The business aviation editors at AVIATION WEEK, of which B&CA is a proud member, have begun a new blog for the community on a revamped and renamed website -- www.aviationweek.com. The blog, Business Aviation Now, is dedicated to business aviation in all its forms.
Just before the NBAA's 2006 convention in Orlando, Cessna Aircraft introduced the CJ4, the fourth and newest member of its Citation CJ family. Although Cessna personnel were all-smiles, the announcement elicited yawns from many industry technocrats and harrumphs from those of the faster-higher-farther philosophy of aviation. After all, to them what was being unveiled was just the sequel to the sequel to the sequel. The aeronautical equivalent of double vanilla.
Bombardier Aerospace has signed up to a three-year, $66.6 million, U.K.-government research program, aimed at validating future composite wing construction. The Integrated Wing program brings together 17 U.K. organizations to develop a large-scale physical demonstrator. Bombardier will be focusing on developing composite technologies, simulation modeling, materials selection and manufacturing processes.
EVERY YEAR IT PLAYS out the exact same way. The unflagging optimist, I plan a reasonable mid-morning getaway for the Christmas reunion, but my ETA is viewed as a quaint suggestion at best and is mostly ignored as searches are conducted for lost things; fraternal disputes erupt loudly, subside and then flare nosily again; packages get wrapped and ribboned; bags get stuffed; and the dog is shuffled off to the pet motel. And finally, finally, we leave.
The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) working on America's next-generation air transportation system (NGATS) is conducting an analysis to determine what impact the NASA aeronautics directorate's shift toward fundamental research and away from demonstration projects may have on NGATS development. "This raises the question of what entity will do the developmental work that will be important to NGATS," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recent report.
CAE received a contract from Flight Simulation Co. to provide two Airbus A320 and two Boeing 737NG Level D flight simulators. The contract also calls for a used Dornier 328Jet simulator. CAE valued the contract at $52 million (Canadian).
Thank you for your comments and be assured, I agree with you about the hazardous attitudes. A non-punitive environment where safety issues can be discussed is always the best approach.
Intelligence | 11 * Business Aviation Leaders Plan Strategy for User-Fee Battle * B-52 Flies With All Engines Using Synthetic Fuel Blend * FAA to Revise Dec. 5 Notice on Air Ambulance Partt 135 Certificate Additions * EPA Rule Provides Relief for Fuel Truck Operators * EU Says Bulgarian Air Safety Falls Short Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey Code Breakers 76 | Point of Law By Kent S. Jackson
London-based Action Aviation has sold two MD Explorers to Jordan and gained three orders from the Dubai area since taking over MD Helicopters' exclusive sales and distributorship for 14 countries in November 2006. "We ordered 20 Explorers and 10 assorted singles," said Managing Director Mike Creed, of the deal with MD Helicopters. An MD 902 has already been delivered to Jordan, with the second due soon. One ex-factory demon- strator, with 150 hours logged, is to go to Dubai in May. Two others are to be new, privately owned VIP aircraft, due for delivery later this year.
I think that the FAA would answer that this is a mechanic's job, because this function is not listed in Part 43, Appendix A, is part of a (rather important) flight control system and the function is described in the maintenance manual, not the pilot operating handbook. If you operate under Part 135, then I think the FAA would be especially strict in viewing this as a mechanic function. If the helicopter is experimental, or the manufacturer specifically authorizes a pilot to perform this function, then the pilot could do so.
The NTSB determined Jan. 9 that the probable cause of the Oct. 14, 2004, fatal crash of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 on a ferry flight was the pilots' unprofessional behavior, their deviation from standard operating procedures and poor airmanship, which resulted in a double engine failure from which they were unable to recover.
IceJet, an Icelandic business jet charter operator, has started operations with two Dornier 328Jets, one with a 14-seat VIP interior, while the second is a newly refurbished 19-seat corporate shuttle, modified by one-year-old 328 Support Services of Oberpfaffenhofen.
