Embraer has signed its first Phenom 100 individual owner Embraer Executive Care (EEC) contract in the United States with Elizabeth and Jim Frost -- the first customers to take delivery of a Phenom 100 in December 2008. EEC is a fixed-cost-per-hour maintenance program that features access to Web-based maintenance tracking software.
Bombardier BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes — Inspect for damage and signs of seizure of the power control unit attachment joints and components, and take appropriate corrective actions, which include lubricating the system.
Is Air Force One the only accepted business aircraft? Is President Obama the only man with an important job? The shortsightedness of blaming all that is wrong with the financial ethics, markets and human greed on an effective, safe and job-creating industry is a sincere disappointment to all in the aviation business (Viewpoint, March, page 6).
The Italian aircraft investigative agency ANSV claimed a criminal inquiry into the Feb. 7 crash of a Cessna 650 Citation III outside Rome is impeding its own investigation into the accident. Italian law authorizes criminal prosecutors to take precedence in accident investigations, and they have seized the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. The ANSV said it fears that continuing delays in its investigation would have serious repercussions on aviation safety efforts both on a national and international level. The U.S.
India, a place of breathtaking beauty, opulent in resources and a center of spirituality, is also scarred by wrenching squalor and periodic eruptions of bloody violence. It was the crown jewel of the British Empire and since gaining its independence in 1947, has emerged as a formidable entity on the world stage. The latter occurred by design as leaders within this, the world’s largest democracy, invested heavily in education and technology.
A boon to many turbine operators is a new interpretation by FAA Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations Rebecca B. MacPherson of 14 CFR 91.409, which requires multiengine turbine jets, multiengine turboprops and turbine helicopters be enrolled in a current maintenance program recommended by the aircraft manufacturer. Her interpretation clarifies the meaning of “current,” which is now defined as the version of the maintenance program existing at the time an aircraft was manufactured.
Blackhawk Modifications, the Waco, Texas-based provider of engine upgrades for turbine-powered business aircraft, has earned European approval of its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135A engine installation in the Cessna Conquest I. Blackhawk officials say they already have upgraded 16 percent of the worldwide Conquest I fleet, and the European certification is expected to further increase the number of Cessna turboprop operators who will opt for the powerplant retrofit.
Maz-Viz, Inc. announced March 2 that Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH signed a contract for 23 EVS-1500 Infrared Night Vision Devices to equip EC-135 helicopters destined for EMS service for the National Ministry of Health in Poland. This order represents the first installation of Max-Viz Enhanced Vision Systems on European-operated EC-135 helicopters. Max-Viz says the EVS-1500 is the only EVS product featuring pilot selectable optical wide angle and telephoto views.
If your company uses charter to supplement the fleet, check out Jet Edge, a division of Western Air Charter, which is focusing its operations on Gulfstream heavy jet aircraft. The company claims it has grown to become the largest operator in Asia, and it also manages a number of Gulfstream IV and V aircraft, claiming owner returns of more than $10 million per year in a January announcement.
Honda Motor Co. CEO Takeo Fukui is quoted in a Feb.16 interview saying that HondaJet production will likely drop back to its initially planned 70 to 80 units per year from a recently announced increase to 100 per year when deliveries commence in 2010. He said the revised figures would cut costs and match production to new order forecasts. Honda is experiencing its first quarterly loss in 15 years, according to Bloomberg News, and is considering offering voluntary retirements for the first time in the United States.
Cessna customer service officials said enhancements to business aircraft in 2009 may qualify for the new bonus depreciation tax treatment included in the recent federal stimulus legislation, depending on the tax accounting treatment a company uses for the upgrade. “This is a good time to consider enhancements to your Citation, such as a glass cockpit, productivity features in the cabin, upgraded operational or navigational systems,” said Mark Paolucci, senior vice president, Cessna Customer Service.
— At 1740 CST, N9648Y, a twin-engine Beech 95-55A, sustained substantial damage when it collided with trees and terrain west of Runway 17 at Williams Airport (9X1) in Porter, Texas. The commercial rated pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private company based in Austin, Texas. A VFR flight plan was filed for the flight that originated at Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) at approximately 1700 and was destined for Williams Airport.
