Bombardier Aerospace has built the first all-composite manufacturing validation unit (MVU) for the Learjet 85 pressure fuselage section. The MVU was built in Montréal, where the Learjet 85 aircraft structural design team is located, using actual production tooling which will be transported to Bombardier’s Learjet 85 manufacturing facility Queretaro, Mexico where a second MVU will be made. The MVUs will be used to validate the design concepts, manufacturing processes and quality as the program advances towards the beginning of production, scheduled for later this year.
First, I agree 100 percent with your well written article (Cause & Circumstance, July, page 62). A good example of overload is departing KSMO with the standard instructions. Which are, runway heading until the 310-degree radial of LAX VOR with an immediate right turn to 265 degrees for radar vectors. Of course, you also are in the middle of a very close noise abatement procedure — power back, monitor a safe airspeed, hit the 310 and turn to 265. Maybe you may get to monitor for VFR traffic, but not much. This should not be forced upon us.
The world’s first turbofan jetliner, Boeing’s 707-120B, is shown on initial flight before FAA certification tests in Seattle. Four P&WA JT3D front fans and aerodynamic changes give this jet a max cruise of 610 mph (35 mph faster than present 707s), Boeing says. American will convert its present fleet of 707s to turbofans.
Fascinating piece of work in the June issue of BCA (“How UAVs Will Change Aviation,” page 46). Really enjoyed the read! At 51, I only wish I could hang around another 100 years to see it and go to work for the humans! Did you think of saying anything UAVs won’t do, like fall asleep, have a bad day, forget to put the wheels down, use the wrong runway or get distracted, etc. The list is endless when dealing with the most flawed species on the planet.
European Commission and FAA representatives drafted a memorandum of cooperation in civil aviation research and development at a June meeting in Madrid. The first technical annex of the agreement covers NextGen and SESAR interoperability. The commission says it will present the text to the European Council and the European Parliament for formal adoption. The commission and the FAA intend to develop additional annexes “in the very near future.”
AVWest of Perth Australia has placed a firm order for four ultra long-range Global Express XRS jets, including two with the Global Vision flight deck. The total value of the order is approximately $213 million US, based on the 2010 list price for typically equipped aircraft Bombardier announced July 15. “Our clientele is increasingly traveling to overseas destinations, including Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and now is the right time to add ultra-long-range jets to our fleet,” said Tim Roberts, AVWest Principal.
Citing a growing interest in single-engine turboprops, Extra Aircraft is beginning a push to sell its Extra 500 single-engine turboprop in the United States, said Errol Bader, a spokesperson for the German manufacturer, stating that the Extra 500 is particularly attractive in fiscally challenging times since it has a comfortable cabin and at its maximum cruise speed at 16,000 feet burns just 20 gallons of Jet A per hour. And considering the currency differential and other factors, he said building aircraft in the United States is a logical business strategy.
Recently issued IRS rulings pertaining to liability for Federal Excise Taxes (FET), disallowance of accelerated depreciation deductions and tightened requirements for passive loss write-offs potentially threaten to hike costs for business aircraft operators. So warned attorney Keith Swirsky at the 13th annual Dassault Falcon Jet Aviation Professionals Conference held in May.
Phil Boyer, who served 18 years as president of the AOPA, has joined the board of trustees for the National Aviation Hall of Fame. “I’m very pleased to be able to do this,” said Boyer, who retired from the AOPA in 2008.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Matthew Huff expects the next few months, a traditionally slow season in the previously owned aircraft business, to be quiet this year as well. “Our forecast is that the summer is going to be rather slow,” he predicted. The vice president of inventory control for O’Gara Aviation, the Atlanta-based aircraft acquisition and sales company, noted that the market showed “a noticeable improvement in late winter through mid-spring.”
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.
Most technicians are familiar with the “Aircraft Mechanics Creed;” some of us old guys keep a business card size copy in our wallet. Created by the Flight Safety Foundation, the creed served as a reminder of the trust we are given to ethically maintain the highest technical standards. The FAA Safety Team modified the creed for those who manage the maintenance function, to reinforce our duty to provide our technicians with an environment where they are able to focus on safe and effective maintenance, and not pressures to meet schedule. Visit www.faasafety.gov
The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is recommending that ICAO adopt the proposals of that organization’s Flight Recorder Panel requiring the installation of flight recorders on turbine-powered airplanes with a max takeoff weight under 12,500 pounds (5,700 kilograms).
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.
Asking prices for previously owned business jets increased slightly, and inventories of used in-production jets continued to decline slowly in June, dropping below the 12-percent level for the first time since October 2008, said financial analyst JP Morgan in its July Business Jet Monthly report.
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.
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.
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.
U.K.-based aviation services company PremiAir has taken over the management of a fleet of Learjet business jets and has acquired a new private jet operating and maintenance base at London’s Biggin Hill Airport from Gold Group International. PremiAir sister company von Essen Aviation will take ownership of the Learjet 45 fleet, while PremiAir takes over the former Gold operation.
FAA Military Airport Program funding will go to Stewart International Airport in New York and Sacramento, Calif.’s Mather Field to perform conversion work related to their shift from military to civilian facilities. Stewart, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will receive a year’s funding to replace electrical cable in the former Air Force airfield power circuit to meet modern civil design standards.
June 19 — At 0227 MST, a Beech A36 (N155FT) collided with terrain approximately eight miles north-northeast of Seligman, Ariz. The commercial pilot, who was also the registered owner of the airplane, was killed and the airplane was substantially damaged. It was VFR at the time and no flight plan was filed. An Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued on June 19. The wreckage was located at 1030 MST on June 23. According to a family member of the pilot, he had departed from Los Alamos, N.M., about 1930, and flew to Santa Fe, where he bought fuel.
