EMS Technologies' EMS AMT-50 Aero High-Gain Antenna has been selected by Dassault Falcon for the first satcom installation on a Falcon 7X. In making the announcement, EMS Satcom Vice President and General Manager Dr. Neil Mackay said, ``The AMT-50 antenna's design was initially perceived as radically different from those available at the time, but a very light, efficient and reliable aviation solution for all of our customers.
Thousands of business jets, particularly older, smaller models, have not yet been modified to permit them to operate in RVSM airspace. That's the findings of an FAA survey conducted this summer. The new 1,000-foot separation requirements for domestic airspace are scheduled to take effect Jan. 20, 2005. After that date, any aircraft that has not been modified for compliance will be restricted to flight levels below FL 290.
Jean-Pierre Mortreux, President and CEO, CMC Electronics Inc., Montreal, Que. An engineering graduate of the Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics in Paris, Mortreux also holds a Public Administration and Economics degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. In 25 years, he's been an executive with Thomson-CSF, Sextant Avionique and most recently with Thales Avionics North America, where he served as president and CEO. He moved to CMC, a $300 million (Canadian) company in September.
Fractional aircraft operators remain keenly interested in supersonic business jets (SBJ). Two different groups outlined their plans for SBJs in October at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas (see ``A Double-SBJ Surprise: Take Your Pick,'' page 62). When SBJ programs were under study a few years ago by Dassault and Gulfstream, Richard Smith, executive vice president of fractional provider NetJets, said the company would buy 50 SBJs if the aircraft made it to market. Smith's interest hasn't waned.
Honeywell granted an exclusive worldwide license to Weco Aerospace Systems to manufacture, repair, overhaul and modify TEF731 engine indicators. The licensed indicators are installed on Learjet 31/35/36/50/55 models, Hawker 700 and earlier models retrofitted with TFE731 engines, Citation 650s, and JetStar II and JetStar 731s.
If aviation really is a fraternity of sorts — a "band of brothers" — then it is the responsibility of each of us to help our weakest siblings, even if that means doing the hard thing of clipping their wings.
Dassault Falcon Jet's decision to authorize CAE SimuFlite ended FlightSafety International's long-time exclusivity in the training. Dassault Falcon Jet President and CEO John Rosanvallon told B/CA that the decision to broaden factory-authorized simulator training options was to the benefit of Falcon Jet operators. Specifically, Falcon has given CAE SimuFlite the green light to conduct pilot and maintenance training for the Falcon 2000EASy and Falcon 900EASy.
It has been noted by many throughout the global aviation community that while the American effort to update its maintenance training and certification regulations came to naught, other countries did adopt higher standards. Specifically, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the Europeans all recognized the increasing complexity of new aircraft and modified their rules to reflect that fact.
When Cessna opens its new Citation maintenance facility at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport (ICT), it will be the world's largest general aviation maintenance shop. And when Ron Chapman, Cessna's senior vice president of customer support, throws the grand opening party in early December, there will be plenty of room for the festivities. The 250,000 square feet of hangar space can accommodate 100 Citations and an additional 200,000 square feet will house the company's entire Citation customer service organization plus a customer lounge and restaurant.
On Jan. 15, 1999, Anthony St. George and George Allen from St. George Aviation in Sanford, Fla. were arrested and later convicted for falsifying records that document the amount of time they spent administering FAA A&P oral and practical examinations. The test typically takes at least eight hours, yet St. George and Allen were found to have performed the ``tests'' in a few minutes. In early 1998, FAA officials in Florida heard about the unusually short oral and practical tests offered by St. George Aviation.
TSA chief David M. Stone helped open this year's NBAA Convention with a boost for the NBAA's airport access efforts, headlined by the TSA Access Certificate program (TSAAC). ``TSA fully supports the TSAAC,'' Stone said at opening ceremonies at the Las Vegas Convention Center, ``and part of my being here today is to signal that commitment.'' NBAA President Ed Bolen, speaking after Stone, said access is the business aviation issue of the moment in terms of both airspace and airport freedom.
Cessna's new Cessna Citation Performance Calculator (CPCalc) for Citation Excel operators is an FAA-approved electronic performance program that simplifies flight planning. It is Windows-based and allows crews to perform detailed electronic flight planning in three to five minutes. The calculator determines takeoff speed and distance, departure climb gradients, and landing speeds and distance once the pilot has entered the airport identifier, current weather and aircraft configuration. Introductory price for the CPCalc is $350, with a $250 annual subscription fee.
