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.
Nav Canada and Iridium are partnering on a project that will bring Iridium satellite-based air traffic surveillance to areas of the globe with no coverage, starting with crucial North Atlantic routes. The two companies are forming a joint venture called Aireon, which will provide surveillance data from a new constellation of satellites being launched by Iridium Communications. ADS-B receivers will be a hosted payload on Iridium's NEXT communications satellites. Desch says Iridium has invested about $3 billion in the constellation of 66 satellites. Harris Corp.
The bottom in used business jet pricing “remains elusive,” says JPMorgan analyst Joseph Nadol. Average asking price fell 0.9% last month, with heavy jets down 1.5% and light jets down 0.3%. This brought May to “a new low for the cycle,” Nadol says. But medium jet prices inched up 0.6%. And, with soft prices, inventory continues to shrink, down 10 bps in May. Used inventory of in-production models is now 10.6%, down from 11.1% in February, Nadol says.
The FAA's Flight Standard Service is hoping to have guidance in place by October that would change the approach that inspectors take toward addressing minor compliance issues. Flight Standards Director John Allen said earlier this year that the agency's officials were “trying to change a culture within the Flight Standards Service” to encourage inspectors to work out minor issues with operators before immediately jumping to enforcement action.
Exact Air Flight ET822 descended below MDA into dark, wooded terrain while attempting a night non-precision RNAV (GNSS) Runway 12 approach at Chicoutimi/Saint-Honore, Quebec, on Dec. 9, 2009. Both pilots were killed and two passengers — the only other occupants of the aircraft — were seriously injured when the Beech King Air A100 (BE10) struck the ground in controlled flight on the approach centerline some 3 nm from the threshold.
Hawker Beechcraft Services has opened a new full-service MRO facility offering airframe, engine, avionics and mobile support for the company's entire product line on the New Castle airport in Wilmington, Del. The facility includes maintenance hangar and back shop space, customer reception and break areas, a customer lounge and two fully-equipped customer offices.
The FAA notes that while the number of fatal general aviation accidents over the last decade has gone down, so have flight hours due to economic factors. The general aviation fatal accident rate has remained static, despite the reduced flying activity. In FY 2011, there were 457 fatalities in 271 fatal GA accidents. In 2010, there were 457 fatalities in 270 fatal GA accidents. The accident rate for 2011 was 1.13 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours flown and was 1.10 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours flown in 2010.
ARGUS TRAQPak data indicates that May 2012 business aircraft flight activity increased from April 2012 at 3.5% overall. The only month over month decrease was the fractional segment, down 1.0%. Part 135 activity was up 5.3% and Part 91 was up 3.9%. Reviewing activity year over year (May 2012 vs. May 2011) TRAQPak observed a 1.6% increase in overall aircraft activity. Results by operational category were mixed with Part 91sector activity up 4.3%.
In 2010 NBAA presented Wendi Gavigan with its Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award for having shared her industry expertise while making “significant contributions to the scheduling and dispatching function.” Beginning with this presentation in our Schedulers and Dispatchers quarterly, Gavigan, whose day job is vice president and manager of flight operations for Citigroup Corporate Aviation, continues to lead and share with this the first in a series of discussions with S&D professionals about their work, challenges, solutions and aspirations.
One of the many highlights at this year's MMC was the chance for participants to support the NBAA Maintenance Committee's Technical Reward and Career Scholarship (TRACS) program. These scholarships are designed to help jump start the career of technicians who are either completing their A&P training or aspire to advance a business aviation career already begun. Earning an A&P license gets you into the hangar, but further training and experience are necessary to advance beyond entry level. The TRACS program is designed to serve both categories.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and ITT Exelis have entered into a licensing agreement for Exelis to provide its real-time integrated next generation flight-tracking data for ERAU's academic research and analysis.
A Secret Service-imposed TFR that shut down New Jersey's Teterboro Airport May 14 with little advance notice is raising fears over airspace restrictions on the horizon as the presidential election season ramps up. The TFR shut down Teterboro for nearly 5 hr. on a Monday, when the airport — the nation's busiest general aviation facility — typically experiences peak traffic. The TFR was issued just before it took effect, causing the rerouting of dozens of aircraft.
I read Capt. Enderle's letter (Readers' Feeback, June 2012, page 11) and the accompanying comments with great interest. While there is a plethora of woulda's, coulda's and shoulda's therein, there are but three positive conclusions that can be drawn at this point in the investigation:
The Beech King Air 350 is the largest business turboprop yet built by the Wichita manufacturer and by far its most versatile performer. More than 685 first-generation aircraft were built between 1990 and 2009 before it was succeeded by the more luxurious King Air 350i in 2010.
The two Rolls-Royce BR710A2-20 engines that power the Global 5000 and 6000 are 4.2:1 bypass ratio, conventional axial flow, two-shaft designs with a single 48-in. front fan powered by a two-stage low-pressure turbine and a 10-stage high-pressure compressor driven by a two-stage high-pressure turbine. They are rated at 14,750 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+20C. An aft-mounted, deep-fluted forced mixer nozzle both reduces noise and improves high-altitude cruise thrust output.
Bombardier is the final manufacturer of large-cabin, long-range business jets to upgrade its flagship aircraft with large-format, flat-panel avionics, but based upon our recent demo flight, the wait was well worth the results. The Vision Flight Deck provides strong incentives for operators of older Globals with early 1990s vintage avionics to upgrade to the Global 6000's 21st century cockpit technology.
A Gulfstream G280 recently set an unconfirmed city-pair speed record from Paris to White Plains, N.Y., making the flight in 7 hr., 40 min. NAA record certification is pending. The G280, took off from Paris Le Bourget Airport on May 17 and flew nonstop to Westchester County Airport at an average speed of Mach 0.80 against an average 32-kt. headwind. At maximum takeoff weight, the aircraft climbed to 43,000 ft. in 22 min.
Belize Belize is the only Central American country that was not solely a Spanish colony, with Spain and Great Britain disputing rule over the territory in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1854, it officially became the colony of British Honduras, and remained so until it achieved independence in 1981 and became Belize. (The independence process was inhibited by a border dispute with Guatemala, which continues toward a so-far unscheduled referendum in both states to determine whether to refer the conflict to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.)
I'm a tad behind in my reading and just now finished “Studebaker Time,” the Viewpoint in my June 2010 BCA. As always, excellent. I have but one complaint . . . Where were you when I needed you?
Despite a sluggish start that will hold down deliveries at least through this year, Bombardier Aerospace expects the business jet market to accelerate over the next 10 years with the value of unit shipments nearly doubling through 2021 and then tripling over the subsequent 10 years. Bombardier is forecasting a market for 24,000 business jets valued at $648 billion through 2031. By 2031, business jet manufacturers are expected to be shipping 1,500 units annually, Bombardier says.
NATA's 2012 survey of general aviation service employee compensation is now available. The report includes salaries and benefits for pilots, line-service personnel and maintenance technicians. The 2012 Compensation Report is provided at no cost to NATA members who participated in the study. The charge for non-participating members and non-members is $130 and $310, respectively. Visit www.nata.aero and under Products and Services, click on Publications.
After decades of overflying Central America, executives of U.S., Canadian, and European corporations in growing numbers are accelerating their commercial activities in the seven countries constituting the subcontinent and dispatching their owned and chartered business jets to take them there.
