The NBAA announced the first recipients of the David W. Ewald Journalism Scholarship at its 60th Annual Meeting & Convention: Chad Mumm, a senior at the University of Georgia in Athens, and David Wilson, a freshman at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. The NBAA, in coordination with the family of the late Dave Ewald, established the scholarship earlier this year to honor the long-time B&CA publisher, who spent nearly 50 years serving the business aviation community.
Although some observers privately wonder how long strong sales of previously owned aircraft can continue, many pundits believe the current market still has legs. Optimists hang their hats on several key facts.
Bombardier Aerospace has extended its existing agreement with Savannah Air Center as a preferred completion center for Global 5000 and Global Express XRS jets. With this contract, Bombardier said it had secured capacity for a minimum of 12 additional Global business jets over the next three years. Savannah Air Center has performed interior completions and modifications, avionics upgrades, maintenance and exterior paint on Challenger and Global aircraft since 2005. A new 101,000-square-foot hangar is being added to the facility.
Avjet Corp. has started construction of a 63,653-square-foot facility in Burbank, Calif., that it says will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System-certified private aircraft hangar in the United States. The building will have a variety of environmentally friendly "green" design elements including photovoltaic power, recycled-content material and resource-efficient systems to reduce energy use and waste.
To learn more about how TCAS operates, the FAA has a dedicated Web site: http://adsb.tc.faa.gov/TCAS.htm. Be sure to download Advisory Circular 120-55B. Although written for airline operations, the document has good information for maintainers and pilots. For more background on TAWS, download Advisory Circulars (AC) 23-18, Installation of Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) Approved for Part 23 Airplanes, and AC 25-23, Airworthiness Criteria for the Installation Approval of a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) for Part 25 Airplanes.
Hawker Beechcraft, Wichita, announced that Avion Pacific Ltd. is now an authorized sales representative for its Hawker and Beechcraft aircraft and special missions applications in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Auturo Schwencke was appointed special mission sales representative for Chile.
Dassault has received FAA certification for its new Falcon 2000DX, which is replacing the original Falcon 2000 introduced in 1989. The FAA clearance followed approval by EASA in September. The 2000DX, which will enter service in 2008, has a 3,250-nm range and is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada 308C engines, each rated at 7,000 pounds of thrust. The engines also are on the Falcon 2000EX and 2000EX EASy. The 2000DX also will have Dassault's EASy flight deck as standard equipment.
I n the late 1980s, Russ Meyer Jr., then chairman of Cessna Aircraft, got tired of listening to all the "Slotation" and birdstrike-from-the-rear jokes about the company's popular Citation series. He pretty much put an end to them at the 1990 NBAA Convention, when he announced that Cessna would build the Citation X, at 0.92 Mach, the world's fastest business jet.
Atlanta-based CareJet Services has introduced an advanced appearance-enhancing polymer paint protection system developed by Dow Corning and ProguardPlus. The system, applied to new or older aircraft paint, does not use friction or heat in the application, provides high luster, ease of washing, enhanced UV and contaminant protection, and is fully warranted for 12 months. Optional warranty extensions are available up to 48 months with annual servicing.
Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) and Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) are much like any other avionics device, except that if they are not functioning properly, the pilots may not know until it is too late. That is why maintainers need to be aware of how these systems work and ensure they operate correctly. They are lifesavers.
THE BATTLE OVER how much each segment of aviation will pay to support the FAA over the next four years has been marked by one overriding tenet -- the airlines will say anything, whether or not it has any basis in fact, to achieve their goal of shifting more costs onto business and general aviation users.
Raisbeck Engineering's founder and CEO, James D. Raisbeck, is the recipient of the prestigious Pathfinder Award from Seattle's Museum of Flight. The award honors individuals from the Pacific Northwest who have significantly contributed to aeronautics and astronautics. Raisbeck was cited for his numerous contributions to the safety and performance of aircraft and his influence on many business aircraft designs.
As any business school graduate can tell you, the case histories echo across the years: Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol panic; the Exxon Valdez oil spill; TWA Flight 800. For anyone who has ever experienced what a disastrous event can do to a company or a business, the after-effects are life altering. In corporate aviation, events such as the loss of an aircraft are exceedingly rare; so rare, in fact, that many organizations ignore the possibility altogether.
Also at NBAA 2007, NBAA posthumously presented the Platinum Wing Award to the late David W. Ewald and announced that the award will be renamed the David W. Ewald Platinum Wing Award for Lifetime Achievement and Excellence in Journalism. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen recognized Ewald as "someone who devoted over 50 years to aviation journalism." He also said, "It has often been noted that Dave was a publishing genius."
Embraer has signed Executive AirShare of Kansas City, Mo., to a fleet expansion order of three Phenom 100 and two Phenom 300 aircraft, with options for an additional three Phenom 100s and two Phenom 300s. Last May, the U.S. fractional program placed an order for seven Phenom 100s, plus seven options for additional aircraft of the same model. The total value of the new agreement is $22.24 million, and could double, if all options are exercised. AirShare will operate both the Phenom 100 and the 300.
When considering inflight icing events, most U.S.-based pilots probably think of the proverbial "icebox" conditions over the Great Lakes, the nasty crud associated with occluded weather fronts and freezing rain conditions over the Central and Northeastern states. Australia or Southern California may seem far removed from such activity, but icing incidents there have actually deteriorated into temporary losses of control.
"USE EVERY MAN AFTER his desert, and who shall scape whipping?" Shakespeare often implored his audiences to seek mercy, not justice. Strangely enough, the FAA has programs for us to do exactly that, but in the words of Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, "only the penitent man shall pass." Most pilots are familiar with the so-called "NASA form" and its role in the Aviation Safety Reporting System (http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/). However, many pilots and mechanics don't realize that their companies may be able to benefit from the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program.
After the Crossfield accident, and several similar incidents, the NTSB issued a Safety Alert with recommendations for flight crews operating within a thunderstorm environment. Here are highlights. The full text is available at www.ntsb.gov/alerts/SA_011.pdf. *Severe weather avoidance is primarily your responsibility.
Forecast International of Newtown, Conn., a provider of market data, recently released a study analyzing the projected delivery of 14,200 rotorcraft in the years 2007 through 2016. Of those, 7,311 aircraft will be turboshaft powered; of those, twin engines are expected to make up a slim majority of 3,708 compared to 3,603 single-engine rotorcraft.
Fokker Services, a subsidiary of Stork Aerospace, recently delivered an executive conversion of a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet. The completion was done at Fokker Services' Completion Center at its Woensdrecht facility in the south of The Netherlands.
PrivatAir, Geneva, Switzerland, announced the appointment of Eric Gray as vice president of charter sales. He will be based at the company's U.S. headquarters in Stratford, Conn.
On Coping With Crisis 101: "Any director of flight operations should consider this class on the same level they consider simulator training. To me, it's kind of like your homeowner or fire insurance; you never use it, but it's nice knowing that it's there. . . . We used [Steve Bassett's] template to update a rather thorough disaster plan we already had. And we used his publication and CD extensively in reviewing the existing plan." Jeff Tolbert, President and CEO, AirMed International
Chelton Flight Systems' Air Data and Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS) has been added as an approved sensor on the FlightLogic EFIS STC for Bell 206 and 207 helicopters. Chelton's system is designed for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and provides digital output and referencing of aircraft position, rate, vector and acceleration data. ADAHRS meets the requirements of DO-178B, Level A software and DO-160E environmental qualifications.
