HARTZELL PROPELLER has signed a deal with Hawker Beechcraft to be the exclusive supplier of constant-speed propellers for all of the manufacturer’s new piston and turboprop commercial aircraft. The deal covers five years and includes the G36 Bonanza, G58 Baron, King Air C90GTx, B200GT and 350i aircraft.
OWEN BUSCH was named chairman of the National Air Transportation Association’s Environmental Committee. Busch is vice president of supply and business development for Avfuel Corporation, where he manages the company’s global supply chain, which involves a network of more than 600 branded aviation fuel dealers.
FOLLOWING the cancellation of “significant orders” from NetJets, Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture noted that the company plans to review its orderbook policies and review certain orders. “It is our intention over time to improve our commercial relationship with NetJets,” Boisture said. “As we look at future orders from them, we intend to get larger deposits and better margins.”
FAA has proposed special conditions for certification of the Falcon 2000EX’s autobraking system. The agency believes these conditions are necessary because Part 25 regulations do not contain a specific “pitchover” requirement addressing the loading on the nose gear, the nose gear surrounding structure and the forward fuselage. Dassault’s autobraking system, which applies maximum braking at the main wheels before the nose gear touches down, will cause a high nose-gear sink rate, and potentially higher gear and airframe loads, FAA says.
Despite the recent struggles of some large established fractional aircraft ownership programs, Calgary, Alberta-based charter and aircraft management company Air Partners Corp. believes this is the ideal time to move into the fractional arena because plummeting aircraft values have created a “tremendous opportunity” to build the necessary fleets at much lower prices.
STRATOS JET CHARTERS of Winter Park, Fla., has begun offering private jet charter service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Stratos has agents on call 24 hours a day, President Joel Thomas said. “People in urgent need of a last-minute charter will be able to speak with a representative who can assist them,” he said. “We work with more than 150 of the most reputable air charter operators in the country, which allows us to provide clients with any size and type of aircraft, ranging from turboprops to airliners.”
The new Ohio Aerospace and Business Aviation Council has been created as a way to get key stakeholders around the table to help existing companies and try to attract new ones.
Embraer has secured FAA type certification for its Phenom 300 light jet. Brazil certified the aircraft Dec. 3 (BA, Dec. 7/260). In 2005, Embraer announced that it aimed to become a major player in business jets, introducing the clean-sheet-of-paper Phenom 300 and its smaller sibling, the Phenom 100. In the four subsequent years, the Brazilian plane-maker has certified both aircraft, with deliveries well under way for the Phenom 100.
GARY DRIGGERS, a member of Midcoast Aviation’s senior management for 22 years and former chairman of the National Air Transportation Association, is retiring effective Dec. 31. Driggers had been a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War and a client of Midcoast before joining the St. Louis-based center in 1988. During his tenure with Midcoast, he held various senior management functions as the company grew from 100 to 1,500 employees. Driggers is retiring as senior vice president.
AEROTRESALIA, a subsidiary of Mexico City-based private equity firm Trasalia Capital, has begun operating the first Global Express XRS business jet in Mexico.
GAMA AVIATION FZC has added a Bombardier Challenger 605 and Challenger 850 to its regional management fleet. Both aircraft are based in Dubai and will join a Sharjah-based Challenger 604. GAMA Aviation is headquartered in the United Kingdom.
AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY Senior Technology Editor Graham Warwick was selected as the recipient of the Aerospace Industries Association 2009 Lauren D. Lyman Award for excellence in aviation journalism. The award was presented last week during AIA’s 45th annual Year-end Review and Forecast Luncheon in Washington, D.C. Warwick, who has more than 30 years of experience, coordinates engineering and technology coverage for BA sister publication AW&ST.
DESPITE INDUSTRY’S URGING, the Jobs for Main Street Act passed by the House last week did not contain money for NextGen. Several associations collaborated on letters to key lawmakers and the White House seeking support for NextGen funding in a jobs bill (BA, Dec. 7/259). Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Marion Blakey told an audience at the annual AIA Forecast last week that “NextGen will not only bring immediate economic and environmental benefits to all Americans, it will also create jobs in our sector.
