Business & Commercial Aviation

The Brazilian aircraft maker celebrated the type certification award during the recent Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE) in Sao Paulo.

The Breitling Jet Team is performing aerobatic exhibitions using seven L-39 C Albatros jets made by AERO Vodochody Aerospace, a Czech Republic aerospace company. The team is on a U.S. and Canada tour visiting more than 20 cities. Watchmaker Breitling has worked with the Czech jets for almost a decade in showcases and display tours throughout Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Menominee, Michigan, manufacturer reports having signed MOUs in hand for the new helicopter, first announced last year, and designed for the ab-initio flight training, light commercial, and private owner market.

Aviation Partners has received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for retrofitting its Split-Scimitar Winglet on BBJ aircraft. The approval was granted to Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), a joint venture between API and Boeing. The STC follows FAA approvals issued earlier this year. The Split-Scimitar Winglet is now standard equipment on new 737NG BBJ aircraft.

The audit follows a request in March from the ranking members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Subcommittee on Aviation.

According to the Office of Inspector General, Jeffrey Krantz was charged and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Hartford, Connecticut, to wire fraud for his role in the sale of counterfeit aircraft parts. Among other things, Krantz allegedly bought and sold obsolete electronic parts for use by commercial buyers and the U.S. military.

The acquisition also involved Firstmark Aerospace, which makes navigation, flight control, fuel measurement and other electromechanical components; transducer maker Firstmark Controls; ABI, an aviation safety equipment supplier; and Centroid, which makes electronic components for the defense industry.

FL Technics has formed a cooperation with B&H Worldwide. FL Technics provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The partnership will cut delivery time in half, the company said. FL Technics’s main warehouse, based in Lithuania, manages aircraft spare-part stock in the U.K., Malaysia, Poland, Russia and the U.S. The agreement with B&H gives the company more warehousing capacity, inventory inspection and customs-clearance support. The extended London-based stock will include up to 1,500 part numbers.

Michael Thacker, Textron Aviation senior vice president for engineering, says a team has been created to bring a turboprop to market a range of more than 1,500 nm, and cruise speed of over 280 kt.

Redesign of the wing is the major driver behind a two-year delay in entry into service of the Bombardier Global 7000 long-range, large-cabin business aircraft, to the second half of 2018, says CEO Alain Bellemare.

Cirrus Aircraft officials say the Vision SF50 personal jet is on track for certification by the end of this year. In the meantime, the company is adding a finishing and detail center in Duluth, Minnesota, and a new “Vision Center” in Knoxville, Tennessee, which will focus on training, deliveries, service, sales and marketing. In addition, the company is phasing in a new manufacturing system for the SF50 to take advantage of the benefits of robotics, which it calls the “Electronic Manufacturing Execution System.”

Commercial aviation’s first touch screen primary flight displays have received FAA certification as standard equipment on Beechcraft King Airs. Textron Aviation now will begin deliveries of the King Air 250 turboprop equipped with Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics.

Gulfstream Aerospace reports the market for its business jets has been boosted by demand from major corporations companies seeking to replace their fleets. General Dynamics Chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic says the sales pipeline for Gulfstream jets remains steady across all aircraft models. And the return of S&P 500 companies seeking to replenish aging fleets is especially encouraging.

Wade Eyerly launches Beacon, an all-you-can fly membership carrier that takes customers from the Westchester County Airport, outside New York City to Boston Logan, beginning with nine roundtrips per day.

For less than $3 million, the Cessna Citaction CJ2 provides high value in light jet transportation. It offers excellent airport performance, reasonable block times on typical missions, unbeatable reliability and unmatched product support from Cessna.

The world of nondestructive testing can be a bit foreign to most maintenance technicians. To learn more about the technology, visit: American Society for Non-Destructive Testing - www.asnt.org ASTM International – www.astm.org NDT Resource Center – www.ndt-ed.org

In October 1996, the NTSB issued Safety Recommendation A-96-120, which asked the FAA to require FAR Part 121 and 135 operators to train their flight crews in recognition and recovery of, “unusual attitudes and upset maneuvers, including upsets that occur while the aircraft is being controlled by automatic flight control systems.”

Selected accidents and incidents in July 2015. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

Graphs illustrate the performance of Citation M2 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions.

​Aerion Corp., Reno, Nevada, announced that Matthew (Matt) Cram, previously an attorney for Aero Law Group PC, is Aerion’s vice president of Contracts and will have responsibility for commercial contract activity for the Aerion AS2, as will as other legal affairs for the company.

Training Accident

The decentralization of the FAA will continue, with area managers throughtout the county getting increasing responsibilities. These 18 mangers for the 48 continental states may add another level of bureaucracy between the aviation community and FAA headquarters. Britten Norman’s utility twin “Islander” has flown over 60 hr. in extensive testing. Factory export price of the Continental IO-360-powered fixed-gear, 10-seater is $49,000 and the manufacturer recently announced 15 deposits on pre-release orders.

1. CARE Moves to New Showhouse Constant Aviation Rotable Exchange (CARE) have moved into their new 20,000-sq.- ft. showhouse and increased available parts inventory by an additional $3.5 million, bringing their total inventory to over $48 million with over 54,000 line items. Additionally, CARE has placed inventory nationwide to assist in decreased shipping time providing customers with 24/7/365 support for all their purchasing and sourcing needs. Constant Aviation Rotable Exchange (CARE) (800) 4400-9004

The FAA has granted more than 1,000 Section 333 exemption approvals for the operation of commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in U.S. airspace. The approvals have been issued to companies and individuals for a wide range of activities including motion picture production, precision agriculture, real estate videos and photography, inspection of power distribution towers and wiring, railroad infrastructure and bridges, among other things.