I just read that there are hundreds, thousands maybe, of used business jets for sale. And not just the old geezers -- the Lear 23s, DH-125s, Jet Commanders, Sabres and such -- but Astras, Gulfstreams, Citations, Falcons and even BBJs sparkling as when they were brand new, which wasn't all that long ago. I admit surprise.
Actor Harrison Ford piloted his Bell 407 helicopter to save a missing hiker near his Jackson, Wyo., home. The Indiana Jones films star helped locate and rescue the 13-year-old Boy Scout who lost his way during a hike near Yellowstone National Park. Ford, an avid pilot and owner of several aircraft, rescued another hiker in July 2000 when she became incapacitated by dehydration and altitude sickness on an Idaho mountain. The actor is said to be a regular volunteer in local search-and-rescue missions.
Embraer has received seven additional orders for its Legacy corporate jet, which is scheduled for certification and first customer deliveries in the third quarter of this year. The Brazilian manufacturer now reports 37 firm orders and 34 options for the ERJ-135 derivative, which is available in corporate shuttle and executive configurations. Embraer recently sold the first Legacy to a Brazilian customer, a financial services provider whose executive-configured jet is slated for delivery in April 2002.
Honeywell's next-generation light turbofan program is progressing toward full-scale development, the manufacturer says. The planned TFE731 replacement will offer 3,000- to 6,000-pound-thrust range and significantly lower maintenance and manufacturing costs. The new engine has 25-percent fewer stages, half the blade count and design features to simplify maintenance procedures.
Turbomeca has decided to invest heavily in customer support in North America, the French firm's largest geographic market and one with some of the most demanding operators. The new strategy entails building a new facility in Canada, probably near Montreal/Mirabel, to repair and overhaul Arriel and then Makila II engines. ``We decided to have a complete stand-alone zone in North America,'' said Emeric d'Arcimoles, Turbomeca's new chairman and CEO. ``No more engines will cross the ocean for repair -- that is not the case today.''
More than three months after pilots struck Comair, the Delta subsidiary resumed service with 10 aircraft serving 26 cities from its Cincinnati hub in early July. The carrier says it hopes to restore service to ``most'' destinations and recall ``most'' furloughed workers by the end of the year. With only 82 aircraft remaining in its fleet, Comair says it expects to be back to its pre-strike fleet of 119 aircraft in late 2002.
Lee Monson, Boeing Business Jets' sales vice president, will succeed Borge Boeskov as BBJ president, when the latter reaches Boeing's mandatory retirement age of 65 in June 2002. Boeskov's leadership and BBJ team efforts have resulted in 71 announced sales and 56 green aircraft deliveries to completion centers, four of which are BBJ2s. There are currently 32 BBJs in service. Eight to 10 more aircraft will enter service before the end of the year, according to Monson.
The first two prototypes of the Bell/Agusta BA609, the world's first civil tiltrotor, are nearing completion and first flight could happen before the end of the year. First to fly will be prototype No. 1, whose wing and fuselage were mated in November 2000 at Bell's plant in Arling-ton, Texas. Completion of prototypes No. 3 and No. 4 is slated for 2002, with first deliveries following in 2004.
All private flights operating into Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport are required to submit pilot licenses, medical certificates and passport numbers before they arrive. In addition, required aircraft documentation includes airworthiness certificate, certificate of ownership and insurance policies. Source: Air Routing
Business aircraft owners and operators socked with rate increases over the past year should expect more hikes for the foreseeable future, insurance experts say. ``I don't see a relaxing of that for at least another year or two,'' Hal Williams, chairman of the board of NationAir Insurance Agencies, told B/CA recently. A 34-year aviation insurance veteran, Williams says rates are still a fraction of what they were when competition began heating up in the late 1980s.
As always, the number one factor that affects the price of fuel is crude oil costs. Crude oil makes up almost half the cost of each gallon of Jet-A, and the majority of the stuff comes from the 11 member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The international cartel tries to adjust production to ensure their members good margins while satisfying demand around the world. OPEC's production influence on pricing has been evident for several years and it reached alarming proportions this past spring.
CitationShares and New World Aviation donated the use of three business aircraft to the Children of Chernobyl United States Charity Fund in late June. The two CitationShares Cessna Citation Bravos and New World's Gulfstream IV transported a total of 104 Russian children from JFK Airport in New York to St. Louis and Youngstown, Ohio, where they will undergo medical treatment and enjoy a summer respite from conditions in their homeland.
