Business & Commercial Aviation

Chairman, NBAA Safety Committee; Senior Manager, Aviation Training and Standards, Altria Client Services Inc., Richmond, Virginia

​ Bell Helicopter’s Model 505 Jet Ranger X is making good headway — in both development and the marketplace. The helicopter began its flight trials at its Mirabel, Quebec manufacturing site last November, the same month that China’s Reignwood Investment, Ltd., signed for 50 of the light singles. The aircraft features a Garmin G1000H integrated flight deck and is powered by a Turbomeca Arrius 2R turboshaft engine rated at 504 shp (takeoff) and 457 shp (max continuous) and fitted with a dual channel FADEC.

VistaJet has said farewell to it last Learjet, as it moved to an all-Bombardier Challenger and Global business jet fleet. The company has operated 20 Learjets since 2004. Since then, the Learjet fleet has made 18,262 flights, logged 42,962 flight hours and carried 28,685 passengers. Founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr bought the first Learjet, a Learjet 60 for personal use, in December 2003. That became the catalyst for the company, which operates the largest privately owned Bombardier business jet fleet of more than 45 large-cabin Global and Challenger aircraft.

We seldom see so many exciting new developments in our annual avionics listings. For example, there’s a try-n-buy synthetic vision system, several electronics countermeasure offerings, some promising wearable tech, rebate programs, several new FANS-1 offerings, avionics for meeting FAR Part 135 rotary-wing rules, new flight and cockpit voice recorders, plus a wide variety of new avionics packages available to meet on-coming U.S. and European Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) mandates.

For an aircraft to be listed in the Purchase Planning Handbook, a production conforming article must have flown by May 1 of this year. The dimensions, weights and performance characteristics of each model listed are representative of the current production aircraft being built or for which a type certificate application has been filed. The Basic Operating Weights we publish should be representative of actual production turboprop and turbofan aircraft because we ask manufacturers to supply us with the average weights of the last ten commercial aircraft that have been delivered.

Worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales for 2014 totaled $2.53 billion, a new Avionics Market Report said. The figure was 4% higher than 2013 sales. Of the total, 62.6% came from the North American market. The dollar amount includes electronic sales for business and general aviation aircraft, including components and accessories in the cockpit, cabin, software upgrades, portables, certified and noncertified aircraft electronics, hardware, batteries and chargeable-product-upgrades from manufacturers.

Jet Aviation recently finalized a 10-year concession agreement with the Macau Airport Authority for 4,000 square meters of a new hangar built specifically for business aviation maintenance, refurbishment and overhaul (MRO) work at Macau International Airport. Under the agreement, Jet will lease half of the new 8,000 square-meter hangar in addition to 1,000 square meters of workshop and office space.

The Santa Monica, California, City Council recently adopted a proposal to implement higher-priced leases for Santa Monica Airport (SMO) tenants. At their March 24 meeting, council members approved new leasing policies for tenants on a variety of parts of the municipal airport, but did not discuss jet exhaust limits, according to reports. The approvals involved new three-year leases for airport tenants and month-to-month leases for non-aviation tenants.

Aergen Management Services, Bellevue, Washington, announced Heinz Westen has been appointed chief financial officer. Michael Barry has been appointed as the company’s chief marketing officer and Tom Kaluza has been named senior vice president. Westen most recently served as chief financial officer of Dubai Aerospace Enterprises, while Kaluza served as senior vice president of marketing for DAE Capital Advisors.

Bombardier has certified and delivered its first Learjet 75 light business jet to a customer in Poland. The Learjet 75 received certification by officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Poland. “We are confident the Learjet 75 aircraft will provide customers in Poland with an experience that exceeds all expectations,” said Veria Kolyuchaya, Bombardier Business Aircraft regional vice president of sales for Eastern Europe, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States.

