Rockwell Collins’ offer to buy B/E Aerospace is a pricey ploy that will take more work to see to fruition, but it could secure the former as a leading provider of aircraft content while finding a successful exit for the latter.
Gulfstream’s newest aircraft is setting a new benchmark in business aviation technology. BCA Senior Editor Fred George strapped into the left seat of the new $44.65 million G500. Read his pilot report.
When pilots first belt into the cockpit of the G500, they will discover a Honeywell flight deck that has little in common with any Gulfstream they have flown.
The G500's electrical distribution and data communication network is far more advanced than found in previous Gulfstreams. Taking advantage of the latest Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet architecture, introduced on the Airbus A380 and the latest military fighters, it uses distributive processing and ARINC 664 communications protocols to slash wire count, reduce weight, decrease power consumption, boost reliability and increase system redundancy. Virtually every component on the data concentration network (DCN) has a redundant communications link.
Rated at 15,144 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+15C, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW814GA is the most advanced general aviation turbofan in its thrust class. Up front, it has a single-piece, wide-chord, 50-in.-diameter damper-less titanium fan and a two-stage, axial-flow, low-pressure booster with single-piece rotors that are powered by a three-stage low-pressure turbine.
In September 2016, Teterboro Airport ranked at the top of the list of business aviation airports viewed by acukwik.com users, according to traffic metrics. Analyze the rest of the top 50 in September.
Alexandre Couvelaire is a former French air force pilot and founder of the charter company Euralair. He is also a director of the startup, Aero Electric, which has designed and developed the Sun Flyer, the world’s first certificated, all-electric training aircraft.
The NTSB believes installing a crash-resistant fuel system into existing helicopters would help mitigate the safety risk of post-crash fires in survivable accidents. However, the board is concerned that owners and operators of FAR Part 27 and Part 29 helicopters may be unaware of retrofit kits to do just that.
Introduced to the market in 2012, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6A-140 turboprop series has achieved broad acceptance in utility and agricultural markets for both forward-fit and retrofit application on a variety of aircraft.
While it may be wrong thinking, passengers often equate the interior condition of an aircraft with the overall condition of the machine and its systems along with those who operate, manage and maintain them. Worn or stained carpeting, tarnished plating and the usual wear and tear that you might find acceptable may be viewed quite differently by your primary customer.
Since fire in flight can easily be a catastrophic event, flammability protection is a major concern for aircraft safety. Every piece of an aircraft's interior furnishings needs to meet or exceed regulations, down to the smallest trash bin.
The NTSB has reached out to the pilot community urging to be aware of the dangers slowly progressing cataracts can present for some piloting activities — especially night operations.
Airway user charge hearings by the House Ways and Means Committee called on short notice in late August caught general aviation groups by surprise although such action had been anticipated for several months. Swearingen’s Merlin II No. One has been delivered to Newark, New Jersey, Air Sales, which will distribute the new twin turbines. Production plans call for an ultimate three units per month rate; at least eight are in now process.
For as little as $2 million, you can buy a used Cessna Citation CJ1+ that can fly four passengers nearly 1,200 nm and land with 100-nm NBAA IFR reserves. That’s farther than some new light jets costing more than double the price. Cessna Aircraft delivered just over 100 of these entry-level light jets between late 2005 and early 2011, before the one-two Sunday punch of the Great Recession and arrival of the Embraer Phenom 100 knocked it out of production.
