Textron and its employees have pledged up to $1.25 million for employee and humanitarian aid to those affected by Hurricane Katrina, including a $250,000 grant for a dollar-to-dollar match of employee contributions. The company and its business units also have made a number of material and personnel contributions: Cessna Aircraft donated aircraft transport services to move medical personnel into the affected regions and permitted its employees who are certified disaster relief volunteers one week off with pay to assist agencies providing assistance to those affected.
Jet Aviation, Teterboro, N.J., has recently hired James Lorentzen as regional director of sales for the Western region. He will be based in Orange County, Calif. Francisco Picornell was named director of market processes and solutions based in Central Florida.
Bell Helicopter has named Patriot Aviation as its sales representative in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Patriot Aviation has two locations in the U.K. Its head office, which includes its aircraft sales, charter and engineering departments, as well as a flight training school for helicopter pilots, is located at Cranfield Airport. The company's second facility is based at Staverton Airport in Gloucester.
X-Prize sponsor Peter Diamandis is at it again -- founding the Rocket Racing League, announced at a New York press conference. The plans are to race rocket-powered aircraft, on 3-D courses, in front of large paid audiences, and build a franchise similar to auto racing and professional sports leagues. A proof-of-concept aircraft is already flying regularly -- a Long-EZ powered by two 400-pound-thrust, XCOR Aerospace LOX-alcohol rocket engines, dubbed the EZ-Rocket. It's flown by U.S. Air Force Col. (Ret) Rick Searfoss, former astronaut and space shuttle mission commander.
The Carlyle Group is combining several of its business aviation entities under a single leadership structure and a new name. The business elements include Piedmont Hawthorne, an FBO network, and charter and management operation with 33 locations throughout the United States and Canada; Garrett Aviation Services, the aircraft service, repair and overhaul operation; and Associated Air Center, the well-known outfitting shop in Dallas.
FACTS Training, an AirCare Solutions Group company, recently announced a significant expansion of the Decompression module in the FACTS emergency procedures training programs for corporate crewmembers. Added to all training locations, the Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device (ROBD) provides crewmembers with the opportunity to experience hypoxia in a controlled and monitored environment.
Cessna Aircraft earned FAA type approval for the newest iteration of the venerable 525 CitationJet line, the CJ2+, a follow-on to the CJ2 that incorporates several features that were formerly options and is equipped with upgrades that boost payload and performance. The CJ2+'s maximum payload is 300 pounds more than the CJ2's. Powered by twin Williams FJ44-3A-24 engines, the CJ2+ can climb to 45,000 feet in 34 minutes at maximum takeoff weight, cruise at 413 knots at 31,000 feet and has an NBAA IFR range of 1,550 nm with four passengers.
GAMA, the NBAA and the NATA have teamed up to promote icing safety awareness. The three organizations are jointly sending a letter to operators and FBOs in the business aircraft community, highlighting the extra measures operators should take in a winter climate. The letter also provides references to online resources containing detailed guidance and comprehensive educational tools for icing operations. Pete Bunce, president and CEO of GAMA, said, ``Operations in a winter environment require extra attention from the flight crew prior to takeoff as well as in-flight.
The FAA has established a protocol for near vision correction for pilots using a non-laser refractive treatment called NearVision CK (conductive keratoplasty), according to its manufacturer, Refractec Inc. ``Certification by the FAA as a vision correction procedure for pilots validates the safety and value of CK as a refractive treatment,'' said Mitchell B. Campbell, president of Refractec.
Duncan Aviation is now factory authorized to perform Pratt & Whitney Canada PW545 hot section inspections on the Citation Excel and 300-hour PW305A IBR inspections on the Learjet 60. Duncan Aviation-Battle Creek recently completed its 13th IBR Inspection on the Learjet 60. For information, contact Dan Arrick at (800) 525-2376 or (269) 969-8453.
