Tarrant County, Tex., College is taking over Bell Helicopter's former military programs facility at Fort Worth Alliance Airport. The college plans to use the 161,000-sq.-ft. facility for an expansion of its successful aircraft maintenance programs, which are currently offered at the college's Northwest Campus. The college plans to occupy the facility in June 2014.
GE Aviation has begun certification testing of its Passport engine that will power the Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000. Developed under a joint venture between GE, IHI of Japan and TechSpace Aero of Belgium, Passport is to be certified to produce 16,500 lb. thrust and meet Stage 4 noise regulations. First run occurred at GE Aviation's Peebles Testing Operation in Ohio. The engine company is planning a 4,000-hr./8,000-cycle ground test program involving eight engines and one core. Flight testing is scheduled for 2014, with certification following in 2015.
Rennes, France-based charter operator Voldirect SAS and Daher-Socata announced the French civil aviation authority has granted Voldirect and Air operator's Certificate (AOC) that enables the airline to fly commercial passengers on the TBM 850 in IFR conditions. The company is operating its first TBM 850 from Rennes Airport serving customers in western France. EASA is currently working on the development of its rules in order to add this type of operation.
Capt. Edward A. Sarkisian (B757/767 — United Airlines Via email )
I read Ross Detwiler's “Two Tiers of Training” (June 2013, page 40) with great interest. I agree that we must leave the technology aside and “fly the plane” with basics when in a critical phase of flight. Let's not get distracted by the technology. Use it in its proper modes, and if idiosyncrasies occur, put it aside if in a critical phase of flight. I recognize Ross's name from TEB from decades back when I flew for several charter operations there, followed by a few different corporate flight departments.
A preliminary report of the facts involved in the July 7 Alaska crash of a TPE331-powered de Havilland Otter that killed the pilot and nine passengers was expected to be issued by the National Transportation Safety Board within weeks of the accident. However, no probable cause is likely to be determined for several months. The late morning crash of the DHC-3T occurred on takeoff from Runway 25 at Soldotna Municipal Airport. The aircraft (N93PC) was operated by Rediske Air, Inc., a long established charter firm and well regarded in the Kenai area.
FlightSafety International, LaGuardia Airport, N.Y., promoted Christopher Weinberg to chief Information officer responsible for all aspects of FlightSafety's Information Technology programs as well as FSI's Competitive Advantage, Continuous Improvement, and Business Systems teams.
With the recent addition of Apollo Jets to its roster, the Air Charter Safety Foundation has raised to 104 the number of companies that are members of the Alexandria, Va.- based organization. Meanwhile, the Jeff Baum, president and CEO of Wisconsin Aviation and David Hewitt, president of Hewitt & Company, were recently installed as ACSF chairman and vice-chairman, respectively. Baum succeeds Dennis Keith, president of Jet Solutions, LLC whose term expired June 30. Both Baum and Hewitt were founding members of the organization.
Raisbeck Engineering has earned Brazilian certification of its new swept-blade turbofan propellers for Beechcraft King Air 200 series aircraft. The higher-thrust props, which Seattle-based Raisbeck developed in cooperation with propeller manufacturer Hartzell, markedly improve takeoff performance without increasing cabin noise levels. Raisbeck says the new props especially enhance operations to and from higher-altitude airports on hot days and permit operators to carry greater payloads and fuel for more range.
One of the challenges of aviation's so-called Golden Age was the installation of radios. After all, how would you connect to the circuit to ground? The answer turned out to be using the metal airframe as a substitute for good old terra firma. Still, early radios were plagued with interference and noise issues. One solution was to add braided wire shielding to prevent stray electric fields from interfering with the radio transmission.
A total support solution for Eurocopter helicopters in deployed operations was launched recently by Eurocopter, DAHER, DCI, Eurotradia and Vector Aerospace. Designated E-HOTS (Eurocopter Helicopter On Theatre Services), the consortium consolidates the five partners' expertise and pools their resources providing a turnkey support package that covers a range of services for rotorcraft in any deployed operation such as humanitarian and crisis relief missions, conflict zones and oil and gas exploration.
Bell Helicopter is re-entering what it calls the Short Light Single (SLS) turbine market with a new, as yet unnamed successor to the ubiquitous JetRanger. Since production of the latter ended in 2010, both the Robinson R66 and Eurocopter EC120 have rushed to fill the void. The new aircraft, which is to make its first flight in 2014, will be powered by a 450-550 shp Arrius 2R, similar to the EC120's power plant and the first Bell product to use a Turbomeca engine. The new aircraft will be a mix of metal and carbon fiber construction.
First it was Mexico denying operators overflight permits for alleged nonpayment of navigation fees. Now, it's Venezuela. Applying for overflight permits from the Venezuelan civil aviation authority Instituto Nacional de Aeronautica Civil (INAC), some international business aviation operators in the past year have been surprised when they subsequently received huge invoices for allegedly overdue navigation fees from previous trips. These can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, often charged for flights never made in Venezuelan airspace.
