Business & Commercial Aviation

George Bye Founder, Chairman and CEO, Aero Electric Aircraft Corp., and Bye Aerospace, Centennial Airport, Denver

There now are more than 460 Gulfstream G550 business jets in service and operators say it's a top performer, a versatile workhorse offering solid dispatch reliability and backed by unmatched product support.

Since my typical business attire trends to denim pants and souvenir T-shirts, I blinked knowing that the shirt I was about to purchase would set me back nearly $100, including tax. Fine for a fop, perhaps, but rich for a rumple-prone reporter. Still, I had to have it. Age, not overuse, had been unkind to its predecessor, and the bottles were about to be uncorked.

Strap into a CJ1+ and you’ll feel as comfortable as when you slip on your favorite shoes. The third-generation CitationJet, built from mid-2005 to late 2010, has FADEC-equipped engines with slightly more thrust, increased operating weights and an upgraded interior compared to the CJ1. It also has a completely integrated Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics package, including full-feature FMS-3000, and more standard equipment.

Textron Aviation has delivered its second completely refurbished Citation X and sees the Citation X Elite upgrade program as "major market opportunity." Plus, fractional ownership company PlaneSense has ordered two Nextant 400XTi light jets with an option for three additional aircraft. Business aviation flights declined in February 2015 compared to January and the previous year in the United States, Canada and Europe, according to Argus and WingX Advance.

Green shoots finally are popping up in the entry-level light jet market, after the segment entered a nosedive six years ago. Now, Textron Aviation, Embraer and HondaJet, the Big Three of the light jet manufacturers, are gearing up to take advantage of better times ahead with three distinctively different models, all priced at close to $4.5 million when comparably equipped.

What we have here is a “disruptive technology” that the regulatory apparatus — namely, the FAA — is utterly unprepared to accommodate.

Embraer delivered slightly fewer aircraft in the final three months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Plus, FlightSafety International says it plans to increase its fleet of advanced helicopter simulators by more than 40%.

In February 2015, air charter customers and brokers requested more quotes for flights to Van Nuys Airport than any other airport, and Teterboro Airport was the origin airport searched the most, according to an analysis of Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder data.

Like few operating areas, the South Pacific will test your airmanship, equipment and flight planning.

Imagine a corporate flight department with five long-range business jets that makes up to 15 transits of the South Pacific a year.

Bronte Marshall, chief pilot at Oakland-based KaiserAir Inc., urges flight crews to be flexible in spotting relief flight crews on long overwater missions. That advice is based on hard experience involving a crew exchange that wound up being complicated by an unforeseen weather event.

On Thursday, March 5, a technical problem with our enewsletter program caused the March 10 issue of B&CA Digest to mail prematurely. We apologize for the confusion and inconvenience. The true newsletter will mail on Tuesday, March 10.

It is a given among pilots universally that they must not let their aircraft alight or roll upon any surface not strong enough to support it. That goes for the runway, the ramp and everywhere in between. (Just because you were able to taxi it there, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to taxi it back out.)

Samuel Adcock Vice President-General Manager, Airbus Helicopters, Columbus, Mississippi

Selected accidents and incidents from the NTSB database.

Industry Week has chosen Cessna Aircraft’s Mexico factory as its 2014 Best Plants winner. Industry Week notes that the factory completed more than 250 continuous improvement practices, or “kaizens,” and has solved crucial problems in complex processes. Cessna has also simplified the machining process to improve cycle time and lowered required inventory levels with improved safety for the operator, it said. Cessna employs 800 people at its Mexico facility.

The Embraer Phenom 100’s Prodigy avionics package is a highly evolved and customized version of the Garmin G1000 system used in several other light turbofan aircraft, including the Cessna Citation Mustang. Embraer chose to fit the aircraft with three identical 12-in. AMLCDs having the same basic internal functionality. Any of them can assume the identity of a primary flight display or multifunction display. Using reversionary modes, this design feature allows the aircraft to be dispatched with one of the three displays inoperative.

Business aviation flights in Europe saw a big decline in January, marked by fewer flights in Western Europe and a continued free-fall in activity in Russia and the Ukraine, according to a report by WingX Advance. Overall, there were 49,929 business aviation flights in Europe in January, a decline of 5.8% compared to January 2013. “This fall takes last year’s tepid recovery well off course,” the report said. Activity last month was at a similar level to that of January 2009. Flight activity fell 4% in Western Europe.

A notable “low noise” technological success was achieved with the non-conventional NOTAR anti-torque design. The NOTAR, short for “no tail rotor”, design blows high-pressure air out of vents along the tail boom, producing torque-countering thrust via the Coanda effect. Originally developed by McDonnell Douglas, the system is installed on MD Helicopters’ MD520N, MD600N and MD Explorer models.

Spending on private jet charter activities increased 15% in 2014 over 2013, according to New Flight Charters. The average amount spent per charter rose from $14,841 in 2013 to $17,068 in 2014, it said. The average includes all charter activity and aircraft types, from piston aircraft through heavy and long-range private jets. Midsize jet activity increased 18.8% year over year and heavy jet activity nearly doubled, the company said. The data is from more than 750 U.S.

Strap into a CJ1+ and you’ll feel as comfortable as when you slip on your favorite shoes. The third-generation CitationJet, built from mid-2005 to late 2010, has FADEC-equipped engines with slightly more thrust, increased operating weights and an upgraded interior compared to the CJ1. It also has a completely integrated Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics package, including full-feature FMS-3000, and more standard equipment.

Pilatus appoints Russian aviation company Nesterov Aviation as its PC-12 sales and service center for Russia. Nesterov has offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Pilatus calls Nesterov the “perfect partner” that can offer customized support to PC-12 owners in Russia. Nesterov Aviation will begin preparations this year for a maintenance center in the northwestern part of Russia to further expand its operations across the country.

Everyone recognizes noise, but giving measure to it has resulted in a kind of acoustical polyglot, with different scientific camps employing a variety of systems. Even the FAA is confounded by the divisions. In its report on non-military helicopter noise, the agency noted, “there are multiple noise metrics utilized to assess noise (EPNL, ASEL, DNL, etc.). However, civil helicopter annoyance assessments utilize the same acoustic methodology adopted for airplanes with no distinction for the helicopter’s unique noise character.

Landmark Aviation has acquired the assets of Island City Flying Service, a fixed base operator at Key West International Airport. The expansion into the Key West market complements Landmark’s south Florida locations, the company said. Landmark began operations in the former Island City Flying Service facility on Feb. 1. The FBO’s services include a lounge, flight planning areas, hangars and an executive conference room. Customs and immigration services are also available, it said.