Mooney is hoping to raise its visibility again during this week’s Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. with plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary and assurances that it is continuing to seek investments to return its shuttered lines to production.
Gulfstream received FAA clearance for the enhanced vision system (EVS) II and Head Up Display (HUD) II option on its new super midsized G280 business jet. Offered as an option, the EVS is integrated with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics and HUD II to increase situational awareness at night and during low visibility and to enable operational credit for landing in certain weather conditions. The EVS uses an infrared camera mounted in the nose to provide real-time images that are displayed on HUD II.
40 Years Ago July 16, 1973 – Cessna outlines plans to build more than 9,000 aircraft during the 1974 model year, including 2,500 172/Skyhawks and 120 Citations. 30 Years Ago July 18, 1983 – The estate of Howard Hughes begins seeking buyer of Hughes Helicopters. 20 Years Ago July 12, 1993 – House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Wash.) promises to talk with House leadership about progress on Rep. Dan Glickman’s (D-Kan.) bill to create a statute of repose for general aviation aircraft.
TURBOMECA Arriel 2D turboshaft engines [Docket No. FAA-2012-0940; Directorate -Identifier 2012-NE-26-AD] – proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires replacing the hydromechanical metering unit (HMU) at a reduced life. Since FAA issued that AD, further cases of deterioration of HMU rotating components have been reported before the HMU reached the replacement interval in that AD. The proposed AD would maintain the existing AD requirements and would also require inspections of the HMU.
Jet Aviation’s facility in St. Louis was designated as an authorized service center for Embraer’s Lineage business jet. The facility is the first such center in the U.S. for the Lineage. Jet Aviation last week began servicing the first Lineage. The approval comes three months after the St. Louis Center began servicing aircraft in a narrow-body hangar designed specifically for larger airframes. The Lineage also helps continue to expand Jet Aviation’s St. Louis capabilities, which also include the Embraer Legacy business jet.
RICHARD WADE was named operations manager for AeroFlight Solutions, an international flight planning services company. Wade will lead and manage the flight planning and operations team and focus on business growth and client satisfaction. He has more than 30 years of international flight planning experience, including as an international flight coordinator for ARINC and for Tempus Jets, operations manager for Southern Air Transport and Polar Air Cargo and director of operations and fuel for AvCard.
The FAA last week published a rule simplifying drug and alcohol testing program requirements for commercial certificate holders with separate tour operations, eliminating the need to have dedicated testing programs for each. The rule, effective Sept. 14, gives Part 121 and 135 operators the option of having a single testing program to cover both its commercial operations and Part 91 air tour businesses.
PILATUS Models PC-6, PC-6-H1, PC-6-H2, PC-6/350, PC-6/350-H1, PC-6/350-H2, PC-6/A, PC-6/A-H1, PC-6/A-H2, PC-6/B-H2, PC-6/B1-H2, PC-6/B2-H2, PC-6/B2-H4, PC-6/C-H2, and PC-6/C1-H2 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0223; Directorate Identifier 2012-CE-049-AD; Amendment 39-17468; AD 2013-11-08] – supersedes AD 2010-0176, which requires the addition of maintenance instructions and airworthiness limitations for the flap actuator, to add more restrictive maintenance requirements and/or limitations.
Delays in certifying software in Garmin’s G3000 and G5000 avionics suites are pushing back certification of three of Cessna’s new or upgraded aircraft – the M2, Sovereign and X – by a few months, Cessna parent Textron reported July 17. The all-new M2, along with the Sovereign and X upgrades, are among six new or upgraded products Cessna had hoped to bring to market this year. But with the software delays, deliveries of the X now will push into early 2014, while the M2 and Sovereign are to come later this year.
FAA published its “residential-through-the-fence” policy, following through on a congressional mandate and easing a ban on agreements that permit pilot access to airport runways and taxiways from adjacent homes. The new policy reverses a March 2011 interim policy that prohibited new through-the-fence access points.
Embraer’s Phenom deliveries are showing signs of improvement, reaching their highest second-quarter total since 2010. At the same time, the Brazilian airframer’s backlog fully rebounded from last year’s slide, coming in at the highest level since third quarter 2009.
FAA has finalized its new first officer qualification rules, opting to give more credit to some flying—including military experience—compared with the draft version of the rule, while staying within the parameters of its congressional mandate.
The ongoing light business jet market malaise and the transition to upgraded Citation Sovereigns and Xs led Cessna to a $50 million second-quarter loss and a more than 50% plunge in business jet deliveries, Cessna parent Textron reported July 17. Cessna further expects this to continue into the third quarter as the market has shown few signs of improvement and avionics software certification delays push deliveries of two new products, the M2 and Sovereign, into the fourth quarter, and the X to next year.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND Model BO105C (C-2 and CB-2 Variants) and BO105S (CS-2 and CBS-2 Variants) helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0519; - Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-068-AD] – proposes to require, for helicopters with a certain third-stage turbine wheel installed, installing a placard on the instrument panel and revising the limitations section of the rotorcraft flight manual (RFM).
John McGraw, the former deputy director of flight standards at FAA, has become head of regulatory affairs for the National Air Transportation Association. McGraw retired from FAA in December 2012 and launched his own consultancy, John McGraw Aerospace Consulting. A 40-year aviation veteran, McGraw held a number of positions within FAA Flight Standards, Aircraft Certification Service, Aircraft Engineering Division and others. Before joining FAA, he was test director/test pilot for the U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center and a flight test engineer for the U.S.
Avantair President and CEO David Haslett resigned from the ailing fractional ownership provider, effective July 10. Haslett will provide consulting services to the operator as needed. The resignation follows the decision last month to ground the fleet and furlough the workforce while the company attempted to seek new financing. The company is also facing multiple lawsuits from customers over the lack of service and has been warned of potential aircraft repossessions.
GREG MARTIN was named COO for European operator Hangar8. Martin previously served with AJW Technique, a unit of parts specialist A J Walter Aviation Group. He has also served as vice president of business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Jet Support Services.
BELL Model 230 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0492; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-013-AD] – proposes to require installing a placard on the instrument panel and revising the limitations section of the rotorcraft flight manual (RFM). This proposed AD is prompted by several incidents of third-stage engine turbine wheel failures, which were caused by excessive vibrations at certain engine speeds during steady-state operations.
Business aviation posted a spotty accident record in the first half of the year with business jets and turboprops involved in fewer overall accidents but more fatal accidents, according to the latest statistics released by safety expert Robert E. Breiling Associates.
If mandatory federal spending cuts put in place this year carry over into fiscal 2014, FAA should not be expected to come through as unscathed as it did this year, a top Senate staffer warns. “Everybody expects we’re going to have another critical point in September” once Congress gets back to work after a summer break and the Oct. 1 start of fiscal 2014 looms, says Senate aviation subcommittee staff member Rich Swayze.
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is awaiting court action on its petition that the association hopes will put an end to FAA’s recent efforts to charge for air traffic control services at AirVenture and other aviation events. EAA this month filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago to require FAA to refund more than $450,000 in payments that the agency is charging for air traffic control services it will provide during EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., from July 29-Aug. 4.
Cessna is progressing with its efforts to build aircraft in China, expecting the first Caravan single turboprops to come off the assembly line by year’s end followed by the XLS+ aircraft next year, says Scott Donnelly, president, CEO and chairman of Cessna parent Textron.
The National Air Transportation Association is rolling out a new NATA Aviation Legal Services Plan, which is designed for aircraft management and charter operators, fractional ownership programs, maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, fixed-base operators, flight schools, part manufacturers and other aviation business.
