Slip into a 1997 to 2006 Citation Bravo and it feels as comfortable as your favorite pair of old shoes. But the performance and utility of these brogans are head-and-shoulders above the original 1978 through 1994 CE-550. The Bravo flies up to 2,000 ft. higher, 40 kt. faster and 300 mi. farther.
Rockwell Collins has opened its China System Support Center in Shanghai for fundamental and advanced engineering, program management training, systems integration and avionics system consulting. A major Comac C919 supplier, Rockwell Collins expects to expand its reach in China with the support center. The company is providing the 150-seat jet’s communication, navigation, surveillance, cabin management, inflight entertainment and simulator components.
General Electric is counting on a joint venture with Avic to propel the company into the front ranks of avionics suppliers along with Rockwell Collins and Honeywell. With Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke looking on, GE Aviation President and CEO David Joyce and Avic Senior Vice President Zhang Xinguo signed an agreement Jan. 14 in Chicago to form a joint venture — GE-Avic Civil Avionics Systems Co. Ltd. — in Shanghai.
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.
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.
Piper Aircraft is ramping up work on the Altaire, its first jet, with some 160 engineers now assigned to the project and metal work on the first conforming aircraft under way. The company reported that it has 157 orders in hand for the $2.5 million aircraft. Jackie Carlon, director of marketing, says the engineering department has released more than 1,000 drawings for the aircraft and that first metal was has been cut for the initial unit.
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.
Frank Robinson worked at Bell Helicopter as a young engineer. So, when he decided to develop a simple, low-cost helicopter, he naturally opted for the elemental two-blade teetering main-rotor system as originated by Arthur Young at Bell but with the addition of coning hinges to allow the blade to flap upward under load.
Russian Helicopters’ Ka-32A11BC has been certified for all-weather operations by the Indian civil aviation authority. India is a key market owing to the difficult operating conditions in the country and the large potential market size. Russian Helicopters says about half of the more than 140 helicopters of this type that have been built are in service outside Russia. Brazil also has begun the process of type certification for the coaxial rotor helicopter, the manufacturer says.
If the words “rear naked choke” and “ground-and-pound” have meaning, you may be one of the growing ranks of sports fans who follow mixed martial arts, also known as MMA and, in its most visible professional form, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. Twenty-nine-year-old Justin Murray, a senior trip owner for Universal Weather and Aviation in Houston, says he initially just went to a martial arts gym to lose some weight back in April 2007. Now he’s ranked #7 in his 170-lb category in Houston’s International Extreme Fight Association (IFXA).
Airbus engineers have patented a taxiing system using electrically driven wheels for its A320 family, which includes the Airbus Corporate Jet, to reduce fuel consumption during ground operations at airports and allow autonomous push-backs. EADS says the system uses electric “actuators” powered by the aircraft’s auxiliary power unit to drive the landing gear wheels. Fuel consumption is expected to be five times less using the APU compared to using engine power — saving as much as 200 kg of fuel per flight compared with current airport processes.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has selected Cobham Synthetic Vision EFIS systems for its fleet of Eurocopter and Bell helicopters. LAPD is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement operation in the world and serves a population base of four million. The LAPD rotorcraft will be retrofitted with Cobham’s two-screen EFIS system: Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multi-Function Display (MFD), GPS receiver, integral Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS), and integral FMS.
Piper recently delivered 14 new piston aircraft, four Piper Seneca Vs and 10 Piper Archer IIIs, to Qatar Aeronautical College for its airline pilot training programs. The sale has a total retail value of about $6.7 million. All the aircraft are equipped with Garmin avionics: The twin-engine Seneca V trainers have four-screen dual G600 systems, while the single-engine Archers have four-screen dual G500 systems.
The Gulfstream G250 super-midsize aircraft is proceeding with icing tests on serial number 2001. The aircraft, which first flew in December 2009, is completing a test series with simulated ice shapes attached to non-heated areas such as the nose, tail, winglets and engine pylon to evaluate handling, stability and control with ice buildup. Serial number 2002 completed anti-ice system dry-air testing and will fly in natural icing conditions for FIKI certification.
Hawker Beechcraft is forecasting strong growth in private aviation across the Middle East over the next few years, with King Air-based special-mission applications, which range from government maritime patrol, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, plus commercial applications such as photographic, air ambulance, flight inspection and weather modification, a major segment.
Sikorsky Aircraft delivered two S-92 helicopters to AAR Corp. for passenger and cargo missions in Afghanistan. AAR is supporting the U.S. Transportation Command.
SimCom Training Centers has acquired the former PrestoSIM training center located near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and said it plans to “greatly expand” the facility with new flight training devices and training courseware, and updating the existing simulators. It said many of the existing staff will be retained and new instructors added.
Dassault Falcon has promoted Mark Verdesco to director of pre-owned aircraft sales, replacing Skip Flint, who retired in December. In his new position, Verdesco is responsible for all pre-owned aircraft activity in the Western Hemisphere, including working closely with Dassault’s direct-sales teams on trade-ins and leases.
Talk about timing: Robinson Helicopter, the company that leads the world in unit production of helicopters, gets the certificate for its new Rolls-Royce RR300-powered R66 — its first turbine model — just as the global economy is showing signs of a turnaround, a competitor exits and key operators are looking for inexpensive lift. Company President and CEO Kurt L. Robinson says that his father — the company’s founder, Frank Robinson — has always made it a habit to think five years ahead. It looks like he called this one almost perfectly.
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.
The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 became law on Aug. 1, 2010, amending the Pilot Records Improvement Act by mandating that the FAA establish a database for pilot records to be used for conducting background checks before pilots are hired. In 1991, the FAA established a policy of expunging records of certain legal enforcement actions after five years, last expunging records on Nov. 1, 2010. The new pilot database must retain legal enforcement records until the FAA is notified that the individual is dead.
ACSS (L-3 Communications & Thales Co.), Phoenix, named Terry Flaishans vice president and general manager reporting to Kris Ganase, president of L-3 Aviation Products. Angel MedFlight, Scottsdale, Ariz., promoted Rastislav “Rusty” Valko to COO, responsible for company-wide operations.
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.
