Thus far, we've talked about eliminating or minimizing sound. But for some operators, maximizing a cabin's audio qualities is of great importance. For those whose key passengers expect nothing less than an airborne symphony hall, IMAX theater, arena event or just some quiet meditation, a fourth way may be the path to audio bliss.
CAE is the first independent training provider to be qualified as a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) approved training organization (ATO) for maintenance training for Dassault Falcon aircraft under China's CCAR-147 regulation. The approval enables CAE to deploy maintenance training courses in China for all in-production Dassault Falcon aircraft, including the Falcon 7X, Falcon 900EX EASy, 900DX, 900LX, and Falcon 2000EX EASy, 2000DX, 2000LX aircraft models.
Cessna Aircraft signed a new agreement with the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company Ltd., (Caiga) and the Shijiazhuang Municipal Government that the company says is a framework to deliver Wichita-built Cessna Caravan single-engine turboprop utility aircraft to Caiga's Shijiazhuang factory for final assembly, painting, production flight tests and sale within China.
Europe's business jet fleet total is down and likely to remain diminished for possibly another year due to slow new aircraft sales and used business jets sold out of Europe to buyers on other continents, aviation consultant Brian Foley says. During the past 12 months, 50 European business jets — about 2% of the total fleet — were sold to buyers on other continents. Outside Europe, the fleets have grown an overall 3%, Foley says. A vast majority, 79%, went to buyers in North America, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. Africa customers took the next highest total, 7%.
Rockwell Collins announced the opening of its Berlin Ascend flight information solutions office, which will provide flight support services for European business aircraft operators. The new office is in the General Aviation Terminal area at the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport.
I have been fortunate enough over the last 25 yr. to work closely with several first responder organizations — fire, police and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The passing years have witnessed an important shift in attitudes toward risk. I remember an old greybeard Coast Guardsman telling me, “You got to go out, but you don't have to come back.” That mindset has given way entirely to a mantra uttered by all first responders that states, “Everybody gets to go home.” Let's spread the word.
NORTH Flight Data Systems of Arlington, Va., has received STC approval for the installation of their Lightweight Aircraft Recording (LARS) system in Eurocopter EC 155 series helicopters. Working with Metro Aviation, Inc., NORTH FDS integrated their voice, video and flight data recording system into the EC 155B1 airframe. The system provides six channels of audio, one channel of video, and in excess of 200 separate parameters of recorded digital aircraft data.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW210 engine has been selected by Eurocopter to power the next-generation X4 helicopter. The PW210-powered X4 is expected to enter into service by 2017. The engine will also power three other unspecified helicopters.
Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Aviation, a division of OSF HealthCare, has received the first of four Eurocopter EC 145s outfitted with an aftermarket wide area augmentation system (WAAS) from United Rotorcraft.
CAE is now conducting aircraft maintenance technician training at a new U.S. location, Sherwood, Ark., near Little Rock, home to the Dassault Aircraft Services (DAS) service center, the Dassault Falcon Jet production facility and the main Falcon Completion Center. CAE is providing maintenance training to Dassault service center production technicians, Dassault's frontline Customer Service staff and Dassault operators for the Falcon 7X, Falcon 900EX EASy and Falcon 2000EX EASy aircraft.
Dassault has approval from the FAA for steep approaches on all Falcon 900 EASy and Falcon 2000 EASy series aircraft. Both models had already received steep approach certification from EASA. With the most recent approvals, the entire current production Falcon fleet is now certified for steep approaches, which permits aircraft to operate at restricted airports with approach angles of up to 6 deg.
As aircraft become even more com–plex, we tend to focus on improving aircraft systems knowledge, often at the expense of learning more about other important topics such as fatigue, teamwork and communication. To help busy technicians and managers keep up to speed on the importance of human factors concerns in the hangar, the FAA has a website that has collected information and training ideas with maintainers in mind. It's worth a visit: https://hfskyway.faa.gov/hfskyway/index.aspx
Nextant Aerospace announced a new manufacturing facility for the Nextant 400XT, FAA-certified remanufactured business jet. The newly acquired facility at Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Airport will accommodate an annual production rate of 48 aircraft, and will quadruple Nextant's production area and office space footprint. The facility features a large production hangar which can handle six aircraft simultaneously, a second hangar for aircraft delivery and completions and a third that will house an advanced aircraft painting operation.
