I enjoyed reading "Emitting Credibility" (Viewpoint, November, page 9) and concur with all but one point. To paraphrase, you state that aviation is fuel efficient. As someone who has been in the industry over 30 years, I get this.
The Gulfstream IV fleet now has amassed three million flight hours. In service for 20 years, the long-range GIV/GIV-SP has been one of the best-selling large-cabin, long-range business jets, with 535 aircraft sold, according to Gulfstream. The GIV was certified by the FAA and began service in 1987. Five years later Gulfstream introduced the "special performance" GIV-SP, which featured an updated landing package and increased takeoff and landing weight that allowed for heavier payloads and more flexibility in outfitting.
At 2317 MDT, a King Air C90A, owned by Scenic Aviation and operated by Eagle Air Med, was destroyed when it impacted terrain during an en route descent, 22 miles east of Pagosa Springs, Colo. The medical positioning flight was being operated without a flight plan. The pilot, flight nurse and paramedic were fatally injured. The flight departed Chinle Municipal Airport (E91) in Arizona and was en route to San Luis Valley Regional Airport in Alamosa, Colo. The pilot contacted company dispatch at about 2255 with an estimated time of arrival in ALS of 2325.
Even though the White House decision to nominate FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell to a full five-year term as FAA administrator has drawn wide industry praise, the fate of the nomination is unclear with several Washington insiders believing the Senate is not inclined to move on it. Sturgell has been serving as acting administrator of the agency since Marion Blakey ended her five-year term in September. A former military and airline pilot, Sturgell was a top aide to Blakey when she chaired the NTSB and then moved over to the FAA as Blakey's senior counsel.
The decision by the FAA to pull the ticket of TAG Aviation, or more properly AMI-JC, demonstrates perhaps the most inappropriate to the factual bottom line action to my knowledge in a long tradition of the like.
You produce probably the best general aviation magazine going. I wait breathlessly for each edition. And you never let me down . . . thank you. Your interview with Scott Duffy, however, left me wanting a little more substance (Fast Five, October, page 24). I found Duffy a little ingenuous. Web sites like TaxiJet.com and AirCharterGuide.com precede Virgin Charter's and they already do what Duffy envisions. Virgin Charter seem to have two inherent weaknesses built into its model.
West Star Aviation (nee Premier Air Center) in East Alton, Ill., and Ken Goldsmith's Yankee Pacific teamed together to develop and certify a Honeywell TFE731-4 engine conversion for 1980 through 1996 model Falcon 50s that boosts hot-and-high airport performance, increases range by 6 percent and ups typical cruise speeds from 0.75 Mach to 0.80 Mach.
In a remarkable development, Sentient Flight Group has agreed to buy TAG Aviation Holdings as well as Hawker Beechcraft's charter business. The initial announcement came from TAG in late October and within days Hawker Beechcraft said it was selling its aircraft management and charter business. The TAG USA buy is the latest development in an extraordinary, fast-moving affair that saw the FAA on Oct. 4 issue - after seven months of investigation - an "emergency suspension" of the charter certificate held by AMI Jet Charter.
Intelligence | 19 * Aerion SSBJ Gets Its First Order * European Air Traffic to Grow 4.6 Percent by summer 2008 * NBAA Seeks Relief From IRS Stance * Port Authority of NY/NJ Takes Over SWF * Sensis Gains Early Foothold in China's ADS-B Initiative Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 9 | Viewpoint By William Garvey We're Here to Hurt 95 | Cause & Circumstance By Richard N. Aarons Will Air Data System Heat Modifications Be Mandatory?
Jet Aviation and Jetcraft have teamed up to offer aircraft sales and acquisition services under the name Jetcraft Trading. The new strategic alliance between the two companies enables Jet Aviation to round out its service portfolio by adding Jetcraft's aircraft sales and consulting expertise.
Aerion is accepting letters of intent for its planned supersonic business jet. Zurich, Switzerland-based ExecuJet Aviation Group, which is Aerion's exclusive sales representative for all areas outside the Americas, is offering 40 delivery positions for the aircraft; those positions must be secured by refundable deposits of $250,000. The company has taken its first order from Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Noaimi, head of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department. He signed a letter of intent at the recent Dubai Air Show. The aircraft is priced at $80 million.