EADS Socata announced the first French delivery of a TBM 850 VFT (Very Fast Turboprop) to a private owner, on Dec. 22, 2006, replacing a TBM 700C2, which will remain in France with a new owner. Socata says the 850-shp VFT is the world's fastest single-engine turboprop, with a maximum cruising speed of 320 KTAS at FL 260. Launched in December 2005, the VFT has 80 orders, most of which came from U.S. operators; some 42 aircraft have been delivered.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it will establish an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) pilot program for the northern border, based in Grand Forks, N.D., by the end of fiscal 2007. "As unmanned aircraft have proven to be effective on our southern border, this first step in North Dakota will lay the foundation to expand UAS operations along the nation's northern border," Michael Kostelnik, chief of CBP Air and Marine, said Jan. 8. CBP chose Grand Forks for its central location, providing the capability to launch UAS operations across the entire U.S.-Canadian tier.
Raytheon Aircraft's Hawker completions facility in Little Rock, Ark., has been certified as a Designated Alteration Station (DAS) by the FAA. Hawker Completions can now act as an authorized representative of the FAA and can complete several phases of its completions and alterations processes, including issuing STCs, issuing experimental certificates for altered aircraft and amending standard airworthiness certificates for such aircraft.
Most aviation maintenance technicians have a healthy curiosity about how things work. That attribute, combined with a strong desire to fix things, has drawn many a well-intentioned technician into a trap when it comes to repairing components. A leaky actuator seems like a simple enough problem to remedy: Disconnect the rod end, loosen the gland nut and slide on a new packing. Piece of cake! Put it back together, a quick leak check and move on to the next job.
Cessna is continuing its evaluation of a proof-of-concept light sport aircraft, logging some 50 flight hours on its POC aircraft to evaluate aircraft characteristics. The POC first flew Oct. 13, 2006, nine months after Cessna initiated the project. Cessna also continued to test the market, displaying the aircraft during the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo held recently in Sebring, Fla. The Wichita airplane-maker said the aircraft meets company expectations but has not announced when its evaluation would be completed.
In its 75-year history, few innovations in business aviation have had the impact of fractional ownership, and today those programs account for as much as 20 percent of new turbine-powered aircraft deliveries. But after two decades of existence, is the fractional model becoming a victim of its own success?
Garmin has acquired a leading provider of ultra-low-power, low-cost wireless connectivity solutions. Dynastream Innovations Inc. is located in Cochrane, Alberta, and employs approximately 50 people including over 25 engineers and scientists. The Canadian firm is also a leader in the field of personal monitoring technology - such as foot pods and heart-rate monitors for sports and fitness products. Both the foot pod and heart-rate sensor use the ANT ultra-low-power wireless interface protocol invented by Dynastream.
I have been a reader of your fine aviation articles for many years. Please accept my complements for Richard Aarons' excellent Cause & Circumstance in the December 2006 issue ("Winter Weather," page 82). His last two paragraphs summarized it very well.
The FAA released a new ETOPS rule that effectively changes current limitations and opens up routes for twin-engine passenger airplanes by setting uniform standards for all multiengine commercial aircraft when they fly "extended operations" routes - more than three hours from an airport. Regulators said the final rule would govern the design, maintenance and operation of airplanes and engines for long-distance flights and extend some requirements that previously only applied to twin-engine airplanes to those with more than two engines.
Kaballit Nunaat is thawing quickly. The ice mass of the world's largest island -- a.k.a. Greenland -- is melting at a rate of 41 cubic miles per year. Using a technique that reveals regional changes in the weight of the massive ice sheet across the entire landmass, NASA scientists report that Greenland's low coastal regions lost 155 gigatons of ice per year between 2003 and 2005 from excess melting and icebergs, while the high-elevation interior gained 54 gigatons annually from excess snowfall.
Boeing Business Jets and Rockwell Collins announced an EVS offering for BBJs that incorporates a Max-Viz multi-wavelength infrared sensor into the Rockwell Collins Head-up Guidance System (HGS) to present an image of the terrain and the airport environment on the HGS to enhance pilot situational awareness in low-visibility situations. EVS displayed on the HGS allows a pilot to descend below instrument approach minimums if the visual references to the intended runway are visible using the EVS.
