Macquarie has launched Macquarie Rotorcraft Leasing, a helicopter operating leasing business that will focus on the growing worldwide demand for commercial helicopters servicing offshore oil and gas, medical transport search and rescue, and the executive transport markets. Jeffrey Pino, 35, is the CEO. He most recently served as president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. James Clarke is COO, Steve Estill is the chief marketing officer and Greg A'slinger was named chief technical officer.
Cessna Aircraft, Wichita, named Lannie O'Bannion as its regional vice president of Sales for the Midwestern U.S. and Canada. He will report to Kriya Shortt, senior vice president of Sales, and will be responsible for representing the broad range of Citation products to customers.
During the past decade, Cessna and Honeywell have struggled to grow Sovereign's Primus Epic avionics suite into a mature system. Block point upgrades have been slow in coming and much needed improvements have been released in dribs and drabs. The Phase II package, available as SB680-34-03, improves autopilot performance during approach, removes a CAS warning message when the APU is operated in flight and makes changes to the flight data recorder interface to certain flight control position sensors needed for JAR/EASA certification.
August 4 — About 1155 EDT, a Beechcraft A36 (N1831W) was destroyed when it hit trees and terrain near Alma, Ga. VFR conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight. The private pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The Bonanza departed Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport (FHB), Fernandina Beach, Fla., around 1115, with the intended destination of Gwinnett County Airport-Briscoe Field (LZU), Lawrenceville, Ga. Witnesses reported hearing a “low flying” airplane and soon after, the sound of impact.
Flexjet is reporting a 96% growth of new fractional and jet card sales when comparing January to June 2013 to the same period in 2012. Fractional shares increased 112% and new jet card sales grew at 68% for the first six months of this year. The company is celebrating its 18th anniversary having taken delivery of over 225 Bombardier aircraft since its inception.
The grudge match is on. The upgraded Citation X completed its first flight recently with the clear intention of reclaiming the crown as the world's fastest civilian production aircraft. The Cessna speedy jet had assumed the title once the last Concorde was retired, but Gulfstream's G650 subsequently nosed it out with an Mmo of Mach 0.925, which is Mach 0.01 faster. The upgraded Citation X has a target redline of Mach 0.935. The new X is equipped with Garmin's G5000 platform with an auto-throttle system and two 7,034-lb.-thrust Rolls-Royce AE 3007C2 turbofans.
Yes, a picture can be worth a thousand words, and until recently, an aviator had to create a mental image of destination weather using charts and obscure abbreviations to make the final Go/No-Go decision. However, thanks to the Internet, it is now possible for a flight crew to actually see the current conditions at a wide variety of locations, including mountain passes, highways, runways and even FBO ramps.
PlaneSense had been an eager buyer of the stillborn Grob SPn. The reason for that interest, says PlaneSense founder, president and CEO George Antoniadis, was the Grob twin's large cabin, good economy and ability to fly into small and unimproved strips — attributes that mirrored those of the PC-12. The operator's move into twins was suspended when the Grob program came to grief, but the interest remained. And now Pilatus is developing its own, go-anywhere twin, and Antoniadis is watching closely.
Rockwell Collins' largest acquisition to date — purchasing communications and systems engineering provider, ARINC, for $1.39 billion from the Carlyle Group — will give the avionics maker its own end-to-end communications link between the ground and the flight deck, a connection that is fundamental to the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The companies announced the “definitive agreement” for the purchase on Aug. 11, with the deal expected to be finalized within 90 days.
Surf Air, a membership airline that began operations between three California cities in June using three Pilatus PC-12s has placed 25 pilots on its roster and is adding more. Meanwhile, FlexJet, Bombardier's Dallas-based fractional program, says sustained growth is prompting it to hire more front-seaters. Interested applicants should have at least 2,500 hours of total flight time, 500 of which should be multiengine and 500 turbine, plus an ATP and a First Class medical.
Ontario, Canada-based Flying Colours has been appointed by Raisbeck Engineering as an Authorized Sales and Installation Centre for the entire King Air product line. Previous accreditations from Beechcraft and Blackhawk will allow the company to undertake King Air maintenance, refurbishments, modifications and paint work in additional to full completions all under one roof.
