Business & Commercial Aviation

Gulfstream Aerospace has developed the first phase of a mobile application to help Gulfstream operators streamline flight operations, the company says. The Performance iPad app, a companion to Gulfstream’s PlaneBook electronic suite of flight crew information, allows Gulfstream G650 or G650ER flight crews to calculate performance data for takeoffs and landings, replacing paper charts and manual calculations.

Bombardier Aerospace's first Global 7000 ultra-long-range business jet has been registered on Transport Canada's Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. The aircraft was registered August 29. The company is concentrating on preparations for first flight, planned to take place this year. “We’re focused on flying as soon as possible,” said Bombardier spokesman Mark Masluch, who declined to give further details.

Bombardier Aerospace says it plans to periodically pause completions work in Montreal on the Global 5000 and 6000 next year and will furlough employees during those periods.

Embraer Executive Jets is offering a new Phenom Ace enhancement package for Phenom 100 owners to bring new life to their very light jets.

Platinum Air Center has opened at Jack Edwards Airport in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The new FBO, owned by Arve and Emily Henricksen, is temporarily operating out of a 3,500-sq.-ft. modular complex. Construction of a $5 million facility and hangar, to be located adjacent to the modular facility, will begin in early 2017 with plans for completion by mid-2019. Plans include a 44,000-sq.-ft. FBO containing a 140 x 160-ft. hangar with 28-ft.-high doors.

A Comlux ACJ319 has been retrofitted with sharklets, becoming the first Airbus Corporate Jet to undergo the replacement process—and the first of any version of the A319. The work was conducted by TAP Maintenance and Engineering and managed by Airbus Corporate Jets. The manufacturer says the extended winglets can produce fuel savings of as much as 4%, and thus a corresponding improvement in range.

SpeedNews plans to explore the major issues facing the business aircraft industry at its 21st annual Business and General Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference Oct. 4-5 in Los Angeles.

The Bell 429 light-twin helicopter fleets of Turkish National Police and Turkish General Directorate of Forestry have reached a 95% operational availability rate, Bell says. The model continues to be successful supporting public safety and assisting to prevent fires and preserve Turkish forests, it says. Turkey has been a successful market for Bell, garnering more than 50% of the total market for the past five years. Twenty-six Bell 429s are in use in Turkey for parapublic, EMS and corporate missions.

TrueNorth Avionics has introduced Simphone Pro, its latest cabin communications system, with a special upgrade program for legacy Simphone installations. The company says upgrading requires no more than pulling out the old system and plugging in the new. The upgraded unit is a 4MCU offering Wi-Fi, high-fidelity telephony, with a full-featured VoIP PBX, enterprise email and seamless connectivity for smartphones and other personal electronic devices. The system is available with and without dual Iridium voice and data channels.

European business aircraft brokers and operators have been the victims of cyberattacks in increasing numbers, said London-based BACA, the Air Charter Association. It appears a “sophisticated criminal community” is targeting the business aviation sector and has hacked into broker and operator internal communication systems to gain access to bank accounts and trading information, BACA said. Attacks have taken place throughout the UK and Europe, it said. The rise in attacks was reported during the 438th meeting of the BACA Council, it said.

Carlo Logli, the CEO of Italy's Piaggio Aerospace, resigned in late August, just weeks after masterminding the company's restructuring.

CNN has launched its first unit using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for newsgathering, called CNN Aerial Imaging and Reporting (CNN AIR). With two full-time UAS operators, the unit will use tethered and free-flying small UAS to integrate drone imagery into reporting for CNN news services, Turner Broadcasting System and parent company Time Warner. Since 2015, CNN has been developing uses of UAS for newsgathering in partnership with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

There's a new campaign underway to fully restore the Burgess-Wright Model F Aircraft that landed on the White House lawn a century ago and put it on permanent display at Reagan National Airport’s Historic Terminal A. Designed by the Wright Brothers and manufactured under license by Starling Burgess, the Model F landed on the South Lawn of the White House on July 14, 1911.

I realized I was falling into an all-too-common, part-time, contract copilot trap. I could put everyone on the aircraft at risk if I blindly assumed that my basic FAR Part 61.55 legal compliance truly prepared me to belt into the right seat.

In August 2016, Teterboro Airport again was the business aviation airport viewed more than any other by acukwik.com users, according to site traffic data. Dig into the data to spot more trends.

As the value leader in the single-engine turboprop class, the M600 has potential to carve out a considerably larger share of this market segment for Piper.

At the end of a remarkable chain of inaccurate weather forecasts and missed communications opportunities, two Boeing 737-800s operated by different Australian airlines had to bust minimums within minutes of each other to prevent really bad outcomes.

Dean Rush, a pilot and former corporate CEO turned pastor, tells BCA how lessons from his business career shaped his current goal.

BCA breaks down mission costs — direct costs, fuel expenses and per-mile costs — as well as flight times for turboprops heavier than 12,500 lb. and jets lighter than 20,000 lb.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a way of reinforcing composites using tiny carbon nanotubes (CNT) that testing has shown can increase strength by 30%.

Jet-A And Avgas Per-Gallon Fuel Prices August 2016

It’s reasonable to ask just how reliable are FANS and its constituent parts.

What crews should know about the Future Air Navigation System

Ultimately you're going to have to upgrade to ADS-C and CPDLC to operate above FL 280 in most oceanic airspace anyway (e.g., by Jan. 1, 2020, in the North Atlantic), but here's what you're missing out on now in the North Atlantic Track System.

Oscar Garcia, chairman and CEO of InterFlight Global Corp., is scheduled to address market potential and obstacles to supersonic business aircraft at the SpeedNews annual Business and General Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference, Oct. 4-5 , in Los Angeles.