Business & Commercial Aviation

Offshore helicopter operator CHC has secured $450 million from investors to rebuild the company once it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Singapore-based Zetta Jet has added a Bombardier Global 6000 jet to its fleet, which will operate out of Zetta's North America hub in Los Angeles. It is the first Global equipped with Ka-band high-speed inflight internet connectivity.

The number of general aviation aircraft in China will total 10,000 in 2020, according to a new research report called "Development and Market of General Aviation in China 2015-2020." The figure comprises 7,500 fixed-wing aircraft, 2,000 helicopters and 500 other aircraft. The industry compound growth rate will total 30%, and the market size will hit $225 billion, the report predicts.

Acorn Growth Companies, an Oklahoma City private-equity firm, announced Sept. 26 that it has acquired Seattle-based Raisbeck Engineering from founder and Chairman James D. Raisbeck. Founded in 1982, Raisbeck's company has developed dozens of modification systems for general aviation, utility and jetliner aircraft.

Meanwhile, days earlier Cessna delivered a Citation M2 to Helitrip Charter, which is leasing it to Catreus Ltd. a British charter operator.

The first Legacy 450 mid-light business jet assembled in Embraer's Melbourne, Florida, facility made its first flight in early October and is on track for delivery to a customer in December.

Daher recently completed its 800th TBM single-engine turboprop, a TMB 930 that rolled off the assembly line at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport in France.

Comlux, The Aviation Group, has become the first to retrofit an Airbus ACJ319 with Sharklets, the company said. The sharklets give the aircraft a fuel savings of up to 4% and a corresponding range improvement. The retrofit was performed by TAP Maintenance and Engineering as part of the first turnkey project managed by Airbus Corporate Jets.

Citing slower business jet engine aftermarket shipments and defense and space business declines, Honeywell International said early last month it expected to report up to 2% lower core organic sales for the third quarter of 2016.

West Star Aviation and Aviation Fabricators are nearing completion of a cooperative effort to develop an STC for a belted lavatory modification for the Hawker 800 and XP series aircraft.

The Citation Longitude, Cessna Aircraft's entrant into the super-midsize business jet category, flew for the first time Oct. 8. The flight from Beech Field on Wichita’s east side where the aircraft was assembled occurred less than a year after the jet was publically detailed. “Today’s successful first flight of the Citation Longitude was performed exactly as we anticipated,” said Scott Ernest, president and CEO, Textron Aviation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Post-hurricane helping hand: It’s hard to know its worth until you need one.

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.

There are risks inherent to any act of aviation. How can we best improve our levels of safety?

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.

For more than a decade, Cessna’s mantra has been “It’s a sure thing.” The Citation M2 appears to epitomize everything that slogan entails.

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.

Can GE’s Advanced Turboprop carve out a niche in a market dominated by P&WC’s highly successful PT6A?

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.

The post-crash fire threat in helicopters continues even though the fixes are known and well-proven. It’s past time to act.