AgustaWestland and fashion design house Karl Lagerfeld announced a partnership for the design of VIP helicopter interiors and exteriors. The cooperation will initially focus on the development of a VIP interior and exterior styling for the AW139 medium-twin helicopter. The companies may expand the partnership to include other AgustaWestland commercial helicopter models.
The House General Aviation Caucus leadership is circulating a letter to build support for a repeal of the so-called “fuel fraud” measure that calls for aviation jet fuel to be taxed at the highway diesel fuel rate. Caucus members — including Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), and Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) — were collecting signatures for the letter in mid-April to be delivered to the House Ways and Means Committee, which would have jurisdiction over the fuel fraud tax measure.
“Dangerous Destinations, Part 1” was excellent! I am going to give it to our Chief of Security and also recommend it to my boss here in the flight department. I am looking forward to Part 2. Safety Officer Ball Corp. Broomfield, Colo.
The year 2011 was another tough one for the business aircraft industry, witnessing a 3.5% overall decline in general aviation aircraft shipments, according to GAMA statistics. Turboprop deliveries declined 2.4% from 2011, light jet deliveries fell 6.3% and the midsize aircraft sector was flat at best. Large-cabin aircraft fared much better with increased demand from China, Russia and other emerging markets.
An increase in Part 135 commuter/air taxi business jet accidents is driving a significant jump in business jet accidents through the first three months of the year. But an improving turboprop record has kept down the overall number of U.S.-registered business turbine accidents, according to the latest information released by safety expert Robert E. Breiling Associates. U.S.-registered business jets and turboprops combined for 16 accidents in the first quarter, down slightly from 19 in the first quarter of 2011.
Piper Aircraft continues to expand its international network with the appointment of Duran Aviation as a distributor for new airplane sales in Central America. Based at Airport Marcos A. Gelabert in Panama City, Duran Aviation is part of Company Consultenos, S.A., which is a family-owned company that is involved in several areas, including automotive, golfing and real estate. Duran Aviation will market and sell Piper aircraft throughout Central America in Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize.
Piper Aircraft has landed a contract valued at $90,000 to provide complex multi-axis machined parts for Triton Submarines, which like Piper, is based in Vero Beach, Fla. Piper Aircraft's Services business unit, which was formed in part to preserve engineering expertise originally developed for the now-shelved Altaire single jet, is providing the work for Triton.
In many respects, Cessna and Textron are ideal partners in developing China's general aviation structure. The company's roots extend to the birth of general aviation in the U.S. Cessna knows how to design and build aircraft ranging from light sport and single-engine piston, the single-engine turboprop Caravan utility aircraft, twin turboprops and the light and medium Citation business jets. And it knows how to certify its products internationally. It knows how to set up pilot training and aircraft service center networks.
I just read “SyberJet Introduces SJ30-Plus” (April 2012) and appreciated your candid, honest words and your sensitivity to our confidential issues. Business & Commercial Aviation magazine has a well-earned reputation for offering real-world perspective while maintaining its editorial integrity. Working with you gives me fresh confidence in aviation journalism. A big thanks as well for being tenacious and resolute in finding solutions to early objections and concerns.
Mike Venables, P.Eng. (TriLink Technologies Group Inc. )
To underscore your point in “Different Juice, Same Mission” (Viewpoint, March 2012) many years ago (pre-Twitter and Facebook), I took a communications course. The main point was that communication was 80% non-verbal, 15% vocal and only 5% the words. In other words, an email only delivers 5% of your message while telephone (or Skype) only delivers 20% (maybe a bit more for a Skype video call). Nearly 80% of your message is getting lost if you're not there in person.
For half the cost of a GIV, you can own a 1983 to 1987, Stage III noise compliant GIII that provides access to virtually the same noise-sensitive airports used by newer aircraft. Retrofitted with hush-kits, these aircraft can fly eight passengers about 3,600 nm at Mach 0.75. Their cabin cross sections are the same diameter as all other legacy Gulfstream models, but the net interior length is 3.0 ft. shorter than the GIV and overall interior length is 4.8 ft. shorter.
