Business & Commercial Aviation

Simulator training is essential, but it alone simply isn’t sufficient to provide flight crews with all the skills and knowledge needed to assure the highest safety margins.

Selling a used jet “As Is, Where Is, With All Faults” is an age-old practice. It is the plain English version of caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware. The tradition in aviation is that the seller allows the buyer to inspect the airplane prior to purchase. The buyer pays for the inspection. The seller pays to repair the airworthiness discrepancies found. The shop “returns the aircraft to service” and the buyer flies it home.

Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, N.J., was the most popular business aviation airport in July 2015, according to an analysis of acukwik.com flight planning traffic. Paris Le Bourget Airport in France placed second.

Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, N.J., was the most researched business aviation airport in North America during July 2015, according to an analysis of acukwik.com flight planning activity. All of the top five most popular North American airports for the month were in the United States.

In our business of flying, “The Perfect” is very much still the enemy of “The Good,” especially when it comes to attaining dependable, economically feasible and broadly available all-weather operations equipage.

Moscow's Vnukovo Airport was the most popular departure and arrival airport for charter travel in July 2015, according to an analysis of Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder searches executed during that month. Pamplona/Noain Airport in Spain was the second most queried destination during July. Teterboro Airport ranked behind Vnukovo on both the departure and arrival lists.

Compare Jet-A and avgas fuel prices by region based on a survey conducted in August 2015 by Aviation Research Group/U.S. Inc. and an analysis of the lowest fuel prices reported by FBOs on acukwik.com.

Several factors could have led to the Bearskin Lake Air Service Flight 311 accident in 2013, including crew confusion over the engines’ negative torque sensing systems.

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.

Rockwell Collins has announced a series of updates to its ARINCDirect Flight Operations System, including the ability to integrate with new tools and the launch of a new vendor alliance charter management program. The FOS release features a more intuitive, mobile-friendly, touchscreen user interface for tablets and smartphones. It also provides access to flight-risk assessment and fatigue-risk-management tools through the Pulsar Infomatics Aviation Fatigue Meter suite and the SAFE tool developed by Fatigue Risk Management Science Limited.

Sixteen years after delivering its first production aircraft, Duluth, Minnesota-based Cirrus Aircraft is celebrating its 6,000th customer delivery of a new Cirrus aircraft “Our customers, partners and employees are rightfully proud of this amazing accomplishment,” said Dale Klapmeier, cofounder and CEO of Cirrus Aircraft.

VistaJet has increased its in-service business-jet fleet to 50 aircraft. All are Bombardier business jets. The milestone will be achieved in June when VistaJet takes delivery of a Global 6000 ultra-long-range aircraft, the company said. The growing fleet reflects VistaJet’s increasing global expansion, said Thomas Flohr, VistaJet founder and chairman.

Texas-based FreeFlight Systems has received FAA Supplemental Type Certificate and Approved Model List certification for its ADS-B systems,which are ready for shipping and installation. The systems are approved for installation in more than 400 light general-aviation aircraft. The RANGR Lite systems are available as an ADS-B Out only system for $1,995, and as an ADS-B In/Out system for $3,695. The price includes built-in WAAS/GPS, ADS-B and GPS antennas, an install kit, control head and/or Wi-Fi module if needed.

If you happen to operate a Meyers/Aero Commander 200 — unlikely, since fewer than 130 were built during its production run from 1959 to 1967 — there’s been an encouraging development. GlobalParts.aero, an Augusta, Kansas, parts manufacturer, has acquired the type certificate for the four-place single piston aircraft from its owner in Texas and plans to support the fleet with spare parts. “This opportunity came out of nowhere,” GlobalParts Vice President Malissa Nesmith said.

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

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.

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.