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.
As more business jet operators register for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), many are (unhappily) discovering their aircraft must be equipped with a flight data recorder. The ICAO standard applies to all jets with certificates of airworthiness issued after Jan. 1, 2005, “and no one knew it was there,” Roger Baker told BCA editor-in-chief, William Garvey. The head of the Safety Focus Group, Baker conducts IS-BAO audits of flight departments. He and other auditors say the FDR rule is becoming better known as more U.S.
In reviewing the FAA's final rule pertaining to Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B), one of the critical building blocks of its NextGen air traffic management system, two things are apparent: First, the agency lowered the bar to make compliance more affordable; and second, the thing is still way, way expensive and could cost the aviation industry $2.5 billion to $6.2 billion, depending upon discounted rate of return assumptions. General aviation will incur costs of $1.2 billion to $4.5 billion.
AOPA President Craig Fuller announced May 24 the intention to merge the association’s two 501(c)(3) charitable organizations — the AOPA Foundation and the AOPA Air Safety Foundation — into a single entity known as the AOPA Foundation. Bruce Landsberg, present president of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, will lead the new AOPA Foundation as president.
Rated at 550 shp up to ISA+30°C, the -135 enables the C90GTx to climb directly to FL 300 and reach FL 250 in 18 minutes. Maximum cruise speed is 272 KTAS at 9,500 pounds, assuming ISA conditions at FL 200.
Hawker Beechcraft is the newest broker/dealer member of the National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA). In addition, three new associate members — Avtrak, LLC, the Law Offices of Christopher B. Younger and Rolland Vincent Asso-ciates, LLC — recently joined the organization. NARA now has a total of 32 broker/dealer members and 48 associate members.
Belgian charter operator Philippe Bodson has become the first European operator to place Hawker Beechcraft’s King Air 350i twin turboprop into service. Hawker Beechcraft obtained EASA type approval for the 350i in December 2009. Bodson founded and manages Antwerp-based charter ASL, which operates 14 aircraft throughout Europe and North Africa.
Mike Ellis, Hawker Beechcraft’s vice president of pre-owned aircraft, characterizes today’s market for previously owned business aircraft as “tentative.”
AgustaWestland’s Full Ice Protection System (FIPS) for its AW139 medium twin helicopter has received FAA certification. The FAA certification follows EASA certification issued in February of this year. TCAA (Canada) certification is expected as we go to press. The AW139 is the first helicopter in its weight category to receive FIPS certification. With FIPS, the AW139 is equipped to fly into known icing conditions with unprecedented all-weather capabilities. AgustaWestland expects to deliver 12 FIPS-equipped AW139s this year.
It occurs to me that if you are an American born on Oct. 14, 1947, you’re eligible to receive Social Security payments, and in fact may have been collecting checks for the past half year. I find that possibility a bit disheartening — No, not that you finally got the chance to put your feet up after 40-plus years of toil, but rather that Chuck Yeager’s double Bam! marking your arrival seems to have signaled so little.
Cessna’s chief, Jack Pelton, is the sole business aviation representative on the new Future of Aviation Advisory Committee. On May 12, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the members of a new committee on the future of the U.S. aviation industry, which held its first meeting on May 25 in Washington, D.C.
Cessna Aircraft Company received an order during April’s Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla., for 12 C172 Skylanes to be delivered to the Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, by year-end. The CAP operates a large fleet of Cessna aircraft.
The February 2010 “Viewpoint” characterized carbon offsets for aviation as a “terrible idea, compounded” since they served as an open admission of wrongdoing that is tolerated by “giving somebody money.” As head of the Carbon Neutral Plane Program, Jeff Witwer took strong objection to that assessment. We invited him to detail his position, and he obliged us with the following presentation. — The Editors
The FAA Safety team warns, “MET [Meteorological] towers are used to gather wind data necessary for site evaluation and development of wind energy projects. They can be erected very rapidly and may be on site from a few days to up to a year or longer. Towers generally range in height from 30 to 80 meters (98 to 262 feet) tall. If they are less than 200 feet in height they are not required to be lighted. At this time there is no standardized notification system in place to indicate when and where these towers are erected.