As for the Hawker Beechcraft sale, Hawker chairman and CEO Jim Schuster said Sentient's "focus on safety, quality and service were key factors in the decision-making process." The sale includes all current aircraft contracts and the FAR Part 135 certificate. All 22 employees in the business unit will automatically transfer to Sentient and current General Manager and Director of Operations Chad Landes will continue to lead the new organization.
Bombardier Aerospace has officially launched the Learjet NXT, its first clean-sheet Learjet since the Model 45 made its debut in the early 1990s. The NXT will, according to Learjet, have an eight-passenger standup cabin with the most volume in the midsize class, a top cruise speed of 0.82 Mach and a 3,000-nm NBAA IFR range at long-range cruise. It's intended to bridge the gap in Bombardier's product line between the 2,300-nm range Learjet 60XR and the 3,200-nm range Challenger 300. The newest Learjet debuted with 65 letters of intent to purchase in its order book.
Wichita, which fancies itself as "The Air Capital of the World," is home to several aircraft manufacturers, component manufacturers, service companies, a U.S. Air Force base and The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), which provides the industry with leading-edge research at Wichita State University. Now, another national center is to break ground in Wichita in January 2008.
New general aviation aircraft billings topped $15 billion for the first nine months of the year, a 14- percent increase driven by strong business jet deliveries. GAMA reported in November that its member companies shipped 2,909 aircraft in the period, up slightly from the 2,859 units shipped during the first three quarters of 2006. The relatively flat growth in deliveries came despite a 20.9-percent increase in business jet deliveries in 2007.
The number of fatal general aviation accidents was 5 percent below the FAA's goal in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, the agency said. GA aircraft were involved in 314 fatal accidents in fiscal 2007, or 17 fewer than the FAA target. The number of fatalities dropped from 676 in fiscal 2006 to 564 in fiscal 2007. The FAA includes both FAR Part 91 and non-scheduled Part 135 operations in its calculations. The agency attributed the better than expected results to GPS, glass panels, training and a "commitment to safety by everyone in general aviation."
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Redmond, Wash., appointed H. Alan Howell as Electronics Group vice president of marketing and business development. Martin McCarthy has been named vice president of sales and marketing in Europe.
Bell Helicopter officials announced in November that they had frozen the exterior profile of the Model 429, the company's new light-twin helicopter. "This is one of the most significant events in the development of an aircraft," said Robert Fitzpatrick, Bell's senior vice president of marketing and sales. "This means our design meets the aesthetic and inflight handling specifications we set long ago.
In "At Work on WOW" (Viewpoint, October 2007, page 7), William Garvey states that "the age of invention is with us still." While I completely agree with you conceptually, there are great limitations as to what inventions are allowed to reach fruition.
A Learjet 35A, N31MC, registered to Jagee Ventures, Inc, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during landing at Renner Field (GLD), Goodland, Kan. It was IFR at the time of the accident. The pilot reported that the airplane exited instrument conditions at 250 feet agl on approach to Runway 30 slightly left of the centerline. The pilot lined up and experienced an uncontrolled left and right rolling motion. He also stated that he noted that the aileron augment annunciator light had illuminated.
The Max-Viz Enhanced Vision EVS-1000 recently won FAA supplemental type certification for installation on Cessna Citation 500 through 560XL aircraft and is available through Cessna Service Centers. Max-Viz said its EVS products are flying on more than 200 aircraft.
Eurocontrol estimates Europe will see a 4.6-percent increase in traffic next summer. It said growth for the summer 2008 months - May to October - will actually be similar to the increase of 5.1 percent during the same period this year. Next year will be "yet another challenging season" for European ATM, with the additional complication of the European Football Championships in Austria and Switzerland, a Eurocontrol official said.
Landmark Aviation, Winston-Salem, N.C., appointed Eric Faulkner to the post of general manager of the White Plains (HPN), N.Y. FBO. Dave Sunda has been named manager of the MRO/Avionics Division of the company's Winston-Salem, N.C., facility.