Pratt & Whitney Canada's Service Center Network is offering a new parts ``kitting'' service. ``These kits, the first of their kind offered in the market, consist of 100 percent of the replacement parts used by facilities that maintain P&WC aircraft turbine engines,'' says Rick Cramblet, general manager of P&WC's parts distribution center in Muskegon, Mich. Each kit will be customized to a specific engine model as well as to the level of maintenance required.
Piaggio America has unveiled the P.180 Avanti II, a $5.97 million upgraded variant of the high-speed twin-turboprop. First flight is imminent in Italy, and certification is expected by mid-2005. Among the enhancements to the Avanti II will be the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics package, which includes three 8-by-10-inch Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCD); MTOW increase from 11,550 pounds to 12,000 pounds; and increased maximum zero-fuel weight from 9,000 pounds to 9,800 pounds.
Duncan Aviation is undertaking ``a fundamental shift in our approach to major avionics retrofit projects,'' according to Ron Hall, a Duncan Aviation avionics sales executive. Hall and fellow avionics sales executive Gary Harpster outlined Duncan's Glass Box Project at October's NBAA Convention. The company will now use an integrated retrofit system to best match each aircraft. Hall said, ``We have shifted from a tactical, reactive approach to a strategic approach that researches products, airframes and hull values prior to committing to investing in system certification.
For decades, business aircraft operators -- particularly those who often fly transoceanic missions -- were given vague assurances that an affordable, practical, long-distance supersonic business jet was possible. Now, suddenly, the concept has been given definition and two all-new organizations, the Aerion Corp. and Supersonic Aerospace International (SAI), say they each plan to deliver that long-promised time machine.
Midcoast Aviation, a Saint Louis-based aviation support company, has earned an STC for installation of dual ADR FG-5000 electronic flight bags (EFBs) in the Bombardier Challenger 604. ``These flight bags allow Challenger 604 operators to experience the flight freedom that comes from converting charts and other paper-based information into electronic form and gaining fingertip control over aircraft operations manuals, logs, checklists and much more,'' said Blake Hogge, Midcoast's director of avionics sales.
TAG USA opened a new regional office at Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey to provide support services to TAG's area clients. The office joins existing TAG offices in White Plains, N.Y.; Chicago; Houston; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; and San Francisco. In other TAG news, the company has added 16 business aircraft to its managed fleet at eight different locations.
NASA's Langley Research Center is working in conjunction with the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to develop standards for composite materials used in manufacturing aircraft similar to those established for aluminum alloys. Specifically, NIAR, based at Wichita State University in Kansas, will develop the process to validate composites and advanced materials through a centralized database.
Although the U.S. economy has been sending mixed signals recently, prices for many types of previously owned business aircraft continued to rise through mid-summer, according to Vref Aircraft Value Reference's Market Leader, a leading industry newsletter.
IN PURSUING NEW business, your executives are out on the road longer, with out-and-backs becoming three- and four-day trips. The change has put additional strain on your already hard-pressed flight crews; you really need more people. But when you broach the subject with your boss, he sets his jaw, looks coolly at you from across the desk and asks, ``Why should we hire another pilot when our total flight time is the same as last year's?'' You try to explain that although flight hours have stabilized, the number of duty days has increased significantly.
After selling some 500 PC-12s, primarily to individuals, Pilatus is targeting the big single turboprop at corporate flight departments. Pilatus Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer in the United States Tom Aniello maintains that with its large cabin, single-engine economy, speed, flexibility and Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6 powerplant, the aircraft is a perfect complement to many existing flight operations. Thanks to a standard cargo door and quick-remove interiors, the aircraft can carry bulky equipment and even trade show displays.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) has lowered its individual membership dues to $49 annually. The reduction from the previous fee of $70 per year is intended to boost membership. The new rates apply to new memberships and renewals after Sept. 1.
Much of flight training through the years used to be based mainly on airline practices, which evolved from the military model: a ``sit down and shut up'' groundschool heavy on systems memorization, followed by an interrogation-style oral, finished off -- if you made it that far -- with an all-or-nothing checkride. Pass and you were ``in,'' but still subject to the exacting rigors again for recurrent and upgrade training. Fail, however, and you were out the door -- stigmatized, without a job and possibly without a career.
The Small Business Administration says the FAA needs to do more homework before it can certify that its proposed drug and alcohol testing rules will not have substantial adverse impact on small businesses that have only a peripheral involvement in aviation. A supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) the FAA released in May requires that entities performing safety-sensitive functions for certain FAA-certificated repair stations, including contractors or subcontractors, comply with drug- and alcohol-testing requirements.