NetJets’ economic woes have continued to mount, forcing the Columbus, Ohio-based fractional ownership provider to cancel most of the orders it had on hand with Hawker Beechcraft, and possibly numerous others at Cessna. Cessna parent Textron confirmed Friday that Cessna has been in discussions with “a large customer concerning the cancellation of about $1.1 billion of jets it had on order.”
AGC AEROSPACE & DEFENSE is changing the name of its Oklahoma City-based fixed-base operation, The ServiCenter, to Valair Aviation. “The new name better conveys our presence in the aerospace industry and encompasses what we do best through our premier aviation services, tip-to-tail maintenance and military air operations support,” said Rick Nagel, principal with AGC Aerospace & Defense.
President Obama last week signed an umbrella appropriations bill that included a $15.992 billion budget for FAA in fiscal 2010 (BA, Dec. 14/272). The consolidated appropriations bill, H.R.2388, passed the House Dec. 10 and the Senate Dec. 13. The bill provides an additional $14 million for FAA to hire up to 186 inspectors. Overall, FAA’s operations budget is funded at $9.35 billion. The general fund is covering $5.3 billion of the budget.
SIKORSKY S-92A helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2009-1088; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-76-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to revise the “Operating Limitations” section of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM) to make it clear that this model helicopter was not certificated to the standards that allow for the carriage of human external cargo. This proposal is prompted by a mistake in the RFM, which allows “Class D’” rotorcraft load combinations for human external cargo load (HEC) operations.
JAY JOHNSON, president and chief executive of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, cited an “inventory issue” for why midcabin aircraft sales have been slower than larger cabins. “If you look at [the midcabin] market space across all of the original equipment manufacturers, there’s a lot of inventory out there,” Johnson said during an analyst meeting this month. “We’re going to have to work our way through that inventory to get to new sales.” He was encouraged that sales are starting to turn around for the midcabin category. “We’re certainly seeing it.
EMBRAER sold a Phenom 100 to Purdue University, which is in the process of replacing its fleet over the next several months. The Phenom 100 will enable the West Lafayette, Ind.-based university to offer students the ability to graduate with a jet type rating.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT last week recognized four Pilot Centers as the first training schools to gain approval from FAA under Part 141 to use Cessna’s new sport/private pilot course in their private pilot certificate training programs. Centers gaining Part 141 approval are: Air Fleet Training Systems Inc., Fairfield, N.J.; Snohomish Flying Service, Snohomish, Wash.; Trade Winds Aviation (dba for Skyworks Inc.), San Jose, Calif.; and Pensacola Aviation Center, Pensacola, Fla.
FOKKER has won an Airbus contract to develop and manufacture the composite outboard flaps for the A350 XWB family of long-range, wide body airliners. Development of the flaps, which is slated to last 18 months, already has started at Fokker’s facility in Papendrecht, the Netherlands. Fokker, which expects to deliver the first hardware in 2011, intends to produce 140 sets of flaps per year.
JOSEPH LOMBARDO , Gulfstream Aerospace president and executive vice president-Aerospace for General Dynamics, was elected to the board of directors of the Corporate Angel Network (CAN). CAN is a nonprofit organization that arranges free travel aboard empty seats on corporate jets for cancer patients seeking treatment far from home. Gulfstream Aerospace has participated in CAN for more than 27 of CAN’s 28 years.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Model 58, 58A, 58P, 58PA, 58TC, 58TCA, 95-B55, 95-B55A, A36, A36TC, B36TC, E55, E55A, F33A and V35B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0797; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-032-AD; Amendment 39-16118; AD 2009-25-01] – Inspect the washers on the D ring of the pilot and co-pilot shoulder harnesses for correct metal, inner and outer diameter, and thickness, per the instructions of Beechcraft Mandatory Service Bulletin No. 2394 (dated December 1990). Replace any noncompliant washers.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL has received FAA Level C qualification for a Hawker Beechcraft King Air 200 flight simulator based at the LaGuardia Learning Center. FlightSafety will begin training using the King Air 200 simulator this month. The company will offer training for both Part 91 and 135 operators. The simulator also will be used during King Air 90 and 100 differences training. FlightSafety’s LaGuardia Learning Center also provides Hawker Beechcraft 1900C and 1900D, and Shorts 360 simulator training.
