Construction is well underway at the $33 billion Dubai World Central Airport and city complex at Jebel Ali, 25 miles south of Dubai city center. This will be the world's largest airport by area -- 140 square kilometers. The 2009 Dubai Air Show will be held here. By year-end the first of the six parallel runways opened. When complete (in around a decade) the airport will be capable of handling 120 million passengers per year, and in excess of 100,000 business jet movements at a new super FBO known as the Executive Flight Center, due to open in 2008.
Hillsboro Aviation, based in Hillsboro, Ore sold 67 new and used aircraft, including $41 million worth of new Bell helicopters last year, a record. Hillsboro said it has orders for 27 new Bell helicopters, including contracts for 13 Bell 417s. Hillsboro is the exclusive Bell Helicopter independent sales representative in 15 western states and a sales dealer for the Robinson Helicopter Co.
-General Aviation Services (Lake Zurich, Ill.) -- Brett Forrester has been elevated to sales manager at this aircraft sales firm. Forrester, who joined GAS in 1994, most recently headed the aircraft acquisitions department.
The AOPA reports that it has received a "few isolated cases" of maintenance shops declining to work on older airplanes. In the Jan. 5 edition of AOPA e-pilot, the organization's weekly e-mail newsletter, the association said, "It started last August when one chain of FBOs in the West told customers it would no longer work on aircraft older than 18 years. Several other shops have reportedly taken the same position."
Honda Aircraft Co. is about to begin construction of a new headquarters facility and hangar at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) in Greensboro, N.C. Michimasa Fujino, president and chief executive of Honda Aircraft, unveiled the building plan in February and said his company will also build a manufacturing plant for the HondaJet at PTI, but that the size, timetable and costs are still being developed. Honda Aircraft intends to invest $40 million in the new facility and another $20 million in equipment.
The S-76C upgrade process has accumulated its allotted two "+" symbols, which means it's time to move on to the D. The new model was duly announced at the Helicopter Association International Heli Expo in early 2005 and orders are being taken now. Sometime in late 2008 or early 2009 the newest version of this 30-year-old design will emerge with a pair of new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines, marking yet another propulsion change in a decades-long dance that partnered first with Allison, then Pratt, then Turbomeca and now back to Pratt.
I was very offended by the comments of William Cyders in the January B&CA (Letters, page 8). In his letter he made reference that someone with 300 hours should not be allowed into airspace because said person should not be allowed to pilot an aircraft faster than 120 knots. Masking his statement under the premise that experience takes years, the real underlying reason for this comment was so that pilots like himself can have a job, because the airlines are furloughing and firing their own.
Boeing has abandoned WiFi technology for its 787 in favor of wired in-flight entertainment (IFE). The planemaker says that a wired system not only saves weight, but helps avoid regulatory complications since WiFi systems requires country-by-country approval, and that too many countries have already assigned the desired frequencies for other tasks, such as emergency services.
A Cessna CitationJet 525 operated by Sunquest Executive Air Charter collided with terrain in Van Nuys, Calif. Both pilots died and the airplane was destroyed. Linemen added 190 gallons of fuel in each wing before the flight. One of the linemen observed the copilot preflight the airplane and load bags into the left front baggage compartment. He noted that the copilot pulled the front left baggage door down with one hand, but did not see him latch or lock it.
Jet Aviation Basel delivered a "VVIP" Airbus 320-200 it completed for Saad Group in Saudi Arabia. Saad Group also awarded a contract to Jet Aviation Basel to complete a 340-600. The second aircraft is scheduled to arrive at the Basel completion center in April 2008 and be delivered in mid-2009. Francis Munch of Studio E/Motion designed the A320-200's interior, which took 10 months to complete. It includes an executive seating area, two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a combined conference/dining area and first-class seating in the rear.
EMTEQ has introduced its PFLX140-500 coaxial cable, which the company claims is the aviation industry's lightest 50-ohm single-conductor, double-shielded coax. At 0.140 inches in diameter and weighing only 1.28 pounds per 100 feet, the cable is flexible enough to tie in a loose knot. With an outer shield of aircraft grade polyethylene, the new PFLX140-500 offers more than 90 dB shielding effectiveness, produces low smoke and no halogen, and is resistant to Skydrol and other hydraulic fluids.
Hartzell Propeller Inc. has received an STC to install a newly designed, three-blade propeller system on Beech 58, 58A and G58 Barons that are factory equipped with TCM IO-520 and IO-550 engines. The 75-inch diameter, full-feathering propellers are highly swept and provide a distinctive appearance for the Baron. The design improves the cruise performance of the aircraft without sacrificing takeoff or climb performance, according to the company. The reduced diameter also gives the aircraft increased ground clearance and lower noise.
I agree completely. That is exactly why the medical oxygen supplier requires a note from the passenger's physician. Since the doctor is required to prescribe the flow rate (to calculate sufficient quantities for the trip), it is assumed the doctor has evaluated the passenger's suitability for travel.
ExcelAire has launched a new "road show" planning service to provide specialized aircraft and support services for executives who need to make multiple presentations in different cities on tight schedules. Headquartered in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., ExcelAire said its planners can arrange and coordinate logistics planning, catering, ground transportation, hotels and more.
Ricky Lee Eubank, a well-known and long-time Sikorsky S-76 program manager for FlightSafety in West Palm Beach, died on Dec. 4, 2006, in Florida. He diligently served the helicopter community for many years and was known to S-76 pilots worldwide.
I asked three dozen colleagues in the industry who are tasked with training and evaluation of pilots in their organizations, for their opinions on the "weak areas" in which they believe the industry needs better standardized curriculums to make certain pilots are adequately trained and mentored prior to release for PIC duties. Many of their replies mirrored the general trends from the accident and incident records.
Air Training International Dave Stohr, president and founder of Southlake, Texas-based Air Training International, claims his school is "more than just a training organization -- we're an information service provider."
In this day of globalization, when lots of companies big and small find themselves interacting with customers and suppliers on the other side of the clock, flight departments and crews that have conducted operations almost exclusively within North America can expect itineraries that stretch to the other side of the world. And for those unfamiliar with international operations, the need for practical information is real and formidable.
The results of the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates' (JDPA) Business Aircraft Customer Satisfaction Survey now have been tallied and they produced useful, but qualified, findings. Both JDPA and B&CA are part of The McGraw-Hill Companies. In this launch effort, B&CA assisted the polling professionals at JDPA in refining the questionnaire and interpreting some of the resulting data.
JUST OVER A YEAR AGO we opined in this space that the TSA should add Dulles International Airport to the list of approved gateway airports corporate operators could pass through en route to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (B&CA, February 2006, page 81). Guess what? It's happened -- the TSA recently approved IAD as a DCA gateway airport. The pessimists might ask, "What difference is one more DCA gateway going to make?"
