Managers from the former Spirit Aviation have joined with Michael Binder of Altitude Aviation to launch Dreamline Aviation, which won its FAR Part 135 charter certification June 10. The company, headquartered in Hermosa Beach, Calif., will operate aircraft from bases in Van Nuys, Santa Ana and the Bay Area. Mark Schmaltz, the company’s president and CEO, is the founder and former president of Spirit Aviation.
False Replies Unsynchronized with Interrogator Transmission (FRUIT), a by-product of 1090 MHz frequency congestion, now is a small problem, but in the next decade ADS-B will increase potential FRUIT by several orders of magnitude because of its heavy reliance on 1090ES Mode S data links. One of the prime causes is the growing number of aircraft equipped with TCAS, a system that shares the same frequency as transponders and SSRs. Some TSO-C74c Mode A/C transponders also contribute to the problem because of detuned sensitivity.
The Iridium 9555 satellite handset has a new firmware release that allows users to plug in to a computer running Windows XP, Vista and 7 or Mac OS 10.4 or later. The handset connects to the computer through a standard Mini-USB cable. The phone also has “enhanced” short-message-service (SMS, or “texting”) performance, providing up to 1,000 characters in length instead of 160. As with all Iridium satellite service coverage is 100 percent of the globe.
I want to compliment you on a super Viewpoint (“Studebaker Time,” June 2010, page 11). Having already collected a few years of Social Security and having traveled at Mach 2.5, I can only imagine that your comments may have ruffled a few of the feathers in the “spin doctor” community. If BP can spend $50 million on PR, maybe the Gulfstream engineers should be trying to design a stealth business aircraft so no one could tell who made the big boom. Keep those cogent editorials coming.
After graduating from the University of Tennessee, Cannon volunteered (as appropriate for a “Vol”) for the U.S. Navy, and spent several cruises flying E2-C Hawkeyes off carriers supporting operations over Vietnam. His post-military career is all business aviation, including flying for several operators and managing flight operations for Home Depot, among others. An MBA from the University of Connecticut, he also was CEO of Jet Professionals for several years.
Pentastar Aviation of Waterford, Mich., has entered into a strategic alliance with FracTrade, a premier aircraft brokerage firm based in Greenville, S.C. In addition to aircraft sales and acquisition services, Pentastar will offer customers a variety of sales and leasing options for fractional shares in conjunction with FracTrade.
“Double Standard” was right on the money. The oversight and management is even worse at a fiscal level. A friend who works for the U.S. Forest Service tells me that the aviation manager and flight standards pilot have a King Air at their disposal, which they disguise under training and standardization. I encouraged disclosure to the OIG about what is going on, but of course there’s fear of retaliation from the av manager. It is quite obvious after reading your article that there isn’t much of that going on. Our tax dollars hard at work.
EAA’s gathering, July 26 through August 1 in Oshkosh, Wis., is expected to reflect an improving economy, drawing more than a half million attendees, 10,000 airplanes and 700+ exhibitors, association spokesman Dick Knapinski said. Show goers will see permanent improvements at the AirVenture site: more paved roads, new bike paths and expanded facilities in the warbirds area, sponsored by Scott’s Miracle Grow.
Kurt Huffman (Stafford Executive Pilot Training LLC)
“How UAVs Will Change Aviation” (June 2010, page 46) seems to imply a much greater shift to “automagic” flying machines than really exists. I would argue that the development of an autopilot was of greater significance because that changed what the pilot did. No more constant “steady human hand at the helm.” The UAVs simply change the location of the pilot, not what the pilot does. It is much like telecommuting for an office job — or for writing an article. The work is not different; only the location.
Signature Flight Support and Aviapartner Executive have opened an FBO facility in a new general aviation terminal at Nice Cote d’Azur Airport in France. The facility includes a VIP lounge, a pilots’ lounge with entertainment systems and flat-screen televisions, WSI weather and business center services. Signature and Aviapartner provide ground handling, flight planning, crew accommodations coordination, crew transportation and catering services. Customs and immigration services also are housed in the general aviation terminal.
Hawker Beechcraft Services’ (HBS) Indianapolis service center has recently completed a state-of-the-art paint facility that can accommodate aircraft ranging from Beechcraft Bonanzas to Hawker 4000s. The facility offers paint services including factory or custom paint designs. HBS also has paint facilities in San Antonio, Little Rock, Wichita and Chester, England.
On the European front, London Executive Aviation CEO Patrick Margetson-Rushmore says he’s optimistic that European business aviation traffic will continue to increase this year. “For us, the year is going well so far. One glance at our order book shows that the European business aviation industry is beginning to recover,” he notes. “We’re realistic, of course. The industry recovery will be gradual rather than dramatic.”
Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS), the Berlin-based specialist in Bombardier business aircraft, will set up a line maintenance station in Riga, Latvia, this summer. Working with its local partner, Baltic Business Aviation Center Ltd. (BBAC) / FBO Riga Ltd. and Lufthansa Technik’s VIP & Executive Jet Solutions division, LBAS will offer line maintenance support for Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global business jets, as well as Airbus ACJs and Boeing BBJs.
