APPH HOUSTON broke ground on a new 62,000-square-foot facility that will permit the company to consolidate all its Houston operations in one location. When completed in March, the new facility will include a sheet-metal shop, landing gear, accessory and pneumatic shops, parts sales, inventory and administration and shipping departments. The building also will include a dedicated training area that can accommodate up to 12 students.
JET AVIATION employees at the company’s new fixed-base operation in China, were expecting a busy final weekend at Beijing’s Capital International Airport as visitors and participants departed from the Olympic Games. The FBO opened Aug. 5 following several months of hectic preparation (BA, Aug.
ECLIPSE AVIATION said Friday it is cutting 650 of its employees, 38 percent of a workforce that had recently numbered nearly 2,000. The Albuquerque, N.M. company also is undergoing a special certification review by FAA, which is examining the processes and procedures the agency used when it certificated the Eclipse 500. The difficult outlook for Eclipse has attracted the notice of other aircraft manufacturers who are seeking employees.
TERRY ROLFE was promoted to co-leader of the aviation practice of Integro Insurance Brokers. Rolfe has 18 years of aviation industry experience. Before joining the practice in April 2006, Rolfe was senior vice president and national operations manager for Marsh’s Aviation Practice.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE received an order from Synergy Aerospace Corp. for a Learjet 85. The Learjet 85 will be operated by Synergy Sao Paulo, Brazil-based unit OceanAir for charter. Synergy Aerospace also owns PAS and Helicol in Columbia. Launched in October 2007, the Learjet 85 aircraft will be Bombardier’s first all-composite business jet. The aircraft will be designed to cruise at Mach .82 and have a 3,000-nautical-mile range.
BAE SYSTEMS Jetstream 41 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0622; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-064-AD; Amendment 39-15642; AD 2008-17-04] – Requires modifying the left-hand and right-hand wing fuel boost pump wiring in accordance with the instructions of BAE Systems Service Bulletin J41-28-014, Rev. 1 (dated Dec. 21, 2007). It also requires inspecting the left-hand and right-hand wing fuel high-level sensor wiring in accordance with the service bulletin. If excess or damaged wiring is found, replace and/or remove it.
BECKY JOHNSON was named vice president and general manager of the Gulfstream facility in Long Beach, Calif. Johnson joined Gulfstream in 1998 and most recently was director of product support at Long Beach. Before joining Gulfstream, Johnson served as a senior manufacturing manager at McDonnell Douglas Corp.
GROB AEROSPACE filed for insolvency last week, raising questions about the future of the G180 SPn business jet and leaving Bombardier seeking another supplier for the composite-construction Learjet 85 prototypes that Grob has been working on.
BARRY RUSSELL was appointed vice president of customer support for Gulfstream Aerospace. A 31-year Gulfstream veteran, Russell will be responsible for the worldwide Customer Support organization as well as services provided at Gulfstream facilities in Savannah, Ga. and Luton, England and the General Dynamics Aviation Services facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. Russell formerly was vice president and general manager of the Gulfstream’s facility in Long Beach, Calif., and before that was general manager of the Brunswick, Ga. facility.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE added Morro Vermelho Taxi Aereo Ltda. (MVTA) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to its product-support network. MVTA will distribute parts to Gulfstream operators throughout South America. There are more than 80 Gulfstream-built aircraft based in the region. MVTA is the sixth facility to join Gulfstream’s international parts-distribution network. The others are the Gulfstream London-Luton service center in London; the MetroJet maintenance facility in Hong Kong; and the Jet Aviation maintenance facilities in Dubai, Moscow and Singapore.
The planned acquisition of Jet Aviation’s far-flung MRO, FBO and aircraft management and charter businesses by General Dynamics is a bold strategic move that will expand the reach of GD’s existing business aviation activities and immediately add proven aircraft service capability in international markets, which are accounting for a growing share of aircraft orders at GD’s Gulfstream Aerospace unit.
DEALING WITH SECURITY CONSTRAINTS in Beijing could have been a big challenge, but Edwards said impressive cooperation from airport authority officials helped “turn it into a great success.” Beijing “has been a difficult city [for business jet operators] to fly in and out of and get handled in a way they are used to,” Edwards said. But he expressed confidence that the smooth inauguration of FBO service during the Olympics “will make it easier for everyone” flying private aircraft into Beijing in the future.
