Speaking recently in New York, aviation consultant Rolland “Rollie” Vincent said the latest Jetnet iQ Global Business Aviation Survey forecast 9,300 business jets would be purchased over the next ten years.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp.'s Autopower automatic throttle system has been selected by Nextant for the 400XTi program. It will be a first in class, full-regime Automatic Throttle System and will provide IAS/Mach speed control from takeoff to landing phases of flight. The system provides increased safety by decreasing pilot workload allowing greater situational awareness. Stabilized speed target allows more consistent approaches. AutoPower increases range with studies showing a fuel savings average of 3%, according Safe Flight. Safe Flight Instrument Corp.
In recent years, the experimental aircraft population has increased notably, growing from an active fleet of more than 20,407 in 2000 to an estimated 24,750 this year — a 20% gain. At the same time, the active certified piston aircraft population declined 12% — from 170,513 in 2000 to 150,535 this year, according to FAA estimates.
Perhaps you remember the first time you lowered the canopy on the T-37 in the middle of that hot July sun in Columbus, Miss. Or preflighting a Piper Warrior on the Vero Beach ramp at high noon in August. Or maybe you were learning to hover in that “green house” canopy of a TH-55 at Fort Rucker, Ala., or an R-22 in mid-summer outside Sao Paulo — either way, your Nomex flight suit or cotton shirt was completely drenched in sweat. Back then we were young, eager and not about to show others that the heat was a bother.
Unhappily surprised by FAA's notice that it planned to bill for extra controller staffing at its annual summer fly-in in Oshkosh, Wis., the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and its members lobbied Congress hard to block the charge. However, facing a spectrum of unpalatable options, under protest EAA finalized a one-time agreement to cover nearly $450,000 in expenses related to ATC services at the event. “Let me be clear: We have consistently regarded the FAA's move as holding AirVenture and GA hostage this year,” said EAA Chairman Jack Pelton.
Gestair private Aviation, which has 10 FBOs in Spain, reports an investment of about EUR1.2 million to refurbish the old “Authorities Pavilion” at Madrid-Barajas and convert it into a modern FBO. The facility is 472 sq. meters (nearly 5,100 sq. ft.) including three VIP rooms for passengers and a fourth for crew, a passenger services office, a flight-planning area and a staff of 33. Gestair's FBOs handled 7,730 operations in 2012, up from 6,890 in 2011.
According to a research report on Textron Inc. and issued in June by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Cessna Aircraft's backlog decreased 40% from a year earlier and Bell Helicopter's had fallen by 1%. Bell now comprises 65% of the conglomerate's total backlog while Cessna accounts for just 9%. Despite that, the researchers said, “The outlook for the business jet industry is positive, as fundamentals continue to stabilize, and 2013 may be an inflection point for Cessna.”
SimCom Training Centers and Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. announced a new Avio IFMS-equipped, full-motion Eclipse twin-engine simulator that is ready for training at SimCom's Orlando, Fla., center. It is an FAA certified, Level D device. The Avio IFMS is the latest avionics configuration installed in Eclipse jets. SimCom Training Centers www.simulator.com Eclipse Aerospace www.eclipse.aero
ARINC Direct this summer is planning to begin delivery of its new Xplore device, a portable unit that is designed to bring ACARS services typically found only on large business jets and airliners to a range of aircraft. The Xplore unit combines four capabilities in a portable box — ACARS messaging services, SMS and instant messaging, voice services and BlackBerry email. The device can be attached by Velcro or thumb screws to a panel mount. Incorporating Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Xplore can provide access to ARINC's ACARS services.
The brooding, blarney and bluster that attend to my surname notwithstanding, the truth is that half my ancestry is German. You see, my given name derives from Wilhelm Gunther, my grandfather, who emigrated alone to the U.S. as a nearly penniless teenager and went on to achieve great success as a commercial printer and paragon of his community. He also loved sports, drove cars too fast, crashed boats with curious regularity and watched proudly but surely with an aching heart as his two sons donned uniforms of his new country and left to defend it from the old.
Since the human brain is approximately 75% water, when the body becomes dehydrated, headaches, lightheadedness and fatigue are common symptoms. Dehydration results in increased tracking errors, slowed decision making, and decreased short-term memory.
