The FAA announced June 29 that Metron Aviation, Inc., of Dulles, Va., and Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., of McLean, Va., received contracts, to perform engineering work supporting the transition to NextGen. The 10-year $1.15-billion contract awarded to Metron Aviation is one of the largest ever awarded by the FAA to a small business. The two contracts are the last of six awarded under an umbrella portfolio termed System Engineering 2020 (SE-2020).
Chris Holliday (Aviation Safety Inspector, FSDO 23Rochester N.Y. )
I’m a Aviation Safety Inspector here at the Rochester, N.Y. FSDO and the helicopter POI. We recently held a helicopter safety seminar and I made a presentation on three recent helicopter accidents including the Maryland State Police accident. After reading your article (“A Medevac Ends In Disaster” May, page 79), I realize I was woefully short on details. Your article was excellent in both detail and conclusions. Thanks for your contribution to aviation safety and it is an excellent review of this accident.
Canadian certification of the Honeywell Primus Apex integrated avionics system in the reborn Twin Otter has been signed. This will be the second OEM forward fit installation of the system. Built by Viking Air, headquartered at Victoria, B.C., International Airport, the newly manufactured Twin Otter Series 400 features more than 400 modifications to the original DHC-6, the foremost being the Apex flight deck and installation of twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprops.
A bill in that would extend bonus depreciation for businesses that purchase general aviation aircraft in 2010 was introduced in June by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “Bonus depreciation is a powerful incentive to purchase a GA aircraft and is proven to increase sales during difficult economic conditions,” said Pete Bunce, GAMA’s president and CEO. Bonus depreciation allows a business to deduct an additional 50 percent of the depreciable value in the first year instead of spreading it out over five years.
Gulfstream Aerospace has earned FAA approval to provide Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) functionality for the Gulfstream G150. The WAAS-capable receiver is an option on new G150s and can be retrofitted on all in-service G150 aircraft. WAAS, which provides localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV), enables pilots to fly into approved airports using an ILS-like glideslope. This capability yields a number of benefits, including enhanced safety, increased flight-planning options and improved airport access.
Airport operators in the Pacific Northwest are teaming up with Boeing and Washington State University on a six-month study to explore ways of developing a regional biofuels industry that will produce jet fuel from biomass. Alaska Airlines, Oregon’s Portland International Airport and Washington state’s Seattle-Tacoma International and Spokane International will participate in the study, according to the Air Transport Associations’ e-mail news bulletin.
Maintenance Resource Management is something we all do on a daily basis, but if you are looking for help in creating a safe and ethical maintenance department, download FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-72, “Maintenance Resource Management Training.” There are plenty of good training and management ideas to help you keep your operation on the right track. Visit the FAA website at www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/AC120-72.pdf
When I graduated from our high school in Western Massachusetts, there were three doors from which to choose: (1) state teachers college; (2) partnering with my father in a funeral parlor; or (3) something else. At that time Pratt & Whitney was running big Help Wanted ads in the local paper, so some buddies and I flung open Door #3 and headed for East Hartford.
Jet Aviation Hong Kong recently received base maintenance approval by the Hong Kong CAD to carry out heavy maintenance on aircraft registered in PRC and Macau, the company announced July 17. Jet Aviation Hong Kong has also been awarded approval from the Bermuda authority to work on Gulfstream, Bombardier and Boeing BBJ aircraft up to a C check, as well as approval from the Isle of Man’s aviation authority to provide maintenance on G550 aircraft registered there.
An absolutely great column on DCA (Viewpoint, May, page 11). I remember going to Signature DCA on numerous occasions and flying the river approach more than once. We don’t fly there for all the reasons you outlined. I suppose we would if a customer just outright insisted we do it and was agreeable to all the restrictions and requirements, but I’ve not heard anyone even suggest we go there. Besides, forget about shooting the passengers!
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.
ExecuJet Mexico has opened a new office at Toluca Airport. ExecuJet Mexico also has offices in Monterrey’s Mariano Escobedo and Del Norte International airports. The company offers aircraft management, charter, sales and maintenance services.
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.
Aircraft operating costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs.
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.
In sharp contrast to the drumbeat of bad news, Scott Donnelly, CEO of Textron, said the company’s Cessna and Bell helicopter units may launch new aircraft as soon as 2012. “You will see some refreshes, some block changes to some aircraft, and we also have a couple things in there that will be new aircraft,” said Donnelly, reports Aviation eBrief. For this year, Cessna expects deliveries of 225 airplanes, and Bell expects deliveries of 150 civilian helicopters.
Piper Aircraft selected DeCrane Aerospace and Propel Designs to help incorporate improvements for PiperJet’s cabin interior. DeCrane Aerospace in Wichita, Kan., will provide engineering and interior “soft goods,” including carpeting, headliners and interior panels. Propel Designs, of Seattle, will oversee overall design, the styling for the flight deck and improvements to the passenger cabin. The selection of the interior specialists follows a number of meetings with PiperJet buyers, notes Randy Groom, Piper executive vice president.
Cessna Aircraft has unveiled a program to reduce lead times required for interior refurbishments of classic Citations. Under the new RightNow Interiors program, Cessna’s Citation Service Centers will stock pre-selected, certified interior design materials, eliminating long-lead times — which typically can run eight to 12 weeks — necessary to order materials for interior refurbishments of the light jets.
Not that long ago, it was a challenge to operate a business jet in Mexico. There were few FBOs, ground support was sporadic — at outlying airports, nonexistent — and getting anything seemed to take forever. Even in the few cases where handling agents were available, permits and authorizations had to be walked through multiple offices by flight crews.
The business aircraft industry is leveling out some after a free-fall in demand last year, its vital signs remain weak. Deliveries were down 14 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared with a year earlier, with smaller jets hit especially hard. And while prices are inching up, they are coming off the lowest levels in a dozen years. Industry marketers like to spin that strong growth in emerging economies will help fuel a recovery, but that has yet to materialize. Meanwhile, Europe’s financial crisis threatens to crimp demand in a key business jet market.
Pilatus Aircraft delivered the first of six PC-12 NG multi-purpose liaison aircraft to the Finnish Air Force under a €22.5 million contract signed in April 2009. Pilatus provided initial type conversion training for Finnish Air Force pilots and maintenance personnel at its factory in Stans, Switzerland, during the second quarter. Pilatus expects to deliver the remaining aircraft by August. The Finnish contract marked the first PC-12 fleet sale to a European air force. The aircraft will replace Piper PA-31-350 Chieftains in service since 1983.
I read in a recent issue of BCA that the FAA has given a deadline for all holders of licenses it issues to convert from paper to plastic cards. That is a great idea.
TrueNorth Avionics, Inc. has partnered with Simphone dealer Mid-Canada Mod Center (MC2) to provide and install the Simphone OpenCabin airborne telecommunications system for Flying Colours’ Challenger 850 completion program.
Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS), the aftermarket division of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., acquired privately owned LifePort, Inc., a Washington aircraft accessories manufacturer that specializes in air medical systems, lightweight armor, interior furnishings and galley equipment for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. The acquisition establishes accessories as a new business segment for SAS. LifePort will operate as “LifePort, a Sikorsky Aerospace Services Company,” retaining its current executive management team.
