MD Helicopters is making performance enhancements to its MD 540F as it prepares to move toward certification in 2015. The new aircraft, an updated and modernized variant of the MD 500 family, will get a new anti-torque system. Engineers are studying a number of options including a four-bladed tail rotor to improve the aircraft's performance in conjunction with the new Rolls-Royce M250-C47E turboshaft, which the company announced it had selected for the MD 540F.
Bombardier is moving closer to the long awaited first flight of its all-new Learjet 85. The manufacturer recently rolled out the first Model 85 in a private celebration with employees in Wichita, and then invited the press to view it just prior to the NBAA Convention in October. Bombardier, Inc., CEO Pierre Beaudoin says the aircraft is on track to fly before year-end. This, the first FAR Part 25 all-composite business jet, is manufactured in a new dedicated facility in Queretaro, Mexico, and assembled in Wichita, but has suffered a number of program delays.
Rated at up to 11,450-lb. takeoff thrust for the Falcon 5X, the Silvercrest features a 42.5-in. fan with double-swept, wide-chord blades and a 5.9:1 bypass ratio, one of the highest in this thrust class. Aft of the fan, there is a four-stage, axial flow, low-pressure compressor (or supercharger) on the same shaft. The fan and supercharger are powered by a four-stage low-pressure turbine. The high-pressure core features four axial-flow compressor blisks, plus a centrifugal flow compressor — a first for this thrust class.
Nextant Aerospace is returning to Beechcraft products to add a second airframe to its remanufacturing business. This time it's targeting the King Air C90. Nextant has teamed with both General Electric and Garmin to offer what it calls the G90XT, a C90 fitted with GE H80 engines in place of the current Pratt & Whitney PT6As and with Garmin's G1000 avionics suite instead of the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 platform. While the Cleveland, Ohio, modifier's move to add another Beechcraft aircraft to its product line is not a surprise, the choice of the King Air is.
I've never taken the time to write back on an article before, but having read “Checking the Descent” (Viewpoint, August 2013) I wanted to share an in-the-trenches view from someone who is trying to start a flight school and get more people into aviation on a day-to-day basis. In my opinion, the biggest issues (behind the declining pilot population) are not what you mention. They're symptoms and not the cause. There is only one reason: Cost. General aviation has become too expensive.
Flush with new funding, Mooney Aircraft is stepping out of its years-long malaise and reports it will return its swift piston singles — specifically, the Acclaim Type S, Ovation 2GX and Ovation 3 series — to production by January, 2014. It's a new day for Mooney. And with a new investment group that is committed to the future, we're expecting to make a strong move in the industry,” noted Barry Hodkin, CFO for the company.
Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF), Alexandria, Va., has selected Greg Kinsella, president and CEO of Key Air, to the ACSF Board of Governors. American Eurocopter, Grand Prairie, Texas, named Samuel Adcock to the post of vice president-general manager of the company's helicopter production plant in Columbus, Miss.
I found “NOTAMs in Transition” (January 2013) to be an excellent article. As a member of the FAA's NOTAM working group we have been pushing for NOTAM improvements for many years, in fact since 2000. Your last paragraph captures the problem perfectly: Stop-and-Go Funding. I would love to see more articles on NOTAMS particularly from the dispatcher's perspective or more importantly explaining the role of the dispatcher. Manager Dispatch Operations
Duncan Aviation is expanding its service capabilities with the addition of a tenth Rapid Response engine location in Portland, Ore., and increased accessory shop space at its facility in Lincoln, Neb. The new Rapid Response unit will provide mobile engine services such AOG emergency services, and many scheduled and unscheduled events, including engine changes. The Portland area formerly was served by Duncan Aviation's response team in Seattle. Duncan also refurbished and expanded its service area in Lincoln, providing an additional 6,300 sq. ft.
The amphibious de Havilland DHC-2 MK 1 Beaver (C-GCZA) departed on wheels from Pitt Meadows Airport, B.C., just east of Vancouver, at 1620 on May 13, 2012, with the pilot and three passengers on board, for a day VFR flight to Okanagan Lake, B.C., some 150 sm to the northeast. It touched down at the lake about 1 hr. and 40 min. later where a single passenger deplaned, as planned.
With the emergence of a new generation of large-cabin, long-haul business aircraft, the industry could be witnessing a sea change in the traditional chicken-and-egg trade-off between airframe and engine makers. Unlike previous and current generations, which use engines derived from existing families, at least some of the new wave of large business jets will be powered by purpose-designed engines derived from the same all-new cores in development for the next-generation of single and widebody airliners.
