Some Eurocopter Super Pumas are returning to offshore service after being retrofit with an older-style gearbox component following the controlled ditching of an EC225 in the North Sea on Oct. 22. Inspection of the main gearbox from the CHC Helicopters EC225 Super Puma revealed a circumferential crack in the bevel gear vertical shaft that drives the two lubrication pumps. The same vertical shaft was found to be ruptured in a Bond Offshore Helicopters EC225 that made a controlled ditching in the North Sea in May.
JEFF FILKINS was named regional sales manager for aircraft maintenance and management sales for JFI Jets. Filkins, who will be responsible for sales on the West Coast, formerly was West Coast sales manager for Honeywell Flight Support Services. He also has been an operations leader at Honeywell International’s Global Data Center.
Flexjet received conditional FAA authorization for use of Apple iPads as electronic flight bags for its Part 91 Subpart K fractional flights. The Phase 5 authorization follows six months of validation testing across the fleet, along with acceptance of the standard operating procedures. The company is planning to complete its transition from paper to electronic navigational charts by January.
BRANTLY Model B-2, Model B-2A, and Model B-2B helicopters with a certain main rotor blade [Docket No. FAA-2012-1093; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-020-AD] – proposes to require inspections of the main rotor (M/R) blade for a crack, nick, wrinkle, or bend and corrective actions, if necessary. This proposed AD was prompted by multiple reports of M/R blade cracks and an accident in which a crack that originated near the M/R blade trailing edge resulted in the loss of a large section of the M/R blade.
FAA should permit the use of personal electronic devices (PEDs), including mobile phones, on charter and fractional operations during nearly all phases of flights, the National Air Transportation Association contends, saying experience with most PEDs has shown no demonstrated safety issues with their use.
JIM PANKIN has joined Schubach Aviation as chief pilot. Pankin, a 27-year aviation veteran, will oversee pilot training, safety, personnel management and regulations compliance. He also serves as a captain on the Citation II business jet. Before joining Schubach Aviation, he spent three years as president of Executive Flight Support. He also served as director of operations for Air2Air Corp. and has managed several Eclipse 500 jets through a period when the manufacturer went through bankruptcy.
Bombardier appointed CAE as an authorized training provider for pilot and maintenance training for all Bombardier business jets in Europe, and plans to establish a new Bombardier-dedicated training center in Amsterdam. Scheduled to open in 2014, the new facility initially will offer pilot and maintenance training on Global 5000 and Global 6000 aircraft equipped with the Bombardier Vision Flight Deck. The site will complement CAE’s ATP location in London (Burgess Hill), U.K.
BAE Model BAe 146, and Avro 146-RJ series [Docket No. FAA-2012-1040; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-029-AD] – proposes to require a detailed inspection of the end caps on the anti-icing piccolo tube for lost or loose end caps, and replacing or repairing the end caps if necessary. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of loss of the end caps on the anti-icing piccolo tube of the wing leading edge.
A new class of ultra-high-speed business jets may be emerging from the drawing board of one of the major manufacturers in that market. The new family would feature a long-range cruise speed of around Mach.95, and thin, less-swept wings, most likely made of composites for stiffness and with sharp leading edges. It would also have an area-ruled fuselage, optimized powerplants, and extensive use of natural laminar flow technologies on all surfaces, fuselage and nacelles.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-1003; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-064-AD] – proposes to require replacing all three APDs with new detector assemblies. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of engine fire/overheat detector assemblies advance pneumatic detectors (APDs) failing to reset after activation due to permanent deformation of the detector switch diaphragm after being exposed to high temperatures.
National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen notes the prevailing sentiment has been that buyers of large business jets have been more immune to the effects of the prolonged recession. But Bolen disagrees with the sentiment. “The reality is the recession has affected them,” he says, but the needs of those buyers have shifted. “I just think the business model has changed,” he says.
BOB SCHICK was named director of safety and risk management for TAC Air. Schick has more than 20 years of experience with a focus on safety and risk management. He developed a safety management system in use at TAC Air’s fixed-base operations in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, as well as Keystone Aviation’s aircraft management, charter and maintenance operations.
NetJets is set to add the first Bombardier Global aircraft to its fleet – a Global 6000. Bombardier and NetJets formally unveiled the Signature Series Global 6000 Oct. 28 at Orlando Executive Airport in Florida, and Bombardier says the aircraft will be officially handed to NetJets this quarter. The aircraft was part of an order placed in March 2011 for 50 Global business jets and options for 70 more. The firm order is valued at $2.8 billion. NetJets followed with a second order placed in June for up to 275 Challenger jets.
Seattle-based Aviation Partners Inc.(API) is testing a futuristic-looking split scimitar blended winglet design. The split scimitar blended winglet is a follow-on design from API’s blended winglet design. The split winglet features the addition of a blended ventral fin to the existing blended winglet design, as well as high-performance winglet tips (scimitar tips) designed using advanced computational fluid dynamics methodology.
Responding to strong interest from customers, Boeing Business Jets is launching a VIP version of the 737-8 from its new MAX range. The BBJ MAX 8 will have the fuel-efficient CFM International Leap-1B engines and Boeing advanced technology winglets, coupling the BBJ2-sized cabin of the 737-8 with a more than 14% improvement in range.
Cessna Aircraft hopes to bring a new Citation Sovereign to market next year that incorporates many of the same upgrades found on the Citation Ten, now called the X, along with improved range and performance. The Sovereign is one of a number of new projects that the Wichita manufacturer has in development, and at least four of them should enter service by the end of next year.
Dassault is combining the best elements of the Falcon 2000S with the 4,000 nm range of the 2000LX to create a new 2000LXS. The result is an aircraft that needs 1,125 ft less runway for takeoff and 430 ft less runway for landing. LXS also will weigh 300 lb less than LX because of green structure and completion weight reduction, along with having 2 dB SIL lower average cabin sound levels and significantly reduced emissions.
Honda Aircraft is hoping to certify its new twin HondaJet next year, but President and CEO Michimasa Fujino says the company plans to “fine tune” that schedule once the GE Honda Aero HF120 engine completes final tests this year. Engine and aircraft certification were pushed back after the HF120 encountered problems during ice testing last year, forcing GE Honda to change the engine fan design and delay engine certification to mid-2013.
Hawker Beechcraft is paving a future under which the newly restructured Beechcraft Corp. would offer a range of single-engine piston and turboprop aircraft alongside its King Airs—and perhaps new twins, Shawn Vick, executive vice president-customers, says. Hawker Beechcraft, which plans to emerge from bankruptcy early next year, has been working on a five-year product development plan that would build on its most profitable lines and position the company to move forward under the Beechcraft banner, company executives say.
KAYLA FORCE has joined FirstFlight as marketing coordinator. Force will oversee marketing efforts, along with the company’s social media and website activities. She joins the company with a marketing background and has run her own photography company since 2005.
Gulfstream is a few weeks away from delivering the first completed G650 and G280s, awaiting only the supplemental type certification approvals on the interior installations before handing over the first aircraft, company executives say. The company obtained full type certification for its G650 in early September, one week after receiving similar approval for the G280. “We’re marching along smartly. …We’ll be delivering aircraft here within weeks,” Jay Johnson, chairman of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, told analysts recently.
Fractional ownership provider Avantair on Nov. 2 continued to ground its fleet of nearly 60 Piaggio Avanti aircraft as it conducts thorough “nose-to-tail” inspections of each aircraft and comprehensively reviews records, maintenance documentation and operating procedures. The company was hoping to begin returning aircraft to service soon, but could not say whether it would be immediate.
