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.
As a 30-year business aviation industry veteran, Doug Smith — who recently joined Avpro, an Annapolis, Md.-based aircraft brokerage, acquisition and consulting company — has been through several economic down cycles. Although he calls the most recent downturn “one of the most profound economic declines I have seen in a while,” he is confident that 2011 is going to be “a major year because all the signs are pointing in the right direction.”
Despite Swearingen SJ30 owner Emivest Aerospace’s bankruptcy, insiders at the Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) show said a strong potential investor with an aviation background is waiting in the wings to inject $200 million to achieve critical mass production for the first time in the aircraft’s history. Emivest must find a buyer for the company by Jan. 31 or face liquidation.
Constant Aviation, a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility based at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport has recovered the Embraer Legacy 600 that collided with a Gol Airline Boeing 737 over Brazil, Sept. 29, 2006, and will refurbish the aircraft for a new owner. At the time of the accident, the Legacy was on its initial delivery flight to ExcelAire of Ronkonkoma, N.Y. The damaged aircraft had languished at a remote military base in the jungles of Brazil since the incident.
Auckland’s Air Center One executive FBO was founded by former air traffic controller and regional airline and long-distance ferry pilot Robin Leach. “In the early ’80s, I saw a need for business aircraft support, as there was little available in the country,” Leach told BCA. “We set up the FBO at Auckland International Airport [NZAA] in 1984 and did a great business until the 1987 economic downturn, after which the aircraft disappeared overnight.”
Bell Helicopter sold two Bell 429 helicopters to Chevron to provide transportation to the energy company’s oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Deliveries are planned for early this year. Chevron will be the first oil and gas company to use the Bell 429 in offshore operations.
Russian Helicopters’ Mi-171A1 has been selected to support Brazilian national energy company Petrobras as it steps up oil production in the Amazon. Brazilian operator Atlas Taxo Aero won the tender. The first batch of two transport-configured Mi-171A1s, manufactured at Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, is scheduled for delivery to Brazil this year. “Further deliveries and the creation of an MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] center based on a Brazilian company can be reviewed in the future,” says Russian Helicopters.
Elliott Aviation, the Moline, Ill.-based business aviation services company, has earned supplemental type certification from the Agencia Nacional de Aviacoa Civil of Brazil for installation of Rockwell Collins’ TCAS 4000 traffic alert and collision avoidance system in Beechcraft King Air 200s and 300s. Elliott Aviation previously earned FAA certification of this installation.
Hawker Beechcraft Services (HBS) has begun taking orders and scheduling Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades on Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 equipped Premier IA aircraft.
The FAA has responded to criticism of its NextGen implementation efforts by stressing its focus on completing the complex program. A recent Government Accountability Office study noted that some major policy decisions must be made for NextGen to progress, although it also found that the agency is working to address open questions. House Republican aviation leaders say the study shows the FAA is jeopardizing NextGen by not providing metrics or targets for achieving benefits, and not laying out a solid business case for users.
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.
Duncan Aviation has delivered its first integrated iPad application for wireless control of cabin systems in a Falcon 900, the company announced in December. The installation uses an iPad app, an Aircell CTR Wi-Fi source and an interface unit to communicate instructions to the Honeywell MH cabin management system. The fully customized iPad cabin control interface does not impact any existing functionality or tie up system resources. This is the first of many iPad control systems that Duncan Aviation plans to deliver over the next several months.
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.
Bombardier Aerospace’s fiscal third quarter mirrored the third-quarter results of other business jet manufacturers, with lower revenues and earnings, but executives at the Canadian company remain optimistic that the market for large business jets continues to strengthen, and they are planning to increase production of the Global line in 2011. On Dec. 2, Bombardier reported Aerospace group revenues of US$1.8 billion in the fiscal third quarter ending Oct. 31, down from $2.1 billion in the previous fiscal year third quarter.
Construction has started on Phase 1 of an €800 million ($1.05 billion) development program at Pulkovo Airport that serves St. Petersburg, Russia. A ceremony Nov. 24 was attended by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin; Klaus-Dieter Scheurle, parliamentary state secretary in the German Ministry of Transport; and officials of the Northern Capital Gateway consortium, which is supporting the development. A new terminal is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
Having read of Lou Churchville’s adventures with a true nine-life tabby cat as an unwilling passenger in his radial-powered cropduster, several thoughts arise: First, it’s easier to do stuff with airplanes that belong to someone else. Second, why would the pilot presume the cat wanted to fly in the first place? Possibly a transference of perceived joy from human to animal? Unlikely. Or it could have been the love of open-cockpit biplanes, which on their own hold some real magic in flight. “. . . oh, the cat will love it.”) Perhaps.
Emirates-CAE Flight Training announced at the MEBA show that it will expand its business aircraft training programs for pilots and maintenance technicians in Dubai with the addition of a CAE 7000 Series Level D full-flight simulator for the Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft. The Challenger 604 simulator will be operational in the first half of 2012.
Takeoff and landing data from FAA shows a continued recovery in business jet traffic in October, with the 11th consecutive year-over-year positive month, up 5.7%, says a Morgan Stanley report. Sequentially, October was up 1.3%, it adds. Analyst Heidi Wood writes, “The U.S. business jet traffic recovery appears underway with both Cessna and Bombardier posting 11 consecutive months of positive year-over-year growth versus 12 for Gulfstream, reinforcing our thesis that a recovery in midsize jet demand would follow the high end.”
Gulfstream Aerospace has received FAA approval to retrofit Gulfstream IV, GIV-SP and GV cockpits with LED lamps. The LEDs perform better and are more reliable and cost-effective than the incandescent bulbs they replace, says Gulfstream. Because they have a much greater lifespan, the new LEDs reduce maintenance and material costs. Gulfstream also says the colors are richer and offer a purer color light. In addition, the LEDs operate approximately 80 deg. cooler.
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.
