The 100th Paris Air Show opened June 15 and closed June 21. A complete rundown of the show is posted on a special Web site linked to the free AviationWeek.com site. You can read each issue of the Aviation Week Paris Air Show Daily. There are multiple blogs by Aviation Week people and guest bloggers. Photos, videos, podcasts and more available through www.aviationweek.com. All things aeronautical are represented at this show. Go to the Web site and look for yourself.
Greenwich AeroGroup, Greenwich, Conn., named Jim Ziegler president and CEO. Prior to joining Greenwich AeroGroup he was the chief operating officer of Jet Aviation, responsible for all North American operations.
IDTN/Meteorlogix has launched RotorWatch, a new premium service for subscribers to MxVision AviationSentry Online, Helicopter Edition that tracks helicopters inflight and displays the status of their bases, all in relation to bad weather. The service is aimed squarely at the airborne EMS community, with a color status code for each base. Operators can set the threshold weather level when it’s safe to accept a flight. Click on a helicopter and up pops ID, direction, speed and altitude.
The G350 offers the lowest price of admission to Gulfstream’s large cabin, current production aircraft family. New, it retails for $32 million, according to Business & Commercial Aviation’s 2009 Purchase Planning Handbook. Used G350s — they’re rare — might command half that in today’s depressed market.
Cobham’s synthetic-vision glass cockpit has been FAA approved for single-pilot IFR operation in a Bell 412 helicopter, marking the first time such a system has been IFR-approved in a rotary-wing aircraft. Arrow Aviation, a Broussard, La.-based helicopter support and service company, holds the STC for the installation. The search and rescue unit of North Slope Borough, Alaska, will be the first Bell 412 customer to have the electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) installed.
Century CRM developed the first of a series of human factors programs for Training Port, a Canadian-based online training firm. The company says the initial human factors program covers conflict resolution in the cockpit. Future courses are planned for release later in the year. Century CRM said the course represents an expansion into the Canadian professional pilot market. Based in Peachtree City, Ga., Century CRM specializes in human factors and crew resource management training.
“As we move into the summer of 2010, there has never been a market so fractured, with so many ups and downs,” commented Fletcher Aldredge, publisher of the Vref Aircraft Value Reference and the Vref Market Leader newsletter. Aldredge noted in the second quarter edition of Market Leader that international buyers have buoyed the used aircraft market in recent months. “The robust export market has helped breath life back into everything from Cessna 182s to Gulfstream 550s.”
ATR is stepping up appearances at business aviation events to build interest in corporate versions of its ATR-42 and -72 turboprops as options for the business aviation market. The French-Italian manufacturer has sold 110 of its aircraft in special non-airline configurations versions, including corporate, said Vice President of Marketing Mario Formica. “So we’re not new to the corporate market,” he said.
Germany’s Air Alliance, one of the leading Cessna Service Centers in Europe, has been named an authorized Blackhawk Modifications distributor and installation center and has agreed to purchase three new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A engines to re-engine Cessna Grand Caravans.
In the view of Bob Hobbi, founder and president of ServiceElements, the roles, responsibilities and expectations regarding flight department managers and members has changed dramatically and permanently. The new circumstances must be accommodated for the department’s continuation and success. These include:
Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington, Gulfstream President Joe Lombardo said, “Results [from the No Plane No Gain campaign] are favorable. Things have calmed down.” He added, however, that calming down only means the negative press has abated. The industry must still project a positive image. “General aviation has suffered significantly,” Lombardo said, with the downfall beginning in November when the chiefs of the three major U.S. automakers flew to Washington, D.C., on business jets.
