The Eclipse 500 has begun 16 months of flight testing leading up to anticipated FAA certification in December 2003, with its first flight in Albuquerque, N.M. at the end of last month.
Charter Broker eBizJets changed its name to Sentient to reflect the growth of its Private Jet Membership program. "The word Sentient maps directly to our core capabilities and vision - an acute awareness of our private aviation environment and decisive responsiveness to it," said Mark Stone, Sentient chief executive. The company offers Private Jet Membership, which guarantees flight availability within five hours, for frequent fliers as well as on-demand service brokering for clients who require less frequent service.
Aerostructures Corporation won a contract extension from Gulfstream to continue supplying Gulfstream IV-SP wing boxes for at least 10 more years. The agreement, which extends the on-going contract through 2014, has a potential value of more than $500 million. Aerostructures has a 37-year relationship with Gulfstream, supplying the wings for the G-II, G-III and G-IV programs. The Nashville, Tenn.-based supplier of large aerospace structures and components has delivered more than 1,000 shipsets to Gulfstream on those three programs.
Aircraft Technical Publishers has developed a new maintenance CD-ROM product line for Lycoming series engines. The Lycoming CD-ROMs incorporate maintenance manuals, parts catalogs, wiring diagrams, service information, component maintenance manuals and structural repair manuals. The CD-ROMs are indexed to ease accessibility to specific information on the four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines. ATP also provides monthly service and daily e-mail notifications for airworthiness directives.
Cessna Aircraft, which has enjoyed great success in the entry-level end of the market with its CitationJet 1 and 2 aircraft, is launching a CitationJet 3 at this week's National Business Aviation Association convention, with Cessna officials hinting the new airplane has a substantial order backlog.
National Transportation Safety Board, citing several investigations that were hampered by lost data, wants FAA to require operators to disconnect cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) promptly after flights in which incidents occur, as part of a post-flight checklist. The board also wants functional checks of CVRs added to pre-flight checklists for a plane's first trip each day. The board has issued several previous recommendations on guarding data and double-checking CVR performance.
Jet Aviation's West Palm Beach, Fla. facility completed its first installation of a Universal Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) and a Universal flight management system on a Gulfstream IISP. FAA requires the installation of TAWS in all turbine-powered aircraft by March 2005. The Universal TAWS provides visual displays and aural warnings of the surrounding terrain. The FMS, which contains a 12-channel GPS receiver, interfaces with the TAWS to display three-dimensional navigation maps and the aircraft's intended flight route.
The major fractional providers operate more than 700 aircraft with more than 4,000 shareholders, according to AvData, Inc., of Wichita, Kan. Fractional aircraft's dramatic growth over the past six years - in shares, shareholders and fleet size - is depicted in a chart on Page 116.
One person aboard a Model 25C Learjet was killed and six others injured Aug. 30 when the aircraft ran off the end of the runway while making a landing at the Lexington, Ky. Airport. The aircraft, N45CP, was being operated by an emergency medical services provider.
Jason Chamberlain was named vice president, mobility and surveillance systems at Pratt&Whitney. He will be responsible for Pratt&Whitney's airlift, surveillance and tanker products for military customers. Chamberlain joined P&W in 1979 and was most recently the program director for airlift and mature engine programs.
CLAY LACY, API CEO ACQUIRE FBO IN SEATTLE AT BFI - Clay Lacy Aviation, which has operated a fixed-base operation at Van Nuys, Calif. (VNY) for 35 years, has partnered with Joe Clark, the chief executive of Aviation Partners, Inc. (API), to acquire the Flight Center FBO at Boeing Field (BFI) in Seattle, Wash. The facility will be rebranded as the Clay Lacy Flight Center.
Conklin&De Decker released the newest version of its maintenance management software, MxManager, which helps with maintenance tracking, purchasing, inventory, work orders and maintenance cost analysis. The latest version enables maintenance departments to create master bulletin lists, assign bulletins to aircraft or components, and establish limits based on required maintenance frequency.
Despite a projected two-year decline in business jet deliveries that began this year and which will continue through 2003, healthy order backlogs for new business jets should enable manufacturers to deliver more than 7,600 aircraft valued at more than $121 billion between 2003-2012, according to Honeywell Aerospace's 11th annual Business Aviation Outlook.
