San Francisco carrier XOJet is carving its niche in the business jet market with an airline-style service that fits between charter and fractional carriers. The company in the past few years has been growing its customer base and flight hours almost exponentially with a range of services that revolve around a closed fleet of similar-type aircraft and include guarantees more like those of a fractional company but with service options resembling a charter’s.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently rolled the 100th G150 off the initial-phase production line, a milestone that occurred as the G150 fleet surpassed 100,000 flight hours. The midsized aircraft entered service in 2006 and 95 have entered service. The fleet has achieved more than 72,000 landings, logging a dispatch reliability rate of 99.88% and availability rate of 92.59%. Gulfstream has certified the aircraft in 11 countries.
KEVIN WORTHINGTON has joined Dallas Airmotive as a regional engine manager. Worthington will be responsible for selling repair and overhaul services on Pratt & Whitney Canada engines for Midwestern states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. He previously spent 14 years selling Pratt & Whitney Canada engine services for Duncan Aviation. He also has served as an aircraft technician.
MIKE PERRY was promoted to director, branded sales for Phillips 66 Aviation in Bartlesville, Okla. Perry, formerly national account representative, has built a background in account and vendor management, supply logistics and marketing during his 14-year career with ConocoPhillips. He is a fourth-generation company employee.
THIELERT AIRCRAFT ENGINES TAE 125-01 and TAE 125-02-99 reciprocating engines installed on, but not limited to, Diamond Aircraft Industries Model DA 42 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0201; Directorate Identifier 2008-NE-47-AD; Amendment 39-16972; AD 2010-11-09R1] – supersedes an AD that currently requires initial and repetitive replacements of proportional pressure reducing valves (PPRVs) (also known as propeller control valves). This new AD relaxes the repetitive replacement interval from a 300-hr. interval to a 600-hr.
SPECTROLAB Nightsun XP searchlight [Docket No. FAA-2012-0221; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-082-AD] – propose to require, for certain Spectrolab Nightsun searchlights installed on, but not limited to, Agusta AB139 and Model AW139, Sikorsky S-92A, and Eurocopter EC135 and MBB-BK 117 C-2 helicopters, before further flight, inserting information into the Normal Procedures section of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual (RFM), a daily check of the searchlight, and at a specified time interval or if certain conditions are found, modifying any affected searchlight gimbal assembly.
Gulfstream has obtained FAA supplemental type approval for its interior package designed for the new G650 and G280 aircraft that incorporates a number of firsts for business jets, including fully electric seats. The supplemental type certificate opens the door for Gulfstream to offer the package as an option on new G550 and G450 aircraft. Work already is under way on the initial installations on those aircraft.
JOHN BRASFIELD was appointed manager of FlightSafety International’s Cessna Aircraft maintenance learning center in Wichita. Brasfield joined FlightSafety in 1999 as an instructor at its Hawker Beechcraft facility in Wichita. He since has held positions of increasing responsibility, including program manager for training on the Beechjet, Hawker 800XP, and Hawker Horizon, director of programs and, most recently, assistant manager of the Wichita Cessna learning center.
JOHN LEENANE was named vice president of CIT Aerospace’s Financial Institutions group. Based in Dublin, Leenane will be responsible for financing initiatives, asset sales and new business development, including lease acquisitions and loan originations, and other strategic initiatives. He formerly was director, banking and treasury for Orix Aviation.
Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) is expanding its facilities with the signing of a 10-year lease for the former Britt Brown Arena at the Kansas Coliseum. The lease includes three five-year options. The arena, which formerly seated 10,000 spectators for sports events and concerts, will be renovated to house NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center. Most of the center is currently located at Hawker Beechcraft’s Plant 1, but NIAR says the facility will enable the laboratories to expand and take on more work.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) are taking the next step in their effort to bolster the pilot population, petitioning FAA to permit recreational pilots to participate in a recurrent online educational program instead of obtaining a third-class medical certificate.
