FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION predicts about 5,000 VLJs will be operating in the National Aviation System by 2016, and other forecasters are more bullish. Washington, D.C. aviation consultancy The Velocity Group believes that air taxi passenger demand will create a market for 2,500 VLJs over the next 10 years, and that adding in corporate and individual customers could boost demand to 600-700 deliveries per year. "We anticipate a good market for VLJ sales from both air taxi and other individual and corporate users," said Velocity Group partner Gerald Bernstein.
TAG AVIATION named industry veteran Gordon Wishart regional vice president, aircraft acquisition and sales. Wishart will be based in Tucson, Ariz. and assist clients with sales and acquisition services throughout the U.S. Wishart, who has nearly 30 years of corporate aircraft sales and marketing experience, most recently spent five years with Avpro, Inc. as a sales executive. He also was a used-aircraft sales executive with Bombardier/Learjet for 10 years.
ARINC AND JEPPESEN, which formed an alliance in 2005 to develop a joint Electronic Flight Bag suite, recently received approval for their first effort, the DocViewer display. The new document viewer will be able to provide access to documents such as aircraft and operations manuals for pilots. Under the alliance, ARINC will integrate its flight deck hardware and communications technology with Jeppesen's EFB software.
Former National Business Aviation Association President and CEO John W. "Jack" Olcott is one of seven industry veterans who will be recognized for their lifelong contributions to American aviation during the National Aeronautic Association's fall banquet in Arlington, Va., this evening.
Was named chief sales officer for CIT Aerospace. D'Agostino will be based in Dublin, Ireland and manage sales and marketing of the company's commercial aircraft portfolio. He joined CIT in 1994 as an aerospace analyst and was later promoted to marketing officer and vice president of marketing. A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, he also holds a master of business administration degree in international business from the University of Miami. Before joining CIT, D'Agostino held management positions with AMR Corp.
KANSAS CITY AVIATION DEPARTMENT is planning to build a new aircraft hangar complex on a 17-acre tract at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport (MKC). Construction of the $20 million project, which has been dubbed "T-Town," is slated to begin next year and involve 122 T-hangars, 13 box hangars, 10 tie-down positions, a self-serve fueling station, outdoor aircraft washing area and a 40,000-square-foot terminal building. The terminal building will include offices, a pilot's lounge, meeting rooms, a weather center, destination restaurant and other amenities.
The National Transportation Safety Board Friday confirmed what many aviation safety experts have speculated since the Oct. 11 crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's Cirrus SR20 into a Manhattan condominium building - to make a U-turn to avoid restricted airspace the pilot would have had to make a very steep turn to avoid the building.
DOT SECRETARY MARY PETERS, in one of her first addresses as secretary before an aviation forum, last week made it clear that she plans to explore new funding options for the aviation system.
Model S-61 A, D, E, and V; Croman Corporation Model SH-3H, Carson Helicopters, Inc. Model S-61L; and Siller Helicopters Model CH-3E and SH-3A Helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2006-26107; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-30-AD] - Proposes to require, within a specified time, creating a component history card or equivalent record. The AD also would require recording the hours time-in-service (TIS) and the external lift cycles for each main gearbox input left and right freewheel unit (IFWU) assembly.
The U.S. can't wait 20 years to reinvent the air traffic control system and there need to be changes within the next 10 years to accommodate the expected rise in traffic and delays, FAA Chief Operating Officer Russell Chew said last week.
The Feb. 2, 2005 accident in which a chartered Challenger business jet ran off the end of a runway at the Teterboro, N.J. Airport (TEB) "was as sloppy an operation as we've seen" in quite some time, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker said last week. Rosenker's assessment of the accident - in which the fully loaded airplane departed the airport property, crashed into a warehouse and caught fire - came after investigators described a litany of mistakes and poor judgment by the crew members.
RNZ-850( )/-851( ) Integrated Navigation Units [Docket No. FAA-2005-20080; Directorate Identifier 2003-NM-193-AD; Amendment 39-14802; AD 2006-22-05] - Supersedes an existing airworthiness directive (AD), which applies to various aircraft equipped with certain Honeywell Primus II RNZ-850( )/-851( ) integrated navigation units (INUs). That AD, as one alternative for compliance, provides for a one-time inspection to determine whether a certain modification has been installed on the Honeywell Primus II NV-850 navigation receiver module (NRM), which is part of the INU.
