Airbus delivered 15 corporate jets in 2010, worth more than $1.5 billion at list prices, setting a new record for this sector of its business. The company delivered 13 A318 Elites, ACJs and A320 Prestige aircraft, plus two VIP widebody A330/A340s. Airbus also won eight ACJ orders in 2010, bringing total orders to date for Airbus VIP models to more than 170 aircraft. The new orders are for seven aircraft from the A318 Elite/Airbus ACJ/A320 Prestige family, plus one widebody A330/A340.
The FAA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System, which turns 36 this year, has firmly established itself as an integral resource for coming to terms with our own failings or alerting the authorities to potential threats to aviation safety. How many of us, having committed an unintentional mistake, say, busting an assigned altitude, or having witnessed a series of events that could ultimately snowball into an accident, reflexively thought, “I’ve got to file an ASRS report on that?”
The FCC waived its spectrum allocation rules Jan. 26 to conditionally authorize Reston, Va.-based LightSquared to operate 40,000 high-power, ground-based 4G cell phone transmitters in a segment of the L-band previously allocated to Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), i.e. low-power satellite-to-earth service, immediately adjacent to the 1559-1610 MHz band used by GPS and other satellite navigation services.
General Electric’s H80 engine will power the LET L410 regional turboprop aircraft under a five-year agreement signed with Czech manufacturer Aircraft Industries. GE will deliver 20+ engines per year to support new and retrofit installations on the L410-UVP-E20 twin-engine commuter aircraft. Certification on the L410 will be significant, marking GE’s entry into the air transport market with the H80 engine, developed as a competitor to Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6. Aircraft Industries plans to complete H80-powered L410 aircraft certification by mid-2012.
Eurocopter officially inaugurated its new North Sea Service Center in Aberdeen, Scotland, providing a training, technical support and logistics facility in close proximity to helicopter operators that support the region’s oil and gas industry — as well as the emerging wind farm sector. Eurocopter rotary-wing aircraft constitute the largest helicopter fleet in the United Kingdom. The center has a new EC225 helicopter full-flight simulator.
The FAA dedicated the new air traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) that will replace the distinctive tower that has symbolized the airport since 1964. The new 233-ft.-high tower is 82-ft. higher than the older tower and has an 850-sq.-ft. tower cab. The total cost to design, equip and construct the new tower was approximately $100 million.
Macquarie Infrastructure Co.’s Atlantic Aviation subsidiary has sold its fixed-base operations at Fresno Yosemite International Airport and Cleveland Cuyahoga County Airport. The Fresno facility was sold to a subsidiary of Ross Aviation. The Cleveland FBO was sold to a subsidiary of The Cleveland Jet Center.
Paragon Aviation Group announced that four new FBO members have joined its network. Effective Jan. 1, Maguire Aviation (VNY) joined Paragon and on. Feb. 1, Aero Air (HIO), Galvin Flying Service (BFI) and First Aviation Services (TEB) joined the network.
Garmin’s new Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) system has been STCed on a Beech King Air 200. The system is designed to help pilots maintain stable flight and ward off situations that could cause stalls and spins, steep spirals or other loss-of-control conditions. The ESP acts independently of the autopilot and operates in the background when a pilot is hand-flying the aircraft. It gently nudges the controls toward stable flight whenever pitch, roll or high-speed deviations exceed recommended limits.
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.
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.
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.
The availability of the second-generation EASy II avionics package for the Falcon 7X now has slid to the end of 2012. The basic package includes more-powerful graphics modules, among several other hardware and software upgrades needed to support its increased functionality.
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.
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.
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.
Gulfstream Aerospace has purchased a building to house its growing research and development program. The 253,000-sq.-ft. facility is located adjacent to the company’s R&D campus in Crossroads Business Park, near its headquarters at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. The acquisition is part of an expansion plan Gulfstream announced last November that includes building new facilities at the northwest quadrant of the airport, renovating several existing facilities on the main headquarters campus and expanding office and lab facilities at the R&D center.
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.
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.
Gustavo Sganzerla (Brasilia, Brazil), — Dick Aarons (Former Dispatcher)
I am a pilot and flight department manager for an FAR Part 91 operation in Central Brazil, and am a huge fan of BCA. I always read it cover to cover. However, you must be kidding with “A Failed Culture of Safety” (Cause & Circumstance, February 2011, page 53). The copilot feathers both engines, thus crashing the airplane, and corporate culture is the culprit? OK, maybe there were some problems with Quest’s corporate safety culture, but this particular accident doesn’t seem to have been caused by them.
Dennis Rousseau, president of AircraftPost.com — the Albany, N.Y.-based company that provides real-time valuations for more than 5,000 medium and large business jets — believes that aircraft prices have stabilized at roughly 25% under “a normalized market,” but that it may be up to three years before the excess inventory of used aircraft shrinks enough for airplane prices to reflect their true value. However, he cautions, “We need to be careful and not look at 2007/2008 as the ‘normal market’ to return to because prices weren’t normal; they were exaggerated.”
Another encroachment on FAA authority over air commerce. The National Park Service (NPS) has drafted a plan to restrain aircraft activity over Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP). The plan calls for new limits on the number of air tour operations, hours of their flights and minimum altitudes. The NPS draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which covers air tour flights and calls for the “substantial restoration of natural quiet” over GCNP, is open for public review. Comments are due June 6.
