"We're supportive of deploying automation improvements in the ATC system, but it's more than that: you have to provide compatible capability on the aircraft to interact with the equipment on the ground and with the controller," Steve Brown, the NBAA's senior vice president of operations, said in answer to B&CA's query on the business aviation organization's position on automation.
Cessna is preparing "an overhaul" of its single-engine product line, CEO Jack Pelton told the New York Wings Club. Without going into detail, he did say that he believed the future of light aircraft propulsion was tied to "heavy fuels" as opposed to 100LL or automotive gasoline. He expressed a desire for piston-engine makers to push harder in that direction. He also added that aluminum vs. composite materials for future airplanes still was very much an open question at Cessna.
US Helicopter has begun shuttle service between JFK Airport and lower Manhattan, using Sikorsky S-76 helicopters configured for eight passengers. It's the first such service at a New York-area airport in more than a decade. The eight-minute flights operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Startup ticket price is $139 one way plus taxes and fees, rising to $159 in May. Airport-bound flights initially left from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, but this month, service will expand to include flights from the East 34th Street Heliport to JFK.
Intelligence | 13 ?228-137? FAA Forecasts for Business Jet/VLJ Fleet May Be Over-Optimistic ?228-137? Honeywell, Rolls-Royce Turbine Helicopter Forecasts ?228-137? Embraer's Asian Business Jet Market Forecast ?228-137? ADIZ Meeting Transcripts Classified ?228-137? FAA Issues AD After Glass Cockpits Black Out in Flight Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey Revenge Effects
Fuel providers have experienced the price sensitivity in the aviation gasoline market. ConocoPhillips executives recently said avgas sales were off 5 to 6 percent in the latter half of 2005 when fuel prices spiked. Avgas sales already were softening, but went into an even steeper decline after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, they said. Jet fuel sales, however, were up about 2 percent in 2005.
Cessna CEO and GAMA Chairman Jack Pelton systematically rebutted the airline and Bush administration arguments for an FAA funding overhaul centered on General Aviation user fees in February speeches before the Wings Club in New York and the Aero Club of Washington. In his presentations, Pelton noted five "myths" postulated by the Air Transport Association and/or ATA-funded research about FAA funding have gained "undeserved credibility," and he countered each one. The myths and his responses follow:
Garmin announced the GMX 200 multi-function display includes a high resolution (640 x 480 pixels) display with a viewing area almost 20 percent larger than that of other panel-mount MFDs. An advanced backlighting scheme dramatically improves the color and contrast, resulting in chart depictions and images that are brighter and more vivid in all lighting conditions.
The FAA recently completed a safety review of the Mitsubishi MU-2, and the agency is expected to issue a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) to require specific MU-2B training in the near future. In the meantime, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA) Inc. plans to hold a series of MU-2 safety seminars beginning in May for owners and operators of the more than 300 twin-turboprop airplanes based in the United States.
CAE SimuFlite, Montreal, Canada, announced the appointment of Jim O'Connell as general manager of its new North East Training Center near Morristown Airport in New Jersey.
We recognize your displeasure with the story, but the actual point of the piece was to emphasize how important a mechanic can be on long trips, particularly international trips. The idea of doubling as a flight attendant was secondary at best and only suggested when there wasn't room up front for a third crewmember. What that says is a flight engineer is more valuable on board than a flight attendant.
The FAA is beginning to tip its hand on its plans to roll out ADS-B nationwide, with a recent briefing revealing that the agency wants to introduce ADS-B position reporting in the 2007-2010 timeframe. The agency would initially focus on "ADS-B out" procedures, which involve GPS positions transmitted from aircraft to air traffic controllers, said FAA Vice President of En Route and Oceanic Services Rick Day.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. has signed a distribution agreement with Scandinavian Avionics (SA Group) covering the sale and installation of Safe Flight's Powerline Detection System in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Czech Republic and Malaysia. Founded in 1978, the SA Group is supported by a central logistics center in Billund, Denmark. Other international distributors for Safe Flight products include Helicentro Morumbi of Brazil, Trans Helicopter Services of France and Airborne Solutions of South Africa.
Raytheon Aircraft's international sales accounted for nearly twice as much business in 2005 as in 2004, with offshore sales jumping from 16 percent of total worldwide sales in 2004 to 29 percent of total sales last year. Beechcraft and Hawker products "command a 51 percent share of the total business turbine market in Asia, with increasing market share in countries like China, India, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand," and boast a market share of about 40 percent in Australia, the company said.
JACK PELTON, the chairman, CEO and president of Cessna Aircraft, is known for his engineering expertise, business management acumen and love of flying. Based on speeches he delivered in February at the Wings Club in New York City and at the Aero Club in Washington, D.C., the following day, he also has remarkable skill at deciphering Washington rhetoric and translating it into a compelling message.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., has appointed John Marino as vice president of defense training systems. Gary Porterfield has been promoted to assistant manager of FSI's West Palm Beach, Fla., Learning Center.
CAE SimuFlite is relocating its Sikorsky S-76 simulator from Dallas to its new state-of-the-art training center near Morristown, N.J., in recognition of the concentration of the model in that area.The simulator configuration will alternate between the S-76C+ and the S-76B models and will be the only Level-D simulator to feature full-size chin windows. Meanwhile, the Middle East's first Bell 412 full-flight simulator, built by CAE and installed at the Emirates-CAE Flight Training facility in Dubai, is qualified to FAA Level D.
MarketLift, Dallas. Marjorie DeLong has announced the launch of this new aviation marketing services company specializing in innovative marketing initiatives and growth strategy planning. DeLong is the company's president. Visit www.market-lift.com.
Honeywell has been selected by Bell Helicopter to provide five key avionics products for the new Model 429. Standard equipment will include the new KSG-7200 Air Data Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), which combines attitude, altitude, airspeed, air temperature and heading information in a single box and features micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS) in place of spinning gyros. This is the first helicopter contract award for MEMS.
Thales won two contracts from Italian air navigation services provider ENAV for a number of air navigation systems. The contracts include 11 ILS 420 instrument landing systems, 22 distance measuring equipment units, four non-directional beacons and three direction finders. The systems will be installed this year at airports throughout Italy.
I've been enjoying the back-page 20/Twenty stories in B&CA. Your monthly look back at out-of-production business aircraft that still make good sense today is insightful and useful information for operators seeking value and performance.
SOMETIME IN YOUR 50s you will be struck with the notion that retiring in the next 10 years or so would be nice. Hopefully, by then you'd been putting money aside for decades to see you through your post-flying years. You need to consider how you are going to handle pilot retirement -- yours and that of those on your roster. Always a delicate subject.
The British Airports Authority is under threat of a hostile takeover by Grupo Ferrovial SA of Spain. BAA owns and operates seven U.K. airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Meanwhile, Ferrovial, which owns Belfast and Bristol airports in a joint venture with Australian bank Macquarie, says that it is considering a cash takeover, probably as part of a consortium. Latest press reports suggest that Macquarie will join with Ferrovial to form part of the consortium. The bid has surprised many in the U.K.