SHIP IT AOG, an Addison, Texas-based business aviation parts supplier that was formed in 2000, is doubling its product offerings with an expanded inventory. The company recently moved into a 7,000-square-foot facility five times as large as its previous headquarters. The new facility provided space for a 25 percent boost in the sales force and a 150 percent increase in on-site inventory. AOG supplies a range of accessories such as hydraulic components, fuel boost pumps and motors from manufacturers including Goodrich, Lear-Romec, Sundstrand, ABS and Honeywell.
IRIDIUM was selected to provide its mobile satellite communications system for the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet. Eclipse will develop a digital datalink system that incorporates the Iridium Satellite 9522A L-Band transceiver. The system will transmit operational data through the Iridium network of low-earth orbiting satellites. The data will provide "Out of Gate, Off Airport, On Airport, In Airport" times and engine trending information.
AirCell last week formally secured an exclusive air-to-ground broadband license from the Federal Communications Commission. AirCell, the winning bidder earlier this year in a spectrum reallocation auction (BA, June 12/265), will begin offering wireless broadband services to business aircraft and airlines in early 2008. AirCell President and CEO Jack Blumenstein called the award of the license "a historic event in the airborne telecommunications industry.
Was appointed director of marketing services and development for Dassault Falcon. Pointer previously was director of service engineering for the company. In his new role, he will be responsible for marketing administration and serve as the technical interface for Dassault Falcon with Dassault Aviation. Before joining Dassault Falcon in 1997, he was an aerospace project manager and research engineer for Physical Acoustics Corp. in Princeton, N.J.
VELOCITY GROUP believes too many manufacturers have jumped into the VLJ market, and not all will survive. The consultancy pointed to the regional turboprop market in the early 1980s, which attracted six OEMs. Now only two remain in production (ATR and Bombardier). Velocity Group also believes air taxi opportunities will be concentrated in the Southeast and Northeast, with few states west of the Mississippi having enough population centers to support VLJ-type air taxi service.
JET CHARTER BROKERS will be under scrutiny by the National Transportation Safety Board, part of the fallout from NTSB's investigation of the Feb. 2, 2005 Platinum Jet Management Challenger overrun accident at the Teterboro, N.J. Airport (TEB). The board issued its final report on that accident last week. During the discussion, Member Kathryn Higgins expressed concern about the role of Blue Star Jets, the charter broker that had arranged the charter flight for the client.
LANDMARK AVIATION received a five-year agreement to maintain Avantair's fleet of Avanti P.180 aircraft. The agreement, valued at $5 million, covers the carrier's fleet of Avanti P.180 aircraft and 36 Avanti II P.180 aircraft on order. The contract value could increase if more aircraft are added to the deal. The agreement covers a range of services, including heavy maintenance inspections.
I'd like to speak as a Board Member who made a living for the last 30 years by flying airplanes. Mr. Chairman, you commented earlier that you were somewhat incredulous that a professional crew would conduct this behavior. Mr. Chairman, I would submit to you that this was not a professional flight crew. The behavior exhibited by this crew was not at all indicative of a professional flight crew. Just because someone gets paid to fly airplanes does not mean that they are professional.
JET-CARE INTERNATIONAL added Pratt & Whitney and Williams engines to its portfolio of engine-trend monitoring programs. Jet-Care already provided engine trend monitoring for GE CF34 and Honeywell TFE731 and HTF7000 customers, but said multi-engine type operators asked for additional services. Based in Hampshire, United Kingdom and Cedar Knolls, N.J., Jet-Care has monitored the health of more than 14,000 engines in more than 80 countries.
Model CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) airplanes and Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26118; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-226-AD; Amendment 39-14803; AD 2006-22-06] - Supersedes an existing AD that requires revising the Emergency Procedures section of the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to advise the flightcrew of additional procedures to follow in the event of stabilizer trim runaway.
Has rejoined Midcoast Aviation as vice president, satellite MRO operations. Zarvos, who has 33 years of industry experience, formerly was director of Midcoast custom products. Most recently he was with Dallas Airmotive.
