Adam Aircraft recently completed a $93 million funding round led by a new investor, DCM, a venture capital firm, and other new investors including Mesirow Financial, W Capital Partners, D.E. Shaw Laminar Portfolios, LLC, Acadia Woods Partners and several unnamed European investors. Previous investors Goldman Sachs and Hunt Growth Capital also participated. The company says it plans to use its new capital to accelerate the certification of the A700 AdamJet and ramp up production of the FAA-certified A500 piston twin.
GOING THROUGH THE newspaper last month, I turned to page B10 and there he was. The picture showed him to be older and a bit stockier than the man for whom I'd worked for 20 years starting in the mid-1960s, but there was no mistaking it was he. The headline read, "William B. Ziff Jr., 76, Builder of Magazine Empire, Dies." Yes, the end comes to all of us eventually, but with some people you think, Naw, not him, he'll get a pass. Bill Ziff for sure seemed one of those. He was so smart, he'd figure a way around it.
Rockwell Collins has unveiled Tailwind 300, its latest satellite television offering for business jets. The Tailwind 300 is ideal for the super midsize and larger aircraft operating within the contiguous United States. First delivery of the system is expected by mid-2007.
The new 2007 Pro-Flight Library CD from ASA contains the complete text and images for such important topics as: -Regulations: Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (all the FARs), Hazmat regulations, EPA, NTSB and TSA regulations; -Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) -Airworthiness Directives (ADs) -Practical Test Standards -Advisory Circulars -Dale Crane's Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms Price: 4.95 Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc. 7005 132nd Pl. SE
SheltAir Aviation Services has acquired the Sowell Aviation Services FBO at Panama City-Bay County International Airport in Panama City, Fla. As part of the acquisition, SheltAir Panama City, LLC, and its new FBO operating entity, SheltAir Aviation Services Panama City, now have over 40,000 square feet of FBO terminal, aircraft hangar and associated office space.
Honeywell has introduced the Bendix/King KDR 610, a data link weather receiver that offers real-time weather information to general aviation aircraft via XM satellite radio. Designed to interface with the Bendix/King KMD 250, KMD 550 and KMD 850 multi-function displays (MFD), the KDR 610 is expected to be available by year-end.
FlightSafety International, Flushing, N.Y., announced that George Ferito has been named to the newly created position of director, business development for rotor-wing aircraft. Daniel MacLellan was promoted to center manager of the company's Dallas Fort Worth Learning Center. Pete Nily has been promoted to assistant manger of FSI's Greater Philadelphia / Wilmington Learning Center.
(Wichita) -- Mark Paolucci, formerly vice president of Citation sales, is now the leader of the airframe manufacturer's customer service organization. He succeeded Senior Vice President Ron Chapman, who has retired. As a result, Mike Luethye has been promoted to vice president of Citation sales and will have overall responsibility for the marketing of new and used Citation sales worldwide. In addition, Gordon Vieth is now responsible for U.S. domestic sales of Citations.
On Sept. 12, Northrop Grumman unveiled the first airline aircraft equipped with its Guardian counter-surface-to-air missile system that will fly in regular scheduled service. The FedEx MD-10 is the first of 11 the cargo carrier will fly with the directed infrared counter measures (DIRCM) technology over the next 18 months, testing whether the equipment -- developed for the military -- is cost-effective and reliable for commercial aircraft operations. The project is Phase III of a Homeland Security Department study of the practicality of equipping the U.S.
Rockwell Collins has acquired all outstanding shares of IP Unwired Inc., an Ottawa, Canada-based provider of advanced digital communications and networking technology, notably in wireless environments. "This acquisition strengthens our network-centric operations offerings," said Rockwell Collins Chairman, President and CEO Clay Jones.
The White House has nominated Mary Peters for DOT secretary to succeed Norman Mineta, who retired from the job earlier this year. Peters served as administrator for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) from 2001 to 2005. In that position, she focused on strengthening security and safety, relieving congestion and improving the nation's highway infrastructure. Before her tenure at the FHWA, Peters spent three years as director of the Arizona DOT. General aviation Industry groups issued statements congratulating Peters on her nomination.
In the early 1960s, Ed Swearingen was in the modifications business, but he longed to start his own line of aircraft. He envisioned three families of aircraft that would share the same fuselage cross section and many systems. The Merlin I would be a piston twin, powered by two new 400-hp geared, turbocharged Lycoming engines; The Merlin II would be a turboprop and the Merlin III would be a light jet.
Avion Private Jet Club, a Los Angeles-based company that in 2005 launched a membership program providing per-seat, scheduled service on executive jets, has begun to market a new Avion Private Jet Deposit Card program.
Following B&CA's interview with Phil Crowther for this report, the Wichita-based aviation and tax lawyer sent us a long follow-up e-mail containing some wide-ranging observations on the personal-use issue. Here are some excerpts: "After our conversation, I was reminded of the ancient Greek saying: 'Those whom the Gods would destroy, they first drive mad.' While I am not sure if anyone is trying to destroy general aviation, there are several agencies [including the fourth estate] that seem determined to drive us mad.
While your article "Too Late for a Go-Around" (B&CA, August 2006, page 60) is well written, it noted that the aircraft in question - N86CE - was previously owned by Coca-Cola. That is incorrect. It was previously owned by the world's largest Coke bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., a completely autonomous and separate entity from The Coca-Cola Co. Both are headquartered here in Atlanta, but maintain separate flight departments and management teams. The aircraft registrations of The Coca-Cola Co.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Citation Mustang under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Waypoint Partners, LLC has expanded its services to include Flight Department Assessment and Review. Instead of following a traditional "checklist" of technical criteria, Waypoint assessments use an interactive protocol that seeks to measure a flight operation not only in technical terms, but also in terms of service and culture. "We carefully review both procedures and service, specifically including how the customer perceives the flight department's service," says Waypoint Managing Director Michael Sowa.
The safety benefits of head-up displays have been proven for more than two decades in civil aircraft and even longer aboard military platforms. Up until now, though, all civil aircraft HUD installations were single-sided, providing an excellent situational awareness tool for the captain, but leaving the first officer in the dark. Most OEM airframers have deferred developing dual-HUD installations because they claim that customers opting for one HUD won't cough up the extra money for the second.
Maine Aviation Aircraft Charter is growing its operations to include scheduled business jet flights between Morristown, N.J., and Bedford, Mass. Maine would operate 10 weekly flights between the two cities for an unnamed charter operator upon receipt of a commuter operating certificate from the DOT.
I want to compliment you on the recent article addressing the value of local airports ("Why Your Community Needs Its Airport," B&CA, August 2006, page 46). I serve on the California Transportation Commission's Technical Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (TACA) and in my practice I represent numerous airport proprietors. Your message is an important one that should be read by many in the industry as well as the local officials, elected and otherwise, who are responsible for airport-related decisions.
