Ever wish you had a single, handy bound atlas you could use for quick navigation reference? Add TRI-NAV charts to your operations desk library and you can reach out to grab one of three atlases that cover the north, south and western United States in a format that adds to IFR charts the information normally found only on Sectionals, such as tower and local radio frequencies. You can update the information every 28 days via the Internet.
Congratulations on your article “Operating in Mexico” (August 2010, page 30). In my opinion it is an excellent summary of the present situation and clarifies many concepts about flying to our country.In particular, as director of planning of Cabo San Lucas Airport (MMSL) and on behalf of Mr. Romo, our CEO and owner, I thank you for the inclusion of our facility and the concepts of it in your report. By the way, the altitude at MMSL is 690 ft. not 459. Thank you very much.
Duncan Aviation’s Authorized Service Center agreement with Bombardier Aerospace was officially extended in September to include Duncan Aviation’s newest maintenance facility in Provo, Utah. Duncan Aviation-Provo joins Duncan’s full-service facilities in Lincoln, Neb., and Battle Creek, Mich., as a Bombardier Authorized Service Center. The Provo facility opened Aug. 1 and also is in the process of obtaining authorizations for the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 and the Legacy executive jets.
The FAA is proposing a $455,175 civil penalty against Corporate Air of Billings, Mont., for allegedly operating a Beech 1900C airliner in Part 135 operations when it was not in compliance with FAA regulations. The FAA alleges Corporate Air failed to maintain the aircraft under the company’s general maintenance manual, which includes the Pratt & Whitney Canada maintenance manual for the aircraft’s turboprop engines.
The FAA proposed broad new rules for helicopter operators Oct. 7, which, if finalized, would require stricter flight rules and procedures, improved communications and training, and additional onboard safety equipment. Under the proposed rules, air ambulance operators would use the latest onboard technology and equipment to avoid terrain and obstacles. The proposal also contains provisions that, if finalized, would require commercial and FAR Part 91 operators to develop procedures for flying in challenging weather, at night and when landing in remote locations.
It would be an understatement to say 2010 has been a bad year for business aviation. A grim economic outlook in January got worse as the year progressed. In recent weeks, Cessna Aircraft — which had aircraft order backlogs stretching four years into the future in 2008 — has trimmed production schedules again and announced yet another round of layoffs that will cost 700 more workers their jobs. When the latest cuts are implemented, Cessna’s employment will have fallen from 16,500 in late 2008 to approximately 7,400.
Tailwind Technologies, the parent company of Hartzell Propeller Inc., has purchased assets from Kelly Aerospace Energy Systems LLC, of Montgomery, Ala. Price of the transaction was not disclosed. The new Tailwind-owned company is named Hartzell Engine Technologies LLC, and will be led by Mike Disbrow, who currently serves as senior vice president of sales, marketing and customer support at Hartzell Propeller in Piqua, Ohio.
Gulfstream’s large-cabin G450 business jet recently established a city-pair speed record between Savannah, Ga., and São Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft, flying to LBACE, completed the 3,922-nm flight in less than 9 hr. The G450 departed Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at 8:07 a.m. local time with six passengers, one flight attendant and international captains Eric Parker and Jaime Bahamon on board. The aircraft landed at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo 8 hr. and 50 min.
SmartView, Honeywell’s trade name for its synthetic vision system, is getting a significant enhancement. Honeywell and Gulfstream won a $1.2 million contract from NASA in early October for an 11-month flight test program to evaluate head-down SmartView with an enhanced vision overlay. Officials from the two firms believe that the enhanced display has the potential to allow pilots to fly instrument approaches down to lower weather minimums than they can with unaided vision.
The McGraw-Hill Companies tapped Gregory Hamilton, a 28-year company veteran to take the helm of Aviation Week as president. Hamilton succeeds Tom Henricks who led the group since April 2006. Hamilton will be in charge of a variety of Internet sites and services, conferences and publications, including Aviation Week & Space Technology, BCA and The Weekly of Business Aviation. Hamilton has held a number of positions during his tenure with Aviation Week.
Having persistent problems getting timely log-ins of crew duty and rest time? You’re not alone, and Avianis Systems has now added some new tools to its Clarity Control Center to help solve the problem. Its Flight Crew Portal provides a pilot-pleasing format for use anywhere and anytime there’s online access so crews are encouraged to keep their time logs current. A companion Crew Dashboard provides schedulers, dispatchers and managers with an easy-to-read graphic overview of flight time, block time, duty time and rest.
Air Ambulance Worldwide announced has started a medevac and air ambulance service operating Piaggio Aero P.180 Avanti aircraft in an air ambulance configuration. The first U.S. medevac flight for a P.180 in the U.S. was from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to Lancaster, Penn. on August 27. The West Palm Beach, Fla. selected P.180 after an evaluation process that took into consideration aircraft performance and its cost effectiveness in the medevac role.
