Honda Aircraft Company announced Dec. 20 that it had been flying the third FAA design-conforming HondaJet since Nov.18, 2011. Honda Aircraft has expanded F2's performance envelope as the aircraft has begun its test mission work in earnest. The first FAA-conforming HondaJet, which flew for the first time on Dec. 20, 2010, has achieved key benchmarks that meet or exceed the aircraft's designed performance goals.
ImperialJet took delivery of a new Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet for the company's charter fleet. The company says it has seen strong demand for its Bombardier Challengers, particularly in Russia and Saudi Arabia. The company operates Challenger 850, 605 and 604 aircraft in addition to Learjet 60/60 XR and Gulfstream III jets. The company further has five Learjet 85s on order that are slated to enter service in 2014.
Regarding “Security Outlook, All eyes are focused on LASP II,” (January 2011, page 45) I doubt whether any business aviation insider believes the TSA's next NPRM for the revised LASP will be published successfully anytime soon.
After a steady decline in his health, the father of a colleague passed away not long ago. In the weeks that followed, the gentleman's survivors, a son and daughter, had to deal with all the details of his departure — accounts to close, notifications to various institutions, cleaning out a lifetime's collections of paperwork, photos, clothing, mementos. A long, melancholy process. The very last item on their To Do list was the biggie: Selling the house.
Although by no measure the business aviation hub of its heyday years, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is once again welcoming — albeit in an admittedly paranoid manner — business aircraft operators to take advantage of the close-in facility, located minutes from the federal capital.
The FAA wants to shift most controller-pilot messages — more than 1.2 million a day — to a digital text-based network. This will be one of the key enablers of the NextGen modernization effort, which requires aircraft to fly satellite-based procedures that are too complex for current ATC communications technology. The agency's Data Communications (Data Comm) program will make it quicker for controllers to send and revise clearances, as well as reducing frequency congestion and allowing the transmission of complex flight profiles.
Community leaders in Wichita are assembling a task force that will develop some “fairly aggressive strategies” to boost the aviation industry as the city wrestles with Boeing's January announcement that it will pull its defense, space and security operations out of Wichita and lay off or relocate up to 2,100 workers, says Suzie Ahlstrand, interim president of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition (GWEDC).
The NBAA expressed strong opposition to a European court's ruling in December 2011 that a plan by European regulators to tax carbon emissions from aircraft should apply to all aircraft operators across the international aviation community, including those based in the U.S. In a decision announced Dec. 21, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said European authorities are authorized to obligate all operators, including the airlines and general aviation, to comply with the program, known as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS).
Dec. 26, 2011 — At 0554 EDT, a Bell 206B (N5016M) operated by SK Logistics, d.b.a. SK Jets, collided with terrain while maneuvering near Green Cove Springs, Fla. The pilot and two passengers (a doctor and a medical technician) were fatally injured. The on-demand air taxi flight was en route to Shands Cair Heliport (63FL), Gainesville, Fla. There was no flight plan filed for the flight that originated from Mayo Clinic Heliport (6FL1) in Jacksonville, Fla., at about 0537.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. recently donated another $50,000 to Corporate Angel Network (CAN) in support of the charity, which arranges free flights to treatment for cancer patients using empty seats in business aircraft. A long time supporter of the program, the White Plains, N.Y.-based company is headed by Randall Greene, who also serves as CAN's chairman.
West Star Aviation's facility in East Alton, Ill., was named an authorized service center for the GE CF34 engine. The authorization means the facility can provide service and support of the engine and supply related parts and products. West Star's facility in Grand Junction, Colo., has been an authorized GE service provider for more than 6 yr.
Gulfstream Aerospace has enhanced the services available to operators with the addition of a mobile support vehicle and a renovated customer lobby at its Brunswick, Ga., facility. The specially outfitted truck includes an air compressor, generator and a laptop to sign off work in real time allowing technicians to perform or support many maintenance services and transport a range of replacement parts. The renovated lobby has Wi-Fi, a 52-in. HD television and new furniture, among other improvements. Brunswick's 25,000-sq.-ft.
Transport Canada has approved a 500-lb. gross weight increase for Bell Model 429 helicopter to 7,500 lb., the company says. As we go to press, Bell is seeking FAA and EASA validation. Responding to customer requests, Bell worked on the change for more than a year and spent the last several months validating data for the weight increase with Transport Canada. The improvement provides increases in range or longer loiter times — which the company notes can be particularly important for EMS and law enforcement, two key markets for the 429.
TSA approved a five-year extension of its partnership with National Air Transportation Association Compliance Services (NATACS) to provide a range of general aviation security programs. The partnership recognizes NATACS as a Trusted Fingerprint Facility to process biographical and biometric information. The partnership, established in 2002, has been extended through December 2016. NATACS provides all pre-enrollment, enrollment, fingerprint collection, and secure data transmission for TSA-conducted background checks of aircrew members and flight students.
FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 00-24B cautions that thunderstorms contain multiple weather hazards and that pilots should never regard any thunderstorm lightly, even when radar observers report the echoes are of light intensity. Avoiding thunderstorms is the best policy. Here are the FAA's Do's and Don'ts for thunderstorm avoidance: Don't land or take off in the face of an approaching thunderstorm. A sudden gust front of low-level turbulence could cause loss of control.
A unique “helipod” single-place helicopter design uses a shroud-ring to completely enclose coaxial short-span rotors. The shroud serves to shield counter-rotating blades to overcome lift dissymmetry and increase rotor efficiency. Helipod Inc. of California, which plans to build the ship in Japan, calls it a “shielding rotating wing biplane” and says the prototype will fly this summer.
After a review of the latest round of tests of the GPS interference potential of LightSquared's proposed wireless network, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee has found “both LightSquared's original and modified [plans] would cause harmful interference to many GPS receivers.” Further, FAA analysis concludes that LightSquared's proposals are not compatible with several GPS-dependent aircraft safety-of-flight systems, says a Jan. 13 letter to the U.S.
The FAA is facing a looming workforce crisis. A wave of controllers hired after the 1981 strike is getting ready to retire, says FAA. “Some 18% of air traffic controllers are eligible to retire, and we will need around 1,000 new controllers per year for the next 10 years,” the agency says. The issue is even more acute for air safety inspectors, close to 50% of whom will be close to retirement in the next five years.
In “Cabin Electronic Systems” (December, 2011) the listing for Audio International (subsidiary of DeCrane Aerospace) should actually have been Goodrich Interiors — Cabin Electronic Systems. Goodrich acquired the Audio International asset of DeCrane over a year ago.