Argus TRAQPak data indicates that April 2012 business aircraft flight activity decreased from March (which is the typical annual trend), finishing the month down 4.4%. The only month-over-month increase came in the fractional turboprop sector, up 4.8%. Reviewing activity year- over-year (April 2012 vs. April 2011) TRAQPak observed a 1.3% increase in overall aircraft activity. April saw increases in most groups, with the exception of large-cabin aircraft, which finished down 4.9%.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is developing a new process to expedite financing for business aircraft and helicopter exports, providing a critical avenue for financing to business jet makers at a time when financing worldwide is still scarce. Speaking at EBACE on May 14, Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg said Ex-Im Bank will work with industry experts on due diligence and credit analysis to speed up the processing of foreign-buyer financing.
Former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is expected to continue an aviation consulting career following the May 10 dismissal of drunk driving charges that led to his resignation from the agency in December 2011. A district court judge in Virginia dismissed the charges, ruling that the police had stopped him without sufficient reason. Babbitt said he plans to remain in aviation as a consultant.
I enjoyed your article on second-grade math (Washington Watch, April 2012, page 61). The only thing you could have added was the name of the culprit who caused this problem in the first place. That person would be the Un-Honorable Sen. Charles “Chuck” Grassley from Iowa. The aviation community in Iowa needs to spread the word about this scoundrel and get him voted out of office.
The GAMA Board of Directors approved Air Tractor as its newest member, bringing the association's membership to 77. Air Tractor got its start as the Snow Aeronautical Company in 1951. In 1958, Leland Snow moved the production facilities to Olney, Texas, where Air Tractor is headquartered today. With over 2,700 aircraft flying, Air Tractor manufactures an extensive line of agriculture aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney piston or turbine engines. Air Tractor aircraft can be found working over fields and forests across the U.S.
The FAA's multi-year process to clean up the civil aircraft registry last year by requiring all aircraft to re-register on a rolling schedule is now in effect. When the program was announced, the agency warned it would cancel registrations for any aircraft whose owner did not respond. The HAI discovered, “they weren't kidding.” Rotor News reported that HAI's Finance and Leasing Committee found some 300 helicopters with cancelled registrations. If any of those 300 is in active use, it's now illegal to fly them until they have been re-registered.
Conventional wisdom is that new aircraft sales will lag until the used inventory shrinks, but business aviation consultant Brian Foley disagrees. “There is no cause-and-effect relationship because, generally speaking, new and pre-owned buyers are totally different groups,” Foley says.
Honeywell expects certification authorities to sign off on several of its in-development cockpit upgrades before the year-end , including programs for the Falcon 7X and Falcon 2000 EASy II avionics upgrade Honeywell is conducting with Dassault Aviation. This Dassault program follows the upgrade already developed for the Falcon 900, which adds synthetic vision functionality.
The American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) has recognized three individuals and one company for their contributions to the airport industry with awards presented at the association's 84th Annual Conference and Exposition in Phoenix. Bob Bogan, deputy executive director of Morristown Municipal Airport (N.J.), and Jim Rice, director of Michigan's Bishop International Airport, received the 2012 and 2013 Distinguished Services Awards, respectively. The Chair's Award was presented to Jim Elwood, director of Colorado's Aspen/Pitkin Country Airport.
The Longitude will be the launch platform for the Snecma Silvercrest, a clean-sheet 8,500- to 12,000-lb.-thrust turbofan that promises 15% better specific fuel consumption than current engines in this thrust class, along with a 50% margin to CAEP/6 NOx limits and 20% margin to FAR Part 36 Stage 4 noise limits. It will be rated for takeoff up to 11,000 lb. for the Longitude.
The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2012) concluded as one of the strongest EBACE shows yet. Organizers noted that as the third and final day of the show concluded May 16, 12,638 attendees had participated, representing 99 countries — both numbers on par with last year's show. 491 exhibitors were on hand, occupying a record-breaking 2,280 booth spaces across Halls 5, 6 and 7 of the Geneva Palexpo convention center. EBACE2012 featured 60 aircraft on static display.