Business jet marketers in the United States might envy their counterparts in Australia in the recessionary era of low sales. “Business aviation has gained momentum in the last three years, with development in all facets of it, especially the big iron,” Mike Keenan told BCA. Kennan is sales manager at Cessna dealer Aeromil Pacific at Bankstown Airport in a suburb of Sidney. A veteran aircraft salesman, he also serves as chairman of the Australian Business Aircraft Association.
European Maintenance Service AB has opened the first Cessna-authorized Citation Service Center in Scandinavia. Located at Gothenburg Säve Airport in Sweden, the 3,000-sq.-meter Nordic Citation Service Center will serve customers throughout Scandinavia. The center will provide maintenance for 500, 525, 550, 560, 560XL and 680 series Citation business jets and can house up to eight aircraft at a time.
Bell 407 direct operating costs have been lowered as a result of the manufacturer removing 14 life-limited parts from the rotorcraft’s maintenance manual. The removal of these items, plus an adjustment to the on-condition section, will result in a reduction of more than 12% per flight hour to the published direct maintenance cost estimate, according to Bell.
Aug. 16 — At about 0645 MDT, a Bellanca 7GCBC (N5034K) crashed approximately 10 nm south of Douglas, Wy. The commercial pilot and his passenger received serious injuries, and the airplane, which was owned and operated by Laird Flying Service, was substantially damaged. The local FAR Part 135 aerial wildlife spotting flight departed Douglas about 10 min. prior to the accident. It was VFR and no flight plan was filed. According to the FAA inspector who interviewed the passenger, the pilot was maneuvering about 300 ft.
Honeywell’s annual Business Aviation Outlook issued Oct. 17 forecasts delivery of approximately 11,000 new business jets 2010 through 2020, generating estimated industry sales in excess of $225 billion. This represents approximately a 10% increase in total expected industry sales value versus the prior ten-year horizon forecasted in Honeywell’s Business Aviation Outlook in 2009.
Hawker Beechcraft and Machinists union negotiators reached a tentative deal, Oct. 13, on a seven-year contract that calls for a 10% reduction in base pay and increased health care contributions from workers, but keeps two-thirds of the union jobs in Wichita, Kan. The union recommended its members accept the agreement, saying, “These have been extraordinary negotiations, during extraordinarily bad times. This community has suffered from layoffs and job losses. With plant closures and threats of relocation, we kept one goal in mind: It’s about having a job.
JetFlite International has been providing private air service for 20 years from its Farmingdale, N.Y., operation at Republic Airport and now adds a West Coast facility with Long Beach Air Center, which will operate as a JetFlite FBO.
Eclipse Aerospace Inc. (EAI) has developed a new windshield application and is completing engineering requirements for an existing Airworthiness Directive (AD) that would enable the Eclipse 500 very light jet to return to operations at 41,000 ft. The wind¬shield application and AD requirements were among the last of the original upgrades the company had promised when it acquired the assets of the now-defunct Eclipse Aviation. Those upgrades had been left undone by the former company.
The Reuben H. Fleet Foundation Fund of the San Diego Foundation has donated $50,000 to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. “This is a wonderful gift from a fund established by an aviation pioneer,” said NAHF board member Betty Darst. The grant will be used for exhibit development and revitalization, as well as technology and website upgrades. Fleet, who was enshrined in the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975, organized the first airmail service in May 1918 from Washington, D.C., to New York City and formed Consolidated Aircraft Corp. in 1921. The Reuben H.
There are people way behind the eight ball . . . in panic mode. There is a whole list of issues, and operators are fed up. They say, ‘Here’s another regulation. It takes time. It takes money. Why do I need it? I haven’t had an accident.’” The speaker is one of the many who deal with the safety management system (SMS) issue on a daily basis. And no operator wants to go on record expressing anything negative on the subject. “It sounds as if we’re against safety,” as one put it.
Pan Am International Flight Academy acquired the training and simulator assets of Miami-based Aeroservice Aviation Center, the company announced Sept. 15. Aeroservice’s simulators will be integrated into Pan Am’s system and positioned where they most effectively serve customers. Aeroservice’s Miami training center will become Pan Am’s seventh training facility and will operate under Pan Am’s FAR Part 142 certificate. Pan Am, with the exception of a Cessna Caravan simulator in Memphis, focuses on heavy-iron training.
DART Helicopter Services (DHS), a distributor of certified helicopter accessories, and Hawker Pacific Aerospace have signed an agreement that will give DHS the capability to offer its complete inventory to operators in Hawker Pacific’s markets (Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Dubai), supplementing its operations in North and South America, Europe, Japan, China and Singapore. DART Helicopter Services www.darths.com Hawker Pacific Aerospace www.hawker.com
