It was the call we all dread. The car was overheating, and now there was oil on the garage floor. On the phone, the mechanic was saying terrible things: failed head gasket, engine bolts stripped, block compromised, and so on. His repair estimate exceeded the car's book value. My roadster was toast, never to roar again.
Transport Canada has granted a type certificate to Embraer for its Phenom 300 light jet. The Phenom 300, which was certified by U.S. and Brazilian aviation authorities in 2009, is now certificated in more than 40 countries. The move comes as the company adds a new seating configuration — with a two-place divan. Canada certificated Embraer's entry-level Phenom 100 in 2010. The Phenom 300 accommodates up to 11 occupants.
A JetBlue copilot injured by a laser illumination July 15 is the latest victim of a nationwide phenomenon that has grown as much as tenfold since the FAA formally began taking reports in 2005. The laser illumination injured the JetBlue first officer over Islip, N.Y., as Flight 657 was on approach to John F. Kennedy International Airport at 5,000 ft. The captain reported two green flashes, one of which “caught the first officer,” and requested medical personnel meet the flight at JetBlue's Gate 24 after landing. The FAA reported that the first officer's injury was minor.
The U.S. and Canadian business aircraft summer travel season has gotten off to a slow start, with both year-over-year and month-over-month operations declining in June, according to the latest data released by business aviation safety expert and industry analyst ARGUS. Business aircraft operations slowed across the board by 3.2% in June, compared with May, and by 1.3% compared with a year earlier, ARGUS reports. Operations involving all aircraft segments — from turboprops to large jets — were down month-over-month, with mid-cabin operations declining the most at 5%.
Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland (a Finmeccanica company) signed an agreement at the Farnborough International Airshow to jointly develop an all-new 2.5-metric-ton class single-engine helicopter. The agreement was signed by Bruno Spagnolini, CEO of AgustaWestland, and Russian Helicopters CEO Dmitry Petrov. The overall program will be shared on a 50/50 basis, with the new helicopter being designed for a wide range of applications worldwide.
Calling the past four years an “epic correction” of the business aviation market, industry analyst Brian Foley warns that rather than waiting for an uptick, the industry should view the current situation as the “new normal” and adapt accordingly. “The pessimist in me says we'll be in something of a steady-state situation for the foreseeable future, with occasional setbacks balanced out by spots of growth,” Foley says, adding that companies that have geared for the current time — rather than waiting for an uptick — will have an edge should things pick up.
ARGUS International Inc. (ARGUS) is a specialized aviation services company with global expertise whose mission is to provide the aviation marketplace with the information needed to make informed decisions and manage risk. ARGUS services include the CHEQ proprietary charter operator rating and due diligence program, TRAQPak market intelligence data and research services, and aviation consulting.
ACI Jet Centers began assessing a five cent fuel surcharge in July to offset costs of ongoing Proposition 65 litigation by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) over the sale and distribution of leaded aviation gasoline in California. ACI joins other fuel providers, including Signature Flight Support facilities, which have assessed the fuel surcharge. In addition, NATA also has appealed to members to fight the lawsuit filed against avgas providers last fall.
For more than a decade, Oakland, Calif.-based Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has built a practice winning lawsuits and scoring landmark settlements under its state's Proposition 65. That law, originally entitled the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, is designed “to protect California citizens and the state's drinking water sources from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals.”
The FAA formally reopened the comment period for a joint AOPA/EAA petition to permit certain operations without the pilot holding a third-class medical. The comment period, which originally closed July 2, will stay open until Sept. 14. The AOPA and EAA say the public needs the extra time to fully provide substantive comments, the FAA says. The petition, formally submitted in March, requested the exemption for pilots to fly fixed-gear aircraft of 180 hp or less, with four seats or fewer and up to one passenger in day VFR conditions for recreational purposes.