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SATCOM DIRECT, a Satellite Beach, Fla.-based provider of satellite voice, fax and Internet data services, is expanding its Internet reach thanks to the launch of a new Inmarsat satellite. Satcom Direct said the Aug. 18 launch of the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite will allow the company to provide mobile broadband Internet services to business, general aviation, military and government markets worldwide. Before the launch, the company’s mobile broadband services covered 85 percent of the world’s landmass. The network now covers the globe, including aircraft in flight.
CHARLES WOOD was named program manager, Lean Six Sigma for Gulfstream Aerospace. Wood will implement Lean Six Sigma throughout Gulfstream and General Dynamics Aviation Services facilities. Wood has spent 22 years with General Dynamics in quality assurance and process engineering, most recently as a value stream manager at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. Before that, he was senior manager, initial phase quality control, at Gulfstream.
JACOB WARD was appointed regional sales manager for Southeast region for Avidyne. Ward is a commercial, multiengine and instrument pilot who graduated Magna Cum Laude from the CAPT graduate program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He served as a regional sales manager at Aerospace Products International and Iviation. He most recently was a business development officer for Farr Associates, a leadership and organizational development company.
EMBRAER CHINA’S warehouse for spare parts has been certified by Brazil’s Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC). This approval qualifies Embraer China’s quality technicians to issue spare part airworthiness certificates through their own quality system in China, broadening the range of services for customers. Embraer says this certification also enables Embraer China to optimize its supply chain and providing shorter turnaround-times for parts.
Brazilian plane-maker Embraer formally kicked off the joint definition phase for its midlight Legacy 450 and midsize Legacy 500 executive jets with more than 20 key suppliers selected for the programs. The work on the business jets progressed as Embraer reached another milestone in its Very Light Jet program with the first flight of the second Phenom 300.
JPMORGAN is downgrading the rating of General Dynamics from “Neutral” to “OW” (overweight). The decision to downgrade GD comes as the Gulfstream backlog soared from $11.8 billion at the end of March to $18.1 billion at the end of the second quarter (BA, July 28/37). JPMorgan credited GD for a “nice run” but added, “We see more limited upside for the stock following strong recent performance.” JPMorgan believes earnings will slow as well as business jet demand.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week released a rule over the objections of the general aviation community that mandates “special awareness” training for any pilot who flies under visual flight rules within a 60-nautical-mile radius of the Washington, D.C. VHF omni-directional range/distance measuring equipment (DCA VOR/DME). The training is designed to teach pilots the proper procedures for flying through the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and inner Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) in the Washington, D.C. area. FAA said the rule, which takes effect Feb.
EXCELAIRE, based at Long Island MacArthur Airport, added a Beech 400A to its fleet. The aircraft joins a fleet that includes eight Gulfstreams, three Embraer Legacys, a Learjet 55 and two Cessna Citations, among others.
AVIDYNE introduced its MLX770 two-way datalink transceiver to the Latin American market. The transceiver provides graphical weather and two-way text messaging via the Iridium satellite network. Avidyne introduced the unit in Europe earlier this year, and said it planned to expand coverage worldwide throughout the remainder of the year. The MLX770 uses Avidyne’s Network Operations Center along with the 66-satellite Iridium constellation to provide datalink weather services to Entegra- and EX500-equipped aircraft.
MICHAEL GLOVER was named director of OEM sales and strategic alliances for Avidyne. Glover will oversee business and product development, program management, marketing, and general aviation and commercial sales. Glover previously served as director of commercial air transport for Innovation Solutions and Support, an Exton, Pa.-provider of flat panel products for the air transport market. A multiengine pilot and licensed Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, Glover joined Delta Airlines in 1992 as a mechanic.
SPECIAL R-22 AND R-44 TRAINING requirements would continue under a recent FAA proposal to extend the existing training and experience requirements of SFAR 73. The agency wants to eliminate the termination date of that rule, which requires special training and experience for R-22 and R-44 pilots and certified flight instructors. FAA believes the requirements would reduce the number of fatal accidents associated with low G maneuvers, which can result in main rotor/airframe contact.
Eclipse Aviation last week confirmed that it was “evaluating every aspect of the company” and hoped to announce a plan for profitability by the end of the month. The “media alert” added that the “executive management team is working diligently to develop a plan to achieve operational excellence.”
