FAA reauthorization has taken a small step forward as of this writing after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) cleared the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, H.R. 915, for full House action — with no mention of user fees. But the Ways and Means Committee is still to be heard from. The bill would authorize nearly $70 billion in spending through fiscal 2012 and contains most of the provisions included in reauthorization legislation that the committee introduced back in 2007.
Duncan Aviation, the Midwestern aircraft sales and support company, has completed the first upgrade of a Falcon 50EX from Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics to Pro Line 21. Greg Irmen, vice president and general manager of Rockwell Collins Business and Regional Systems, said, “Falcon 50EX owners and operators can now experience the added situational awareness and operational efficiencies that our Pro Line 21 solution offers. We intend to expand this offering to other platforms in the future as well.”
The National Air Transportation Association has joined with Scheduling Sidecar fuel research and optimization, a software package that works with existing flight planning software suites. Sidecar automatically seeks the most efficient and cost-effective fuel purchasing options for a given trip and allows crew and operations to order fuel from any Internet access point. The package tracks purchases and generates reports. The partnership was announced at the January Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in Long Beach, Calif.
The National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) held a special, sold-out industry-wide forum at DFW Feb. 15 focusing on “Challenges and Opportunities Ahead: The Aircraft Sales Industry in the Next Six Months.” While the association anticipated 100 or so attendees, double that number of aircraft brokers, dealers and finance organizations turned out for the event. “The remarkable attendance at the NARA forum is indicative of the concern professionals have about the business aircraft resale market,” noted NARA President Susan Sheets.
Three groups have indicated their interest in bidding for the Eclipse assets, which include Eclipse’s Double Eagle II training center and simulators, its factory service centers in Gainesville and Albany, and its plant and equipment at Albuquerque International Airport, along with intellectual property of vital interest to Eclipse operators including the type certificate and parts approval authorizations.
The FAA has approved a system pioneered by SATSair, the Greenville, S.C.-based air taxi service, partnered with Alakai Technologies and CAPACG. Alakai provides a wireless broadband-equipped flight data recorder installed on the operator’s fleet of Cirrus SR22s. At the end of every flight, the unit downloads its data recordings via secure Internet connections for analysis by CAPACG personnel, who interpret the data and deliver Flight Operational Quality Assurance reports to SATSair management.
The bankruptcy judge granted Eclipse Aviation’s three largest secured creditors, Kings Road Investments, HBK Services and Citadel Investment Group’s motions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to convert the firm’s Chapter 11 reorganization into a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding in February. Sources close to Eclipse told BCA Senior Editor Fred George that the move was hastened by ETIRC Aviation’s inability to come up with the funds necessary to close its earlier proposed asset buyout.
Used aircraft prices will continue to drop even after a mid-year inventory peak and then trough near year-end, according to Brian Foley Associates (BRiFO). “It takes a while for prices to adjust to supply, just as they recently took time to drop as inventories quickly rose. The most desirable equipment will slowly begin selling through the second half,” said BRiFO principal Brian Foley.
Gulfstream Aerospace officially opened its APU Test Cell in March at the South Service Center. The 308-square-foot test cell qualifies Gulfstream as a “Center of Excellence” for Honeywell APU Testing and adds to service and support operations at Gulfstream. In the facility, technicians can perform overhaul testing on every APU model used on Gulfstream aircraft as well as other aircraft, including those manufactured by Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Hawker Beechcraft, Raytheon and Saab. If an APU repair is needed, it can be done in-house.
John Clark, chairman of Airports Council International-North America, in testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently called for airport infrastructure stimulus money to be channeled through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) since such projects must be approved by the FAA and that vetting would meet the stringent transparency and accountability standards Congress is expected to require of stimulus projects.
A Feb. 28 EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) proposal would make it harder to gain European recognition for pilot certificates earned in the United States, the AOPA’s Aviation e-Brief reported March 9. The proposal would require the equivalent of re-certification for private pilot certificates earned in U.S. flight schools. If passed into law, the proposal would adversely affect U.S. flight schools that train foreign pilots, as well as pilots coming to the United States for training.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Sikorsky announced that Polish operator Aircom SP Z.O.O. is the launch customer for the first commercial S-434 helicopter, a four-blade, more-powerful upgrade version of the S-333 single-turbine rotorcraft. Aircom plans to take delivery of its S-434 in 2011.
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.
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.
The NBAA has a great resource for hangar safety compliance that includes OSHA checklists and guidance for developing an effective safety program — www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/hangar. In addition to safety resources, the NBAA offers guidance for developing your procedures manual and implementing effective management programs.
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.
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.
“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.
