ARGUS International says that, historically, total U.S. business aviation traffic drops off during the holidays, and the company’s TRAQPak data showed that December followed the trend, with business aircraft activity down -3.2% from November. FAR Part 135 charter activity saw a modest increase of 3.0% from November. Comparing year over year December 2010 vs. December 2009, U.S. aircraft activity was up 4.4%. Looking at operational categories, the Part 91 market maintained another large increase, up 10.0%.
Stratos lives. The team developing the Stratos 714 single-engine personal jet reported Jan. 10 that the project had third-party funding enabling wind tunnel tests of a one-eighth scale model. Those tests are expected to take place in April, probably at the University of Washington. Carsten Sundin, Stratos Aircraft’s chief technical officer and vice president of engineering, said the design of the four-place, all-composite aircraft was the product of extensive use of computation fluid dynamics (CFD).
Dec. 31, 2010 — At about 1426 EST, a Eurocopter EC-135-P2 (N312PH), operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc. as AirCare 5, and a Cessna 172H (N2876L) collided in midair approximately one-half mile northwest of the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD), Weyers Cave, Va. The Cessna airplane departed controlled flight after the right wing separated, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces at ground contact. The helicopter sustained minor damage and landed safely at SHD. The commercial pilot and passenger onboard the Cessna were killed.
Piper Aircraft selected Western Aircraft as the airplane manufacturer’s dealer for new aircraft sales in Alaska, northern California, Oregon and Washington. The company will sell the full Piper product line, including the new Piper Altaire single-engine jet. Western Aircraft, part of Greenwich AeroGroup, is based at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho.
The FAA says the busy holiday travel period saw at least nine laser illuminations of cockpits of airplanes takeing off or landing at Honolulu International Airport, ending a year in which reports of such incidents more than doubled, reports Aviation eBrief, citing the Honolulu Star-Advertisor. Nationwide, 2,800 laser incidents were reported in 2010, compared with 1,500 in 2009.
Honda Aircraft is nearing completion of its 266,000-sq.-ft. aircraft production facility on its Greensboro, N.C., campus. Once finished, Honda will begin moving in equipment and personnel and begin pre-production preparations and training necessary to support the HondaJet production ramp-up beginning in 2012. Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft president and CEO, said he expects the facility will turn out 30-40 aircraft in the first six months of production.
The Winter 2010 edition of Marketline, the Aircraft Bluebook newsletter, indicates that prices for business jets continued to slump during the third quarter of last year, while values of most turboprops remained stable during the period. A total of 502 jets declined in price, while 370 stayed stable and a mere 14 increased in value. On the positive side, the Bombardier Global Express experienced a $1 million uptick for select model years. Similarly, some late-model Gulfstream G550s recorded a $1 million move upward compared to the previous quarter.
Hawker Beechcraft announced Dec. 21 that the state of Kansas has anted up $60 million to keep the OEM and 4,000 jobs in Wichita, a figure that convinced Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture to unpack his bags and stay put. Earlier Boisture said he was contemplating moving the entire company to Louisiana, to take advantage of incentives it had proposed as an enticement. The state’s package requires Hawker Beechcraft to maintain its current product lines in Wichita over the next 10 years.
The first production FAA-conforming HondaJet flew for the first time Dec. 20 from the Honda Aircraft Co. facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C. During the 51-min. flight, the aircraft’s flight characteristics and performance were analyzed and systems checks were conducted. Two other aircraft will join in the flight test program by this summer and another two will be employed in structural testing. All five aircraft are being built with production tooling in the company’s R&D center.
Jet Aviation Basel won a contract to complete a VVIP Boeing 747-8 cabin for an undisclosed Middle East customer. Jet Aviation says it is the first completion center to be contracted to outfit a cabin interior for one of the eight VIP B747-8 aircraft sold to date. The Basel completions center will build a full-size cabin model of the aircraft so the client can experience a 1:1 view of the cabin interior during the decision-making process.
The DOT inspector general called for better oversight of airport grants after an audit revealed that about $161 million of the U.S. government’s Fiscal 2008 payments to Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grantees nationwide were improper, at least in terms of documentation. “FAA’s risk-based approach to AIP grant oversight is inadequate and does not effectively prevent or detect improper payments,” the inspector general says.
It is a rare opportunity for investigators to interview surviving passengers who observed their pilot’s actions during an accident sequence that destroyed their aircraft, killed the pilot and seriously injured others. But such was the case with the U.K. Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) study of circumstances surrounding the loss of a Raytheon Beechcraft Super King Air 200 that crashed into a shallow lagoon immediately after departure from North Caicos Airport, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), British West Indies, on Feb. 6, 2007.
