The FAA is striving to finish its initial work on an NPRM for new equipment and operation requirements for commercial helicopters, particularly those involved in air ambulance flights. The rulemaking project got a formal go-ahead in April 2009 as the agency, along with the NTSB and Congress, became increasingly concerned about the spike in air ambulance crashes.
When Mark Bloomer founded his company more than a quarter century ago, he represented aircraft buyers exclusively, a move that was uncommon at that time. Some 500 transactions later, Camarillo, Calif.-based Bloomer deVere does an almost equal number of aircraft acquisitions and brokerage deals. And since the mid-1990s, when the fractional market matured and accelerated, the company has been offering consulting services. Today, Bloomer describes his firm as “a client-advocate company” that lays out the various options for using “non-airline flight time.”
The FAA issued an FAR Part 33 Type Certificate in late December for the Rolls-Royce BR725 turbofan that powers the 7,000-nm, Mach 0.85 Gulfstream 650 now undergoing flight tests. The engine is an evolutionary development of the BR710 that powers the Gulfstream G500 and G550. Fitted with a new, 50-inch diameter, swept-blade fan, it also features a compressor with improved aerodynamics, low-emissions combustor and a more-efficient turbine section.
A JPMorgan analyst agreed with NBAA’s Bolen. Despite noting the potential loss of a major order for Cessna, the analyst said, “We view this as a short-term blip.” The orders in question for both Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft were primarily for 2013 and beyond, JPMorgan added. Reports of other industry activity also have shown promise, as Bolen noted.
Piper Aircraft selected Dallas-based Aviall Services as its parts distributor to support the Piper dealer network and its customers worldwide, the company announced in January. A Boeing subsidiary, Aviall carries more than two million catalog items with 39 customer service centers in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The economic downturn has forced some leading fractional share providers to shed aircraft to lower expenses and generate revenue, further depressing airplane values overall and adding to the industry’s already bloated used aircraft inventory.
Field Aviation Co. has delivered the last of seven Dash 8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). The initial Dash 8 MPA, a Series 200, was modified for the CBP in 2004. The MPA fleet now includes four Dash 8 Series 200s and three Series 300s. Field Aviation modified the aircraft, interior, navigation and communications and other systems on the aircraft. ATK Integrated Systems installed sensor hardware and the mission management system before delivery to CBP, which placed the contract through the Canadian Commercial Corp.
The U.S. turbine business aircraft fleet was involved in 31-percent fewer accidents in 2009 than in 2008, marking one of the safest years yet for business aircraft operators. Business jets and turboprops combined experienced 44 accidents in 2009, down from 64 in 2008, according to statistics compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates. Turbine business aircraft were involved in eight fatal accidents resulting in 32 fatalities in 2009, compared with 32 fatal accidents and 58 fatalities in 2008.
Signature Flight Support launched a mobile Web site to complement its newly designed corporate Web site that was launched last fall. The mobile site offers pilots access to Signature’s 102 worldwide locations including airport navigation maps by AC-U-KWIK, FBO contact information, local amenities and area attractions with hyperlinks to all phone number and e-mail addresses. The site is designed to make the pilot’s job easier by offering a single-source site when choosing an airfield and FBO.
Fokker Services has introduced FLYFokker, a new life-cycle support program for the fleet of out-of-production, Dutch-built regional jets, some of which have been used in corporate operations. Fokker Services (the organization formerly known as Stork Aerospace) is offering four support packages: Take Off, Take Care, Take Over and Take Next. The company says these support options are designed to provide “cost-effective aircraft and service solutions for start-up, mature and phase-out operators.”
The FAA will defer the cancellation of 22 instrument ground-based approaches in response to comments from the AOPA, the association said. The AOPA gathered information from pilots on 154 instrument approaches that were slated to be removed and recommended that the 22 be retained.
Burlington, Vt.-based Heritage Aviation has opened a new FBO facility that will rely heavily on wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. “When we had the opportunity to build a new general aviation facility, we knew we wanted to have renewable energy components as part of the facility,” said Christopher Hill, president of Heritage Aviation and Heritage Flight. The heart of the FBS’s renewable energy array is a 100-kilowatt turbine, Hill said.
