The first signs of a positive response to efforts by the general and business aviation community to recapture a favorable opinion among U.S. lawmakers are now being felt, say general aviation association leaders.
“How can we hide the jet?” This question has been posed too frequently for way too long now. Some flying “off the balance sheet” has always occurred at the fringes of our industry, but now it is becoming mainstream. It shouldn’t be. You can block N-numbers on tracking software and create a leasing labyrinth to hide aircraft ownership, but you can’t prevent someone from snapping a picture of the boss stepping out of the jet.
Associated Air Center has won FAA approval for modifications designed to meet a new SFAR-88 mandatory Airworthiness Directive on its ninth Boeing Business Jet equipped with the DeCrane-PATS auxiliary fuel system.
DeCrane Aerospace, Wichita, appointed Brian DeCamp as general manager for the Precision Pattern Interiors division and Patty Raisor as the new general manager of the Carl F. Booth Veneers division in New Albany, Ind.
Among the many worthy skills that have eluded me is that of selling unbidden things to strangers. Whenever I’ve tried, I invariably sympathize with the intended buyer’s objections, which nearly always seem quite sensible and insurmountable save to simply giving him the thing free of charge. It’s always been thus, which made my choice of a summer job one college year all the more ludicrous. I signed up to sell encyclopedias door-to-door.
FlightSafety International has launched a new Aircraft Electronics Technicians course that is accredited by the National Center for Aerospace & Transportation Technologies (NCATT). The course is designed as a foundation for the building block approach to avionics training and provides comprehensive understanding of the fundamentals of electrical and avionics technology. Classroom training focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of the “theory of circuit operation” to enhance knowledge of aircraft systems and improve troubleshooting skills.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Paris Salon (threesome in foreground) were old-time flying boat designers Claude Dornier (right), now making STOL airplanes, and Igor Sikorsky (left), helicopter designer. Sikorsky took Dornier for a ride in his S-61 (background), which features turbine power and flying boat hull.
The NTSB rarely undertakes a full “blue book” investigation into a light-twin accident, but the loss of NASCAR’s Cessna 310R on July 10, 2007, is an exception. The Safety Board was attracted by the facts that the piston twin was part of a large turbine fleet; that questions existed about the use of the airplane under NASCAR’s standard operating procedures; and that a critical maintenance issue may have slipped through the management cracks.
July 16: Demonstrating & Quantifying the Value of Business Aviation, McGraw-Hill Corporate Headquarters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. (800) 240-7645. www.aviationweek.com/conferences July 27-Aug. 2: Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) 57th AirVenture Oshkosh 2009, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis. (920) 426-4800. www.airventure.org Aug. 7-9: Abbotsford International Airshow, Abbotsford International Airport, BC, Canada. (604) 852-8511. www.abbotsfordairshow.com
Century CRM has developed its first human factors program for Training Port, a Canadian-based company that provides online training for professional pilots in Canada. The first program in the series explores conflict resolution in the cockpit. The short online interactive series provides an introduction to the more advanced human factors training offered by Century CRM. Future courses are planned for release later this year. Price: Contact vendor Century CRM, LLC 105 White Oak Trail Peachtree City, GA 30269
Airbus has become a full member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, a private/public partnership to modernize European Air Traffic Management (ATM). An agreement with the 16 partners of the SJU was finalized June 12. SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) will develop and deliver the operational and technical standards for the progressive deployment of the new European ATM system — roughly equivalent to the U.S. NextGen ATM program. Patrick Gavin, Executive Vice-President, head of Airbus Engineering explained, “ATM is a limiting factor to the growth of air transport.
Dassault issued 111 more layoff notices, effective June 5, at its Little Rock, Ark., completion center, blaming the economic downturn and the business jet slump. The layoffs came largely in the initial engineering and design areas, said spokesman Andrew Ponzoni. “Our main production activities, such as building interiors, painting and flight test, were less affected,” he said. Staffing levels are now roughly the same as they were in January 2008, said Ponzoni.
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt gathered representatives from the major air carriers, their regional partners, aviation industry groups and labor in Washington, D.C., on June 15 to participate in a closed-door “call to action” summit to improve airline safety. This discussion addressed pilot training, cockpit discipline and other issues associated with flight safety.
Cessna Aircraft Co. announced two major single engine sales June 16. One was a signed agreement with Indonesia’s Susi Air for the purchase of 30 Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops. Eight of the new Caravans will be delivered this year, with the remainder of the order to be completed in 2011. Susi Air already operates 10 Grand Caravans. It began operations with two Caravans in December 2006, providing scheduled and charter passenger and cargo service throughout Indonesia, as well as humanitarian airlift support for the region.
Rockwell Collins acquired DataPath, Inc., a global leader in creating satellite-based communication networks, the company announced June 1. DataPath, which includes a wholly owned subsidiary SWE-DISH Satellite Solutions AB, will operate under the Rockwell Collins brand as part of the company’s government systems business.
The actions by a group of protestors calling themselves Plane Stupid, who chained themselves to the wheel of a private jet parked at London City Airport on June 10 were called “misguided” and “politically driven” by the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA). The protesters were arrested and charged with criminal damage, along with breaking and entering. Plane Stupid activists have a record of pulling aviation-related publicity stunts to highlight their concerns about climate change, says the BBGA.
Raytheon will lead a team of five companies to study how NextGen architecture will affect the National Airspace System from 2018 to 2025. “The next generation of airspace management must support a broad array of capabilities — from classic aircraft with minimal automation to highly integrated, multi-sensor aircraft, including unmanned aerial systems,” a Raytheon official told Avionics magazine.
Mike Ellis, Hawker Beechcraft’s vice president of pre-owned aircraft, characterizes today’s market for previously owned business aircraft as “tentative.”
Analysts in the global equity research department of financial services company J.P. Morgan report that inventories of previously owned business jets are stabilizing, but at a relatively high level, indicating that a recovery in the market is not imminent.
Large UAVs and civil aircraft in the same airspace? Can this be done safely with current technology? The Defense Department and the FAA are cooperating to find ways to safely share airspace. The agencies assume onboard sense-and-avoid for UAVs will not be certificated until late in the next decade, so they have launched an initiative centered on Grand Forks, N.D., already home to Customs and Border Patrol Predator UAVs, will also be a base for Air Force and Air National Guard Predators and Global Hawks and has a commercial airport.
Jeff Saucedo (Newport News, Virginia), Vice President, Sales & Marketing (Newport News, Virginia), International Communications Group (Newport News, Virginia)
The annual BCA Planning and Purchasing Handbook is a comprehensive and valuable resource for the business aviation community and I always read it with great interest. My interest, however, turned to dismay when I reviewed Mal Gormley’s article “Cabin Electronics” (May, page 202). I realized that International Communications Group (ICG) was conspicuous by its absence.
More than 1,000 new turbine-powered business aircraft were delivered in seven of the past ten years, but those numbers, while impressive, pale when compared to the used turbine aircraft marketplace which typically sees several times those figures — even in down years.
Way back in the early 1980s as a maintenance manager or senior technician, you had to plan your life around being “on call.” That meant that you had to be sitting next to a telephone just in case your crew ran into trouble while on a trip. The invention of the pager was received as a miraculous gift for those of us who had a life outside the hangar. You could actually go see your kids play ball or tap dance, go fishing or maybe see a movie. Sweet freedom! Right up to moment the darn thing went off.
