Business & Commercial Aviation

Solar Impulse 2 has completed its first test flight following a battery system upgrade and ahead of restarting its solar-powered round-the-world flight attempt in April from Hawaii.

Wichita-based True Blue Power, announced that its lithium-ion engine-start battery will power Bell Helicopter’s 505 Jet Ranger X.

Dassault Aviation’s new Falcon 5X business jet will not enter service until the first half of 2020 due to difficulties in developing the Silvercrest engine at Safran’s Snecma motors division.

West Star Aviation receives an STC for the upgrade of the Honeywell CAS-81A/TPA-81A or CAS-100A/TPA-100A with 7.0 software to the CAS-100B/TPA-100B with 7.1 software.

Key business jet market indicators, measured by a monthly UBS Business Jet Market Index survey, point to a weakening global market and have fallen back to levels tracked in 2008-09.

Honeywell Aerospace forecasts demand for 4,300 to 4,800 helicopters for civilian use over the next five years. That’s roughly 400 aircraft lower than last year’s five-year forecast.

Sabreliner Aviation reaches significant milestone with the AeroVue integrated flight deck program. With the completion of critical design review, Sabreliner begins cockpit preparation on the initial aircraft.

SOPs — Timely Topic I thoroughly enjoyed your article “ Sticking With SOPs,” (March 2016, page 52) You nailed it! I’m having it scanned and distributed within NTSB. Just wanted to thank you for ad–dressing this important and timely topic. Robert Sumwalt Member National Transportation Safety Board Washington, D.C. Get Out of the Way

When a hacker last year claimed to have tapped into an airliner’s entertainment system and then wormed his way into the flight control system, the major avionics companies were quick to internally debunk the claim, but they were less outspoken in public. That’s because the bourgeoning number of federated boxes that are increasingly common in connected cockpits are outside their direct control.

Keystone Aviation in Salt Lake City, Utah, has expanded its North American sales territory for the Daher TBM turboprop aircraft. It has added four Canadian provinces and one additional U.S. state, Alaska, to its area of responsibility.

Australian International Aviation College has added eight Diamond Aircraft to its fleet of DA20 C1 and DA40 CS aircraft.

The FAA this month begins weighing recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) regarding its handling of light or “micro” unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

Piper Aircraft recently received an order from ATP Flight School for 15 additional Archer TX training aircraft.

China will likely overtake Japan this year as the largest civil helicopter market in the Asia-Pacific region, even as its rapid growth of the recent past abates to more realistic levels.

SKYTRAC has joined with Flight Data Services for enhanced Flight Data Management Services.

Bombardier Business Aircraft delivered its 75th Model 75 Learjet in late February, two years after the first Learjet 75 entered service.

Germany aircraft manufacturer REMOS plans to unveil the next generation of its high-wing composite GX aircraft at the Aero Friedrichshafen 2016 trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that the probable cause of the fatal Oct. 30, 2014, crash of a King Air B200 into the FlightSafety International training center in Wichita was the pilot’s “failure to maintain control of the airplane after a reduction in left engine power” and “inappropriate rudder input.”

Bell Helicopter delivered 175 aircraft in 2015, including 99 Model 407s, 52 Model 429s and a dozen each of 412 twins and Long Rangers.

Meridian adds a Falcon 7X (N221HJ) to its charter fleet of business jets. This ultra-long range aircraft was completed in 2008, and seats up to14 passengers. It also has the capacity to sleep up to seven for long-haul trips.

VistaJet experienced double-digit growth in passenger and flight traffic in 2015, the European private jet charter and aircraft management company said.

AW&ST is working on its 100th anniversary issue and has asked Business & Commercial Aviation to identify the most significant business aircraft ever.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas received more departure requests than any other airport, and it was tied as the most popular destination airport, in Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder itineraries during February 2016, an analysis of aircharterguide.com data found.

Teterboro Airport was the business aviation airport searched most by acukwik.com visitors in February 2016, an analysis of site traffic shows. The third most searched airport overall, Paris Le Bourget Airport, was the top airport outside North America. Travel to TED talks in Vancouver caused Vancouver International Airport to soar into the top 50 in February as well.

Out of the ashes of the Hawker 4000 as well as drawing from its all-new Citation Latitude, Textron Aviation is creating a super-midsize jet with what could be a bright future.