Despite reports to the contrary, the bottom is not falling out of the U.S. aerospace industry as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, in mid-December during the organization's Year End Review and Forecast luncheon.
Avolar announced orders and options for as many as 82 additional aircraft, increasing to 309 aircraft the fledgling fractional ownership program has ordered. The UAL Corp. division has signed letters of intent for 15 Beechjet 400As, with options for 10 additional aircraft as well as "up to 57" Learjet 45s and 60s. The Raytheon order has a potential value of $150 million, while the Bombardier order is worth as much as $632 million.
``Those who can pay the manifold multiples of first-class fare necessary to amortize the cost of a corporate jet can see airplanes as the miracles of freedom they originally were.'' From the book Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel by James Fallows ``I'd like to be a philosopher, and a fighter pilot.'' New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on ABC-TV's ``20/20''
Gulfstream Aerospace won a contract valued at $100 million to provide two Gulfstream V aircraft to the Japan Coast Guard. The contract, awarded with its Japanese partner Marubeni Aerospace, also includes engineering support for modification of the aircraft and integration of mission systems. The aircraft, which will be used for ocean surveillance and rescue missions, will be equipped with airborne surveillance radar, forward-looking infrared system and other search and rescue equipment.
The Do328 was originally designed for the FAR Part 121 environment, and the Envoy 3 Corporate Shuttle takes advantage of its commercial lineage, which includes economic line maintainability. ``Admittedly, the platform was created with airline customers in mind,'' said Clayton Calihan, Fairchild Dornier's communications director. ``Yet, with no design alterations needed to step into the corporate marketplace, the Envoy 3 operates for less per hour than any airplane anywhere near its size and capability, with more reliability and greater comfort.''
Ten years after the end of the Cold War, the door to Russian airspace was fully opened with the inauguration last February of four Polar Routes linking North America and Asia. Flying these routes, however, requires extremely careful planning, as they take aircraft across some of the world's most forbidding and inhospitable terrain, the High Arctic. There is no ATC radar, there are no ground-based navaids, and GPS signals are unreliable above 75N.
The National Air Transportation Association, working with high-tech companies including Lockheed Martin and Microsoft, is developing biometrically encoded identification cards for passengers and employees of aviation businesses. The program includes the ``SkyD'' card for ``trusted travelers'' on commercial and GA aircraft; and the ``SkyGuard'' card for flight crews, aviation employees and student pilots. Both programs would use plastic ``smart cards,'' containing digital certificates and signed biometric template information.
Jet Aviation West Palm Beach will be an Embraer Legacy service center. According to Jet Aviation Vice President for Maintenance and Outfitting William Stuck, Jet will be getting in on ``the ground floor'' of the Embraer's corporate jet venture. The corporate-configured Legacy will carry 10-18 passengers 3,200 nm.
CAE added a second Fairchild Dornier 328JET and a Boeing 737NG simulator at its Dallas training center. The four-bay facility also has a Fairchild Dornier 328 turboprop simulator. CAE built both the simulators and their visual systems. They will be certified to FAA Level D. The company has four other training centers worldwide.
While many, if not most, of those on Forbes magazine's annual list of the 400 richest Americans are business aviation users, several have made investments (some successful, others not) in aviation. At the top of the list is Warren Buffett, America's second wealthiest man, with a net worth of $20.8 billion. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns FlightSafety International and Executive Jets, among other companies. His wife, Susan, placed 78th with $2.5 billion and, with $1.3 billion, business associate Charles Munger placed 172th.
Avidyne is now offering the FlightMax EX5000 FSD, a new flight situation display designed to fit most aircraft despite its large (10.4-inch diagonal) display format. The FSD occupies just 3.75 inches behind the panel and is available in either horizontal or vertical configurations. Avidyne states that the 800-by-600-pixel active matrix LCD offers more than four times the pixel count of a five-inch display.
NetJets Middle East/National Air Service is building a $5 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is due for completion in the next 18 months to two years. The facility, which is necessary to meet the Middle East company's growing fractional program, will have full FAA/JAR approval, and will be built adjacent to the Al Salem Aircraft Co.'s heavy airline maintenance base.
The Regional Airline Association has launched a Web site to inform the public about the value of regional jet service. The Regional Air Service Initiative (RASI) site comprises eight areas with background information, high-resolution photos, and a comprehensive resources database to help visitors understand the contributions of regional jet service to the national air transportation system. In addition, industry market conditions and in-depth analysis of the U.S. regional airline industry are available.
Deliveries of the new Goodrich SkyWatch HP TAS/TCAS I are under way with the receipt of TSO approval for the upgraded system. The HP allows closure rates of 1,200 knots and features a variety of optional EFIS and MFD outputs, including an ARINC 429 option. The system can be installed as either a traffic advisory system (TAS) or traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS I) depending on the display and antenna configuration.
Klein Tools is introducing its new Journeyman line of premium pliers for aviation professionals. The pliers have contoured, cushioned handles and are designed for strength and durability. They are available in 13 styles including a nine-inch side-cutting (regular, crimping and tape-pulling in both standard and 2000 Series), eight-inch diagonal-cutting (straight and angled-head in both standard and 2000 Series), heavy-duty long-nose (with or without stripping hole) and high-leverage cable cutters.
With the sudden but not unexpected demise of Belgian State airline Sabena, U.K. regional airline British European (BE) quickly took over three of its routes to Brussels.
Aeronautical Information Publication (A.I.P.) Canada covers all the rules and procedures in effect. Contact CGP, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0S9; phone: (819) 956-4802. Single copy ,$32.95 Cdn; annual subscription, $30.50.
Embry-Riddle added certificate programs in logistics, safety and aircraft maintenance to its online ``Extended Campus'' offerings. The logistics and safety courses are introductions to their respective subjects. The aircraft maintenance certificate program prepares a student for the FAA general examination that must be passed prior to pursuing an A&P license. Extended campus information is available at www.ec.erau.edu.
FlightSafety International will consolidate its three Wichita Cessna Learning Centers under a single management and customer service staff. FSI is also in the final stages of preparation to add five simulator bays to the complex, at least four of which, sources say, will house new state-of-the-art Citation simulators. Wichita city officials have estimated the investment in new facilities in the neighborhood of $2.5 million.
New York City Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg will be the city's first mayor with long-standing ties to general and business aviation. A long-time pilot who wrote about his flying experiences and mishaps in his autobiography Bloomberg by Bloomberg. The billionaire owns a Dassault Falcon 900B on the Bermuda registry, as well as a U.S.-registered Agusta A109E helicopter and Mooney M20M. He formerly owned and piloted a 1980 IAI Westwind 1124.
For nearly three months now, everyone in the aviation business has been confronted with a list of urgent action, must do, ad hoc imperatives. One minute it was business as usual and the guys in the business jet cockpit were thinking about whether the proper catering would be delivered to the airplane before the boss showed up for his flight.
Wahl Instruments has introduced its newly modified DIGI-STEM series of self-powered digital thermometer systems that measure temperatures to 0.1F resolution. The system incorporates a K type thermocouple sensor and features a NEMA-4X stainless steel housing that is waterproof and can withstand hose-down with caustic cleaning solutions. Wahl said that the system is immune to vibration and cannot be shaken out of calibration or broken from continuous stress. Price: Call for pricing Wahl Instruments 234 Old Weaverville Rd.
