Business & Commercial Aviation

Edited by James E. Swickard
ARINC won a contract from Atlantic Southeast Airlines to provide air/ground communications services. ARINC will provide digital data link service through the ARINC GLOBALink/VHF network using the VDLM2 protocol. ARINC will manage ASA's air/ground and ground/ground operational messages through a Web-based OpCenter. The contract also calls for ARINC to integrate several paperless data applications, including ground maintenance data collection and weight-and-balance applications.

Staff
Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita. Don Dwyer is returning to take the new position of vice president, Global Commercial Sales. Dwyer will lead the company's efforts to grow Beechcraft and Hawker sales domestically and internationally.

By Fred George
What used midsize jet delivers the most bang-for-the-buck? Arguably, it's the Learjet 55. For less than $3 million, you get a 2,000-nm max range jet capable of carrying six to seven passengers. And with fuel prices nudging $5-plus per gallon at some FBOs, the Learjet 55's fuel miserliness -- it was conceived during the Arab oil embargo of the mid-1970s -- is a welcome bonus.

George C. Larson
"That's the $64,000 question," says Cameron Burr, president of Pogo Jet, in reply to a query about the status of a reported future fleet of Adam 700 VLJ aircraft. "Today we still have no certified VLJ -- nobody does. So we're aircraft agnostic at this point. It's very difficult for a business like ours to ramp up all the functions that we'll need to operate when we don't know when we'll have aircraft. It's not like a [Boeing] 737, where you have a delivery date." For now, Pogo is in a holding pattern, Burr announced.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Bombardier Aerospace said revenues remained flat in the three months ended April 30, 2006, at $1.9 billion, as it was for the same period the previous year. Earnings before financing income, expenses and special items grew from $52 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2006 to $55 million in the most recent quarter. A 23-percent increase in business aircraft deliveries helped offset a drop in the regional sector. Business jet orders, however, softened in the first quarter.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) and Adam Aircraft announced Tip-to-Tail hourly maintenance cost guarantee programs developed exclusively for the new Adam A500 twin-engine piston and A700 AdamJet aircraft. This program launch marks the entry into the very-light-jet market for JSSI and the first hourly maintenance program to include complete airframe and engine coverage for a twin-engine piston aircraft. Adam Aircraft A500 and A700 buyers can now include Tip-to-Tail coverage at preferred rates for three- or five-year terms when they purchase the aircraft.

Edited by James E. Swickard
The National Air Transportation Association objected when the FAA released a notice calling for all jet aircraft crews to recalculate landing distance in flight, using current data, to ensure at least a 15-percent margin between the calculated landing distance and the actual available runway -- but bypassed the required rulemaking notice and comment procedures. The FAA said it was just a clarification of policy and that the agency would issue a new Operations Specification/Management Specification mandating the new requirements, possibly as soon as Sept. 1.

By David Esler
With your Gulfstream vectored to the localizer and cleared for the approach at FL 330, you drop the main gear, call for positive flaps, deploy the Spey's thrust reversers, and push the nose over to a 22-degree negative angle of attack. Egads! With the flaps extended above the wing-like spoilers, airspeed pegs at 250 knots, and you set up a 10,000-fpm rate of descent. As the altimeter unwinds dizzyingly, you allow approach speed to build to 300 knots, then with the runway threshold looming in the windshield, call for down-flaps to begin breaking the descent.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Current "ab initio" flight training programs are designed to enable a foreign student to come in with little or no aviation training and work through a spectrum of training and on-the-job experience over a period of two years. The AOPA urged the U.S. State Department to exempt flight training programs from the proposal.

Staff
Daniel Webster College, Nashua, N.H., has elected Joseph J. Dini of Bedford, Mass., a senior vice president at Sovereign Bank, to its board of trustees.

By Jessica A. Salerno
-July 2-7: Citation Special Olympics Airlift, Ames, Iowa. To volunteer your Citation for the 2006 Citation Special Olympics Airlift call (877) 376-5438. -July 8-11: ASA 2006, Four Seasons, Las Vegas. Aviation Suppliers Association, (202) 347-6899. [email protected] -July 12-16: Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association Summer Meeting, Mohegan Sun Resort, Uncasville, CT. www.lpba.org

Edited by James E. Swickard
A new study co-sponsored by GAMA and the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) says that general aviation contributed more than $150 billion to U.S. economic output in 2005, and employed directly or indirectly, more than 1.2 million people whose collective earnings exceeded $53 billion. "This study quantifies what is at stake in the upcoming user fee debate for a significant number of Americans whose livelihoods are supported by general aviation," said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce.

