New Piper Aircraft delivered only 76 new airplanes in the second half of 2004 because operations were severely disrupted by hurricane damage to the company's manufacturing facility in Vero Beach, Fla., last summer. New Piper lost some 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space in last year's storms, but has now relocated manufacturing into 200,000 square feet of space in older buildings, much of which had previously been used for storage. New Piper President Chuck Suma said production is back up to 25 aircraft per month.
Air-taxi Linear Air has launched service between Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, N.Y., and Nantucket. Linear Air says it kicked off per-seat private charter service from HPN to Nantucket Friday evenings at 6 p.m. beginning Aug. 12. Return flights occur on Sundays at 2:30 p.m. A one-way ticket costs $349. The company also plans to offer regular weekday business service between White Plains and Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. In business one year, Linear Air has grown from two employees to 25 workers.
COMPANY MANAGEMENT HAS no higher responsibility than establishing an environment in which employees can do their best work and be their most productive. An inefficient workplace takes its toll on workers and robs a company from obtaining maximum benefit from its most important asset -- the people who produce its products or services. All business leaders, from board chairman to department head, contribute to that atmosphere, and all company shareholders reap the rewards or disappointments that result.
In August 1990, a Boeing 737 was on approach to landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), when the crew discovered that the landing gear would not extend. After several failed attempts to drop the gear, the crew concluded they'd have to put the airliner down on its belly. The ensuing arrival did substantial damage to the aircraft, but no one was injured in the ugly process. During post-arrival examination of the aircraft, technicians discovered a three-cell flashlight jammed in the landing gear linkage.
WHEN IN 1964, while trying to identify illegal ``obscenity,'' U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart stated, ``I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . but I know it when I see it . . .''
While enthusiasm about the rebound in the market for previously owned aircraft seems to be spreading among brokers and dealers, ``This is a decidedly different situation than the late 1990s,'' declared the summer 2005 edition of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest's Marketline newsletter.
Mayo Aviation, based at Englewood, Colo. (APA) has added a Hawker 800 to its managed charter fleet. The Web site is at www.mayoaviation.com. A French customer has ordered an Avanti II from Piaggio Aero and Boutsen Aviation for January 2008 delivery. The same customer had taken delivery of a P180 Avanti just a few months earlier, and added the Avanti II to support the company's growth.
Remember the Mooney 301? It was a pressurized piston single that never made it to production. That's because in the mid-1980s, Alec Couvelaire led a French group that purchased Mooney Aircraft, of which he became president. While he had aspirations of building a six-seat pressurized single capable of flying in excess of 250 KTAS, he thought that the 301 was too slow.
How to Use the Charts Aircraft Operating Costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs. Aircraft Category
European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot has committed Europe's air transport lawmakers to producing impact assessments for all future proposed regulations. Mike Ambrose, the European Region's Airline Association (ERA) director general, sees this sea-change attitude as a direct result of dissenting French and Dutch voters giving their governments and the EU a vote of "no confidence" in the recent constitutional referendum.
The NBAA has joined the National Air Transportation Association in asking the FAA to halt its proposed rulemaking seeking upgraded cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and digital flight data recorders (DFDRs) in FAR Part 91 and 135 aircraft until the agency fully analyzes the costs of the new requirements. Nevertheless, the FAA has stated that it believes the proposed rule would not have a substantial impact on a large number of small ``non-airline'' entities.
As the National Air Transportation Association's Jackie Rosser points out, there are two types of authority necessary to be a commercial operator: operational and economic. The FAA addresses the former by issuing the Air Carrier Certificate to FAR Part 135 and 121 operators, while the DOT awards a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to charter operators and scheduled airlines.
A high-speed rejected takeoff requires the absolute maximum in crew coordination and performance. Identifying who will make the decision to abort and what specific actions will be quickly performed should be clearly specified and practiced long beforehand so that when the event occurs -- unexpectedly and quite suddenly, always -- the crew's reaction is automatic and correct.
