Preferred Jet Center owner Larry Thompson flew the first takeoff and landing from the Marietta, Ga., airport’s newly paved 6,305-foot runway (originally lengthened in 2006), now widened to 100 feet. The project, which experienced weather delays, was started last June, and in addition to the enlarging of the runway, new high-intensity lighting and improved drainage were added. Preferred Jet says the runway becomes one of the largest in the greater Atlanta metro area.
Like many Atlantic storms during the hurricane season of 2008, Tropical Storm Fay began as a wave off the Cape Verde Islands on Africa’s west coast. Steered by winds, it moved slowly westward across the Atlantic Ocean but never seemed to develop circulation or convection. Fay would become infamous for its meandering course, taking it back and forth across Florida like a windshield wiper. It would be the only storm in history to make landfall on Florida four times.
The number of previously owned business jets on the market rose to 12.3 percent of the active fleet in November 2008, the highest level since the financial analysts at JPMorgan began tracking such data in December 1995. The December edition of the company’s Business Jet Monthly report noted that the number of used jets for sale climbed 90 basis points in November, the 10th consecutive month that the inventory increased.
A draft final report by Brazilian Air Force investigators released Dec. 10, on the Sept. 29, 2006 in-flight collision over the Amazon of an Embraer Legacy 600 owned by ExcelAire of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and a GOL Boeing 737, placed the blame for the accident, which killed all 154 persons aboard the Boeing, on U.S. Legacy pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paladino and Brazilian air traffic controllers.
We were a cocky bunch of young Naval aviators, and maybe even a bit more so than our predecessors since we had the extra distinction of being jet fighter pilots, something relatively new to the U.S. Navy in 1952. Like every other Pensacola fledgling back then, I learned the fundamentals in radial-powered SNJs, and then tried catching the three-wire on the old USS Cabot, steaming in the Gulf. After making the fighter track, I was suddenly screaming across the flat, pine-covered landscape, first in F6F Hellcats and then in early F9F Panther jets.
Jet Aviation Basel has completed a seven-month project to build a 35,520-square-foot hangar extension to accommodate Jet’s Dassault Falcon completions lines. Jet Aviation provides completions for the Falcon 2000, 900 and 7X. The company said the additional space not only will help increase production, but also free up space in the other hangars in Basel. Jet Aviation Basel encompasses more than 875,000-square feet of hangar space and has in-house design and engineering departments, along with on-site cabinetry, upholstery, fiberglass and paint shops.
Ole Henriksen (Virtual Flight Surgeons, Inc.), Guernsey, British Channel Islands (Virtual Flight Surgeons, Inc.)
Richard Aarons ended his October Cause & Circumstance (“Flying by the Numbers,” page 140) with an invitation to readers to let him know what they think, and since this is a subject close to my own heart, I will. First a few words on my background: UK PPL 1989; IR 1991; US ATP (MEL) 2001; 3,500 hours total in worldwide operations, mainly in Aero Commanders. I was director of the European Association for Instrument Rated GA Pilots (PPL/IR Europe, www.pplir.org) until retiring from flying in 2006 due to the escalating demands on general aviation in Europe.
— A Cessna 170B (N8387N), sustained substantial damage following a forced landing in mountainous terrain about 12 nm northwest of Hanna, Utah. The pilot and one passenger sustained serious injuries, the second passenger died. The VFR flight departed Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Salt Lake City, Utah, about 0930. Its destination was reported to be Colorado Springs, Colo.
— At 2145 CST, Sky North Air Flight 683, a Beech A100 King Air (C-FSNA), collided with trees and terrain shortly after takeoff from God’s Lake Narrows Airport (CYGO), Manitoba, Canada. The air ambulance flight was en route to Thompson Municipal Airport (CYTH), Thompson, Manitoba. The aircraft was destroyed during a post-impact fire. The three crewmembers and two passengers sustained minor injuries. It was night VFR when the accident occurred.
The first Avro Business Jet (ABJ) fitted with a corporate interior has been completed by Inflite Engineering, a business aircraft completion and service provider based at London-Stansted Airport.
AFTER SPEAKING AT A RECENT SEMINAR, I was handed a note that stated the following: “We operate improperly as a flight department company. Following the session, I called our company president, and suggested that we might want to change. His response was ‘Who cares?’ Are there any actual cases of pilot enforcement actions, insurance denials or fines as a result of an illegal structure?” I often hear from pilots who say their company is violating FARs and/or insurance restrictions, but the boss simply shrugs it off. Mistake.
As Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport was a week away from closing, ExecuJet Europe opened a redesigned and expanded facility at Berlin’s Schönefeld Airport. The company said its upgraded facility, with two floors and 400 square meters (4,300 square feet), represents an investment of €400,000. Included in the amenities are a crew lounge, operations brieifing room, conference rooms and VIP passenger lounges, with wireless Internet access throughout. The expansion, which began in April, was completed at the end of October.
