FAA ADMINISTRATOR MARION BLAKEY, addressing the agency's Second Annual International Aviation Forum in late October, turned to anthropology to make a point about safety.
Midcoast, St. Louis, has made the following appointments: Joe Thurman is now director, Global 5000/XRS program; Kelly Sepe has been promoted to manager, structural engineering; and Pat Quinn has been promoted to manager, certification/DAS administration.
SimCom now offers Socata TBM 700 training at its Orlando, Fla. and Scottsdale, Ariz. centers. Operators can choose between simulator-based instruction offered in Orlando, or in-aircraft programs at both Orlando and Scottsdale. Both centers now offer a course, specially designed for piston or low-time pilots upgrading to the TBM 700. SimCom also announced that it took over the lease at Lockheed Martin's former training facility in Orlando earlier this year.
THE FORECASTS FOR PUEBLO, Colo., Memorial Airport (PUB) on Feb. 16, 2005, called for eight knot winds out of the east, visibility greater than six miles with scattered clouds at 2,000 feet and overcast 500 feet above that. The weather folks pointed out that conditions would deteriorate temporarily between 0500 and 0900 local with visibility three miles in light freezing drizzle and mist with skies overcast at 1,000 feet.
There was a time when aviation fuel choices were limited to a few brands. Back then you paid the going price and the bill came at the end of the month. End of story. But now more than ever business aircraft operators want to squeeze every ounce of fuel they can out of every dollar invested.
Your Aircraft Source LLC, brought its updated, French-built MS 760 Paris Jet with a Chelton glass cockpit to NBAA. The Paris Jet, now touted as an immediately available and affordable VLJ, is a pressurized four-seater, with a big sliding canopy, T-tail, tip-tanks and a pair of 1,058-lbf Turbomeca Marbore VI turbojets that move it along at more than 400 mph at 20,000 feet over a 1,330-mile range.
Your Aircraft Source LLC, brought its updated, French-built MS 760 Paris Jet with a Chelton glass cockpit to NBAA. The Paris Jet, now touted as an immediately available and affordable VLJ, is a pressurized four-seater, with a big sliding canopy, T-tail, tip-tanks and a pair of 1,058-lbf Turbomeca Marboré VI turbojets that move it along at more than 400 mph at 20,000 feet over a 1,330-mile range.
FlightSafety International, Flushing, N.Y., promoted Ralph Lintelman to center manager of the company's La Guardia Learning Center. Al Ramsey was named center manager for the company's Seattle/Tacoma center. Derek Maeer has been promoted to vice president of simulation.
Forty years ago, when corporate pilots like 2005 NBAA Doswell Award recipient Ron Guerra and his business aviation colleagues began flying their employers' new Lockheed JetStars and Grumman Gulfstream IIs overseas, they had little support outside their flight departments beyond the local FAA flight service station.
In the third quarter of 2005, Embraer the recorded net sales of US$1,064.3 million and net income of US$110.2 million, equivalent to diluted earnings per ADS of US$0.6280. At the end of the quarter, Embraer's firm order backlog totaled US$10.4 billion, which the company believes is a strong indicator of their commitment to long-term growth and customer diversification. In the current quarter, the company generated positive net cash provided by operating activities of US$379 million, a reflection of lower inventory and accounts receivable levels.
The Senate Commerce Committee recently approved the nomination of Mark Rosenker as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. Rosenker was first sworn in as a board member in March 2003 and was re-nominated to a five-year term in January 2005. He currently is serving as acting NTSB chair, because the Commerce Committee has yet to take action on the nomination of Ellen Engleman Conners for a second two-year term as chair. Conners initially became chair in March 2003, and her term expired in March 2005.
Iwas on weekend duty at the hangar, doing a meet and greet for several planeloads of executives heading out for a large and important series of international meetings. After sending off two aircraft, I went back to my office to finish up some projects while awaiting the third and final departure, which was to take place in two hours. Once it was gone, I could call it a night.
FlightSafety International, Flushing, N.Y., promoted Ralph Lintelman to center manager of the company's La Guardia Learning Center. Al Ramsey was named center manager for the company's Seattle/Tacoma center. Derek Maeer has been promoted to vice president of simulation.
Bombardier Aerospace has contracted with Lufthansa Technik for the German firm to complete up to 17 Challenger 850 business jets over the next three years. The agreement builds upon the alliance the two companies announced during the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in May, when Bombardier named Lufthansa a preferred completion center for the 850. Lufthansa Technik will complete the aircraft at its facility in Hamburg, Germany.
Cirrus Design Corp. may build a single-engine personal jet. Alan and Dale Klapmeier, co-founders of the Duluth, Minn. aircraft manufacturing firm, told attendees at the recent AOPA Expo in Tampa, Fla., the new aircraft would cost under $1 million and would be equipped with a Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, similar to those found on its popular SR20 and SR22 piston-engine models. The Klapmeiers ``believe this emerging class of personal jet is between high-performance single-engine flight and what is now the new market sector, known as very light jets.
Bell/Agusta reports EASA has certified a max gross weight increase of its AB135 medium twin helicopter to 14,110 pounds. The Bell and Agusta joint venture has delivered 17 AB139s and says it expects to deliver three more by the end of the 2005. Total orders for the AB139 stand at more than 135 aircraft. To date, the fielded aircraft have accumulated more than 4,000 hours in EMS, offshore and paramilitary operations.
IT SEEMED LIKE I HAD HARDLY returned from one weeklong trip when I was departing on another, this time to attend the NBAA convention in Orlando, and under quite different circumstances. On the earlier excursion my conveyance was a Falcon. For much of that trip, my wife and I had the cabin to ourselves. We savored the spaciousness, the quiet and the privacy and delighted in the convenience, since we departed from and landed at Westchester County Airport, less than a mile from the office.
Galvin Flying Services, Inc. technicians Ted Bray, Mike Holmsher, Larry Joyce, Gary Lausten and Frank Pretz were given FAA Certificates of Training by the local Flight Standards District Office Western-Pacific region. The award recognizes technicians who demonstrate their commitment to professionalism through continued formal training.
Infinity Aviation Group, White Plains, N.Y., has announced the promotion of Greg Lison to the position of general manager of its Nashua, N.H., facility. Pat Sullivan has been named director of maintenance. In addition, Infinity has added three aircraft to its managed aircraft fleet and they will be available for charter out of the New York area through Director of Charter Sales Ron Muller, in the White Plains office.
A tale of two forecasts. Both Honeywell and Embraer shared their respective business aviation aircraft delivery projections at November's NBAA gathering. Both forecasts are bullish -- predicting nearly 10,000 new jets over the next decade -- though Honeywell's shows a dip after 2007 before the delivery climb continues. The two forecasts differ markedly on the popularity of the new family of lightest jets, but both expect it to be significant.
Signature Flight Support will purchase the assets of Million Air La Quinta at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) in Riverside County, Calif. The acquisition will mark Signature's eighth FBO purchase in the past 12 months. Bruce Van Allen, president and chief executive of BBA Aviation Services Group, the parent of Signature, said the company expects to continue to aggressively grow the FBO network.
Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb., appointed Tom Burt, a 26-year veteran of the company, to the position of chief operating officer for its Battle Creek, Mich., facility.
Since almost all of the providers spotlighted here provide Web-based do-it-yourself trip planning and arrangements for vastly reduced fees over outsourcing the function to the service companies for a hefty fee, operators with some international experience may wish to take advantage of this option.
