Cessna Aircraft, looking to expand its portfolio beyond its stable of light to midsize jets, unveiled a "Large Cabin Concept" aircraft as one of three new products on display at last week's National Business Aviation Association annual meeting and convention in Orlando, Fla. Cessna also formally announced the CJ4 (BA, Sept. 4/105) and detailed plans to upgrade its best-selling airplane, the Citation XLS+.
ROGER N. McMULLIN, president and CEO of TAG Aviation Holdings in Geneva, Switzerland, plans to retire at the end of the year and will relocate to the U.S. where he will serve as chairman of the board and be based in the San Francisco area. McMullin, who was associated with Aviation Methods for many years, later was one of the founding partners of TAG Aviation USA.
A prestigious group of four safety advocacy, standards-setting and air traffic control organizations issued a joint resolution last week calling on governments to focus aviation accident investigations on finding the causes of accidents and preventing similar ones rather than attempting to place blame and bringing criminal charges against those involved.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL has developed a new simulator-based training course designed to ease the anxiety of business aircraft travelers. The Confident Flight course was developed to provide passengers with a better understanding of a business aircraft and the flight crew. The course, which covers basic flying characteristics, weather issues and the air traffic control system, also explains the training regimen for pilots.
Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) Airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26046; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-172-AD] - Proposes to require inspecting for discrepancies of the activation mechanism of certain chemical oxygen generators, and corrective action if necessary. This proposed AD results from several incidents, on certain airplane models, of incorrect installation of the release pin into the safety pin hole of the activation mechanism of the chemical oxygen generator; this resulted in failure to activate the chemical oxygen generator when required.
Models SR20 and SR22 Airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-24010; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-14-AD; Amendment 39-14787; AD 2006-21-03] - Requires checking the maintenance records to determine whether the brake caliper piston O-ring seals were replaced at the last annual or 100-hour inspection. If the O-rings were not replaced, this AD requires replacing the O-ring seals with new seals or replacing brake calipers.
TAG AVIATION will be one of the earlier operators of the Eclipse. Officials said they are scheduled to receive aircraft No. 12 at the end of November and will base it in the San Francisco, Calif. area. TAG has specialized in providing aircraft management services for owners of large business jets, but decided to order three Eclipse 500s some time ago to assess interest among its customer base in the VLJ market.
French engine-maker Snecma is exploring the business jet market with a new engine family, the Silvercrest, designed to yield a family of powerplants with thrust ranges between 8,000 and 11,000 pounds for use on the next generation of super-midsize to large business jets. Snecma expects the engines will power a large-cabin, long-range aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of between 45,000 and 60,000 pounds. Snecma also sees the engine family finding a place in the regional jet market, particularly with 40- to 60-seat RJs.
AVIATION TECHNOLOGY GROUP continues to add suppliers for its Javelin executive jet/fighter trainer aircraft, selecting Goodrich Aircraft Interior Products to provide the pilot seats, Kavlico for the throttle quadrant, Moritz for power distribution and Parker Aerospace for hydraulics. Parker Aerospace also is supplying flight controls. The Javelin will be powered by Williams International FJ33 turbofans providing 1,800 pounds of thrust each. Last month ATG named Op Technologies the primary avionics supplier.
THE SURGE of new entrants and new business jets on display at last week's NBAA convention underscored the generally bullish outlook for new aircraft sales over the next decade. "We're in the midst of a very, very strong market," Gulfstream Aerospace President Bryan Moss told reporters in Orlando. But a number of OEM executives, including Moss, said boosting aircraft production rates requires careful attention to supply chain management.
October 23-25 - International Loran Association 35th annual ILS Convention and Technical Symposium, Mystic Marriott Hotel, Groton, Conn. Bob Lilly, (805) 967-8649, e-mail: [email protected], or www.loran.org. October 27 - 64th annual Wings Club Dinner-Dance honoring Al Ueltschi, Chairman of FlightSafety International, Inc, with its Distinguished Achievement Award; Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, (212) 867-1770, email: [email protected].