Cessna is certainly working on injection to the inflection. Delivery of the new Citation Sovereign is expected in Q3 this year following FAA certification. Meanwhile, the upgraded Citation X should be in the market by yearend. The company reported the new M2 is sold out for 2013 with about a dozen slots open for 2014. Meanwhile, the midsize Citation Latitude and super midsize Citation Longitude, are also progressing with first flight of the former expected in early 2014 and the latter in mid-2016.
Honeywell is partnering with Dubai-based Jetex to expand the global reach of its flight support services. Jetex will resell from Honeywell's Global Data Center Flight Support Services to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Jetex will provide international trip planning across multiple regions and after-trip concierge service to Honeywell customers. The agreement will enable end-to-end international flight services for operators globally. The joint services are expected to be available in the fourth quarter.
Col. John Scherer, USAF (Ret.) (Alder Companies Delavan, Wis. )
“Two Tiers of Training” (June 2013) is right on target! I was a T-37 IP at Reese AFB and taught spins and spin prevents as well. My son (U.S. Naval Academy 2010) just went through Navy pilot training at NAS Pensacola, Vance AFB and NAS Corpus Christi (he's flying P3s in Bahrain now). He described similar training in the T-6 as well.
This year's European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) gave some hope for change in the generally grim economic atmosphere long settled over the continent. At the close of the May 21-23 gathering at Geneva's Palexpo exhibition center, the organizers tallied 12,353 attendees, a figure that's just 285 shy of the previous year's gathering and the third highest in the event's 13-year history. As for the sellers, there were 460 Exhibitors, or 31 fewer than in 2012, and out at the adjacent static display there were 52 aircraft.
No one knows its true origins, but ever since aviation's early days there has been an artificial divide between maintenance technicians and pilots. Perhaps it's rooted in the mili–tary, where pilots were mostly officers and mechanics were enlisted men. Maybe it has to do with pilots putting life and limb at risk while the maintainers remain safely on the ground.
The long running and contentious contest over a (relatively) small Pentagon contract for a light attack aircraft for Afghanistan's Air Force has ended another round, with Beechcraft the loser. Again. Vying for the contract, potentially worth slightly less than $1 billion, is the Embraer Super Tucano and the Beechcraft AT-6, both single engine turboprops. The U.S. Air Force, which is overseeing the competition, initially chose the Embraer. However, a Beechcraft protest forced a second competition in which the Embraer was selected for a second time.
Beechcraft's factory-owned Hawker Beechcraft Services facilities were authorized to install the CenTex Halo 250 gross-weigh increase modification for Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft. The Halo 250 conversion adds 920 lb. of payload capacity through an increase in maximum takeoff weight from 12,500 lb. to 13,420 lb. Waco, Texas-based CenTex Aerospace developed the modification, which received FAA certification in October. The increase can be installed via a normal category supplemental type certificate (STC) or a commuter category STC.
Name and location withheld at writer's request (Alder Companies Delavan, Wis. )
I am a line captain for a major airline, and wish that all people who designed checklists had to read and understand that article cited by Alex Bruzzano in “The List, Please” (Viewpoint, May 2013) and had to actually use the monstrosities they frequently design. I have done a lot of flying on a lot of different aircraft, have instructed on seven airliner types and have been an FAA TCE/DE on the A320. I've also done a lot of contract training and checking and have seen myriad procedures that range from outstanding to awful.
Buoyed by greater-than-anticipated activity in the single-utility turboprop market, Honeywell is supporting a range of additional applications for its TPE331 family, as well as studying potential new engine developments to compete with Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6 and its planned successor. “In the downturn we saw that the strongest small airplane market was turboprops, and we were fascinated by that,” says Jim Kroeger, Honeywell's director of engineering for propulsion systems.
Beechcraft Corp., in the throes of divesting the Premier and Hawker 4000 programs, insists that the Hawker 400 and 800 programs are not for sale. “There's some perception in the marketplace that we're not in the Hawker business,” Brian Howell, vice president sales and business development, Global Customer Support, acknowledged recently. “That perception couldn't be more false.” The company has built up a parts inventory and service network to support a fleet that includes nearly 2,000 “classic” Model 125 Hawkers and another 400 Beechjet/Hawker 400s.
Dubai, UAE-based United Aviation Services is offering free, all-inclusive trip planning services to existing and potential business aviation customers. The new service will provide: full route planning; full trip cost estimates, including clearance and navigation, coordination and ground handling, catering, airport and fuel charges; efficient and cost-effective fuel stops; equipment and handling availability at any station; a detailed airport brief; advisory services on immigration and Customs regulations; and general information and security/risk assessment.
