Eclipse Aviation in mid-September said that the Nimbus Group -- a company with no aviation experience and a market capitalization of less than $9 million -- ordered 1,000 Eclipse 500 aircraft and committed to an equity investment in the Albuquerque manufacturer. Nimbus plans to create a nationwide air taxi service network, a concept that Eclipse founder Vern Raburn has been touting since the first announcement of the light jet program in 2000.
Boeing Business Jets has announced two executive moves triggered by Lee Monson's June promotion to BBJ president, to succeed Borge Boeskov. Gil Key has moved from vice president of operations to succeed Monson as vice president of sales. He will be responsible for sales in the Americas, worldwide marketing and customer relations. He will also coordinate the joint sales campaign with Executive Jet, Inc. for the NetJets BBJ fractional ownership program.
These three graphs are designed to be used together to provide a broad preliminary view of the Premier I's performance. Do not use these data for flight planning. For a complete operational analysis, use the Approved Aircraft Flight Manual, Pilot's Checklist, Pilot's Operating Handbook and other flight planning data supplied by Raytheon Aircraft.
Nav Canada is spending C$30 million to build four new radar sites in Northern Canada, and plans for five additional sites are under consideration. John Crichton, Nav Canada's president and CEO, said the radars would increase safety and efficiency, particularly for overflights between North America, Asia and Europe.
William J. Barrett, chief pilot for Lignum Air, a corporate operator based at Richmond, British Columbia, plans to budget $25,000 (all figures here are in Canadian dollars) to cover Nav Canada user fees for the company's Hawker 700 in 2002. That will represent about three percent of the aircraft's direct operating costs, based on an anticipated 400 hours' utilization. That's if he does a lot of flying into the no-user-fee United States. The increase will be closer to six percent if he does most of his flying in Canada.
A September report from the General Accounting Office (GAO) credits the 1994 passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) for the rebound of the industry. The report validates the claims of general aviation leaders, noting that U.S. deliveries rose from the low of 928 aircraft in 1994 to more than 2,800 in 2000. Despite this upswing, the report found infrastructure and federal funding for general aviation facilities lagging.
Signature Flight Support, part of the BBA Group, will cease operating the FBO at London City Airport (LCY) at the end of November, when the airport itself will take over responsibility for corporate aviation activity. The airport is building a new FBO. A BBA spokesperson said the company was ``very sorry to lose the business and at some point in the future, if it is possible, or there is an opportunity, we would like to get the business back.''
Million Air Bridgeport (BDR) has more than doubled the size of its facilities, leasing a 50,000-square-foot hangar formerly occupied by Sikorsky. The company is now seeking a maintenance or avionics operation to occupy a portion of the new space. General Manager Tim Bannon states that he's prepared to offer favorable lease terms to the right operation and is ``wide open to ideas and suggestions'' from prospective tenants with space requirements ranging from 2,500 to 25,000 square feet. Interested parties can contact Bannon at (800) 377-2477.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Atlanta, has named Scott Young as vice president of flight operations. Young will direct the daily operations of more than 1,100 pilots and will be responsible for the company's pilot training program.
Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) has chosen Air Canada's new Technical Services division to provide maintenance for its Bombardier CRJ fleet. Under the terms of the 16-year, $285 million contract, Air Canada will perform component maintenance and repair for the carrier's Dulles-based regional jet fleet. The contract marks a major win for the Canadian carrier, which announced formation of Air Canada Technical Services (ACTS) in November to capitalize on the airline's maintenance capabilities.
Bizjetpilot.com has completed its survey of over 4,000 business aviation pilots registered on its Web site and now offers the results free of charge. The study claims that 71 percent of the respondents are actively seeking contract work, and that 22 percent of them are full-time contract pilots. In addition, the survey noted that 25 percent of the pilots indicated they were willing to pay for upgrade training. Bizjetpilot.com is a flight crew availability service.
When asked about the relative managerial attributes of flight department personnel with maintenance backgrounds versus those from the pilot roster, one flight department manager -- who will remain anonymous -- offered a blunt, four-legged analogy.
The consensus among the three major Canadian aviation associations is that, on the whole, Nav Canada has developed into a customer-service-oriented company that operates an excellent, continually improving air navigation system. Moreover, they feel that Nav Canada is introducing new technology to improve system safety and efficiency at a faster pace than could have been expected if the federal government's Department of Transport was still operating the system.
SimuFlite's Citation Excel simulator has received FAA Level D certification and pilot training is under way at the company's DFW training center. The Excel simulator was manufactured by CAE and features the Maxvue Plus visual system with a 180-degree panoramic presentation. The simulator is configured with Honeywell Primus Radar, FMS and integrated nav, plus TCAS and EGPWS.
Universal Weather is teaming with Pinkerton Consulting to provide global security services. Now Universal customers can receive Pinkerton's comprehensive security briefings via fax or e-mail, or verbally. Pinkerton will also perform a security analysis of client operations and provide security personnel.
The Premier I has the most completely integrated Pro Line 21 avionics system yet installed in a business jet. The standard package includes two large flat-panel displays on the left side of the panel, including a left-side PFD and MFD with ``smart'' engine gauge indications. In between the two large screens, there is an EFIS display control panel with highly intuitive controls. The MFS has an electronic checklist feature, but lacks a second-flight-of-day quick turn checklist and pop-up abnormal and emergency procedures checklists.
RULE 1: When the engine breaks, fly the airplane! RULE 2: Keep flying the airplane! More than any other actions, these two will help keep you out of major trouble when your turbojet or turbofan engine sheds parts without notice, or goes bang, or spools down, or does any one of a number of scary things that can and do distract pilots from their primary job of -- need we say it? -- flying the airplane.
Mesa Airlines is adding a fourth code-share partner in 2002 -- Denver-based Frontier Airlines. Service will commence in the first quarter to an undisclosed list of current and new Frontier destinations. According to Mesa, the service will be flown with ``a minimum of five Bombardier CRJ-200s.'' The Denver service marks the carrier's return to the Mile-High City, having served as a United Express carrier there until spring 1998. Mesa also has code-share agreements with America West Airlines, US Airways and Midwest Express.
There is a gross error in one of the tables in the Airman's Information Manual regarding visual signal procedures for airborne intercepts. The actions deal with situations where the intercepted aircraft: -- Has been led to an airfield unsuitable for landing. -- Cannot comply with the interceptor's directions, or -- Is in distress.
Now is the time to brush up on procedures we never use and never want to use. Air-to air intercept signals, comm out and even SCATANA come to mind. The Airman's Information Manual (AIM) is full of information that used to be minutia.
GA customer service lags behind car dealers in an AOPA survey of members who had purchased a new aircraft and a new car in the past five years. On a scale of one (poor) to 10 (excellent), 274 members rated their customer service experience at new car dealers at an overall 8.01 while satisfaction with aircraft dealers rated only 6.72 on the scale.