CESSNA PLANNING MAJOR EXPANSION OF SERVICE CENTER NETWORK - Cessna Aircraft, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original Citation business jet's entry into service, is in the midst of a major expansion of its service center network to support a growing fleet that will number 4,000 business jets by the end of next year.
Aerostructures Corporation won a contract extension from Gulfstream to continue supplying Gulfstream IV-SP wing boxes for at least 10 more years. The agreement, which extends the on-going contract through 2014, has a potential value of more than $500 million. Aerostructures has a 37-year relationship with Gulfstream, supplying the wings for the G-II, G-III and G-IV programs. The Nashville, Tenn.-based supplier of large aerospace structures and components has delivered more than 1,000 shipsets to Gulfstream on those three programs.
Vociferous protests from the airline industry convinced the Bush Administration Thursday to back away from plans to ban flights by foreign carriers into the U.S. on Sept. 11, but government officials still planned to implement 30-nautical-mile Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) around Somerset, Pa., New York City and Washington, D.C. that would prohibit Part 91 and 135 operations at various times Sept. 11-13. Details could change and pilots are being urged to check the FAA NOTAM system for the latest information on the TFRs. See article below.
Honeywell signed a strategic supplier agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp. that will establish a long-term business relationship between the two companies. Honeywell said under the agreement, the companies will adopt a common business approach that will be more efficient and reduce costs for military customers.
Professional Aircraft Accessories won a contract to be the exclusive overhauler for Turbine Aircraft Components' Mitsubishi MU-2 landing gear parts. PAA will help support the more than 400 aircraft. PAA is a FAA/JAA 145 repair station based in Titusville, Fla.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 206L, L-1, L-3 and L-4 helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-80-AD) revises an earlier AD that would have required inspecting the tailboom skins for a crack, replacing a cracked tailboom with a modified tailboom before further flight, and implementing a recurring inspection of the modified tailboom. That proposal was prompted by several reports of cracks found during mandatory inspections.
CITATIONSHARES CONTINUES RAPID EXPANSION - Despite the sagging economy, fractional ownership provider CitationShares continued to make inroads into the fractional market, more than doubling its business in the past year, the company said last week. Founded in July 2000 through a joint venture between Cessna Aircraft and TAG Aviation, the company's portfolio has grown from 58 shareholders of 11 aircraft after the first year to 250 shareholders of a fleet of 30 aircraft. The company now employs 117 pilots.
General Dynamics acquired Command Systems, Inc. (CSI) of Fort Wayne, Ind. for an undisclosed amount, the company said Aug. 27. CSI, with a work force of 34, provides command and control software and hardware to U.S. and international military markets. The company will become part of General Dynamics C4 Systems, based in Taunton, Mass.
National Business Aviation Association says advance registration figures for next week's convention in Orlando, Fla. are within 10 percent of last September's numbers, which translates to at least 25,000 attendees at this year's event, and organizers say that number is probably conservative. A record 1,008 exhibitors, including 150 new exhibitors, will occupy 4,500 booth spaces spread over 900,000 square feet of exhibit area. More than 140 aircraft will be on view at the static display at Orlando Executive Airport (ORL).
Scott Radcliffe was named vice president of operations at Bii. He will be responsible for manufacturing, engineering and quality assurance programs. Radcliffe has 23 years of experience at Bii, starting on the company's production floor and most recently working as the director of manufacturing.
On a more encouraging note, two Transportation Security Administration officials made an effort last week to learn more about the implications of imposing security rules on the business aviation community. Tom Blank, who steers policy for TSA, and Pam Hamilton, the newly hired general aviation policy-maker for the agency, joined National Business Aviation Association officials on a tour of a "typical" fixed-base operation and "typical" corporate flight departments at Martin State Airport near Baltimore, Md.
Jeanne Muzio was named vice president, sales at FirstFlight Management. She will be responsible for corporate aircraft charter management and aircraft sales. Muzio has more than 19 years of experience in aviation sales, operations and account management and was most recently national director of sales for FlightTime's business jet sales team.
