(Teterboro, N.J.) - Jerome Desmazures has been appointed to head Dassault Falcon sales and marketing initiatives in Hong Kong and mainland China. Joining Desmazures in the company's new Hong Kong office is Carlos Brana, director of sales. Meanwhile, Belinda Nasikin is heading Southeast Asian sales efforts out of Dassault Falcon's new Kuala Lumpur office. In addition, Dassault has named Hawker-Pacific a Falcon sales agent for Australia and New Zealand.
The Canadian Business Aviation Association has scheduled a Safety and Security Professional Development Day for July 9, the first day of the association's 46th annual convention, trade show and static display, to be held July 9-12 during the Calgary Stampede. The development program is designed to provide operators with a better understanding of how to manage risk on a daily basis, with presentations aimed at improving interaction between flight operations, maintenance, scheduling and dispatching, and aircraft ground support.
Former Helicopter Association International President Roy Resavage died Feb. 20 after a long illness; he was 61. Resavage served as HAI president from March 1998 to October 2005. Before that, he spent 27 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a captain. While with the Navy, he commanded two helicopter squadrons, was executive officer of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy and commanding officer of the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville.
Petters Group Worldwide signed a contract for an Airbus A318 Elite, making it the first U.S. customer for that corporate jet version of the aircraft, according to the manufacturer. Petters, which is based in Minneapolis, plans to use the executive-configured airliner for flights to Asia, Europe and within the United States. The order from Petters is the latest in a series announced recently by Airbus for VIP/executive models of its airliner family.
Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, has announced new appointments in its Airline Market management organization. James Bruce Peddle is vice president, marketing and sales for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Mark Paul Hale has been named managing director and chief operating officer of Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services (EAMS) in Nashville. Orlando Jose Ferreira Neto was appointed managing director for Embraer in Asia and the Pacific.
I thought you might like an update on the piloting progress of Jessica Cox, the young lady who was born without arms whom I am teaching to fly (Flight Log, "A Most Remarkable Pilot," February, page 88).
The pilots who perform flight demonstrations at major air shows have a lot of time on their hands between appearances. That's why Cap Parlier, who was flying an aerobatic demo of the U.S. Army's Apache attack helicopter at the 1998 Farnborough show, started hanging with the Russian pilots who were parked next to him. At the Paris Air Show the following year, the Russians had sent the fearsome Mil 28 Havoc, a new attack helicopter that looked like an Apache with overbite, to demonstrate its capabilities. The Havoc demo pilot was Gourgen Karpetyan.
The automated flight service network's new Washington, D.C., hub went live Feb. 22 using a new mission operating system, Lockheed Martin's Flight Services for the 21st Century (FS21). The recently completed Washington Hub located near Dulles International Airport assumed the functions of the Anniston, Ala., FSS. Specialists provide pilots weather briefings, inflight information, flight plan filing, Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), clearances and more.
The interior of the plane began to fill with intense, heavy black smoke, which was extraordinarily painful to breathe and very toxic. . . . It quickly became pitch black in the cabin from the heavy smoke, in spite of the bright light from the fire on the left side of the plane. . . . I was feeling very faint and I later guessed I only had about 15 to 30 seconds of consciousness left. Every breath caused me to convulse and was extremely painful. . . ."
MY FIRST MEETING WITH Al Ueltschi, the founder of FlightSafety International, occurred at a Gulfstream operators' dinner in Savannah. After the hello handshake, he began to speak animatedly not about simulators or learning centers or ab initio training, but rather about a new project with which he was involved. It all centered on a derelict airplane.
The British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) has launched a voluntary carbon trading scheme for its business aircraft operators to offer to customers. The Carbon Balancing Scheme means customers will pay the operator an extra 1.5p (2.94 cents) per liter of Jet-A1 consumed to help balance CO 2 emissions. The money generated is to be passed on to the World Land Trust (WLT), a charity that invests in environmentally worthy programs in developing countries.
