The midday Underground ride out to Heathrow International Airport from central London takes slightly less than an hour. One day last July, as I sat sweating with other commuters packed into an un-air-conditioned train, I contemplated the meeting I was traveling to attend.
Private aviation company and Embraer Phenom jet operator, Executive AirShare of Kansas City, Mo., launched an enhanced website, “www.execairshare.com” that includes news and information about its regional fractional aircraft ownership programs and a trip cost estimator, enabling aviators to estimate round-trip costs from Executive’s regional bases to any city in North America.
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.
Sandel’s HeliTAWS has won TSO approval from the FAA. The helicopter terrain safety system incorporates Sandel Avionics’ proprietary TrueAlert technology, which is designed to eliminate nuisance alerts, a significant problem with existing terrain-warning products that limits their usefulness in helicopter operations. With TrueAlert, Sandel claims that pilots can safely take off, cruise, hover and land at off-airport locations without triggering nuisance alerts, while still receiving the benefits of Class-A terrain warnings during the entire flight.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China certified the Beechcraft Baron G58 and Beechcraft Bonanza G36 piston-engine aircraft on June 21. The first Bonanza in the region, scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of this year, will be based in Shandong Province in Northern China.
Learjet 35/36 aircraft can fly farther and faster than some of the latest light jets. Introduced in mid-1974, the Model 35 can fly six passengers 2,000 nm while cruising at 430 KTAS and land with NBAA IFR reserves. The Model 36, having 1,200 lb more fuselage fuel, but 3 ft. less cabin length, can fly 2,450 nm.
The FAA will pay for a new, seismic-resistant, 228-ft., control tower at San Francisco International. San Francisco gets to spend up to $80 million for construction and will manage the project under FAA oversight. The new tower design is a collaboration between local controllers the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and SFO airport officials and incorporates controller-friendly features. In addition to its increased height, controller consoles will be arranged to allow controllers to see a panoramic 270-deg.
Signature Flight Support has expanded handling services throughout Germany. Through agreements with FBOs and airport authorities at 12 airports across Germany, Signature’s Munich location can schedule flight support services, arrange credit and offer a single invoice for customers’ flights in the country. Signature plans to increase the number of agreements in the coming months.
Viking Air of Victoria, BC, Canada, has appointed Indaer International as its sales representative for the new production Series 400 Twin Otter and legacy Twin Otter aircraft in Colombia. Indaer has offices in Bogota and Medellin, as well as an extensive knowledge of the Twin Otter, according to Viking. Legacy versions of the aircraft have been in continuous service with airlines and other operators in Colombia since 1975.
Business jet manufacturers are stabilizing, but backlogs continue to evaporate at alarming rates. Gulfstream’s second quarter sales were up and profit margins were the highest in two years. But backlog declined another $730 million, following a $768 million decline in the first quarter. JPMorgan analyst Joseph B.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. has appointed Aviasur its exclusive Chilean authorized distributor for all Hawker and Beechcraft aircraft models, the company announced at LABACE. Aviasur, based in Santiago, took delivery of the first Beechcraft King Air 350i in South America earlier this year. Aviasur is in the process of fulfilling the requirements for becoming an authorized service center. for the full HBC product line.
July 28 — At 1342 MST, a Eurocopter AS350B3 (N509AM) rapidly descended and collided with terrain in an urban area of Tucson, Ariz. The helicopter was operated by Air Methods Corp., as LifeNet 12, on a repositioning flight. It was VFR and the crew had filed a company flight plan. The flight originated at Marana Regional Airport, Tucson, at 1332. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter flying steadily in a southeast direction when it started to descend rapidly and enter a left turn.
Dassault Falcon has received certification from EASA to equip its flagship 7X business jet with its proprietary Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS). FAA certification is expected in as you read this. The Falcon 7X is the first business jet certified with the Rockwell Collins Model 5860 LCD high resolution HGS, now combined with the SureSight I-series Enhanced Vision System Infrared sensor from CMC Electronics.
Rod Hightower, a longtime EAA member and a Stearman owner, becomes the association’s new president on Sept. 7. Tom Poberezny, chairman and current president, made the announcement at July’s EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. Hightower is only the third president in EAA’s history and the first outside the Poberezny family. The EAA retained international executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry to assist in the search. “Rod’s selection completes a process that I began in 2005,” said Poberezny, who has served as EAA president since 1989.
The captain in the Northwest accident cited in “Fatal Distractions” (July 2010, page 56) was well respected at his airline, so even pros can make mistakes. There also was a dead-heading pilot jump-seating on the flight deck, and the NTSB cited his presence as a contributory distraction to the flight crew. The pilots missed setting the flaps to the required takeoff setting, which caused the aircraft to stall.
Three aviation veterans have joined together to form Holstein Aviation, a new Indianapolis-based firm that is providing a range of business aviation consulting services, including aircraft use, acquisition, asset disposal, short-term leasing, supplemental lift, personnel recruitment and outplacement support for displaced flight crews and maintenance technicians.
Aviation Partners’ Falcon 50, fitted with “spiroid” wingtip devices, made a grand public debut at the EAA AirVenture. The unique aircraft’s arrival in Oshkosh, Wis., on July 25 was only its second flight since the proof-of-concept (POC) circular tips were installed. Flight tests on the API Falcon 50 are being sponsored by NASA to determine what the potential fuel savings of the spiroids might be compared to other wing modifications, such as API’s own blended winglets. Those winglets already yield as much as a 5% to 5.5% reduction in drag.
The general aviation manufacturing segment continues to limp along toward a tepid recovery, according to GAMA’s most-recent shipment report, which notes that deliveries were down by about 6% in the second quarter and almost 10% in the first half. Billings actually increased by $20 million to $9.4 billion in the first half, but general aviation deliveries fell below 1,000 in the first half of the year with 937 shipments. Business jet deliveries were down 14.3% to 355, and turboprop shipments dropped 17.8% to 157.
Cessna is working with Fargo, N.D.-based Spectrum Aeromed to develop a medical transport version of the Citation Mustang. Spectrum Aeromed is seeking an STC for a medical interior and patient loading system that the company designed for the Mustang. Spectrum based the medical configuration on its 2200 series advanced life support system and includes storage provisions and a customized manual loading system. Cessna has developed a pre-installation modification that includes an enhanced power system and new aft-facing folding seat to accommodate patient loading.
Bombardier received firm orders for four Global Express XRS jets from undisclosed customers based in Russia. The total value of the orders is approximately US$213 million, based on the 2010 list price for typically equipped aircraft. Bombardier also announced at Farnborough that VistaJet of Switzerland has placed a firm order for four Global Express XRS aircraft and two Challenger 605 jets. The total value of the order is approximately US$277 million, based on the 2010 list price for typically equipped aircraft.
Embraer CAE Training Services’ first Phenom 300 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) has been qualified by the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the FAA and Europe’s EASA. The simulator is now operational at CAE’s SimuFlite Training Center in Dallas.
Aircell received a contract in August to equip more than 250 NetJets midsize and large-cabin business aircraft with Aircell high-speed Internet service. Aircell has rebranded is business aviation services as Gogo Biz Inflight Internet. The NetJets contract is the largest order that Aircell has received for the service.
New York charter broker Emerald Jet Charter has added helicopter service to its travel portfolio, arranging trips from the three Manhattan heliports. Adding helicopter services made sense purely based on the demand from clients, says Emerald President Tracy Nuzzo. “We are based in Manhattan, which is one part of the country that benefits tremendously from helicopter service, and with summer upon us, our local clients are traveling much more on private helicopters than any type of aircraft available,” she explains.
