Although the high inventory levels seen in much of 2009 for pre-owned business jet aircraft are gradually falling, it still remains a buyer’s market, according to a new report from Jetnet LLC. At the end of May, the percentage of pre-owned business jets for sale was at 15.3%, compared with 17.4% in May 2009, down 2.1 percentage points. The number of business jets for sale at the end of this May was slightly less than 2,700 aircraft, compared to nearly 2,900 a year ago.
ExecuJet Mexico has opened a new office at Toluca Airport. The Toluca site joins existing offices in Monterrey’s Mariano Escobedo and Del Norte International airports. The company offers a range of aircraft management, charter, aircraft sales and maintenance products.
Executive AirShare has taken delivery of its first Embraer Phenom 300 dedicated to the Kansas City, Mo. operator’s regional fractional aircraft ownership program. Executive AirShare’s management subsidiary, Executive Flight Services, took delivery of its first Phenom 300 on behalf of a third-party owner in December 2009. Executive AirShare also operates nine Phenom 100s in its fractional and managed fleet.
Private aviation company TWC Aviation has added a 2010 Cessna Citation Mustang to its fleet of managed aircraft. It is the third Citation Mustang currently being managed by TWC Aviation.
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Bombardier has installed a Learjet 85 full flight simulator at its aircraft training center in Montreal. The CAE-built trainer will be used to support aircraft testing and certification of the Learjet 85, including helping refine design and flight characteristics. The simulator will then transition to customer training prior to delivery, as well as initial and recurrent training. Bombardier plans to begin delivery of and customer training for the Learjet 85 in 2013.
All five people aboard a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle were killed when their aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff July 4 near Alpine, Texas. The aircraft, N31AS, registered to Ohara Flying Service II of Amarillo, Texas, was on an air ambulance mission from Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport to Midland International Airport in West Texas. The aircraft carried one crewmember and four passengers, including a 78-year-old patient and his wife, according to news reports. Also aboard were the pilot and two flight nurses.
Eighteen members of the House Ways and Means Committee appealed to the committee leadership to pass a measure that would extend a temporary bonus depreciation for the purchase of certain equipment for business use. In a June 30 letter to Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Republican David Camp (Mich.), the 11 Democrats and seven Republicans asked that they include a temporary bonus depreciation extension “as part of the next tax legislative vehicle to be acted on by the House.”
PHILIP MATHEWS has become president of Air Partner, Inc., the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based office of the international brokerage Air Partner. Mathews will be responsible for expanding Air Partner’s base in North America. He returns to the U.S. after serving as director of U.K. trading for Air Partner. He previously headed the company’s U.S. business from 2003-2008.
FAA last week released a proposed legal interpretation that would revise the agency’s broad prohibition on reimbursements for executive use of company aircraft for personal reasons.
FAA, which in May released its final rule outlining equipment requirements for ADS-B “Out,” has formally established a new aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) to discuss recommendations for moving forward with ADS-B “In.” The main advantage of ADS-B Out is that it provides tracking information to air traffic controllers, while ADS-B In brings key flight information to the cockpit.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Aviation Summit will be held Nov. 11-13 at the Long Beach, Calif., Convention Center. The organization also will hold AOPA Airportfest, which will have scores of aircraft on display and numerous activities, at Long Beach Airport. AOPA Live will offer streaming Internet coverage of the Aviation Summit, beginning each morning at 9 a.m. (Pacific time) with keynote addresses from the AOPA Live stage on the exhibit hall floor.
The National Business Aviation Association and the Corporate Angel Network have planned a charity benefit and auction on Oct. 26 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Entertainment for the evening will be provided by the band Chicago. To register, go to https://registration.nbaa.org/events/amc/2010/attendee.cfm
MARK WHITE was appointed component repair and overhaul regional sales manager for the General Dynamics Aviation Services (GDAS) California facility. White will oversee sales in Texas, Nebraska and the entire West Coast. He has nearly a decade of aviation sales experience, including five years as a senior spare parts sales administrator at the GDAS and Gulfstream facilities in Dallas. He also has been a sales manager at Aircraft Supply Co. in Dallas.
Era’s MSS multilateration and ADS-B surveillance system received certification for operation in Russia from the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK). The system is the first next-generation surveillance technology certified for Russian use, says ERA, which is a subsidiary of SRA International. Certification followed seven months of laboratory and field testing, both at Era’s factory in the Czech Republic and at Era’s operational MSS installation in Dublin, Ireland.
Stewart International Airport in New York and Sacramento, Calif.’s Mather Field have been selected to receive FAA 2010 Military Airport Program funding to perform conversion work related to their shift from military to civilian facilities. Stewart, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will replace electrical cable in the former Air Force airfield power circuit to meet civil design standards.
TrueNorth Avionics, Inc. has partnered with authorized dealer Mid-Canada Mod Center (MC2) to provide and install the Simphone OpenCabin airborne telecommunications system for Flying Colours’ Challenger 850 completion program. Simphone OpenCabin uses a suite of enterprise-level applications to bring advanced voice and data-management capabilities to business aviation, offering unlimited service life, built-in Wi-Fi and data routing, unmatched communications security and superior voice quality.
Piper Aircraft selected DeCrane Aerospace and Propel Designs to help incorporate improvements for PiperJet’s cabin interior. The selection of the interior specialists follows a number of meetings with PiperJet buyers, notes Randy Groom, Piper executive vice president. Those meetings affirmed a number of the design parameters for the aircraft, but also “led us to make some additional improvements,” Groom says. Piper plans to reveal specific interior improvements during the National Business Aviation Association’s annual meeting and convention this fall.
A Cessna T210L was substantially damaged when it struck a wooden streetlight stanchion and crashed while attempting a forced landing at William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pa. (LHV) late last month. The pilot and two U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service personnel were killed in the accident. The Cessna T210L, N30266, was registered to Sterling Airways and operated under a Forest Service contract. The public-use aerial observation flight was conducted under Part 91.
Two family names, famous for their aviation exploits, are back in the news again for helping expand the envelope of powered flight — one for a record flight that ended Thursday. The Solar Impulse, a spindly-looking aircraft “fueled” solely by the Sun’s energy, touched down at 9 a.m. July 8 in Payerne, Switzerland, having just spent 26 hours and 9 minutes aloft — the longest and highest ever for a solar-powered aircraft.
ECLIPSE AEROSPACE Model EA500 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0691; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-027-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to incorporate changes in the electronic flight information system and the Airplane Flight Manual.
JEFF ROBERTS has become the owner, president and chief executive of AirCare Solutions Group, a corporate aviation training and service provider. Roberts takes over for company founder Doug Mykol, who will work with Roberts to help steer the company as part of the ownership transition.
Three key officials have taken office following their recent confirmation by the Senate and swearing-in ceremonies. The Transportation Security Administration at long last has a new leader with the July 1 formal swearing in of John Pistole as an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, heading TSA. Pistole, the former deputy FBI director, was sworn in by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at Penn Station in New York City. He was the Obama Administration’s third (and first successful) nominee for the post that has been open since January 2009.
