With a planned starting date of early 2008, Louisville, Ky.-based AirCell LLC, is offering high-speed data broadband service using air-to-ground service for continental North America. This will enable passengers and crew to use their own 802.11b/g-equipped wi-fi data devices -- laptops, PDAs and portable gaming systems -- inflight at DSL broadband speeds, without the heavy and expensive gear. For more information about this service, visit AirCell's Website: www.aircell.com.
The FAA's Severe Weather Avoidance Program for 2007 retains seven Airspace Flow Programs (AFP) that premiered last year, when the concept first went live, and adds 11 new canned procedures plus the ad hoc introduction of dynamic AFPs that are constructed on the fly to deal with either weather- or volume-related traffic management issues. Dynamic AFPs will probably be used rarely, and there is some uncertainty in the user community as to how they will work. The original seven AFPs were renamed "Classics" when the curtain went up on May 1 of this year.
Japan's Morikava Shoji Kaisha Ltd. has ordered the country's first Russian helicopter since the break-up of the Soviet Union, according to a Russian source. The Kamov Ka-32A11BC, which holds Transport Canada certification, was due to be delivered by mid-June. It will be used for passenger and cargo work and operated by the Akagi Helicopter Co. Ltd.
Bombardier's Challenger 605 business jet was recently certified by EASA and Transport Canada (TC) to fly into London City Airport (LCY). In order to qualify to operate at close-in LCY, an aircraft must demonstrate its ability to be flown safely at a 5.5-degree or greater approach angle, take off and land on the airport's 4,327-foot (1,319-meter) runway, and meet the local noise requirements.
Years ago -- when phones had cords -- the introduction of the Magnastar, and early satellite telephone systems, enabled a major breakthrough business travel -- the boss could communicate while in the air. CEO's could keep tabs on stock performance, participate in conference calls and keep up to speed on the hot projects while half way around the world. The novelty of airborne communication evolved into a business necessity and the mobile office in the sky was born.
The NBAA recently alerted pilots to a potentially dangerous situation at Dulles International Airport (IAD). The association said the Dulles control tower reported at least two incidents in one week in June when the pilots of two different general aviation aircraft "lined up for what will be the new Runway 1R after being cleared for the visual approach to the existing Runway 1R." A substance used to seal the surface soil under the new runway has been applied and from the air "this substance highly resembles poured concrete," NBAA said.
Embraer and CAE are hard at work drafting an expanded training agreement to cover their training relationship to cover all the Americas and to include the Embraer 170/190 E-Jet family. The agreement for the 170/190 family and the Lineage 1000 is in addition to the deal announced in October 2006, for initial and recurrent training for pilots and ground personnel of the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 jets. A full joint venture agreement is expected to be finalized within the next few months. Embraer 170/190 pilot training is now offered at CAE's training center in Montreal.
Take a close look at Encore+ and you would be hard-pressed to guess that it's a third-generation derivative of the nearly two-decade-old Citation V. Cessna Aircraft, the undisputed master of iteration, has modified the wing, narrowed the track of the main landing gear and incorporated trailing link suspension, along with increasing range/payload flexibility, improving the cabin environment, reducing the airport noise footprint and cutting operating costs during that time period. Some of the block-point production changes almost make the iterations look like new models.
WE WERE EN ROUTE FROM one place to another -- the locations didn't matter; the going did -- in a BBJ, conversing with Richard Santulli, the founder and CEO of NetJets. At one point I mentioned what high praise Don Imus had heaped upon Santulli and his company during a recent radio broadcast and asked if he intended to capitalize on that nationwide free promotion it in any way. He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "Wait until something goes wrong," he said, "then he'll be telling those same listeners all about that, too."
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) is making the 2007 Helicopter Annual available on CD to HAI members and aviation professionals worldwide. It includes helicopter specifications, industry statistics, HAI membership directories by class and geographic matrix, listings of international civil aviation contracts, key FAA personnel, association committees and other data. The new CD allows viewers to navigate through each section by clicking the sections listed on the lift side of the screen. Price: Free download to members at www.rotor.com/annual
In April, the FAA announced the initiation of advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures at the Alaska ARTCC, which enables more direct routing and eliminates the time-honored paper strips for controllers. Atlantic and Pacific traffic already benefits from the new ATOP systems, which provide conflict alerts and allow controllers to ensure aircraft separation beyond radar and radio coverage. The work station environment for controllers is modern, automated, and efficient, and the system is capable of digital satellite data link communication and surveillance.
Boeing has raised its prediction for the size of the airline aircraft market over the next 20 years, but the majority of the jump comes from including Russia and the rest of the Commonwealth of Independent States for the first time. The manufacturer's Current Market Outlook estimates 28,600 aircraft will be delivered through 2026, compared with last year's forecast of 27,200 to be delivered through 2025. The latest total includes 1,060 aircraft for the CIS. Last year's forecast saw a similar jump -- 1,500 -- compared to the 2005 forecast.
A frequent question posed by flight crews wanting more information on ice particle-caused rollbacks is, "What type of atmospheric condition creates this problem?"
To further its nationwide reach, JetDirect Aviation Holdings of Berwyn, Pa., has acquired Novato, Calif.-based air charter operator Sunset Aviation for an undisclosed sum. Sunset operates a fleet of 25 aircraft, giving JetDirect a total of 130. Sunset's fleet includes Cessna Citation IIs; Hawker 800XPs, Beech Baron 58s and King Air 200s; and Pilatus PC-12s. Sunset also operates full-service maintenance facilities at three bases in California.
Embraer revised its Legacy 600 executive jet maintenance planning guide that is expected to reduce an operator's scheduled maintenance labor costs up to 18 percent over the previous iteration. Since the guide was first published in 2001, the maintenance man-hours-per-flight-hour ratio for the super midsize jet has dropped by 50 percent to 0.65 mmh/fh.
Geneva Aviation, a DART subsidiary, has developed the P-132 avionics console and the P-123 supplemental avionics console for Eurocopter AS 350 series helicopters to meet the growing demand for more space. The P-132 allows installation of a 10-inch stack of radios and other avionics controls typically required for law and ENG work. The P-123 supplemental console also mounts between the pilot and copilot seats.
Not surprisingly, outspoken Pogo Air Chairman and CEO Robert Crandall has a perspective on the FAA reauthorization debate. Crandall, retired CEO of American Airlines, offered his thoughts to B&CA via e-mail. Air taxi operator Pogo hopes to begin operations this year with a fleet of Eclipse VLJs.
Your April feature article "EADS Socata TBM 850," (page 62) poses an interesting challenge to emerging VLJ aircraft. In this article, Socata continues to categorize all VLJs into one group, yet all VLJs are not created equally. This is especially true when comparing the Eclipse 500 VLJ to the TBM 850. The assumptions presented create an excellent opportunity to highlight the real capabilities of the Eclipse 500 very light jet. A simple analysis reveals the true comparison of the Eclipse 500 vs. the TBM 850.
