In 1959, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' leaders developed a clean-sheet, high-speed turboprop with exceptional fuel economy, excellent short, unimproved runway capabilities and rugged construction. The new MU-2 was intended for civil and military markets. A round fuselage cross section was chosen because it's the most structurally efficient for pressurization, while small NACA 64000-series airfoils promised low drag and high cruise speeds.
According to several of its operators, the Mitsubishi MU-2B is one of the fastest, most fuel efficient, strongest and most responsive handling general aviation twin turboprops yet built. With flaps retracted, it has virtually the highest wing loading of any popular twin turboprop, providing a smooth ride in turbulence and minimal frontal area for reduced drag and efficient cruising.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Lynnwood, Wash., announced the appointment of Dan Marsh as vice president of electronic manufacturing solutions and microelectronics solutions and Tim King as Aerospace Group director, sales and marketing.
Prominent in the fallout from the February 2005 Challenger 600 runway overrun at Teterboro Airport is a reminder of the kind of double-binds in which the FAA and its field offices can ensnare operators.
During the New Year's holiday weekend, a break-in at the Denver International Airport test site for the Flight Safety Technologies SOCRATES wake vortex sensor technology resulted in vandalism and theft of wake vortex project equipment. The current test, which began in September 2005, had been suspended for the holiday period. The extent of loss and the impact on development and test schedules is under review. None of the data taken before the event were lost and data analysis is still under way.
Sun Air Jets has completed the final phase of its $10 million hangar expansion program -- aimed at enhancing its share of the Southern California corporate jet support services market. Sun Air Jets added more than 52,000 square feet of hangar and office space at its Camarillo facility. Key to the expansion program was the installation of a high technology security system.
DENIED ACCESS TO Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) since 9/11, the business aviation community spent more than four years pleading with federal security officials to come up with a plan that would allow business jet travelers to use the close-in airport again.
The European Civil Aviation Conference formed a task force to develop recommendations on the regulation of fractional aircraft operators from safety, security and economic standpoints. The decision to form the task force came after the U.S. committed to developing formal security requirements for fractional operations. Business aviation advocates have spent more than a year working with ECAC to find common ground for treatment of fractional aircraft ownership operations, but the lack of a formal U.S.
The spinning lathes, the smell of dope and sawdust, the men bent over work stands whittling, scribing fabric, bending frames, polishing gears -- all bespoke the era when aviation was new, its possibilities boundless, its practitioners adventurous tinkerers. And this place, a quiet waterside village in the lovely but remote Finger Lakes region, was the source of much of the effort's energy, triumphs and aspirations. Hammondsport, N.Y., was becoming known the world round thanks to the extraordinary exploits of its most prominent citizen, Glenn Hammond Curtiss.
Eclipse Aviation officials, who had earlier expressed concern that problems with some of its suppliers could slow certification of the company's Eclipse 500, confirmed shortly before Christmas that the program will be delayed for at least three months. Eclipse had been shooting for certification in the first quarter of this year, but on Dec. 22, 2005, Vern Raburn, president and CEO, said, "Over the last few months, we have been working with our suppliers to recover their schedules.
Warren E. Boin, Jr., Vice President, Marketing & Business Development (AVCARD, a Division of Kropp Holdings, Hunt Valley, MD)
I have two concerns with the December 2005 issue's "Fuel Card Fundamentals" and "Flight Planning and Handling Services," written by Mal Gormley and David Esler, respectively.
Among business aviation temporary flight crew providers, three companies tend to dominate: AirCare Crews, Corporate Aviators, Inc. and Jet Professionals International (JPI). AirCare Crews
United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc., New York, has promoted David L. McKay to executive vice president and chief underwriting officer. McKay has served in a number of underwriting and management positions in his 27 years at USAU. He will continue in his capacity as manager of the airline and manufacturing underwriting business units.
"I've been in this job for four years, and before that, I came from the field, and I understand the issues. I can tell you that we are not standardized throughout the country, and we have worked very hard to eliminate that problem over the last few years."
Marj DeLong, Marketing Services Director (JSSI, Chicago, IL )
Your August 2005 article "Maintenance Cost Control Programs" by Mike Gamauf improperly referred to other airframe programs as Tip-to-Tail. This term has been trademarked by Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) and should not be used as reference to other airframe programs. Thank you for your cooperation and for communicating this trademark issue with your staff as well as indicating this Tip-to-Tail reference correction in your publication.
Genesis 3 Engineering Inc., the Woodland Park, Colo., company that has been offering an RVSM compliance package for Dassault Falcon 20s, in December began flight testing of its new RVSM solution for Learjet 35, 35A, 36 and 36A airplanes.
Elliott Aviation completed flight testing and is approaching certification for group RVSM STCs for King Air 200, 300 and 350 series aircraft. With the STCs, Elliott will be able to obtain RVSM approval for King Airs equipped with Collins, Honeywell and Bendix/King autopilots. Elliott says it will schedule RVSM installation beginning in March. For information, contact Dan Frahmat at (800) 447-6711.
If the prognostications contained in an economic forecast issued in December 2005 by the Council of Economic Advisors, the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget are correct, the economy should remain strong enough to support continued robust sales of business aircraft for the foreseeable future.
Cornerstone Logic's FBO Manager software is just what the name suggests, a suite of tools providing general accounting and more specialized aspects of flight school and FBO management such as tracking fuel trucks, flights, customers and block times; contract fuel processing; and credit card processing. The company has been building its portfolio of authorizations to process various brands of aviation credit cards. Already able to interface with the ConocoPhillips network, Air BP, ExxonMobil, Multi Service, Chevron, Texaco, Shell and now AvFuel. Price: Varies
The FAA recently issued an emergency AD to operators of the Pacific Aerospace Corp.'s PAC 750XL, warning that the aircraft's wings might not meet load requirements at its maximum takeoff weight of 7,500 pounds. The company discovered the problem during an ultimate load test of a production wing. The manufacturer, based in New Zealand, is dropping MTOW on the single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6-powered utility aircraft to 7,125 pounds until it develops a modification to raise the MTOW to its original level.
A group of airport officials has been lobbying to ban Stage 1 and 2 business jets at U.S. airports. Organizers of the group, Sound Initiative -- A Coalition for Quieter Skies, say Stage 1 and 2 aircraft total somewhere between 800 and 1,100 airplanes. While accounting for only about 7 percent of all U.S. business jets, the older, noisier models are responsible for generating an inordinately large portion of airport noise complaints nationwide, according to Sound Initiative.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) recently and officially voiced concern that "Airline pilots increasingly lack 'basic flying skills' and may be unable to cope with an inflight emergency such as sudden mechanical failure." The union warns that pilots are becoming too reliant on automated systems and are not being encouraged or trained to fly manually.
As business aviation has matured, the use of part-time pilots and flight attendants for crew augmentation in FAR Part 91 and 135 operations has become an established -- if occasionally controversial -- practice.
