Bombardier's Challenger 601-3A/ER has 3,200 nm range at Mach 0.80, a cabin with a commodious cross section, comfortable seating for eight to nine passengers and inflight access to a large aft baggage compartment. As such, it's a $4 million widebody aircraft that's well suited to flying U.S. transcontinental missions.
Cessna will assemble Citation XLS+ business jets in China jointly with Avic general aviation subsidiary Caiga. A joint facility at Caiga's base at Zhuhai in southern China will make its first delivery of a Citation XLS+ in 12-18 months, says Cessna CEO Scott Ernest. Citations assembled at Zhuhai will be delivered only to Chinese customers. The agreement, signed by Cessna and Caiga at Airshow China in Zhuhai on Nov. 14, markedly extends a commitment to work with Chinese industry that the U.S.
The 2012 National Business Aviation Association Convention in Orlando, Fla. closed with 25,150 people in attendance, a number comparable to the final Attendee total of 26,077 for the 2011 Convention, and to the final attendee total of 24,206 for the 2010 event. The number of exhibitors at the Orange County Convention Center was 1,073; booth spaces totaled 4,361, an increase over last year's booth-space total. A total of 105 aircraft were shown on two separate static displays, and an additional four aircraft were shown inside the convention center.
Blackhawk Modifications, which designs, develops and installs performance improvement systems for single- and twin-engine turboprop aircraft, has completed its 400th performance upgrade installation. Blackhawk's milestone customer is EagleMed LLC, of Wichita, Kan., a provider of air medical transfer services in the Midwest. Expansion led EagleMed to add two Blackhawk XP61-powered Beechcraft King Air B200s.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. announced that it delivered its first super-midsized G280 aircraft Nov. 14. The fully outfitted business jet went to a U.S.-based manufacturer with a presence in 190 countries. The aircraft earned type certificates from the U.S. FAA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel on Aug. 30.
Slow sales in the mid- and light segments are keeping business jet deliveries relatively flat for the year, but the market for turboprops has continued to gain momentum in 2012, according to the latest GAMA deliveery report. Manufacturers delivered 428 business jets through the first nine months of 2012, just one more compared with the same period in 2011. Turboprop deliveries, meanwhile, are up 10.5% to 368 units in 2012. Piston aircraft deliveries also inched up 3.5% to 597. With the improving turboprop shipments, deliveries on the whole are up 4.2%.
Gulfstream Aerospace, completing its strongest quarter of the year in terms of new orders, expects sales to grow further in the fourth quarter and is increasing its delivery estimates for 2012 to as many as 124 aircraft. Gulfstream continues to shine in the General Dynamics (GD) portfolio, leading the Aerospace group to a 30% increase in third-quarter revenues and a 20.3% increase in operating earnings. The GD Aerospace group includes Gulfstream and Jet Aviation.
In its 21st annual Business Aviation Outlook, Honeywell forecasts a market for 10,000 new business jets through 2022. In terms of overall delivery numbers, the outlook remains little changed from the predictions Honeywell made in 2011. But the fleet composition is changing, with a greater number of large-cabin, long-range aircraft pushing up billings estimates by 9% over 2011 levels. Large-cabin jets now account for more than 40% of new purchase plans, says Honeywell, which surveys more than 1,500 business jet operators worldwide for its annual outlook.
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.
Rockwell Collins' Ascend Aircraft Information Manager (AIM) secure data transfer and maintenance management system for Pro Line 4, Pro Line 21 and Pro Line Fusion-equipped aircraft, has been recently certified for Cessna CJ1+, CJ2+, CJ3, CJ4 and Hawker Beechcraft King Air B200 Series aircraft. AIM uploads flight critical database updates, and downloads maintenance information post-flight using Wi-Fi or cellular links to and from the Ascend Data Center.
In its amended disclosure statement for the joint plan of reorganization, Hawker Beechcraft said that it needs to either sell or shutter the jet lines because “significant capital investments would be required to achieve competitive performance and product cost for the Hawker 4000 and Hawker 900XP aircraft.
The Sikorsky S-76D helicopter won FAA certification. The company said the S-76D has a current backlog approaching a half-billion dollars and deliveries are expected to begin shortly. Standard features include all-composite, flaw-tolerant main rotor blades; an advanced Thales integrated avionics system and autopilot; health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), active vibration control; and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines. A rotor ice protection system is an option.
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.
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.
October 2012 Argus TRAQPak data shows business aircraft activity increased month-over-month, and year-over-year. TRAQPak data indicates that October 2012 produced the second largest month of business aircraft flight activity, since January 2009. The results by operational category were all up from the previous month, with Part 135 up 11.7%. Reviewing activity year-over-year (October 2012 vs. October 2011) TRAQPak saw an increase of 2.8% in overall aircraft activity.
I enjoyed “Oceanic ATC” (November 2012, page 40); however, I am not sure I agree with the following: (1) Page 40, 2nd paragraph: If reading back an oceanic clearance on a designated North Atlantic Track (NAT) and the Track Message Identifier (TMI) is included, there is no requirement to read back each waypoint. (2) Page 40, 3rd column, 2nd paragraph: I am familiar with the 3-min., but not the 5-min., requirement. (3) Page 45, 2nd column, 3rd paragraph: I thought the air-to-air frequency was 123.45.
Used business aircraft sales slowed slightly, particularly in the light jet segment, and inventory began to creep back up in the third quarter. But used market indicators overall were a “mixed bag ” as pricing strengthened for both business jets and turboprops, according to industry analyst Amstat. The number of business jets available for sale, inched up from 13.3% of the fleet at the end of the second quarter to 13.4% at the end of the third. But this is still improved from 14% of the fleet that was for sale at the end of the third quarter in 2011.
The November issue was outstanding, cover to cover. Starting with your tribute to Neil Armstrong and ending with Fred George's Lear 35 “20/Twenty” column, every article was really good. Every month I look forward to reading BCA, but something about the November issue was particularly good. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
BLR Aerospace delivered its 500th winglet system to its largest winglet customer, the FAA. The agency has purchased 18 Winglet Systems with LED lights for installation on its King Air 300 fleet. The FAA is in the process of installing its third set of Winglets as part of a larger fleet upgrade effort, and the first modified aircraft is flying. BLR Winglet Systems are in operation in 40 countries.
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.
