Bombardier announced a family of Challenger corporate shuttle jets derived from its CRJ series regional jets. The Bombardier Challenger 850, 870 and 890 are derived from the CRJ200, CRJ700 and CRJ900, respectively. Bombardier said it is launching its new Corporate Shuttle Solutions to meet the needs of both existing shuttle operators and a new generation of potential users. Bombardier research shows that a sizeable and aging worldwide fleet of corporate shuttle aircraft is due for replacement in the near future.
Docherty Aviation, LLC, Northfield, Ill.: Industry veteran Brendon Docherty recently established a full-service aircraft acquisition and brokerage firm that specializes in turbine aircraft transactions and needs analyses. Docherty (well known for his work with the AlliedSignal TCAS development program) and his team have more than a decade ofclose involvement with the fractional jetmarketplace.
Boeing Business Jets is closing in on the 100th order for the B737 variant since the program was launched in 1996. Boeing has orders and commitments for 97 of the ultra-large-cabin, long-range BBJs, including six within the past six months. ``The interest and orders for the BBJ continue to grow,'' said BBJ President Steven Hill. ``We're confident that the record sales pace will continue and that we will achieve 100 orders before the end of this year,'' he said during a press conference at the EBACE conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
The American Society of Engineering Education Southeastern Section (ASEE-SS) awarded first place to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's team of 14 computer and software engineering undergraduate students in the multidisciplinary category of the ASEE-SE conference design competition in April.
NTSB wants the FAA to improve data collection for air charter and fractional ownership operations, and while NATA endorses the intent it is challenging the proposed methodology. The association said the FAA's Operations Specification Subsystem, which includes the number of Part 135 operators and the number and type of aircraft operated, could yield much of the data sought, but the agency has chosen, for whatever reason, not to use it.
Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg, Germany, named Dr. Burkhard Andrich to succeed Dr. Gerald Kurbler, who retired early, as senior vice president of the company's Engine Services and Aircraft Maintenance divisions. Holger Dietsch is the successor of Dr. Andrich as senior vice president of Aircraft Maintenance. Prior to his promotion, Dietsch was vice president engineering of Aircraft Maintenance.
JetCorp., Chesterfield, Mo., appointed Michael O'Leary to the position of avionics sales manager. He will be directly responsible for leading JetCorp's avionics sales initiatives.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. is working with Raytheon Aircraft Services to certify the former's AutoPower automatic throttle system, on the Hawker 800XP. RAS Vice President Skip Madsen said a letter of intent has been signed and that RAS will obtain an STC for the AutoPower installation with the first customer delivery planned in ``about twelve months.'' AutoPower provides airspeed/Mach control through servo-driven thrust settings. Safe Flight says its AutoPower systems and components have been installed on more than 9,000 airline, corporate and military aircraft.
Climb aboard Raytheon Premier I, and you might think you've just entered a midsize jet, albeit one with a short cabin. Premier I's thin-wall composite fuselage cross section rivals that of Citation XLS. The forward club section of this cabin provides a productive work environment for four folks. The rear two seats, though, are occasional use only.
Klein Tools' Aviation Snips have been designed with offset blades to keep the users hands away from sheet metal, and the flowed metal away from the blades.. The snips also feature heavy-gauge steel handles for extra strength, textured comfort grips and curved handle for easier gripping, and forged heat-treated cutting blades. The snips come in a variety of cutting styles: offset left, offset right, offset straight and bulldog notch cut. Price: $25.74 Klein Tools, Inc. P.O. Box 599033 Chicago, IL 60659
Officials of Spirit Wing Aviation, developers of the Williams International FJ44-2C-powered Learjet 25, said they now expect to complete FAA certification flight testing of their SpiritLear by the end of August. In early April, Calvin Burgess, president of the Edmond, Okla.-based company that is reengining the vintage Learjet, said that the program's development schedule had slipped about six weeks. The firm had hoped to receive an STC for the SpiritLear modification during the second quarter of this year.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Challenger 870 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Global Air Strategy of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian distributor of Soloy, has taken delivery of its first Allstar conversion from the Olympia, Wash.-based company that specializes in aircraft modification and powerplant installations. The Allstar is a Rolls-Royce 250-C30-powered version of the Eurocopter AS350. According to Soloy President David Stauffer, the new Rolls-Royce engines are more reliable, burn significantly less fuel and are less costly to maintain and overhaul than the AS350's original Turbomeca turboshaft powerplants.