Over the past several months, business aviation has been beset by negative media reports and congressional criticism, which was even furthered by the president himself, all of it prompted by thoughtless behavior and furthered by misinformation and generally tough financial times. Some companies closed the hangar doors and quit flying, leaving hundreds of flight department employees out in the cold. Since that time, progress has been made by aviation’s alphabet groups and others to turn back the tide of negative public opinion.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) announced June 10 that Jet Solutions, LLC of Richardson, Tex., is the first charter operator to complete the Industry Audit Standard and achieve “Registered” status with the ACSF. The ACSF Industry Audit Standard (IAS) is a program developed by the foundation to set the standard for the independent evaluation of an air charter or shared ownership company’s safety and regulatory compliance.
Proposed Rules Dassault Falcon 2000EX airplanes — Conduct a detailed visual inspection to detect any sharp and unprotected edges of the web of left-hand Stringer 13 between Frames 7 and 8, and measure the trimmed length of the web. If any sharp or unprotected edge is found, or if the trimmed length is 1.57 inches (40 mm) or greater, rework or replace the web.
Commercial airlines provide scheduled service to fewer than 500 cities in the United States, according to GAMA. That would seem to suffice for most companies’ routine business travel needs. However, only slightly more than two dozen hub cities have frequent nonstop commercial flights. Flying between the remainder of them requires one or more stopovers at hub airports, frequently resulting in lengthy travel times.
The House passed an amendment to limit the TSA’s use of security directives (SD) to bypass the regulatory approval process. The House agreed to the measure 219-211 as part of its consideration of the comprehensive TSA reauthorization legislation, H.R.2200. The TSA reauthorization bill subsequently cleared the House. Offered by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), general aviation groups endorsed the amendment as a “common-sense approach” to the use of security directives. GA lobbied for the amendment after the TSA’s airport badging SD generated an outpouring of opposition.
Air traffic controllers and weather forecasters are criticizing as “reckless” a plan to eliminate FAA-funded National Weather Service forecasting facilities located at FAA Centers, and replace them with two centralized facilities, one Maryland and one in Kansas. The National Weather Service forwarded its consolidation plan to the FAA on June 4, after that agency asked to reduce the cost of providing aviation weather forecasts to controllers.
Bombardier outlined how it will respond as a corporation to its own business jet forecast. “As the world begins to emerge from this economic crisis, demand should gradually return and future prospects remain solid,” for both commercial airliners and business jets, said Mairead Lavery, vice-president, Strategy and Business Development, Bombardier Aerospace. The company said, the fundamentals of the business jet industry are solid and are expected to remain so.
EMS SATCOM’s new single SwiftBroadband channel eNfusion HSD-Xi high-speed data terminal adds one SwiftBroadband and one Swift 64 channel to the company’s HSD-440 high-speed data transceiver. The combined system becomes a dual-channel SwiftBroadband system. The new transceiver has an External Software Configuration Module (ESCM) that holds one standard USIM card. This provides secure subscriber information for SwiftBroadband operation. The HSD-440 transceiver combines SwiftBroadband cabin services and cockpit/safety service on an aircraft using a single 8 MCU unit.
The FAA has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a contract for the first U.S. installation of its Low-Cost Ground Surveillance (LCGS) program to help manage airport surface traffic. The contract is for an initial LCGS system at the Reno, Nev., airport and includes options for additional airports. Northrop Grumman’s solution is based on the NOVA 9000 developed by Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems. The NOVA 9000 processes and integrates radar and related data to give graphical views of aircraft and vehicles in the airport movement area on display screens to controllers.
Richard Schuller was presented with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award at the Arizona Business Aviation Association’s meeting in Scottsdale on May 12. Schuller’s aviation maintenance career spans over 50 years and he prides himself on having aviation maintenance and customer support as the sole focus of his career in aviation. The award is named in honor of Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic who worked for the Wright brothers.
I have an acquaintance — a light-twin business pilot — who always files IFR for any trip away from his immediate local area for two reasons: “One, I’ve got someone to talk to and help me watch for traffic; and, two, staying IFR keeps me on track for the correct airport, especially at night.” Not a bad idea, especially for a lone pilot in busy airspace.
