GAMA released the industry’s second quarter shipment and billings figures in August. In the first half of 2009, total general aviation (GA) airplane shipments fell 45.9 percent, from 1,918 units in 2008 to 1,037 units this year. Industry billings are down 22.7 percent, to a total of $9.26 billion. Piston-powered airplane shipments totaled 434 units compared to 1,034 units delivered in the first half of 2008, a 58 percent decrease. Turboprop shipments decreased 13.6 percent from 221 units in the first six months last year to 191 units in 2009.
A report from the Policy Exchange think tank argues that the European Union should set a mandate for biofuel use in aviation to help reduce air transport’s carbon dioxide output. The mandate would cover biofuels or blends with biofuel content and rise from 20 percent use in 2020 to 80 percent in 2050, according to “Green Skies Thinking,” released in July. The proposed mandates would lower greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom by 16 percent and the EU by 60 percent from currently predicted levels, the report contends.
Dassault Aviation is positioning its Falcon 2000LX as a twin turbofan airplane having the cabin comfort, cruise speed and long range to compete head-to-head with large cabin aircraft made by Bombardier and Gulfstream. Until the big twin from Bordeaux was certified in late April, the Falcon 900-series trijets were Dassault’s prime competitors in this market segment.
The Experimental Aircraft Association reports that attendance at July’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., was up 12 percent to 578,000 compared with the 2008 event when 540,000 people visited the show. Preliminary figures also include 2,652 showplanes (the most since 2005), 750 estimated exhibitors, 2,000+ international visitors from 75 countries, and more than 10,000 people who toured the Airbus A380. You can review our coverage of the event in stories, blogs and photos posted on the AviationWeek.com free Web site’s
Aerospatiale SN-601 Corvette airplanes — Conduct a visual inspection to verify the proper position of the landing gear shock absorber’s lock washer. Also, check the tightening torque of the nut of the shock absorber locking system on both the left-hand and right-hand main landing gear. If improperly assembled, replace the lock washer and re-install the main landing gear shock absorber body and the main landing gear shock absorber before further flight.
Jet-A and AvgasPer Gallon Fuel PricesAugust 2009 Jet-A and AvgasPer Gallon Fuel PricesAugust 2009 Jet-A Region High Low Average Eastern $6.73 $3.35 $5.01 New England $5.24 $3.44
In 2001, the NBAA and GAMA commissioned Arthur Andersen, the former accounting and consulting firm, to determine whether business aircraft contribute to better financial performance for public companies that operate them, and thus, to higher shareholder value as well. The findings, published in a white paper entitled “Business Aviation in Today’s Economy; a Shareholder Value Perspective,” provided dollar-and-cents evidence that business aircraft users outperformed competitors who eschewed that form of transport.
Joe Carfagna and Paul Palminteri never waste a good aviation trade show if they can help it. Carfagna is chairman of the board at Leading Edge Aviation Services, an aviation consulting firm in Parsippany, N.J., and Palminteri is vice president of aircraft sales. But both are life-long devotees of The Road — as only a motorcycle can reveal it.
Private jet charter firm ExcelAire added a 13-seat Bombardier Global 5000 to its fleet. The aircraft is equipped with the extended range option and can fly 5,300 nm nonstop at 0.82 Mach and features state-of-the-art inflight communications capabilities, including high-speed Internet access, Wi-Fi and BlackBerry access, fully berthable seats. In addition to the Global 5000, the ExcelAire fleet includes 10 Gulfstreams, three Legacy 600s, a Beechjet, Cessna Citations, a Learjet and two cabin-class helicopters.
Avitat Abu Dhabi, operated by Royal Jet and located at Abu Dhabi International Airport, is positioned just minutes from the Yas Island Circuit, which is holding the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1. According to the, visitors will be able to choose limousine or helicopter transfer to Yas Island. For those flying into Dubai (DXB), Royal Jet/Avitat Abu Dhabi is an alternative for guests to easily transfer by helicopter. Avitat Abu Dhabi www.royaljetgroup.com
Officials at O&N Aircraft Modifications in Factoryville, Pa., reported recently that they still expect to win FAA certification of their turbine conversion of the Cessna 340 by the end of this year. The Silver Eagle 340, which will be powered by two Rolls-Royce 250-B17F/2 engines, first flew in June 2008. Conformity testing of the $1.35 million aircraft, which is slated to also feature a Garmin 600 cockpit, is continuing.
Jet Aviation recently expanded is service offering to include base and line maintenance for Hawker 750/800/800XP/900XP, Gulfstream G350/G450 and Embraer 135/145 aircraft under the company’s EASA Part 145.0317 approval. In addition, the company’s newly established Boeing BBJ team is now fully operational. The center can also provide base maintenance to all drop-ins and AOGs. The Dubai facility was opened in May 2005. Jet Aviation Brazil will also provide line maintenance services to Gulfstream operators at its Sorocaba facility.
