Business & Commercial Aviation

Jet-A and Avgas Per Gallon Fuel Prices December 2015

Flying-car developer Terrafugia has received FAA authorization to fly three 1/10th-scale radio-control models of its next-generation TF-X.

Fractional-ownership giant NetJets recorded a 37% drop in earnings during the third quarter of 2015.

When television viewers saw news coverage of American medical professionals infected with Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever arriving in the U.S. for treatment, it’s doubtful many of them knew that the aircraft bringing them back from Africa were specially modified, commercially operated Gulfstream business jets.

Bombardier threw down the gauntlet in front of Gulfstream when it announced the Global Express in December 1993, officially launching the battle between Montreal and Savannah for King of the Heavy-Iron class.

FAA’s new website for registering small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) was set to be up and running by Dec. 21.

Business aviation departures in Europe declined 2.5% in November, to 56,200 departures, when compared to a year ago, according to WINGX’s Business Aviation Monitor.

What finally galvanized the FAA and its Cabinet-level overseer, the Department of Transportation (DOT), into implementing meaningful regulation of civil drone operations were predictions by the UAS industry that between 700,000 and 1 million small drones would be purchased as 2015 holiday gifts in the U.S.

The subject of what constitutes a small drone commercial operation can’t be broached without relating the story of “FAA v. Raphael Pirker.”

A Windecker Eagle, the first composite aircraft to be awarded a type certificate by the FAA, is flying again.

StandardAero recently completed its first certified ADS-B solution for an Embraer Legacy 650 aircraft at the company’s Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) MRO facility.

BCA readers share their opinions on articles we published.

“I wasn’t going to fly a toy and lose my ticket. I’ve been flying 35 years and have never gotten a violation and always followed the regs. Why would I jeopardize my livelihood?” Why, indeed? So reasoned Bob Howie, Gulfstream V captain at a Houston charter/management company, when he purchased a couple of DJI Phantom Pro 3 drones and contemplated starting a commercial operation. What attracted him to the small UASs that seem to have burgeoned overnight was a lifelong love affair with model aircraft.

Daher has delivered its 100th TBM 900 single-engine turboprop, a milestone that comes 20 months after the company unveiled the aircraft in 2014.

Selected Accidents and Incidents in November 2015. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

Embraer Executive Jets announced an order for a new Legacy 650 to an undisclosed customer, based in the Middle East.

There was a roar of approval, streamers popping and some 2,000 workers, dignitaries and suppliers applauded when Michimasa Fujino announced to those gathered on Dec. 9 in the gleaming white hangar that the HA-420 HondaJet had been granted an FAA Type Certificate. Long in coming, Honda’s first-ever aircraft had up until that moment been flying under an Experimental certificate.

Registration may identify some small drone operators, but it won’t keep those intent on mischief, terrorism or just plain stupidity from flying their UASs irresponsibly, illegally, or even malevolently.

West Star Aviation is expanding its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In January 1966, the FAA was working on plan to set up complete backup emergency power for 100 key airports. Plus, the first production pressurized single-engine aircraft — Mooney Aircraft's Mark 22 "Mustang" — was scheduled to deliver in March 1967.

Aviation Partners, Inc. is partnering with FlexSys to certify, commercialize wing-morphing adaptive control surfaces to potentially boost airfoil performance.

Honeywell acquired Copenhagen-based Satcom1 the leading provider of routing software that optimizes the inflight connectivity experience and is already an existing distribution partner for Honeywell’s JetWave terminals and Inmarsat’s GX Aviation program. The company, whose 2015 revenues were expected to be approximately $25 million, provides inflight airtime, satellite communications services and software for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Honeywell says the acquisition will facilitate “a seamless experience with an all-in-one connectivity solution.”

Modesto, California, resident Tom Davis’s background includes 25 years as a scientific programmer during which he developed software apps and performed software engineering for high-speed computer systems. Having been raised on a farm in California’s Central Valley, he also was familiar with mechanized agriculture. And since his father had been an air traffic controller and flight instructor, this spawned an interest in aviation.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is offering free scheduling software and other tools to flying clubs available through its AOPA Flying Club Network.

Superior range, speed and cabin comfort are the main reasons why business aircraft operators were motivated to upgrade to the Bombardier Global 5000 from smaller, slower and shorter-range business aircraft. It simply delivers on those requirements.