DOUG NICHOLS was named COO for Aerion Corp. Nichols will be responsible for all operating, financial, business development and marketing activities of Aerion, including partnerships and collaborations related to development of the supersonic business jet. Before joining Aerion, Nichols spent 30 years with Boeing, holding financial, operating and corporate development positions.
TREVOR ESLING has joined Gulfstream Aerospace as regional senior vice president, international sales, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Esling has more than 25 years of aviation industry experience, most recently as senior vice president of international sales for Cessna Aircraft. He also has served with British Aerospace Commercial Aircraft, BAe Corporate Jets and Raytheon Aircraft.
Iridium CEO Matt Desch says his company will announce an agreement by June with global air traffic monitoring authorities to place automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) terminals on its Iridium Next second-generation satellite constellation, which is scheduled to be fully operational by 2017.
Adding its voice to the growing call for science-based, flight crew flight-time limitations (FTL) for all operators, the U.K. pilots union, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), has produced a DVD, “Pilot Fatigue” that it is sending to every U.K. lord, member of Parliament and “aviation-interested party” on the ongoing issue of crew fatigue.
The FCC is extending the comment period until March 16 on a recent notice that LightSquared had not met the conditions set by the agency to begin operational deployment of a high-powered terrestrial 4G voice and data network in the L band. Citing concerns that the network would pose aviation safety risks by interfering with GPS units, the FCC last month indefinitely suspended LightSquared’s conditional waiver to operate the network in bands adjacent to those used by GPS.
JOHN CLAWSON was promoted to vice president and general manager of Nordam’s Thrust Reverser Division. In addition to leading this division, Clawson will oversee sales, marketing, quality and business systems for the company’s manufacturing effort. He has served with Nordam for 17 years, and previously worked with Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.
FAA is predicting that the number of sport-pilot certificates will more than triple over the next 20 years. The certificate was created in 2005 and 4,066 have since been issued. In its latest 20-year forecast, FAA says it expects that number will grow to 13,900 certificates by 2032. See article on Page 2.
Russian maintenance, repair and overhaul provider Engineering LLC is buying Epic Aircraft, the Bend, Ore. producer of the Escape and Epic LT turboprop kit aircraft. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Epic Aircraft CEO Douglas King will retain his position under the new ownership, and Engineering LLC has assembled a board of industry executives to help manage the transition.
FAA is soliciting advice on a congressionally mandated pilot program to integrate unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the national airspace. The mandate was adopted as part of the recently passed FAA reauthorization bill, along with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was signed by President Barack Obama late last year. Congress directed the agency to establish six UAS test sites to help FAA safely and efficiently integrate civil, public and military UAS into the same airspace with manned airplanes by 2015.
Helicopter Association International is trying to block progress on Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) amendment to mandate helicopter routes over Los Angeles County and Long Island, saying the provision could set a national precedent of legislating local noise issues at the federal level. Schumer is hoping to offer the amendment as part of the highway bill that is pending before Congress.
Fantasy of Flight, which maintains one of the largest private collections of vintage aircraft, has joined the Lindbergh Foundation’s Aviation Green Alliance as a founding member. The Lindbergh Foundation launched the alliance in spring 2011 to support and encourage organizations that are proactively addressing aviation environmental challenges. The alliance is creating multiple platforms for members to share strategies, findings, progress and ideas on aviation environmental challenges.
March 15-16 — Aviation Week Innovation Challenge Showcase, Orlando, Fla., www.aviationweek.com/events 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
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) named Richard Sherlock CEO. He also will serve as CEO of MedEvac Foundation International. Sherlock has a background in strategic planning, operations, training, resource management and human resource management, as well as rotor-wing aviation operations, maintenance, and safety programs. He retired from the U.S. Army as a major general, most recently serving as the chief of staff and the director of strategy, plans, and programs for U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany.
Click here to view the pdf General Aviation Aircraft Fuel Consumption,(In Millions of Gallons) General Aviation Aircraft Fuel Consumption, (In Millions of Gallons) CalendarYear Fixed Wing Rotorcraft Exp
Another environmental group is intensifying pressure on the federal government to get leaded aviation fuel off the market, filing a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to act on the issue. The Friends of the Earth lawsuit claims EPA failed to respond to its 2006 petition asking for the regulation of lead emissions from general aviation under the Clean Air Act.
Bombardier recently celebrated the delivery of the 400th Learjet 60. The aircraft, a Learjet 60 XR, was handed over to Cinépolis, a corporation based in Morelia, Mexico, during a Feb. 28 ceremony in Morelia. Founded in 1994, Cinépolis operates 265 cinemas in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and India. The Learjet 60 was certified in 1993, and the 60 XR replaced the original 60 on the production line in 2007.
Industry officials are laying the groundwork with economic ministers to build the business aviation market in the Asia Pacific region. At the invitation of the U.S. Department of Transportation, representatives from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and General Aviation Manufacturers Association met with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Transportation working group to explain the benefits of business aviation and provide suggestions on oversight as the market expands in the region.
Israel Aerospace Industries’ ELTA unit has started exploring potential use of the Gulfstream G280 as an intelligence-collection platform even as it presses ahead with work on the G550-based Multimission Airborne Reconnaissance Surveillance System (MARS2). The G280-based system is targeted at customers who cannot afford the higher-end MARS2 approach.
Flightline was appointed a dealer for the GippsAERO GA8 single-piston utility aircraft and future GippsAERO models. Flightline will represent GippsAERO in a nine-state territory in the Southeast – Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina. Executives from GippsAero and parent company Mahindra Aerospace visited Flightline in Tallahassee, Fla., late last month to finalize the agreement. Tallahassee city and community officials were on hand for the event.
Travel Management Company has equipped its fleet of 22 Hawker 800/850XPs with Aircell’s Gogo Biz inflight Internet capability and will begin offering the service to its charter customers. Gogo Biz enables passengers to surf the Internet, send and receive email and download attachments using a modified version of 3G mobile technology.
Bombardier is ramping up its business jet production with planned deliveries of 180 aircraft in 2012, up from the 163 delivered in 2011. But the gap between its business jet and commercial aircraft production is expected to widen, with commercial deliveries anticipated to fall to 55 this year. That compares with the 97 commercial aircraft delivered in 2010 and 78 last year.
Hawker Beechcraft has welcomed the U.S. Air Force’s Feb. 28 decision to cancel Sierra Nevada Corp.’s $355 million contract to supply Embraer Super Tucanos for the Afghan air force, but whether the competition will be restaged remains unclear.
