AircraftLogs, Columbus, Ohio. Eric P. Roy has joined the company as executive vice president. He will be responsible for corporate sales and development.
Blackberry and Palm Treo users can expect expanding service to their handhelds, but it won't be without effort. For one thing, the phone people who advertise Internet access for your phone, Treo or Blackberry may not make it clear that the page you get will be different from what you see over your desktop or laptop.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. is realigning its top management structure in the wake of the departure of Ed Dolanski for a senior position within the parent corporation. As a result, RAC Chairman and CEO Jim Schuster appointed Randy Groom, who had been president and general manager of Beechcraft, as president of Global Customer Service and Support. Brad Hatt, who had been president and general manager of Hawker, becomes president of Global Commercial Sales for Beechcraft and Hawker.
The Vref Turboprop Index -- a compilation of quarterly prices recorded for the Beech King Air C90A and B200, Cessna Conquest I and II, Piper Cheyenne II and Twin Commander 690B for more than a decade -- shows that the average value of these aircraft now exceeds $1.1 million. The index has risen for 10 straight quarters since bottoming out at just over $900,000 in third quarter 2003.
FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS of aircraft, "Cape Town" has become part of the argot of a transaction, and part of the cost. At the very least, it can slow things down. At worst, it can really queer a deal. So, what is it?
For more than a year, a great confrontation expected to be decided a year from now has been escalating between long-term antagonists over the classic prize of turf and how it will be governed and administered.
Executive Jet Management claims it is generating lots of revenue for its management clients who put their aircraft on EJM's charter certificate. Cincinnati-based EJM said 32 client aircraft in its charter fleet each generated more than $1 million in gross charter revenue in 2005, compared with 25 aircraft that reached the $1 million mark in 2004. "All of these management clients exhibit similar traits," said Albert C. Pod, president and CEO of EJM.
After a five-month delay, five new Piaggio Avanti IIs have left the Genoa, Italy, factory complete with their all-new Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suites. However, the $6.195 million aircraft are not yet fitted with their newer Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66Bs since engine certification on the twin pusher is not anticipated until the end of this year or early 2007. Piaggio Aero board member Alberto Galassi said that while the company had thought the change to the Pro Line 21 cockpit would be relatively easy, "It wasn't.
Cessna Aircraft has begun delivery of 42 Skyhawks to the Civil Aviation Flying University of China (CAFUC). The airplanes are traveling overseas by boat in 40-foot containers that can carry three of the Model 172s at a time. Twenty-two of the 172s will have the Garmin GA (glass) package and 20 will have the NAV I with ADF (non-glass). In addition to the 42 Skyhawks, the CAFUC took delivery of six Cessna Citation CJ1s in August 2005. Once primary training is completed in the 172s, students begin learning to fly the CJ1s.
The pilot landed the Embraer 110 freighter at Savannah International Airport on Dec. 8 and the following morning ordered fuel for the airplane. However, when she had exited the twin turboprop, another pilot informed her that he had heard a "popping" noise" coming from one of the engines. Accordingly, the following day, the pilot started the airplane and taxied to a run-up area to conduct an engine check. It was then that the fuel truck arrived and the pilot elected not to refuel the airplane at that time so she could continue the run-up.
Eurocopter sold 87 EC 135 helicopters in 2005 -- 50 percent destined for the United States. The company has also certified an increased takeoff weight of 2,910 kilograms (6,425 pounds), from 2,835 kilograms (6,250 pounds), with LBA/EASA OK'ing the EC 135 T2i/P2i variants on Feb. 21, 2006. Deliveries will start in late September. The empty weight has been reduced to 1,455 kilograms (3,208 pounds), giving the EC 135 an empty weight ratio of 50 percent.
Embraer has completed the Joint Definition Phase (JDP) for its Phenom 100 very light jet. During the JDP a multi-disciplinary team -- including more than 300 Embraer engineers in collaboration with suppliers co-located at company headquarters in São José dos Campos -- finalized defining the aircraft and met with government officials to agree on procedures for fulfilling certification requirements.
IT WAS SUPER BOWL Sunday 2006, with the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the Seattle Seahawks in the 40th star-studded showdown, this time in Detroit. Fans by the tens of thousands were descending upon Ford Field, and as Jerome "The Bus" Bettis and his football battle-tested colleagues were suiting up, 250 miles to the west other teams of professionals were getting ready for a different kind of contest.
High-voltage AC, short for alternating current, electrical systems are installed in most large-cabin business jets because their electrically powered systems require more power than those of smaller aircraft. In AC systems, the positive and negative polarity alternates causing a reversal in current flow direction. Positive and negative polarity remains the same in a DC system and the current only flows in one direction.
Jet Aviation has completed its acquisition of Midcoast Aviation, the St. Louis-based business aviation maintenance and modification facility that also provides FBO services. Jet Aviation announced the acquisition plan in January; Midcoast specializes in Dassault Falcon, Raytheon and Bombardier aircraft.
Premier Jet, San Diego, has announced that Craig Foster is the FBO's general manager. Previously, Foster was the regional director of Atlantic Aviation at John Wayne Airport. Premier Jet is located at Palomar-McClellan Airport.
Landmark Aviation, Tempe, Ariz., announced that David Lamb will be the new vice president and general manager for its Los Angeles International Airport facility. Tracine Anderson has been named general manager for Landmarks's Raleigh-Durham FBO.
I always enjoy William Garvey's Viewpoint, but never more than in the January B&CA (page 7). He nailed the absence of businesses' current lack of a customer-centric approach and how that black hole swallows up all flexibility, humanity and - as a result - customer loyalty. I hope some of the offenders read Viewpoint, recognize themselves and make some much-needed changes.
According to the DOT's inspector general, the FAA ignored a $50 million threat to the Aviation Trust Fund posed by IRS jet fuel tax rule changes -- while asserting that possible Trust Fund declines mean that the agency must turn to a new funding mechanism, possibly based on user fees. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on FAA funding, Sen.
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) is creating a company to provide liability insurance to repair stations. The association said 20 of its members have agreed to help launch the Aviation Alliance Insurance Risk Retention Group (AAIRG) and hopes the new company will be operational in the second half of this year. ARSA will limit participation in AAIRG to association members. AAIRG members will pay an up-front capitalization fee, projected at about 30 percent of a member's current annual insurance premium, and will have a stake in the new company.
Cessna completed a one hour and nine minute first flight of the newest iteration of the Citation Encore, the Encore+, on March 22. The first production Encore+ completed its initial flight from Rockwell Collins' facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The aircraft arrived in Cedar Rapids as an Encore, where its FACECs were reprogrammed and Pro Line 21 avionics installed. The aircraft underwent testing for basic stability, flap and landing gear extension and retraction, controllability, trim actuation, engine operating characteristics and basic autopilot operation.
"Certificate holders, including repair stations, are the safety net in the FAA's system," Aeronautical Repair Station Association Executive Director Sarah MacLeod said recently in connection with a suit filed in federal court by the association to block implementation of a rule extending drug and alcohol testing.
