There's a significant difference in the underlying technologies and associated cost between passive Traffic Information Systems (TIS) and active Traffic Advisory Systems (TAS). Ryan International claims to bridge the gap between these two traffic systems with its $7,990 9900B Traffic Collision Alerting Device (TCAD) that acts like a TAS but doesn't interrogate other transponders. Rather, it passively ``eavesdrops'' on transponders that have been interrogated from any source regardless of geography or proximity to an ATC radar site.
While fly-by-wire (FBW) flight controls have been used in military aviation for decades, only recently have they gained relatively broad acceptance in the civil aviation world. Although the Concorde was the first civil aircraft to utilize FBW flight controls, the design really became popularized with the production of the Airbus A320, and later the Boeing 777. While the application of FBW technology in civil aircraft has been generally well received, it has raised some important questions.
In 1995, the Citation Ultra, and Citation V before it in 1988, finally put the ``Slo-tation'' jokes to rest. Up to that point, Citations always had been easy to fly, simple to maintain, and well supported by Cessna, but were stuck in speed class between turboprops and ``real'' jets. Learjet operators were surprised when Cessna created the Ultra, an airplane capable of climbing directly to FL 450 and cruising between 400 and 425 KTAS.
RIGHT NOW, MOST OF the states' legislatures are concluding their regular sessions and, therefore, most of the changes to taxation statutes and regulations affecting aircraft ownership and usage have been made. The following are some of the revisions and opinions that have occurred since August 2002, when we last covered the subject broadly: Idaho -- Effective May 1, 2003, the Idaho state sales/use tax increased from 5 percent to 6 percent.
The Dassault Falcon 2000EX EASy received certification from both EASA and the FAA in June. Previously certificated on the Falcon 900EX, the all-digital, all-encompassing, cursor-directed EASy cockpit is based on Honeywell's Primus Epic system. Dassault Falcon Jet reported 15 F2000EX EASy aircraft are in various stages of completion and deliveries should begin immediately.
The NBAA has scheduled three Business Aviation Regional Forums this summer in Chicago, Hong Kong and Seattle. The events provide a place for business aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, customers and other industry personnel to discuss regional business aviation issues. The forums are scheduled for June 24 at DuPage Flight Center on DuPage Airport near Chicago, July 15-16 at Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre at Hong Kong International Airport in China and Aug. 26 at Boeing Field/King County International Airport in Seattle.
If business aviation is such a good thing, why don't we expand it to a wider group of employees, even all employees with a need to travel between corporate facilities?
Aerospace Filtration Systems' Inlet Barrier Filter system for Bell 407 helicopters is now certified in Canada as well as the United States and is available for retrofit. The IBF has been tested and approved with full snow clearance and no operating restrictions. The system includes a single filter design optimized for hover and forward-flight. According to the manufacturer, it also improves engine performance over the entire airspeed envelope. An optional access door allows the filter to be removed and replaced quickly, without removing the inlet fairing.
An STC has been granted for the installation of a Universal Avionics Systems five-instrument suite of integrated flat-panel instrument displays in a Challenger CL-601. The STC was accomplished by Mid Canada Mod Center of Mississauga, Ontario. The installation included the replacement of electronic ADI and HSI instruments with four of the Universal Avionics EFI-640 flat-panel displays -- an MFD-640 flat-panel multifunction display, TAWS, Universal Cockpit Display (UCD) and dual UNS-1F flight management systems.
Safire Aircraft has suspended most of its operations while it searches for additional funding. Notice came just days after it announced an ambitious schedule culminating in a first flight of the Safire Jet just prior to the 2005 NBAA Convention and about six weeks after Safire said it was restructuring ``to focus on the completion and development of the Safire Jet prototype.'' Safire President and CEO Camilo Salomon said, ``We encountered some unforeseen setbacks,'' but they hope to close on new financing shortly.
JetEquity, LLC acquired the Skyport FBO at New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN) from United Skyport Corp. on June 17. The acquisition adds an FBO to JetEquity's service portfolio, which includes aircraft management, charter sales and hangarage services. JetEquity, also headquartered at HPN, recently opened a hangar adjacent to Skyport and the main terminal. Skyport is one of five FBOs on the airfield.
The following NTSB information is preliminary, subject to change and may contain errors. May 2 -- All five passengers and two crewmembers aboard a Mexican-registered Commander 840 were killed and the aircraft destroyed after encountering weather during cruise flight. The IFR flight originated in Juarez and was destined for the Mexico City International Airport. The aircraft lost control and crashed in the vicinity of Milpillas, approximately 300 miles north of the Mexican capital.
