The National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) introduced the 2007 members of its Executive Committee and Associate Member Advisory Council during the organization's fall membership meeting, which was held on Sunday, October 15 in Kissimmee, FL, just prior to the NBAA annual meeting and convention.
CIT Group, Inc., New York, N.Y., appointed David A. Davis to the position of senior vice president and general manager of CIT Aerospace, Business Aircraft division.
Eight Bombardier U.S. factory-owned service facilities have received the 2005 award: Addison, Clarksburg, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Teterboro, Tucson and Wichita.
Many college students have part-time jobs, working in the library or the bookstore, waiting tables, and such. Kenny Dichter worked at "Bucky's," a specialty clothing and gift store at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while a student there. But he didn't simply fetch things from the storage room. He co-owned the place.
Piaggio Aero Industries has signed an agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada to acquire 25 percent of the share capital of P&WC Turbo Engines Corp., which produces the PW206 and PW207 helicopter engines. With its 25-percent acquisition of P&WC Turbo Engines Corp., Piaggio Aero is adding to its business by participating in a new series of engines in the world helicopter market. Piaggio Aero's investment of almost $60 million is aimed at developing both technological and industrial contents. Expected returns over the next 20 years exceed $600 million.
Aviation Professionals Sharing Information (APSI), White Plains, N.Y., announced the appointment of Ronald Muller, director of Charter Sales for Infinity Aviation Group, to the post of president of APSI for a two-year term. APSI's mission is to promote education for business aviation professionals in the Northeast United States.
Nakanihon Air Service of Nagoya, Japan, and Infinity Aviation Group of Nashua N.H., have teamed up to introduce and manage preowned midsize corporate jets to the Japanese market. Nakanihon will lead the Japanese marketing and customer relations efforts and provide office, maintenance and hangar space as well as ground handling at its Nagoya facility. Infinity will acquire and outfit the aircraft in the United States and provide maintenance and operational control at Nagoya, utilizing Nakanihon's infrastructure, in accordance with "FAA guidelines."
Some have found inspiration in a smile, in adversity, in a deadline. Matt Weisman found his in a government document, one of those tables-laden tomes. Then a third-year law student conducting research for some accident litigation, Weisman actually studied the industry forecast published by the FAA and fixed on a projection that showed a new category of aircraft called business jets growing rapidly in the near years. That got the University of Pennsylvania student to thinking.
TAG Aviation Holdings, Geneva, Switzerland, announced that President and CEO Roger N. McMullin will retire at year-end. He will relocate to San Francisco where he will serve as chairman of the board.
Deep in the catacombs of the FAA, there's a nascent airport mapping project intended to build the most accurate airport siting and terrain database ever compiled plus lofting data for 3-D for over 4,000 U.S. airports -- but it's presently slated for internal government use only. The survey work is paid for by the airports using AIP grant money, with the overall effort dubbed the Airport -- GIS (Graphical Information System) initiative for use in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and the FAA's Office of Safety and Standards.
Alan Stiley, Rolls-Royce vice president for Marketing, Corporate and Regional Aircraft, said at October's NBAA Convention, "The market is recognizing the increasing value and utility of the new generation of medium and large business jets. While very light jets are getting a great deal of attention and will see large numbers of deliveries, it's the larger aircraft that will have the delivered aircraft and engine value.
An Atlantic Airways BAe-146-200A, chartered by Aker Kvaerner, crashed after it overran the runway at the Stord-Sorstokken Airport in Norway. There were 12 passengers and four crew members onboard. A post-crash fire resulted in four fatalities -- three passengers and one crewmember. A pilot who had landed another aircraft earlier reported the weather conditions as good.
Iviation has released two i-Learn interactive computer-based learning courses for corporate, charter and commercial flight operations. The first two courses address human factors/crew resource management and aircraft icing. The company says that these courses are suitable for all size flight and charter operations that have a difficult time scheduling downtime, and will help CEOs and flight department managers determine what a pilot's knowledge level really is. By the end of 2007, iviation says it will release more than 40 i-Learn courses.
The National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) recently added three new associate members to its roster: Bombardier Flexjet, First Republic Bank and Jet Aviation Business Jets. NARA now has 92 members -- 30 broker/dealers and 62 associate members. The latter group includes finance companies, law firms, insurance providers, title companies, refurbishment and ground support specialists, and consultants.
Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics will be standard on Cessna's Citation XLS+. The XLS+ is scheduled to go into service in 2008. The Pro Line 21 avionics suite on the aircraft features four eight- by-10-inch active matrix LCDs in a portrait configuration. The system includes Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 CNS radio suite, integrated radio tuning, integrated Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System (EICAS), turbulence-detecting weather radar, advanced flight management capabilities, and Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS).
SimCom, Orlando, announced that Tracy Brannon has been appointed to the company's board of directors. He holds the position of senior vice president and managing director of SimCom Training Centers.
General aviation advocates were sifting through the changes that lie ahead in Washington following the November elections, but were hopeful that one result would be a tougher road for any potential user-fee proposal.
The NBAA joined the National Air Transportation Association in calling for an industry-based Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to tackle the issue of runway landing distance assessments. The NBAA wrote FAA Administrator Marion Blakey that the association believes an ARC would be the best forum for tackling the issue, an industry source said. NATA also requested an ARC, saying that the agency's current policy ignores the needs of the business aviation and charter community and could create safety issues.
THE FAA HAS PUBLISHED a great deal of information for private pilots to explain what work that they can do on a small Piper. But there is very little information available to inform a professional pilot about what, if anything, he or she can fix on a Falcon or Hawker or any other type of high-performance aircraft.
NetJets Aviation and NetJets Europe have placed orders for 30 Hawker 750s and 18 Hawker 900XPs. The orders' value exceeds $500 million. Deliveries will commence in 2007 and continue through 2009. "We are excited to be the launch customer for the Hawker 750 and Hawker 900XP. This order reflects the increased demand for NetJets private aviation solutions in both the United States. and in Europe," said Richard Santulli, chairman of NetJets Inc. "The Hawker 900XP will be an integral part of our Columbus [Ohio]-based NetJets Aviation program.
Through Advisory Circular 120-76A, the FAA recognizes three classes of "electronic flight bags." Class 1 is a portable tablet-type PC that runs off its own power supply and is completely stand-alone, including the software that drives the application. Class 2 is attached to the airframe in some way like a gooseneck and can run off aircraft power but still uses its own software and data; however, it can access electronic flight information from the aircraft's nav systems.
Rolls-Royce forecasts that 51,000 engines, valued at $70 billion, will be needed over the next 20 years to meet demand for 24,000 new corporate jet aircraft; from very light jets through business jetliners. It said the demand is being fueled by the business community's increasing recognition of the value of using business jets as a productivity tool. The forecast predicts that nearly 12,000 medium and large business jets will be delivered between 2006 and 2025.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, in one of her first addresses after taking office, and notably, in Wichita, told the FAA International Aviation Safety Forum that she plans to explore new funding options for the aviation system.
The day started out perfectly with an early morning flight into the picturesque Telluride, Colo., airport. Clear blue skies, cool mountain air and a dry runway are my idea of the nearly perfect day. Our four clients stepped aboard and presently we were on our way to Chicago Midway. The weather forecast predicted rather benign ceilings and visibility, with only a small chance of isolated snow showers. We were at 5,000 feet on the approach getting ready to configure the aircraft when I heard someone go missed approach at MDW.