The Heli-Expo show in February confirmed that commercial helicopter demand is facing a down cycle, but a JPMorgan analyst predicted the market appears stronger for helicopters than for business jets. “Unlike the bizjet market, manufacturers on the helo side are not seeing massive demand destruction [yet].” JPMorgan credited market diversity with oil/gas, EMS, law and utility niches holding steady. But it also warned of “red flags. Our conversations clearly suggest to us that we could see a multiyear down cycle,” the analyst said.
Sky Wings, a Greek charter operator and partner of Khors Air Co. of the Ukraine, has successfully completed installation of its first Aviation Fleet Solutions (AFS) QuietEagle noise-reduction system on one of its Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200-powered Boeing MD83s. The installation was accomplished during a routine maintenance check at the MNG Technic service facility in Istanbul, Turkey. Sky Wings/Khors Air Co. has ordered three QuietEagle kits.
A footnote on page 129 of the fiscal 2010 U.S. budget overview calls for “repealing some aviation excise taxes and replacing these taxes with direct user charges,” beginning in 2011. The budget did not provide specifics, but the charges would appear to raise about $7 billion, the same amount sought by the Bush administration user-fee proposal. This has drawn strong reactions from industry associations and congressional legislators.
Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works also has a composite project with interesting implications for business jet makers. The Skunk Works expects to conduct the first flight of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) X-plane demonstrator by June. The ACCA is a heavily modified Dornier 328JET, which operates in both regional airliner and business jet applications, with a composite cargo fuselage and vertical tail fabricated using low-cost “out-of-autoclave” bonding techniques.
The EAA appointed Tom Poberezny chairman of the board. The EAA’s founder and previous chairman of the board, Paul Poberezny, 87, had earlier stepped down as chairman. The younger Poberezny will continue with his current duties as president while assuming the chairman’s role and leading a succession initiative to replace himself as president. After joining the organization, the EAA’s new president will assume responsibility for day-to-day operations and will focus on enhancing membership value and growth.
Michael Garvey, son of the editor of this magazine, flies a helicopter for the U.S. Coast Guard out of a base in Alaska and knows all about operations in low visibility. NVGs are a routine part of his life, and the USCG has extensive experience with the devices.
At the Feb. 27 deadline for submitting comments on the docket for the TSA’s NPRM that applies airline security procedures to all aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more and airports they use, the agency had received over 4,800 comments, virtually unanimously opposed to the proposed program -- the largest outpouring of opposition to any proposal or action the agency has seen since its founding in 2003. GAMA (24 pages), the NBAA (30 pages) and AOPA (48 pages) submitted their comments on Feb. 27.
True to its word, Bombardier is maintaining its commitment to the all-composite Learjet 85. Since announcing in September 2008 it was dropping composite-expert Grob from the program, Bombardier has brought the project completely in-house — transferring detail design, structural certification, prototype manufacture and initial production from the German firm to its own plants and even starting from scratch with a different composite lay-up process.
With only the Pacific Ocean portion to be completed, Inmarsat finally moved its third I-4 satellite into its assigned permanent geosynchronous station, thereby establishing exclusive broadband mobile communications coverage around the world. The final move completed a complex ballet of satellite movements as the three newest generation satellites entered service in stages without interruption to voice and data traffic as well as safety of flight services.
In March, the FAA reassured Eclipse EA500 operators, at least for the time being, that it is not grounding the aircraft in the wake of Eclipse Aviation’s Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy. All Eclipse operations including certification, production, service centers, training centers and dealers are shut down. Initially it was thought that ETIRC Aviation, Eclipse Aviation’s largest shareholder, would bring the OEM out of bankruptcy and restart operations, but it is evidently unable to come up with necessary financing — sparking creditors to demand liquidation.
Canada is currently the only country in the world that requires noncommercial operators of turbine-powered aircraft to be certificated and periodically audited for safety compliance. Further distinguishing the Private Operator Certificate program is the fact that the Canadian DOT (or “Transport Canada”) has deeded its administration entirely over to the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) as a means of saving the government money and resources.
Russ Lawton at the Air Charter Safety Foundation has two favorite risk management authors from whom he likes to quote. Here’s Lawton, citing some quotes from one and considering some thoughts from the other.
Decades ago, the hangar was a much more dangerous place than it is today. Safety equipment was a set of hearing protectors, and it was not uncommon to see a technician wobbling precariously from a too-short ladder or perched precariously on the top of the fuseage. Technicians would routinely crawl into fuel bunkers, or hell holes with open containers of solvent and oily rags. Back then this wasn’t considered risky, just part of the job description.
