Robert Crandall has decided to ground Pogo, his start up very light jet charter operation, before it ever left the ground. He says he’s returning what remains of the operation’s seed money to investors. “I feel badly about it,” he said of the decision, April 15. “It’s just one of those ideas that didn’t work out.” Rather described the intended Pogo as a typical FAR135 charter operation using small jets with trips confined to the northeastern United States.
The current state of decline of the business aviation community specifically and the economy in general does not merit a complex degree of analysis. It is mostly the result of a national political party determined to squash all that is good about capitalism, prosperity, free market concepts, opportunity, et al.
At the end of February, Embraer had four Phenom 300s in flight testing at the company’s Flight Test Center at the Gavião Peixoto plant, in Brazil. The aircraft have flown to 45,000 feet, while maintaining a 6,600-foot cabin and demonstrated a maximum cruising speed of 450 KTAS (Mach 0.78). Ongoing tests include aerodynamics and natural ice, as well as data collection for the full-flight simulator development. Lightning strike, High Intensity Radiated Field (HIRF), external noise, crosswinds and cold soak tests are scheduled.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the King Air 350ER under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Eurocopter acquired 80 percent of the shares of Euroheli, the Eurocopter distributor in Japan, from co-owner Itochu Corp. Euroheli has been renamed Eurocopter Japan (ECJ). Eurocopter’s share of the Japanese distribution business will increase from 10 percent to 90 percent with Itochu retaining 10 percent of the company’s shares and continuing as a Eurocopter partner. As of April 1, Euroheli’s staff and activities were merged with ECJ which will continue to be headed by CEO Stephane Ginoux.
The Maryland state senate Finance Committee has approved a bill that may put the brakes on the state’s plan to buy more medevac helicopters. Under the bill, which still has to pass the full state senate, the Maryland Health Care Commission, working with the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Systems Services, would be required to study the state’s helicopter emergency medical services before moving with any helicopter purchase.
— At 0950 CDT, a Cessna E162 Skycatcher experimental airplane (N162CE) was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain near El Dorado, Kan., following a loss of control during a test flight. The pilot was not injured. The flight originated at Cessna Aircraft Field Airport (CEA) in Wichita where the weather was VFR. The pilot departed CEA about 0900 to conduct spin tests. During a planned test condition the airplane entered a rapid and disorienting spin.
House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) March 13 reiterated opposition to an apparent Obama administration plan to replace “some aviation taxes with direct user charges” beginning in 2011. “These concepts are stale leftovers from the Bush administration that are not supported in Congress,” said Costello. “We should not be wasting time rehashing bad ideas. Let me be clear, user fees on general aviation are a nonstarter.”
Robert Holleran, Jeppesen’s chief technical pilot, recently completed the flight validation training course for Satellite-Based Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and Special Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Instrument Flight Procedures (IFP) — making Jeppesen the first and only third-party vendor authorized to flight check PBN procedures.
I have a small, Hong Kong-based company that sells pre-owned aircraft, and crews and manages them in Southeast Asia. Now, I’m trying to start an FAR Part 135 operation in Florida, but I am having a difficult time financially, like many other pilots. We need some verbal help from the president. We are not asking for financial help . . . even though many of us could use it since his words have been spoken. I believe the president should retract or revise what he is saying. My father said one should take care of business at home before you criticize your neighbor. The U.S.
Korean Air has ordered two Citation CJ1+ aircraft to join its fleet of Citation Ultras, which have been used for advanced pilot training platforms since 1995. The new Citations will have a special center-mounted instructor/observer seat just behind the two pilot seats. The aircraft will be based at Korean Air’s pilot training center at Jeju, South Korea.
Fill up the tanks and a Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER can fly six passengers more than 2,200 nm, according to our 2009 Purchase Planning Handbook. That’s enough range to fly from San Diego to Westchester County, N.Y., Pittsburgh to Van Nuys or Seattle to Orlando. The least expensive jet offering that same range costs $14 million — nearly double the price of the long-legged King Air.
