Mooney Aerospace Group, Ltd. , Kerrville, Texas named Robert B. Gowens CEO of the Mooney Airplane Co. Dennis E. Ferguson remains the president of Mooney.
Jet Support Services, Inc. , Chicago, named Joe Hagin as its CEO. A former executive at Federated Department Stores and Chiquita Brands, Hagin most recently served as deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.
NAASCO Northeast Corp. , Shirley, N.Y., announced that Doug Caldwell has joined the company as general manager responsible for operations, strategic planning and budgeting.
XOJet, the new on-demand charter and aircraft ownership services company based in San Carlos, Calif., claims that the current financial crisis has actually brightened its overall prospects. “In bad times, sometimes you can turn them into good times,” says XOJet Founder, President and CEO Paul Touw. He noted that Bombardier informed him it can deliver eight Challenger 300s early. XOJet plans to field 80 aircraft months ahead of schedule.
Dallas Airmotive , Dallas, appointed Max Allen to the post of director, Continuous Improvement and Component Repair. He will coordinate all ERO component repair businesses located at Lafayette, La.; Dallas; and Portsmouth, England.
At last month’s NBAA Convention Hawker Beechcraft Corp. announced the Hawker 450XP, its 400XP successor, as, “the most comprehensive product upgrade in light jet history.” Upgrades will include new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535D engines with 10-percent better fuel economy and a full-authority digital engine control; a new “infotainment” system based on the Rockwell Collins Venue integrated cabin management system; and a Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system.
Ask a roomful of maintenance managers how they achieved their current position and their responses will likely share uncanny similarities: An early interest in aviation combined with a knack for fixing things evolved into acquisition of an A&P license after working machines in the military, or graduation from an FAR Part 147 school. After that, the real learning began by working on simple aircraft systems or ground equipment, and gradually moving up to more complex machinery.
Even in the midst of a credit crisis, JetBird, a startup European charter operator, recently announced two new financing packages and detailed its progress toward its planned 2009 launch with a fleet that is to eventually total 100 Embraer Phenom 100s. One package was a “strategic” investment of about $14.4 million of equity capital by a so-far unnamed family owned Middle Eastern trading group, which will now become JetBird’s second largest shareholder, with a 9.3-percent holding. The group will have a seat on the JetBird board.
Accidents involving U.S. business turbine aircraft jumped substantially during the first nine months of 2008, according to data compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla. U.S. business jet and turboprop operators were involved in 56 accidents from January through September, including 17 that resulted in 49 passenger and crew fatalities. During the same period in 2007, there were 39 accidents, including 12 fatal events that resulted in 32 deaths.
The NBAA’s 61st Annual Meeting & Convention had a “solid turnout” considering the challenging economy, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. The 30,811 attendees this year represented a decline of 3.7 percent from the 2007 show, which drew some 32,000 attendees. But attendance at the NBAA show proved stronger than at many other conventions held this year at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, where the number of registrants at various conventions was down 8.4 percent through mid-July
Attending to the 1,000 light aircraft operators who are NBAA members, the business aviation advocacy group will inaugurate its first Light Business Airplane Exhibition and Conference in March 2009 at San Diego. “This is the NBAA’s commitment to the small aircraft owner/operator with educational sessions and exhibitors,” Doug Carr, NBAA’s vice president for safety, security and regulation, said.
AWIN partner Forecast International (FI) expects this year’s business jet production to reach nearly 1,400 units, and exceed 1,600 units in 2009. However, the company projects that annual production will then suffer a three-year decline, dropping to 1,515 units by 2012. FI’s “The Market for Business Jet Aircraft,” issued Sept. 29, said growth is expected to resume in 2013, with yearly production exceeding 1,700 units by 2017, the final year of the study’s time period.
FlightSafety International , La Guardia Airport, N.Y., announced that Scott Galdi has joined the company as regional marketing manager. He will serve and support customers who operate aircraft under FAR Part 135. Diana Clasen has been promoted to manager, Corporate Communications.
One deadly dose and HUM-Bugs are a thing of the past, according to Hammonds, the manufacturer of Biobor JF, a concentrated liquid fuel additive used to eliminate Hydrocarbon Utilizing Microorganisms (HUM) in aviation fuels. HUM-Bugs are diesel-fuel-feeding microorganisms responsible for fuel tank contamination and filter plugging in everything from airplanes to underground fuel tanks. Specifically they feed on fuels such as Jet-A, kerosene, No. 1 and 2 diesel and bunker “C” fuels.
Proposed Rules Honeywell International LTS101 and LTP101 engines — Reduce the life limits for certain gas generator turbine discs. Final Rules Bell 222, 222B, 222U, 230 and 430 helicopters — Inspect the main-rotor hydraulic actuator support to verify the presence of all dowel pins and sealant between the support and transmission. Also, verify the proper torque of each attaching nut.
Ross Detwiler’s “Think Before Speaking, Please” (July, page 102) covered the field well, and left me only a few personal favorites to add to his list: (1) Pilot responding to traffic calls with, “We have him on the fish finder” or to a call to ident with, “HHHHere’s the flash” . . . totally superfluous comments.
Jeppesen is the first and so-far the only commercial provider to receive operational approval from the FAA to provide a GPS Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) prediction report. RAIM assesses the integrity of GPS signals and, thus, the accuracy of airborne GPS navigation. As of Oct. 1, the FAA began requesting aircraft operators and pilots who use GPS as a primary navigation method to obtain a RAIM prediction report prior to flight. If any section of a route has a predicted outage lasting longer than five minutes, the route would need to be re-planned.
Nov. 2-5: Air Traffic Control Association 53rd Annual Conference and Exposition, Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C. (703) 299-2430. www.atca.org Nov. 4-5: Chevron “Seven Elements of Successful Service” workshop, Sacramento, Calif. Contact: Chevron Customer Service at (866) 557-3456 or e-mail to [email protected] Nov. 6-8: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2008, San Jose, Calif. Contact: Lon Wolking at AOPA, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, MD 21701. www.aopa.org
