While Dassault's business jet deliveries dropped in the first quarter, the company expects shipments to improve throughout the year and remain on track to reach the highest total in three years. Dassault expects to deliver 70 Falcons this year, up slightly from the 66 delivered in 2012 and 63 in 2011, company executives say. As Dassault worked to certify its newest Falcon 2000 models, deliveries were down nearly 50% in the first quarter to eight, compared with 15 in the first quarter of 2012.
Beechcraft hopes to sell most of its jet programs by midyear. Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said earlier this year that the programs have attracted a fair amount of interest and recently told Wichita reporters that he expects a bidding process to begin shortly. Options exist for the programs, ranging from a support organization buying the lines to maintain the existing fleet, to a manufacturing operation purchasing them to bring them back into production.
FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen wants to change the agency's approach to enforcement regarding minor issues, but is getting slowed by the agency's attorneys. Speaking at the recent Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association Spring Meeting, he said his office had hoped to move away from a punitive system to one that enables inspectors to help operators correct small problems before immediately jumping into an enforcement action.
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services is adding its third location in a little more than a year with the recent acquisition of development rights at Chicago Executive Airport. Hawthorne, which teamed with Moelis Capital Partners in 2010 to build a nationwide fixed-base operation (FBO) chain, closed on a deal May 6 to acquire the rights from Sovereign Development Group and hopesto begin construction later this month on a nearly 40,000-sq.-ft. terminal and hangar facility.
Rockwell Collins' HGS Flight app for the iPad, unveiled last year is now available with a Mandarin language option. Through a quick update via the Apple iTunes App Store or as a first-time download, users will have the option to view text in Mandarin, as well as use new flight sensitivity control. The app features synthetic vision to allow users to see a virtual view of terrain no matter what the weather conditions may be.
The first production model of the new Citation Sovereign has begun flight tests about six months after unveiling the upgraded aircraft. The aircraft is expected to reach market in the third quarter, a few months ahead of the Citation X upgraded variant, even though that aircraft was announced two years earlier. The flight lasted about 2 1/2 hr., and involved testing the new avionics package and autothrottles, autopilot, engine systems, aircraft systems and instrument approaches. Cessna has logged over 1,300 hr. in three flight-test aircraft.
An Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) is a reporting program that allows employees of participating air carriers and repair station certificate holders to identify and report safety issues to management and to the FAA for resolution, without fear that the FAA will use reports accepted under the program to take legal enforcement action against them, or that companies will use such information to take disciplinary action.
Despite a serious five-year setback in helicopter sales during the latest recession, aviation forecasters are predicting a slow but steady growth starting this year and continuing through the coming decade. The Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va., research/analyst organization, reported in its August 2012 “World Military & Civil Aircraft Briefing” that while deliveries of civil helicopters fell 19% by value in 2008-2011, with a projected 6.6% drop when 2012 figures come in, it predicted 9,526 deliveries worth $53.5 billion to civil operators through 2021.
Dassault Falcon will hold a series of Regional Maintenance & Operations (M&O) seminars in 2013. Six seminars have already taken place. The remaining seminars are planned for: May 2 in Dallas; May 14 in Toronto; May 16 in Mahwah, N.J.; May 22 in Toluca, Mexico; and June 12 in Sao Paul, Brazil. These seminars provide Falcon operators an opportunity to communicate directly with Dassault's specialists, engineering teams and pilots on a variety of topics.
House lawmakers have drafted a bill to preserve funding slated to be cut from the contract air traffic control tower program. Reps. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) and Richard Hudson (R- N.C.) on April 10 introduced a bill, H.R.1432, the Air Traffic Control Tower Funding Restoration Act, designed to continue funding for the program. The bill would use unobligated funds within the current FAA budget to pay for the program.
Pilatus Business Aircraft won an FAA STC to install the Garmin G600 avionics system in all pre-NG PC-12 aircraft produced between 1994 and 2008. Developed in concert with Garmin, the G600 New Perspective avionics system for the PC-12 pairs both the PFD and the MFD in a single 10-in.-wide flat-panel LCD. The installation incorporates the functionality of the PC-12's angle-of-attack information on the G600 PFD. The G600 New Perspective system includes the L3 Trilogy Electronic Standby Instrument System, making the PC-12's panel all-glass.
