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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
Yingling Aviation in Wichita, Kan., has begun CessnaDirect.com, a new service that enables customers to order parts online, through either direct access or through Yingling's Web site. The service will let customers check availability and order parts 24/7. A full-service FBO at Mid-Continent Airport, Yingling has been a Cessna Authorized Service Center for nearly 60 years.
It ain't all "heavy iron" out there in oceanic airspace and really hasn't been since the first-generation business jets began rolling off manufacturers' assembly lines in the early 1960s. A surprising number of midsize and even entry-level business jets routinely engage in oceanic ops over the North Atlantic. Additionally, flights by smaller equipment are common between North and South America and throughout Asia.
Avotek has recently published the Aviation Maintenance Technician Reference Handbook. This book is part of the company's comprehensive selection of maintenance training materials. The new Handbook covers topics including composites, aircraft fabric, electrical systems, fluid lines, weight and balance, corrosion control and non-destructive testing of materials. Price: $16.95 Avotek Information Resources P.O. Box 219 Weyers Cave, VA 24486 (800) 828-6835 www.avotekbooks.com
The PilotView electronic flight bag (EFB) from Canadian-based CMC Electronics has been selected by Embraer for the flight decks of its Legacy 600, E-Jets and Lineage 1000 aircraft. PilotView gives the flight crew access to up-to-date aircraft documentation and flight planning information. En route and approach charts, moving map display and real-time graphical weather are all readily supported, according to CMC. The unit is a compact, lightweight system with a display/processor unit featuring a wireless connection.
The Associated Press and Brazilian media reported that a spokeswoman for Brazilian lead investigator Renato Sayao confirmed that air traffic controllers "share some of the blame" for the Sept. 28, 2006, in flight collision of an ExcelAire Legacy 600 and a GOL Airlines Boeing 737 over the Amazon with the loss of all 154 aboard the airliner. Tamares Carvalho, the spokeswoman, said that the Legacy pilots as well as the air traffic controllers, likely would be held responsible when the official investigation is concluded in about a month.
It was a sad phone call that started with, "Pat, did you hear? One fifty-two went down this morning." N152BK was a Mitsubishi MU-2 that spent over a decade flying into remote and often challenging Rocky Mountain airports to carry out badly burned victims, farmers involved in roll-over accidents on their tractors or laboring mothers-to-be. N152BK deserved a medal for all of the lives it had saved over the years.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) has added a Falcon 2000 and a Falcon 50 to its charter fleet. The Falcon 2000 is based at Palm Beach International Airport, while the Falcon 50 is based at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. EJM manages aircraft in more than 60 locations through the country.
Sterling Aviation, based at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport, has added a Hawker 800XP, Citation Excel, Beechjet 400A and Pilatus PC-12 turboprop to its Part 135 charter certificate, raising the total number of Sterling's fleet to 13 aircraft.
Elliott Aviation, the Moline, Illinois-based aircraft sales and service company, has earned certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to offer its King Air RVSM solution to European-registered aircraft. The EASA approval covers all King Air B200, 300 and 350 aircraft with existing Collins APS-65/H/J, Honeywell/Sperry SPZ-4000 and Bendix/King KFC-400 autopilots.
Garmin (Europe) Ltd., a unit of Garmin Ltd., introduced the GTSX 328 Mode S transponder to meet the European regulation for Mode S implementation for VFR aircraft by March 31, 2008. The new unit is intended to serve VFR/Class 2 aircraft where there is adequate size and power consumption support for a GTX 328. It is designed to be a straightforward retrofit and maintains many of the STX 330 features such as OAT, altitude monitoring, count-up and countdown timers, density altitude functions, and front-panel input for flight ID.
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?"
AIRCRAFT REPORTS Bombardier Introduces Challenger 605 Fred George Jan., p. 34 Hello, Hawker 850 Fred George Jan., p. 38 What's Wrong With the MU-2 Fred George Feb,. p. 40 Must Helicopters Be So Noisy? Fred George Feb., p. 68 First Look: Learjet 60XR Fred George March, p. 34 The Turboprop, Doing Just Fine at 50 George C. Larson March, p. 52 Analysis: Citations CJ1+ and CJ2+ Fred George April, p. 34
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.
