John Bingham runs Piaggio Aero America sales from the company’s Florida headquarters. The former Bentley automobile and Cirrus Design sales chief knows the upscale communities with whom he deals, but to hear him tell it, the Avanti II is not a difficult sale. “At half the price, you can fly in a cabin as big or bigger, get there in about the same time, and get there cheaper. If you have a choice between $5,000 an hour and $2,800, which are you going to take?” he asks.
The TSA extended the comment period for its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking calling for all aircraft repair stations to adopt security programs, from Jan. 19 until Feb. 18. The extension came at the behest of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association and International Air Transport Association. IATA cited the complexity and scope of the rule and said the additional time was necessary to provide foreign repair station operators time to review the proposal.
AircraftLogs, Columbus, Ohio, announced that John Taylor has joined the company as director of sales and marketing. He will serve as the primary point of contact for flight departments transitioning to AircraftLogs. Aspen Avionics, Albuquerque, announced that Angela Anderson has joined the company as marketing manager. She will be based in Albuquerque and will report to Brad Hayden, director of marketing.
I arrived on Kodiak in 1999 and I’ve been there ever since. The place has a way of taking hold. Kodiak’s a big island — the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined — sitting in the Gulf of Alaska, some 220 nm southwest of Anchorage. While only 13,000 people call Kodiak home, it and the Alaska Peninsula just across Shelikof Strait teem with fur, feathers and fins, everything from mountain goats and whales, to puffins, reindeer and sea lions. We’ve even got a herd of bison.
As a former E-1B (and C-9B) aviator, I thought “Command Decision” (Flight Log, December 2009, page 72) was a great story with a great ending. I never had a single-engine-out carrier landing but had a few frightful carrier landing events. The story talked about seat swapping halfway through the four-hour flight to accommodate the other pilot to gain carrier landing experience. That surprised me; we never did that. Whoever was designated the plane commander, regardless of rank, was the sole authority for decision making for the safe operation of the aircraft.
One survivor’s recollection of business life post-TAG Since its aircraft management contracts represented the real assets of TAG Aviation USA and AMI Jet Charter, once the latter’s operating certificate was revoked in October 2007, the businesses’ value began to diminish rapidly — some former executives put the diminishment at $1 million daily.
Even though many general aviation OEMs predict production cuts in 2010, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen notes other factors in the general aviation economy such as flight operations (see above) that are showing encouraging stability and even upturns. But even as manufacturers prepare for slower production this year, Bolen notes the manufacturing schedule will not necessarily reflect the state of the economy in 2010. “Production reflects orders taken at different times. This year may reflect the 2009 economic situation,” he said. “It takes a while to turn that ship.”
Dec. 25, 2009 — At about 1258 CST, a Bell 407 helicopter (N600CE) was substantially damaged during a hard landing after a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff from the Wise Regional Health System Helipad (XA57) in Decatur, Texas. The pilot and flight medic sustained serious injuries and the flight nurse received minor injuries. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Air Evac EMS Inc., of North Plains, Mo. It was VFR and a company flight plan was filed for the positioning flight.
On the morning of July 31, 2008, a low-pressure system immediately west of the border intersections of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota anchored a stationary front extending southeast across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. The system produced generally nasty weather in the area of the Owatonna, Minn., Degner Regional Airport (OWA), about 70 miles south of Minneapolis.
One of my many smart nieces informed me years ago that the world is essentially divided into two groups. No, not male and female, lefties and righties, haves and have-nots, or teenagers versus everyone else. Rather, she explained, there are pilers and there are filers. I knew in an instant she was correct. Alas, I am a charter member of the former.
Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc. has launched a European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) Reporting Resource Center at www.eu-ets.aero, a free Web site to help operators understand and comply with EU-ETS. The Web resource center contains information, tools, how-to videos, sample reporting plans and completed reports, and more.
The Airbus Corporate Jet Center has created a quick-conversion kit that enables A320 airliners to be readily transformed into VIP airplanes, converting the forward area of the aircraft by installing two double-VIP and four club VIP seats, along with hi/lo tables. The conversion also includes quality leather upholstery, woolen carpets and curtains for added ambiance and privacy. The first kit is to be delivered during the second quarter to an unidentified Middle Eastern customer, along with provisions for installation of a second kit later this year.
The first European air ambulance meeting will be held in conjunction with the general aviation trade show AERO 2010, April 8-11 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The air ambulance meeting will provide a forum for air ambulance industry executives to network and exchange information. For more information, visit www.aero-expo.com.
Aerospace Filtration Systems, Inc. (AFS) has received an STC from the FAA for an Inlet Barrier Filter system for the Bell 430 helicopter. The IBF system includes: sealed intake plenum on each engine intake with integral filter elements that replace the inlet screens or internal particle separator; simple compact cockpit switch that allows indication and activation of the bypass system; Integral Filter Maintenance Aid; performance operation to the basic inlet charts providing operators additional capability while maintaining maximum engine protection.
Growing up in Juneau, Alaska, was one of the greatest gifts his parents gave him, says Julian Tonsmeire. “It’s how I got my interests in both aviation and climbing.” His father, an active outdoor adventurer, hiked the wilderness with him every year during the 1970s, and by the 1980s, young Tonsmeire was racing on skis in a time when Alaska produced a lot of Olympic medalists. “I walked to school in Juneau,” he recalls. “I got used to bad weather, the horizontal rain.”
Flairjet, based at London Oxford Airport, earned its air operator’s certificate from the United Kingdom, clearing the way for the operator to begin public flights with its two new Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft. The operator has spent six months training pilots and operations staff in preparation to qualify for the AOC.
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.
