More than 2,000 Beech King Air 200 twin turboprops currently are in service and Raisbeck Engineering’s modifications are aboard almost two-thirds of the aircraft in the active fleet, according to James Raisbeck, the firm’s founder and chairman. These systems enable the King Air 200 to fly higher, faster and farther, according to flight test data supplied by Raisbeck and confirmed by BCA in 1985 and 1995 studies.
New Russian airspace rules provide for uncontrolled flight. Regulations dividing Russian Federation airspace into three classes based on altitude have been placed in effect to comply with ICAO standards and practices. Class A airspace extends upward from 8,100 meters (26,575 ft.). All commercial, business and government aviation operations in that airspace will be under IFR and under ATC control along designated routes.
An assembly facility for the Extra 500 single-engine turboprop should be operating in Montrose, Colo., as we go to press. Extra Aircraft owner Ken Keith said the unfavorable euro versus dollar exchange rate was a prime motivator in opening a U.S. facility. To date, all Extra aircraft have been manufactured at the company’s factory outside Dusseldorf, Germany.
Cessna announced Nov. 11, at the AOPA Aviation Summit 2010, that production of the Model 162 Skycatcher continues to increase, with the 50th aircraft on its way that week to the U.S. reassembly facility at Yingling Aviation in Wichita, and more expected to be shipped by the end of the year. Cessna said it is on target to deliver 30 Skycatchers by year-end and more than 150 in 2011.
Líder Taxi Aéreo S.A. Air Brasil ordered a Sikorsky S-92 at NBAA. Líder will operate the aircraft in support of offshore oil operations. This order will bring its S-92 fleet to four aircraft.
StandardAero is flight testing its Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A engine upgrade for the Cessna Caravan 208. The first flight occurred on Sept. 22 at Wipaire Inc. in St. Paul, Minn. Supplemental type certification of the Caravan 208A and 208B engine packages is expected in the first quarter and second quarter of 2011, respectively.
“Crosswind Troubles” (Cause & Circumstance, November 2010, page 56) was superb. This is the first time I’ve seen this problem addressed and you did so admirably. While going through and completing simulator training for the CE-650 Citation III and CE-750 Citation X, I was nonplussed by the lack of any crosswind training. It seemed that the sims just weren’t equipped for it. How, I wondered, can we be considered really “safe” in these aircraft when we don’t even have basic crosswind experience in the sim?
The AvioNG Integrated Flight Management System is now available for all Eclipse twin jets. Eclipse Aerospace in Albuquerque, N.M. provides engineering, service and support for the fleet of 260 Eclipse jets. AvioNG glass-panel cockpits supplied by IS&S are installed in over 160 Eclipse Jet aircraft.
Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc. (API) has introduced a new Hawker 800 blended winglet that incorporates the company’s scimitar-tip technology. The scimitar tip is a new aerodynamic shape that provides an additional 0.5% of drag reduction in long-range cruise. In addition, API says the scimitar provides “a striking new aesthetic.”
To a business traveler, few objects are as beautiful as the company jet. Travelers boarding high-end business aircraft may take a few fleeting seconds to regard its exquisite exterior, but they will spend long hours in the cabin. And that’s why the interiors of these airplanes are getting deserved extra attention of late.
A November FAA exemption allows volunteer pilots for three charities to receive reimbursement for fuel used in the transport of patients, wounded warriors, and veterans. Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic, Airlift Hope and Mercy Medical Airlift are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that utilize volunteer pilots to fly patients to distant, specialized medical facilities for treatment. Under the FAA exemption given to these three volunteer pilot organizations (VPOs), only individuals flying missions under their charge are able to accept reimbursement for fuel costs.
The roomy expanse of the FAA’s new Oakland, Calif., Air Route Traffic Control Center is a boon to controllers. Commissioned in October, the fallout-proof building is the first of a new series.
