Garmin has received the FAA's TSO authorization and AML STC approval for the GDL 88 series, its dual-link ADS-B solution for certified aircraft. With these certifications, the GDL 88 is approved for installation on most Part 23 fixed-wing aircraft and is available immediately. The unit provides a simple ADS-B rule-compliant solution for aircraft operating in the U.S. and below 18,000 ft. It also brings the added benefit of access to advanced traffic information and subscription-free weather for aircraft flying at any altitude, the company says.
Cessna is releasing a series of service bulletins for the installation of Astronics Corporation's Max-Viz-600 enhanced vision system (EVS) on newer model Cessna 172 Skyhawk, 182 Skylane or 206 Stationair single-piston aircraft. The bulletins provide the factory provisions for retrofit of the systems on the aircraft. The retrofit has received both FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency approval. The Max-Viz systems are also offered as optional equipment on new Skyhawks, Skylanes and Stationairs.
Business aircraft accidents were down overall worldwide in 2012, but those involving U.S. business jets have been increasing, according to the latest statistics from business aviation safety expert Robert E. Breiling Associates. At the same time, U.S. helicopter accidents jumped notably in 2012, while the non-U.S. registered helicopter fleet improved its safety record. The number of U.S. business jet accidents increased by five in 2012 to 19 accidents. Of those, five were fatal and involved 21 deaths.
Air medical services specialist Air Methods is expanding its scope with its acquisition of Las Vegas operator Sundance Helicopters for $44 million in cash. Sundance becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Methods, and not only adds air tours to the Air Methods portfolio, but also a range of helicopter services supporting firefighting, natural resource agency operations, vertical lifts, aerial photography/motion pictures, newsgathering and aerial surveying.
What is the accepted generic label for a private aircraft? There are many terms associated with aircraft that are not used for commercial purposes. Your magazine has, I think, used them all: “business jet,” “bizjet,” “executive jet,” “private jet,” “private plane,” etc. Wikipedia says the generic is “bizjet.” However, I have recently discovered that “bizjet” is a registered trademark even though there are many websites that use it in their titles.
The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) has found that repair station executives are bullish on 2013 business prospects, with more than half the respondents to a recent AEA survey expecting revenue improvement in 2013. The survey generated 180 responses, the association says. Big-picture takeaways include a more bullish outlook than last year's survey, and a range of services driving the growth. AEA's survey results show that 56% of respondents expect business to increase in 2013, compared to 49% responding to last year's survey on 2012 prospects.
The next year looms as a critical period for the effort to implement NextGen. While some of the core programs are on track to achieve major deployment milestones, the FAA will need to show that it has solved policy and technology headaches that still could stymie progress. The target date for full implementation is 2025, and two of the crucial foundation systems are scheduled to be largely completed by the end of this year. Succeeding with these will boost confidence that other NextGen goals can be achieved as planned. NextGen was launched in 2004.
Pilatus is offering a configuration tool featuring the PC-12 NG. Two apps — one for the interior and one for the exterior — may be downloaded and installed on the iPad platform. These new electronic tools allow customers in North and South American to design a personalized aircraft. The interior design app enables prospective owners and enthusiasts to select from one of four BMW DesignWorks USA interior themes specifically designed for those markets. Customers can also make individual adjustments to woods, carpet, leather, plating and other interior materials.
Baker Aviation recently expanded into their second hangar at Addition Airport (KADS) and was scheduled to move into a third hangar in January. This expansion brings the total turbine aircraft maintenance space to more than 25,400 sq. ft. Baker Aviation Maintenance received its FAA Repair Station certification in 2012 and specialized in airframe maintenance for Hawker, King Air, Beechjet, Citation, Learjet, Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. The Baker facility in Ft.
Banyan Air Service and VisionSafe have entered into an agreement, naming Banyan an Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS) Sales and Service Center for the Southeast United States. EVAS is an FAA tested and certified system available for all turboprop and jet aircraft that displaces smoke enabling pilots to see the flight path and instruments during an emergency.
Eclipse Aerospace remains on track to bring new Eclipse 550 very light jets to market in July, Chairman and CEO Mason Holland says. The company in June restarted the production line that had been shuttered for nearly 4 yr. Eclipse executives, who bought the program out of bankruptcy in August 2009, have maintained that they have had the resources to resume production, but first wanted to realign the supplier team and wait for the market to improve before building new aircraft. The company has remained cautious, as orders and the market slowly improve.
Sterling Partners, a Chicago-based private equity company, acquired an established aviation-maintenance college and plans to build partnerships with airlines, aircraft manufacturers and MRO providers, enhance the school's Tulsa, Okla., campus and open new campuses. “We're particularly excited about the opportunity to develop deeper partnerships with the industry,” says Jason Rosenberg, a principal with Sterling Partners.
