The FAA is replacing the current FAA phraseology, “taxi into position and hold” with the ICAO “line up and wait” phraseology effective Sept. 30. Pilots need to be familiar with and be ready to read back and accept instructions from air traffic control using the new phraseology.
Bombardier Business Aircraft (Montreal) — Chiko Kundi has been appointed manager, international pre-owned aircraft sales. Kundi, who is based in Montreal, is responsible for the sale of pre-owned Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets in Asia, Australia, China, India and sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2007, he has been a sales account representative for Bombardier Business Aircraft, focusing on emerging markets.
ARGUS TRAQPak data indicates July business aircraft activity was up very slightly at +0.6% from the previous month. The fractional industry market segment had the strongest increase over June at +10.8%, with Part 135 charter showing modest growth of +2.5%. The Part 91 corporate sector showed declines in all aircraft categories. Comparing year over year results (July 2010 vs. July 2009), aircraft activity was down slightly, -0.9% overall.
Cessna delivered four aircraft in the People’s Republic of China in July — one Citation Mustang and three 208 Caravans. Two of the Caravans were financed by the leasing division of AVIC, China’s primary aviation organization. The Mustang, the first to be delivered in China, was delivered to Deng Bin, a repeat customer who also owns and flies a Citation CJ1+.
U.S. business jet flights increased for the seventh consecutive month in June, according to the FAA’s latest Business Jet Monthly report. The number of flights increased 12.5% when compared with June 2009, the FAA reports. Domestic travel improved 11.5%, while flights departing and entering the United States were up 18%.
New Beechcraft Baron and Bonanza aircraft will have Garmin Synthetic Vision Technology and other avionics upgrades as standard equipment beginning in August, Hawker Beechcraft announced.
Gulfstream Aerospace’s Gulfstream G550 and G500 have received type certificate validation from the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. The approvals allow operators to register the business jets in that country, the company announced August 18. The two aircraft join the Gulfstream GIV, GIV-SP, G400 and G300, which New Zealand approved for registration in 2003.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) believes that many pilots — if not most — are unaware of two important concepts. The first of them is that not all visual glideslope indicator systems (PAPI, VASI, etc.) are created equal; and secondly, that knowledge of an aircraft’s visual perspective, measured as eye-to-wheel-height (EWH), is necessary to assess whether a given visual glideslope indicator is appropriate for the aircraft being flown. In fact, even if a pilot knows the importance of EWH, the number may not be available in the AFM or other documentation.
L-3 Avionics Systems’ Trilogy ESI-2000 3 ATI electronic standby instrument with battery backup won FAA TSO authorization, the company announced Aug. 13. The all-solid-state ESI-2000 provides primary flight display information for a minimum of one hour and up to four hours of backup power, depending on temperature if primary power is lost. A 3.7-in. backlit screen makes the ESI-2000 clearly visible in daylight or dark cockpit conditions.
Jack DeCrane, who had managed merger and acquisition activities for the Aerospace and Defense Group of BF Goodrich, set up his own venture to acquire aircraft suppliers in 1989. That company, DeCrane Aerospace, evolved in to a major supplier of business aircraft cabin products with projected 2010 sales of $170 million. Along the way he acquired auxiliary fuel system maker and completion company, PATS Aircraft Systems. Jack DeCrane died in 1979. Now, coming full circle, DeCrane Holdings has agreed to sell off its interior fittings business to Goodrich.
Linear Air acquired a fifth Eclipse 500 jet, making the VLJ jet-taxi charter service the largest exclusive operator of Eclipse aircraft in the United States. Linear Air, headquartered in Concord, Mass., also announced it is expanding its metropolitan New York presence with two Eclipse 500s based at the Million Air terminal at Westchester County Airport, allowing Linear Air to reduce or eliminate positioning costs and offer lower-priced on-demand service for customers in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
In a move reflecting the challenging market confronting its membership of aircraft brokers and dealers, the National Aircraft Resale Association is shuttering its headquarters office at Reagan Washington National Airport, and parting with long time president Susan Sheets. “A lot of it is driven by cost,” NARA Chairman Steve Gade told BCA Aug. 17. He said NARA headquarters was officially transferring to Grapevine, Texas, which “is logical” since it is home to the organization’s meeting planner, Devri Surpless.