SAVANNAH AIR CENTER (SAC) delivered its first completed Bombardier Global 5000 aircraft to a customer. Bombardier named SAC an authorized completion center for the Global 5000 and Global Express XRS in late 2005. The first completed aircraft, which went to an international customer, included exterior paint, a 13-passenger interior and an integrated avionics suite with high-speed data, SATCOM, Iridium communications and head-up display. SAC also recently finished a 20,000-square-foot expansion of its Savannah, Ga. facility to accommodate new business.
Fractional aircraft operator Avantair, which specializes in offering shares in Piaggio P.180 Avanti turboprops, announced its planned entry into the jet business last week by placing an order with Embraer for 20 of the Brazilian manufacturer's new Phenom 100 business jets. The order value is estimated at $57 million, based on January 2005 list prices. The Phenom 100 is expected to enter service in mid-2008 and Avantair is scheduled to take delivery of its first Phenom in June 2009.
October 17-19 - National Business Aviation Association 59th Annual Meeting & Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000 October 22-24 - International Aviation Womens Association 18th Annual Conference, "Aviation's Global Resurgence: Five Years Later and Climbing," W Hotel, New York, Ellyn Slow, (732) 326-3703, email: [email protected], www.iawa.org or Karen Griggs, (410) 571-1990, [email protected]
The European Commission will introduce new security restrictions for carry-on baggage across Europe Nov. 6, and although aviation officials are working hard to ease the transition, the rules are expected to cause passenger confusion and airport disruptions.
London City Airport has been acquired by a consortium composed of AIG Financial Products Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners, the infrastructure joint venture between Credit Suisse and GE Infrastructure Inc. The consortium outbid parties including Hochtief and Fraport AG. Although a final sale price was not released, the airport was valued at $917 million when the facility was put on the block in May. The airport was bought by Irish businessman Dermot Desmond in 1995 from the U.K.'s Mowlem, which built the airport in 1986.
DANIEL HOGAN was named to oversee sales in the Northeast and Southeast U.S. for VISTAGY. Hogan has 15 years of sales experience in the software and engineering industries, working with companies including Invention Machine and IBM/Rational Software.
Model EMB-135 airplanes and Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25925; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-167-AD] - Proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires repetitive inspections of the pitot static heating relay K0057 and corrective actions, if necessary. The existing AD also requires a terminating modification, which ends the repetitive inspections.
NEW PRODUCTS continue to drive sales, and this week's NBAA convention is expected to see multiple new business jet introductions. Cessna Aircraft already announced plans for a CitationJet 4 (BA, Sept. 4/105), and is expected to share its vision for a wider-body successor to the company's Mach 0.9-cruise Citation X, deliveries of which began more than a decade ago. Raytheon has plans for two new Hawkers, Models 750 and 900. Also, Piper Aircraft is believed to be ready to announce a new jet.
Jet Aviation is making a major investment in its hangar and shop facilities in Basel, Switzerland to accommodate a growing tide of business for its aircraft completion, modification and repair business there.
Model BAe 146 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22974; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-180-AD; Amendment 39-14774; AD 2006-20-05] - Requires repetitive inspections to measure the depth of chafing or scoring in the skin along the full length of the wing-to-fuselage fairing from forward to aft ends at the contact between the seal and fuselage, and related investigative/corrective actions if necessary. This AD results from a report of chafing in this area.
CLAYTON A. CALLIHAN, a veteran communications official with extensive experience in the aviation/aerospace industry, recently joined Science Applications International Corp. in a senior-level communications post at the company's McLean, Va. headquarters.
ONE PERSON aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter, N769RT, was killed Oct. 8 when the aircraft crashed into Lake Tapps in Washington, but the other occupant survived.
BRIAN DUBIE, the lieutenant governor of Vermont, was elected chairman of the Aerospace States Association (ASA) at the group's recent meeting in Washington, D.C. ASA is a bipartisan body comprising lieutenant governors and governor-appointed delegates from more than 40 states.