Britain's Meggitt plc, in a move that would further expand its presence in the U.S. aerospace market, has struck a tentative agreement to acquire aircraft wheels and brakes supplier K&F Industries for $1.8 billion. The deal, which includes $1.1 billion in cash and the assumption of $700 million in debt, represents a premium of about 10 percent above K&F's stock closing price on March 5.
A Beech 95, registered to Northwest Jersey Airways, Inc., experienced an inflight loss of control and collided with the ground during takeoff from Spruce Creek Airport in Port Orange, Fla. The pilot called the UNICOM to announce that he was departing from Runway 23. A witness reported that the airplane became airborne and "yawed" to the left." It climbed out slowly with the landing gear extended, then the "left wing dropped and it went straight down." He did not hear any loud engine noises or power changes.
Von Essen Hotels has bought the freehold of the London Heliport and terminal building, together with an adjacent development site for a seven-story 70-room boutique hotel, for around $97 million. PremiAir, part of the Sir Robert McAlpine Group and England's leading business helicopter operator, will manage the Battersea Thames-side heliport in partnership with von Essen.
Fletcher Aldredge, publisher of the Vref Aircraft Value Reference and its companion Market Leader newsletter, said in the most recent edition of the latter publication that the final three months of 2006 "was another strong quarter for turboprops. Eclipses have started to deliver, and we do not detect any negative impact in the turboprop market at this time."
Raytheon Aircraft Co. is moving its international sales headquarters from Geneva, Switzerland, to its production and service facility in Chester, England -- the birthplace of the Hawker series. The Chester facility serves as the center for Hawker service and support in Europe, and is a major heavy-maintenance service facility for NetJets Europe. Meanwhile, the sale of Raytheon Aircraft to Goldman Sachs and Canada's Inex Corp. moved a step closer in March as European Union regulators gave it their blessing.
In the event of an emergency evacuation, the assistance of a preselected "able-bodied passenger" could be vital. ICAO guidance to airline crews suggests the best people to choose as able-bodied passengers typically are off-duty crewmembers from any carrier, military personnel, police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical personnel, physicians and nurses. In Australia, "the operators usually see the wisdom in training their cabin crew to identify the most likely passengers to be able-bodied passengers. . . .
A Bombardier Challenger 605 demonstrator has been test flying steep approaches at London City Airport (LCY).To qualify to operate at 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 LCY's 1,319-meter (4,327-foot) runway, and meet the local noise requirements. If the CL605 achieves this, it will be the first of the Challenger series to do so.
The belly of a Eurocopter SA330J hit the runway surface at Lake County Airport in Lakeview, Ore. The pilot, student and a third passenger were not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned by Sky Cats Puma Corp. and operated by Evergreen Helicopters International, received serious damage. According to the pilot, during a simulated single-engine minimum ground run landing, the flight crew forgot to extend the landing gear and the helicopter touched down on its belly, driving the external load hook up into the airframe.
Flying nonstop from San Diego to Atlanta isn't a typical mission for a TBM 850, but that's precisely what B&CA did in late February with the help of average 65-knot tailwinds. Departing San Diego-Montgomery Field at 7:46 a.m., we arrived at Atlanta's DeKalb-Peachtree Airport at 4:10 p.m. and landed with healthy VFR fuel reserves. That's a distance of 1,700-plus nm, using the most direct available ATC routing that day and accounting for vectoring by ATC in the Atlanta area.
Turbine-powered and some piston aircraft operators can now expect more from their battery. Gill Battery's new 7638-44 sealed, valve regulated lead acid (VRLA), 44 AH 24-volt batteries will deliver more power and significantly better shelf life than traditional VRLA batteries, according to the company. Developed in-house by the engineering team at Gill Battery, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, Inc. and thoroughly tested by an independent test and measurement firm, the 7638-44 employs an optimal lead alloy to enable the best possible performance in this chemistry.
Delta Connection Academy is partnering with Southern Aero Medical Institute (SAMI) to develop and operate high-altitude recovery training programs for pilots and flight attendants. The programs, designed to prepare crewmembers in case of cabin depressurization, will incorporate high-altitude physiological training and computer-based training. The course, initially offered exclusively to Delta Academy students, will be held at the SAMI campus in Melbourne, Fla.
