The first of New York Airways' five new Vertol 44s was to be delivered in April, and the rest by June. Additionally, Sabena planned to lease two 44s for use at the upcoming Brussels World Fair.
You might say they were auditing the auditing process as commercial operators and safety auditors convened in Cincinnati in January to review rating standards for jet charter providers.
IT WAS SOMETHING, let me tell you. She was a beacon of shimmering red in an agitated sea of formal black. When I slipped my arm around her waist, she turned and delivered a 100,000-candela smile. I was holding Kirsten Haglund -- Miss America 2008 -- and I was afloat.
Sentient Flight Group completed its acquisition of TAG Aviation USA and named former TAG executive J.W.P. "Jake" Cartwright to head a newly formed Sentient Aircraft Management Division. In addition, Sentient said the former TAG USA management team also is transferring to the division. Sentient announced plans to buy the TAG unit in fall 2007 after the FAA suspended, and then revoked, the FAR Part 135 charter certificate of TAG affiliate AMI Jet Charter.
Jet Aviation Group of Switzerland has acquired Savannah Air Center (SAC) of Savannah, Ga., an independent aircraft maintenance and completion center that specializes in doing work on large business jets. The acquisition "supports Jet Aviation's strategic objective of expanding its global services network," said Jet Aviation CEO Peter G.
The FAA has certified ARINC Inc. to issue aircraft STCs and perform STC-related aircraft service and modification work under the FAA's new Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program. ARINC's Aircraft Integration and Modification group - which has operations in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Oklahoma City and Colorado Springs - became one of the first designated ODA holders in the country in late 2007.
Swift Aviation Group was the official FBO of the Super Bowl Host Committee this year. At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport over Super Bowl weekend (Thursday, Jan. 31 through Monday, Feb. 4) Swift handled 455 aircraft and pumped over 280,000 gallons of Jet-A. Additionally, Swift filled up all of the available parking space at its terminal as well as a special overflow area secured specifically for the game traffic.
"NOVEMBER 1234, say altitude," can be a wake-up call. Altitude deviations are still too common, in spite of, or perhaps because of, ever-increasing cockpit automation.
Cessna Aircraft officials have built an impressive record of bringing new aircraft to market on schedule and hope to do the same with the new Citation Columbus, even while changing the development process by having vendors perform more of the manufacturing tasks while Cessna focuses on its role as a systems integrator. The new aircraft will be the company's top-of-the-line model, featuring a 4,000-nm range and standup-cabin.
Robinson Helicopter plans to boost production of R22 and R44 helicopters to 22 per week due to continuing demand. The manufacturer delivered 823 helicopters in 2007 -- the most civil helicopters made in one year by a single company, Robinson reports. The bulk of weekly production will be taken up by R44s, but the Torrance, Calif.-based company didn't break out exact production targets by model. Robinson established the previous industry record, 806 helicopter deliveries, in 2005.
Bombardier Flexjet selected Team One of Los Angeles to create a new marketing plan for the fractional aircraft ownership company. A division of Saatchi & Saatchi, Team One will provide a range of marketing services, including advertising creative, media, interactive, direct, collateral and public relations for Flexjet. The new Team One Flexjet campaign is expected to begin in April.
Five airports in Switzerland -- Bern, Buochs (Luzerne), Lugano, Sion and St. Gallen/Altenrhein -- have agreed to cooperate in a push to attract more business air traffic, according to Bud Slabbaert, who's leading the effort under the banner "Location Switzerland," an arm of the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. Slabbaert says he also has on board the economic development departments of three cantons, including Nidwalder, Tessin and St. Gallen. By the time EBACE opens in the spring, the alliance should number seven, with Grenchen and Samedan on board.
Officials from Stevens Aviation - the Greenville, S.C.-based diversified aircraft sales and service company - say they are on track to complete and receive supplemental type certification of the first Lear 35 Special Edition soon. The upgraded and completely refurbished Learjet 35A, which currently is having its cockpit upgraded at Stevens' Denver base and will have the paint and interior work done at the company's South Carolina facility, has already been sold and is slated to be delivered to the end user by the end of this month.
EADS Defense & Security (DS) Military Air Systems in Spain has been awarded a contract to integrate an automatic flight inspection system in a Cessna Citation V for the Spanish Air Force. The SAF specifically requested the use of this model, since several Citation V aircraft (TR-20) are already in operation with the SAF Cartographic Center. EADS will obtain a used Citation 560 for the inspection program. It has selected the UNIFIS 3000 system, produced by the Norwegian company NSM, for the navaid inspection system.
REMEMBER THE COP SHOW "Hill Street Blues?" Sgt. Phil Esterhaus would end each shift-briefing with the caution: "Hey, let's be careful out there." Well, the NTSB is asking all of us to do the same in a recently released Safety Alert concerning night CFIT accidents. CFIT -- pronounced "see-fit" -- stands for "controlled flight into terrain." While it sounds like an oxymoron, it is not. Typically CFIT refers to a perfectly good airplane flying into the terrain while in full (if not entirely alert) control by its crew.
The Bush administration's fiscal 2009 transportation budget drew criticism as "just more of the same" from the Bush administration. On Feb. 4, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters unveiled the DOT fiscal 2009 budget request that calls for $14.6 billion for the FAA. The budget, which would be $320 million below the fiscal 2008 appropriation, assumes the continuation of the current aviation excise taxes. But DOT budget documents assume a shift to user fees and higher fuel taxes beginning in 2010.
Jan. 24, 2008 perhaps was one of the most pivotal days in Cessna's recent history. On that day, the board of directors at Textron, Cessna's corporate parent, gave the firm the go-ahead to develop the Columbus, the largest and longest range Citation ever. Notably, Cessna estimates that the Columbus will cost $775 million to bring to market, more than twice the original investment in the Citation X, which has been Cessna's most expensive development program.
A quarter century ago, Beech Aircraft introduced the King Air 300, an aircraft that's even faster than the new B200GT below FL 270. Even more impressively, you can fill the tanks and fill the seats instead of choosing either range or payload. The 300 has better runway performance, better all-engine and one-engine-inoperative climb performance than the 200 and matches it in high-altitude cruise.
