In late September, Cessna introduced the Citation M2, a less-expensive and more-capable version of the CJ1+ that's intended to be a more attractive intermediate step up in speed, range and cabin comfort that will be positioned between the Citation Mustang and the CJ2+. The new design has been in development for three years and it's slated to fly during the first half of 2012.
As pilots we don't seem to think much about the brakes until we really need them, and then our interest intensifies in direct proportion to the proximity of the runway end and the speed at which it is approaching.
Similar to other Model 525 aircraft, the Citation M2 will be powered by two Williams International FJ44 turbofans. The current plan is to keep the 1,965-lb. takeoff thrust rating, but it's certain that the new engines will have more robust cores that will provide improved hot-and-high airport performance, more climb thrust and higher cruise thrust. Expect a slight improvement in specific fuel consumption because the new powerplants will incorporate more advanced technologies than the FJ44-1AP engines fitted to the CJ1+.
Step into the cockpit of a Hawker 4000 that has the newly available block point upgrade (BPU) package and it's immediately apparent that the super midsize aircraft has undergone quite a comprehensive improvement program. The FMS, flight guidance system, avionics and autothrottles offer new functions and greater utility. Airframe systems were upgraded to reduce workload and to provide better operating flexibility. In all, nearly two dozen hardware and software changes were made from which pilots can benefit in everyday operations.
Minimize quick turn-arounds. Fully release brakes during turn-arounds. Don't drag a brake during taxi. Consider single-engine taxi. Use reverse thrust/flat pitch if allowed. Anticipate the need to slow down and make necessary power changes ahead of time. Minimize brake applications. Apply a smooth, firm pressure to slow down the aircraft. Land at the slowest speed consistent with safety. Land on longer runways with the wind.
For more than three decades, it was standard practice for corporate flight departments to charge part or all of the cost of operating company aircraft to other departments that used them. Allocating operating costs to internal customers helped flight departments justify the expense of the aircraft to top management, to apportion equitable operating costs according to usage patterns and to meter access to prevent over-scheduling, among other purposes.
Computerized maintenance management systems have all but replaced paper for the same reason that such digital systems usually take over any task: It's all become too complicated for humans.
Given all the problems facing the Obama administration — intractably high unemployment figures, plunging poll numbers for the president and lack of traction for his latest stimulus proposal — it is increasingly difficult to understand why the executive branch continues to waste energy defending its wrong-headed attempt to “out” the owners of private aircraft.
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Skyservice Inc., Canada's largest charter/management company, often dispatches Learjets from its air ambulance division to Cuba for patient-transfer missions. Based in Montreal, Skyservice has 56 managed and company-owned business aircraft in its stable, including five Learjet 35 air ambulances equipped with intensive-care units that routinely operate on a worldwide basis.
Cuba is the largest and westernmost island in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea. It also bears the distinction of having been “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on his first journey to the New World in 1492.
Lou Churchville (Vice President Business Development )
The FAA is seemingly oblivious to the operational and economic realities of the industry it regulates. Case in point is its Runway Status Lights (RWSL) initiative by which it plans to install 23 of these expensive, automated traffic light systems at airline-served airports, all of which already have control towers, with ground and even ramp control. The move may get the NTSB to quiet down about runway incursions, but it has little practical value. Airports are simply the venue for incursions.
I knew exactly the shot we needed, but I couldn't figure how to get it. It was 1988 and I was making a documentary about U.S. Navy carrier operations. For a videographer, my time at sea was paradise. No matter where you turned the lens on the flight deck, things were in motion — fighters screaming, cables jumping, steam hissing, and men in colored shirts crawling, lifting, running, pointing. It was fabulous. I was getting hours of eye-popping footage. Except . . . not one second of a Navy jet close in, cleaned up and moving fast. I needed that scene.
FAR Part 91 and Part 135 operators increasingly are asking aircraft manufacturers to provide range charts based upon crew duty times rather than aircraft fuel endurance.
If you're a scheduler or dispatcher and you just received this issue of BCA, you have just about two weeks to make the Oct. 17 deadline for filing an application for a scholarship under the NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Scholarship Program. The awards are announced in December and presented at the next S&D annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 15-18, 2012, in San Diego.
The opening of a new FBO typically is cause for industry celebration in an age when then the number of FBOs has diminished from 5,000 in the 1980s to 3,000. For Million Air, this summer's opening of its newest facility brings the addition of a 29th location, another company-owned base, and an entrance to what company executives believe is an up-and-coming market. This comes when financing is hard to find for new FBOs.
The arch cantilever design of TWA's new terminal at Idlewild is based on four concrete shells joined at the center, tapering out to a thickness of only 8 in. at the edge. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen, it covers one and one-quarter acres, cost $15 million and uses four concrete buttresses to support the massive shell.
Aircell, Broomfield, Colo., appointed industry veteran Dennis Hildreth manager, OEM sales. He is responsible for managing the company's relationships with business aircraft manufacturers. Avantair Inc., Clearwater, Fla., announced that Stephen Wagman has joined the company as executive vice president, finance and operations. Aviation Research Group/US, Cincinnati, named Mark Wulber to the ARGUS PROS (Partners and Resources for Operational Safety) team as the director of audit programs for business aviation.
Fresh off its July fiasco, when interminable political squabbling led to temporary unemployment for tens of thousands of FAA employees and construction workers assigned to FAA-funded projects, Congress returns to Washington this month faced with the same issue that led to the shutdown: the need to pass long-term legislation to authorize the FAA's operation.
Blackhawk Modifications, the Waco, Texas-based company that specializes in engine performance solutions for turboprops, has won an FAA STC for its powerplant enhancement package for the Cessna Caravan 208B.
Oliver Stone, a long-time broker with Texas-based Business Air International, is now the managing director of London-based Colibri Aircraft Ltd., a new firm that is offering aircraft acquisition, resale and asset consultation services. “My work was always based on being overseas, especially in London, so this takes advantage of being in the same time zone as a number of people who buy and sell aircraft,” said Stone recently.
Flying Colours Corp., the Ontario, Canada-based interior completions specialist, says it is experiencing increased demand for midsize business jet refurbishments. Since the beginning of the first quarter, the firm has seen “a steady growth in orders,” particularly from Bombardier Challenger 300 and 604, Dassault Falcon 900 and Hawker 800 operators.
Cessna is offering Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades for the Citation Ultra and Citation Encore. The STCed installation, which covers all Ultras and Encores serial number 260 through 750, includes dual Universal UNS-1Espw flight management systems certified for fully coupled WAAS LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance) approaches.
The Cessna 441 Conquest II's blend of over 300 kt. cruise speeds and top-notch fuel efficiency is stimulating buyer interest. In the past three years, the increasing price of jet fuel and the pressure to “go green” are causing some would-be used light jet buyers to reconsider high-performance turboprops instead. Cessna built 362 units from 1977 through 1986 and more than 300 aircraft remain in service. Midlife aircraft in good condition now command $1 million to $1.9 million.
I was working on my second cup of coffee that Tuesday morning at 800 Independence, and reviewing some paperwork, when the phone rang. My wife, Lenore, was all business: “Go to the TV! Oh my God! It's unbelievable.”
