Cessna promised to certify its new Citation Ten as the fastest business jet on the market with a speed of Mach 0.935, topping the Gulfstream G650's Mach 0.925. Cessna's original Citation X held the fastest business jet title at Mach 0.92 until Gulfstream unveiled the G650. Cessna unveiled the Ten follow-on during the 2010 NBAA Convention.
Flight Design GmbH and Sandel Avionics Inc. are GAMA's newest members, bringing total worldwide membership to 78 companies. Flight Design is based in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, and manufactures the EASA type certified CTLS. Sandel Avionics engineers and manufactures terrain avoidance avionics for rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft.
Argus TRAQPak data indicates that August 2012 business aircraft flight activity increased from July 2012 at 5.7% overall. The results by operational category were all positive from the previous month, led by Part 91 flight activity posting a 6.6% month-over-month increase. Part 135 charter activity was up 4.3%. Fractional activity was up 5.1% over July. Comparing August 2012 to August 2011, TRAQPak recorded a modest increase of 2.0% in overall aircraft activity. Results by operational category were once again led by Part 91 sector activity up 2.7%.
Gulfstream Aerospace has added eight technicians and an overnight shift from 10 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. at its Westfield, Mass. Service Center. The technicians can perform work for customers at the Westfield facility or can be dispatched for AOG situations within a 4 hr. drive.
KeyAir, headquartered at Oxford, Conn. (OXF), has added a Falcon 900EX, based at Westchester County Airport (HPN) to its managed charter fleet. Key Air provides worldwide jet charter, aircraft management and FBO services at Oxford and at KeyAir Twin Cities (ANE) just outside Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Aviation Resource Management added a 2001 Falcon 900EX to its FAA Air Carrier Certificate. The 12-passenger aircraft features high-speed Internet and is available for charter from Teterboro, N.J. Established in 1989, Aviation Resource Management is an Argus and Wyvern approved charter operator and aircraft management firm with a fleet based in Teterboro and Caldwell, N.J.
Ever wonder what your long-range nav system would look like if your aircraft were crossing the north pole? After “90 deg. N” appeared on the display, what would the FMS do? How would it orient itself coming out “the other side,” given that all directions radiating from the pole are “south”? Would the GPS sensors be able to triangulate a reliable position, given that the balk of the satnav constellation is concentrated in the mid-latitudes?
Beijing and Shanghai are likely to get dedicated airports for business aviation, boosting growth prospects for the industry while relieving commercial airports of the accompanying airspace congestion. The director-general of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Li Jiaxiang, says building the two airports will be part of a set of policies that the agency is working on for the promotion of business aviation. “Business aviation needs greater convenience, speed and smoothness,” he noted at the Beijing International Business Aviation Show.
An article in Intelligence (September 2012, page 24) states that Baker Aviation is the “only certified repair station in KADS,” yet our sister company, Elite Turbine Maintenance, has FAR Part 145 authorization (X5ER177Y) and we have been in business for over 13 years at Addison (Texas) Airport. Executive Vice President Aviation Services Elite
Banyan has recently launched a mobile website to make it easier for their customers while they are traveling. Everything an operators needs from customer support to maintenance and avionics upgrades and services is now available. Enter www.banyanair.com into your phone's browser. Banyan has also received an STC from the FAA for the installation of the Honeywell Aspire 200LG Satcom system on Gulfstream GII, GIII and GIV aircraft.
Yes, Virginia, Scandinavia is part of Europe, and two of the countries featured here — Denmark and Sweden — are members of the European Union. What that means, if you're headed to either of those countries, is that your flight will come under the EU's notorious Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and taxed from point of origin to destination (i.e., not entry into EU airspace).
Once a conch-wannabe living in Coconut Grove, I recently returned to the Sunshine State at the invitation of Embraer Executive Jets, which was showing off its new $52 million digs at Melbourne Airport. The Phenom maker has reason to strut; the sparkling campus is brand new, carefully considered, nicely executed and, well, a phenom.
