Business & Commercial Aviation

Advanced short-runway airliners and large commercial tiltrotors could boost the capacity of the U.S. air transport system without impacting conventional aircraft operations once the FAA’s NextGen airspace system is fully implemented. That’s the conclusion of a NASA-funded study into the integration of advanced vehicles into NextGen completed by air-traffic management specialist Sensis. A team led by Raytheon completed a similar 18-month study.

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.

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.

North American Jet Charter Group, of Charleston, S.C., and Chicago, is the first charter operator to receive FAA approval for single-pilot FAR Part 135 charters in appropriately configured Eclipse 500 VLJs. In June 2007, NAJet became the first charter operator to operate the Eclipse 500. Single-pilot approval applies for Eclipse Aerospace-upgraded 500s with FIKI and AvioNG avionics.

I always enjoy — and learn something — from your articles, but “Helicopters in the Big Apple” (February 2010, page 46) is especially enlightening and well crafted. “In a New York rush hour, money can’t buy motion. Unless it’s smart money and goes by air. . . ” Brilliant. And so New York.

Uvalde, Texas-based Sierra Industries, which specializes in modification of Cessna Citations, has received an STC for installation of the Artex C406 Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) in Citation 500, 501, 550, 551, S550 and 560 aircraft. Sierra officials say this approval provides a cost-effective solution for operators who want to update their ELTs to the current 406-MHz standard.

John Lee Baker, AOPA’s president from 1977 through 1990, and only the second person in that position, passed away Mar. 11 at his home in Angier, N.C. Baker was a U.S.A.F. fighter pilot in the Korean War, and then earned a law degree from Creighton University. He served on the staff of Sen. Roman Hruska (R-Neb.), and then was appointed assistant administrator in the FAA’s office of general aviation affairs.

The newest and largest Air Traffic Control Center in Europe has been phasing in control since Jan. 5, and went fully operational when the controllers at Manchester Center handled the final aircraft from their old operations room before handing off control to their colleagues in Prestwick Scotland at 3 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. About 130 personnel from Manchester are being relocated to Scotland, which will bring Prestwick's workforce to 900. Prestwick in the North and Swanwick in Hampshire, near Portsmouth, now control all U.K.

I was surprised and sorry to see that BCA printed Mike O’Rourke’s letter (February 2010, page 8) without editing the offensive language from it. Mr. O’Rourke seems to attribute an awful lot of power to the controller’s union, which cannot negotiate on matters of pay. Let us remember that it was FAA management that signed off on pay reclassification, and that thousands of FAA managers benefited as well — including plenty of deadwood.

If your flight operation is equipped with Automated External Defibrillators but lacks a management system to ensure that batteries are replaced on schedule, a company called American Med Supply of Westlake, Ohio, says it will do the managing for you. The free service is known as AEDAlerts.com and after you send the company an inventory of your AED devices, it will manage them at all locations, notify you when inspections are due and alert you to expiration dates for electrode pads, batteries and CPR/AED certificates for all responders.

Fred Towers, a renowned expert in international flight operations, was awarded the coveted Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award by the NBAA at the Schedulers & Dispatchers conference in January. Towers has been active for years in building the S&D community’s recognition and public stature. As a veteran dispatcher himself, he has taught hundreds of his colleagues the key elements of international trip planning. Towers works as a services review program manager for Universal Weather & Aviation in Houston.

Thanks for your great detective work and the insightful writing on the Hawker 800 crash in Owatonna, Minn. (“A Failed Go-Around,” February 2010, page 59). We have operated Hawkers since 1994, currently employ 17 full-time qualified Hawker captains and have introduced and trained about 70 Hawker crewmembers over the years. It has been an ongoing process to develop the best SOP, SOT and CRM as is possible.

J.P. Hanley, the president of Corporate AirSearch International, a small, privately held South Florida brokerage that has been in business since 1983, characterizes today’s previously owned turbine aircraft market as “stagnant.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) from World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony March 10 in the U.S. Capitol. The WASP comprised 1,102 civilian female pilots, who were the first women to fly military aircraft under the U.S. Army Air Forces. WASP ferried fighter, bomber, transport and training aircraft and performed other missions in the Continental United States.

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 Empty Leg Syndrome” was a frank, lucid and compelling assessment of the business models deployed in the charter industry today.

“The Empty Leg Syndrome” (February 2010, page 32) was most educational. LunaJets (www.lunajets.com) is one of those broker Web sites that you mention in the article, launched as a new and anonymous distribution channel for operators’ empty legs. Our business model is different from any other, with live empty legs listed, offers of price per seat and e-mail alerts on registered members’ favorite routes. Thank you and keep the information flowing!

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.

Schedulers and dispatchers who operate in the real world know that it’s unrealistic to expect a nine-to-five operating schedule in a typical flight department. Your department manager or chief pilot has been selling the executives downtown on how they can do three meetings in a single day and, assuming the aircraft can go the distance, on different continents. It can be an intimidating environment in which the cultural differences within an organization combine to possibly erode the safety of your operations.