BUSINESS JET ACCESS, based at Love Field in Dallas, added a second Challenger 300 to its Part 135 certificate. The aircraft seats up to nine passengers and has a 3,100-nautical-mile range. Business Jet Access has eight aircraft on its certificate.
SAFETY UPGRADES and fleet purchases are among the recommendations made in a new report by the Maryland House of Delegates’ Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup. The workgroup was formed in January after the crash of an EMS helicopter in September 2008. Panel recommendations on safety upgrades included retrofitting the existing fleet with night vision goggles, ELT beacons and Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT Model 208 and 208B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1319; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-071-AD; Amendment 39-15836; AD 2009-05-12] – Modify the aileron carry-through cable attachment to the aileron upper quadrant with parts of improved design, following the instructions of Cessna Caravan Service Bulletin CAB08-6 (dated Oct. 27, 2008).
EDWARD PETKUS was appointed vice president, product development and engineering for Hawker Beechcraft. Petkus, who joined Hawker Beechcraft in May 2007, had been serving as acting vice president, engineering. He formerly spent 16 years with The Boeing Company, most recently serving as director, 787 airplane development. He led the 787 program development team responsible for requirements, configuration development, airplane level analyses, environmental impact and reliability/maintainability.
PIPER AIRCRAFT PA-23, PA-31, and PA-42 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0218; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-006-AD] – This proposed AD would establish life limits for safety-critical nose baggage door components and require operators to replace those components and repetitively inspect and lubricate the nose baggage-door latching mechanism and lock assembly, according to the instructions of Piper Aircraft, Inc. Service Bulletin No. 1194A (dated Nov. 10, 2008).
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1318; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-155-AD; Amendment 39-15848; AD 2009-06-12] – This new rule, which supersedes an existing directive (AD 2008-01-04), retains the requirements of the earlier rule regarding operation of the flaps and adds new requirements.
ELLIOTT AVIATION, the Moline, Ill.-based business aviation services company, has added an Astra 1125SP to its charter certificate. The aircraft is based at Forest City, Iowa (FXY).
EMBRAER has signed its first U.S.-based Phenom 100 owner to an Embraer Executive Care (EEC) contract. Elizabeth and Jim Frost, who took delivery of their Phenom 100 December 2008, have signed up for the plan, which offers Phenom 100 and 300 customers fixed cost-per-hour maintenance support, including access to web-based maintenance tracking software. The EEC was originally created in 2001 for the Legacy 600.
Fred Reid joined Bombardier on Aug. 25, 2008, as president of Flexjet and Skyjet U.S. He came to Flexjet from Virgin America, where he served as chief executive and created the airline from the ground up. He has served in executive positions at Delta Air Lines and was president and chief operating officer of Lufthansa. Q: Why did you find Flexjet such an interesting proposition?
STACY SPRY was promoted to a service center sales post for StandardAero. Based in Mocksville, N.C., Spry will oversee CF34, AE3007 and PW600 engine services for business aviation operators in Eastern North America. He also will oversee TFE731 engine and auxiliary power unit service sales. Spry joined StandardAero in 1998, running the PT6 test cell in Salisbury, N.C. Before joining StandardAero, he was an airframe mechanic at Timco Aviation and also served in the U.S. Air Force as a jet mechanic.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently completed its first simulated flight of the company’s top-of-the-line G650. The simulation took place Dec. 15 in the G650 Integration Test Facility (ITF) at Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah, Ga., with Project Pilot Jake Howard and Chief Experimental Pilot John O’Meara conducting the first real-time simulation.
BAE SYSTEMS BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0133; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-107-AD] – FAA has proposed a new AD to supersede an existing directive (AD 2006-12-09) which currently requires operators to repetitively inspect for corrosion of Frames 15, 18, 41 and 43 and take applicable related investigative and corrective actions. This proposed AD would add a high-frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspection for corrosion of the outer frame flanges and door hinge bosses of Frames 15, 18, 41 and 43.
Illinois state Rep. LaShawn Ford (D) has introduced a bill that would impose a 5 percent luxury tax on aircraft costing more than $500,000. The measure would help plug a projected $9 billion state budget gap.
PIPER AIRCRAFT plans to offer the AmSafe Aviation Airbag System as optional equipment on all its new PA-46 aircraft and as an aftermarket installation on all other current Piper models. The airbag system is a self-contained, modular restraint designed to improve occupant protection from serious head-impact injury, thus enhancing the ability of occupants to exit the aircraft following an otherwise survivable accident.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT has sold a civil S-76C++ helicopter to Shanghai Kingwing General Aviation Company. The aircraft is to fly in support of civil onshore rescue missions organized by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The S-76 is to be delivered in May.
CASA C-212-CB, -CC, -CD, -CE, -CF and -DE airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0005; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-164-AD] – This proposal would require operators to inspect the pitot tubes. If cracks are found in the tubes, they would need to be replaced, per the instructions of CASA Service Bulletin SB-212-34-11, Rev. 1 (dated Feb. 27, 2008).
Business aircraft activity continued to decline in January, down 22.2 percent from December 2008, according to statistics from Aviation Research Group/US. ARG/US estimated flight activity dropped an average of 3.58 percent per month for the last 12 months, with total flight activity declining 19.07 percent year over year. In general, a combination of economic factors and unfavorable media coverage of the business aviation industry have negatively impacted overall flight activity, ARG/US said.
General aviation airports could receive more funding under the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) if Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) gets its way under the FAA reauthorization bill that just cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Gulfstream is cutting production of its large-cabin aircraft by more than 20 percent this year, reversing management’s earlier belief that a steep decline in global demand for business jets would not have a severe impact on its higher-end models.
XOJET has reported year-over-year increases in revenue, flight hours and customers. The company ended 2008 with a 66 percent rise in revenue and 60 percent increase in flight hours over 2007. XOJet ended 2008 with more than 1,500 customers, up from 1,000 last year, and flew charter and guaranteed availability customers to 52 countries, up from 34 the previous year.
CESSNA 182Q and 182R airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1205; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-062-AD; Amendment 39-15811; AD 2009-04-05] – For airplanes that are equipped with SMA SR305-230-1 diesel engines or SR305-230 powerplants converted to the SR305-230-1 configuration, operators need to remove the intercooler and the intercooler inlet and outlet hoses and install a reworked intercooler and new intercooler inlet and outlet hoses, per the instructions of SMA SAFRAN Group Service Bulletin SB-C182-75-004 (dated July 8, 2008).
FAA reassured owners that the agency has no plans to ground Eclipse Aviation’s EA-500s, despite the company’s recent Chapter 7 liquidation. Another group, meanwhile, has stepped forward to organize an attempt to buy the bankrupt company.
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA secured a number of new support agreements with several operators. The engine maker has concluded an accord with Air Methods of Englewood, Colo., to provide powerplant support for the operator’s growing fleet of EMS helicopters. The manufacturer also has signed a five-year contract with Canadian heli-skiing operator Alpine Helicopters of Kelowna, British Columbia, for the repair and overhaul of 20 PT6T-3B Twin Pac engines, plus spares, installed on Alpine’s fleet of Bell 212 helicopters.
BAE SYSTEMS Jetstream 4101 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0644; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-321-AD; Amendment 39-15659; AD 2008-18-02] – This new AD, which supersedes an existing directive (AD 2004-14-07), requires operators to conduct repetitive tests for free movement of the capsule/bearing of the nose landing gear and replace the gear assembly with a modified assembly. FAA estimates that this AD will cost U.S. operators $490 per test. Replacement of the assembly would cost $3,580. This AD becomes effective March 27.