Gulfstream Aerospace has received a Type Certificate for the large-cabin, ultra-long-range G550 from the South African Civil Aviation Authority. The approval allows operators to register the aircraft in South Africa. The G550 fleet has accrued more than 650,000 flight hours and made more than 242,000 landings. At its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.85, the G550 will fly Cape Town to London in 12 hr.
Airport groups are calling on the FAA to improve a draft Advisory Circular (AC) on airport safety management systems (SMS). The FAA released the draft circular at the end of June as a continuation of a 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA), however, wants the agency to convene an informal industry working group to improve the draft AC to provide “clear, practical guidance to airport operators regarding how to establish an airport SMS program and utilize the program to enhance airport safety proactively.”
The DOT Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is calling on the FAA to improve management of a program that requires airports to assess potential wildlife aircraft strikes. “The FAA has not developed robust inspection practices, and its inspectors do not have the technical expertise to effectively oversee the program,” the report says of the FAA's Wildlife Hazard Mitigation Program.
If you need a single source for learning about management skills in an easy to read and implement format, visit: www.mindtools.com. This website is filled with strategies and tools to help you become a better manager. Most if the information is free, and there are links to other resources. You need to join the site and will be on their list for emails and ads, but for a busy manager, it provides quick and easy access to information that you can use to be more effective.
Regarding “Righting the Wronged,” I hope the fact that James Inhofe is a sitting senator had nothing to do with his being allowed to keep his license after 7 hr. of remedial training following the incident. I only say this because he is 77 years old and I've seen quite a few elderly pilots who should not be flying, or at the very least not be allowed to carry passengers. Oregon
For unemployed U.S. military veterans seeking a career in aviation, a new Veterans Retraining Program (VRAP) now available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may allow veterans to participate in Jeppesen's FAA Dispatcher Certification program for high-demand aviation occupations. The program provides licensing of dispatchers along with the same body of knowledge that is required for the Airline Transport Pilot License, applicable to many aviation careers. Those interested in the training program should visit www.jeppesen.com/faasdispatcher.
GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce believes time is running short for the FAA to make substantial changes to the certification process, which he says is resulting in up to 18-month delays in products reaching market and costing jobs. Given potential budget cuts that Congress may be facing, he says changes in the way FAA operates — including using the designee program the way it was designed — must be made soon. “FAA absolutely has to change right now,” he says, noting the agency has the budget and congressional authority to make the changes.
Hawker Beechcraft is beginning avionics installation on its first customer-bound Hawker 400XPR, jump-starting the upgrade program that had been slowed by the company's ongoing financial struggles.
European business aviation traffic continued its downward trend in July, as the region grapples with the lingering effects of the economic downturn and casts a wary eye toward global anxieties and other concerns. According to the July 2012 Business Aviation Traffic Tracker, published by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), business aviation traffic throughout the European Union slipped 4% from July 2011 figures. That decline also contributed to a 2.6% drop in year-to-date traffic numbers compared with 2011 figures.
Aerodynamically clear F-28 has radically rigid-in-line three-blade rotor with elastometric bearings in the hub. Power goes from engine to main-rotor gearbox via a belt drive with controlled idler. Priced at under $30,000.
Nextant Aerospace has delivered its 16th 400XT business jet to a private buyer in the Czech Republic, the first to be registered in the European Union. The aircraft will be managed by Czech Republic-based Time Air, a provider of charter, aircraft acquisition and management services.
Aug. 26 — At 1715 EDT, a Mooney M20C (N557M) registered to a private owner, experienced a total loss of engine power on initial takeoff climb from East Hampton Airport (HTO) East Hampton, N.Y. The pilot attempted to return to the airport and the airplane collided with trees. The airplane was heavily damaged due to impact and a post-crash fire. The private pilot and one passenger received serious injuries. It was VFR for this flight that departed HTO at 1714. The pilot stated he conducted a preflight inspection and no anomalies were noted.
Washington has a few catch phrases that never seem to go away, with “budget deficit,” “debt ceiling,” and “budget cuts,” among the most persistent. Even in the best of times, doomsayers bemoan tight budgets, the need to slash programs and an inability to spend new money. This year is no different, only the talks are more dire. Washington will likely be in hyperdrive after the elections.
