Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., recently presented its 11th annual "Spirit of Noise Abatement Awards" to based corporate operators that had achieved 100 percent compliance with the airport's noise-abatement programs during 2004. The airfield has a voluntary nighttime curfew in effect from midnight until 6:30 a.m., as well as a high-range noise event limit of 93 dBA. A total of 32 operators -- helicopter, turboprop and jet -- were honored.
CAE said it will undertake the biggest R&D program in its history to improve current technologies and develop new ones to completely overhaul its simulation and training products. The Canadian government has agreed to fund one-third of the $630 million program to build the company's share in its current, adjacent and emerging markets. CAE wants to upgrade not only its products, but its entire method of design, development and production, using royalties to repay the government loan over the expected useful life of the new technologies.
When an American Airlines MD-82 departed the runway on a stormy night in Little Rock, Ark., in June 1999, the twin jet transport was still doing nearly 100 knots despite the crew's obvious attempts to brake the airplane. How could they be going so fast?
At 1950 EST, a Dassault Falcon 20D cargo jet lifted off from Lorain County Regional Airport (LPR), Lorain, Ohio, when the pilot reported, "a flock of birds from both sides of the runway swarmed in front of the aircraft and ingested birds into both engines." The number two engine "surged" and made "loud reports" when the copilot noted a complete loss of power on the engine. The pilot called for retraction of the landing gear.
Just after noon, a lineman at Linden Airport (LDJ) moved toward an idling Sikorsky S-76B that had taxied to the fixed fuel pump for service. The lineman retrieved the aircraft grounding cable and began pulling it toward the helicopter, approaching from about the 11 o'clock position, as viewed by the pilot. Moving forward, the lineman was bent down and looking at the grounding cable attachment clip. He then suddenly stood upright, was struck by the helicopter's main rotor, and knocked to the ground having suffered serious injury.
One of the findings of Rolls-Royce's recently released annual 20-year forecast for business aviation is that retirement of older business aircraft will accelerate in coming years as newer, more capable and fuel-efficient aircraft are introduced.
In December 2005, EADS Socata unveiled its TBM 850, positioning the six-place single-engine turboprop directly against VLJs as "the ultimate personal aircraft." Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A flat-rated at 850 shp for enhanced high altitude performance, the TBM 850 has a time-to-climb to FL 260 of 15 minutes, and five minutes more to reach its FL 310 service ceiling. The company said its performance at altitude (FL 310 at ISA+20°C) exceeds that of Socata's current TBM 700 C2 by 55 knots.
Sierra Industries, the Texas-based company that developed a program to reengine Cessna Citation 500s and 501SPs with Williams International FJ44 engines, has repurchased all of the Citation-related STCs it sold to Garrett Aviation in 2003. Sierra officials say they plan to launch this year "three new certification programs leveraging on the newly reacquired Citation modifications."
Aviation Research Group/US has introduced an upgrade to its online CHEQ, Charter Evaluation and Qualification service. CHEQ subscribers can now search for aircraft for charter relative to the subscriber's location rather than the aircraft's home base for a signification reduction of search time and effort. They now can also search for aircraft based on any client-required characteristics such as safety equipment, flight phone availability, or even aircraft and engine total time and cycles. Price: Call Aviation Research Group/US
Stewart-Ratcliff Aviation Services has introduced a low-cost, central, secure, Web-based recordkeeping service for owners of high-performance aircraft, including business jets and the FBO or maintenance facility serving them. Aircraftlogs.com can be accessed from any PC with Internet access and a browser. It incorporates pilot and aircraft logs, pilot reminders, scheduled maintenance alerts, expense tracking, squawk tracking and report generation.
London City Airport (LCY) is experiencing strong corporate aircraft traffic growth despite its notorious 5.5-degree approach and 4,300-foot runway. Just 18 months ago, annual business aircraft movements were around 5,000; they rose to 12,000 in 2005, and are expected to reach 15,000 by year-end. Around 50 percent of current movements are performed by NetJets.
"Three months and three hurricanes ago, this market -- especially the high-end jets -- was strong and up sharply. Now 'caution' best describes the situation," declared Fletcher Aldredge in the fourth-quarter 2005 edition of Vref Publishing's Market Leader newsletter.