Bell Helicopter launched a new Web site to help match buyers and sellers of used helicopters. Known as BELLNET eXchange, the site is free for buyers and for basic listings by sellers. Sellers also can upgrade to paid listings, which include photographs and detailed aircraft spec sheets for as little as $100 per month. Bell says the site launched with 650 listings from 250 sellers. Helicopters on the site are not limited to those manufactured by Bell, the manufacturer added. Further information is available online at www.bellnetx.com.
BBA Aviation has completed its long-awaited acquisition of Ranger Aerospace's Aircraft Services International Group (ASIG). The commercial fueling operations of Signature, a BBA division, will be consolidated under the ASIG brand, creating the ``largest commercial fueling organization in the United States and number two worldwide,'' BBA says.
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer all nonessential travel to Macedonia. The situation there is potentially dangerous as a result of armed attacks by ethnic Albanian extremists in the northwest of the country, most recently in the village of Aracinovo near Skopje. In addition, there have been incidents of violence in other areas of the country including anti-Albanian riots in Bitola. Source: U.S. State Department
ASA has updated its Guide to the Biennial Flight Review to reflect important regulatory, procedural and training changes. References for further study are provided throughout the book and reflect the recent release of new FAA publications. This book provides complete preparation for pilots taking the flight review and is a good resource for flight instructors conducting the review. The requirements for the flight review include at least one hour of ground instruction and one hour of flight instruction.
I never paid much attention to airport identifiers until a harried airline agent attached the wrong bag tag on my suitcase a few years ago. Until that incident, the FAA's system for designating airports seemed logical to me. After all, the three-letter identifiers for most of the U.S. hub airports are intuitive: SEA stands for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, MIA represents Miami International Airport and BOS signifies Boston's Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) is asking the DOT to block United Airlines' (UAL) application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to launch BizJet Services, Inc. until UAL resolves disputes with the AFA over contractual obligations. The union contends that UAL is in violation of a 1985 Scope Side Letter, requiring the airline and its subsidiaries to conduct all flight operations with flight attendants on the United seniority list.
Although extremely rare, lightning can strike down an aircraft. The thermal and pressure shockwaves of a lightning flash can cause flameouts in jet engines, especially those with narrow nacelle inlets. And a strike also can create avionics and electrical system problems, especially in older aircraft. NTSB Investigator Jim Silliman, working out of the Chicago office, is investigating the fatal crash of a Sabreliner 80 in summer 2000 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Although they may not agree on when or if we've hit bottom, most aircraft financing professionals do agree that the business of buying and selling aircraft and the financing of those transactions have, like the stock market, undergone a ``market correction'' over the past year to 18 months. Joe Dini, senior vice president and division manager for GMAC's new business aviation finance division, says the market is ``returning to normalcy.'' That's good news for buyers and not such good news for sellers of used aircraft and some financing companies.
Alliance Aircraft is back with plans to build a family of regional jets in partnership with Harbin Aviation Industries Group, a division of China's AVIC II Group. The new StarLiner 100 program will include 35-, 44- and 50-seat variants, all using common cockpits, wings and empennages. The 35-seat version will be manufactured in Harbin, China, while the larger aircraft will be assembled in the United States. First flight of the StarLiner 100 is planned for 2003, with initial deliveries to Chinese operators expected in late 2004.
Given the string of negative economic news that has emanated from Corporate America since the economy started to go south after the ``dot com'' bubble burst about a year ago, it is no wonder that the market for previously owned turbine-powered aircraft has suffered. In retrospect, it seems ludicrous that anyone could have suggested that the seemingly endless productivity gains spurred by the introduction of new technologies could have made the economic cycle obsolete.
The NTSB's Web site now announces when the probable cause of general aviation accidents will be released. The agency's site already contains extensive information about aviation accidents and incidents, including a searchable database of preliminary and final accident reports. Further information about the new feature and forthcoming accident findings is available at www.ntsb.gov/aviation/pc_release.htm.
Getting a handle on jet fuel availability and pricing in the near and not so near future is an ongoing, ever-changing exercise that taxes the savviest of petroleum market analysts, let alone mere interested consumers. And yet, flight operations managers are expected to know what the Jet-A being pumped into their tanks will cost next spring.
Bombardier Aerospace has joined Aviation Week's The Next Century of Flight (NCF) -- a multimedia campaign designed to raise public awareness of the global aviation industry as it nears the 100th anniversary of powered flight. Since its 1998 launch, the program has reached millions via Aviation Week's specific NCF content, and through an aggressive campaign of advertising, direct marketing, exposure at public events, and industry sponsorship.