Transport and environmental ministers from several countries opposed to the EU's emissions trading system (ETS) will gather in Washington July 31-Aug. 1 for closed-door meetings on political strategies to challenge the bloc's carbon-trading system. The U.S. State and Transportation departments invited ministers and diplomats from up to 16 countries, several sources tell Aviation Week. Besides the U.S., countries that may participate include China, Russia, India and Brazil. The EU and its 27 member states have not been invited to the Washington meeting.
If Brazil's economy is the powerhouse of South America, then São Paulo is its spark plug: The city alone accounts for more than 13% of Brazil's gross domestic product, leads Latin American cities in GDP, and is 10th by GDP among all the world's cities. And by population — just under 20 million — São Paulo also ranks as the largest city in the entire Southern Hemisphere. No wonder this 458-year-old settlement's motto is “I am not led, I lead.”
I started to read “Commencement Exercise” (Viewpoint, June 2012, page 9) but stopped when it appeared you were going to divulge something that happened to Louis Zamperini that I hadn't gotten to yet in the book (and you're right, it is superb). I'm up to the 24th day at sea and after fending off shark attacks and machine gun attacks from a Japanese bomber, they are down to one raft and have just patched most of its holes. I'll get back to your commentary once I get past Zamperini as an “angry drunk” in the book.
Robert Baugniet (Commodore (ret.), Royal Canadian Navy )
If “Commencement Exercise” (June, page 7) provokes any negative reactions, it is obviously your fault. Any glowing tributes should be referred to my parents, in memoriam. Commodore (ret.), Royal Canadian Navy Savannah, Ga.
Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company (HBDC) is putting its AT-6 light attack/armed reconnaissance aircraft into low rate initial production (LRIP) in Wichita. The company says it started low-rate production in response to “significant indications of interest around the world” for the attack variant of its PT6-powered T-6 trainer. However, the costly step could also be a move to strengthen its position in the ongoing competition with Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Embraer A-29 Super Tucano for the U.S. Air Force's Afghanistan Light Air Support (LAS) competition.
I had no idea. We knew you to be a mild mannered, gifted writer and possibly a tenacious editor. But imagining you with a chain saw in your mitts (Viewpoint, July 2012) really summons up an amusing picture. Despite my Dad making a decent enough living as a “tree man” to put me into college, I agree that the direction the airport is going seems mad. Why aren't there any arbitrators that can broker an agreement?
In the second quarter of 2012, Embraer delivered 35 jets to the commercial aviation market and 20 to executive aviation. Total deliveries for the first six months of the year are 56 commercial and 33 executive jets, 13 more than for the same period last year.
The FCC is planning to issue a notice “shortly” that explores potential options for strengthening regulations and/or standards surrounding the use of emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) on general aviation aircraft, an FCC official told the NTSB on July 17 at a forum on general aviation search and rescue that members hope will highlight the agency's decades-long concerns about the adequacy of current search and rescue policies. The NTSB chiefly is concerned about the lack of a mandate for general aviation aircraft to install updated ELTs.
Piaggio is teaming with Saab to develop a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on a highly modified version of its P.180 Avanti II business turboprop. At Farnborough July 10, Piaggio Aero announced that it signed a contract with Abu Dhabi Autonomous System Investments, a subsidiary of Tawazun, covering the development of the aircraft and the construction of two prototypes. The first is to fly in 2014. The MPA platform will have a bigger wing than a standard P.180, a greater takeoff weight and more fuel capacity.
Effective Oct. 1, 2012, pilots must use FAA MedXPress to complete an electronic application for an Airman Medical Certificate. One of the significant enhancements will establish a tracking program so that pilots and AMEs can query the system electronically and determine the status of applications. Future enhancements will transition air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) to MedXPress.
After filing for bankruptcy protection, Hawker Beechcraft is currently in a 45-day period of court-authorized “exclusive negotiations” with a Chinese company, Superior Aviation Beijing Co., 40% privately owned and 60% backed by the city of Beijing. HBC formally sought court clearance to begin the negotiations after receiving a $1.79 billion proposal from the Chinese firm for all but the defense business. Despite concerns expressed by the machinists union, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of N.Y. approved the company's motion July 17.
