Quest Aircraft Co. said it is increasing the production rate for the its Kodiak turboprop. A recapitalization earlier this year plus new investor funding enabled the company to expand and invest in key areas, including production increases at its Sandpoint, Idaho facility. Quest began customer deliveries of the Kodiak in late 2007, and it has since been deployed in more than 10 countries around the world in a variety of applications. Kodiaks are in service with charter operators, small businesses, personal owners, skydiving operations, U.S.
The Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group — which has decades of experience performing a variety of completion, maintenance, repair and overhaul services — is also Canada's authorized sales representative for Cessna Aircraft. Recently, Andrew P. Pearce was appointed to grow the company's aircraft sales presence in Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Middle East.
There are plenty of choices in today's pre-owned light jet market and plenty of trade-offs in cabin comfort, performance and direct operating cost. The Beechjet 400/400A has one of the roomiest cabins in its class, rivaling those of Phenom 300 or Learjet 40XR, although it's about two feet shorter in length. It will climb directly to FL 410, or higher, and cruise at 440 KIAS, assuming standard-day conditions. And most aircraft in the resale market are priced at $1.2-$1.8 million, an attractive value.
Rockwell Collins has received an STC to retrofit Pro Line 4-equipped Falcon 2000 and Falcon 2000EX aircraft with the Pro Line 21 avionics suite. The upgrade replaces the legacy CRT displays with LCD displays. Some 250 Falcon 2000 and 2000EX aircraft are eligible for the Pro Line 21 retrofit.
Compiled By Jessica A. Salerno April 16 — A Cessna 172S (N1835U) was substantially damaged when it hit terrain following a touch-and-go landing at Payson Airport (PAN), Payson, Ariz. The private pilot, the sole person on board, received minor injuries. It was VFR for the instructional flight and no flight plan had been filed.
Rockwell Collins has introduced a digital high-definition (HD) upgrade to aircraft equipped with its ACMS and CMS-1 cabin management systems. The upgrade includes HD monitors, dual Blu-ray disc players and an HD audio/video distributor that also can upscale analog content to HD quality. The avionics manufacturer says the upgrade enables passengers to enjoy a high-end home-theater experience without the expense and downtime required by changing control switches and modifying the woodwork.
Fokker Aircraft Services recently handed over a converted Airbus A320 airliner to MasterJet, a Geneva, Switzerland-based operator. The makeover — which was done at the company facility in Woensdrecht, Netherlands — included a complete teardown of the airline interior and installation of five separate cabins, including a private suite with bedroom, bathroom and office; a conference and dining area; separate executive lounge; and special first-class seating area.
St. Louis-based JetCorp Technical Services has received an STC for the installation of Aircell's Cabin Telecommunications Router (CTR) in a Bombardier Challenger 300 business jet. The CTR provides in-cabin Wi-Fi capability for the Gogo Biz Inflight Internet service, which enables passengers to use their BlackBerry, iPhone and other Wi-Fi enabled devices inflight at connectivity speeds equivalent to ground-based hotspots.
With two limited free-flight “experiments” on unscheduled general aviation operations in China's airspace, otherwise rigidly controlled by the nation's military, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) expressed its opposition to a “free-for-all in the skies.” Despite what earlier reports might have indicated, Cai Jun, head of the air traffic control department reporting to PLAAF general headquarters, quoted in an article in the People's Daily Online, said that low-altitude flight (below 1,000 meters or 3,280 ft.) restrictions for small planes will be reduced but in
Maximum Manuals has developed a package to enable charter operators to apply for approval and implement use of the Apple iPad as an Electronic Flight Bag. Maximum Manuals' iPad EFB Program includes a submittal package for application to the FAA, a training program for flight crews, supplemental language for company documents and full support throughout the approval process to obtain A061 Ops Specs.
Diamond Aircraft is planning to recall furloughed workers and ramp up work on the D-Jet program after receiving a commitment for a “significant investment” targeted for the single-engine jet. Diamond says funding will enable the recall of furloughed engineering and technical staff, the resumption of flight test operations and production of the next test aircraft. The five-seat D-Jet was about two-thirds into the development program and about 22 months from completion when activity halted. Diamond has produced three prototypes.
Piaggio Aero, one of the oldest names in aviation, expressed faith in its future by breaking ground for a new, ultra-modern and super-efficient manufacturing plant at Villanova d'Albenga, Italy. The new plant, set to open in 2013, will manufacture parts and subassemblies for the P180 Avanti II turboprop as well as aircraft engines. If Piaggio goes ahead with its long-studied business jet, that would also be manufactured there. Meanwhile, the Avanti pusher will continue to be assembled and finished at the company's historic facility in Genoa.
