Iridium Satellite subscribers grew 37 percent to 309,000 for third quarter 2008, adding subscribers at a 47-percent rate of increase in the first nine months year on year. CEO Matt Desch said Iridium continues to be “the fastest-growing voice and data mobile satellite services company.” OpenPort, initially developed for the maritime market to provide greater bandwidth and higher data transfer speeds, will be adapted for aviation.
Less than 5 percent of the “loss of pressurization” reports indicated any symptoms of hypoxia. However, given that an encounter with hypoxia can quickly turn fatal, any discussion of loss of pressurization would be incomplete without mentioning the early warning signs and symptoms of this quick and deadly killer.
As Washington gears up for Barack Obama’s inauguration, aviation leaders should join ranks to ensure at least one Bush administration vestige is embraced by the new administration. We’re referring to “Managing Risks in Civil Aviation: A Review of the FAA’s Approach to Safety.” This insightful report was produced by a top-notch Independent Review Team (IRT) of safety and regulatory experts at the request of DOT Secretary Mary Peters in the wake of an air transportation fiasco in early 2008.
A history major at Georgetown University, O’Brien reported news at several local TV stations before applying for the science correspondent’s job at CNN. Interviewed by CNN’s chief science producer, a molecular biologist, it was quickly apparent O’Brien “didn’t know squat about science.” He brashly argued that his ignorance combined with his natural curiosity and interviewing skills made him the perfect candidate for the job — and he got it.
For the second time in three years, the DOT Inspector General has determined that FAA officials at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW) have misclassified or underreported errors. The report was requested by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which protects government whistle-blowers.
An airline client of MedAire’s MedLink Global Response Center was five hours into a 10-hour flight high over Kazakhstan when a 20-year-old passenger who was eight months pregnant suddenly went into premature labor. Volunteer medical personnel onboard helped deliver a healthy baby girl who apparently wasted no time making her entrance. A member of the flight crew contacted Medlink doctors for post-delivery advisories on monitoring mother and baby for any indicators for a precautionary landing.
The fourth quarter edition of Market Leader newsletter called the present market for previously owned aircraft “unprecedented,” adding that current conditions may be among the worst in recent memory. “Never before have we seen such a surplus of inventory coupled with a scarcity of buyers due to a global economic malaise,” declared Vref editor Fletcher Aldredge.
Michael O’Keeffe, senior vice president of aircraft sales for Banyan Air Service — the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based aircraft sales and support organization — declared recently: “From all the feedback I have gotten, I believe we are in for a very rough ride, at least over the next 12 months, unless some [economic] stimulus package or investment tax credit is enacted to encourage people to spend money.”
At the behest of the NBAA, AOPA and many individual operators, the TSA is extending the time period for public comment on the agency’s Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) proposal until Feb. 27.
Littleton, Colo.-based Avtrak has opened an office in Lowell, Mass., to support its growing customer base in the Northeast United States. The company provides aviation maintenance management solutions, consulting and logbook services to the corporate aviation community. The Avtrak GlobalNet service has been providing real-time, Web-based tracking since 1999 and currently supports more than 4,000 aircraft worldwide representing more than 140 different aircraft makes and models.
XOJET , San Carlos, Calif., announced that Holly Nelson has joined the company as senior vice president, finance and controller; Jerry Joondeph is senior vice president and general counsel; Jim Prebil is senior vice president and chief information officer; and Theodore Botimer is senior vice president, systems.
The FAA noted a major milestone in the shift from ground-based to satellite-based navigation. The number of published WAAS-based Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) approach procedures has surpassed the number of Category-1 ILS approach procedures. The tipping point came during September, the agency said. For the past 60 years, Category-I ILS has been used at airports throughout the National Airspace System (NAS) to guide aircraft to as low as 200 feet above touchdown.
Since Aviation Partners certificated its first winglet mod for the Gulfstream II in the early 1990s, the drag reducing devices have proliferated in both business and commercial aviation applications as a cost-effective way to increase efficiency in older aircraft designs by as much as 5 percent.
