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.
Tennis champion Novak Djokovic was named Learjet Brand Ambassador for Bombardier. He becomes the fifth brand ambassador for Bombardier Business Aircraft, joining actor and pilot John Travolta, architect Frank Gehry, maestro Valery Gergiev and classical pianist Lang Lang.
The business aviation community is concerned that a new Internal Revenue Service interpretation is opening the door for aircraft management programs to be treated as commercial carriers and taxed accordingly. The interpretation marks a departure from the treatment of managed flights, which are flown under Part 91 as private operations and have been taxed accordingly. But business aviation advocates say the interpretation also underscores growing pressure by the IRS to change the treatment of aircraft management.
Piper Aircraft named Aircraft Search & Aviation Professionals (ASAP) to its growing international network of dealers. ASAP’s aircraft sales branch will be called Piper India. Piper India has a strategic alliance with Saraya Aviation Pvtd., at IGI Domestic Airport in Delhi, to maintain and service Piper aircraft in the country.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701, & 702), CL-600-2D15 (Regional Jet Series 705), and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0994; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-143-AD; Amendment 39-16949; AD 2012-03-08] – supersedes an existing AD that currently requires repetitive detailed inspections for cracking or deformation, or pulled or missing fasteners, on the lower panel of the left- and right-hand main landing gear (MLG) doors, as applicable, and corrective actions, if necessary.
After years of delay, the Transportation Security Administration is placing a high priority on its long-awaited repair station security rule, but the agency is still targeting the fourth quarter for its release, a senior TSA official says. The rulemaking remains in coordination between the agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
Prospects for President Obama’s proposed $100-per-flight user charge are continuing to weaken, at least this year, as 28 U.S. senators express their opposition to the proposal. In a March 12 letter, the senators wrote the president expressing concern that the proposed charges would create a disincentive for pilots to use air traffic control services or fly in controlled airspace. “By discouraging ATC use, the proposal may inadvertently create a less safe aviation environment,” they say, endorsing the current aviation excise tax system.
Constant Aviation, a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility based in Cleveland, has developed a Beechjet thrust reverser program to provide repair, overhaul, loaners and exchanges. The program culminates six months of groundwork, says Constant, adding that its research shows that thrust reversers on the Beechjet “are one of the most common issues operators are dealing with on a routine basis.” The company has built up an inventory for exchanges and loaner units. The program will also offer loaner units on TR doors. Constant will perform the work at its 18,000-sq.-ft.
Aerion Corp., the Reno, Nev. firm designing the Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ), has tapped U.K.-based Indigo Lyon to serve as an international sales representative. Based in Windsor, Indigo Lyon was founded by former ExecuJet Aviation Group managing director Peter Smales in 2001, originally in Australia, and provides aircraft sales and services internationally. The firm is the third to become an SBJ sales representative, along with ExecuJet Aviation Group, headquartered in Zurich, and Florida-based Aero Toy Store.
328 SUPPORT SERVICES Model 328-100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0912; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-035-AD; Amendment 39-16962; AD 2012-04-06] – proposes to require a modification of the engine control box assembly. This proposed AD was prompted by several runway excursion incidents and a single accident in which the power lever could not be operated as intended during the landing rollout on Model Dornier 328-100 airplanes. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent runway excursion, which could result in damage to the airplane and injury to the occupants.