Once your roller coaster crests the lift hill, gathers momentum and then enters its first hard turn, remember to keep your neck and head aligned with your spine but — this is key – relax your shoulders, torso and butt. That way your body is flexible and will better adapt to the car’s motion and forces, rather than resist them. As a result, you’re more likely to come through the ride unbruised and better able to endure a repetition.
Hawker Beechcraft will halt Hawker 400XP production for 2011 and 2012 in favor of an upgrade program for existing Beechcraft/Hawker 400A/XPs. Bill Boisture, chairman and CEO of the Wichita manufacturer said Nov. 12, ”We think the market will remain relatively depressed, compared with historical markets, for 12 to 24 months,” adding that pricing on new aircraft has become difficult. The company has “worked our inventory on that product down” and decided that, rather than restocking and selling the airplane, Hawker would defer production and sales, he says.
Piaggio Aero received both type and production certificates in November for its P.180 Avanti II business turboprop from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation, ANAC. The Avanti II can now be legally sold, registered and operated in Brazil.
Colorado-based Jettech has developed a Garmin G600 installation for the Cessna Citation 501 and 551 and is awaiting supplemental type certification of the modification. Following FAA approval, Jettech plans to begin offering initial installations of the electronic flight instrument system at its Denver facilities. Subsequently, installation kits will be available through Jettech-approved, Garmin-authorized dealers.
Thanks to an amended STC, StandardAero is now offering to upgrade Dassault Falcon 20s that have undergone the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 major retrofit. New features offered through the upgrade include dual multifunction displays, an integrated engine indication system and the ability to view video on the system’s multifunction display. Also, the integrated flight information system now includes XM Satellite weather Version 6.0, which offers winds aloft, satellite imagery, lightning data and temporary flight restrictions (TFR) information.
Lee Juan Lanford, 87, founder of Associated Air Center (AAC), died from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease, Nov. 13. Lanford helped establish the Associated Radio Co., in 1948 at Love Field in Dallas, initially as a three-man operation that specialized in the repair and installation of surplus radio equipment in ex-military aircraft that were being converted into private/corporate aircraft. The firm added maintenance, repair and overhaul in 1968, including exterior modifications and refurbishments and the name changed to Associated Air Center.
StandardAero has added four mobile service teams (MSTs) to its existing business aviation support network, for a total of nine. The new MSTs will be located in Little Rock, Ark.; Van Nuys, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; and Dallas, Texas. The company also opened a Mobile Operation Center (MOC), operating 24 hr. a day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.
Sikorsky has begun final assembly of the first production S-76D, with delivery scheduled for 2012. Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody delivered the first production fuselage to Sikorsky Global Helicopters in Coatesville, Pa., in mid-November. The upgraded S-76D — with composite rotor blades, dual-speed rotor, active vibration control, Thales integrated flight deck and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines — is Sikorsky’s response to increased competition in the intermediate helicopter market.
Lufthansa Technik and Panasonic Avionics Corp. are establishing a joint venture for the development, manufacture and sale of inflight entertainment (IFE) and cabin management systems (CMS) for VIP aircraft. Officials from the two companies say their new systems will be based on a combination of the technologies used in Panasonic’s X Series airline IFE system, Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite (eXConnect and eXPhone) and the “nice” CMS/IFE system developed by Lufthansa Technik’s Innovation Business Unit.
Falcon 2000 owners can opt for a new cabin interior next time their aircraft visits Basel for major maintenance or a new paint job. Jet Aviation Basel, a designated Dassault Falcon completions center, launched its “Jet Falcon” cabin interior refurbishment program at MEBA 2010. The program offers three cabin interior designs — Classic, Style and Fashion, with standardized sets of designs and modular processes to keep downtime and costs to a minimum.
Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF), Alexandria, Va., announced the selection of Charles O’Dell, director of Sun Air Jets, Camarillo, Calif., as the newest member of the board of governors. Air Partner, London, England, has promoted Simon Wheatley to the position of U.K. manager of its Private Jets division, replacing Ben Bewsey, who has left the company. Air Transport Association, Washington, D.C., named Nicholas E. Calio president and CEO, effective Jan. 1. He succeeds James C. May, who has been president for the past eight years.
Embraer delivered the first Phenom 100 business jet in India, the first of 18 Phenom 100s ordered by India’s Invision Air Services Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai-based on-demand charter company. Invision Air ordered the aircraft three years ago, along with two Phenom 300s.
