Business & Commercial Aviation

Selected accidents and incidents in March 2016. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

Safran’s nearly three-year delay in development and certification of the Silvercrest engine has slowed Dassault’s Falcon 5X considerably, but Cessna says it’s had no impact on its Hemispheres program. The new engine has been in the running to power Textron Aviation’s newest Citation. But in a statement, a spokeswoman says while it has not yet announced an engine provider, the Hemisphere program is on schedule, with first flight expected in 2019.

Nearly two years after the last E-4B flew from Boeing’s Wichita, Kansas facility — along with Boeing — a new large aircraft completions center has opened inside the former Boeing hangar. Emerald Aerospace is leasing two of three large hangar bays where Boeing employees once performed modification and maintenance on commercial and military aircraft, including E-4Bs and VC-25s, or Air Force One — all military versions of the civilian 747. And as it grows, Emerald intends to lease the third hangar bay.

This month we’ll take a quick look at the loss of a Learjet 35A (XA-USD) fatal to all four occupants on Nov. 19, 2013, when it crashed into the sea off the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, coast just 3 min. or so after takeoff.

The potential mainland Chinese business aircraft market is perhaps six times as large as the current fleet, research based on the buying and chartering capacity of the country’s rich people suggests. Already, 1,420 people in mainland China have the potential to own business aircraft, according to estimates gathered by luxury publisher and rich-list compiler Hurun Report and Minsheng Financial Leasing. The purchasing potential of those people is 1,750 aircraft, the companies say. In addition, 9,000 Chinese mainlanders could charter business aircraft.

​Carter Aviation Technologies, LLC wants to build a larger, twin-turbofan version of its slowed rotor/compound helicopter, which it believes can break the rotorcraft world records for speed, range, and altitude.

In a flat market for new aircraft, the best place for avionics makers is to focus their resources on the aftermarket, and indeed that’s what we’re seeing — witness the panel upgrade competition between Sandel, Garmin, Universal, Avidyne and others. Prices for some avionics, such as transponders and thunderstorm detectors, have tumbled or risen only marginally, while cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and flight data recorders (FDRs) are up dramatically.

Susan Sheets Brogan, who served for 20 years as president of the National Aircraft Resale Association and as a business aviation advocate in Washington, died April 7 after a short battle with cancer. She was 63. Brogan worked in collaboration with the National Business Aviation Association and other Washington trade groups to advance the interests of aircraft owners and pilots. A proud private pilot and a former French and Latin teacher, she began her aviation career in 1980 with French aircraft manufacturer Aerospatiale, now Airbus Helicopters.

Gogo Inc. has rolled out new hourly pricing plans for turboprop and light jet operators, which the company says will make connectivity affordable and predicable for all aircraft operators. The new service plans start at $39 per hour and do not require the purchase of block hours have no minimum monthly fee. After paying for the first hour, customers then pay only for what they use and incur fees only when the service is being used.

The Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games — dubbed “Rio 2016” — are scheduled to begin Aug. 5 and extend through Aug. 21. The 2016 Paralympics will run from Sept. 7 to Sept. 18 in the same locale.

Duncan Aviation has launched an electric logbook feature to myDuncan, a web-based project management system. The feature allows customers to view logbook entries in real-time and categorized by airframe or engine and communicate with inspectors through the system. Duncan, introduced in 2006, allows customers to monitor the progress of maintenance or upgrades through email alerts, job status reports and updates with hour and cost estimates.

The number of airports with Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) technology is growing rapidly and initial results of the digital service are impressive. Universal Avionics’ Cessna Citation VII, outfitted with the company’s Future Air Navigation System (FANS) 1/A+ system, recently tested the new CPDLC capability at Kentucky’s Louisville International Airport-Standiford Field (SDF).

Five questions for Rhett Ross, president and CEO of Continental Motors Group Ltd., Mobile, Alabama, and his answers.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.’s service center in Sorocaba, Brazil, has performed maintenance on its first Argentina-registered aircraft, a large-cabin Gulfstream business jet. Gulfstream Brazil was awarded maintenance authorization approval from Argentina’s Administracion Nacional de Aviacion Civil in August. Last year, Gulfstream Brazil performed work on 92 aircraft.

Gen. J. R. Jack Dailey, director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, took the wraps off a larger than life-size bronze statue of R. A. “Bob” Hoover at a private reception at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 2, 2016. “Bob Hoover has been an eye witness to the history of aviation. He’s the only pilot ever to taxi his (Aero Commander Shrike) airplane into this hangar. And that’s a record we intend to let stand forever,” Dailey said.

Teterboro Airport was the business aviation airport acukwik.com users searched the most during March 2016, according to a review of site traffic data. Paris Le Bourget Airport was the top airport outside North America. It was the eighth most search airport overall.

In early April, Bell Helicopter signed a letter of intent (LOI) with PT Whitesky Aviation of Indonesia for 30 Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopters. The aircraft will be used for air taxi operations throughout the nation which is made up of more than 14,000 islands.

Executive AirShare is moving its headquarters to a 10,000-sq.-ft. facility in Lenexa, Kansas, to accommodate growing flight operations, sales, accounting and executive teams, the company said. Executive AirShare’s aircraft, pilots and maintenance teams for Executive AirShare and its subsidiary Executive Flight Services, an aircraft management and charter company, will continue to operate out of the Atlantic Aviation’s fixed base operations at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City. They employ nearly 200 workers, including 96 pilots.

BBA Aviation, the biggest U.S. operator of business jet service facilities, has sold six fixed base operations for $190 million to affiliates of KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm. The sale allows BBA Aviation to satisfy U.S. Department of Justice requirements for regulatory approval of the acquisition of its U.S. competitor, Landmark Aviation. BBA will use the proceeds from the sale of the FBOs to repay debt. In September 2015, BBA announced the deal to buy Landmark from the Carlyle Group for $2.1 billion, which doubles its size.

According to the 2016 Global Fleet & MRO Market Assessment released at a Capitol Hill briefing by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, the U.S. civil aviation maintenance industry — often an unseen part of the aviation industry — employs more than 270,000 people and generates $43.1 billion in economic activity. The March event was part of ARSA’s annual Legislative Day and headlined by House Aviation Subcommittee member Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).

NTSB Decision Puzzling I just finished reading “Icing and Failed Equipment” (Cause & Circumstance, April 2016) and while I seldom disagree with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as their investigation depth is second to none, in this case I have to say that their probable cause decision is puzzling.

The FAA has selected two unleaded aviation fuels for further testing as it works to develop an acceptable lead-free “drop-in” replacement for 100LL avgas. The new fuel formations for Phase 2 testing are from Shell and Swift Fuels. The test data will help the companies acquire an ASTM International Production Specification for the fuels. It also will eventually allow the FAA to authorize the existing general aviation fleet to use the unleaded replacement. Testing will begin this summer and conclude in 2018.

April 1st, Bombardier announced it had received a firm order for 20 Challenger 350 jets, but declined to identify the buyer “for competitive reasons.” Based on the 2016 list prices for standard-equipped aircraft, the firm order is valued at approximately US$534 million. David Coleal, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft, noted the popular model’s lead in the super midsize class, adding, “It’s simply one of the best business jets in the market.”

As development of the Aerion AS2 continues, the highest priority is the engine. Co-chairman Brian Barents discusses with BCA's William Garvey the key factors involving the selection of an engine manufacturer.

Jet-A and Avgas Per Gallon Fuel Prices March 2016