The Gulfstream G250 completed its first flight Dec 11, a little over two months after its rollout. The 3:21 hour flight took off from Ben Gurion International Airport at 8:16 a.m. local time. Pilots explored the G250’s handling qualities and flight characteristics and performed initial checks of several aircraft systems. The large-cabin, mid-range aircraft flew to 32,000 feet achieving a speed of 253 knots. Chief test pilot Ronen Shapira called the flight “extremely smooth with no issues.” The G250 is planned for type certification and entry into service in 2011.
The increase in aircraft utilization is helping bolster the aviation services business, said Jay Johnson, president and chief executive of General Dynamics. GD’s services business, including Jet Aviation and General Dynamics Aviation Services, saw business erode as flight hours plunged 17 percent through the first three quarters, Johnson said. While customers continued with “must-do” maintenance, discretionary maintenance tended to get deferred. Some of this maintenance is the more high-margin work, Johnson noted.
King Schools and Redbird Flight Simulations are offering Redbird products through King Schools’ marketing, sales and distribution channels worldwide. Redbird offers a line of four simulators from a fixed desktop device up through its FMX/ci, which offers full-motion, panoramic vision and force-feedback controls. “Redbird has used the latest improvements in software and video graphics technology to deliver a realistic training environment that is within the financial reach of virtually every flight school,” said Martha King, co-chair of King Schools.
Cessna Aircraft just released the final performance numbers on the $8.75 million Citation CJ4 and the results are turning heads in São José dos Campos, Brazil, as well as back home in Wichita. Compared to Cessna’s original projections, the aircraft weighs less when empty, has more thrust, needs less runway, cruises faster and flies farther.
Proposed Rules Bombardier CL-600, CL-601, CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R and CL-604 airplanes — Amend Airplane Flight Manual procedures, check the part and serial numbers of the installed wing anti-ice piccolo ducts and replace certain ducts, if necessary. EADS Socata TBM 700 airplanes — Before further flight, insert a temporary revision into the “Emergency Procedures” section and the “Limitations” section of the pilot operating handbook in order to clarify procedures for releasing onboard oxygen.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and AVIC announced on Nov. 23 the completion of the first S-76C+ civil helicopter airframe produced in China under an agreement between Sikorsky and AVIC subsidiary Changhe Aircraft in Jingdezhen. The airframe will be delivered to the Sikorsky Global Helicopters facility in Coatesville, Pa., for customization.
Bombardier said in its third-quarter 2009 financial report that it received 26 orders for business jets in the three-month period and 24 cancellations — the first time in a year that it had more orders than cancellations. Bombardier remains in the black, though profits are substantially down compared to the same period last year.
Bob Hope Airport officials expect to lay the groundwork this year for a new Part 150 study to grapple with noise issues. The study is one step local officials are planning to take since FAA rejected the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s request for a nighttime ban at the Burbank, Calif.-based airport in November. The airport authority had hoped to become the first organization to successfully impose noise restrictions on Stage III and quieter aircraft under the Part 161 process.
Dassault Falcon announced it was laying off 150 employees and another 55 contract workers at its completion center in Little Rock, Ark., to align work force levels with lower sales and production rates. In April the French manufacturer cut 44 positions in its Teterboro, N.J., organization and in Little Rock. The Little Rock center already had cut 140 contract positions since the beginning of 2009. Dassault also laid off 35 employees at the Wilmington, Del., service center last November.
During a November meeting in Paris the European Business Aviation Association formed a new Airports, Handling and Ground Operations Committee to promote fair, equitable and secure access to airports; assure safety and best practices standards at airports and in handling companies; promote environmentally friendly operations to the benefit of local communities; and “fight for fair competition” to benefit all stakeholders to meet the needs of aircraft operators, their passengers and crews. Michel de Ronne of Aéroport de Paris is the committee’s first chairman.
Air BP has added seven new dealers to its network, four of which are participating in the Bravo Rewards Program: Emblem Aviation of Pinedale, Wyo. (PNA) Honeycutt Aviation of Olivehurst, Calif. (MYV) Delta AirElite Jet Center of Erlanger, Ky. (CVG) Jet West of Salinas, Calif. (SNS) The remaining three dealers are: City of New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas (BAZ) Elite Aviation Services of Hopkinsville, Ky. (HVC) Avbase of San Jose, Calif. (SJC)
Cessna Aircraft told employees in December that it will close its plant in Columbus, Ga., and move the work to plants in Independence, Kan., and Mexico over the next 24 months. The plant handles components and sub-assembly work for the full range of Cessna aircraft. In the memo, Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton did note some encouraging economic signs.