2009 Jan. 11-15: American Association of Airport Executives 23rd Annual Aviation Issues Conference, Kona, Hawaii. (703) 824-0500. www.aaae.org Feb. 11-12: Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) Forum 2009, Hong Kong. www.nbaa.org Feb. 18-19: NBAA Leadership Conference, Doubletree Hotel, New Orleans. www.nbaa.org March 6-7: PAMA 2009 Aviation Maintenance & Management Symposium, American Airlines Training and Conference Center, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. www.pama.org
In March 2008, Southwest Airlines (SWA) became the center of attention over its admitted non-compliance with an Airworthiness Directive designed to prevent recurrence of cabin structure failure of an Aloha Airlines 737 in 1988. Before the facts could be revealed in a public hearing, the airline was both tarred and feathered by the mainstream media. Of course, never one to pass up a juicy news event, Congress jumped on board to bring the rails on which to carry SWA out of town. The facts behind the story were far from the sinister plot portrayed by the television news.
Ford and General Motors suddenly shuttered their corporate flight departments as part of their proposals to obtain billions of dollars in emergency loans from the U.S. government. Congress criticized leaders of both companies in November for coming to Washington from Detroit in their respective business jets to appeal for federal money. In announcing full details of its fiscal recovery plan Dec. 2, Ford said it was divesting itself of its five aircraft to improve its overall cash position.
As a sign of Brazil’s growing importance to business aviation, Jet Aviation, now a General Dynamics subsidiary, is teaming with Tropic Air, a Brazilian charter outfit based in São Paulo and Puerto Seguro.
If you have been tasked with quality control of maintenance logs in your department, pay heed to an Internet-based system for streamlining aircraft record-keeping called Logbook Organizer. Founded by Tim Carr, an experienced inspector and ATP, the company has been straightening out record-keeping since 1994. For a good overview of this comprehensive tool that provides online access with password protection, visit www.lboinc.com and view the PowerPoint presentation.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a series of clarifications, eagerly awaited by FBOs, to the agency’s Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) final rule released in December 2006 and pushed back the compliance deadline for newer facilities until Nov. 20, 2009. The deadline extension applies to facilities built after Aug. 16, 2002, and the EPA noted that facilities built before that date must already have an SPCC plan in place.
Cessna recently achieved type certification for the Citation Mustang from Transport Canada and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau, opening the way for deliveries to begin in both countries. As of December the Mustang fleet totaled 130 aircraft and had accumulated more than 19,000 flight hours, with the high-time aircraft logging more than 500 hours. The Mustang is now certified in 51 countries. The six-place jet has a top speed of 340 knots (630 kph), a range of 1,150 nm (2,130 km) with IFR reserves and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet (12,497 meters).
Used business jet inventories were up again in November, “the 10th consecutive month of increases, reaching 12.3 percent of the active fleet, the highest level since our data set began in December 1995,” a JPMorgan analysis said. Inventories were up in all aircraft categories.
On Dec. 8, 2008, Ken Allison’s chain of seven Million Air FBOs announced a switch to Odyssey Aviation, joining with the Nassau, Bahamas, FBO of that name to form a network of eight “FSPs” — flight support partners. No change of ownership or management is involved, said Allison and Steven Kelly, partners in the new enterprise.
EADS Socata is constructing a new industrial center for its Moroccan subsidiary Socaero at Casablanca-Mohammed V International Airport. The 54,000-square-foot facility will house subassembly work for Socata along with the company’s aerostructures customers, including elements for the Airbus A320 and A340, Eurocopter AS 350/355, Dassault Falcon 7X and Socata TBM 850. Socaero, which currently employs 90 workers, opened last year in the Aeropôle zone near Casablanca airport.
The FAA is requiring slot reservations between 0600 and 2259 EST daily for all non-scheduled arrivals and departures at JFK and Newark International airports — even though general aviation is not a factor in congestion at JFK or EWR, according to the NBAA.
A new heliport in Los Angeles to serve both trauma patients and corporate clients was dedicated Dec. 4. The Robert F. Maguire Heliport is situated at 240 West Venice atop the 15-story Grand Avenue Garage, which is owned by Maguire Investments. The new heliport will accommodate EMS helicopters and corporate operators, including rotorcraft flown by Maguire Aviation.
CoGoJets has created a new online, member-based, social networking Web site for business and leisure air travelers to coordinate their itineraries and have the advantage of private jet travel — one seat at a time. Members can negotiate their flight date, time and seats with other members and then collectively book a private jet together and split the expenses based on their pro rata share for the seats they occupy. CoGoJets was offering founding memberships for $500 (an 80-percent discount off the annual membership fee of $2,500).
