Business & Commercial Aviation

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.

North America, not China, holds the key to industry recovery says aviation analyst Brian Foley. “Although the China region provided a steady sales stream of large and expensive jets at the height of the world economic downturn, we see that trend rapidly losing steam,” he asserts. The China market, “was a conveniently timed mini-rescue, a nice shot in the arm at a critical moment, but now it's starting to slow down. Chinese GDP is almost halved from 2010 and its stock market is at its lowest in three and a half years.

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.

FAA is moving to decommission the last direction finders (DF) in the U.S. — 29 in Alaska — saying the technology is “beyond its useful life cycle.” The agency, which decommissioned DFs outside of Alaska in 2007, requested comments on a plan to shut down the remaining DFs. In a recent notice, FAA says their usage for pilot orientation “has become almost nonexistent.” The Alaska Flight Service Information Area Groups (AFSIAG) has documented eight flight assists involving lost or disoriented pilots over the past eight years.

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

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A new AgustaWestland Service Center has been opened by AVIASUR in Santiago, Chile to provide maintenance and support services for AgustaWestland civil helicopter customers. The service center, located at Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Chile, officially opened Aug. 8. AgustaWestland now has 17 of its helicopters operating in Chile: 8 AW119 Koalas, 7 AW109s, one Grand and one W-3A Sokol. The first GrandNew light-twin helicopter is scheduled to be delivered to Chile later this year.

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.

FAA is laying the groundwork for the new “Pilot's Bill of Rights,” beginning with a new website that will facilitate access to air traffic data. The new law requires FAA to inform individuals subject to investigation that they are “entitled to access” to air traffic data, including air traffic communication tapes, radar information, air traffic controller statements, flight data; investigative reports or other air traffic information related to the investigation.

Los Angeles-based Jet Edge International has expanded its fleet with a West Coast-based, Wi-Fi enabled 2001 Bombardier Learjet 45. The Jet Edge fleet includes Gulfstream V, Gulfstream 450, Gulfstream IV-SP, Gulfstream IV, Gulfstream III, Gulfstream 200 and Learjet 45 aircraft as well as Hawker 800XP, Cessna Citation X and Bombardier Challenger 300 aircraft via its Platinum Partner status with XOJET.

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.

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.

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.

Nextant Aerospace is ramping up production of its 400XT program, recently acquiring a facility to quadruple its space at Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Airport and accommodate a rate of up to 48 aircraft annually. The company expects to deliver 32 of the aircraft by year-end and has estimated that its order book approaches 70. The program has at least a year's head start on the Hawker 400XPR, which Hawker Beechcraft bills as the “only factory-direct aircraft upgrade program for the Hawker Beechjet 400 series.”

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.

Piper Aircraft appointed BAYMAP Aviation, Ankara, as its dealer for new aircraft in Turkey. BAYMAP is a subsidiary of Korfez Aerial Survey and Engineering Ltd. Co., which is active in Turkey, Libya, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

U.S. lawmakers will have to address privacy issues raised by the use of UAVs in domestic airspace, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says. “The prospect of drone use inside the United States raises far-reaching issues concerning the extent of government surveillance authority, the value of privacy in the digital age, and the role of Congress in reconciling these issues,” says the report, “Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses,” released Sept. 6.

Rockwell Collins' Airshow 3-D moving map is now available for download in the Apple iTunes App Store. The iPad app delivers an interactive way for business jet passengers to view the world around them and stay informed during their journey. Existing Airshow 4000 or Venue HD cabin management system users can take advantage of the new app for passengers' iPads.

Aeropro Flight APO201, a Beechcraft King Air A100, departed from Runway 30 at Quebec/Jean Lesage International Airport at 0557 EDT on June 23, 2010, with a crew of two and five passengers. The flight lasted 68 sec., terminating in a field 1.5 mi. from the departure end of the runway. The airplane burned and all seven persons on board were killed.

London Oxford Airport-based aircraft management and engineering company, Hangar8 plc, has enhanced its third-party support capabilities at its Oxford MRO facility. The company now provides CAMO-Part M support and line support for all Hawker Beechcraft business jets, the Dassault Falcon 2000, the Cessna CitationJet 525 family and the Embraer Phenom 100. The company now employs 22 people who are involved with the new MRO operation. Hangar8 supports one of the largest managed fleets of Hawkers and Challengers in Europe.

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.

In an Aug. 24 posting to its iPad support knowledge base, Apple listed its international battery safety certifications, thereby meeting the requirements of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 120-76B. “Basically, the compliance statement means the iPad 100% meets FAA requirements spelled out in the new AC,” said Rick Ellerbrock, director of aviation strategy at Jeppesen. “That deals with United Nations transport safety requirements and also Underwriters Laboratories requirements.

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.

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.

Bombardier's Learjet 75 reached another milestone with power applied to the first production aircraft's electrical systems on the Wichita production line the week of Aug. 21, as the aircraft progresses toward its 2013 entry-into-service. The Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 test aircraft are continuing their development work as the program moves forward.