The third annual Hanover Aviation Show drew an impressive 100,000 visitors to Langenhagen Airport, West Germany, to see the products of 170 manufacturers from eight countries, including the United States and communist Czechoslovakia. The accent was on light, low-cost business aircraft. Swiss STOL, PC-6 Porter by Pilatus has a 340-hp supercharged Lycoming and carries five persons or 1,100 pounds of freight. It cruises at 125 mph, stalls at 45 mph and has an average sea-level, still-air takeoff of 394 feet.
At press time, Blackhawk Modifications’ Cessna Caravan engine upgrade was in the final stages of flight testing, and officials at the Waco, Texas, re-engining specialist were anticipating basic FAA certification of the single-engine turboprop modification by the end this month. EASA approval was expected by the end of September. The upgrade, which involves replacing the existing 675-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A with an 850-shp PT6A-42A, will offer the following benefits:
Cirrus wants to raise $64 million to accelerate development of its SF50 Vision single-jet. Cirrus CEO Brent Wouters provided an update on the program’s status in June, saying the company is on a strong enough foundation to pursue the financing. If financing is secured, Cirrus would build a conforming prototype in 2011. The company in the interim has moved forward with testing and formally applying for type certification. Cirrus has been conducting flight into known icing tests.
Some 80 percent of Wichita aviation executives who responded to a recent survey do not expect payroll employment to surpass 2008 levels until 2015, according to Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research. The center, which recently released results of its Aviation Industry Survey, says 60 percent of the respondents believe the “recession trough” will not occur until after first quarter 2011. Declining employment and income were cited as the most important factors dampening demand, followed by economic uncertainty and tight credit.
Honeywell Aerospace’s engine division has been active the last three years testing its business aviation engines and airline APUs on 50/50 blends of biofuel and military JP8 jet fuel.
DOT officials intend to issue an NPRM aimed at air charter brokers. Dayton Lehman, DOT’s deputy assistant general counsel in the Office of Aviation speaking at the NATA Air Charter Summit in June said the NPRM will be “quite expansive,” seeking a substantial amount of input on a proper direction for regulating charter brokers. “There are areas where we have truly not made up our minds as to what to do,” Lehman told the audience at the summit held in Chantilly, Va. The NRPM is expected later this year.
The FAA wants to mandate function and reliability (F&R) tests as a special condition for certifying the Cirrus SF50 Vision jet, despite its 6,000-pound maximum weight. The agency has issued an NPRM to expand F&R tests to include all turbine-powered aircraft weighing less than 6,000 pounds. Aircraft weighing less than 6,000 pounds have been exempt from the test requirements because in the past the burden of the tests appeared to outweigh the safety gained, the FAA says, but adds the exemption was based on 1951 technology.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.’s X2 Technology demonstrator achieved a speed of 181 knots in a test flight May 25 at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center. The X2 Technology demonstrator combines an integrated suite of technologies including a counter-rotating coaxial main rotor, active vibration control system and fly-by-wire controls. Its mission is to demonstrate that a helicopter can cruise comfortably at 250 knots while retaining excellent low-speed handling, efficient hovering, and a seamless and simple transition to high speed.
NetJets is continuing to work to improve its financial footing, announcing plans to consolidate NJI, Inc., which operates the company’s Gulfstream large-cabin fleet, with NetJets Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. As a result, most NJI functions will move from Savannah, Ga., and South Carolina to Columbus, NetJets Chairman and CEO David Sokol said in a June statement. Sokol said, “We believe this development will further unite and strengthen our North American operations.” Pending regulatory approvals, the consolidation would be completed in October.
Cessna will to extend its Citation Mobile Service Unit (MSU) teams to Europe by year-end. Part of Cessna’s Service Direct program, mobile units are already operational in the United States. Cessna executives say the extension to Europe is a “natural progression” of the program since more than 1,000 Citations have been delivered to customers in the region. Cessna has not yet determined the specific base for the European MSU but expects the unit will be located in southern France and also cover Geneva, northern Italy and northern Spain.
Swiss-based RUAG Business Aviation is teaming with Rockwell Collins to offer a Pro Line 21 Integrated Display System (IDS) retrofit for legacy Piaggio P180 Avantis. RUAG Business Aviation — which provides comprehensive maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, modifications and upgrades for business aircraft from three facilities in Switzerland and one in Germany — is taking pre-orders for the flight deck makeover and is seeking a launch customer for the retrofit, which is expected to be available in the fourth quarter.
The FAA has rolled out a new surveillance technology to help track aircraft in the mountainous region around Juneau, Alaska. The ground-based Wide-Area Multilateration (WAM) system will provide interim surveillance capability until the agency deploys satellite-based ADS-B in the area. WAM comprises a network of sensors that transmit signals, which are received and returned by aircraft transponders. The WAM system “triangulates” returning signals to determine the location of the aircraft and present it to controllers on their consoles as if it were a radar target.