Garmin Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) received FAA-certification on a range of G1000-equipped aircraft in April. Cessna announced at the Friedrichshafen, Germany, air show that the new SVT certification applies to all G1000-equipped 172 Skyhawks, 182 Skylanes, 206 Stationairs and Caravans. The day before the Cessna announcement, Daher-Socata announced SVT certification of its TBM 850. The system also received an STC on the King Air 200/B200. And Cessna expects FAA certification on the Citation Mustang, 350 Corvalis and 400 Corvalis TT in the coming weeks.
Marcel Dassault is considering producing the MD-15 pressurized twin turboprop as a business airplane. The Bastan-powered aircraft would carry eight passengers, cruise at 290 mph at 19,500 feet and have a 1,250-mile range. Ramjets at rotor tips power the Dutch-built Kolbrie. The simple, low-cost rotorcraft is highly maneuverable with good stability and deemed ideal for agricultural work.
Bob Howie (Houston, TX), Assistant Chief Pilot (Houston, TX), Wing Aviation Charter Services (Houston, TX)
Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone for another year and while folks still laud the game, aviation would be remiss if it did not praise the efforts of the FAA and, in my case, Signature Flight Support in Tampa for their efforts in successfully orchestrating the post-game departures of what was likely more than 100 corporate jets. Ramp and ground control choreographed a ballet that would have made George Balanchine envious!
W.W. (Bill) Boisture took the reins of Hawker Beechcraft Corp. as chairman and CEO Mar. 23, replacing Jim Schuster, who had announced his plan to retire once a successor was in place. His second day on the job, Boisture told the Wichita Eagle that, “There’s going to be a lot of change required to adapt to the levels of demand required in the marketplace and the way our products can be deployed in the marketplace in the future. How many airplanes should we build? How large should the company be?
A leaner, consolidated industry, more accountability, perhaps new forms of ownership and longer aircraft retention, a resurgent charter component . . . and a “pony.”
— At 1905 PDT, a Beech 200 (N257A) collided with a tree while taxiing after landing at Henderson Executive Airport (HND), Las Vegas. Southern Nevada Jet Charter was operating the airplane as an on-demand air taxi flight. The airline transport pilot and copilot, and two passengers were not injured; however, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing spar. The flight departed Napa County Airport (APC), Napa, Calif., about 1700. It was VFR and no flight plan was filed.
Canada is the only country that requires noncommercial operators of turbine-powered aircraft to be certified and regularly audited for safety compliance. Even more notably, Canada’s DOT has delegated the administration of the Private Operator Certificate program to the Canadian Business Aviation Association to save government money and resources. (See Business & Commercial Aviation, April, page 42.)
Name withheld by author’s request (Williamsburg, VA)
With respect to the January Intelligence item by James E. Swickard about the “systemic shortcomings in Brazilian air traffic control concepts” (page 11), I offer a personal anecdote.
Cessna appointed Chimes Aviation Academy at Sagar’s Dhana Airport as its third Cessna Pilot Center (CPC) in India. “Demand for aviation in India continues to grow, even during these tough global economic times,” said Julie Filucci, Cessna’s CPC manager. Uday Punj, director of Chimes Aviation, said, “We are driving a culture of excellence in all facets of flight training, beginning with our fleet of brand-new single-engine Cessna 172 aircraft with Garmin G1000 integrated glass cockpits.
Sometimes simpler is better. Amidst the torrent of ongoing research, claims and announcements of various alternative aviation fuels — almost universally bio-engineered — Teledyne Continental Motors has made the first flight of a certificated aircraft, a G36 Beechcraft Bonanza, using unleaded aviation gasoline. The 94 octane gasoline is a true avgas, identical to 100LL, but without the lead (tetraethyl). The initial tests are being conducted in collaboration with Hawker Beechcraft as part of that company’s sustainability program.
The business aircraft industry is in for tough times in 2009, probably rougher going than in any downturn in the last several decades. Historically, sales of business aircraft have risen and fallen on the fortunes of Wall Street and the world economy. Considering the state of the economy, the industry’s present slump is not unexpected.
Time was when flying training schools in Florida, California, Arizona and other sunny climes in the southern United States were magnets for pilots seeking a professional career on the flight deck. And the World Aerospace Database (WAD) still lists far more training providers in North America than in any other region of the world. But excellent training can also be found far from these shores, as the accompanying list reveals.
