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. . . .
Baker Aviation has a new limited time introductory offer for Hawker inspections. The $18,500 special rate includes 12-, 24- or 48-month inspection programs, excluding structural codes and squawks, which will be billed separately at an hourly rate. Contact Joe Wehrle at (972) 248-0457 or email [email protected]. Baker Aviation 4700 Glenn Curtiss Addison, Texas 75001 [email protected]
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.
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.
The NTSB is seeking a ban on “non-operational” use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) for pilots while flying under FAR Part 135 and 91 Subpart K. The recommendation was one of nine the safety board issued following its investigation of the Aug. 26, 2011 crash of an Air Methods Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter that was on an emergency medical services (EMS) mission.
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.
Helicopter Association International is mounting a legal challenge in federal court in Washington to what it sees as a potentially growing and unwarranted threat to airspace access for helicopters over residential areas of the U.S. The move follows the reintroduction of a bill in Congress that requires the FAA to set guidelines on flight paths and minimum altitudes used by helicopter operators over residential areas of Los Angeles County. The bill, which has been reintroduced in both the House and Senate, is sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sens.
EASA has updated guidance for flying in volcanic ash-contaminated airspace, revamping its recommendations to reflect the latest research conducted by industry groups studying the threat of ash to aircraft operations. Feedback from original equipment manufacturers convinced EASA to take a more aggressive stance on flying through ash clouds, and the agency's first recommendation urges carriers to “avoid operations in visible volcanic ash.”
Metro Aviation has released a smart phone app with the potential to decrease response time by up to 5 min. When air transport is needed, hospitals and first responders can use Metro Alert to notify one of Metro Aviation's bases and send GPS coordinates using the helo- alert function. Users will receive an estimated time of arrival and availability of the closest helicopter, as well as have access to other functions such as tips for preparing the landing zone.
Dassault expects to see a boost in Falcon sales and slight increase in deliveries to 70 Falcon business jets in 2013. The improving sales would follow a year in which Dassault's Falcon net order intake (minus cancellations) increased by more than 50%, from 36 in 2011 to 58 in 2012. Deliveries were up last year by three units from 2011 to 66. But with the lead time in orders to deliveries, Dassault's production output is still reflecting slow orders during the downturn and is well beneath the 2010 peak of 95 deliveries.
Boeing is moving all of its full-flight simulators (FFS) from Seattle to Miami. The relocation began when the first 787 simulator was shipped by truck to the company's training facility at Miami International Airport. This starts a consolidation of the company's pilot training activities in Miami that is expected to finish by year-end. Maintenance training for all but the 787 will remain in Seattle.
In the 1963 Handbook for Planning & Purchasing, the five most expensive aircraft listed in the “Fixed-Wing Business/Utility Aircraft” tables were: Lockheed JetStar 1329-23A, $1,450,000; Fairchild Stratos Corp., F-27 Business, $895,000; North American Aviation, Sabreliner 265-40, $795,000; de Havilland DH 125 Series I, $625,000; Howard Aero, Howard 500, $597,000. (In BCA's 2012 edition the most expensive airplanes listed are the Airbus Corporate Jetliner at $80 million and the Boeing BBJ at $70 million).
Gulfstream and FlightSafety International worked together three years prior to the G650's entering service to develop flight crew, cabin crew and maintenance technician training programs. Each G650 pilot instructor has flight time in the actual aircraft and each maintenance instructor has turned wrenches on real aircraft.
The Obama administration is again accusing business jet operators of enjoying “subsidies” and availing themselves of “loopholes that give advantages to the wealthy and to corporations that average Americans and average businesses don't have.” The so-called loophole is depreciation. For every other business, depreciation is normal course of business. But for business jet operators, apparently it is a loophole.
The FAA is gauging the interest of aerospace companies in developing upgrades to the ground-based portions of its wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) in advance of dual-frequency GPS operations for the aviation community later this decade. WAAS uses a network of ground-based reference and control stations, and three geostationary satellites, to augment the accuracy of GPS signals to enable satellite-based instrument approaches and precision navigation operations in North America. Similar satellite-based augmentation systems are available in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.
The NTSB, March 12, issued five safety alerts aimed at reducing the number of general aviation accidents: reduced-visual reference; aerodynamic stalls at low altitude; pilot inattention to indications of mechanical problems; risk management of aviation maintenance technicians and risk management for pilots. The five Safety Alerts issued are: “Is Your Aircraft Talking to You?
Robert E. Breiling Associates' annual Business Turbine Aircraft Accident Review has become the industry's guide for detailed narrative accounts of business aviation accidents worldwide. The Review is 500 pages with accounts of over 415 reported fixed- and rotary-wing turbine aircraft accidents and incidents. A summary of each accident includes model, operator type, phase of operation, conditions and a factual description of all reported circumstances.
Four, 14.1-in., landscape configuration LCD screens dominate the Gulfstream G650's second-generation PlaneView instrument panel with several layouts that can be customized by the flight crew. The outboard displays normally are configured as PFDs and the inboards as MFDs. The glareshield-mounted flight guidance panel has improved functionality, including LED illumination and annunciator buttons, an “FLXXX” flight level indication in the altitude window above the transition altitude, a push in/pull out, 1,000 ft./100 ft.
Duncan Aviation has put together an airframe-specific team dedicated to Gulfstream work at the company's Lincoln, Nebraska, campus. Duncan Aviation's Battle Creek, Michigan, location has been running with a dedicated Gulfstream airframe team since 1993, says Rod Christensen, Airframe Services Manager at Duncan's Battle Creek location.