Jet Aviation at Dallas Love Field has completed a major upgrade of the facility. Renovations to the FBO building include refurbishing the customer lounge, a multimedia conference room, expanded flight-planning capabilities, high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access, modernized restrooms and a new pilots lounge. Additional seating in both the customer and pilots lounges has been added along with a granite-topped customer refreshment center that serves fresh-brewed flavored coffees. The ramp expansion added 55,000 square feet, for a total of 185,000 square feet of ramp space.
ARINC is teaming with Florida-based Satcom Direct, a provider of satellite voice, fax and data communications, to integrate Satcom Direct's services with the ARINC Direct suite of data link, flight planning, weather and aircraft tracking information. Satcom Direct currently provides satellite access via the Inmarsat and Iridium constellations to more than 1,500 business aircraft. Users dial a global, 10-digit number and telephone calls are connected to the aircraft regardless of location.
Most operators would run from the tedious and expensive process of FAR Part 121 certification like the plague, but if you're contemplating operating a shuttle, either yourself or as a contractor to someone else -- and especially if you're going to be using large jet transports -- you should consider the benefits of operating under the more stringent commercial rules.
Over nearly five decades of publishing, a special trust has developed between B/CA and our readers. We editors accept as our mission delivering material to help you be better informed, operate more safely and get the best from your equipment, vendors, colleagues and yourselves. In the doing, you have invested us with your trust for delivering relevant, expert, thorough and accurate information. Journalists with the credentials to carry forward that tradition are rare. Consequently, we add to our staff infrequently and cautiously.
Garrett Aviation and Rockwell Collins announced that J. R. Tomkinson Inc. is the first to update a Cessna Citation 501 with elements of Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 family of avionics as part of an FJ-44 retrofit program previously announced by the two companies. The upgrade features the large-format Collins IDS-3000 Integrated Display System, designed to replace existing analog and EFIS equipment, expand the information being presented and increase situational awareness. The basic system selected by J. R.
At the recent EBACE convention, National Air Services of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ordered two Airbus A319 executive-configured aircraft to operate business-class-only service between Jeddah and Riyadh. Service is due to start in the third quarter and the 44-seat aircraft interior is to be outfitted by EADS Sogerma. The aircraft will be powered by CFM56-5 engines, as NAS's fleet of five managed BBJs are also CFM powered.
ARM Aerospace has come up with a way to increase the storage capacity of hangars. The Aero-Lift makes it possible to store two airplanes in almost any hangar by lifting one aircraft into the air and using the empty space underneath to store an additional aircraft (or a car or boat). The Aero-Lift can raise a 2,500-pound aircraft, tri-gear or tail-dragger. It is a cantilevered, single-post lift design that uses a jackscrew mechanism and electric motor, rather than a traditional hydraulic system.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Learjet 40 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.
A flight control is said to be ``reversible'' when pressures on the control surfaces are translated back to the cockpit flight controls. Typical wire cable/pulley/bellcrank and pushrod-actuated flight controls do exactly that, and thus provide necessary feedback to the pilot. Once the transition to hydraulic and fly-by-wire systems is made, the controls are non-reversible, and the pilot no longer has feedback through the cockpit controls.
You're an invisible second officer (I-S/O) aboard a Falcon business flight descending to your destination airport. The get-it-done CEO's in back with business on his mind. The terminal weather is IMC. Tighten your seat belt; the F/O will describe what happens next:
Rockwell Collins and LogisTechs, Inc., have entered into a 10-year spare parts service agreement to support the Mesa Air Group and its Mesa Airlines operation. Collins Aviation Services (CAS) will perform repair chain management of Collins and non-Collins rotable components on Mesa's CRJ 200 regional aircraft at a fixed rate per flying hour as part of an overall agreement between LogisTechs and Mesa, under which LogisTechs will own and provide spare parts management for Mesa's fleet of regional aircraft.
The Industry Trends Committee of the National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) recently reported that while turboprop prices remained steady during the first quarter of 2004, compared with 2003, and light jet values actually fell, prices for both medium and heavy jets rose. The committee, which is chaired by Cessna's Dane Jenning, also noted that maintenance shop activity is growing, with many refurbishment facilities booked at 90-percent capacity through the summer.