FBO Manager software has been certified to accept ExxonMobil cards. When ExxonMobil customers first began processing transactions on the FBO Manager system in August 1, 2000, traditional phone lines were required to acquire authorization. FBO Manager can now support all of the ExxonMobil cards including the new Pilots Rewards Plus loyalty card. ``FBO Manager's credit card processing capabilities add speed and efficiency to our point of sale processes.
Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has opened its third service center in Brazil. The new facility is in Gaviao Peixoto, 230 miles from Sao Jose dos Campos, where Embraer is headquartered. The new 32,300-square-foot facility is authorized to perform maintenance under the requirements of both the U.S. FAA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The facility has seven buildings -- five hangars and two administrative offices. Embraer has 48 employees at the Gaviao Peixoto site, but that number is expected to grow to about 74 by year-end.
With the addition of Dassault Falcon Jet's FalconCare into the Maintenance Cost Control Program (MCCP) arena in 2005, operators have even more choices. And with everything negotiable in GE Aircraft Engines' OnPoint MCCP service, new levels of program flexibility are available as well. This year, we also have included offerings from the four major helicopter manufacturers in our coverage.
ExpressJet has bought a non-controlling interest in Wing Aviation, a full-service FBO at Houston's Hobby Airport that is involved in a wide range of aviation activities, including aircraft charter and management, maintenance, avionics installation and aircraft painting. The company also has offices at Lone Star Executive airport. The two companies will work together in providing private and commercial travel, as well as in the maintenance and installation areas.
Jim Franklin and Bobby Younkin were killed performing their ``Masters of Disaster'' air show act July 10 when their aircraft collided over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Jim LeRoy, another member of the team, was in the air at the same time in his Bulldog biplane, but he landed safely without injury. The Experimental Aircraft Association said Franklin was best known for his vintage Waco biplane that included a jet engine for greater climb performance. Franklin often performed with his son, Kyle, who was not in the airplane at the time of the accident.
Kaman's K-Max is now a flying fire truck. The Firemax is a K-MAX medium-lift helicopter equipped with a new removable 700-gallon (2,660 liter) fixed-tank system designed and manufactured by Kawak Aviation Technologies of Bend, Ore. John Vogan, assistant chief pilot for Superior Helicopter of Grants Pass, Ore., flew the first flight on June 14. The aircraft performed over 100 water drops in the evaluation. The U-shaped tank system was designed for quick installation and is equipped with a hydraulic-powered hover pump that refills the system in 25 seconds.
FlightSafety International will provide three advanced technology aircraft simulators for the Contracted Flying Training and Support (CFTS) program of the Canadian Forces. Allied Wings, a consortium of Canadian companies led by Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd. of British Columbia, was awarded the CFTS program contract by the Canadian government earlier this year.
Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., of Houston, Tex., has released upgrades to its online Trip Status service. Trip Status offers registered users current information about their trips when working with Universal's Trip Support Services.
Cessna Aircraft (Wichita) -- Dane Jenning, the company's director of used Citation aircraft, is retiring effective August 1. He plans to launch his own aviation-related company in the near future.
Elliott Aviation is working toward an FAA STC to upgrade the cockpit on the Falcon 10/100 aircraft with a Universal EFI 890R large-format instrument suite that will include air data computers for RVSM compliance; a UNS-1F FMS; TAWS; Universal Vision-1 synthetic vision; Universal cockpit display with electronic charts, checklist and WSI Nexrad weather; TCAS II; airborne collision avoidance system; weather radar; and Stormscope sensor data.
The FAA's underlying charge against Platinum is that it ``did not hold an air carrier certificate under FAR Part 119, did not have operations specifications to operate under Part 135 and was not authorized to engage in common carriage.'' The FAA said Platinum had leased three Challenger 600s from three different entities: N370V from 448 Alliance, LLC of Dallas; N60S from 60 S LLC, of Lake Park, Fla.; and N260V from DDH Aircraft Corp. of Dallas. On Nov.
Jet Source, Carlsbad, Calif., named Ron Mahan chief pilot for the company. He will direct the flight operations department with responsibility for building the staff and coordinating crewmember planning. Mahan has over 19 years of combined experience as a professional pilot and flight department manager .
