Beechcraft, Wichita, named John Kearns regional sales director for the Central and West Texas region. Kearns formerly spent 15 years with Tulsa Beechcraft and is a former Beechcraft sales distributor in Tulsa. Patrick O'Connell was named regional sales director for the Upper Midwest region. He served as a demonstration pilot for Beechcraft for the past 6 years.
MedAire has launched its free MedAire Trip Ready iPad app that provides business aviation crews with information enabling them to assess and mitigate travel and safety risks for flights. It displays content based on a user's destinations and upcoming itineraries. Depending on the user's MedAire membership level, pilots and flight departments can see medical and travel risk ratings, local time, current weather and NOTAMs for each destination, along with security and travel information, including a calendar of holidays and events that may affect a mission.
You could almost hear a collective gulp within the business aviation community last August when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court ordered Chapter 7 liquidation of Avantair, the Clearwater, Fla.-based fractional aircraft ownership program.
Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer has been in Beijing, China, opening an office that will work to support trade opportunities for the U.S. city's aviation industry. “There are a lot of opportunities for us to be able to sell a lot of planes in China,” Brewer said. “We need to be in the game of international trade, and this trip reflects our dedication to helping Wichita companies expand their export opportunities.” The Beijing office is a pilot project initially budgeted at $300,000-$500,000 and funded by private sponsors.
International Bureau of Aviation, Surrey, U.K., announced that Ken Sewell has joined the group as head of Aircraft Transactions responsible for aircraft remarketing and associated transaction management across IBA's managed portfolio.
Zenith Aviation, Fredericksburg, Va., named Bryan Shelton director, Field Operations. Shelton recently ended a 20-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps where he retired as senior manager, Aviation Maintenance Operations for the Presidential Helicopter Squadron (Executive Division).
BizJet International, a Tulsa, Okla.-based subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik, was to begin work this month on a Boeing Business Jet completion, its second for a Chinese customer. Earlier it delivered its a BBJ to Chinese Nanshan Group — the first private BBJ delivered to the Chinese market. Meanwhile, in Germany, the parent firm will shortly finalize its cabin installation work on two VIP completion projects from undisclosed customers in its Hamburg hangars.
EQ-1 Wireless Communications, Spokane Wash., now has available the EQ-Reverse Link wireless system, which is comprised of two modules. The Reverse Link module is designed to accept input from conventional wired general aviation headset apparatus (either 2-plug GA style of single-plug helicopter style). The module is worn on the user's person and makes a wireless connection with the EQ-Link module that is plugged into the aircraft's intercom system. The system uses 2.4 Ghz TDMA protocol wireless technology instead of Bluetooth technology.
Piaggio investors Tata Group and Mubadala Development Co. have increased their shares in the Italian airframer to 44.5 % and 41%, respectively. Ferrari's stake in down to 2%, while HDI, a hedge fund, holds the balance. Piero Ferrari, part of the team that saved Piaggio from bankruptcy in 1998, remains chairman of the company. Piaggio CEO Alberto Galassi says the investment supports Piaggio's plans to diversify into new markets such as the unmanned and surveillance aircraft.
In 2014, Eurocopter will upgrade its American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Miss., to become a final assembly and test center for AS350s. Production will start in 4Q 2014 and is expected to total 60 helicopters annually by 2016. The plan has two main objectives: offsetting the impact of reduced production of UH-72A Lakotas for the U.S. Army at the site, and boosting AS350 sales in the U.S. market, especially with government and law enforcement agencies.
Luma Technologies, Bellevue, Wash., introduced new Luma Tech LED products for King Airs and Beechjet 400s, including annunciator panels and a master caution system. The annunciator panels for the King Air family include a 45-stations variant tailored to the C90A and such newer models as the C90GT, C90GTI and C90GTx, Luma says. The new unit is designated LT-4545 and is a one-for-one drop-in replacement for the existing incandescent annunciators.
