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.
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.
Cessna Aircraft is now offering Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades for Citation CJ1+, CJ2+, CJ3 and Encore+ aircraft, as well as for certain Citation Excel and XLS airplanes. The modification can be performed at all nine Cessna-owned Citation Service Centers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Name Withheld (For Obvious Reasons) (Public Relations Representative )
Thanks for the great Viewpoint on DCA in the May issue (“Destination DCA, Again,” page 11). Using your bully pulpit to keep DCA in the forefront of the business aviation community’s collective conscience is a great thing. And yes, you are correct, this is not about the TSA or FAA — it’s about what the Secret Service wants. I respect their work but disagree with the blanket restrictions placed on business aircraft.
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.
CAE announced a contract with corporate jet operator Hangar8 for pilot training services on eight aircraft models: Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier Challenger, Cessna Citation, Dassault Falcon and Embraer. The Hawker training will be conducted at Emirates-CAE Flight Training (ECFT) in Dubai, UAE; training on other aircraft types will occur at Burgess Hill, U.K., near London and CAE SimuFlite in Dallas.
Are airplane pilots destined for the same fate as flight navigators and engineers? Will they be replaced by lines of code, electrons and data-linked commands from faceless controllers beyond the horizon? However unlikely that scenario, the trend is worth noting. As is being demonstrated daily in thousands of operations around the world, the black boxes on a growing number of aircraft are so “smart,” they obviate the need to have a human operator on board to complete a given mission.
On Aug. 1, 1999, a 1968 Cherokee Six crashed shortly after takeoff from an airport in Ohio, killing the pilot and three passengers and seriously injuring a fourth passenger. The NTSB version of the crash is straightforward. The airplane had landed to refuel and once its main tanks were filled, the five people got back on board. After takeoff, the Piper appeared to have a hard time climbing out and was “hanging on the prop.”
London Oxford Airport increased its visiting jet movements, year on year by 31.6 percent and saw its overall business aviation movements increase 12 percent from April 2009 to March 2010. Jet fuel sales at its oxfordjet business aviation facility during the period were up 47 percent. The airport is now handling an average of 20 business aircraft movements a day. “This will equate to approximately 6,000 business aviation movements a year, assuming continuation of the current rate — an achievement we are very pleased with,” commented Managing Director Steve Jones.
Early in my aviation career I was eager for adventure. So, after six weeks of battling bugs and weeds with an AGtruck out of Hardistry, Alberta, I headed north — way, way north to Yellowknife, in Canada's Northwest Territories. For those unfamiliar with the geography, Yellowknife is a town of 20,000 hearty souls planted beside icy Great Slave Lake in the wide-open plains 1,000 nm east and 1,000 nm north of Anchorage, Alaska, and Grand Forks, N.D., respectively. It's pretty much the last paved place south of the Arctic Circle.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. has launched the Select Pre-Owned Program, which is designed to limit the cost of operation for buyers of qualifying used turbine-powered aircraft during the first year or initial 150 hours of service. The Select Pre-Owned Program covers all scheduled and unscheduled airframe, engine and avionics maintenance, including parts and labor. The plan also includes initial flight-crew training at FlightSafety International, as well as the first-year subscription to the computerized maintenance-tracking program.
Many of us remember how difficult it was to get that first job. With the ink still wet on our A&P license, we thought we had a magic ticket to a good paying job. Unfortunately, while your license got you in the door, experience was what every employer wanted, even if you had a military background. Almost every employer wants civil aircraft experience on its particular model.
T he Phenom 100, Embraer’s first purpose-built business aircraft, is winning strong endorsements from operators, in spite of experiencing its share of entry-into-service snags. Operators laud its ramp presence, cabin comfort, baggage capacity, fuel efficiency and cockpit layout. They appreciate its modern, clean-sheet design, jetliner DNA, 12-month/600-hour maintenance intervals and its low price tag.
While the most recent of the studies cited in “Double Standards” is several years old, the problems delineated continue to this very moment. We have received credible reports about federal public aircraft being routinely operated past mandatory inspection and overhaul limits; outside weight, altitude and temperature limitations; into known icing condition without anti-ice or de-icing equipment; and being fitted with non-approved transparencies and automotive-grade ball bearings in prop governors.
Russia’s Avia Group is about to start construction on a new business aviation terminal at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO). The 2,700 square-meter facility, dubbed Terminal A, is expected to open within the next 12 months.
