HBC has delivered the 7,000th Beechcraft King Air since the legendary line of twin-engine turboprops began production in 1964. The milestone aircraft is a Beechcraft King Air 350i delivered to Herman & Kittle Properties, Inc., based in Indianapolis. The King Air fleet has amassed in excess of 45 million flight hours. The King Air is currently operated in 127 countries, and all branches of the U.S. military.
Dassault Falcon received EASA and FAA approval to install SmartStem Tire Pressure Systems on Falcon 50 series aircraft. The existing tire inflation valve stem is replaced with a special valve stem containing integral sensors that communicates tire pressure, temperature, and other stored information wirelessly to a handheld reader without the use of an internal battery in the stem. The reader stores up to 10,000 readings and can be downloaded to a PC.
This aircraft can grow up: Recently unveiled, the Mooney Master is the new low-price contender for the FBO flight training market with an added dividend — for $1,600 the owner can convert the standard fixed gear to retractable, and end up with basically the same airplane as the successful Mark 21.
The Office of Naval Research has awarded Rockwell Collins a contract to develop technology to locate and classify an adversary's attempts to interfere with GPS signals and disrupt military operations that will likely have collateral benefits to civil users. The three-year contract for the Modernized Integrated Spoofer Tracking (MIST) program calls for Rockwell Collins to develop technology and prototype system concepts to detect and locate the sources of transmitted signals that are intended to disrupt users' ability to navigate and communicate.
In 1994, the NATA viewed the imminent retirement of its long-time leader, Larry Burian, as an opportunity to raise the organization's visibility in Washington and on Capitol Hill. Accordingly, the board turned to James Coyne, a former congressman and Ronald Reagan White House aide, to get the FBO/charter group noticed. It didn't take him long.
A recent investigation by USA Today found that a large percentage of people don't follow the rules and leave their electronic devices on during takeoff and landing. That's understandable, given the lack of evidence that doing so causes any major difficulty to the flight crew or the aircraft's navigation systems (despite the few anecdotal claims otherwise). Even the feds are looking into the matter, at long last, probably because FAA personnel are as dependent on their electronic appendages as any of us and they know better.
Bombardier Aerospace announced two significant additions to its customer services network for business aircraft operators in the U.S. Over the next two months Bombardier will deploy Mobile Response Parties (MRP) to seven regions. Each MRP truck will be staffed by an avionics and a maintenance technician, and equipped with tooling to perform scheduled and unscheduled maintenance at an operator's location. The company also opened three more Regional Support Offices co-located with business aircraft service centers in Tucson, Ariz., Hartford, Conn.
The EU has postponed by one year its plans to include international operators in its emissions trading system (ETS). The decision followed meetings of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) council in Montreal on market-based measures for emissions mitigation. The council on Nov. 9 said it would convene a high-level group to create a framework for a global market-based system. The EU cited the council in its decision to postpone the broader implementation of the ETS.
Hawker Beechcraft has begun notifying customers of its decisions concerning Hawker product support, which essentially would orphan the Hawker 4000, should no buyer for the program emerge. This includes cancelling warranties, the guaranteed maintenance program SupportPlus and the Hawker 4000 Upgrade and Enhancement program. It also includes cancelling warranties and SupportPlus for the Premier 1A.
Multi Service Aero has developed a smart phone application of its FBO Locator that allows pilots and flight planners to locate Aero Card accepting merchants around the globe. Pilots can search by IATA, ICAO, country and city. Using the map utility, pilots can search a specific region by zooming into a given area where they can view all the Aero merchants, along with contact information.
Bombardier Aerospace's backlog has jumped 18.6% this year, as the Canadian manufacturer continues to bring in major fleet orders for its Global long-range large business jets. Bombardier Business Aircraft reported 45 net firm orders during the third quarter, up 50% from the 30 firm orders in the same period last fiscal year. These orders included three multi-fleet contracts for 19 Globals valued at $1.2 billion. The orders, combined with 38 firm orders for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, helped push backlog to $26.1 billion by the end of September.