AS THE ELEVATOR ROSE HIGHER and higher, I felt a touch of flutters rising within as well. Yup, nerves. I had to smile. I'd survived the worst the Marine DIs could dish out, flown helicopters in combat in Vietnam, and landed an attack jet on a heaving carrier deck in the middle of the pitch-black Atlantic. This was nothing by comparison. But here I was in a pressed Sunday suit, 37 years old and about to have my first grown-up job interview with The Man.
A decorated U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam, Matt Zuccaro later served in a wide range of civilian flight and executive posts, for charter and corporate operators, overseeing Resorts International's S-61 airline operation, and working in aviation management for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He held a variety of elected posts at the HAI, including chairman, and has been president and chairman of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council. An ATP and CFII in both airplanes and helicopters, Zuccaro has logged in excess of 10,000 flight hours.
Martha King has been awarded the 2005 Cliff Henderson Award for Achievement from the National Aeronautic Association. The award is presented annually to "a living individual or group whose vision, leadership or skill has made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation or space activity." King is the first and only woman in history to hold every FAA class of pilot and instructor rating available. She appears in King Schools' instructional programs, which are used by half of each year's new crop of private and instrument pilots.
"Fly to the gates of Berlin," is the slogan used by Berlin's Schönhagen airfield that is already well known to many light-plane pilots visiting the biennial Berlin ILA Airshow at Schönefeld. Schönhagen, the state-owned airfield (southwest of Berlin) was relicensed in late 2005, by the Aviation Department of the Brandenburg Agency for Construction and Transport, to accept aircraft up to 25,000-pounds MTOW.
NBAA PRESIDENT ED BOLEN is one of those people you want on your side when facing a difficult political situation in Washington, D.C. He's bright, convincing, hard working and he's got a list of political connections that makes most Washington lobbyists envious. Bolen also has a great track record. Back when he was president of GAMA, the aircraft builders were suffering through the post-9/11 recession. Airplanes weren't selling, prices were slipping and workers were being let go because there wasn't enough demand for their products.
TAG Farnborough Airport has applied to double its weekend and bank holiday movements from 2,500 to 5,000 annually. This is the first request for a change since the application was granted in October 2000. The suggested amendment reads, "No more than 28,000 aircraft movements per annum shall take place, of which no more than 5,000 movements shall be at weekends and bank holidays."
Raytheon Aircraft turned a few heads at the NBAA's Orlando convention when Brad Hatt, president and general manager of the Hawker unit, announced that the $13.8 million Hawker 850XP, the newest iteration of the Hawker 800 family, would be fitted with winglets designed by Raytheon's own engineers. Up until then, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Aviation Partners' full-chord, 44-inch-tall winglets recently certified for the Hawker 800 would have been standard.
Intelligence | 11 ?228-137? London City Airport Experiencing Growth ?228-137? Feb. 1 Deadline for Properly Registered Aircraft ?228-137? Business Jet Deliveries Expected to Increase for Cessna Aircraft ?228-137? TEB Voluntary Restrictions Subject of User Meeting ?228-137? HPN Presents Noise-Abatement Awards Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey The Importance of 'Yes' 62 | Cause & Circumstance By William Garvey
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has signed a five-year contract to provide four S-92 helicopters to CHC Helicopter Corp. to perform commercial search-and-rescue missions for the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency starting in July 2007. Sikorsky said this is the first time that its medium-lift helicopter has been selected for a dedicated search-and-rescue mission.
IFR Avionics of Van Nuys, Calif., is pursuing an STC for a four-panel Universal Avionics EFI-890R flat-panel display suite on a Gulfstream GIII. This would be the first installation of the 890R on this type of aircraft. The EFI-890R has an 8.9-inch diagonal display for primary flight display and navigation display applications and supports existing analog and digital aircraft systems.
If all goes to plan, the stillborn Farnborough F1 single-engine turboprop commuter could re-emerge as a lengthened six- to seven-seater called the Kestrel. U.K.-based Farnborough Aircraft Corp. Ltd. (FACL) has signed an MOU with Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Co. (Gamco) of Abu Dhabi to manufacture, market and maintain the new business aircraft in the region, which makes Abu Dhabi the Gulf region's first aircraft manufacturing country. Gamco is expected to roll out its first Kestrel within 18 months, officials say.
