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.”
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?
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.
— 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.
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.
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.
The TSA has assigned its general aviation liaison, Juan Barnes, whose charter is to address concerns over recent security measures. The AOPA’s online newsletter told members, “Now GA stakeholders can address questions to Barnes, the new line of communication to the TSA’s Office of General Aviation. Questions can be sent to Barnes at [email protected]. The AOPA will automatically be copied.”
ExecuJet announced in January a plan to expand in Mexico with services to Latin America and the Caribbean and two new aircraft under charter management — a Global Express and Falcon 900B. The company has already been operating a fleet of Pilatus PC-12s, a Falcon 7X, a CL300 and a DA2000, but will now have two bases at Del Norte and Mariano Escobedo International in Monterrey.
Eurocopter announced that two EC135s were ordered by the Japanese Ministry of Defence for delivery before year-end to the Kanoya Naval Training School on the island of Kyushu. Eurocopter expects a follow-on order for three additional EC135s in 2010 to bring the Maritime Self Defense Forces training helicopter fleet to a total of 15 aircraft.
— At about 1500 EST, a Piper PA-18-150 (N2424A), registered to Flightline Group, Inc., collided with a vehicle during takeoff from Ayavalla Airstrip (a private airstrip), near Tallahassee, Fla. It was VFR and there was no flight plan filed for the local flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-certificated pilot and one passenger in the airplane were not injured while the two occupants of the vehicle were killed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
February’s Viewpoint (page 7) is an excellent comparison of two views between Michael Boyd and Avi Weiss and is a demonstration of good journalism. Boyd points out that corporate airplanes are seen by some to be symbols of evil. It seems an examination of conscience might be in order to determine the reasons for such public perceptions.
K. Douglas Davis is the manager of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Office (AIR-160) and the source of most know-how and savvy on where things stand with respect to the movement of civilian-operated unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system (NAS).
In mid-afternoon on Nov. 27, 2008, yachtsmen and fishermen working the French coast between Santé Marine and Saint Cyprien looked up to watch an Air New Zealand Airbus A320, D-AXLA, as it maneuvered for approach to Perpignan-Rivesaltes Airport.
I want to commend you for all your efforts in taking on the violent media attacks on our industry. Your Op-Ed piece in the New York Times and subsequent Viewpoints in Business & Commercial Aviation have gone a long way in educating the public of the importance, both economically and as a business tool, of corporate aviation. Kudos on a job well done. As an active member of the GAMA Communications Committee I can assure you that our organization will unite to battle the misrepresentation of our aircraft.
On May 4, 2007, a tornado of unimaginable force, measuring 1.7 miles wide, struck the small city of Greensburg, Kan., population 1,574, at 9:45 in the evening. It killed 11 people and shaved the top off any structure from about five feet on up, destroying 95 percent of the city.
“Kid on a Shuttle” (March, page 48) was a terrific article! On behalf of the thousands of cancer patients we’ve helped, and the thousands more we will help in the future, thank you.
Once Stevens Aviation, a Beech dealer that had been one of the leading sellers of King Airs, learned that Hawker Beechcraft would take responsibility for all sales of its popular turboprop, the Greenville, S.C.-based company hired Dana Arnold, a longtime Learjet salesman, to restructure its turbine-powered marketing efforts. The company was “looking to get into the jet business in a big way,” explained Arnold, who said that Stevens is in the first year of a five-year plan that aims to eventually sell roughly as many jets as turboprops.
— About 1100 Alaska Standard Time, a CASA 212 twin-engine airplane (N440RA) sustained heavy damage when it collided with terrain about one-half mile west of Kotzebue Airport, Kotzebue, Alaska. The VFR cargo flight was being operated by Arctic Transportation Services, Anchorage, Alaska, when the accident occurred. The pilot and copilot were not injured. It was IFR at the airport; however a special VFR clearance had been obtained by the flight crew. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on Feb.
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.
Cessna Aircraft has introduced its “No Worries” program for prospective purchasers of pre-owned Citations in an effort to assure them that their investment in a used light jet will be solid.
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.
— An airline transport rated pilot was making a personal cross-country flight in a Beech 65-A90-1 (N418SP). He said when he arrived at the destination airport in Soldotna, Alaska, there was three to four inches of new snow, and that the overcast and low light condition made everything look gray. He said the VASI lights were inoperative, and the appropriate NOTAM) was issued. The pilot said he turned on the runway lights, identified what he thought was the runway surface, and lined up the runway edge lights on his left.
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?
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.