Honeywell says its business and commercial aviation products were top performers among its four business sectors in the third quarter and will remain so through 2013, despite expectations for a continued slowdown in the global economy. Sales for the Aerospace division, which includes business and commercial aviation as well as defense and space, were up 4% to $3 billion year-over-year in the third quarter due to a 9% increase in commercial product sales. Defense and space revenue decreased 1%.
NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher A. Hart concurred with the Safety Board's findings and probable cause in this accident but expressed concern “that we are not giving enough attention to an emerging issue — the human factors issues associated with the improving reliability of automation.” What follows is excerpted from his concurring opinion.
Aerospace Education Corporation hosted its 4th Biennial Aviation and Aerospace Career Fair on October 4th and 5th at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, NY. The goal of the event was to educate middle and high school students about careers in aviation and aerospace and was attended by almost 2,500 people, who were able to meet with 30 exhibitors, speak with the pilots and technicians at over 10 aircraft on static display and listen to a presentation by NASA Astronaut Daniel Burbank about his time in space.
The all-composite Learjet 85, arguably the most ambitious of Bombardier's several business jet development programs, is incorporating new processes and moving lots of dirt as it advances steadily toward first flight. Once certified and in service, the new model will be the largest, farthest ranging and fastest ever to bear the Learjet marque, and it will be the first FAR Part 25 business jet with a fuselage and wings fashioned mostly from composite material.
Jet Source announced the addition of an Embraer Phenom 100 corporate jet to its charter fleet, based at the Jet Source FBO at McClellan-Palomar Airport (CRQ) in Carlsbad, Calif. “The Phenom 100 is proving itself to be . . . ideally suited for those quick trips to San Francisco, Phoenix or more exotic locations like Cabo San Lucas in Mexico,” says Ian Ewing, vice president of business development for Jet Source.
Thrush is shipping its newly certified 510G agricultural aircraft, the first application for GE's H80 turboprop engine. Certification followed a two-year development program with both GE and Albany, Ga.-based Thrush Aircraft and comes just a few weeks after Thrush obtained type inspection authorization from FAA. GE obtained certification for the H80 engine, earlier this year. Thrush has built 11 of the H80-powered 510G aircraft and has begun initial deliveries both within the U.S. and to Latin American nations.
Universal Aviation U.K., located at Stansted Airport (EGSS), has completely renovated its 10,712-sq.-ft. FBO. The updates include all-new crew and passenger lounges, a state-of-the-art business center and video conferencing facility, two client meeting rooms, private screening facilities and ultra-modern showers and changing rooms. The facility is home to Universal's ground-support business and its 24/7 European Operations Center, which offers trip facilitation within Europe and globally.
For less than $750,000, you can buy a Learjet 35 that can fly farther and faster than some of the latest $9 million to $10-million light jets. Introduced in mid-1974, the Model 35 can fly seven passengers 2,000 nm while cruising at 430 KTAS and land with NBAA IFR reserves. The Model 36, having 1,200 lb. more fuselage fuel, but three feet less of cabin length, can fly 2,450 nm.
Eran Duvdevani (CEO Jet-ways Aviation Hertzlia, Israel )
A long-time subscriber, I enjoy your “operating in. . .” articles very much (e.g. “Life in the Far North: Operating in Scandinavia,” October 2012, page 26). As a Part 91 Bombardier Global 5000 pilot, I find it very helpful when planning our flights worldwide, and I keep the issues of the magazine just in case I will fly somewhere you wrote about.
Eclipse Aerospace announced an anti-skid braking system (ABS) as a new option for the Eclipse twin-engine very light jet. The new ABS is available as an option on new production Eclipse 550 jets and will be offered as a retrofit to the existing fleet. In-aircraft testing is complete with certification and availability expected within six months. ABS allows for maximum braking energy and skid control without the need for a conventional hydraulic system, which is unique to the Eclipse Jet.
Piper Aircraft and Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP) announced that beginning Dec. 5, 2012, access to all Piper maintenance publications and regulatory documents will be available exclusively through the ATP Aviation Hub Online Service and ATP's NavigatorV Desktop Platform. Piper says ATP's single integrated solution offers several advantages for users including learning one simple software platform for publication access, daily revision updates to all content, and eliminating the cost of installing and managing software.