RICK DUSTE was promoted to director, branded licensing for ConocoPhillips. Duste formerly was director, branded sales for Phillips 66 Aviation. Duste has worked in the fuels industry since he was a teenager working in his family-owned fixed-base operation. He has managed sales and business development for some of general aviation’s largest brands, including Phillips 66, Chevron and BP Castrol.
Dassault expects sales to remain flat this year, even though signs of a business jet recovery are setting in, Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne says. Aircraft deliveries this year are expected to reach 65 Falcon business jets, up from 63 in 2011, and 11 Rafale fighters, equal to 2011.
Ascension Air has begun offering fractional shares in three new Cirrus SR22Ts single-piston aircraft. The fractional ownership provider was the business launch customer for the 2012 SR22T model, and has a long-term partnership agreement with Cirrus.
Jet Aviation’s St. Louis facility was named an authorized service center for the GE CF34-3 engine, which powers Bombardier Challenger aircraft. Jet Aviation is authorized to perform line maintenance inspections, routine installed engine maintenance, removal and replacement of engines, removal and reinstallation of external engine components and inspections for time-between-overhaul extensions. Jet Aviation further is approved to provide warranty support, and the designation facilitates access to both GE parts and technical support. The St.
InterGlobe General Aviation, the Indian sales agent and distributor for Hawker Beechcraft and some other aircraft makers, has changed its name to InterGlobe Established (Estd). The company’s president and CEO, Nigel Harwood, says the name change reflects a repositioning of the company, which is now marketing luxury lifestyle brands in other segments, such as automotive and boating.
The International Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (IAOPA) added its 70th affiliate with the addition of the United Arab Emirates. AOPA UAE is headed by Yousif Al Hammadi, who serves as the deputy general manager of Al Bateen Airport. The organization, headquartered at Al Bateen, currently has 33 members but expects to grow to 80 by year’s end. About 90 general aviation aircraft are based in the Emirates, some of which are foreign registered. The UAE is home to 16 airports and 566 private pilots, 60% of which are foreigners.
Flight & Aircraft Services Tracking has developed a new flight information software package for single-engine and owner-operated aircraft that provides similar capabilities of programs designed for larger commercial operators. The package, Fast-Flight, will monitor key pilot and aircraft data, parts inventories, flight information, and regulatory and service bulletins.
March 19-21—International Academy of Astronautics/American Astronautical Society’s Conference on Dynamics & Control of Space Systems, Hotel Ipanema, Porto, Portugal, www.astrodynamics.org.pt/ March 19-22—Practical Aeronautics Short Course: “Introduction to Aeronautics—A Practical Perspective,” National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va., (970) 887-3155, www.practicalaero.com March 21-22—Avionics Europe 2012 Conference & Exhibition, M.O.C. Event Center, Munich, +44 (199) 265-6619, www.avionics-event.com
Schubach Aviation has added a Hawker 800XP to its charter fleet. The San Diego charter company operates a fleet of 12 aircraft, including a Gulfstream IV SP, two Bombardier Challenger 601s, four Hawkers, a Lear 35, two Citation Jets, and two CJ3s.
A California Assembly Bill, No. 1963, would revise state tax law to impose a 4% sales and use tax on retailers of certain services, including, “private aircraft pilot or private jet services.” The National Air Transportation Association says it is concerned that this could apply to aircraft management and Part 135 charter operations.
At least 30 U.S. states have expressed interest in hosting the six unmanned-aircraft system (UAS) test sites the FAA is required to establish under the terms of its 2012 reauthorization bill. The test areas are intended to help the agency integrate manned and unmanned aircraft operations in the national airspace system (NAS) by September 2015, as mandated by Congress. The main goal of the FAA test-site pilot program is to conduct research to develop certification standards and air traffic requirements for unmanned flight operations.
Cessna Aircraft is moving forward aggressively with the development of its newest Citation, the M2, beginning this month a planned nine-month flight test program that should culminate in certification and customer deliveries in mid-2013. The initial M2 prototype flew for the first time March 9 and in the subsequent week completed 10 trials, logging about 20 hr. “The aircraft performance, handling characteristics and Garmin G3000 avionics were exceptional,” said Peter Fischer, Cessna engineering test pilot after the first flight.
