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]
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has acquired 100% of the share capital of FlairJet Ltd., the London Oxford Airport-based aircraft management and charter company. FlairJet will become part of the Group's newly formed Aviation Services business unit and will continue to be led by Managing Director and founder, David Fletcher. In its third year of operation, FlairJet will complement Cambridge Airport-based operator Marshall Executive Aviation (MEA). The acquisition extends the service offering of the recently formed JETability brand.
A key regional lender sees the Chinese business aviation market beginning to evolve. ICBC Financial Leasing has approached business jet leasing, not as a form of equipment financing, but rather as part of its service to its wealthiest clients. Those clients have opted for the largest, long-range models, rather for prestige, instead of mission suitability.
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.
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. . . .
Universal Avionics completed the required testing to successfully approve its Radio Control Unit (RCU) for helicopter installation. The RCU is a mature product, and has been installed in 28 fixed-wing aircraft platforms. The unit is approved for helicopter-specific vibration profiles that include the Sikorsky S-76A, S-76C, S-61L, S-61N, UH-60L; Bell 212, 412, 412EP, 412CF; Eurocopter EC145, Dauphin NI, N3 and AS332 helicopters.
Growing demand for convenient alternatives to Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports has turned Chicago-Romeoville (KLOT) into a bona fide reliever, as the FBO there doubles the size of its corporate aircraft storage and maintenance facility this month.
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.
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.
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.
For several years, optimists have been predicting that a recovery in the used business aircraft market was imminent. Conversely, skeptics believe that the huge inventory of previously owned airplanes will continue to depress prices. Could both be right? As spring began, the experts seemed divided.
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.
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).
The Bell 47 is reborn as a turbine. Scott's — Bell 47 (SB47), a Minnesota-based upgrade and modification specialist, has launched a program to restart production of an all-new variant of the venerable Bell 47 light utility helicopter. Although outwardly identical in most respects to the original 1946-vintage design, the new variant will feature an array of 21st century features, including composite main rotor blades, an improved instrument panel with solid-state electronics, LED lighting and a new interior.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
