Associated Aircraft Group (AAG), Wappingers Falls, N.Y., named Thomas McQuade president. He succeeds founder and President John C. Agor. AAG is a Sikorsky Aircraft company. City of Rock Hill, Rock Hill, S.C., announced that Eric Ramsdell, the city’s airport administrator, has been elected president of the South Carolina Aviation Association for a one-year term. Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Lynnwood, Wash., promoted Brian Barrett to vice president, Aftermarket Services for the Aerospace Group. He is located in Burbank, Calif.
Pratt & Whitney has established a Center of Excellence at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Engineering for research in the field of aviation propulsion systems. P&W will work with UConn on fundamental and applied research initiatives that support the design and development of more-efficient gas turbine engines. The university's primary focus will be research in the field of advanced sensors, diagnostics and controls for use in commercial and military aircraft propulsion systems.
The world's largest helicopter gathering, Heli-Expo 2010, was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, in Houston at the end of February. Few observers expected major orders to be announced at this year's Expo, but the event still brought together people from all around the world, pens in hand, ready to sign contracts. And sign they did — for a total of 48 new helicopters.
There’s a good FAA and a bad FAA. Having just been found liable for its certificate action against Florida air ambulance and charter outfit, Air Trek, the same FAA New York office is now attempting to take action directly against the firm’s chief pilot for an entirely different matter.
We had the opportunity to fly three legs in the airplane, accompanied by senior demo pilot Errol Wuertz and Dennis Hildreth, Hawker 4000 program manager. That gave us the opportunity to look at both extended high-altitude cruise performance and low-altitude handling qualities.
I live 50 miles from where I spent my childhood. Have driven the same car for the past decade. Shared nearly half my life with the same mate. And while the employers have changed, I’ve worked in aviation journalism for a long, long time. So, like most people, I’m comfortable with the status quo — a curious characteristic in a world and society where change is the only constant.
Year-over-year business turbine aircraft activity was up 5.3 percent overall, with the FAR Part 91 market segment having the strongest increase at 8.6 percent, according to Aviation Research Group/US’s (ARGUS) January 2010 TRAQPak activity level report. This word came as GAMA Chairman Rob Wilson, in his state of the industry address in Washington, reported that flight activity overall for 2009 was down 20 to 30 percent from 2008. ARGUS TRAQPak data are serial-number specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the 50 states.
The glass cockpit as represented by the newest systems from Garmin, Avidyne and others is a visual feast of graphics and symbology, merging all the information that used to be accessed through individual radios and displays. It used to be up to the pilot to combine the information and form a mental picture known as situational awareness.
At the Feb. 16 GAMA Annual Industry Review and Market Outlook Briefing, Rob Wilson, president of Honeywell's Business and General Aviation sector and current GAMA chairman, reported 2009 worldwide deliveries and billings were down across every segment versus the previous year's figures. Total 2009 industry billings were $19.5 billion, a 21.4-percent decrease from 2008's record high of $24.8 billion, but still the third highest year ever.
While there have been signs of an increase in the business aviation operational tempo from such indicators as fuel sales and flight plans, BCA Senior Editor George Larson decided to gauge the shape of the upturn by checking in with Rudy’s Caterers of Teterboro, N.J. Co-owner Joseph Celentano told Larson, “We are seeing some positive growth for the past three months. Business seems to be gaining.”
A second Gulfstream G650 has joined the flight test program for the company's new flagship aircraft, completing its first flight Feb. 26. The second test aircraft — T2 — took off from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at 1250 EST, piloted by senior experimental test pilots Gary Freeman and Scott Buethe. T2 flew for two hours and 33 minutes, reaching 37,000 feet and Mach 0.80 before landing back in Savannah.
Cessna announced March 13 that the Citation CJ4 has received FAA Certification. The aircraft will debut the new Williams International FJ44-4A FADEC engines, which were certified on Feb. 2, but shares a common pilot type rating with the other CJs (a pilot rated to fly any of the CJs is rated to fly them all). The retail price in 2010 dollars for a typically equipped Citation CJ4 is $9 million, the company says.
Aviation Management Systems, Inc. (AMS) of Portsmouth, N.H., recently announced that it was expanding its corporate aviation consulting services to include client representation during new or pre-owned aircraft acquisitions. AMS helps determine which of the many aviation options is best for its clients and provides assistance in overall asset management, from both a technical and operational perspective. AMS officials say the expansion into acquisitions enables it to support its clients throughout the entire life cycle of aircraft ownership and asset management.