FinServe Aviation Insurance, a European business aviation insurance broker, has developed a new insurance program — FinServe European Business Aviation Placement (F-EBAP) — that is designed to cover a broader range of risks associated with owning and operating business aircraft in Europe. “Most policies are very limited, covering the aircraft only,” says FinServe CEO Guy Broddin.
Investigators with the French Bureau d'Equetes et d'Analyses (BEA), the agency charged with investigating the crash of Air France Flight 447, now are focusing on a breakdown in situational awareness on the part of the flight crew and possible pilot error as contributing factors in the June 2009 mishap that killed 228 people when the Airbus A330 crashed into the South Atlantic. The latest findings broaden the scope of the inquiry well beyond a fly-by-wire flight control malfunction, possibly caused by iced-up pitot probes.
Investigators from Ireland's Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) are working with their peers from the U.K.'s AAIB, the American NTSB, Spain's CIAIAC and Israel's AIAI to determine the cause of the loss of a Fairchild Aircraft SA-227-BC Metro III on approach to Cork Airport on Feb. 10, 2011. Both pilots were killed as were four of the 10 passengers. The remaining passengers survived, some with serious injuries.
A U.S. Air Force tactical airlift pilot during the Vietnam conflict, I crisscrossed the length and breadth of the war zone on a regular basis. My C-123K Provider was a 60,000-lb. workhorse whose curious pairing of two Pratt & Whitney R2800 radials and two General Electric J-85 wing-mounted turbojets made it surprisingly well-suited for its mission.
In the days when a time clock actually had hands, punching the clock was the universal marker for the beginning or end of the workday. Late arrival or early departure meant a skinny payday; or depending on your boss's mood, an assignment to clean the lav service cart. The time card was all-important and represented the portion of your life you exchanged for a paycheck. When the hangar was busy, overtime meant a sometimes welcome opportunity to earn more cash at the expense of family life.
ACSS (an L-3 Communication and Thales company) Phoenix, named Kimberly Murdoch vice president of operations, responsible for manufacturing repair and overhaul and integrated supply chain management. She will report to Terry Flaishans, ACSS vice president and general manager. American Helicopter Society International (AHS), Alexandria, Va., has selected Michael J. Hirschberg to be its executive director. He replaces M.E. Rhett Flater, who served the Society for 20 years.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Dassault Falcon 2000S under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Bill Miller, Dassault Falcon Jet's chief sales engineer, provided the data for the Range/Payload Profile. Data for the Specific Range chart were extracted from the Dassault Falcon 2000LX Performance Manual, adjusted for the projected basic operating weight and fuel capacity of the Falcon 2000S.
BAE Systems and U.K. design consultant Design Q recently unveiled the latest interior concept for the Avro Business Jet (ABJ) — the ABJ Eleganté. This new concept is the fourth of five new interiors developed by Design Q for ABJs. The Eleganté interior features a large forward galley, which can be shut off from the main cabin for privacy. The forward lounge has two large sofas, a dining table in the aft section and a 46-in. display. The dining area can be used as a work area.
Development of new products always involves a decided end point at which the design will be frozen; once that point is reached, changes become more costly to make. Engineers therefore use a convenient tiered system to determine where the end point of a program will be. NASA and the Department of Defense, the government agencies aside from the FAA most closely involved in the aerospace sciences, provide a ready-made scale called the Technology Readiness Level to measure the maturity of a new technology.
The Transportation Research Board's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has released a Handbook for Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Alternative Aviation Turbine Engine Fuels at Airports contains an Alternative Fuel Investigation Tool (AFIT), instructions for using the tool, and a report on its development. AFIT is an analytical model designed to help airport operators and fuel suppliers evaluate the costs associated with introducing “drop-in” alternative turbine engine fuel at airports and the benefits measured by reduced emissions.
Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo recently signed an agreement with Vnukovo Invest, a co-owner of Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, to expand its operations into a new hangar, storage and office facility later this year. Jet Aviation began operating at Vnukovo in November 2007 and has offered 24/7 line maintenance and AOG support throughout Russia since 2009.
A new rule — that applies to electrical and electronic systems installed on aircraft certificated under FAR Parts 23, 25, 27 and 29 — establishes two levels of lightning protection for aircraft systems based on the consequences of system function failure: catastrophic and hazaderous/major consequences. This regulation, which goes into effect Aug. 8, also addresses lightning protection for systems according to the aircraft's potential for lightning exposure.
