Air Medical Group Holdings (AMGH), one of the largest independent providers of helicopter air ambulance services, is buying 20 Bell 206L4s. Deliveries are scheduled to begin this year and continue through 2017.
Gilbert W. Speed, the founder of SpeedNews publications and conferences, a Penton Media business as is Business & Commercial Aviation, died Jan. 27 after a long illness. He was 81. Speed's 60-year aerospace career began with his apprenticeship at the Bristol Aeroplane Co., thence as an engineer for Eastern Airlines and later with Pan Am where he worked on specifications for the Boeing 727 and 707 Freighter, Concorde and Dassault Fanjet Falcon. He founded SpeedNews in 1979.
Henry Ogrodzinski, the president and CEO of the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) and a longtime industry advocate, died at his home in Washington, D.C. Jan. 22 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 65. A gentlemanly and friendly persuader, the genial “Henry O” spent his entire professional career in aviation, working with NASAO, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and Gulfstream Aerospace, among others.
The 52-year-old pilot of Beech King Air N987GM, an E90 model, was certainly experienced — the FAA's airman records showed he reported 5,300 hr. total time at his most recent second-class physical examination even though, inexplicably, his personal logbooks showed over 9,000 hr., 6,500 hr. of that in multiengine airplanes. The logbooks also indicated the pilot had accumulated 718 actual instrument flight hours. Whatever the case, he had spent a good amount of time in the cockpit.
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.
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.
It turns out that Christina Macfarland and I share a favorite place. By way of background, she is the great-great granddaughter of Henry Flagler, a founder of Standard Oil, and the man who created modern Florida by building The Breakers and other resorts, along with the railroad to bring yesteryear's snowbirds south.
TAG Aviation recently introduced iPad–based electronic flight bag (EFB) technology to its Switzerland-based fleet, featuring Jeppesen Mobile FlightDeck. Jeppesen will help to eliminate paper-based information from TAG's operations and increase overall operational efficiency. The company aims to achieve savings in fuel consumption by reducing the weight of each pilot's flight bag. On average, these can weigh from 40 to 50 lb. each. Jeppesen www.jeppesen.com
Dassault Falcon Jet, Teterboro, N.J., named Kristen Krueger sales manager for the Pacific Northwest. She has 13 years of industry experience, including as a regional ice president for sales at Netjets. Rhett Reavis is the new sales manager for the Mid-Atlantic and eastern Canada. He was formerly a regional sales manager for FlightSafety International.
It turns out 2013 was even harder for Sabreliner Corporation, which lost half of its business as a result of military budget cutting and defaulted on its bank loan. That, in turn, led to its sale to a Sabreliner Services LLC, which was reportedly formed recently by Innovative Capital Holdings LLC, a Florida investment firm. An investment group that included company Chairman F. Holmes Lamoreux previously had owned the company. As a result of the sale, Lamoreux is exiting, along with President Susan Aselage.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in its determination of probable cause for the loss of Beech E90, N987GM, that “Contributing to the accident was the failure of air traffic control personnel to use available radar information to provide the pilot with a timely warning that he was about to encounter extreme precipitation and weather along his route of flight or to provide alternative routing to the pilot.”
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.
MyTurbine is a mobile app from Dallas Airmotive designed to easily connect customers anywhere in the world with information about engines being serviced, AOG support and much more. Convenient icons allow for quick navigation to the services most used by customers such as the company's First Support global customers. Users can check cost estimates and completions dates on engines in process, find service locations and contact sales reps among others features.
Correction: Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga., hired Kevin Brink and Scott Clarey as sales directors for North America. Kevin Dutton's name was misspelled under his photo in the February “On Duty” section.
Greenpoint Technologies, Kirkland, Wash., announced that Chairman Jon Buccola was named Executive of the Year by the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, a non-profit organization geared toward growth and success of the aviation industry in the region.
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.
Organizers of the 2014 Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (ABACE), set for April 15-17, report exhibitor registrations early this year were far ahead of last year's pace and have expanded the exhibit hall and pavilion to allow for more booths at the Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Centre. ABACE is produced through a partnership between the Shanghai Airport Authority and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), and co-hosted by NBAA, the Asian Business Aviation Association and the Shanghai Exhibition Center.
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.)
The Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) is expanding its categories of membership to include academic institutions and individual aviation professionals, including retirees. MEBAA Founding Chairman Ali Al Naqbi said, “Our additional categories will bolster our plans to introduce students to the business aviation industry and support those already working within aviation to develop their contacts and knowledge in their respective field of expertise.
When a modern swept-wing aircraft is properly maintained within its certification limits, it is safe. Operating outside of the certification limits or not maintaining the aircraft to its airworthiness specifications can carry a steep price in the high-altitude environment.
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.
Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation, which comprise General Dynamics' aerospace group, posted significant gains in 2013 and entered 2014 with strong bookings. For the year the group posted $8.18 billion in revenue and $1.41 billion in earnings. In the year, Gulfstream delivered 139 green aircraft, or 18 more than in 2012. Of those total deliveries, 110 were large-cabin models with the balance mid-cabin. Additionally, for the year, deliveries of fully outfitted (completed) aircraft were up to 144, compared with 94 in 2012.
We feel “Finnoff PC-12 Upgrade” (February 2014, page 46), contains some inaccuracies that need to be corrected as to not mislead your readers. Excerpt: “The key to the additional speed was some clever negotiations with Pratt & Whitney Canada. Finnoff believed the -67P provided a surplus of climb power for PC-12NG, but it was loafing in cruise above 20,000 ft. So, he convinced PWC to develop an alternative operating envelope that would trade as much as 9% climb power for as much as 6.6% more horsepower in high altitude cruise at ISA+30C.”
Business jets operate at significant faster airspeeds and higher altitudes than the large transport sector, and yet the accident record and ASRS reports clearly indicate where training remains inadequate. First: Will you get sufficient exposure to these unique handling aspects in your simulator training? Likely not. The FAA-mandated training and checking maneuvers require so much time that it leaves no open time for delving into the high-altitude/high-speed scenarios.