Garmin International announced a premium GPS watch designed specifically for aviators. The D2 features Garmin's signature direct-to and nearest navigation functions, as well as a built-in altimeter with adjustable baro setting, altitude alerting capabilities, display of both local and Zulu/UTC time, and the ability to seamlessly integrate with the Garmin Pilot app, VIRB action camera, and many more functions. The price of the D2 is $449.00 and it should be available this month,
Awards and Honors Actor and accomplished pilot Harrison Ford received this year's NBAA's Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership. In addition to his extensive work as an outspoken champion for general aviation, Ford regularly files missions in support of humanitarian and philanthropic causes. He has participated in the Citation Special Olympics Airlift and works with the Corporate Angel Network.
Chicago Jet Group, a Universal Avionics authorized dealer, received the first Future Air Navigation System (FANS) retrofit certification on a Dassault Falcon 50 with the UniLink UL-801 Communication Management Unit (CMU) with an internal VHF VDL Mode 2 receiver. It's interfaced with dual UNS-1Lw FMSes and International Communications Group's (ICG) NxtLink ICS-220A Iridium Satcom. Universal's CVR-120A was also installed for required FANS datalink message recording.
The political math is not complicated. The U.S. government and most of the states are broke. Most people don't own aircraft. So, there won't be a populist revolt if in their quest for more revenue the IRS and counterparts at the state level target business aircraft for audits.
Executive AirShare has added three Cessna Citation CJ2+ aircraft to its fleet to complement its existing Embraer and Beechcraft products. All three are 2009 models year or newer with each having less than 800 hr. of flight time. “The CJ2+ offers the range, speed and seating our owners desire and is the aircraft we need to provide the comprehensive air service our customers expect,” said Keith Plumb, president and COO Executive AirShare.
Jet Aviation Flight Services has added its first Gulfstream G650 onto its U.S. Part 135 air carrier certificate. It will be managed by the Van Nuys office. The G650 charter aircraft seats up to 13 passengers, sleeps five and includes a crew rest area. With a range of about 7,000 nm, its suitable for trips from Van Nuys to Madrid, Melbourne and Johannesburg.
Landmark Aviation's Aircraft Management & Charter division has been approved to operate to and from Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA). Landmark will now be able to provide both corporate aircraft management and FAR Part 135-non-scheduled air carrier services.
Unloved and abandoned by its creator, the outcast Hawker 4000 is being embraced by Talon Air. The Farmingdale, N.Y.-based aircraft management and charter operator, now has nine of the super-midsize twins on its FAR Part 135 certificate making its fleet the largest by far. Paul St.
AgustaWestland is flight testing several aerodynamic improvements expected to boost performance of its AW609 TiltRotor. The manufacturer has test flown the aircraft with a modified vertical tail fin at its Cascina Costa flight test facility in Italy. That alteration is part of a package of improvements including a more aerodynamic design for the engine exhaust nozzles and changes to the prop-rotor spinner cones. Together, the mods reportedly reduce the aircraft's drag factor by approximately 10% and result in a significant weight savings as well.
Global Aviation has added a Bombardier Challenger 300 to charter fleet. The additional aircraft joins the company's Global Express XRS, Challenger 604 and Hawker 800SP. Global Aviation plans to further expand its fleet later this year with a Gulfstream GV and a Hawker 900XP. Its fleet is based in Portland, Ore.
Gulfstream Aerospace has seen its Russia-based business-jet fleet grow more than six fold in the last six years, according to an announcement made by Gulfstream President Larry Flynn at the recent Jet Expo in Moscow. There are now 53 customer-operated aircraft in Russia and a combined 76 in Russia and the CIS. In 2007, those numbers were eight and 11, respectively. To support the fleet in Russia and the CIS, Gulfstream has more than $120 million in parts and materials inventory at Luton, Madrid and Basel.
The first Legacy 650 business jet assembled in China under a joint venture by Embraer and Aviation Industry Corporate of China (AVIC) took flight in late August. Guan Dongyuan, senior vice president of Embraer and president of Embraer China said the 2.5-hr. flight was “an important milestone not only in the Embraer-AVIC partnership, but also in the history of the Chinese executive aviation industry, as the jet is also the first large executive jet assembled by a joint venture in China.” Delivery of the aircraft is expected by year's end.
China's Avicopter will build cabins for the Sikorsky S-76D as a second-source supplier of the executive/transport helicopter. The work will be done by Avicopter's Changhe factory at Jingdezhen, which previously made eight cabins for the S-76C++. Czech supplier Aero Vodochody also makes S-76D fuselages. Avicopter will deliver its first cabins in 2016, according to the schedule. The cabins — fuselages forward of the tail booms — will be delivered to Sikorsky fully fitted with equipment.