How best to avoid a collision or incident with a UAV today? “Pay attention to the NOTAMs,” advises Kurt Barnhard, Ph.D., director of Kansas State University’s College of Technology and Aviation. “We are required to notify the pilot community 48 hours before we operate,” Barnhard said, referring to the test and training flights KSU students are conducting with smaller surveillance UAVs near the Salina campus.
Project Phoenix, the Dubai-based business aircraft sales organization that specializes in the renovation and conversion of Bombardier CRJ 200 regional jets into VIP aircraft, has identified the Boeing 737-800 as its next potential conversion program. The company’s new 737 venture will be known as The Phoenix LBJ (Large Business Jet). The decision follows a six-month technical evaluation of suitable airliners and a dialogue with potential customers.
Telephonics Corp. opened a 100,000-square-foot facility in Huntington, N.Y., to house its Electronic Systems Division (ESD). The new facility includes an ultra-modern NextGen Air Traffic Management demonstration, development and training center. The NextGen lab will conduct development and testing of Telephonic’s AeroTrac NextGen product line with advanced features and functions to address existing and future global air traffic challenges.
FlairJet, the London Oxford Airport-based business aviation charter company, announced it will add its first Embraer Phenom 300 light jet to its managed fleet in July 2010, signing a management agreement with its private owner in May. The aircraft will be the first of the type on the U.K. register, confirmed FlairJet CEO David Fletcher. FlairJet has taken a third Phenom 100 under management. It was accepted in May and the company is currently looking for Phenom-rated pilots.
European air traffic management authorities are in the final stages of adopting the FAA policy on operating airliners in the vicinity of volcanic ash clouds, which could ease excessive airspace restrictions that have hobbled air travel in Europe since the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano on April 14. The EASA has been holding talks with the FAA, Transport Canada, other national authorities and aircraft operators “to achieve a breakthrough” in easing air traffic operations, an EASA official says.
Dassault Falcon delivered the first of four Falcon 7X tri-jets to Saudia Private Aviation (SPA), the business aviation unit of Saudi Arabian Airlines May 4, marking the first Falcon 7X delivery in Saudi Arabia. Two more aircraft are scheduled for delivery to SPA later this year and the final aircraft will come in 2011. SPA will use the Falcon 7X for VIP charter flights within the Middle East and around the world.
Luis Carlos Affonso, Embraer’s executive vice president of executive jets, said at EBACE that he expects the firm’s market share to increase by 20 percent this year, even though total annual sales of new business jets will shrink from $17 billion in 2009 to about $14 billion in 2010. The growth primarily comes from increased production of the Phenom 100 and 300, of which Embraer expects to deliver a total of 120 this year. “We’re slowing ramping-up production of the Phenom 300. You can expect to see an important increase in the second semester this year,” Affonso said.
Nicole D. Alexander (Public Relations Representative )
In response to “Project Analysis: Hawker 4000” (April 2010, page 50), I wanted to clarify the information on its three-place divan. With a divan, the Hawker 4000 is a 10-place aircraft; three on the divan and one on the lav (if so fitted). The limitations section from the 401-590001-0035, rev 6 AFM shows 10 passengers in this configuration. The weight and balance manual shows that all three divan seats are belted and approved for taxi, takeoff, en route and landing.
Five additional simulators for Bombardier business jets will be, or are planned to be, available for training in Europe, the United States and the Middle East by early 2011. Bombardier purchased a new, CAE-built Challenger 605 full-flight simulator for its own use. Under Bombardier’s 20-year Authorized Training Provider agreement with CAE, the first full-flight simulator in Europe for Learjet 40, Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 and Learjet 45 XR aircraft was qualified for training in April at the CAE Burgess Hill Training Centre in the United Kingdom.
The major drawback in mixing UAVs with conventional aircraft today is the former’s questionable ability to see and avoid conflicting traffic, unionized air traffic controllers maintain.
Despite excitement and hype surrounding EBACE 2010 in Geneva, the BCA Show News staff didn’t lose sight of the global picture, reporting at the show that China’s business jet fleet is expected to grow to 300 aircraft by the end of 2011, driven by growing enthusiasm from the Chinese nouveau-riche. The China Daily newspaper stated recently that Luxury Asia Ltd. sold 15 business jets into China in 2009 and aims to sell 20 more this year.
