Bombardier has a backlog of two to three years for its large business aircraft models, but officials are dissatisfied with their inability to get large aircraft completions done on time for the right cost. Noting the two-year backlog on Global Express and Global 5000 aircraft, Beaudoin said, "It's not a problem of sales price, it's about delivering [aircraft] on time and on cost."
George J. Priester, 98, a business aviation pioneer in the Chicago area who turned Palwaukee Airport into one of the most vibrant business aviation airports in the United States, died on Aug. 17. He received his first airplane ride in 1928 in return for helping fix a friend's airplane engine. Priester began his career working for the railroad, but he found time to earn his private pilot's license and bought a Hess Warrior Argo. In 1953, Priester bought Palwaukee Airport and operated it for the next 33 years.
TAXES IN MY TOWN can give pause. I grumble, but not too much because I have three kids in the public school system, which is a good one, with a low student-to-teacher ratio. It's that feature that really costs. The same is true in any service, be it a luxury cruise, a five-star dinner, or an amphibious assault on a small island; the more service providers per recipient, the more expensive the service.
A speaker will be rated at Operational Level 4 if the following criteria are met: Pronunciation: (Assumes a dialect and/or accent intelligible to the aeronautical community.) Pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are influenced by the first language or regional variation but only sometimes interfere with ease of understanding. Structure: (Relevant grammatical structures and sentence patterns are determined by language functions appropriate to the task.)
After decades of fighting for a place at the table, business aviation is finally coming into its own as an accepted component of the European air transportation system. While not exactly sharing equal standing with airlines and military aviation, it is now perceived as a viable alternative to the scheduled air carriers and an efficient tool for furthering business interests.
Rockwell Collins has received a new STC for installation of its Pro Line 21 Integrated Display System (IDS) in King Air 200s and 300s. Superior Aircraft Maintenance of Medford, Ore., performed the installation, which is available to Rockwell Collins dealers.
We are at takeoff," radioed the KLM copilot on the evening of March 27, 1977, at Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The ambiguity in those words, along with other instances of poor communication between the air traffic control tower and two airliners, resulted in a Boeing 747 operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines executing a takeoff on a runway occupied by a Pan American 747 taxiing in the opposite direction.
FirstFlight, based at New York's Elmira/Corning Airport, has expanded its charter fleet and extended its presence to the West Coast with the addition of a Falcon 50 based in Napa Valley, Calif. The FirstFlight fleet now totals 17 executive jets available for charter, according to FirstFlight President John Dow.
Despite the booming business-jet market, Bombardier reported big drops in net income for the second quarter and first half of its fiscal year, weighed down by a sluggish market for its RJs and continuing inefficiencies in delivery of completed business jets. Net income for the quarter ended July 31 totaled $58 million (U.S.), or three cents per share, compared with $117 million, or six cents per share, during the same period in 2005.
Pilot safety committees at several of the large operators of Beechjets have been flooded with questions from their pilots about aircraft flameouts. One pilot undergoing recurrent training at a major simulator training center stated, "We had our instructor walk us through a dual engine flameout to land. . . . I have to say that it was kind of creepy. . . . If you have seen a space shuttle approach and landing then you know what kind of pitch and vertical speed rates you are looking at. . . . I swore it wouldn't work, but it did!
Aircraft price indexes published by Vref, the Shawnee Mission, Kan., publisher, show that the composite values for popular corporate turboprops continued their gradual climb into the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Vref's price index for light business jets remained flat, and the indexes for heavy-iron and medium business jets dropped by the end of June (see accompanying chart).
Seattle-based Raisbeck Engineering has received FAA certification of a new, larger nacelle wing locker for Beech King Airs. The so-called Crown Locker is available for the King Air C90, E90, C90GT, 200, B200, 300 and 350.
NASA, the FAA and Ohio State University conducted an extensive joint research program on tailplane icing during the mid-1990s, the results of which were published in NASA and FAA research reports and incorporated into FAA guidance. Research on critical ice shapes continues by NASA, the FAA and others, and this work is applicable to both wings and tailplanes. For example, in recent years there has been extensive research on residual and inter-cycle ice shapes for pneumatic boot deicing, and runback ice shapes for thermal ice protection systems.
Acrohelipro Global Services Inc., Richmond, British Columbia, has appointed Steve Walford as director, customer and technical support. Darcy McAlpine has been named sales manager for Western Canada.
Cessna Aircraft Co. has been recognized by NetJets twice this year for cooperative efforts contributing to the overall success of NetJets -- Cessna's largest customer. Cessna received the first-ever NetJets Annual Performance Award for process improvements implemented in 2005 to decrease maintenance downtime on NetJets aircraft. After applying Six Sigma lean improvement processes, NetJets Aviation's uptime was increased by 30 percent, equivalent to a four-day reduction of maintenance time per aircraft.
European orders for the ZR LITE Learjet 35/36 performance system are now being taken by Aero-Dienst, the newest member of Raisbeck Engineering's network of authorized ZR LITE installation centers. The modification, approved by EASA in September, is designed to increase allowable maximum takeoff weight under "limiting conditions," such as higher-altitude airports and shorter sea-level runways.
Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita announced the appointment of Greg McCurley to the position of vice president, Hawker Resale, reporting to Don Dwyer, vice president, Global Commercial Aircraft Sales. Randy Nelson is now senior vice president, for product development and engineering and David Bernstorf has become vice president, airworthiness, certification and technical engineering.
At the Suggs house, the cars are parked in the driveway because there's no space for them in the garage. That's where Cindy Suggs and her family have their weight room. Corporate communications manager for Universal Weather and Aviation in Houston, Suggs has been lifting for 15 years to "keep the obesity beast at bay" and to maintain a cardiovascular edge. "I had a hiatus where I didn't do anything, and I gained weight," she says, adding "it's been a challenge for me all my life."
According to FAR Part 21, STC holders are required to provide updates to ICAs, but in practice this is not always the case. The letter writer is correct about maintenance organizations not being aware of the situation, which is why we published the article.
On Aug. 30, the 500th EC 135 built at Eurocopter's German production facility in Donauwoerth was delivered to the Austrian Motorist and Touring Club (OEAMTC), which will use the twin-turboshaft rotorcraft in its air ambulance operations. This helicopter is the 25th EC 135 for OEAMTC, one of the largest private operators of this type in the world.
I was reading your article in B&CA about the King Air B100 (20/Twenty, September 2006, page 116) and would like to offer some feedback on TPE331 hot section inspections (HSI). Under Honeywell's Century program the cost cap of an HSI for a 331-6 is $62,000. Not all parts associated with the HSI are covered. I recently had an HSI done on a TPE331-6 at a Honeywell Authorized Service Center. The engine was making full power and was fully intact (no broken or non-intact blades, etc.). My cost for the HSI was $82,000.
Cessna's Citation Mustang has been granted full FAA type certification, making it what Cessna calls "the world's first fully certified, new-generation entry level business jet." Cessna continues its reluctance to apply the "very light jet" moniker to the Mustang. FAA type certification for the Mustang includes single-pilot operation, day/night operations, VFR/IFR operation, and operations in RVSM airspace.
You're flying an instrument approach in weather that includes icing conditions. When you lower the flaps, the yoke starts shaking. Is your wing stalling? If that's your conclusion, you and your passengers might soon become sad statistics. The unchecked accumulation of ice on the horizontal tail can significantly decrease the longitudinal stability and elevator control effectiveness of the aircraft. In fact an ice-contaminated tailplane stall (ICTS) can lead to a situation where controlled flight is impossible.