When one Fortune 500 company after another shut down their flight operations during what were probably the darkest days of the still ongoing economic downturn, the spotlight was on their fixed-wing flagships. But helicopter operations suffered as well, especially those used for executive transport — and most particularly the larger helicopters, which we’ll categorize here as those with gross takeoff weights of 10,000 lb or greater.
Hawker Beechcraft announced that its piston-twin Beechcraft Baron has become the only aircraft in its class to be approved for operations at London City Airport. Due to the airport’s city location and extremely steep (5.5 deg.) approach requirements, aircraft must demonstrate the necessary performance capabilities, including a 7.5-deg. approach, and receive approval from EASA and London City Airport to utilize the airport.
The AOPA and NBAA will help their members make the most of their light general aviation aircraft as business tools this fall at each group’s annual convention. Speaking on “AOPA Live” at EAA AirVenture, AOPA President and CEO Craig L. Fuller and NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen unveiled the six forums that will be presented as the Light Business Airplane Conference at both the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, Oct. 19 to 21 in Atlanta, and the AOPA Aviation Summit, Nov. 11 to 13 in Long Beach, Calif.
Everett, Wash.-based AeroMech Inc. is helping Mid-Continent Instruments of Wichita obtain an STC for the installation of Mid-Continent’s MD835 lithium ion battery in a variety of general aviation aircraft, including the Beech King Air 200 and 300 and several Citation models. AeroMech, which provides engineering consulting services, is overseeing the initial battery installation in a King Air 200.
A new program is using the 66-spacecraft Iridium constellation to provide continuous, global monitoring of space weather. The Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (Ampere),is a collaboration between the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Iridium and Boeing.
Montreal-based aviation services firm Zenith Jet is predicting that Cessna will reinitiate the Columbus program with an entry-into-service date of 2016. In its recently released 10-year forecast, Zenith believes Cessna will account for 35% of all business jet deliveries, giving it the largest share of business jet unit volume. Embraer will move into the “Number 2 spot” in terms of unit deliveries, capturing 18 percent of the market share, Zenith forecasts.
The FAA has granted an STC for Garmin’s G1000 integrated flight deck in the Cessna CitationJet (Model 525, serial numbers 0001-0359). The RVSM-compliant system will save approximately 100 lb. of weight, and will give pilots the advantages of flying WAAS approaches with Garmin’s GFC 700 autopilot, electronic charts, data link weather and optional Synthetic Vision Technology. (See related story on page 38.)
Duncan Aviation recently completed an STC for the installation of Aircell’s high-speed Internet router with Wi-Fi capability in the Challenger 300. The system — which consists of an aircraft-certified high-speed data unit, wireless router and two belly mounted antennas — enables passengers to use their laptops, Blackberrys, iPhones and other Wi-Fi devices at connection speeds of 1 to 3 Mbps. This was the second Aircell STC for Duncan Aviation in the second quarter.
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd delivered the 1000th PC-12 at a special ceremony at its U.S. subsidiary Pilatus Business Aircraft, Ltd., in Broomfield, Colo., the company announced July 15. The milestone aircraft was handed over to its new owner, David Fountain of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who is now a three-time PC-12 owner. He purchased all three aircraft from the V. Kelner Pilatus Center, in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Meridian Air Charter, the Teterboro, N.J.-based private aviation services company, announced the addition of a Cessna Citation Mustang to its fleet of charter aircraft. Privately owned and operated Meridian has been based at Teterboro for over 60 years.
The third and final Gulfstream G250 test aircraft has joined the flight-test program. Gulfstream designed and built the super-midsize business jet in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in Tel Aviv, Israel. The third aircraft completed its first flight on June 28, taking off from Ben Gurion Airport at 10:30 a.m. local time. During the two-hour, 56-minute flight, the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 250 knots and an altitude of 20,000 feet.
For decades, FAR Part 135 charter operators have used their aviation expertise to manage aircraft for companies that own jets for their own use. The now-common practice of placing these managed corporate aircraft on a charter company's operations specifications for charter by third parties evolved from that initial management service.
