The first international Cessna Skycatcher delivery was to Aeromil Pacific at Sunshine Coast Airport in Queensland, Australia. It will be used for sales demonstrations throughout 2011. The Skycatcher is Cessna’s entry in the light sport aircraft category. It features a Garmin G300 avionics suite and is powered by a Teledyne Continental O200D engine. Priced at $113,500, the two-seat, single-engine aircraft has a maximum speed of 118 kt. with a maximum range of 470 nm.
Moline, Ill.-based Elliott Aviation has achieved ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100:2004 Rev. B certification. The approval covers several of its services, including modifications, avionics work, structural adjustments, interiors, fueling and painting.
The market for previously owned business aircraft experienced a historically typical spike in fourth-quarter resale transaction activity, with just over 2.6% of the jet fleet and 2.5% of the turboprop fleet changing hands via retail transactions at the end of 2010. These numbers represent increases over the 2.3% and 2.0% of jets and turboprops, respectively, that changed hands during third quarter 2010, according to a report recently released by AMSTAT, the Tinton Falls, N.J., provider of corporate aviation fleet and operator information.
Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Executive Airport reported a 36% increase in civil operations in 2010, compared with 2009. Officials credit the increase to their success in attracting corporate and VIP clients to the only business aviation airport in the region. “The year-end performance report for Al Bateen Executive Airport indicated that the airport registered 7,970 commercial aircraft movements in 2010,” says General Manager Steve Jones.
The Chester, United Kingdom, facility of Hawker Beechcraft Services (HBS) is taking orders from operators of Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21-equipped Beech King Air 200 and 300s for installation of the Thrane & Thrane Aviator 200 Inmarsat satcom system with Wi-Fi capability.
JetMadam.com — a multiple jet-listing service based at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Newport Beach, Calif. — bills itself as “a new website for buyers, brokers and industry professionals looking for a fresh approach to marketing private jets.” The main attraction of the website is the “Photo of the Month” tab, where visitors can view several pictures of attractive women standing in front of a business jet for sale and vote for their favorite image.
Dubai-based Empire Aviation Group and RMSI a Dubai-based medevac, emergency medical services and clinical services specialist, have partnered to launch a new intensive-care air ambulance service. Empire will manage and operate a Hawker 800XP business jet configured as an air ambulance for RMSI.
Aircell announced that its Gogo Biz Inflight Internet service is now available in much of Alaska at no additional cost to subscribers. Coverage now includes Alaska’s more populous regions and some enroute segments, as well as arrival and departure corridors for some airports. Coverage maps are available at www.aircell.com/products-services/gogo-biz. Gogo Biz monthly service plans starts at $395/month.
The NTSB is creating a Twitter handle (@NTSB) and a YouTube channel. Spokesman Peter Knudsen said NTSB decided to start with Twitter because it seemed the most accessible social media tool. “These tools will allow us to reach out directly to people and allow the chairman to speak directly with the public . . . This is just a start.”
Bahrain Airport Co. (BAC) has signed an agreement with MENA Aerospace to build and operate a major private and business aviation hangar complex on Bahrain International Airport. Development is already under way on the northwest corner of the airport. When complete, the first phase’s footprint will be 283,758 sq. ft. (6.5 acres), making it one of the largest general aviation facilities in the region.
Air traffic controllers from airports around the Los Angeles Basin will step up use of an advanced tower simulator at the FAA’s regional office in Hawthorne, Calif., in the coming months as the agency closes on the final stages of a nationwide simulator deployment program. The final four MaxSim training systems, developed by simulation specialists Adacel, will be installed at sites around the United States to expedite new controller training. The FAA has 14 systems at its Oklahoma City training academy and 22 others at or near major U.S.
Your article on the crash of the Quest Diagnostics Baron 58 (“A Failed Culture of Safety,” February 2011, page 53) appears to have made the same errors as the NTSB “factual” report, as well as the mainstream press. I have worked in aviation as a non-licensed “dispatcher” or flight coordinator for an FAR Part 135/flight school operator, as well as a Part 91 corporate flight department. A phrase that’s missing from your article, the NTSB report and the press coverage is “. . .
A King Air C90A (N57WR) crashed into terrain while attempting a missed approach from Mount Airy/Surry County, N.C., Airport (MWK). The pilot-in-command and a pilot-rated passenger who was “helping” the PIC were killed, as were their four passengers. The accident occurred on Feb. 1, 2008, at about 1128 EST.
The FAA reported that incidents of lasers pointed at airplanes almost doubled nationwide in 2010, over the previous year to more than 2,800, the highest number recorded since the FAA began keeping track in 2005. Los Angeles International Airport recorded the highest number of laser events in the country for an individual airport in 2010, with 102 reports, and the greater Los Angeles area tallied nearly twice that number, with 201 reports. Chicago O’Hare International Airport was a close second, with 98 reports, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Norman Y.
Jet Works Air Center of Denton, Texas, has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to convert a Boeing MD-87 airliner into a 24-seat luxury VIP aircraft for a Middle Eastern client. The revamped twinjet will feature a luxurious cabin with a leading-edge entertainment system and Wi-Fi Internet access, said Jet Works President Trey Bryson. The MD-87, the first of this type converted by Jet Works, arrived at the completion center in mid-January.
Brazil’s ANAC has certified the Bell Helicopter Model 429. This follows certification by the U.S. FAA, Transport Canada and EASA. Deliveries in Brazil will begin early this year. The helicopter was first certified as a single-pilot IFR, Category A helicopter under Part 27 airworthiness rules in mid-2009.
Thank you for the excellent article, “Curbing the FAA’s Enforcement Overreach” (Washington Watch, February 2011, page 59). Having survived the nightmare I appreciate that reasonable minds are trying to correct the process.
BAE Systems is increasingly optimistic about selling its aircraft as corporate shuttles, reports BCA sister publication Aviation Daily. “We had a pretty upbeat year [in 2010], and we are pretty upbeat going into 2011,” said Steve Doughty, senior vice president of sales and marketing asset management at BAE Systems Regional Aircraft.
The Finnish Aviation Academy has received FTD 2 FNPT II MCC dual qualification for its Embraer Phenom 100 devices manufactured by Frasca International Inc. The two devices to be installed feature TruVision Global 220-deg. visual systems. A Frasca-built avionics trainer for the Phenom 100s Prodigy Flight Deck is also in use there.
Lindbergh Foundation 34th Annual Awards: Dean Kamen, noted inventor, educator and pilot, has been selected to receive the Lindbergh Award for 2011. GE Aviation is the recipient of the Foundation’s Corporate Award for Balance, and Milbry Polk, founder and director emeritus of WINGs WorldQuest will receive the Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award.
Dassault has delivered more than 100 Falcon 7X trijets to operators and the fleet has logged more than 60,000 flight hours since beginning service in mid-2007, according to the firm’s records. Based on accumulated fleet experience, operators say the aircraft provides an impressive step up in range, speed and cabin comfort compared to Falcon 900 series aircraft, the models most respondents in our survey said they previously operated.
China began authorizing some private helicopter flights without prior approval on an experimental basis in January on the southern island of Hainan, state media reported. Four helicopters, flown by eight pilots, will take part in the initial two-month experiment, the official Xinhua news agency said. Private aircraft currently need to have flight plans approved by the authorities, a process that can take from a day to a week, according to Xinhua.