Now the FAA wants to mandate Wildlife Hazard Assessments at all Part 139 airline-served airports, even though they have not experienced a “triggering event” described above. But in its Jan. 14 Fact Sheet, the FAA says it believes all airports should understand the level of wildlife activity on or near their airport and accordingly initiated rulemaking in late summer 2009 to make assessments mandatory at all Part 139 airports. The agency wants to publish an NPRM to that effect this year.
Norman Schweizer (Washington, DC ), General Services Administration (Washington, DC ), Office of Government-wide Policy (Washington, DC ), Aviation Management Division (Washington, DC )
“Assessing the Auditors” by David Esler (January 2010, page 32) is an excellent encapsulation of today’s various audit standards. The Office of Aviation Management within the General Services Administration (GSA) sets government-wide policy for nonmilitary government aviation operators and I am certain this article will be extremely helpful to our member agencies as we strive to continue to improve safety for government aviation programs.
Piper’s PA-46-500TP Meridian made its debut in September 2000 as the lowest priced pressurized, single-engine turboprop offered by any airframe manufacturer and it has retained that distinction ever since. Piper created the Meridian by swapping a 500-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A for the 350-hp piston-engine of the PA-46 Malibu Mirage and modifying the airframe to handle the extra weight and speed. Everything about this project was designed to keep development costs low and that’s reflected in the final product.
NOAA wants to improve winter storm forecasts for North America. The agency has dispatched its Gulfstream IV research aircraft to the Pacific where most of North America’s weather originates, according to Louis Uccellini, director of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction, to gather data to improve winter storm forecasting, out to as much as six days in advance for North America. The Gulfstream will be stationed at Yokota AFB, Japan through February and reposition to Honolulu in March.
Houston air traffic controllers are now using ADS-B, a GPS-based, NextGen technology, to separate and monitor aircraft flying over the Gulf of Mexico. The FAA’s announcement Jan. 12 came as the U.S. Coast Guard was preparing to shut down the U.S. Loran-C chains that for decades have provided long-range position-fixing service to mariners and aviators (see above). Previously, there was virtually no radar coverage over the Gulf, which forced 120-mile in-trail separation of high-altitude IFR traffic.
The NTSB has drastically expanded notification and reporting requirements regarding aircraft accidents and especially incidents. In particular, the NTSB is adding regulations to require operators to report certain incidents directly and immediately to the NTSB, even though they are already required to be reported to the FAA. Under 14 CFR 21.3, FAA notification is required within 24 hours, or the next business day if the event occurs on a weekend or a holiday. The NTSB says that is not quick enough for its needs.
Proponents of enhanced Loran as a ground-based backup for GPS were bitterly disappointed when the U.S. Coast Guard said it will begin a permanent shutdown of U.S. Loran-C stations at 2000Z on Feb. 8, 2010. At that time U.S. Loran-C chains should be considered unusable, but 24 U.S. stations that participate in Russian-American and Canadian Loran-C chains under international agreements will temporarily continue to operate. The Canadian Coast Guard announced that Canada will also decommission its Loran-C system this year.
Prescott, Arizona-based Cobham Avionics has received Technical Standards Order (TSO) certification of its Digital Audio Control System (DACS) from the FAA, a major milestone that clears the way for manufacture of the system and installation on certified aircraft. In September, the DACS received European Technical Standards Order approval.
With the recent transfer of the Bell 47 type certificate to Scott’s Helicopter, all aspects of commercial spares support, technical support and continued airworthiness for the pioneering rotorcraft have become the responsibility of the Bell-approved customer service facility located in Le Sueur, Minn.
Hawker Beechcraft has consolidated all customer support activities within a single organization, Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support, headed by Christi Tannahill, vice president. It is comprised of technical/field support, technical publications, Support Plus, Hawker Beechcraft Parts & Distribution (formerly RAPID), and the Company-Owned/Authorized Service Center Network. The new organization supports about 36,000 aircraft worldwide.
Editor’s Note: Among the notable developments affecting business aviation in the past decade was the FAA’s crackdown on the charter industry over the issue of operational control. This vigorous action followed a February 2005 accident in which a Challenger 600 departing from Teterboro Airport failed to lift off, ran off the end of the runway, crossed a highway and buried itself into a building.
From the Dec. 22, 2009, Avinode Business Intelligence newsletter: “Interesting to notice is that the price decrease has been stronger on the U.S. air charter market than it has been on the global air charter market. Prices on the U.S. market are approximately 9.5 percent lower today than they were Jan. 1 [2009].””
