The relatively large size of long-range, widebody airliners affords operators the flexibility of providing various types of crew rest areas. The FAA’s crew duty and rest NPRM recognizes that different types of onboard crew rest areas afford different sleep opportunities on long-range aircraft. Even so, the FAA proposes to limit credit for sleep opportunity based upon the quality of the rest facility, recognizing that a private room at a ground layover point provides the best quality crew rest.
Hawker Beechcraft Services (HBS) in Chester, U.K., continues to meet key milestones on its first Hawker 800XPR upgrade program, and the company expects to achieve FAA certification early this year, with European Aviation Safety Agency approval to follow shortly afterward.
A new generation of purpose-built, ultra-long-range business aircraft from Gulfstream and Bombardier will start to arrive in less than two years, ones that will be able to fly eight passengers at least 7,000 nm. Fifteen-hour missions from New York to Mumbai, Atlanta to Taipei, or Dubai to San Francisco could become routine.
China Eastern Airlines Executive Air, a unit of the Chinese air carrier, is expected to soon launch business jet operations. The business aviation operator currently owns a Hawker 800, but hopes to expand the fleet to three business jets this year and then eventually to seven. The operation was established in 1995 as a ground handler in Shanghai, and has since provided services for more than 5,000 VIP, cargo, charter, air ambulance and other business jet flights.
Eurocopter South East Asia (ESEA) has opened a new 8,200-sq.-meter (88,264 sq. ft.) facility at Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore that provides double the hangar space and 25% more office space than ESEA’s previous operation at Loyang Way near Changi Airport. The Seletar hangar accommodates 24 helicopters and is certified to perform modifications and repairs for interiors, avionics, structures and electrical systems. Scientists and engineers at EADS Innovation Works will also work there on rotorcraft research and development.
Nav Canada has announced plans for a new series of flight trials aimed at reducing emissions and cutting fuel consumption in the busy transatlantic corridor. The project, titled Europe-North America Go ADS-B for a Greener Environment (ENGAGE), will involve the use of satellite-based surveillance to increase flight efficiency on North Atlantic routes. Trial flights are scheduled to begin in February and continue through the spring. Also involved are Air France and the U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services.
The FAA’s revised Flightcrew Member Duty and Rest Requirements NPRM, released in mid-September 2010, stirred up plenty of discussion regarding the need to update statutory requirements for consecutive duty periods, flight duty limits and rest periods in relation to time of day, circadian rhythms and actual sleep opportunities, among other factors.
Daher-Socata is planning a 100th Anniversary Special Edition TBM 850 this year as part of the celebration of the company’s centennial of continuous airplane production that began in 1911 with its predecessor company — Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier. The Special Edition version will include a number of new features, including a program that lowers scheduled maintenance costs for five years or 1,000 hr.
ACSS (L-3 Communications and Thales Co.), Phoenix, announced that Terry Flaishans has been named vice president and general manager, reporting to Kris Ganase, president of L-3 Aviation Products. Air Charter Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va., announced that Skyservice Business Aviation, Quebec, is the first international operator to be added to the ACSF Audit Standard (IAS) Registry. Angel MedFlight, Scottsdale, Ariz., promoted Rastislav “Rusty” Valko to COO, responsible for overseeing company-wide operations.
Airbus has set up Airbus ProSky as a dedicated subsidiary to manage its engagement with air traffic management activities. This is the latest step the aircraft maker has taken to strengthen its voice in ATM activities. The company also signed an agreement with Boeing to help ensure that U.S. and European ATM modernization activities — NextGen and SESAR — also reflect the view of aircraft makers. Airbus officials also are coordinating with air navigation service providers on route optimization.
The NTSB recently took a first step that could provide FAA certificate holders a better chance of receiving a fair shake if they run afoul of FAA safety inspectors. In an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) published just before Christmas, the NTSB said it is considering a change in the rules under which the agency’s administrative law judges adjudicate appeals of “emergency” certificate suspensions or revocations by the FAA.
“As an operator, you might want to advocate for air traffic improvements to be expanded as quickly as possible [to further promote green ops]. And if there is regulation of emissions [i.e., cap and trade], I would make a pitch for rational policies that the money extracted from the industry be invested back into the industry in research for green operations and reduction of emissions further.” — Ed Smith, Senior Vice President, International and Environmental Affairs General Aviation Manufacturers Association
Regardless of your views on global warming, there are compelling reasons for running a so-called “green” operation — and perhaps the most important one is “greenbacks,” or the money that can be saved through fuel conservation.
With the change in leadership in the House of Representatives, it’s unlikely that U.S. business aviation operators will have to contend with a carbon emissions cap-and-trade program on this side of the Atlantic. However, those venturing across the North Atlantic will be forced to contend with the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme — paying for their CO2 emissions from point of origin.
NetJets, the original and by far the largest fractional aircraft operation, was founded by Richard Santulli in 1986 and acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate in 1998 for $725 million. A decade later, the company operated some 800 business jets in the United States and Europe for thousands of share owners. However, once the global recession struck, new share sales slowed dramatically, existing owners began cashing in their shares and the company began hemorrhaging money — Buffett put its 2009 losses at a “staggering” $711 million.
I was quite surprised when I read “BCA Roundup: Cabin Electronics” (December 2010, page 26) and found that Custom Control Concepts Inc. (CCC) did not receive a mention in the article or in the very detailed charts. Every one of our competitors was listed. CCC has been in business for 11 years. We have completed 107 narrow and widebody aircraft and many helicopters, and we have integrated the most complicated and expensive head-of-state and VVIP aircraft.
A remanufactured business jet with state-of-the-art engines and avionics for what is claimed to be 40% the price of a new aircraft of the same type is the impetus behind Nextant Aerospace’s Beechjet 400XT program.
The NTSB held a public meeting Jan. 11, for staffers to present a safety study to the five-member board that examined the effectiveness of airbags in minimizing injuries in a survivable general aviation accident. In a nutshell, the data presented showed that shoulder harnesses are still the primary means of mitigating harm to those on board, reducing injuries about 50% in the 10 accidents studied in detail. Notably, all the occupants were using their lap belt and/or shoulder harness restraints.
A long-endurance UAV flew for the first time powered by a hydrogen-fueled propulsion system in January. AeroVironment’s Global Observer GO-1, climbed to 5,000 ft. over Edwards AFB, Calif., and flew for 4 hr. The flight marked the first time electrical power was supplied by a liquid hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine. The engine, in turn, drives a generator that powers the propellers, payload and batteries.
Forecast International of Newtown, Conn., has joined the general industry consensus that a business aviation upturn will occur no sooner than 2012. Its new study projects that a total of 11,437 business jets, worth an estimated $217.5 billion, will be produced from 2010 through 2019. “The Market for Business Jet Aircraft” report also indicates that business jet production, which has dropped sharply since late 2008, will continue declining through 2011.
Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Executive Airport has taken a major step toward its goal of becoming a world-class business aviation center by installing a Cat 1 ILS system on its single runway, the 10,499 ft.-long Runway 13/31. The official inauguration of the precision approach system occurred Dec. 7, but operations actually began Oct. 13. While conditions at the airport are predominantly visual, sandstorms, fog or haze periodically require instrument approaches.
There are primarily two kinds of business aircraft in New Zealand: turboprops and a handful of VLJs used for domestic operations between the Oceania nation’s two islands and long-range “heavy iron” for going anywhere else.