The FAA on April 9 streamlined the medical certification process for pilots with certain medical conditions that previously required special issuance authorizations. Now an AME can issue a normal duration medical certificate at the time of examination if the pilot provides adequate documentation showing good control of the condition. Details are posted on the AOPA website.
The Obama administration's fiscal 2014 budget plan halves its previously proposed cuts to federal grants for airport improvements by narrowing the reduction's impact primarily to large hub airports. But the administration also wants to impose a new cost on airports, and it still is counting on an unlikely increase in the airport passenger facility charge (PFC) to help offset the reduction in grant money.
The Texas Department of Transportation said it plans to fund all 13 FAA contract air traffic control towers in the state if they are closed by the FAA as part of budget cuts from sequestration.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics has received an STC for Crane's SmartStem Wireless Tire Pressure System for Learjet 40 and 45 aircraft. To fit an aircraft with SmartStem technology, the existing tire inflation valve stem is replaced with a SmartStem tire pressure sensor, which, in addition to serving as the inflation valve, contains special electronics.
EPIC Aviation has chosen to partner with NATA Safety 1st to provide training to its branded FBOs. EPIC and UVair FBO Network locations will receive comprehensive training in an easy to administer, self-paced and self-directed online platform. All locations will have access to the full range of NATA Safety 1st training products at special network pricing, including the Professional Line Service Training and the new Supervisor Online training program, which is FAA approved to meet the requirements of 14 CFR Part 139.321.
Bombardier Aerospace is extending the basic warranty on its Challenger 605 aircraft from three years or 3,000 hr. to five years or 5,000 hr. The new warranty is standard on all aircraft delivered beginning this month. The basic warranty covers systems and components coverage. The primary structure warranty remains at 10 years or 10,000 hr., the engine warranty is still five years or 2,500 hr. and the avionics warranty remains unchanged at five years with no hour limitations.
Continental Motors is extending the TBO of its Gold Standard factory-produced engines manufactured after February this year by as much as 400 hr. the company announced April 9. In 2012, Continental Motors introduced its Gold Standard factory rebuilt and new engines. The company says most engines, s.n. 1006000 and higher incorporate improvements in technology and manufacturing processes that have allowed a 200-hr. increase over the existing TBO. Aircraft owners that fly 40 hr. per month will receive a TBO extension up to 400 hr.
When the office phone rings, I grab it (my secretary left to fetch a Cobb salad for lunch one day in 1997 and has yet to return) and brace just a bit since there's no telling what will follow. Most frequently, it's the executive editor reminding me gently about something I've failed to do; or a writer looking for guidance, deadline relief or payment; maybe some PR person looking for ink; or it could be one of those maddening robo calls telling me not to worry, my credit is fine, but. . . .
Bell Helicopter obtained its 17th international approval of a 500-lb. weight increase for the Bell 429. The Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the latest aviation authority to approve the increase, which boosts the helicopter's maximum gross weight to 7,500 lb. The approval validates the original Transport Canada OK. The hike provides operators increased payload, giving them the option of either carrying more fuel for increased range or carrying more passengers and equipment for specific mission requirements.
Breitling's new Bentley Light Body Midnight Carbon watch is issued in a 1,000 piece worldwide limited edition. Beneath its all-black exterior is a light and sturdy titanium chassis featuring a highly resistant carbon-based coating. The dashboard-style dial displays two exclusive Breitling technical features highlighted by red-trimmed indications. The “30-second chronograph” system with its central hand sweeping around the dial in half a minute instead of the customary 60 seconds, provides highly accurate 1/8th of a second readings.
The South Korean government is looking at backing development of a business jet as the foundation of a national industry capable of building its own civil transports. If the program goes ahead, possibly in a year or two, the manufacturer will be Korea Aerospace Industries. For the moment, the Korea Advanced Business Jet (KABJ) is the backstop to a priority program, a turboprop airliner. Either aircraft could serve as a basis for a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement, under which the FAA would coach South Korea's air safety authorities in certifying an aircraft to U.S.