THE HEAT OF SUMMER HAD PASSED, so it was time to fetch mom and bring her home to Austin, Texas. As had become her habit, the 82-year-old former high school English teacher spent her summers 550 nm to the west in Angel Fire, a resort town located high in a cool mountain valley within New Mexico's Wheeler Peak range. It was Sept. 23, 2004, a perfect day for the out-and-back flight in a Cessna 421 owned by one of her sons. The plan called for him to fly to Angel Fire along with an assistant who would then drive the woman's car and belongings back to Texas.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and PAMA have entered into an agreement whereby PAMA's 3,000 members can enjoy the benefits of SAE membership, while the association benefits from SAE's global technical and marketing resources. ``The SAE Institute welcomes the inclusion of PAMA,'' said J.F. ``Ted'' Robertson, P.E., president of SAE International. ``This is a win-win agreement for all involved.''
The Department of Defense has approved full-rate production of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. A Defense Acquisition Board convened on Sept. 28 to weigh the tiltrotor's fate and decided that the V-22 production rate, now 11 aircraft a year, should begin to rise in fiscal 2007 and eventually reach a top rate of more than 40 aircraft a year.
The Vref Turboprop Index -- a compilation of quarterly prices recorded for the Beech King Air C90A, King Air B200, Cessna Conquest I and II, Piper Cheyenne II and Twin Commander 690B over the past 10 years -- shows that the average value of these benchmark business turboprops now exceeds $1.0 million. The index reflects recent increases in the value of many business turboprops, especially King Airs.
European Business Jets, a new U.K. fractional based at Marshall's Cambridge Airport, is offering one-eighth and one-sixteenth shares in one- to two-year-old Cessna Citation CJ1s. EBJ is currently operating three aircraft. Two more are due for delivery after Christmas, says CEO Graeme Deary. Depending on the age of the aircraft, share prices vary -- but as an example -- a one-sixteenth share costs in the region of 130,000 (U.S. $227,480), the monthly management fee is around 2,700 (U.S. $4,720) and occupied hourly rate is 1,341 (U.S. $2,3400).
A few years ago I boarded a Boeing 737 for a business trip, but when the last passenger found a seat, the pilot announced that we would be delayed for about an hour. It was raining and I presumed that the delay was due to weather.
Agusta Aerospace Corp. sold the Phoenix Police Air Support Unit two new single-engine A119 Koala helicopters. This sale took place just a few months after the Phoenix Police and Fire Departments took delivery of their first multi-role twin-engine A109 Power helicopter. The Koala helicopters will be configured with new-technology mission-specific electronic equipment for the law enforcement role. Agusta Aerospace is the U.S. subsidiary of AgustaWestland.
A Garmin 1000 avionics suite will be standard equipment on the Quest KODIAK -- configured with two PFDs flanking a centrally located MFD. The KODIAK is a 10-place, single-engine turboprop utility airplane powered by a PT6A-34 engine with a Hartzell propeller. It is designed to be float capable. The KODIAK has logged over 250 hours toward FAA certification expected in early 2006, with customer deliveries immediately following. Base price for the KODIAK is $1,111,000. Headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho, and founded in 2001, Quest currently employs more than 50 people.
navAero, Inc., Chicago, named Dean K. Matt as the company's first chief operating officer. Founder Stefan Ridderheim retains the title of CEO. navAero has also moved its U.S. headquarters to a recently renovated historical building in downtown Chicago.
The Helicopter Association International named Matthew Zuccaro, a long-time member and former chairman, to succeed Roy Resavage as president, effective Nov. 1. Resavage announced in June his intention to step down for health reasons. Zuccaro is president of Zuccaro Industries, LLC, an aviation consultancy specializing in helicopter issues. Zuccaro has a 20-year affiliation with the HAI, having served as chairman, vice chairman and treasurer. A former U.S.
The hapless lad who allegedly stole a Cessna 172 from Danbury (Conn.) Airport (DXR) and landed on fumes at Westchester County Airport (HPN), was granted $250,000 bail by a Westchester County, N.Y., judge on Oct. 12 -- if his family can come up with cash and assets to cover it. Philippe Patricio, 21, evidently caught up in the politics of Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's run for U.S. senator against Hillary Clinton, has been under 23-hour lockdown in the county jail since the June 22 incident.
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