Ocean Air Taxi Ltd. is now Bombardier's exclusive business jet sales representative for Brazil. Based at Congonhas International Airport in So Paulo, Ocean Air represents the Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft families. Currently around 80 Bombardier business jets are based in Brazil.
The FAA is extending the comment period for its new ETOPS rule after sharp criticism from industry that the agency didn't provide adequate time to comment on the 293-page rule. The agency has granted only a 60-day extension -- to March 15 -- from the original Jan. 13 deadline, even though many airlines and industry associations requested a longer extension.
Adventurer Steve Fossett plans to see that the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer makes good on its name. A single-pilot aircraft powered by a single Williams FJ44-3 turbofan, the GlobalFlyer is specifically designed for a nonstop, unrefueled circumnavigation. The aircraft, whose main structure is constructed entirely from advanced composites and which can carry more than four times its own weight in fuel, was unveiled at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave, Calif., in January. At takeoff the airplane (including fuel and pilot Fossett) will weigh 22,006 pounds.
Embraer's Legacy corporate jet won authorization from both the Brazilian airworthiness authority, Centro Tecnico Aeroespacial (CTA), and the U.S. FAA to land and take off from airports located at field elevations up to 8,500 feet above sea level. As a result, Legacy jets will be able to operate at cities such as Bogota and Mexico City. The certification includes all Legacies and requires no modifications to operate in this expanded envelope, which will allow the Legacy to fly into 20 new cities in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The Jackson Hole, Wyo., Airport Board proposed a rule to ban Stage 2 aircraft weighing less than 75,000 pounds from landing or taking off from that airport. No Stage 2 aircraft are based at Jackson Hole, but the prohibition is expected to affect approximately 950 operations a year of Stage 2 Gulfstream IIs, Learjet 23/24/25s, and assorted Falcons, Sabreliners, JetStars and Hawkers. The board will receive comments on the proposed rule until April 15. It would become effective six months after passage by the board.
The second flight-test Bombardier Global 5000 (s.n. 9130) flew from the company's Downsview, Ontario, facility on Jan. 8. During its four-hour first flight northwest of Toronto, it reached 17,000 feet and an indicated airspeed of 340 knots. The aircraft will be delivered to Bombardier's Completion Center in Montreal for installation of a production interior. ``This second test aircraft will play a critical role in increasing aircraft maturity at entry into service,'' said Robert Duffield, director, Global 5000 program.
Air Transport Association President James May supports the Department of Homeland Security's anti-MANPAD study decision, saying it will help answer a number of questions, especially whether systems originally designed for use on military aircraft can be successfully operated and maintained over time in the civil environment. ``I think you have to go through the process,'' May said, but added, ``We think the costs [of going forward with implementation] are very significant.'' May pegged those expenses at $50 billion to $80 billion over a 10-year period.
Signature Flight Support, Orlando, has named Timothy McCole general manager of the company's Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) facility. McCole has been with Signature since 1992.
Frank Jackman has been named editorial director of three publications published by McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week Group: Overhaul & Maintenance, the World Aviation Directory & Aerospace Database, and the Homeland Security Directory. Jackman was previously editor-in-chief of those publications.
Avidyne Corp. awarded Mark Krebs its first Avidyne Technical Achievement award for his technical accomplishments in developing and certifying the world's first low-cost solid-state Air Data and Attitude Heading Reference System (ADAHRS), the heart of the company's FlightMax Entegra integrated flight deck system. Krebs is a senior engineer with Avidyne and holds a B.S. from MIT and an M.S. in engineering from Stanford University.
Noncorporate/executive jets were involved in eight fatal accidents that resulted in 16 deaths in 2003. That compares with 19 accidents, but just four fatal accidents, which resulted in nine deaths during 2002.
For more than 60 years, turbine aircraft engines relied on some form of mechanical control to vary the amount of fuel being fed to them. The original arrangement of cables, pulleys, horns and control rods is still in use on some aircraft models today. Effective in producing the desired results, this mechanical system relies on constant input and calculations by the pilot, and because of the elastic nature of its elements, the system needs regular inspection and adjustment by maintainers to compensate for tension and wear.
Bob Hoover and Gene Cernan have started a cooperative purchasing company, Jet Fleet International, to procure a broad range of aviation services and products at discount prices for its members. JFI's current partners include CAE SimuFlite, Avcard, Shell Aviation, Teledyne Controls, Pegasus Travel, Mercury Air Centers, Globalstar, Jeppesen, Wyvern Consulting and even Breitling Watches. JFI membership is currently free in order to build its member roster to the 2,000 mark. Members use an Alliance Platinum Card from Avcard for their purchases.
BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman and United Airlines are heading teams selected to enter final contract negotiations to provide detailed designs for systems to defend airliners against shoulder-fired missiles, also known as MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems). BAE, which uses a technology based on infrared lasers to defeat MANPADS, will work with Delta Air Lines and Honeywell. Northrop Grumman said it will also team with an airline. United is teaming with Avisys, Inc., an Austin, Texas, defense technologies and system integration company.
The first two of seven leased Raytheon Beech King Air B200s have arrived at the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force station at RAF Cranwell from the Beech facility in Kansas. The civil-registered aircraft will replace the RAF's aging Jetstream T1s. The B200s will be used for military multiengine pilot training and operated by Serco, which is contracted to deliver 5,500 flight hours per year over a period of five to seven years. RAF instructors are converting to the new aircraft type and the first intake of students is scheduled for April.
New Piper Aircraft will offer Avidyne's FlightMax Entegra Integrated Flight Deck as optional equipment on four of its single-engine models -- the Saratoga II HP, the Saratoga II TC, the Piper 6X and the Piper 6XT. Entegra consists of two large, high-resolution sunlight readable displays; an EXP5000 PFD with an integrated solid-state air data and attitude/heading reference system and EX5000 multifunction display. Piper includes Avidyne's Emax Engine Indicating and Fuel Management Systems at no additional charge.
The NAVAirWx moving map system has added some new weather products including echo tops, lightning strikes and winds aloft. NAVAirWx uses satellite broadcast technology to provide complete weather service to the cockpit, providing real-time access to NEXRAD, METARs, TAFs and many other weather products. The moving map provides glass cockpit functionality in a portable format utilizing Portable Digital Assistant (PDA) and electronic flight bag technology. Price: $2,000 AirGator 94 Smith Ave.
Just as the TSA has had to be educated about the nature and inherent security of business aviation, so it appears that ICAO, which sets policy for the aviation authorities of its signatory nations, needs an injection of reality on exactly what business and general aviation do and how they operate.
Ibis Aerospace appointed Deep Blue Technology AG in Hallwil, Switzerland, near Zurich as a distributor responsible for sales and service of its Ae270 Propjet in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia-Macedonia. Deep Blue has placed orders for nine Ae270 aircraft, plus options for five more. In related news, Ibis expanded the sales territory of Rheinland Air Service, its German distributor, to include Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The NBAA announced that 22 individuals passed the first Certified Aviation Manager (CAM) examination, administered in October 2003, in Orlando. The NBAA CAM Program is intended to identify and measure the aviation-specific knowledge and management skills of current and aspiring flight department managers. Through the certification process, the NBAA says it seeks to raise the professionalism and quality of management within flight departments.
The Global Express -- GEX -- the highly anticipated flagship of the Bombardier business aircraft fleet, is maturing into the aircraft promised by its designers in the early 1990s. Almost immediately after the superjet's introduction in 1999, it acquired a reputation as a high-tech hangar queen among early operators because of bugs in immature, complex systems, mismanaged completions at Bombardier's Tucson facility and wholly inadequate parts support. ``The aircraft was way, way ahead of its time.
Club Airways, a Geneva, Switzerland-based, members only scheduled business airline, is shopping for a larger aircraft, such as an Embraer Legacy or Fairchild Dornier Envoy 3 to operate from London City Airport to Dusseldorf and Moscow's Vnukova Airport. The chosen aircraft would be fitted with no more than 15 seats in line with the company's philosophy of supplying a first-class environment.
The NBAA is asking for proposals for one- or two-hour presentations to be given at the Ninth Annual NBAA Flight Attendants Conference, June 18-19 in Anaheim, Calif. Hosted by the NBAA Flight Attendants Committee, the conference usually draws corporate flight attendants in search of career-development information and opportunities. Presentation topics could include cabin safety, food handling, food service and passenger safety as well as management issues related to the duties and responsibilities of the corporate flight attendant.
The FAA will allow the use of enhanced vision systems below decision height or minimum descent altitude on straight-in nonprecision and CAT I ILS approaches. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, covers only operations using EVS, which it describes as Enhanced Flight Visual Systems (EFVS). It specifically does not apply to synthetic vision systems and requires that the system provide a real-time image displayed on a centrally located HUD, not just a panel or console display.
As business and general aviation people well know, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to be held accountable to performance benchmarks, according to Republicans on the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chairman of the committee, plans to hold hearings this month to lay the groundwork for legislation that would set performance measurements for the DHS. ``The American public is frustrated by a lack of accountability,'' said Rep.
