Business & Commercial Aviation

Performance-based navigation promises to make air traffic management more efficient than ever before . . . but what does this mean for business aviation?

Being free and in control of my destiny is what put me on the road to the NBAA convention this time and helps put people in private aircraft.

Bombardier's Global 7000 test aircraft completed its first flight Nov. 4, marking the start of a rigorous flight-testing program. Entry-into-service of the large jet is scheduled in the second half of 2018. The Global 7000 took off from Bombardier’s facility in Toronto under the command of Ed Grabman, the flight’s captain, aided by copilot Jeff Karnes and flight test engineer Jason Nickel at 10:25 a.m. EDT. During the 2-hr., 27-min.

The second Pilatus PC-24 prototype is undergoing avionics tests at Honeywell's Phoenix Deer Valley Airport hangar. Preliminary performance tests are encouraging, with the aircraft meeting or beating early performance projections, Pilatus officials said. They previously said they expect the aircraft to have a 425-kt. maximum cruise speed; 1,950-nm full-tanks range with four passengers at long-range cruise; and 1,190-nm NBAA IFR range while carrying a 2,500-lb. maximum payload.

Bombardier's third-quarter financial results show the Canadian company's turnaround plan is gaining momentum. “We are executing on our growth program with certification of the CS300 and first flight of the Global 7000,” CEO Alain Bellemare told analysts on Nov. 10. “And we are executing on our turnaround plan.” The Montreal-based company said it expected full-year earnings of US $350-400 million, and free cash flow to be $1.15-1.45 billion, an improvement from previous projections.

Soon, everything will be connected on the internet. It has become clear that business pilots, flight attendants, and maintenance and operations personnel will increasingly rely on their aircraft's avionics and communications capabilities—usually via satcom—for many other applications.

VistaJet has taken delivery of three new Bombardier aircraft worth $115 million, bringing its global fleet to 70 aircraft, the company said. The company has added one new Bombardier Global 6000 and two new Challenger 350 business jets to its fleet. With the additions, VistaJet has the largest owned, super-midsize to large-cabin business-jet fleet in the industry, it said. In the past two years, the company has doubled its fleet from 35 aircraft in 2014 to the current 70, with an average age of less than two years.

TRU Simulation + Training's Cessna Citation CJ4 full flight simulator has earned Level D qualifications from the FAA. The simulator has been installed at its training center in Carlsbad, California. The company also installed Citation M2, CJ3+ and Citation Latitude simulators at its center in Tampa, Florida. The recurrent courses for the CJ4 training program have received FAA approval and the Current 365 course and distance learning option will be available in the first quarter of 2017.

Rolls-Royce reports that it now has 2,000 business jets enrolled in its CorporateCare engine maintenance program—double the number covered in 2010, or better than two-thirds of the eligible fleet. The program brings guaranteed maintenance costs to new and in-service Rolls-Royce BR725, BR710, Tay and AE 3007 engines. Operators pay a fixed cost-per-flying-hour fee for a comprehensive range of scheduled and unscheduled engine maintenance events and benefits. The reason for the program’s popularity, according to Stephen M.

The fully paperless cockpit is becoming a reality with the advent of FAA-certifiable tablet computers that may be used as Class 1 electronic flight bags in accordance with Advisory Circular 120-76C. Garmin, among other avionics manufacturers, is developing wireless interfaces between tablet computers and avionics systems. Garmin’s link between the G5000 and tablet computers running Garmin Pilot software is the $1,500 Flight Stream 510 SD card that has both internal Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transceiver chips.

The FAA officially awarded Cirrus Aircraft its type certificate for the $1.96 million, 300-kt. single-engine turbofan SF50 Vision Jet at the National Business Aviation Association annual convention. The approval comes after an intensive four-year development program. The Vision Jet is powered by a 1,840-lb.-thrust Williams International FJ33-5A, and features a Perspective Touch flight deck powered by Garmin G3000 avionics.

Textron Aviation has completed certification of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out (ADS-B Out) on the Citation Mustang, completing ADS-B certification efforts for Citation, King Air and Hawker products. Retrofit modifications are now available at company-owned service centers.

