Business & Commercial Aviation

A new stand-alone Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) was announced by Tucson, Ariz.-based Universal Avionics Corp. on April 15. The AHS-525 is solid-state system provides aircraft analog and digital pitch, roll and heading data and can directly replace increasingly difficult-to-maintain mechanical gyros. The system integrates with flight deck displays, flight control systems, flight management systems, weather radar, terrain awareness and warning system, flight data recorders and multiple other avionics systems and subsystems.

North American Jet Charter Group (NAJet) is the first aircraft charter operator to receive FAA approval to operate appropriately equipped Eclipse 500s single-pilot in charter operations. The fully upgraded Eclipse 500 aircraft from the new Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. are now certified for flight into known icing conditions. In addition, the AvioNG system provides centralized control of virtually all Eclipse 500 systems and avionics functions. AvioNG includes ILS and GPS-coupled autopilot functions that significantly reduce pilot workload.

OK, pop quiz: What is the name of the person who heads the federal Transportation Security Administration? What? You don’t know who’s in charge of all those TSA people digging through your luggage at the airport? Well, that’s all right, it was a trick question. There is no TSA administrator, a vacancy that has persisted since Edmund (Kip) Hawley resigned at the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.

Airbus parent company EADS is backing algae as the best source of sustainable jet fuel, asserting that other feedstocks will not allow the airline industry to meet its carbon-footprint reduction goals. EADS Chief Technical Officer Jean Botti does not believe second-generation, plant-derived biofuels now under development offer sufficient life-cycle, carbon-dioxide reductions to replace petroleum-based jet fuel.

It’s a given that the best flights are those flown first on the ground when the pilot tries to anticipate every aspect of the coming mission, including all the likely complications, and how to resolve them. I’ve tried to do that since my first flight as a teenager in a Cherokee 140, but became fanatical about the practice the day the U.S. Navy notified me that I’d been accepted for pilot training. This was my life’s dream, and I was going to do everything possible to earn those wings of gold.

The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization is now operating under a Safety Management System (SMS), the agency announced recently. The move allows the FAA to manage risks involved with changing the National Airspace System, including installing, modifying and removing equipment, as well as modifying and implementing procedures and airspace changes. “An effective safety management system lets us manage both the risks and the challenges of introducing new technology into the National Airspace System (NAS),” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

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.

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.

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.

Restricted hours (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) at Shannon Airport's new U.S. Customs Pre-Clearance may be limiting use of the process, officials at Universal Weather & Aviation and Signature Flight Support told BCA. Pre-clearance procedures allow Part 91 operators to completely process through U.S. Customs just as they would at a port of entry airport in the United States.

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.

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.

Cessna Aircraft Co. has acquired the remaining 8-percent ownership share of Greenwich, Conn.-based CitationAir still held by TAG Aviation Holding SA. The original company, then named CitationShares, was started in 2000 as a joint venture between Cessna and TAG, with each holding a 50-percent share. Cessna gradually acquired a greater share through the past decade and bought the last of TAG's stake in February.

Recovery in the global helicopter market may be sooner and stronger than many have expected as it embarks on long-term growth, according to Rolls-Royce, which powers commercial and military helicopters of all sizes. Deliveries are expected to top 16,400 aircraft worth $146 billion over the next 10 years as the market responds to improving civil market fundamentals and the world’s military operators address a growing call for more vertical lift capability, Ken Roberts, president of the Rolls-Royce Helicopter Engine business, said at Heli-Expo 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

“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!