Jet Aviation and Landmark Aviation have made donations to Able Flight Inc., a national non-profit organization that provides flight training scholarships to people with disabilities. The awards, which will fund scholarships for 2011, were presented to Charles Stites, executive director of Able Flight, Oct. 20 at NBAA.
All the accidents mentioned in “When the Very Best Fall” involved airplanes that are safe to stall and spin in the hands of a pilot properly trained for such machines. Therein lies the problem. You can lecture all day and practice stalls and spins in a T-37, but if I put you in a flat spin in a Pitts or Sukhoi without proper understanding of what that turning propeller is doing to the airplane, you will spin all the way to the ground no matter what you do to the flight controls.
I was sitting at a well-appointed dining table, gazing out upon Times Square, the Empire State Building, lower Manhattan and the harbor beyond from my perch 50 stories above it all and wondering about Frank Perdue and his chicken feet.
Political pundits can find an infinite number of ways to slice and dice election results to pinpoint key voting blocs that led to election or rejection of a particular candidate. But those pundits would be hard-pressed to find a more successful group of candidates than those who share membership in the Senate and House General Aviation Caucuses.
Steve Hansen, National Air Traffic Controllers Association Safety Committee chairman and veteran Albuquerque Center air traffic controller, won the Air Traffic Control Association’s (ATCA) Air Traffic Control Specialist of the Year award. The award, presented at ATCA’s 55th Annual Conference and Exposition in National Harbor, Md., is presented to an individual civilian air traffic control specialist who has performed in an exemplary or extraordinary manner in support of ATC during the previous year.
This past April, the FAA began to consider special issuance of medical certificates to pilots with mild-to-moderate depression who have been treated for at least 12 months on one of four antidepressant medications: fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Lexapro).
Avro Business Jets (ABJ) has launched the third of five planned business aircraft versions of the Avro RJ/BAe 146 regional jet. ABJ is targeting the VIP, corporate and corporate shuttle markets, but company vice president Stewart Cordner points out that the donor RJ series airframes — with their voluminous cabin area, near-short takeoff and landing performance and ability to operate from unimproved runways — offer a range of possibilities.
Nextant Aerospace of Richmond Heights, Ohio, has secured its first fleet order for the 400XT, a 40-aircraft, $150 million purchase by Cleveland-based fractional provider Flight Options. The upgraded Beechjet 400A/XP airplanes, which will be delivered over the next five years, include Nextant’s power-by-the-hour engine and tip-to-tail aircraft maintenance warranty. Eight of the aircraft are to be delivered to Flight Options in 2011 following FAA certification of the upgraded Beechjet.
New approaches to lending have created an interesting financing dichotomy that could potentially affect every used business jet buyer, says general aviation analyst Brian Foley. During a recent interview with BCA sister publication The Weekly of Business Aviation, Foley said, “On the one hand, with 2009’s credit crisis now abated, banks are back in the game and ready to lend — or so they say. On the other hand, pre-owned aircraft brokers complain their client’s loans are often not approved. Why?”
Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACFT), Alexandria, Va., announced that William F. Haberstock, president and CEO of Million Air Aviation, was elected vice chairman for 2011. John Grillo, president of Executive Fliteways, was selected as the new treasurer. Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP), Brisbane, Calif., has selected William Mermelstein as the company’s new vice president of sales and marketing for compliance and safety solutions.
Jet Support Services introduced two new engine programs and a new coverage enhancement to meet the growing maintenance and service requirements of its clients. The Platinum Engine Maintenance Program is designed specifically for owners and operators of large-cabin aircraft. The new program covers Rolls-Royce BR710, Tay 611-8, 611-8C and AE3007A1E engines, as well as GE-CF34-1A, 3A, 3A1, 3A2, 3B and 10E7 engines.
Who at BCA determined its readers would be interested in a story on animal cruelty simply because the abuser holds a pilot license (“A Different Kind of Ag-Cat,” October 2010, page 100)? As a reader of BCA since its inception, I was shocked that you would publish such drivel. I’ll be even more shocked if this gets published.