Duncan Aviation, which is an authorized dealer of Max-Viz enhanced vision systems, recently installed the first EVS-1000 in a Gulfstream GIV-SP. Duncan engineers worked with Max-Viz to obtain an STC for the system. The EVS-1000, one of the smallest and lightest enhanced vision systems, allows pilots to see in low visibility conditions such as haze, smoke, snow, rain and darkness.
The NATA harshly criticized the FAA's proposed regulation to upgrade CVR rules (B&CA, April 2005, page 22) since it failed to consider its economic impact on FAR 135 and fractional operators and called for an immediate halt to any further action implementing the new rules -- at least as they impact those same operators. While the proposed rules would also require upgrades to FDR technologies, the changes would generally impact newly manufactured aircraft, not those already in-service.
Liberty Aerospace plans to lease more than 52,000 square feet on the southeast quadrant of the Melbourne, Fla. Airport that will become the company's new headquarters and manufacturing center. Manufacturing is slated to start this summer, and the headquarters move should be completed by this fall. Liberty said the new facilities will accommodate the production of up to six aircraft per week.
The AOPA ran full-page advertisements in two publications in the wake of the widely publicized May 11 incident in which two Pennsylvania pilots in a Cessna 150 wandered into restricted airspace. The ads ran in the May 18 issues of USA Today and Roll Call, a newspaper that specializes in political and legislative coverage and is widely circulated on Capitol Hill.
Philip Winters has been appointed vice president of aircraft sales at this FBO, which is an authorized dealer for the Pilatus PC-12 and the ATG Javelin. Winters' primary focus will be selling these aircraft throughout the Northwest United States.
Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS), Washington, D.C., an advertising, marketing and public relations firm, announced the addition of Jessica Keegan as an account executive.
The aviation trust fund remains a contentious issue. The May 12 MAC report asserted that trust fund revenues have rebounded and are growing again, and thus ``are not expected to be the [FAA funding] problem going forward.'' It claims that if Congress and the White House adhere to authorized budget targets for the FAA, ``there will be no problem of depletion of the trust fund.'' This observation differs from that of FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
The FADEC-equipped 14,000-pound-thrust class General Electric CF34-8 represents a substantial leap forward in powerplant technology, compared with the original CF34-3 turbofans fitted to Challenger 600-series and 850 aircraft for nearly two decades. The CF34 originally made its debut as the TF34 on Republic A-10 Warthogs and Grumman S-3 Vikings in the mid-1970s. The military versions were designed for low-altitude operations and the subsequent CF34 won no accolades from operators for high-altitude cruise performance.
Remember Sierra Flight Systems, the little synthetic vision EFIS development company in Boise, Idaho? Gordon Pratt's garage start-up dream child was famous for innovation in the little airplane market, but it lacked development money to become a mainline avionics firm. All that changed when Chelton Group, a subsidiary of Cobham PLC, bought the firm in 2001. The acquisition came with a cash infusion that enabled the renamed Chelton Flight Systems to develop a system suitable for installation in jet aircraft.
JB&A Aviation, Inc., Houston, named Hester Smith director of research. She will be responsible for developing an expanded market research and analysis function for JB&A and its satellite offices. Smith joined JB&A from The Boeing Co. She has over 10 years of research and analysis experience in aviation, aerospace, oil and gas, and technology and export.
O'Gara Aviation Co., Atlanta, a corporate aircraft sales and brokerage/acquisition service company, named Johnny Foster company president. He succeeds his father, John Foster, III, who is now chief executive officer. Additionally, Matthew Huff was promoted to chief operating officer.
