In July 2002, DayJet placed a firm order for 239 Eclipse 500 jets, with options for 70 more. Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn and DayJet CEO Ed Iacobucci are both veterans of the technology industry and knew one another before either got into aviation to the extent they are involved now.
The NTSB is investigating a particularly spectacular uncontained engine failure on an American Airlines Boeing 767 that was undergoing testing on June 2 at Los Angeles International Airport. At 12:27 PST, during a ground maintenance test run, the high-pressure turbine stage-one disk on the number-one engine (General Electric CF6-80A2) broke into several pieces that were found embedded in the fuselage, the number-two engine, and scattered as far 3,000 feet from the airplane.
After "two spectacular years of recovery," the market for previously owned aircraft "seems to be taking a short breather," according to the summer 2006 edition of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest.
ExecuJet Europe started its FBO service at Berlin's Schönefeld Airport in June, operating from the Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) complex. LBAS is 50 percent owned by Lufthansa Technik, 30 percent by Bombardier and 20 percent by ExecuJet, a global aviation sales, charter and executive air transport company. FBO services will be gradually phased in during the coming months and will be fully functional by the fourth quarter of this year. LBAS is a full Bombardier and Learjet service center.
Embraer cut the first metal for the Phenom 100 program on June 7. The first part manufactured, a fuselage component that connects to an engine pylon, was milled from a block of aluminum alloy by a five-axis, high-performance machining center and will be assembled into the first Phenom 100 pre-series-production aircraft.
Academics of Flight Sunnyside, NY (718) 937-5716 NYC-FSDO www.flywithaof.com Academics of Flight International Miami Springs, FL (305) 874-6643 MIA-FSDO Academy College Bloomington, MN (952) 851-0066 MSP-FSDO www.academycollege.edu Airline Academy, The Daytona Beach, FL (904) 258-0703 ORL-FSDO Airline Ground Schools Inc. Florence, KY (800) 824-4170 SDF-FSDO www.agschools.com Anoka Technical College Anoka, MN (763) 785-5940 MSP-FSDO www.ank.tec.mn.us/aviation
Raytheon Aircraft appointed Canadian services company Skyservice as an authorized service center for Bonanza, Baron and King Air aircraft. The authorization covers Skyservice's facilities in Montreal and Toronto. Raytheon Aircraft also named General Dynamics Aviation Services in Westfield, Mass., as a Hawker 800-series authorized service center.
Flight student visa limitations proposed by the U.S. State Department would eviscerate U.S flight schools' training/experience-building curricula that have made this country a favorite of aspiring professional pilots from around the world and would force many schools out of business, according to the AOPA and the National Air Transportation Association.
Intelligence | 11 ?228-137? NBAA Warns Action Needed Against User Fees ?228-137? Aerion Schedules Testing for SSBJ Wing Cross-Section ?228-137? London City Airport Up for Sale ?228-137? Sumwalt Nominated for NTSB ?228-137? Avanti II FAA Certified Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey Border Hopping 84 | Cause & Circumstance By William Garvey Show Stopper
(New York, N.Y.) -- Two financial specialists -- Robert Jones and John Donohue -- have joined CIT's new Aerospace and Defense Finance Group. Jones was a director in the Aerospace & Defense Group at Wachovia Securities prior to joining CIT. Donohue was an associate at GE Commercial Finance before coming to CIT.
The NBAA and the Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral (ABAG) have "deferred" the 2006 Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition, LABACE 2006, due to a construction project at Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. The event, jointly sponsored by the two organizations, originally was scheduled for Aug. 10-12 at Congonhas Airport. In early May, Brazilian aviation authorities notified the NBAA and ABAG that the VARIG Engenharia e Manutencao ramp would be unavailabledue to construction.
Cessna Aircraft plans to offer an enhanced vision system (EVS) on the Citation Excel/XLS and an Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) on CJ1 and CJ2 aircraft. The product enhancements were unveiled during Cessna's recent annual Citation Customer Conference in Wichita. The Max Viz EVS-1000 uses a fuselage-mounted infrared camera to enhance situational and terrain awareness during times of low visibility.
Aviareto, Dublin, Ireland. Niall Greene has been appointed a managing director. Rob Cowan was named head of operations responsible for systems and security.
A DAYLONG SEMINAR entitled "America's Aviation Crisis: Delayed, Not Canceled" was held recently at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C. The theme and its implications clearly resonated with people within government, the aviation industry and beyond. The turnout was impressive.
Airborne communications specialist AirCell was the high bidder in the FCC's recent spectrum auction for air-to-ground broadband frequencies. AirCell will obtain an exclusive license to provide wireless broadband services to business aircraft and airlines in the United States. The company says it is restructuring with a cash infusion from an investment firm in preparation for its new phase of business. Slated for deployment in 2007, the new services will enable passengers to use their own Wi-Fi devices such as laptops and PDAs to access the Internet.
Diamond Aircraft of Austria has developed the DA42-MPP and DA42 OPALE, two more surveillance versions of its DA42 twin. The spectacularly ugly MPP (Multi-Purpose Platform) version was flown only a few weeks before the recent Berlin Air Show and has already been at work with local government in Lower Austria. The aircraft carries a Riegel laser measurement system and a Vexcel UltraCam mapping camera. The OPALE is a cooperative program with Rheinmetall Defence Electronics and its sensor data can be downlinked in real-time via broadband over a range of 200 km (124 miles).
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee is considering a $15.2 billion budget for the FAA in fiscal 2007 in a bill that would provide $2.4 billion more for the agency than the Bush administration requested -- ignoring the administration's plans to slash airport funding. Earlier the House transportation subcommittee agreed to boost the FAA's funding by $1.4 billion over fiscal 2006 levels. The bill includes $3.7 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) -- the congressionally authorized level.
T-Bird Aviation, West Chicago, Ill., announced that Dan Crestinger has been named president of the company. T-Bird is a corporate aircraft acquisition management and charter company.
More than 85 Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) have entered service, since initial green deliveries began in November 1998. BBJs are flown by operators based in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Middle East. The fleet has accumulated in excess of 175,000 flight hours with a dispatch reliability of better than 99.9 percent.
Jet Aviation, Spring Branch, Texas, appointed James Thomas as general manager of Jet Aviation Engineering Services. Jet Aviation Singapore has appointed Michael Sattler as the new vice present and general manager of the company's maintenance and FBO operation.
Piaggio Aero Industries has earned FAA certification of its speedy Avanti II turboprop pusher. With a range of over 1,800 miles, a speed of 398 knots (450 mph) and a maximum cruising altitude of 41,000 feet, its overall performance is similar to that of a jet but with 30 percent less operating costs, says Piaggio. The Avanti II is single pilot certified and can carry up to nine passengers.
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen exhorted members to voice opposition to user fees to Congress. Too often this issue is considered a Washington issue that doesn't affect the rest of the country, Bolen stated. But, he added, "This is clearly getting outside Washington, D.C. There's a real fire. Our community is very much under attack." He cited recent articles in Business Week and the Wall Street Journal.