The FAA, bowing to broad industry opposition, will rescind its interpretation of a rule governing rest for airline mechanics, reverting to a more flexible view that both management and unions have long considered acceptable. The agency delivered the news in a Dec. 26 letter to the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), which spearheaded the challenge to an FAA interpretation made nearly three years ago.
Cessna Aircraft has signed a letter of intent to acquire Jet Aviation's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in Zurich, Switzerland and Dusseldorf, Germany. The sale, expected to be completed by year-end, would not include the FBOs at those locations. Jet Aviation, which had spent the past couple of years reviving its struggling completions business, has more recently experienced a downturn in its services division as demand from Europe dipped.
Lou Churchville (Business Development Max-Viz Portland, Ore. )
“The Alabama Bet” (Viewpoint, December 2012, page 9) was a nice piece on Al Ueltschi and your multi-port connections to all the elements. Life really is a web that we often do not recognize in all its interconnectivity . . . let alone what's behind the curtain from where the web springs: the curtain Al just passed through . . . perhaps to spin yet another thread. Business Development Max-Viz Portland, Ore.
You pick up USA Today from under your hotel door and the front-page headline shouts about another aviation accident. As you glean the details of the misfortune that befell the crew and passengers, know that your own passengers are possibly reading the same article. Many will want to talk to you, to be reassured by you.
Eclipse Aerospace hopes to contract to replace the fleet of T-1A Jayhawks (Beechjet 400s) flown for the U.S. Air Force Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) program. The company responded Jan. 7 to an Air Force request for information (RFI) for a potential large fleet of very light jets (VLJs) to support the SUPT Multi-place Training Track. The Air Force released the RFI on Nov.
In November 2007, TAG Holding of Geneva stunned the business aviation community when it agreed to pay the FAA a then-record settlement of $10 million to end an enforcement action. A month earlier, the FAA had issued an emergency suspension of AMI Jet Charter, one of the largest and most reputable charter and management firms in the U.S. at the time. TAG Holding had held a 49% stake in the outfit for which TAG Aviation USA had acted as the broker. The FAA asserted that TAG actually controlled the certificate holder, in violation of federal regulations.
U.K. air accident investigators have widened their search into the root cause of gearbox failures that forced the crews of two Eurocopter EC225 helicopters to ditch into the North Sea last year. In late 2012, investigators from the U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) linked their probes into two controlled ditchings of EC225s — one operated by Bond Offshore in May and a second operated by CHC Scotia in October. The rest of the North Sea EC225 fleet was grounded in the U.K. and Norway following the incidents.
Captains have been flying Boeing jetliners since the first Model 707 was delivered in 1958. The Seattle-based airframe manufacturer has built 15,000 commercial jets, close to three-quarters of the world's commercial jet fleet. The first prop-liner pilots who made the transition to the new generation of jet transports faced many challenges, including adapting to a class of aircraft that flew at nearly double the speed and twice as high as the Douglas DC-7s and Lockheed Constellations they were succeeding.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller ( D-W.Va.) plans to retire at the end of his term next year, concluding a more than 30-year career in the Senate. An outspoken proponent of NextGen, Rockefeller has had both spirited debates with and praise for the business aviation industry. He has strongly believed that business aviation operators should pay more into the national air transportation system, but was willing to compromise his position on a need for aviation user fees to ensure that long-term FAA reauthorization legislation would pass the Senate.
A primary advantage of a helicopter — its ability to land at places other than airports — is also its greatest nemesis. There are gotcha's galore: thin unseen wires around a landing zone; a skid-grabbing snow crust veiled by a layer of powder; a brown cloud suddenly blotting out all visual references just as you begin a low hover above a worksite.
FlightSafety's release of its eLearning 2012/2013 Cold Weather Operations Course is available for the iPad. The course has been updated on an annual basis since it was first introduced six years ago. This interactive, rich media course can be taken either from a personal computer or an Apple iPad. A learning management system (LMS) tracks progress, so users can stop, resume the course and/or switch from a computer to an iPad. The system picks up from the last slide.
Bombardier's Business Aviation division enjoyed gains across the board with orders jumping 80% in 2012. Bombardier received 343 net orders in 2012, compared with 191 a year earlier. Bombardier's business jet deliveries, meanwhile, were relatively flat in 2012 at 179 aircraft. The manufacturer delivered 163 aircraft in 2011, but that only reflects activity of the final 11 months (an accounting change to a calendar fiscal year shortened the 2011 reporting time frame). The 2012 deliveries were actually at about the same pace — only slightly increased from 2011.
