A battery-powered Cessna 172 trainer? George Bye told BCA in November that the technology already exists to produce just such an aircraft and, accordingly, the training market is a primary target for his avgas-less aspirations. The founder and CEO of Bye Energy Inc., a “clean energy solutions integrator for general aviation,” says his company will have a battery-powered C172N flying out of Denver’s Centennial Airport by spring. Cessna is assisting in the project.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Dassault Falcon 900LX under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Dassault Falcon Jet’s sales engineers provided the data for the Range/Payload Profile. Data for the specific range chart were extracted from the Dassault Falcon 900LX Performance Manual.
Congratulations for your excellent article on spins (“When the Very Best Fall,” October 2010, page 46). As an experimental test pilot, I was involved in about 15 development and certification spin test campaigns on normal and acrobatic category aircraft.
Operators of Cessna Citation Xs soon will be able to install Safe Flight’s AutoPower system on their airplanes. The automatic throttle system will be offered for retrofit on in-service airplanes, as well as on new-production aircraft, through the Cessna Service Center in Wichita. Development hardware has been qualified and delivered by Safe Flight, and first flight of an installed system was to take place by the end of 2010. Supplemental type certification is anticipated shortly.
TAG Aviation is moving into the Chinese market as a joint venture partner with China First Mandarin Group (CFMG). The preliminary agreement was announced at the Middle East Business Aviation show in Dubai. CFMG’s First Mandarin Business Aviation unit holds both a Chinese Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and Part 145 maintenance authority. The AOC is said to be the only private aviation AOC in China, with all others held by airlines. The Shenyang-based company owns and charters eight aircraft, primarily Bombardier Challengers, and manages others for private owners.
Bombardier is eyeing emerging markets such as Russia, China and India for large business jet sales. “These are long-range airplanes for international corporations and wealthy individuals who travel globally,” said Pierre Beaudoin, president and CEO of Bombardier. In this fiscal year to date, 75% of Bombardier orders have come from outside the United States, reports Aviation eBrief.
Increasing airport interest in solar technology has prompted the FAA to issue technical guidance on the use of solar power in the airfield environment. The guidance provides a checklist for uses such as hot water systems and cites the experience of three airports — Denver, Fresno Yosemite and Albuquerque. Some 15 U.S. airports use solar technology.
JetSelect Aviation based in Columbus, Ohio has been certified as compliant with the Industry Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) by the International Business Aviation Council. JetSelect offers on-demand aircraft charter, management and maintenance services.
I happened to see your blog post on NBAA scheduling another ABACE event in China in 2012. The NBAA did a commendable job of “spinning” the reason for the ABACE show cancellation in 2009. However, the reality would appear to be somewhat different (and more plausible). I suspect that the NBAA apparently bowed out (at the last minute) because of its own “bottom-line” concerns . . . nothing to do with the OEMs.
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) was confirmed by vote of the House Republican Conference Dec. 8 to serve as chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the 112th Congress. The committee has broad jurisdiction over the nation’s highways, aviation system, transit, rail transportation, pipelines, the Coast Guard, maritime transportation, water resources, economic development, public buildings and emergency management.
Dassault Aviation and Aviation Partners Inc., have an agreement that allows the French firm to fit new Falcon 900EX EASy aircraft on its production line with API winglets, thereby transforming them into Falcon 900LX models. Meanwhile, API has the rights to the retrofit market. The Seattle company expects to have STC approval for fitting the same blended winglets to older Falcon 900 aircraft, including existing Falcon 900EX EASy models, by the first quarter of this year.
Much angst has been expressed by business aircraft operators in recent months about whether a Nov. 18, 2010, international target date for adoption of Safety Management System (SMS) requirements would complicate or prevent flights of U.S. registered business aircraft to other nations. Some flight department managers expressed concern that operators who do not have an SMS in place could see their aircraft denied entry to certain countries or detained by foreign aviation authorities. At least in the short term, those worries appear to be overblown.
Ocean Sky has opened an office in Dubai to serve as a base for expansion in the Middle East. The Dubai operation initially will focus on providing charter and aircraft management services, but Ocean Sky anticipates expanding into aircraft acquisition and sales and FBOs.
Tucson, Ariz.-based Universal Avionics and Boise, Idaho-headquartered Western Aircraft have partnered to develop a technologically advanced cockpit for the Dassault Falcon 900B. The upgrade will replace 25 older instruments, thereby significantly improving reliability and situational awareness while reducing downtime. Western Aircraft expects to earn an STC for the Falcon 900B cockpit makeover by midyear.