FAA Advisory Circular AC 21-47 — Submittal of Data to an ACO, a DER or an ODA for a Major Repair or Major Alteration will help you understand how repair data become approved. This document will provide you with more detailed process steps that both the FAA and DERs use and will help you with your next project. You can download it at www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2021-47.pdf
Bombardier Aerospace received an order valued at $292.5 million from AVWest of Australia for five Global 6000 ultra-long-range jets. AVWest is a corporate jet operator that also owns and operates the fixed-base operations and business aviation services company Perth Jet Centre. AVWest's fleet includes a Challenger 604 and three Global Express XRS jets. AVWest also has firm orders for four Global 7000 and two Global 8000 jets.
The financial and operational benefits of NextGen modernization will be slower to emerge than previously expected, according to a March progress report from the FAA. There is no doubt that NextGen will eventually deliver impressive savings and greater efficiency. However, due to a combination of factors the FAA has shifted out by two years its forecast for achieving these benefits. The latest guidance is part of the agency's NextGen implementation plan, which is issued annually.
The first flight of the Hawker 400XPR is imminent as we go to press. An upgrade of the discontinued Beechjet/Hawker 400, the new model features Williams International FJ44-4A-32 engines, winglets and an optional four-display Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 cockpit. The avionics suite was recently certified, and the engines and winglets are expected to get their approvals by the end of September. The Williams engine is flat rated at 3,200 lb. thrust, or 8% more than the PWC JT15D it replaces. The new fanjet also features dual-channel FADEC systems.
Avionics makers, recognizing the phenomenal popularity of inexpensive, go-anywhere, tablet-based applications, have been feverishly developing ways to bring iPads and Adroid-based "post-PC" mobile OS tablet computers into business aircraft cockpits.
I just finished reading Patrick Veillette's “Upset Recovery in Sims” (April, 2012) on the limitations of upset prevention and recovery training in standard hexapod flight simulators and wanted to express how much I appreciated your commentary. It is one of the best explanations I have read regarding what simulators can and cannot do in this arena of training, and the inherent dangers of such training without regard to the valid training envelopes of flight simulation training devices.
FAA Flight Standards Service Director John Allen is working to help expedite the process for business aircraft operators to obtain approvals for reduced vertical separation minimums (RVSM). Allen, speaking during the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium on Feb. 29, agreed the agency has fallen behind on the work, but said, “I'll expect improvements,” moving forward. NBAA Vice President, Safety, Security and Regulation Doug Carr notes that as RVSM has become more commonplace, applications for approval have mounted.
The distance from Dubai to Kabul is just over 1,000 nm. That's about two and a half hours in a Hawker 400XP — more than enough time to contemplate what might be awaiting in Afghanistan's war-ravaged capital. I know the unsettling feeling, because I made the trip in August 2007 on assignment for Aviation Week & Space Technology.
The FADEC-equipped -3AP is one of Williams' most-advanced versions of the FJ44 turbofan family, producing 2,300 lb. of thrust for takeoff and weighing only 510 lb. Compared to earlier -3 engines, the -3AP incorporates many aerodynamic and durability improvements, plus it weighs 8% less and has 3% better specific fuel consumption. A fuel/oil heat exchanger eliminates the need for an anti-icing fuel additive.
Helicopter Association International President Matt Zuccaro is appealing to the FAA to take action to “remove people who shouldn't be in the air.” During a “Meet the Regulators” session at February's Heli-Expo in Dallas, Zuccaro noted that some companies operate at unacceptable safety levels, but their actions get the most attention and hurt the entire industry. He conceded that it may be strange for a community to ask for more enforcement, but he notes that the industry must deal with the fallout of operators flying with thin safety margins.
Government and industry officials need to collaborate on ways to mitigate runway incursions before another disaster happens, says NTSB Commissioner Christopher Hart. “If we don't get our hands around this problem — and we don't have our hands around this — sooner or later it's going to happen again,” Hart told the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium in February.
Nav Canada announced its traffic figures for February 2012 measured in weighted charging units for en route, terminal and oceanic air navigation services, in comparison to the last fiscal year. The traffic in February 2012 increased by an average of 3.6% compared to the same month in 2011.
