FlightSafety International has taken the next step in its simulation technology with the introduction of a new Vital1100 visual system, which it says provides “unprecedented fidelity” for use in both full flight simulators and advanced trainers. FlightSafety says the new system has a computational performance five times greater than the VitalX predecessor. As a result, the technology provides mission-specific imagery with improved scene content and new levels of detail. This includes dynamic shadowing.
House GA Caucus co-Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) is urging the inspectors general for both the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Transportation to investigate recent practices of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in conducting searches of general aviation aircraft. Graves cites more than 40 reports of “general aviation pilots being stopped, in many cases for extended periods of time, while their documentation, belongings and aircraft are exhaustively searched.” Graves adds the searches appear to be taking place without probable cause.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is hoping the investigation into the Sept. 29 crash of a Cessna Citation CJ2+, N194SJ, at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) will lead to a much larger look at the safety of the airport’s layout. SMO critics have long pushed for curbs on the use of the airport or closure of it altogether, arguing that the layout does not provide enough safety buffers to protect neighboring residents.
Brazilian airframer Embraer believes the next notable pickup in the market will be for midsize jets, but cautions that improvement will require consumer confidence to grow. Embraer, which keeps a rolling forecast of the market, sees a shift, with midsize jets playing a much greater role in the next few years than they have recently.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND Model EC135P1, EC135P2, EC135P2+, EC135T1, EC135T2, and EC135T2+ helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0398; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-065-AD; Amendment 39-17578; AD 2013-18-05] – requires, for helicopters with certain fire extinguishing systems installed. This AD requires modifying the fire extinguishing system injection tubes. This AD is prompted by a report that the injection tubes are deforming due to heat.
Constant Aviation recently secured a supplemental type certificate for installation of a Wi-Fi system, along with Aircell’s Gogo Biz inflight Internet system, on an executive configured Boeing 737-200. The installation marked an expansion of the facility’s in-house capabilities and STCs. Constant already has STCs for the installation of Gogo Biz inflight Internet aboard Gulfstream, Embraer, Beechcraft, Hawker and Cessna Citation aircraft.
PAUL CLASS was appointed senior vice president of charter sales for Solairus Aviation. Class has more than two decades of charter industry experience, including serving as vice president of charter sales at TAG Aviation for nearly 10 years. He also served on the National Air Transportation Association’s Air Charter Committee.
Embraer has scheduled five Embraer Executive Operators Conferences (EEOCs) this month and next in Jakarta, Bangalore, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Los Cabos, Mexico. The EEOCs cover various aircraft of the executive jet programs, including Legacys, Phenoms and Lineage, based on the regional customer base. Embraer also will demonstrate its fly-by-wire technology incorporated in the Legacy 500 and 450.
Sunrise Jets, formerly known as Eastway Aviation, has received FAA Part 145 certification for its new maintenance facility at Westhampton Beach Airport (FOK) in New York. The certification follows last year’s relocation of Eastway from its former facilities at MacArthur Airport – where it had been based for 30 years – to its new location in the Hamptons. At the same time, the company rebranded itself to Sunrise Jets. In addition to providing maintenance, Sunrise operates a range of Cessna Citations and Beechcraft King Airs.
FERNANDO LOMBO joined American Eurocopter as vice president and chief financial officer. He has spent the last five years with Airbus Military, where he was responsible for all financial planning, reporting accounting and financial systems for the Airbus Military and Airbus Spain programs. In his new role, he will have day-to-day responsibility for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial activities of the company, including oversight of all contracts with both commercial and military customers.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS350 and AS355 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0240; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-060-AD; Amendment 39-17565; AD 2013-17-01] - requires inspecting the tail rotor control stop screws to determine if they are correctly aligned and adjusting the screws if they are misaligned. This AD is prompted by the discovery of a loose nut on the tail rotor control stop and a misaligned tail rotor control stop screw.
Bombardier Aerospace is hosting its 17th annual Safety Standdown U.S.A. Sept. 30 at the Hyatt Regency Wichita. The standdown, first held in 1996 as a safety-training event for the Learjet flight demonstration team, has since expanded, with more than 6,700 corporate, commercial and military pilots, crew members, maintenance personnel and flight department managers attending the seminars through June 2013.
Beechcraft Corp. completed a demonstration of a Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System Situational Awareness (SINCGARS SA) Waveform capability, using its AT-6 light attack aircraft in concert with the U.S. Air Force Air National Guard and Georgia Tech Research Institute.