The growth of turbine-powered wind farms is posing a rising threat to airport operations and to the accuracy of radars, a Mead & Hunt planner says. An unexpected impact is often confusing images appearing on radar screens at air traffic control facilities that cover wind farms, says Tony Tezla, renewable energy planner with the consultancy’s Santa Rosa, Calif., office. He is calling for improved land-use planning and coordination among companies in the wind farm industry, aviation interests and governments to stem the growth of problems.
Business travelers who have sampled the cuisine of Ladurée’s fabulous Paris cake and pastry bakery might gladly fork over that much to fly to London and sample the firm’s double-decker macaroons, widely regarded as the world’s finest. Ladurée UK has just launched an inflight catering service to provide the fare from its traditional shops at Harrods and the Burlington Arcade to business aircraft operating from all London airports.
General Electric’s new H80 turboprop engine made its first flight on a Thrush 510G aerial applicator, Nov. 23, in Albany, Ga. GE says the Thrush 510G is the first application for the new H80 engine, and the first North American OEM engine installation for the M601 engine family. The first flight of the Thrush 510G aircraft, a 510-gal., 10,500-lb gross weight crop duster, lasted 30 min. and is part of the overall flight-testing program to demonstrate the aircraft’s capabilities. Since first flight, the H80-powered 510G had flown an additional 5 hr.
ExecuJet Aviation Group has been issued an air operator’s certificate by the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. The action allows the Zurich, Switzerland-based company to begin basing aircraft operations in New Zealand. ExecuJet initially is managing a privately owned Gulfstream G550 in the region. The G550 will be available for third-party charter, effective immediately.
Dec. 1 — At about 1336 EST, a Cessna 560XL (N607QS) sustained no damage when its rudder bound during landing at Toledo Express Airport (TOL), near Toledo, Ohio. The two pilots and one passenger were not injured. It was VFR and the flight was operating on an activated IFR flight plan. The FAR Part 135 flight departed from Monmouth Executive Airport, near Belmar, N.J., about 1207, and was destined for TOL. A post-flight examination inside the airplane's tailcone revealed ice around the rudder’s control cables and pulleys.
Nextant Aerospace has completed research and development flight testing for the 400XT, its upgraded version of the Beechjet/Hawker 400A/XP. Nextant has flown more than 120 flight test hr. toward the certification of the Pro Line 21 avionics and Williams International FJ44-3AP engine installations on the 400A/XP airframe. “The aircraft is exceeding our expectations in all key performance and handling aspects,” says James Miller, president of the Richmond Heights, Ohio-based remanufacturing company.
Of the roughly 550 business jets based in Middle Eastern countries, nearly 90% are considered medium- or large-size jets, says Brian Foley of Brian Foley Associates. “This fleet perspective is significant, because the worldwide average is closer to 60%,” he says. “And it is a measure of utility, not just luxury and prestige. All these Gulfstreams, Falcons and Globals (along with the occasional Boeing and Airbus models) fill a need for range and comfort reaching far beyond the Middle East that smaller jets can’t match.”
Look for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to form a group to try to advise governments around the world on how to craft laws that advance justice without threatening to disrupt aviation’s largely no-fault approach to safety. The recent criminal conviction and fines imposed on Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics in a French court a decade after the crash of an Air France Concorde supersonic transport is just the latest in what ICAO insiders see as a disturbing global trend toward “criminalizing” aviation accidents.
The FAA is providing more time for comments on a proposed rulemaking to require airport operators to establish safety management systems. The comment period, originally Jan. 5, has been extended to March 7 at the request of airports and other industry associations, including the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Barry McDaniel (Director, Jeppesen Corporate Quality and Standards)
In your recent article about aviation databases, and regulations governing the processing of aeronautical information (“Building Aviation Databases,” October 2010, page 86), several references were made to the requirements set forth by DO-200A and what Jeppesen or other data suppliers do — or do not do — with data originated by state sources. The article states, “. . . according to DO-200A, the official country data must be passed through the system — even if some is known to be erroneous.” This is not true.
Anticipating a heavy influx of business jets for February’s Super Bowl, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport moved business aviation operations to a refurbished airline passenger terminal Dec. 9. “It was time to improve our facilities as a regional operation,” a DFW spokesman said.