The business-jet resale market turned in slightly slower transaction activity during the first nine months of 2016, according to a report by Amstat.

The Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400XP has the potential to be one of the most popular business aircraft retrofit programs in the past 30 years.

Questions for Charles E. Priester Chairman Priester Aviation

Satcom Direct, the airborne connectivity services provider headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, plans to acquire TrueNorth, a 10-year-old avionics manufacturer based in Ottawa. Jim Jensen, the founder and CEO of Satcom Direct, says the transaction should close before year-end. Just two months earlier, the company bought AircraftLogs, which makes flight scheduling and tax reporting software. (See “Special Report: 2016 IFEC: the Internet of Aviation Things” on page 26 of this issue.)

In the three years since Wheels Up began business, the private aviation membership company has taken delivery of 70 aircraft while membership has grown to 3,700. In the next three to five years, Wheels Up co-founder and CEO Kenny Dichter expects membership to grow to 9,000 or 10,000 and its fleet to reach 200 to 250. In late 2017 or early 2018, Wheels Up plans to expand in Europe with the King Air. “Europe is an unbelievable market,” Dichter said. The company operates a fleet of new King Air 350i turboprops and used Citation XLS+ aircraft.

Despite slow sales in the current down market and a years-long delay of the Falcon 5X due to development setbacks with the Silvercrest engine, Dassault Aviation is considering what next it will offer to help reenergize its lineup of business jets. “History has taught us that times of crisis are not just a storm that must be weathered. They represent an opportunity to change and improve,” CEO Eric Trappier said during the NBAA Convention.

Rated at 3,230 lb. thrust for takeoff, the Williams International FJ44-4A-32 turbofans produce about 9% more thrust than the original Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5R engines fitted to the Beechjet 400A and Hawker 400XP. At first glance, that seems like a nominal increase at best. But the FJ44-4 has a fat ISA+17C flat rating that makes a considerable difference in hot-and-high airport, climb and cruise performance.

News of promotions, appointments and honors involving professionals within the business aviation community.

The annual gala dinner, or soiree, and auction sponsored by NBAA at its convention to benefit the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) raised $450,000 to help fund that organization’s decades-long mission to transport cancer patients to treatment centers, mainly aboard business jets, free of charge. CAN Executive Director Gina Russo said, “We very much appreciate the industry’s involvement in CAN’s work, as illustrated by the hundreds of companies flying CAN missions for cancer patients year-round, as well as through participation in this event.

In a move of confidence in the Asian business aviation market, Singapore-based Zetta Jet is adding four Bombardier Challenger 650 large jets, valued at $129.4 million, to its fleet of aircraft. The Challengers will join Zetta’s fleet of Bombardier Global aircraft. Bombardier Business Aircraft and Zetta Jet, a private jet operator in Asia, celebrated the addition at an event at the Orlando Executive Airport Oct.

JetBlue Airways has taken a minority stake in fast-growing, California-based jet-charter company JetSuite. Robin Hayes, CEO of the New York-based low cost carrier, said JetSuite was “changing the game in short-haul travel in the West Coast.” Launched in 2009, JetSuite operates up to four daily flights between the California cities of Burbank, Carlsbad, Concord and San Jose, as well as Las Vegas. For this JetSuiteX service, the carrier sells tickets on its Embraer 135 jets via its website as a public-charter operation.

Since its introduction nearly a half-century ago, the Boeing 737 has proven to be the most popular civilian jet ever, with more than 9,000 delivered to date. And the manufacturer is moving to increase its production rate to more than 50 per month, easily the highest in its history. New models and variants — notably including the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft — are in production and with thousands on back order, the 737 will be a significant presence for a long time to come.

STOL aircraft still might be very much special purpose vehicles, but the special purposes are a lot less remote than most of us are aware. Convair 600 Executive is equipped with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa IO’s, and will carry 19 including crew. Price of conversion to owner’s Convair 240, 340 or 440 is about $682,720.