The SJ30 light jet, now known as the SyberJet, and which is undergoing significant improvements, was launched by Ed Swearingen back in the 1980s. The prototype first flew 22 years ago. Over the decades it's had a variety of names — mighty Gulfstream briefly promoted it as the “Gulfjet” before withdrawing from the program — and owners, including Swearingen Aircraft, the Jaffe Group, Sino Swearingen and Emivest, all of which either lost interest or came to financial grief, with the last named actually going bankrupt in 2010.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Learjet 75 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance. Time and Fuel Versus Distance This graph shows the relationship between distance flown, block time and fuel consumption for the Learjet 75 at Mach 0.77 long-range cruise and Mach 0.78 high-speed cruise. Both profiles assume FL 430 to FL 470 cruise altitudes.
A little more than a decade ago, then Chicago Mayor Richard Daley shocked the aviation community and his own city by ordering backhoes out to Meigs Field (CGX) in the dark of night to carve giant Xs, measuring two-foot-deep, along the close-in airport's 3,899-ft. runway. That March 31, 2003, assault destroyed the 55-year-old general aviation airport and took place without warning to the FAA, the FBO (Signature Flight Support) and the owners of about 16 aircraft temporarily stranded there.
According to business aviation consultant Brian Foley, the number of used jets up for sale is descending to normal levels, or about 15% of total fleet. He told delegates to SpeedNews “18th Annual Regional and Business Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference” conference held last month in Phoenix, Ariz., that the number of unsold new aircraft — i.e. “white tails” — is also down. Those facts, coupled with a steady rise in business jet operations around the world and a better global economy, should lead to greater business jet sales, he said.
Innotech Aviation's engineering department has certified the installation of the Honeywell Aspire 200 satcom system on a Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft. The ICG Iridium 120A has been interfaced with the Honeywell Aspire 200 system to provide telephony and Internet access. The ICG handsets can be used over both Iridium and Immarsat SwiftBroadband systems. The Aspire system has been interfaced through a high-gain satcom antenna to provide broadband connectivity of up to 432 Kbps. This system provides Wi-Fi connectivity in the cabin for a very low cost airborne solution.
Citation Mustang is the most successful very light in history. More than 440 have been built since 2006, but production rates now have dropped to about 12 aircraft per year because of slack demand. However, the aircraft remains an ideal entry-level twin turbofan aircraft because it's easy to fly, safe, reliable and well supported by Cessna.
Gulfstream Aerospace, Inc., Savannah, Ga., expanded the role of commercial sales representative Prestige Jet to handle Gulfstream aircraft transactions in France, Italy and Switzerland.
Williams International has bundled many features into a new engine maintenance program called TAP Blue that it says offers “an unprecedented level of coverage.” Under the program Williams is expanding the coverage of its Total Assurance Program (TAP) to include virtually every natural and unnatural event that might occur over the life of its family of FJ33 and FJ44 engines.
Bombardier is increasing the maintenance intervals across all its business jet programs and, at the same time, is launching the Challenger 605 MAX upgrade program to improve reliability. The interval evolution is based on experience and “strictly on findings as we inspect the airplanes,” says Bombardier Customer Services Vice President Andy Nureddin. The changes to the maintenance programs and all associated documents will be applied to the Learjet 40, 45, Challenger 300, 604, 605 and Global programs.
True Blue Power, Wichita, Kan., is determined to reverse all the bad press surrounding lithium-ion batteries with its new low-weight, high-power-density technology for general and business aviation. “Every pound is worth a lot,” says Todd Winter, True Blue Power's president and CEO. A division of the Mid-Continent Instrument Co., True Blue is offering two main battery options to fixed- and rotary-wing turbine operators.
Banyan Air Service recently completed MagnaStar digital phone upgrades on a Challenger, Hawker and Citation, in advance of the system's phase-out this month. “With over 1,100 aircraft operating with the MagnaStar system, operators need to plan their upgrades very soon, as time is running out and the number of qualified shops and available equipment will reach capacity,” warns Brian Wilson, Banyan's director of avionics.
Questions for Scott Smith First among mayors, he sees general aviation as part of the nation's character, and a sometimes awesome way to cover long distances quickly. You have an overfull agenda. Why did you agree to join the Alliance board as well?
