Hawke Capital Partners, a rotorcraft-focused private equity investor, announced in September that it has recapitalized its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Uniflight, LLC, at Grand Prairie Municipal Airport in Texas, while simultaneously completing the acquisition of the assets of Aviation Services Unlimited, based at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y. As a result, Uniflight’s maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities have expanded to three locations: Grand Prairie; Reading, Pa.; and Rome, N.Y.
In reading “Fully Baked,” I agree, as usual, with your historical perspective on the TSA, the Large Aircraft Security Program and the knee-jerk government reaction to all things aviation. But here’s a question I would like you to consider: Doesn’t the yearlong break from the rhetoric and nonsense regarding corporate aviation from the TSA constitute sufficient proof that nothing needs to be changed?
John Didier, president of Sacramento Aviation, which specializes in handling Cessna Citations and Beechcraft King Airs, would like to believe that the market for previously owned business airplanes is improving, albeit slowly. The number of phone inquiries his company is receiving has increased, and he sees more “serious people” in the market for a used business aircraft.
FAA is proposing a sweeping overhaul to airline pilot fatigue regulations that would ensure that pilots get 9 hr. of rest — not including commuting time — between duty periods and would restrict duty to 9 hr. to 13 hr. at a stretch. The FAA is required to show that stricter limits would save enough lives to justify the additional cost to airlines, which could reach into the billions of dollars. “We’re always very concerned about added costs without a demonstrable safety benefit,” said an Air Transport Association official.
Jeppesen and the Russian Ministry of Transportation have contracted for Jeppesen to access Russian domestic airport data. Jeppesen previously had access to Russian airway system data. With access to both airway and airport data, Jeppesen will be able to provide customers with a complete Russian flight information package, which includes domestic and international NavData services, JetPlan flight planning, OpsData aircraft performance analysis, and paper and digital charting.
I enjoyed “Harder Than It Looks” (September 2010, page 40). I certainly realize corporate pilots work very hard to make it all look easy. However, as someone who flew across the Atlantic many times back in the 1970s in single-engine aircraft with no handlers, no LR NAV and no help beyond who was looking in the mirror, I have to think what you describe is fairly easy. We depended upon the excellent wind and weather forecasts from the MET office at CYQX for our very lives and they never failed me.
Back in the stone age of aviation maintenance, it was not uncommon to have a huge inventory of spare parts in the hangar. OEMs were not as efficient at stocking parts and turnaround times were often long and unpredictable. The best part about having of all those parts was the ability to swap them out to troubleshoot maintenance problems. It was called the shotgun approach — fire wildly and hope you hit the right target. The days of keeping so many parts on the shelf are long gone.
Airports in all 50 U.S. states have benefited from $1 billion in federal stimulus money, but state officials are worried that Congress will not pass a true funding bill for the FAA and its infrastructure support programs this year.
Richard Aarons’ September Cause & Circumstance (“A Matter of Perspective,” page 56) has got to be the most politically correct piece of aviation journalism I have ever read. I think it should have been titled “TSB Accident Report Summary of a Global 5000.”
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee says he doesn’t expect a long-term FAA reauthorization bill to pass this year, effectively killing an effort to spur unionization of some FedEx workers, reports ATA SmartBrief. The FedEx provision is championed by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), who would lose his chairmanship of the House Transportation Committee if the GOP recaptures the chamber in November elections.
An EADS’s all-electric aircraft flew for the first time from Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Sept. 2. The composite-structure, four-motor, aerobatic Cri-Cri — jointly developed by EADS Innovation Works, Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Association — reportedly performed well during the 7-min. initial flight. The airframe design is directly descended from a tiny homebuilt beloved for decades in France.
Duncan Aviation has earned an STC for the installation of a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)/Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) in the Bombardier Challenger 601-3A. This solution consists of a software upgrade to the Honeywell NZ-2000 flight management system and the installation of GPS WAAS/LPV receivers. The enhancement provides ILS-like guidance down to near CAT I ILS minimums (as low as 200 ft. with 0.5-mi. visibility).