Bristow Group has taken over search-and-rescue helicopter operations in the North of Scotland. As of July 1, Bristow crews flying Sikorsky S-92s took over from CHC flying SAR missions on behalf of the U.K. Maritime and Coast Guard Agency (MCA) under its Gap SAR contract awarded in February 2012.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in September will launch a second review of the interoperability of the Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) and FAA's NextGen air traffic management systems. The review comes at the request of the House aviation subcommittee. The first review, conducted in 2011, concluded that the FAA and European Union (EU) were “working collaboratively,” but that the U.S. agency must “better inform aviation stakeholders of efforts toward interoperability” and to improve the credibility of the effort.
Signature Flight Support Dublin Ltd. acquired the assets of gategroup's aircraft deicing business at Dublin Airport (DUB/EIDW). This announcement follows BBA Aviation's acquisition of gategroup's deicing, washing and cabin cleaning business at London Heathrow and London Gatwick, which will be operated by Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG). Deicing services will be available to both business and general aviation as well as commercial airline customers, marking Signature's entrance into commercial ground handling services at Dublin Airport.
ICG (International Communications Group), Newport News, Va., appointed Carlos Monsalve vice president Sales, Commercial Aircraft Systems Air Transport Division, responsible for the CAS global sales team, alliance partners and distribution network, in addition to assisting in marketing concepts and developing sales and product strategies. He reports to Armin Jabs, ICG's president of CAS.
The Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) has appointed Rudy Toering president and CEO. Most recently he served as vice president, operations and business development for FlightPath International. Earlier in his career Toering worked for CAE Industries and FlightSafety International, and he also has experience with business aviation groups, including the European Business Aviation Association, the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations Board and the British Business and General Aviation Council.
A modified Diamond DA42 will be used for flights over Alaska later this year to measure greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost. Aurora Flight Sciences has performed flights of its Centaur aircraft over the Chesapeake Bay to calibrate the specially developed measurement system. The twin-diesel Centaur was developed as an optionally piloted aircraft (OPA), but will be flown manned for the measurement flights over Alaska's Northern Slope, says Aurora. The research mission is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) has changed reporting requirements and certain entry-airport restrictions for its Southern Border Overflight Exemption, a move that should ease cost and administrative burdens for companies that have southern border crossings. CBP is also no longer requiring operators to seek passenger clearances and will let operators depart from any foreign airport south of the U.S. border, not just those included in the operator's overflight exemption, according to the NBAA.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. received an STC for its AutoPower (Automatic Throttle System on the Citation X. The system's advanced technology is tailored and manufactured specifically for Cessna and it is fully compatible with the existing Citation X avionics suite providing potential fuel savings for extended range.
Jet Professional is commemorating its 30th anniversary by launching a new global website with enhanced capabilities, user-friendly features and a streamlined presentation of information on the company's extensive line-up of human resources and staffing solutions. It features a new browse feature to view and apply to open positions and register a candidate profile for future consideration. There is quick access to pertinent documents such as time sheets, payroll cut-of dates and expense forms. There are also links to social media accounts.
June 21 — At 1240 EDT, a Cessna 172M (N9926Q) crashed during takeoff at the Oakland County International Airport (KPTK), Waterford, Mich. The pilot and three passengers were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The Cessna was registered to and operated by Flight 101, LLC, Waterford, Mich., as a FAR Part 91 personal flight. It was operating VFR with no flight plan and the local flight was originating at the time of the accident. Control tower personnel saw the airplane lift off from Runway 09L and attained an altitude of about 100 ft.
Long before super-midsize aircraft became so popular, Dassault jumped into this market segment with the large-cabin Falcon 2000, a twin-engine, slightly shortened, 3,000-nm variant of the Falcon 900 tri-jet. First deliveries began in early 1995 and 231 units were delivered until early 2006 when the aircraft was superseded by the second-generation Falcon 2000EX.
RUAG Aviation has completed its first EASy II flight deck upgrade on a Falcon 900EX at the company's Geneva, Switzerland facility. “The aviation team completed this integration in record time during a standard A/A+ check, significantly minimizing the impact on the customer's operating schedule,” said Bernd Heinrich, general manager of the Geneva facility.
Cirrus Aircraft is expanding its Grand Forks, N.D., facility to accommodate a new autoclave oven that will be used in manufacturing the Vision SF50 personal jet. Delivered in late June, the autoclave should be operational by mid-August and will cure the carbon fiber main spar of both the SR-2X series piston engine aircraft and the SF50. The autoclave pressurizes nitrogen gas up to 125 psi during the cure cycle, which more effectively compresses the composite part, enhancing its strength and durability properties. The oven has is an 8.5 ft .diameter, is 40 ft.
