Executive AirShare, Kansas City, Kan., announced industry veteran Steve Gentry joined the company as senior sales director and will be based at the company's Love Field, Dallas facility. Gentry previously held positions at CitationAir, Bombardier FlexJet and a national turboprop fraction program. He is a pilot with more than 600 flight hours.
Yukon, Okla.-based Legacy Aviation Services was given DGAC (Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil) authority to repair and service Mexican-registered aircraft. With the lengthy paperwork process streamlined, Mexican aircraft can enter the U.S. for regular repair and maintenance, and for special modifications work at Legacy.
If you're heading for that big continent in the southern half of the Western Hemisphere with a cabin full of high-worth individuals, you might first want to read Pablo Penalva's “Top Five Things to Know Before Flying to South America.”
Aircell announced that Travel Management Company (TMC) will introduce Aircell's Gogo Biz service across its entire fleet of light jet charter aircraft. The expansion is expected to be complete in October and will encompass nearly 70 aircraft with complimentary Gogo Biz service. TMC operates the largest, privately owned fleet of Hawker 400XP and 800XP charter aircraft in the U.S. John Wade, Aircell's executive vice president and general manager said, inflight connectivity “. . .
The FAA has authorized Blackhawk Modifications to sell and install the XP42A Upgrade Package on Cessna Caravan 208A aircraft. The package includes a factory new P&WC PT6A-42A engine rated at 850 shp. It also uses a new, wide-chord, 100-in. diameter Hartzell four-blade propeller; a new composite cowling and high-efficiency inlet duct; a new 40% larger oil cooler; new Blackhawk DigiLog engine gauges and new exhaust stacks.
You know the drill. Same stuff, different day during the simulator session. If it's Tuesday, it must be time for V1 cuts. Wednesday, it will be electrical malfunctions and engine fires. Thursday, we'll see single engine circling approaches. Just put an X in every FAA or EASA required box and let's go home.
TWC Aviation, San Jose, Calif., promoted Jack Mulder to director of Operations. He has been with the company for seven and has chief pilot, director of Training and was a line pilot.
Robert E. Breiling Associates reports that in the first six months of 2013, the U.S. business jet fleet experienced seven accidents, three of which were fatal to nine persons versus 10 accidents including two fatal accidents and nine fatalities the same period in 2012. Two of the fatal U.S. business jet accidents were Beech Premier aircraft fatal to seven. Both aircraft crashed during abandoned landing approaches in VMC, one at night. The other fatal accident involved a Lear 60 the crashed on approach in Venezuela during a heavy rainstorm.
Jeppesen and Pacific Coast Avionics are offering NavData and charting information in bundled service options. A dedicated Pacific Coast Avionics Web portal has been created for customers to directly order Jeppesen bundled services. Options provide NavData, JeppView, Jeppesen obstacle, terrain and cultural information, and eCharts for multi-function display. Garmin GTN PilotPak bundle plans with Jepp data are also available. Jeppesen database updates are also simplified for Pacific Coast customers. Visit www.jeppesen.com or www.pacificcoastavionics.com
Corporate Fleet Services, Cornelius, N.C., announced that Mike Thomas recently joined the company as vice president Business Aircraft Sales and Acquisitions. He comes to CFS from Nextant Aerospace. He has held positions at General Electric Credit, Chase Aircraft Finance and CIT Financial. Thomas also was regional sales director for the Hawker at Beechcraft Corp.
On July 2 the death sentence for Stage 2 business jets was published in the Federal Register. The FAA final rule, which prohibits operation of the noisy jets in the contiguous U.S. as of midnight, Dec. 31, 2015, essentially implements a ban that Congress made law as part of the FAA Modernization Reform Act of 2012. The rule applies to jet aircraft that weigh less than 75,000 lb. and do not meet Stage 3 noise levels. Commercial Stage 2 jets were banned as of Dec. 31, 1999. In the U.S., nearly 600 business jets will be affected by the ban.
Regarding “Command Presence” (Cause & Circumstance, June 2013, page 56), I would have called it “Raw Hider Results” since I have a different perspective on how this month's scenario ended in such a tragic way. I don't think anyone will question your excellent job of painting the perfectly clear picture of what must have happened. The personality of the guy holding that little girl in his lap is what I'm mindful of.
In May, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker heartened hundreds of people gathered in a hangar in Appleton by saying he was proud “to celebrate and promote general aviation. The economic impact created by general aviation is strong, and it plays such an important role in providing the transportation needs of individuals and businesses across the globe.”
Nepal's Shree Airlines has ordered five AS350 B3e and three EC130 T2 helicopters from Eurocopter. They will be used for search and rescue, aerial work, disaster relief missions and tourism. With this acquisition, Shree Airlines becomes the largest Ecureuil operator in South Asia with a total of nine aircraft.
Landmark Aviation officially began operations at Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 1 through the acquisition of the assets of Northern Air and the Grand Rapids Air Center. They will be operating out of the Northern Air facility, and will offer both FBO and MRO services. There is a VIP lounge, executive conference room and a flight-planning center. Hangar and office space is also available.
“One thing both we as crew as well as our passengers did for this trip was register with the U.S. Department of State in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP,” Capt. Bob Lazear, who flies for retailer Costco, told BCA about his flight department's preflight planning for a spring 2013 flight to Colombia to visit coffee plantations.
ForeFlight digital navigation charts and information are now available for Canada. The complete set of NAV CANADA charts, optimized for iPad display, includes Visual Navigation Charts (VNC), Visual Terminal Area Charts (VTA), and the Canadian Flight Supplement (CFS). ForeFlight Mobile now offers flight-planning capabilities; preflight weather information including METARs, TAFs, and radar from Environment Canada; and, inflight access to navigation charts, weather and moving map capabilities.
Citing “numerous” close calls, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants the FAA to change separation standards for situations in which an aircraft departs one runway and another aircraft is performing a go-around on a different, non-intersecting runway.
Flight Display Systems announced that all company operations have been consolidated at their new Shiloh road, Alpharetta, Ga., location. “Bringing all company functions together under one roof creates a new synergy for us,” said CEO David Gray. “The 56,000-sq.-ft. facility will accommodate growth and the addition of several new product lines in the next few years.”
On the night of Dec. 20, 1995, American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757 carrying 151 passengers and eight crewmembers, crashed on a 9,800-ft. mountaintop while attempting a straight-in approach to Runway 19 at Alfonso Bonilla Aragon International Airport at Cali, Colombia. Only five passengers survived the accident, one of whom died later in hospital.
Nineteen years after being awarded certification of its single-engine PC-12, Pilatus Aircraft planned to deliver the 1,200th unit. The delivery ceremony was set for Aug. 7 in Portsmouth, N.H., where Thomas Bosshard, president and CEO of Pilatus Business Aircraft will hand the keys to George Antoniadis, his counterpart at PlaneSense, Inc. The fractional ownership provider's fleet will then expand to 49 of the Swiss-made turboprops, the world's largest civilian fleet of PC-12s.
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.
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.
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.