King Schools has announced its 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes. The package of prizes that will go to the winner includes an Alaskan flying vacation for two, a seaplane rating and a bush flying course. The winner also will receive a cutting-edge technology Redbird TD simulator, plus a King Get-It-All Kit of their choice. The sweepstakes is open for entries until March 14, 2011. The winner will be announced at the Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Lakeland, Fla. Official rules can be found on the King Schools website, www.kingschools.com/sweepstakes
It was 1800 hours (Central European Time), late November 1990. The U.S. Air Force C-5 had been cleared to land on Rhein-Main’s (Frankfurt) 13,000-ft. Runway 25L. At this, the four-month mark of Desert Shield, it had been another day of bone-crushing fatigue.
I laughed when I read LeMarr Stanford’s Flight Log in the June issue (“X Marks the Spot,” page 68). It reminded me of a story that circulated 25 or so years ago, and true or not it is still emblematic of bush flying in the far north of Canada and Alaska. The story went like this: A rookie recruit at a commercial bush flying operation was particularly anxious to please the owner and thought that taking all the “dog” flights that nobody else wanted could be his ticket to bigger and better things.
Embraer named the Vnukovo-3 Group the authorized sales representative for its full line of executive jets in Russia. The deal with the Russian company was announced during the opening of the fifth Russian JetExpo International Business Aviation Exhibition in Moscow, September 15-17. Vnukovo-3 operates a full-service business aviation terminal in Moscow that provides service for over 90% of business aircraft flights in the city.
Textron’s Bell Helicopter announced its Bell 429 won certification of a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) permitting a 9-deg. glidepath on LPV approaches at a minimum velocity for instrument procedures (Vmini) of 45 kt. , which allows point-in-space approaches to as low as 250 ft. the company says.
NATA reacted strongly to language contained in the proposed rule regarding the FAA’s plan for future FAR Part 135 rulemaking, noting, “In its NPRM, the FAA states that ‘Part 135 operations are very similar to those conducted under Part 121 . . .
Vector Aerospace Corporation has opened a new service center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The facility will specialize in field service and engine repairs on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A and PW100 engine series. The facility will also distribute parts for PT6A and JT15D engines in Western Canada.
Regarding “Weighty Subject” (Reader’s Feedback, July 2010, page 12), I’m afraid my friend Steve Zeller is way off on this one. I don’t know the average molecular weight of Jet-A and I don’t have time to look it up right now. So let’s take avgas as an example. All hydrocarbon fuels are a witch’s brew of a range of molecular weights centered around an average. In the case of avgas or mogas, octane C8H18 is a fair approximation. Taking the atomic weights C=12, O=16, H=1 then: C*8*12 + H*18*1 = 114 MW (molecular weight) of octane.
The first swing-tail cargo plane, Canadair’s CL-44 turboprop, is rolled out in Montreal. It may cut cargo rates 50% to 60% after going into service with Flying Tigers, Slick and Seaboard & Western next year.
“There should be some optimism in our industry,” declared Carl Janssens, editor of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, in the third-quarter edition of his Marketline newsletter. “Buyers and sellers are finally coming to terms with what the market will bear for a given aircraft,” explained Janssens. “And with that, the pre-owned aircraft market is seeing more completed deals. The gridlock of available inventory is starting to show some movement,” he said.
Great update on Mexico ops (“Operating in Mexico,” August 2010, page 30). We operate Learjet 45XRs out of Vancouver International Airport (CYVR) and fly to Los Cabos International Airport (MMSD) and other Mexican destinations multiple times during the fall, winter and spring. We are a charter operator with a Mexican permit.
The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) will conduct its third regional forum, “One Europe: A Roadmap for Aligning East and West,” Jan. 20-21, 2011, at the Hilton Vienna in Austria. The forum will address issues including aircraft financing challenges, achieving industry standards for insurance benefits, and easing access for Eastern Europe-based operators into Western Europe and vice versa. A full schedule of speakers and discussion points will be released in the coming weeks. The Vienna forum in is open to EBAA members as well as non-members.
In reading “Harder Than It Looks,” I wondered: You wouldn’t be a USAF Academy grad by any chance, would you? The “Gear up and go Falcons” caption didn’t go unnoticed. Beat Navy! Author’s note: I hoped it wouldn’t — USAFA class of 1966.