Edited by James E. Swickard
The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter could go back into production. Viking Air Limited of Victoria, British Columbia, has acquired the Type Certificates for seven de Havilland aircraft types in a deal with Bombardier Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Viking gains the exclusive right to restart production for any of the models. "Last year we conducted a market research study on all the DHC out-of-production aircraft," said a Viking spokesperson. "The results showed that the Twin Otter had very good market potential.

Edited by Robert A. Searles
-Dassault Falcon 900EX airplanes -- Inspect the No. 2 engine left- and right-hand forward mounts for missing rivets and install rivets if necessary. -Eurocopter SA-365N1, AS-365N2 and N3, SA-366G1 and EC-155B and B1 helicopters -- Conduct a one-time inspection for end play in the pitch-control rod assembly double bearing using the tail-rotor hub control plate. Before further flight, replace the bearing if end play is present.

Edited by James E. Swickard
SATSair is adding Manassas, Va., and Atlanta as domiciles in its air taxi network, which covers much of the Eastern United States. As domiciles, Manassas and Atlanta will have SATSair Cirrus SR22 aircraft positioned at local airports and SATSair pilots will be in residence in the area.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Embraer has consolidated its offices in Europe into a new building in Villepinte, France, close to the Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. The new facilities will serve Embraer operators located in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Embraer's new European headquarters occupies 67,866 square feet, including a state-of-the-art 37,458-square-foot warehouse.

Joe Brescia (Hopewell Junction, NY)
As a current E190 captain for a major airline and former corporate aviator experienced in international ops flying Gulfstream IV and Falcon 900/50 aircraft, I wish to comment on your report on Embraer's new big business jet ("Embraer Lineage 1000 Makes Debut at EBACE," page 34).

Edited by James E. Swickard
Pilatus Aircraft and CAMP Systems International announced an agreement that will make CAMP the exclusive factory recommended maintenance tracking service for all PC-12 aircraft. All new PC-12 aircraft deliveries will include a year of CAMP services at no cost to the new owner. Commenting on the agreement, Piotr "Pete" Wolak, vice president of customer services for Pilatus Business Aircraft, said, "Through CAMP, Pilatus customers will now receive the best maintenance tracking tool available.

James E. Swickard
The Honeywell GTCP36-150 (CL) auxiliary power unit that has been standard on the Challenger 604 since late 2005 is now available to replace the original GTCP36-100 APU installed on earlier Challenger 604s and on Challenger 601 aircraft. The new unit has higher temperature margins that yield an increased hot-section inspection interval of 2,400 hours, with increased reliability and lower maintenance costs.

James E. Swickard
Garmin's GMX 200 640 x 480, AMLCD comes with enhanced backlighting that improves color and contrast, yielding brighter and more vivid chart depictions and images in all lighting conditions. Similar to its predecessor the MX20, the GMX 200 is easy to use with multiple functions and features that make navigation simple, and provide an extra margin of situation awareness: -View aircraft position relative to terrain, obstructions, weather, airways, navaids, restricted airspace.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Bombardier Aerospace said the Challenger 300 business jet fleet -- which now includes 80 aircraft -- is achieving a dispatch reliability of 99.5 percent. The Challenger 300 is powered by Honeywell HTF 7000 engines.

Patrick R. Veillette, Ph.D.
According to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA), nearly two-thirds of modern turbofan malfunctions are associated with compressor stall or surge. The terms "surge" and "stall" are used interchangeably to describe the breakdown of airflow within the engine.

Edited by James E. Swickard
Dassault doubled the spares warranty duration on all Falcon replacement parts to 24 months from time of installation -- or 30 months from time of purchase. The new warranty is currently in effect and will cover warranty claims on parts purchased from Dassault Falcon since June 1, 2004. Dassault announced the new warranties to some 1,300 Falcon operators attending the company's worldwide M&O meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. Visit www.falconjet.com for more information.

Edited by Robert A. Searles
Bombardier has named OMNI Aviação, an aircraft charter and services company based in Cascais, Portugal, as the exclusive sales representative for Bombardier Learjet aircraft in France and Portugal. Under the agreement, OMNI will work closely with the Bombardier business aircraft sales team, headed by Bob Horner, vice president of sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Edited by James E. Swickard
London City Airport has been put up for sale by owner Dermot Desmond, a Dublin financier, who has appointed investment bankers Morgan Stanley to evaluate a number of recent unsolicited offers for the business. Desmond bought the airport in 1995 from the construction group Mowlem for $44.3 million, but insiders reckon it is now valued at $754 million. Despite LCY's short runway and limited aircraft parking area, it has become very popular with regional and corporate jet operators because of its proximity to the capital's financial district.