In the early days of aviation, one of the major technical struggles for achieving flight was finding the sweet spot between the center of balance and the center of lift. Otto Lilienthal steered his gliders by shifting his body. The Wrights developed wing warping, whereby simple metal cables twisted the wings to produce roll. As aircraft complexity increased, the relationship between engine torque and prop wash (known as the P-factor) was taken into account to maintain balanced flight.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., selected Dr. Brent Bowen as dean of the College of Aviation at the Prescott, Ariz., campus. He comes to ERAU from Purdue University, where he was professor and head of the Aviation Technology department.
Executive Jet Management (EJM), among the nation's largest charter and management companies, is undergoing a management shake-up with three of its top executives believed to have recently departed the NetJets subsidiary. Among those out the exits is President Robert Garrymore, who had served with EJM and NetJets since 1998. Garrymore became president of EJM in 2009. Others include Ronald Silverman, senior vice president of aircraft management, and Jim Lewis, senior vice president of aircraft maintenance, sales and acquisitions.
LightSquared, Inc., may be going down, but not without a fight. The now bankrupt company had planned to use radio spectrum to create a wireless data network spanning the U.S., and was given a preliminary go-ahead by the federal government to do so. However, the GPS industry strongly objected, arguing that transmissions from the new network would interfere with existing GPS equipment used in aviation and a host of other industries and ultimately succeeded in stopping LightSquared after the latter had invested heavily in the project.
Parts bin engineering long has been a strong suit of Cessna Aircraft and no aircraft better exemplifies that strategy than the Citation 560XL series. Created in the mid-1990s as a response to the clean-sheet, leading edge Learjet 45, the Citation 560XL features a shortened Citation 650 fuselage, a scaled up Citation V wing and newly introduced Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545 turbofan engines. Low-wing loading and a sporty thrust-to-weight ratio gave it the best runway performance in its class, with far better hot-and-high airport performance than the original Learjet 45.
Commuter Air Technology, Inc., (CAT), Midwest City, Okla., appointed Juan “Johnny A” Alverez as director of Special Operation Forces and Latin America Business Development responsible for procurement and management of active commercial and para-public aviation, training, integration and ISR projects.
The long economic downturn notwithstanding, PlaneSense, the Pilatus PC-12 fractional aircraft operation, is still putting up some strong numbers. Since beginning operations with a single aircraft in September 1995, the company — which now operates a fleet of 30 Pilatus singles — has completed 200,000 sorties into 1,140 different strips ranging in length from 1900 ft. to 10,000 ft. In 2012, its on-time departure record (excluding weather, passenger or ATC delays) was 99.5% and its busiest day ever was July 7, 2013, when it logged 156 sorties, a record that stood until Aug.
Hangar Ten Aviation Services is expanding its complex at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City (MKC) with a new 11,000-sq.-ft. multi-use hangar. The new facility, which will join Hangar Ten's existing 55,000-sq.-ft. hangar, will house aircraft the size of a Citation X, along with adjoining offices. Hangar Ten expaned because it has seen an increase in transient traffic fuel volume over the past three years.
The FAA has issued its first type certifications for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The milestone event occurred July 19 when the agency presented restricted category papers under FAR 21.25 for the Insitu ScanEagle and AeroVironment Puma AE. A Boeing subsidiary, Insitu is based in Bingen, Wash. Headquartered in Monrovia, Calif., AeroVironment was founded by the late Dr. Paul MacCready, the father of human-powered flight.
Turbine business aircraft are so reliable, passengers are so predict–able and ATC services are so dependable that it's easy to slip into a cozy cocoon within which you're completely isolated from possible weather, mechanical, operational or physiological contingencies. In reality, though, “what if” contingencies pop up with alarming regularity. Some result in fatal consequences.
Jet Aviation and Sao Paulo-based C-Fly Aviation have signed a strategic alliance agreement by which C-Fly will exclusively provide Jet Aviation Flight Services referral on charter and aircraft management in Brazil. C-Fly currently manages 16 aircraft and provides a wide range of consulting services to corporate and individual clients. Jet Aviation manages over 250 aircraft worldwide.
Nextant Aerospace, Cleveland, appointed James Immke to vice president of Quality and Safety. He joined the company in 2010 and has over 20 years of quality and safety experience in highly regulated industries, including aerospace and defense.