BLR Aerospace, the Everett, Wash.-based developer of airframe aerodynamic enhancements, expects to receive FAA certification of winglets for King Air 90s early next year. Priced at $45,000, the airfoils will be installed at BLR’s network of dealers (which include many Hawker Beechcraft Services authorized locations), according to Dave Marone, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.
For a total investment of about $3 million to $4 million, you can buy and equip a late model Beech King Air B200 so that it cruises faster, plus just as high and just as far as a $5.2 million 2009 Beech King Air B200GT. The rejuvenated King Air B200 can depart at its MTOW, climb directly to FL 350 in 26 minutes and cruise at 297 KTAS while burning 590 pph. Compared to a new King Air B200GT, that’s one minute quicker to FL 350 and 15 knots faster once level at that altitude.
Industrial Investors, the Russian firm that bought the assets of bankrupt Adam Aircraft, has cut its monthly support from $6 million to $1 million because of the impact of the near-collapse of Russian capital markets that resulted in substantial margin calls, according to a highly placed source at AAI Acquisition. Rather than risk total collapse of AAI Acquisition, Jack Braly, president and CEO, announced a “strategic realignment” on Oct. 28 to keep the VLJ maker solvent.
During the course of this, Business & Commercial Aviation’s 50th anniversary year, we’ve published quite a lot of information pertaining to business aviation during our first, 1958. For those readers who have been noting the historical factoids, we’d like to reward you with BCA 50th Anniversary picture frames, as long as supplies last. To obtain yours, provide answers to the questions below and e-mail them, along with your address (and any comments that come to mind) to: [email protected].
French industrial group Daher will take over Socata by purchasing a 70-percent stake from EADS, which will retain a 30-percent share for the near future. The deal, which is expected to close in early 2009 barring unexpected regulatory obstacles, includes an agreement for Daher to have the first right to buy the remaining EADS stake if EADS decides to unload those shares after a three-year period, says Patrick Daher, chairman and CEO of the Daher Group. The sales price to privately owned Daher has not been disclosed.
Michimasa Fujino, the president and CEO of Honda Aircraft Co., Greensboro, N.C. is charged with the development, production and sales of a light business jet that will never be mistaken for another — the HondaJet. And it is most appropriate that he receive a Vision award because this unique aircraft and the new company created to produce it are direct results of his personal vision.
While an overhaul facility like Stevens or Yingling may do the math when marketing its upgrades, Rockwell Collins applies a calculus to the determination of whether to proceed with an STC for Pro Line 21 packages. Because the company develops and holds ownership to all STCs in order to ensure performance of its products, this is no trivial exercise. John Peterson, the company’s manager of aftermarket marketing for business and regional systems, describes it this way:
DeCrane Aerospace , Georgetown, Del., named John A. Martin to vice president and general manager for PATS Aircraft Completions, a division of DeCrane.
In the first few days after the onset of the worldwide financial crisis, business aircraft financing activity nearly ground to a halt. In October, Nicholas Chabraja, CEO of Gulfstream’s parent company, General Dynamics, reported that the absence of credit had “seized up” demand for business jets.
— A Piper PA-24-260, N8820P, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain while being vectored for an instrument approach to Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO), Charlottesville, Va. Night VFR prevailed at the destination airport at the planned arrival time, and the pilot had filed an IFR flight plan. According to the FAA and Lockheed Martin Services (LMS) information, about 1633 the pilot telephoned LMS in order to obtain a weather briefing and file a flight plan.
While airlines are facing challenges in India, the market for luxury business jets is thriving, says a Falcon Jet official. “The business jet market in India is booming,” said J.P.H.P Chabriol, senior vice president-Dassault Aviation in an introduction to the company’s aerospace activities. Until recently, India had about a dozen of the Falcon family with the Tata group as its main customer. The company has now received 24 more Falcon orders. The business jet is now a business tool as opposed to a corporate status symbol, says a KPMG report.
