Business & Commercial Aviation

Organizers of the Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (LABACE) have high expectations for this year’s show in the country’s bustling business center of São Paulo. Plus, the New York City Council has introduced legislation targeting the city’s helicopter-tourism industry for increased regulation.

What was once a quirky annual meeting of pilots who owned garage-built flying kites, odd-duck antiques and très outre experimentals has now morphed into a mainstream aviation event enjoyed by both aviators and non-pilots.

Bombardier's redesign of the Global 7000 wing is a major driver in the aircraft's delay. Embraer recorded lower revenue and earnings in the second quarter of 2015 amid lower commercial jet deliveries but higher business jet shipments. The market for Gulfstream Aerospace business jets has been boosted by demand from S&P 500 companies seeking to replace their fleets, officials said. Textron Aviation delivered 36 new Citation jets and 30 King Air turboprops during the second quarter of this year, compared to 36 Citations and 34 King Airs during the same time a year ago.

While we’re unlikely to see another tidal wave of vets eager to acquire wings, there is an undeniable, widespread enthusiasm for flight, albeit of another kind.

Michael J. Silvestro, CEO of Flexjet and Flight Options, discusses how the two organizations have been integrating since the acquisition of Flexjet as well as the plans for new aircraft on order.

Michael J. Silvestro, CEO of Flexjet and Flight Options, discusses how the two organizations have been integrating since the acquisition of Flexjet as well as the plans for new aircraft on order.

There’s a new unleaded fuel that will soon be available to the light, piston aircraft fleet. Swift Fuels LLC says its Unleaded 94 MON avgas (for “motor-octane-number”) is already FAA certified and meets ASTM standards. The fuel is tailored for lower-octane piston engines, and does not replace the 100LL avgas used in high performance aircraft. The company says it is working with certain avgas producers and distributors to supply the fuel to select regions of the U.S. and Canada.

The number of used business jets and business turboprops sold globally fell in May, when compared to the same time a year ago, according to JetNet. The total number of used business jets sold in North America in May totaled 170, down from 183 in May 2014. That’s still up from May 2013, however, when 149 used business jets were sold. While the number of light and medium-size jets sold fell in May, the number of heavy jets sold rose to 55 from 48 in May 2014.

The G150 is one of the fastest and most cost-effective mid-light business aircraft that is capable of flying non-stop between most coastal cities in the U.S.

Airbus’s electric-powered E-fan demonstrator aircraft made a successful — and heavily promoted — crossing of the English Channel on July 10, but the company’s expectation of being the first to make the passage on electric power alone was snuffed by an enterprising French aviator.

Thales is taking the helmet out of the helmet-mounted display and bringing Top Gun technology to the business jet world. Less than three years after acquiring an innovative line of helmet-mounted displays (HMD) from U.S. helmet-maker Gentex, Thales is offering the same technology for applications ranging from civil helicopters and business jets to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, including an a entirely new head-worn display called TopMax. The basic Scorpion combat HMD is already flying on U.S.

1. CMD’s AML STC Paves Way for ADS-B Aircraft

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley recently signed a bill removing a 6% sales tax on maintenance performed on general aviation aircraft in the Palmetto state. The tax exemption takes effect on Jan. 1, 2016. There are 37 certified repair stations in the state, but many had been losing out on work as operators took their aircraft to Georgia, Florida or Arkansas to avoid the tax, supporters said. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association backed the bill. In the doing, South Carolina became the 21st state to pass such an exemption.

Bombardier Aerospace has received type certification for the Challenger 300 and Challenger 350 business jets from the Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aviacon Civil (UAEAC) of Colombia, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, the company said. The Challenger portfolio is gaining strong momentum in Latin America, company officials said. And Colombia is a growing market in the region.

Learjet’s new turbine engine development “plans” are not much more than thought radiations from Bill Lear’s fertile mind. The company has no such program for study, research or building a mock-up or model of a jet engine. Utility, flexibility and ease, of control make the Hiller SL4 one of the best all-around vehicles in the small reciprocating engine helicopter field. Vision from the front-centered seat is excellent in all directions.

Bombardier Aerospace says the Global 7000 and 8000 programs are undergoing a strategic review, raising questions about the development schedule for the long-range business jets. “Following the arrival of new leadership in our organization — namely Alain Bellemare as president and CEO, Bombardier Inc. and David Coleal as president, Bombardier Business Aircraft — we are conducting a full review of all aspects of the program, including its schedule,” the company said.

Watch footage from Gulfstream Aerospace of the same flights with an enhanced vision system (EVS) and without this technology.

In its recent market outlook, Embraer predicts deliveries of 6,350 jets in the 70-to-130 seat category over the next 20 years.

Bell Helicopter’s all new Model 525 Relentless is flying.

Magnum Aviation, Sun Air Jets Now Signature Select Members

Aircraft operating costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs. Aircraft Category

It’s worked on the Pacific coast, so why not on the Atlantic coast as well? That’s the thinking of the team that founded Surf Air, the growing commercial operation that provides scheduled PC-12 service among various California business aviation airports to its members.

Jim Holahan, the founding editor of Aviation Convention News and the monthly Aviation International News, and a former editor in chief of this publication, has gone west.

A recent court decision in the battle over aircraft noise in East Hampton, New York, left neither side particularly happy. In late June, Judge Joanne Seybert of U.S. District Court in Central Islip issued an injunction a town law limiting summer takeoffs and landings at East Hampton Airport to one a week.

When maintenance managers gather and the talk turns to their work woes, the subject of rules and regulations inevitably comes to the fore. It seems as though technicians spend more effort complying with precautions than turning wrenches.