There are dozens of firms that now offer engine retrofits, upgrades and modifications that promise to enhance runway performance, boost cruise speed, improve fuel economy, extend scheduled maintenance intervals and/or lower direct operating costs for business airplanes.
IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, the summer of 1996 was long, hot and worrisome. The U.S. Forest Service deployed 20 of its elite smokejumpers, along with a turboprop-powered DC-3 and its pilots, to Santa Fe hoping to provide rapid initial response to any fire that might ignite in the parched Ponderosa pine forests that stretched for miles across the mountainous landscape. I was one of those pilots. One gorgeous evening we watched with keen, professional interest as a picturesque cumulonimbus cloud shot bolts of lightning across the dark sky. The team's spirits were up.
EADS Socata (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) -- Mark A. Diaz is the new Northwest area sales manager for the manufacturer of the TBM 700 single-engine turboprop. Based at Portland, Ore.'s Troutdale Airport, Diaz will cover Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington, Wyoming and western Canada.
Jet Aviation has an AOG initiative for the United States. ``We developed JetResponse to assist our customers in maintenance emergencies so they will be able to get airborne as quickly as possible. The program provides a 24-hour maintenance rescue service when untimely incidents take place,'' said Jet Aviation's Gary Dempsey.
Gulfstream's G150 mockup at the NBAA Convention gave showgoers a first look at the Pro Line 21 avionics suite, including its four 13.3-inch diagonal displays that dominate the instrument panel. The glareshield houses the left and right side display controllers, flanking a digital flight guidance control panel in the center. TCAS and terrain visual alerts automatically pop up on the displays. A solid-state, three-in-one Thales electronic standby instrument system replaces the electro-mechanical standby flight instruments in the G100.
As the traditionally slow summer season ended, it was unclear if the used-aircraft market would be able to regain the sales momentum it had enjoyed in early 2004, although some industry observers are hoping that activity will pick up, as it often does, toward the end of the year.
AvCraft has renewed its push to market the Envoy corporate version of its 328Jet. With a firm rollout date set for April 2005, AvCraft's CEO Ben Bartel is confident that the company will achieve the credibility required to move the program forward. ``The importance of the first aircraft coming off the production line next year can't be over-emphasized,'' said Bartel. ``We have a number of sales prospects that will move forward to firm orders once that happens.
Execaire added an executive-configured Bell 427 twin engine helicopter to its fleet of managed aircraft. The Canadian executive aircraft management company is based at Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ). The 427 is one of only two executive helicopters of its type being operated in the greater Toronto area, and the new aircraft will be used exclusively for executives needing short-haul flights.
Adding to the good mood at the NBAA Convention, Congress extended the 50-percent bonus depreciation benefits for qualified business aircraft placed in service by the end of 2005. Most aircraft ordered in 2004 would not have been delivered until next year. ``Bonus depreciation has stimulated industry sales by nearly 30 percent since it was first enacted,'' said GAMA interim President Ron Swanda.
Harrods Aviation has become sales and distribution agent for both Embraer and Sikorsky for the United Kingdom and Ireland. The Embraer dealership agreement covers sales for the Legacy executive jet, and in the longer term the shuttle/corporate versions of both the 78-seat Embraer 170 and the 106-seat Embraer 190. Harrods has ordered a Sikorsky S-76C+ as its European demonstrator, due for delivery in July 2005. The Sikorsky distributorship covers the S-76C+, the S-92 and all future models. Harrods currently operates a pair of S-76Bs.
Pratt & Whitney Canada will restart new engine production of the JT15D-4 in third quarter 2005. All current-production Service Bulletins will be incorporated to bring the new production model to the latest modification standard. ``This will provide significant benefits to operators of the Cessna Citation II aircraft through improved rental support,'' said Benoot Brossoit, vice president, Service Centers. Additionally, P&WC operators will be able to refurbish their aircraft with new engines through P&WC's Fleet Enhancement Program.
Harrods Aviation and Lufthansa Technik will now offer full maintenance, modification and engineering support to Boeing Business Jet customers operating under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year. A Lufthansa Technik BBJ line support team will be based at Harrods' Luton facility and will be able to travel to any location in the UK. The team will perform warranty service or fix interior or technical problems on BBJs as they pass through Harrods' Luton or Stansted FBOs. Harrods engineering staff has begun BBJ training.
Honeywell's Hardware Products Group has launched a Web site -- www.hpgparts.com -- that lets maintenance shops locate and order hard-to-find hardware such as small fasteners. It offers alternative part numbers, competitive pricing and immediate availability, according to Russ Turner, president of Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services. HPG also offers OEMs on-site logistics management of small parts and fasteners.
Eclipse's Raburn also announced that the company will build its own network of seven factory service centers by mid-2008. The first will be in Albuquerque and the second in Gainesville, Fla. The other five will be sited so that no operator in the lower 48 states will be more than a 90-minute flight from a service center. In addition, Raburn plans to appoint authorized technicians within corporate flight departments and fleet operators' organizations who will perform warranty work on behalf of Eclipse.
It was a bit past 2 p.m. on a typically sunny Hawaiian spring day. The Aloha Airlines 737 had just leveled at 24,000 feet on its routine hop between Hilo and Honolulu. Flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, a 37-year Aloha veteran, was moving along the Boeing's single center aisle and had made it to about row five when there was a loud, ``Clap!'' followed by a whooshing noise. Suddenly, blue sky appeared where the cabin ceiling had been moments before, dust, papers, detritus of all sorts was everywhere.
The November 1982 and October 1985 B/CAs were signal issues for they, respectively, introduced the readership to David Collogan and Fred George, each of whom quickly established himself as a key contributor to our editorial mission. Already a well-regarded Washington veteran, Dave had been serving as editor of the Weekly of Business Aviation since 1978 -- a position he continues to hold to this day -- and invested our Washington column with immediate authority and insight. No one does it better, or has done it longer.
Garmin said it expects its G1000 unit to be adopted for larger aircraft. The G1000, a single unit that combines GPS/inertial navigation, automatic flight control, communications and primary flight instrumentation behind a large-screen display, was certificated by European authorities in May for Diamond's diesel-engine TwinStar, and in June for the Cessna 182 and Diamond DA40. The Cessna Mustang will have a three-screen G1000 system with two primary flight displays and a multifunction display.
Total Aircraft Services is expanding its Enhanced Vision System (EVS) STC to include new options for Bombardier Challengers. Among the enhancements are links to popular electronic flight bags (EFBs) and satellite communications data. The company's nominal installation includes the Max-Viz EVS-1000 camera, which uses an uncooled infrared sensor. The EFB integration is being developed with Advanced Data Research, a provider of Class II and Class III EFBs.
Greg Feith, NTSB accident investigator-turned safety consultant, has several procedural suggestions to help flight departments identify good and not so good pilots, and to act accordingly.
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.
