The Citation Mustang isn’t the biggest, fastest or most fuel-efficient very light jet to be introduced, but it’s a solid market success, and it, along with Embraer’s Phenom 100, has matured into full-scale production programs. The smallest and least-expensive Citation, the Mustang was designed from the onset to be the easiest handling member of a family noted for docility. As such, the Mustang was intended to be an easy step up for operators upgrading from piston-engine and turboprop aircraft.
Edward W. Stimpson is one of America’s civic heroes. His long service in furthering the cause of aviation safety was capped by his most recent post as chairman of the Flight Safety Foundation in Washington, D.C., where he worked to improve airline operations even beyond the near-perfect record they’ve compiled.
And, yes, operating in Russia is expensive, or as Mrocka put it after dropping $8.40 on a cup of coffee at his Moscow hotel, “outrageously expensive.” Carry cash for basic transactions, he advised, “as most places on the ground do not accept credit cards. It’s a cash-oriented society.” Williams at Universal Weather noted that rooms in Western-style hotels in larger cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg range from $300 to $600 a night; in remote locations, standards and prices will be lower (see sidebar on travel in Eastern Russia).
While airline passengers have grown accustomed to snaking their way through TSA lines at hub airports, general aviation operators based at Hyde Field, Potomac Airport and College Park Airport, a trio of small airfields near Washington, D.C., have struggled to cope with the restrictions imposed on them since the Sept. 11 attacks more than eight years ago. Perhaps the most notable of the affected facilities is College Park (CGS), which earlier this year became the world’s first centennial airfield, having been in continuous operation for 100 years.
Sikorsky Global Helicopters announced Nov. 4 that it delivered a new VIP S-76C++ helicopter in September to the Royal Travel Office for use by the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Sikorsky has provided helicopters to support the Royal Family since the early 1950s, including the R4, S-51, S-55, S-58, S-58T, S-76B and S-76C+.
At the recent NBAA Convention, Stevens Aviation displayed the first example of its Learjet 60 Business Liner, a 1997 model of the Bombardier midsize jet that had undergone an extensive makeover.
The FAA rejected an application of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority (BGPAA) to impose a nighttime ban on nearly all flights at Bob Hope Airport (BUR) in California. The agency deemed the application unreasonable because the BGPAA failed to prove that other alternatives would be less cost-effective or infeasible. The agency also determined that the BGPAA failed to provide substantial evidence to back its contention that the restriction would not create an undue burden on interstate or foreign commerce.
Cessna Aircraft has qualified its Citation Sovereign for an exemption from FAA Extended Operations (ETOPS) requirements when flown between Los Angeles and Hawaii under FAR Part 135. To qualify for the ETOPS exemption, Cessna demonstrated the aircraft could remain within 180 minutes of a suitable airport when flying with an engine out. Cessna conducted an analysis to determine that the Sovereign was able to travel 1,022 nm within 180 minutes after an engine failure. That distance is just more than halfway between Los Angeles and Hawaii.
Also, if traffic is heavy at the destination airport and there are delays, don’t expect to be stacked into holding, Parke emphasized. “Russian controllers do not use holding patterns and vector everyone around if there are delays. This increases their workload considerably and contributes to the delays. During this maneuvering, it behooves you to keep your head up, as most of their aircraft are not equipped with TCAS for separation. They also maintain larger separation intervals than we do, which helps to string things out and adds to the delays.”
Looking to brush up on turbine engine technology? Don’t know your P3 from your T5? Pick up a copy of Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine Technology by Irwin Treager. Written for technicians, instead of engineers, the text is easy to understand, and even pilots will find it helpful. The paperback book has been updated since its first release and includes information on electronic fuel controls.
In the waning months of the Cold War, after decades of suspicion, distrust and secrecy between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the West, watershed events in aviation history unfolded at European-hosted international air shows.
Rockwell Collins recently announced several upgrade programs for Dassault Falcon business jets, including five new updates to its Pro Line 21 avionics retrofit package for Falcon 50s. Separately, the avionics maker is offering a Pro Line 4 to Pro Line 21 display upgrade for Falcon 2000s.
Abu Dhabi plans to build a business jet by 2018 to mark the emergence of the Middle East as a major player in the global aerospace industry. The first steps were celebrated Nov. 14, just prior to the Dubai Air Show, as the Mubadala Development investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government and Western partners reviewed progress in building the Strata Manufacturing composites facility that will begin supplying parts for the Airbus A380, ATR and other airliners in the second half of 2010. Strata will open with initial contracts worth more than $2 billion.
Arranging permits for flights into Russia is straightforward, although it is important for operators unfamiliar with the process to understand that among the residue of the Soviet period is a monolithic bureaucracy and rigid adherence to procedure. “This isn’t about efficiency — it’s all about control,” Parke said, by way of explaining the inflexibility. “And they control everything down to the minutiae, from obtaining the entry permit to all things associated with operating.”
NBAA and GAMA are offering a new online resource to help businesses of all types and sizes calculate and explain the value a business aircraft brings to support a company’s business objectives. Presented as part of the associations’ joint No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign, the new Business Aircraft E-Valuation Toolkit identifies five basic resources every company in business aviation should have for measuring an aircraft’s value — regardless of the size or type of the business involved. The toolkit is at the No Plane No Gain Web site: www.noplanenogain.org.
American Eurocopter was selected to provide three new helicopters to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. The EC135s will be delivered later this fall and customized specifically for the MedCenter Air program at Carolinas Medical Center.
Formation of a new General Aviation Caucus in the U.S. Senate was welcomed last week by a general aviation industry battered by negative perceptions on Capitol Hill, within the Obama administration and among the general public. Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter urging senators to join the new caucus, which they said will work with industry stakeholders and government agencies to ensure that a “safe and vibrant environment” remains for GA.
As you wrote in your July Viewpoint (“A Matter of Perception,” page 9), public perception of business jets may be different from the reality, and that is especially so in Europe where we see a lot of aircraft whose owners hide under exotic registrations or companies.
Honeywell’s Primus Epic avionics system has become one of the firm’s most successful technology development programs, having found a home aboard more than a dozen different aircraft models ranging from helicopters to regional airliners. The latest and most advanced versions were revealed at the 2009 NBAA Convention in October aboard Dassault Falcon Jet and Gulfstream aircraft. The two Primus Epic configurations offer several features requested by operators, such as synthetic vision, WAAS LPV and RNP approach capabilities and FANS 1/A certification.
The worldwide inventory of used business jets for sale decreased from 18 percent to 17.2 percent of the fleet in September, according to a market update report released by AMSTAT, a provider of corporate aviation fleet and operator information.
StandardAero has completed its first aftermarket installation of Aviation Partners Inc.’s high-Mach blended winglets on a Falcon 2000 business jet at its Springfield, Ill., facility. The new winglets increase range by up to 260 nm, reduce emissions and are expected to enhance resale value, according to company officials, who note the winglets are production standard on the new Falcon 2000LX.
Cutter Aviation has expanded its on-demand charter operations to the Dallas/Fort Worth market through its new base at Collin County Regional Airport in McKinney, Texas. The company offers on-demand charter on a Hawker Beechcraft 400XP from the McKinney location. Cutter also offers charter from locations in Phoenix and Albuquerque.
Mr. Obama, the people of Wichita are still awaiting your response. After three auto executives failed to defend their use of company aircraft before Congress on a disastrous day in November 2008, the business jet became the favorite whipping boy on Capitol Hill where suddenly self-righteous solons inveighed against the sinful thing. And then things got worse.