DAVID O’NEILL was appointed director of sales for Premier Aviation Overhaul Center. O’Neill has more than 30 years of aviation experience, beginning as a structures mechanic. He has served with Canadian Airlines and later, Air Canada. Most recently he was vice president of international sales and marketing with Aeroframe Services in Louisiana.
ROTAX various aircraft equipped with Rotax 912 A series engines [Docket No. FAA-2013-0738; Directorate Identifier 2013-CE-022-AD; Amendment 39-17568; AD 2013-17-04] - requires a one-time inspection of cylinder head assemblies, and, depending on findings, replacement of the cylinder head assembly. That AD stemmed from the discovery, during a production test run, that the cylinder head may not have been manufactured in accordance with the specification.
Bombardier is moving closer to the long awaited first flight of its all new Learjet 85. The manufacturer recently rolled out the first 85 in a private celebration with employees in Wichita, and CEO Pierre Beaudoin says the aircraft remains on track to fly this year. He also says the issues with the Garmin 5000 avionics certification on the Learjet 70/75 series are resolved and certification of that program is still anticipated later this year or early next year.
Atlantic Aviation is facing a few mostly procedural hearings as the company continues its effort to halt development of a Signature Flight Support fixed-base operation at Mineta San Jose Airport in California. The two sides are meeting Sept. 27 for a settlement conference required under California law when a petition is filed citing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Santa Clara County Court on Oct. 3 will then follow with a hearing on objections to the lawsuit.
Aviation Fabricators (AvFab) secured FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for installation of its two-place divan aboard Learjet 60 aircraft. The STC expands the approvals for the divan aboard Learjet aircraft. AvFab previously received approval for the Learjet 55, 55B, and 55C series aircraft. The divan can be installed without airframe modification, providing a larger, more open look in the cabin.
Bell Helicopter selected Garmin’s G1000H avionics suite for its new short light single (SLS) helicopter. Bell also has the G1000H on the 407GX and says the panel would “be the first of its kind in the short-light single class.” The suite is designed to improve situational awareness through its Helicopter Terrain Avoidance Warning System, Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology and Traffic Information Systems. Powered by the Turbmeca Arrius 2R engine, the 5-place SLS is designed to fly at 125 knots with a range of between 360-420 nm and a useful load of 1,500 lbs.
The FAA is facing considerable uncertainty, with the U.S. government headed toward a possible partial shutdown Oct. 1 and sequestration levels of funding likely to remain in place even if a shutdown is avoided. The situation is unsettling to those in the agency and the business aviation industry alike. “I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Kate Lang, FAA’s deputy associate administrator-airports, said last week. “Frankly, nobody knows.”
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Eclipse Aerospace is close to achieving the third of three business objectives set when it acquired the assets of bankrupt Eclipse Aviation – resuming deliveries of the very-light jet, last produced in 2008. The first goal set when the “new” Eclipse opened for business in September 2009 was to restore service and support for the 260 EA500s built by the “old” Eclipse. The second was to complete development of the aircraft and field the upgrades to existing operators.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND EC 135 P1, P2, P2+, T1, T2, and T2+ helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0239; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-087-AD; Amendment 39-17552; AD 2013-16-14] - requires, for helicopters equipped with a certain main transmission housing upper part, installing a corrugated washer in the middle of the main transmission filter housing upper part and modifying the main transmission housing upper part.
BEECHCRAFT Models 58, 95-C55, E55, and 56TC airplanes; and Hawker Beechcraft Models 58P and 58TC airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-1180; Directorate Identifier 2012-CE-032-AD; Amendment 39-17539; AD 2013-16-01] - requires inspections of elevator balance weights and replacement of defective elevator balance weights. This AD was prompted by reports of elevator balance weights becoming loose or failing because the balance weight material was not strong enough and did not meet material specifications. FAA estimates the AD affects 1,326 airplanes on the U.S.
FreeFlight Systems has developed an ADS-B Out upgrade for Garmin’s GTX 330 Mode S transponder. FreeFlight, which signed a technology licensing agreement with Garmin, is interfacing its Model 1201 WAAS/GPS sensor with the GTX 330 to provide an additional 1090 MHz Extended Squitter (1090ES) ADS-B Out upgrade. The system, tested during FAA’s ADS-B Capstone Program, meets ADS-B and RNP accuracy, integrity and availability requirements worldwide.
