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.
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.
FAA plans to seal records on aviation bird strikes prompted an outcry from safety advocates and government watchdogs. The agency maintained that releasing data could “produce an inaccurate perception” of the bird-strike danger, and that public access to the information could also cause airports to under-report incidents. The public had until April 20 to respond.
I had to look up the word “admonishment” (Viewpoint, February) in several locations before I found it used as a synonym for “admonition,” which has been for a long, long time the preferred term. I will admit that I was not misled in recognizing the meaning of how the word was used; but I was brought up short. I guess I am too old and too much a stickler for my version of what I consider correct grammar and usage because I find myself stuck about 20 years back. Of course our language continues to evolve nonstop.
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.
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.
As the TSA wades through comments received on its proposed Large Aircraft Security Program, which the agency itself now admits are overwhelmingly negative, nearly two dozen House Republicans warned of “possible legal challenges or congressional obstacles” if the LASP is not overhauled, and many critics have called for a government/industry task force to rewrite the rules. “This kind of proposal warrants the same collaborative approach the FAA uses in aviation rulemaking,” said Pete Bunce, CEO of GAMA.
Your February Editor’s Spotlight on Dave Collogan (page 9) was right on. Dave has been the news authority for business aviation for many years. He is a superb journalist and deserves the industry’s recognition and appreciation for telling it like it is. Hope he will contribute to Business & Commercial Aviation because he gets it “tight and right.”
— 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Daher, which recently acquired a 70-percent share in business aircraft maker Socata, has finalized an €80 million ($101 million) capital increase that will permit it to undertake a five-year €585 million capital expenditure plan. The plan includes a new plant in Nantes, France, dedicated to advanced composite aerostructures. The capital injection came through the purchase of 20 percent of Daher stock by two recently created French government investment funds.
Many in our industry jeered at Brazil’s imprisonment of American ExcelAire pilots after the Sept. 29, 2006, midair collision over the Amazon that killed 154. Many of the same people cheered when the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced arrests and criminal charges in connection with the Feb. 2, 2005, crash of a Challenger at Teterboro. So, why do the same people have different reactions to these two events? Is it OK for our government to arrest people after an accident, but not OK for other governments to do the same thing?
Sierra Industries has delivered its 50th Williams International FJ44-powered Cessna Citation since the Uvalde, Texas-based company won its original FJ44 Eagle II STC to upgrade the light jet’s engines in 2002. The 50th aircraft delivered by Sierra Industries was a Sierra Stallion SP, which features FJ44-2A engines that can be installed in either a Cessna Citation 500 or 501SP.
House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) sent a letter to the TSA in March, urging the agency to delay action on its proposed Large Aircraft Security Program until a new administrator is in place to review the proposal and “engage with Congress and industry stakeholders.” The chairman also questioned the costs associated with proposed third-party audits to measure LASP compliance, the development of a prohibited items list and other aspects of the proposal.
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.
“Jet sales are no longer in a cool-down mode. This industry has been pickled,” declared Carl Janssens, author of the Aircraft Bluebook’s Marketline newsletter. Values for virtually all jets and turboprops are declining or, at best, stable, according to the spring 2009 edition of the publication.
The RTCA Task Force on NextGen Mid-Term Implementation (NextGen TF) was launched on Feb. 10. FAA Air Traffic Organization Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski underscored the importance of the Task Force in providing recommendations that will support implementing operational capabilities by 2018. Task Force Chairman Randy Babbitt stressed that this is a critically important time for aviation and that the RTCA NextGen TF has the opportunity to set the course of aviation for decades.
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.
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.
