As spring began, buyers of previously owned airplanes showed some signs of awakening from their winter slumber. Ever since the bottom dropped out of the used market in September 2008, everyone had wondered when the sales drought and freefall in aircraft valuations would end. At the end of March many brokers and dealers reported that aircraft sales remained slow and valuations remained substantially depressed from a year earlier. Skip Flint, Dassault Falcon Jet’s director of pre-owned aircraft sales, said, “I have never seen the pre-owned market plunge so quickly.
Haircuts are among life’s annoying necessities like speed limits and broccoli, so I favor the local family cuttery where the deed is done quickly and inexpensively. My bride, who eschews both cheap and hasty in caring for her locks, periodically nudges me into some tony hair spa to repair the damage done by my sartorial slumming. And that is how I met Jack of Paris & Co., “a full service multi-level salon,” merci, complete with lavender walls, mirrors upon mirrors, and the clicking heels of hip, young women wearing wonderfully tight black clothing.
Although bankers, brokers and dealers attending the recent National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) forum in Dallas know that there is no “silver bullet” for what ails aircraft sales, they resolved to work together to close transactions. NARA President Susan Sheets also encouraged attendees to participate in the advocacy of business aircraft ownership, noting that NARA, the NBAA, GAMA and AOPA are more effective when their constituents put pen to paper and contact the media as well as Congress. “General aviation is a resilient industry.
Daher-Socata is entering the fractional ownership business to boost sales of its TBM 850 single turboprop. The French plane-maker in April unveiled the “Fly and Share Your TBM” (F.A.S.T.) program designed for up to three shareholders that could own one-third increments in a TBM 850. The program would provide a minimum 100 days of “exclusive use” per year with unlimited flight hours. Daher-Socata says this differs from traditional fractional programs that require the purchase of annual flight hours.
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 number of general aviation accidents increased in 2007, which is worrisome, but the number of fatalities declined, as did the rate of fatal accidents, which fell more than would be anticipated by a declining number of flight hours, indicating a real reduction, according to the nineteenth annual AOPA Air Safety Foundation Joseph T. Nall report. You can read the 40-page document or download your own copy through the AOPA Web site.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
John Didier, president of Sacramento Aviation, which specializes in handling Citations and King Airs, believes the market may be turning. “The last quarter of 2008 was very slow. So was January. We went four months with just a few sales. Since the first part of February we have seen more activity — not big time — but the phones are ringing and we are getting an offer here and there. I think there is some light at the end of the tunnel.”
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?
— 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.
— 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.
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.
The comments by Michael Boyd in February’s Viewpoint are totally out of line! The CEOs of the car companies should have sold those airplanes rather than use them to beg for money. Come on, that is just wrong. They should have let them go bankrupt.
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.)
A leaner, consolidated industry, more accountability, perhaps new forms of ownership and longer aircraft retention, a resurgent charter component . . . and a “pony.”
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.”
