RUAG has delivered the first Dornier 228-212 to the Venezuelan government at the end of January. This is the first of 10 Dornier 228s in passenger configuration ordered by that government and includes spare parts, ground equipment and training. The Dornier fleet will improve travel between remote areas and regional hubs, and will give residents in hard to reach areas greater access to medical care and government support.
FAA is streamlining the process for obtaining certain letters of authorization (LOAs) for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM) approval. Both the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and National Air Transportation Association (NATA) welcomed the changes.
Gulfstream Aerospace has enhanced its support of operators attending major U.S.–based events with the addition of its biggest and most capable Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST) vehicle — a specially equipped 74-ft. (22.6 meters) tractor-trailer. The vehicle debuted at this year's Super Bowl at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Using the capabilities of the FAST vehicle, on-board technicians can perform: line-service repairs; engine exchanges; post-flight and storage inspections; unscheduled inspections; and cabin interior repairs.
"Boosting DCA" (Washington Watch, February 2014, page 59) is the first article regarding Reagan Washington National Airport that hasn't totally ignored the fact that access to DCA is still severely limited. I've been getting very tired of aviation publications extolling TSA's superb efforts at relaxing the guidelines at DCA every time a new gateway airport is added. You are right on in acknowledging that there has been progress, but we are a long way from where we should be.
Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. (IS&S) received an FAA STC for its Autothrottle System and Standby Display Unit incorporated into its Integrated Flight Management System (IFMS). The IS&S-developed autothrottle allows a pilot to control the power setting of the aircraft's engines by setting a desired flight characteristic rather than manually controlling fuel flow.
At the dawn of aviation, among the toughest challenges confronting its pioneers was controlling the aircraft. Otto Lilienthal steered his gliders by shifting his weight and upsetting the balance between the center of lift and gravity. The Wright brothers refined the control in all three axes through a combination of wing warping and coordinated movements of the elevator and rudder using pulleys and cables. As aircraft grew faster and larger, so did the forces necessary to maintain control.
The long running fight for control of Santa Monica, Calif., Airport entered a pitched legal battle recently to determine the future of the facility, a key general aviation field outside Los Angeles — and possibly put hundreds more airports in jeopardy. Late last October the city filed suit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking to control the fate of SMO, insisting it has “unencumbered title” to the airport property and can do with it “as it chooses.” The municipality wants the option to close the airport after July 2015.
National Business Aviation Association, Washington, elected Jim Schwertner to the board of directors. He is president and CEO of Schwertner Farms, Inc.
Luxembourg-based Luxaviation has acquired Unijet, a leading French business aviation operator, through its Belgian subsidiary, Abelag. Based at Le Bourget in Paris, Unijet provides the group access to Europe's foremost business aviation airport. With the acquisition, the new group increases its staff to 350 employees and its fleet to 60 business aircraft based in Benelux, Germany and France.
The PC-12 you flew in “Finnoff PC-12 Upgrade” is based at Boulder Municipal Airport in Colorado, not California; and Boulder City Airport is in Nevada. Boulder, Colo.
Executive AirShare, Kansas City, Mo., promoted Daniel Ireson to assistant chief pilot. He is based at Fort Worth Meacham Airport and Love Field in Dallas and reports to Chief Pilot Alex Franz.
There now are more than 50 Gulfstream G650 jets in service, an impressively large number of new aircraft deliveries for just over one year of production. Operators say the airframe, engines and basic systems have been remarkably trouble free, resulting in near flawless dispatch reliability. That's an impressive milestone as the G650 is the first completely clean-sheet Gulfstream since the 1967-vintage GII, doubly so because of the reliability of early serial number airplanes.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore officially inaugurated the new Singapore Air Traffic Control Centre (SATCC) during the Singapore Airshow in February. The Centre represents a quantum leap in the capacity and ability of CAAS in providing high-quality air navigation services.
On aviation taxes: It [the 1965 budget] would increase the present tax of two cents per gallon of gasoline used by general aviation to three cents and would impose a two-cent tax on jet fuel. There is no tax on jet fuel at the present time.
Implicit in human achievement from the moment our ancestors climbed down from the trees to stand upright in the tall grass of the savannah has been the Law of Unintended Consequences. It works like this: Leave the arboreal sanctuary for the foraging temptations of the plains, and you increase your vulnerability to predation, perhaps winding up as some larger creature's lunch — and possibly leading to extinction of your species.
John Leahy is not satisfied with the status quo of ACJ activity and wants to change that. The COO-Customers at Airbus, Leahy recently told reporters that the European manufacturer is making a renewed effort to revitalize Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) sales to take a bigger share of the VIP market away from archrival Boeing. “If we look at Corporate Jets to BBJs, it looks like about an equal split there,” he said speaking of 2013 results, “but it won't be quite the same on a net basis.” He continued, “On our corporate jet program, it switches around.
It took a data link mandate in the North Atlantic and, finally, pressure from airframe OEMs and operators, but avionics manufacturers are stepping forward with Future Air Navigation System 1/A options and upgrades to allow customers continuous unimpeded access to prime aerial real estate in the North Atlantic region, especially on the Organized Track System. (See “CPDLC: Texting for Pilots,” October 2013 B&CA, page 80.)
Embraer, Sao Paulo, Brazil, appointed Peter Griffith vice president, sales and marketing for Europe and Africa, for the company's Executive Jets unit. Griffith has had sales positions with Raytheon Aircraft, Cessna and Honda, among others. Peter Walker was named vice president sales and marketing for the Middle East and Asia Pacific. He has served as a chief pilot and has had sales roles for Hawker Beechcraft and Nextant.
P180 Avanti and Avanti II aircraft are the flying Ferraris in a turboprop world awash in airborne Fiats and Fords. They soar as high as FL 410, fly as fast as 400 KTAS and sip jet fuel. Their cabins provide midsize jet passenger comfort and interior sound levels are as low as some older light jets. They can fly six passengers 1,300 nm in less than four hours and consume less fuel than any other pressurized, twin-turbine aircraft.
Business jet operations last year topped 4 million, an activity level not seen since 2008, according to preliminary FAA data. The 4.072 million operations recorded in 2013, represented a 2.26% increase over 2012. Since the data is preliminary, this is likely to increase slightly once FAA finalizes December operations. Business jet operations peaked at 4.825 million in 2007 before falling 11% in 2008 to 4.291 million. Operations plunged almost 20% the following year to a decade-low 3.449 million. They have been on the rise every year since, but recovery has been slow.
For most pilots, transitioning to a swept-wing jet brings the feeling of having finally “gotten to the top of the pyramid” in professional pilot accomplishments. The opportunity to step into one's first swept-wing jet often occurs in business or regional aviation, where sometimes the standardization and quality of training has been insufficient.
Noting that nearly 1,500 helicopters have crashed over the past decade, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has added helicopter operations to this year's “Most Wanted List” of transportation safety improvements.
While aircraft design and certification has certainly minimized the occurrence of Mach Tuck, there are many important lessons to be remembered from earlier investigations that apply to swept-wing training.
Southeast Aerospace, Melbourne, Fla., appointed Darrel Davies regional representative for Canada. He will help expand SEA's service in the Canadian helicopter market.