On Sept. 1, 2006, a 30,000-hour airline transport pilot flew his Mitsubishi MU-2B-35 into a thunderstorm while descending for a visual approach to Panama City Bay County International Airport (PFN) in Florida. The pilot lost control and the airplane structure failed as it spiraled out of the clouds into a swamp and the pilot was killed.
The U.S. Air Force has signed a letter contract to lease three Bombardier BD-700 Global Express business jets from Northrop Grumman for use as platforms for the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). This includes one demonstrator aircraft already deployed operationally since December 2008. Northrop was awarded an 18-month, $276 million contract in June to install the communications payload on two additional jets as a short-term solution while it equips two RQ-4B Block 20 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to be fielded in fiscal 2011.Graham Warwick
The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) believes a Eurocopter Super Puma AS332L2 might have been pulled from service before it crashed into the North Sea April 1 if the relevance of a metal chip found in the gearbox module days before the accident had been diagnosed differently. On July 16, the AAIB made that finding as a result of its continuing investigation of the failure of the epicyclic reduction gearbox module on the Super Puma involved in the accident.
CRS Jet Spares has procured a large inventory consisting of factory new airframe and structural material for all Gulfstream II and III aircraft. The inventory was purchased directly from Gulfstream Aerospace and is fully traceable to the OEM with all necessary documentation. The inventory includes structural and airframe parts such as doublers, cowlings, leading and trailing edges, panel assemblies, skins, frames, stringers, wire bundles, among other parts. Price: Varies CRS Jet Spares 6701 N.W. 12th Ave.
The NTSB continues its campaign against pilot fatigue with an extensively detailed and footnoted Recommendation Letter to the FAA calling for, among other things: modifying the Application for Airman Medical Certificate to elicit specific information about any previous diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and about the presence of specific risk factors for that disorder (A-09-61); and implementing a program to identify pilots at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea and require that those pilots provide evidence through the medical certification process of having been appr
Deborah A.P. (Debby) Hersman, a five-year veteran of the NTSB, was sworn in July 28 as the agency’s 12th chairman. Hersman was nominated for the two-year term by President Barack Obama on June 18 and confirmed by the Senate on July 24. She was simultaneously nominated and confirmed for a second five-year term as a board member. She immediately faced her baptism of fire as the public face of the Safety Board after the midair collision of a sightseeing helicopter and a Piper Lance over the Hudson River.
Patrick Veillette completely missed my “tongue-in-cheek” comment about the Citation’s safety (Letters, August, page 11). My point was that you quoted one set of statistics that completely contradicted the assumption made in the next paragraph. In your reply to my letter, you say that the statement “five of 59 fatal LOC accidents involved single-pilot operations” is a flawed inference. It was in fact your statement.
The NTSB has listed “Reduce Accidents and Incidents Caused by Human Fatigue” on its “Most Wanted” list for nearly 20 years now and wants the FAA to “set working hour limits for flight crews, aviation mechanics and air traffic controllers based on fatigue research, circadian rhythms, and sleep and rest requirements and to develop a fatigue awareness and countermeasures program for air traffic controllers.” Recent accidents have once again brought attention to the matter of human fatigue as a factor, along with a call for action.
American Eurocopter cut the ribbon for a new, state-of-the-art Customer Service and Fleet Operations Center (CSFC) during the company’s 40th anniversary celebration at its Grand Prairie, Texas, headquarters in July. The CFSC will be linked to facilities in Europe and Asia, providing customers with the global-scale logistics and technical support capabilities of Eurocopter. The company also has ongoing investments in local repair and overhaul capabilities, a growing local supply chain, and an extensive investment in training and simulation services.
July 18 — At approximately 1905 CDT, a 1944 twin-engine Beech TC-45J (N6688), was destroyed during a forced landing after a loss of engine power near Verdel, Neb. The pilot sustained serious injuries and the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. It was VFR and there was no flight plan filed for the local pleasure flight that originated from the pilot’s private airstrip in Lynch, Neb., at an undetermined time. The airplane came to rest in a clearing and a post-impact fire consumed the fuselage.
Carl Dietrich CEO and CTO, Terrafugia, Inc., Woburn, Mass. A private pilot at 17, Dietrich pursued his aviation passion in a rigorous intellectual way by winning entry to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. There he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and then went on to gain a Ph.D. He was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Innovation, and worked at the university, spending a total of a dozen years there before cofounding Terrafugia with four other MIT grads who are also pilots.
Executives at several business jet manufacturers have suggested that the return of stability to the used aircraft market may be a reason to be cautiously optimistic that the dramatic decline in aircraft prices and sales may be abating.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently received FAA certification for the second-generation Gulfstream Enhanced Vision System (EVS II) on the wide-cabin, high-speed Gulfstream G150. The system is available for both new and in-service G150 aircraft.