FlightSafety International announced that FlightSafety Academy has entered into an agreement with CABAIR and its affiliate, Orlando Flight Training, to jointly offer JAA pilot training. FlightSafety Academy students wishing to qualify for a European license will be able to complete their FAA qualification in Vero Beach before moving to Orlando Flight Training in Kissimmee, Fla., for the JAA ATPL ground school/CPL course and then to CABAIR in the United Kingdom to obtain a JAA Instrument Rating.
The aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) tasked with developing recommendations for Safety Management Systems (SMS) regulations is expected to present its initial findings to the FAA after its next meeting in March. Business aviation advocates are becoming increasingly concerned about missed deadlines for a formal SMS rulemaking. The ICAO established a January 2009 deadline for SMS rules for commercial operations and November 2010 for private operations.
By mid-December 2009, Twin Commander Aircraft’s move from Washington state to Creedmoor, N.C., was expected to be complete. Earlier, the FAA had granted Twin Commander Aircraft a production certificate to begin producing aircraft parts in its new North Carolina facility, and the company began fulfilling orders from there on Nov. 16, according to President Matt Isley.
FlightSafety International will open a new airline learning center in Johannesburg, South Africa, with training to begin in March 2010. The first simulators installed will be used in the training of pilots and maintenance technicians who operate and support Hawker Beechcraft 1900 and Bombardier Dash 8-100 and Q300 aircraft.
Forecast International of Newtown, Conn. predicts that a total of 11,277 business jets, worth an estimated $197 billion, will be produced in the 10-year period from 2009 through 2018. According to the survey, announced in November, “The Market for Business Jet Aircraft,” production is expected to total approximately 825 units in 2009, followed by 738 units in 2010 and 716 in 2011.
Dennis Andersen, president of Florida Jet Sales, Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla., feels confident enough in the market for previously owned turbine-powered airplanes that he has begun to inventory aircraft again. “I am sticking my toe back in the water,” he said in late November 2009.
The House and Senate have passed another short-term extension of the FAA’s funding authorization and aviation excise taxes through March 31. Lawmakers were forced to opt for the stopgap bill while the Senate continued its all-consuming debate on health care reform. The House passed its version of a long-term FAA funding bill in May, but the Senate has not yet acted. While calling the extension necessary, House aviation subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) expressed concern over the lack of a long-term funding bill.
Mike Penrose (Via e-mail), Former AMIJC Chief Pilot (Via e-mail)
“Seeking the Sensible” (Viewpoint, December 2009, page 7) accurately summed up the TAG/AMIJC tragedy. [Impacted] 800 jobs, 800 families and 800 mortgages, for what?
Harold Hoepf died on Nov. 3, 2009 at age 87 after a brief illness in Clinton Township, Mich. He served as aviation manger/chief pilot for the Valeron Corp. for over 20 years, retiring in 1987. He oversaw Valeron’s entry into the business jet era, flying and managing their Learjet 25s and 35s at their Detroit City Airport base. Hoepf grew up one of 11 children on a farm in McCutchenville, Ohio, and as a boy dreamed of flying. He was accepted into the Navy V5 program during World War II and flew Hellcats off the USS Chenango.
Pilots climbing into the CJ4 may not recognize it as a member of the CitationJet family because the flight deck redesign has been so thorough. Four, eight-by-ten inch portrait-configuration AM-LCD screens dominate the instrument panel. The stand-alone radio tuning units have been eliminated, along with the glareshield-mounted annunciator light panel and flight guidance system controls buried in the center console.
Thank you again for calling attention to one of the great misfortunes of the recent past (“Seeking the Sensible”) — the bullying and ultimately the destruction of TAG Aviation by the kind of authority that was so egregiously misused in that event. I had the honor of working with those you mentioned and others there whose integrity and professionalism were never in doubt. Their example of excellence caused the rest of us to want to be better. It was a great organization from the top to the bottom.
