Robinson Helicopter Company has a backlog of 169 new orders. The company delivered 162 aircraft in 2010: 40 R22s, 112 R44s, and 10 R66 turbine helicopters.
BCA has opened another Safety and Ops website, this one dedicated to helicopters. This report offers a mix of articles on flying safely and profitably in locations ranging from New York to Saudi Arabia, as well as how-to and technology stories. The site also provides links to dozens of online resources ranging from the Helicopter Association International and helicopter manufacturers worldwide, to national, regional and special interest associations.
Eurocopter Canada announced at Heli-Expo that it sold six helicopters to Capitale Hélipro of Quebec City. With the delivery of three AS350 B2’s, two EC130 B4’s and one AS350 B3 helicopter, Capitale Hélipro will have a total fleet of 11 Eurocopter aircraft.
Aviation associations and avionics manufacturers have joined other transportation interests in a coalition to eliminate any jamming threat from plans to expand wireless broadband coverage of the U.S. using high-power transmitters in a band adjacent to that used for GPS. That threat emerged after the Federal Communications Commission’s January decision to grant LightSquared Communications conditional approval to provide terrestrial broadband services using frequencies previously reserved for mobile satellite communications.
I read “A Failed Culture of Safety” (Cause & Circumstance, February 2011, page 53) with great interest. Good article. I am sure you know the NTSB report on the Quest Diagnostics fatal crash was pulled from the Internet. Not good. I believe that our industry has a shared responsibility to operate safely for the benefit of all parties. Your observations regarding Quest Diagnostics are quite disappointing as it appears that Quest lacks a commitment to safe operations
It’s likely that the most challenging application of business aviation ever attempted is the corporate shuttle service operated between Anchorage and Alaska’s North Slope tundra to transport oil field and Trans Alaska Pipeline workers to their jobs.
GPS coordinates in Japan will need to be updated. Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority’s network of 1,200 GPS monitoring stations across that country detected a maximum displacement of 13 ft. with an average displacement of 8 ft. recorded over a 248-mi. area of the main island of Honshu after the March 11 9.0-magnitude earthquake.
Dulles International Airport, slated to be Washington’s jetport, won’t be ready for at least 15 months, Administrator Halaby told the committee, and the cost will be “substantially greater than previously estimated.” FAA type certification of the Lockheed JetStar is expected by June 30, with minor fuel system modifications, the latest change requested by the FAA.
As the chief administrator of the FAA, you are in the proper position, equipped with the proper perspective to put an end to a process that is about to waste more taxpayer dollars, at a time we can ill afford to do so.
Becker Avionics and Axnes Aviation AS of Grimstad, Norway, signed a teaming agreement for sales, marketing and product support services for the Axnes Polycon Wireless Intercom System that allows rotary- and fixed-wing operators to have audio communications between crewmembers in an aircraft and away from the aircraft on the ground, as well as with ground support crews.
British private aviation services provider Air Partner reports it worked 24/7 to organize humanitarian aid flights to evacuate more than 12,000 people and airlift more than 300 tons of aid in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand and Japan in a six-week period.
The Helicopter Association International is partnering with the Experimental Aircraft Association to establish a new “home away from home” for the international helicopter community at EAA AirVenture 2011 in Oshkosh this summer. The partnership unites the producer of the world’s largest trade show dedicated to helicopters with the organizer of the world’s largest general aviation event, AirVenture, to be held July 25-31. The Heli Center will provide a central location for helicopter-related exhibitors to highlight their products and services to attendees.
Raytheon will install its Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) at 11 major terminal radar approach control (TRACON) facilities by 2015. An initial goal calls for five systems to be operational by the end of 2013, says Raytheon Director for Domestic Automation Michael Espinola. Dallas/Fort Worth will be the first of the 11 TRACONs to receive STARS, and the New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Northern and Southern California facilities are also among this group.
It was the peak of thunderstorm season as the crew completed the final preflight preparations for their eastbound flight across the United States. The aircraft was at maximum certified weight and full of fuel. The Terminal Area Forecast (TAF) for the destination, Orlando International Airport (MCO), valid for the time of arrival, was benign, and the closest NEXRAD site, located in Melbourne, Fla., showed no activity near MCO. Their filed alternate was Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) and their aircraft was equipped with airborne weather radar.
In light of an increasingly strong charter trend, FlightWorks of Atlanta has added a Falcon 2000EX in Virginia and a Falcon 50EX in Tennessee. The company claims 15% year-on-year growth in charter sales.
It may be America’s 49th and largest state, but to Dave Hall, Alaska could almost be regarded as an “international destination” for business aviation operators.
Business operators who run on avgas can now take advantage of a computerized maintenance tracking system from Fleet Aviation in White Plains, N.Y. assuming a rule of thumb that complete aircraft records are worth 25% of the aircraft value at resale, the software could pay for itself.
Air Partner’s advice for a successful evacuation: Analyze risk — how likely is it that you may need to evacuate staff; is there political unrest or volcanic activity in the area? Have a planned exit strategy. Ensure your staff know the drill and have practiced it. Engage a professional organization to carry out the evacuation.
T his past Feb. 1, some aerospace heavy hitters came to Wichita, and they were on the prowl. Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, even upstart Nextant Aerospace — all were shopping for experienced workers at an informal job fair held at the local Marriott. They know that many of the assembly lines in this town are quiet and that the people who work on them may be sitting at home, waiting for an upturn, which is way overdue.
I just read Mike Gamauf’s “The Reluctant Aviator” (Flight Log, March 2011, page 68) and I really enjoyed it. The time spent with his father, I’m sure, was priceless. His description of wanting to fly for the Army was exactly what I went through as well. After four years as a Huey crew chief I went on to college and Air Force ROTC, where they were more lenient on eyesight restrictions (correctable to 20/20). Unfortunately, timing was not on my side when I commissioned (148 AFROTC pilot slots for the nation).
Avinode Business Intelligence noted in March that external factors had a strong influence on overseas charter demand. “North Africa, for example, is still experiencing an atypical increase in requests as a result of prolonged political unrest in the region. While demand for flights out of Libya seems to have cooled considerably, Egypt and Tunisia experienced something of a rebound with business returning to historical norms. The earthquake off the east coast of the Japanese island of Honshu also had a powerful impact on demand.
Insufficient funding at FAA could curtail product development and slow job recovery Cessna’s chairman, CEO and president Jack Pelton told the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, March 16. “Unless the FAA is provided adequate resources, and implements new processes and procedures to streamline the certification process, we believe it will not be able to keep up with service demand by manufacturers and this will severely diminish the competitiveness of U.S.
American Eurocopter announced that Air Medical Resource Group signed an agreement to buy three AS350 B3e helicopters with options for four more, making it the U.S. launch customer for the updated version of the AStar family. The AS350 B3e has a more-powerful Turbomeca Arriel 2D turboshaft engine with FADEC. Certification is planned this summer, with deliveries before year-end, the company said.
The FAA is again operating under temporary funding, until May 31. The U.S. House of Representatives Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passed a bill (H.R.1079) to give the House time to work on the four-year bill the panel passed in February (H.R.658). That bill cuts $4 billion from FAA programs and facilities and sets the spending at fiscal 2008 levels. Under the cloud of uncertainty, the FAA has stopped most travel and placed a freeze on most hiring, according to FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen.
