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.
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.
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.
Another reminder: FAA-licensed pilots need to replace their paper licenses with a credit card-sized plastic pilot certificate by March 31. The deadline does not apply to temporary pilot or student pilot certificates. The replacement certificate costs $2 and can be ordered through the FAA.gov Web site or by mail. There is no photo on the license, so pilots must also carry a government photo ID (driver’s license, military ID, etc.) to exercise their pilot privileges.
The “crabgrass of aviation,” as one wag described it, is historically one of the most onerous tasks in a flight department (as measured by the junior status of those who perform it). When the envelopes arrive from Jeppesen or the National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO) with paper chart updates, the chore of removing the outdated charts and substituting the new ones in their proper order usually falls to some poor, woeful individual at the bottom of the pecking order, pitied by all and envied by none.
Bombardier’s Global 5000, the truncated version of the Global Express fitted with smaller fuel tanks, has the best cabin of any business aircraft in this range class, along with the fastest cruise speeds and best runway performance, according to operators. They like its cockpit room, soft ride in turbulence, automated systems and three seating zones in the main cabin. Compared to the Global Express, the Global 5000 has a 5.9-foot overall shorter cabin and 5,800 to 7,000 pounds less weight at takeoff, depending upon Service Bulletins.
“Night Freighter Down in Lubbock” (Cause & Circumstance, January, page 58), is an excellent article that provides a comprehensive insight on the situation and crew actions as well as a good description of the accident aircraft’s systems.
Delta Air Lines’ private jet subsidiary, Delta AirElite, has acquired Segrave Aviation, nearly doubling the size of the carrier’s business jet fleet. Atlanta-based Delta said the all-cash acquisition of Kinston, N.C.-based Segrave adds 21 aircraft to AirElite’s fleet of 24 airplanes. Delta AirElite is based in Cincinnati.
Digital Cyclone, Inc., a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd., has a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch called Pilot My-Cast that is a premium aviation weather, flight planning and flight filing application for customers in the United States and Canada. The app includes five menu tabs at the bottom of the page: routes, flight plan, weather, airport information and settings. Garmin claims Pilot My-Cast is unique because it receives aviation data directly from providers such as the National Weather Service, Environment Canada and the FAA.
The Gulfstream G150 has achieved steep approach certification from the FAA and EASA. The approval, received last month, allows the G150 to operate at airports with an approach angle of up to six degrees. Several airports worldwide require steep approach certification to land at their facility due to terrain, obstacles or local noise ordinances. The most well know is London City Airport. The G150 is the first Gulfstream to be steep-approach certified by both European and U.S. authorities.
Corporate Angel Network, White Plains, N.Y., has elected Joseph T. Lombardo, executive vice president, Aerospace, General Dynamics and president, Gulfstream Aerospace, to the board of directors of CAN.
Cessna Aircraft Co. rolled out the 300th Citation Mustang at its assembly facility in Independence, Kan., the company announced Feb 4. It will be delivered later this year to a retail customer in Australia. The first Mustang was delivered in 2007. The entry-level, $3 million Mustang was announced at the 2002 NBAA Convention and first flew in April 2005.
EFBs can be divided into Class 1, 2 and 3 with respect to hardware and Types A, B and C for software. It’s oversimplifying but not inaccurate to describe the differences this way: Class 1 is a simple laptop you carry on and off the airplane, Class 2 is like Class 1 except it plugs in once you’re onboard and can get power and data from airplane systems, while Class 3 is basically an MFD that’s part of the airplane and its type certificate.
Elliott Aviation, the Moline, Ill.-based business aviation services company, has received an FAA STC for installation of a Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) in a Beechjet 400/400A and Hawker 400XP aircraft. The certification airplane, a Beechjet 400, also received a new interior and paint job at Elliott Aviation’s aircraft refurbishment center at Illinois’ Quad Cities International Airport (MLI). Elliott is currently pursuing STC approval of the DFDR installation from the European Aviation Safety Agency and hopes to receive certification by May.
In the last decade, prices of previously owned business jets have risen dramatically then fallen precipitously more than once. But Dennis Rousseau, president of AircraftPost.com — the Web-based resource that provides real-time valuations for more than 5,000 medium and large business jets — believes that current and prospective operators need to focus on aircraft value, rather than current prices, both in good times and in bad.
An FAA Fact Sheet issued Jan. 14 implied the FAA is less than satisfied with airports’ compliance with requirements to submit Wildlife Hazards Assessments. It’s been more than a year since a flock of Canada Geese brought down US Airways 1549. The FAA issued a certification alert June 11, 2009, to airport operators that had experienced “triggering events” including multiple or damaging wildlife strikes with aircraft.
Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC), has appointed Patrick Champagne vice president, Cockpits and Systems Integration, a new business unit. James Palmer has been appointed vice president, Aviation Products, also a new business unit. Jean-Michel Comtois was named vice president of Marketing and Sales, a single, integrated unit focused on growing the company’s commercial and military aviation business.
Hawker Beechcraft, Wichita, appointed Justin Firestone president, Asia-Pacific sales, reporting to Shawn Vick, HBC executive vice president. Hugh Waud was named field service representative to support customers in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He will be based in New Delhi, India.
StandardAero has become the first authorized independent service center in North America trained to perform wing tank (dry bay) modifications on Dassault Falcon 50, 900 and 2000 aircraft. The modification, as outlined in Dassault Service Bulletins, is expected to be required for all Falcon 50, 900 and 2000 aircraft because both the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency are planning to publish Airworthiness Directives mandating the work.
Tom Myers (Aircell Business Aviation Services, LLC ), Director, Marketing (Aircell Business Aviation Services, LLC )
Fred George did a thorough job on “Broadband Comes of Age for Business Aircraft” (January, page 44). Much is new in that space and giving readers a complete look at the state of the art is very helpful and timely.
Thank you for your great detective work and the insightful writing on the Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, Minn. (“A Failed Go-Around,” Cause & Circumstance, February, page 59). This is especially meaningful for us for several reasons. We have operated Hawkers for 17 years now, since 1994. We operate 700s, 800XPs and a 1000. We currently employ 17 full-time qualified Hawker captains and have introduced and trained about 70 Hawker crewmembers over the years.
Crownair Aviation, San Diego, appointed Bill Rohde director of Maintenance, responsible for all maintenance, repair station, parts and line service operations and personnel.