Western Aircraft of Greenwich AeroGroup has been selected by Piaggio Aero to become an Avanti Authorized Service Center. Located in Boise, Idaho, Western Aircraft is also an authorized service center for Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Universal and Pratt & Whitney.
The latest FAA forecast predicts a rosy long-term outlook for business and general aviation, but the agency scaled back its expectations for VLJs. The lower acquisition and operating costs of VLJs “were believed to have the potential to revolutionize the business jet market,” the FAA said. Earlier forecasts called for more than 400 VLJ deliveries a year. FAA now says 440 VLJs will enter the fleet over the next three years.
“The Empty Leg Syndrome” contained an error regarding aircraft depreciation. The correct rates of depreciation are fives years for personal use (FAR Part 91) aircraft, and seven years for commercial (Part 135) aircraft. (February 2010, page 23)
Advance the thrust levers of the Hawker 900XP and you’d be hard pressed to recognize it as the 19th iteration of the venerable DH-125, first produced in 1964 by Britain's Hawker Siddeley. With the 900XP, fill the tanks and the seats and depart from a 5,000-foot runway. No other midsize aircraft has such range/payload flexibility. At MTOW, it will climb directly to FL 410 in 25 minutes, fly eight passengers more than 2,700 nm and land with NBAA IFR reserves.
Cessna has named Metrojet, located at Hong Kong International Airport, its authorized service facility in Hong Kong for the Citation XLS and XLS+. Metrojet, which provides a range of maintenance services, will work with Cessna in the coming months to expand its support services to include the remaining Citation product line.
It’s called Signature Status, and it’s a new customer loyalty and relationship program for customers of Signature Flight Support of Orlando. The program was announced at the recent NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers conference in San Antonio. Signature Status comprises three tiers: silver, gold and platinum. Operators, flight departments and owners will receive an expanding list of benefits as their visits to one of the company’s FBOs increase on a percentage basis.
No, really. Nick Verdea has run in almost a dozen marathons even though he only started running from scratch in January 2007. As the director of aviation for the Midland Financial Co. in Oklahoma City, he oversees four pilots, two techs, a Challenger 601 and a Citation X. He says he started running because of two promises he made to himself back in college: “I promised myself I’d never marry a girl I met in a bar, and I didn’t; I married my best friend’s sister, Tina. And then I said if I ever hit 200 pounds, I’d change my lifestyle.” On Jan.
U.S. business jet departures have steadily increased since the middle of 2009, wrote Jefferies & Co. analyst Howard Rubel. “In February 2009, departures declined 29 percent year-over-year, the largest drop since we started tracking the data in 2001,” Rubel said. November and December marked the first signs of improvement in the business jet market, with departures increasing 0.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Jefferies & Co. believes the market has stabilized, and volumes are increasing. “Aftermarket sales should see a pickup in the back half of 2010.
Proposed Rules Bombardier Challenger 600, 601, 601-3A, 601-3R and 604 airplanes — Visually inspect certain selector valves of the nose landing gear and nose landing gear door to ensure proper installation of the lock wire of the end cap. If not properly installed, take corrective actions. Bombardier CL-600, CL-601, CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, CL-604 and CL-605 airplanes — Replace certain hydraulic accumulators.
Step into a Hawker 4000 this year and it would be all but impossible to tell that this aircraft was lucky to survive a 12-year, $1 billion-plus gestation, one of the longest and costliest in business aircraft history. Hawker Beechcraft's largest and most sophisticated offering ever, the super-midsize business jet is key to the company's future, but its cumulative problems once put that future in doubt. Questions about the program are being answered by the product itself, along with the people behind it.
A free online aviation wire-strike safety awareness video, “Surviving the Wires Environment,” produced by the Helicopter Association International (HAI), in cooperation with Southern California Edison (SCE) and AEGIS Insurance Services, to remind pilots of the hazards of low-level flying in the “wires environment,” is available at the HAI home page (www.rotor.com) and will soon be posted on other aviation Web sites.
The venerable JetRanger 206B could get a new lease on life if airframe manufacturer Bell Helicopter and engine maker Rolls-Royce proceed with a plan to retrofit the single-engine helicopter with the RR500 turboshaft.