AgustaWestland’s third prototype AW609 civil tiltrotor is expected to take to the air this month and after completing several proving flights be dismantled and sent to Philadelphia for reassembly. It is then to undergo icing tests in Minnesota late this year. The Italian manufacturer says it has managed to increase range of the aircraft to 730 nm and is developing auxiliary underwing fuel tanks that could up that to 1,100 nm — increases that make it “an ideal transportation solution for offshore travel,” according to AgustaWestland.

Butler Aviation will spend $3 million to improve and expand its facilities at La Guardia Airport, New York, under the terms of a 15-year operating agreement with the Port of Authority. New tanks and piping will be installed, along with passenger waiting areas, a pilots’ lounge and operations office.

With 69 exemptions granted but 771 petitions still in line at the end of March, the FAA is moving to streamline its process for approving low-risk commercial unmanned aircraft operations under so-called Section 333 legislation. In addition to granting exemption holders blanket authorization to fly under 200 ft. anywhere in the U.S. outside of restricted airspace, the FAA has relaxed its requirements for unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operators and streamlined the approval of petitions that are similar to exemptions previously granted.

Bell Helicopter says it’s laying off 315 workers because of reductions in V-22 Osprey production and reduced demand for commercial models. The layoffs affect management and non-management employees as well as union and non-union workers. They mainly impact Bell’s Fort Worth, Texas, facilities. Last year, the Textron subsidiary announced a series of layoffs, including 320 in October.

Airbus Americas will move its engineering center, along with 400 employees, from Wichita’s Old Town to Wichita State University’s new Innovation Campus, the company said. The Wichita State Innovation Alliance has signed letters of intent with Airbus for the move, which will bring new opportunities for applied learning in aerospace engineering to Airbus, the company said. The move is expected to take place in January 2017. Most of Airbus’s Wichita employees are engineers who work on Airbus wings and airframes.

IBAC Buys Aviation Safety Data Business The International Business Aviation Council recently bought Robert E. Breiling Associates with the assistance of the National Business Aviation Association and will incorporate the company’s safety data and collection methods.

​1. Lightspeed Adds Capability to Sierra Headset Lightspeed Aviation added Bluetooth audio capability to its entry level Sierra headset, making the company’s entire line of headsets compatible with Bluetooth cell phone, music and audio alerts from aviation apps installed on Bluetooth-capable devices. It is also compatible with FlightLink, the first inflight cockpit recording application for the Apple iPad and iPhone. Lightspeed positions Sierra as a value-priced entry into its premium ANR aviation headsets. Five-year warranty.

​ Dassault Aviation has added a second Falcon 8X into its flight test program that flew for the first time on March 30. After initial checks on the digital flight controls and engine system, test pilots Laverne and Faurdesus took the aircraft to 43,000 ft. and Mach 0.8 for performance testing. They then ran a series of additional checks before landing after 2 hr. and 45 min. in the air. The aircraft will mostly serve for performance testing.

Of all the weather phenomena with which pilots must contend, that old nemesis, the thunderstorm, remains the most feared. And for good reason.

Journey to the Top

Embraer’s Melbourne, Florida, assembly facility recently broke the century mark in Phenom deliveries when it turned over a Phenom 300 to NetJets. It was the fractional operation’s 40th of the type and is destined for the NetJets’ European operation. The delivery came a little more than three years after the first aircraft was assembled at the rapidly expanding Space Coast campus.

Honda Aircraft has received a provisional type certificate from the FAA for its HondaJet, which represents a milestone in the program and for the company. It’s the first type certificate for the first-time manufacturer. “We are pleased to reach this significant step toward customer deliveries and entry into service,” said Honda Aircraft Co. President and CEO Michimasa Fujino. Honda Aircraft has completed nearly all the testing and reports required by the FAA, Fujino said.

Steve Charbonneau Chairman, NBAA Safety Committee; Senior Manager, Aviation Training and Standards, Altria Client Services Inc., Richmond, Virginia

Of all the weather phenomena with which pilots must contend, that old nemesis, the thunderstorm, remains the most feared. And for good reason.

2015: Purchase Planning Handbook Business Airplane Comparison Charts