data monitoring programs (FDMP) in their aircraft, and that, once installed, the operators establish structured FDMPs that identify “deviations from established norms and procedures and other potential safety issues.” The Safety Board also wants the FAA to require all Part 135 operators to establish safety management systems (SMS).

Heli-One will upgrade a fleet of Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri helicopters for an Asian operator with Universal's EFI-890H Advanced Flight Displays and Multi-Missions Management System. Heli-One will design and install the initial aircraft with an Asian maintenance, repair and overhaul business performing the upgrades on the remainder of the fleet. The upgrade includes four EFI-890H Advanced Flight Displays and one UNS-1L2 MMMS, Universal’s flight management system for mission support.

Cessna Aircraft has increased performance targets for its new super-midsize $23.9 million Citation Longitude, the planemaker's latest business jet under development. The announcement was made at the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation in Orlando. Cessna, a division of Textron Aviation, is increasing its initial targets for range from 3,400 nm to 3,500 nm and full-fuel payload by 100 lb., to 1,600 lb. FAA type certification and entry into service is expected in 2017.

BCA readers share their opinions on articles we published.

AviationManuals is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Since its founding in 1996, it has produced more than 4,000 manuals. It recently expanded its product line to include Minimum Equipment Lists and Electronic Flight Bag application packages. The company also is expanding its workforce and seeks to employ an operations manual specialist, aviation specialist, editor/document specialist and a business development/sales coordinator.

Hawthorne Global Aviation Services's ExcelAire facility in Long Island, New York, has been approved by the Cayman Islands as an authorized maintenance provider for private jets registered in the islands. ExcelAire provides jet maintenance services around the clock. The facility offers jet charters, aircraft management, maintenance and fixed base operator services.

Blackhawk Modifications has launched another engine upgrade program, this time targeting the King Air 350. The switch involves replacing that aircraft’s 1,050 shp PT6A-60A engines with a pair of -67As, each rated at 1,200 shp. The Waco, Texas company expects to receive approval for the upgrade in the second quarter of 2017. The change-out will benefit those operators — including military units — needing improved hot-and-high performance.