FAA implemented changes, as expected, last week to the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, enabling flight-tracking programs to display real-time movements of business aircraft. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), which had administered the BARR program to protect tail numbers for 3,000 operators, immediately began receiving calls from members who discovered that subscribers to the flight-tracking programs could track their movements, notes Doug Carr, vice president of safety, security and regulation for NBAA.
NEIL KUNYCKY was appointed sales director for the Northeastern U.S. for Hawker Beechcraft. Kunycky, who will be based in Bedford, Mass., will be responsible for Beechcraft sales in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. He further will oversee Baron and Bonanza sales in eastern Canada. Kunycky has 30 years of business aircraft sales experience, most recently as sales director for Bombardier Aerospace.
Mahindra Aerospace, the aviation division of India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., held discussions last week with aircraft part manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. for a stake purchase.
Jet Aviation Zurich has expanded its maintenance capabilities to cover the Cessna Citation CJ4. The facility recently amended its Citation Cessna authorized service center to include both base and line maintenance on CJ4 business jets. With the recent service center agreement expansion, Jet Aviation Zurich is authorized to support the entire Cessna jet family. The service center supports turboprops and small and medium-sized business jets from facilities that include 53,820-sq.-ft. of hangar space.
Pinnacle Aviation, in Scottsdale, Ariz., has expanded into Texas with the addition of a Dallas-based Falcon 2000 to its charter fleet. Pinnacle operates a fleet of light, medium and large jets in Arizona, in addition to a Challenger 604 in Honolulu and a Citation CJ3 in New Jersey.
Business aviation advocates were relieved that last week’s votes on the debt ceiling excluded user fees and changes to corporate aircraft depreciation schedules, but they warn that such tax changes still may lie ahead.
ANDRE MOREIRA was named quality engineer for Dallas Airmotive do Brasil. Moreira will work with the Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) and will be responsible for managing quality standards and technical communications with Dallas Airmotive technical teams worldwide. Moreira recently graduated from Federal University of Minas Gerais with a degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on aeronautics and served as an intern for Dallas Airmotive do Brasil.
In a surprise move, Larry Flynn has been named to succeed Joe Lombardo as president of Gulfstream Aerospace. The appointment, announced Aug. 5, takes effect in Sept. 1. Meanwhile, Lombardo will continue in his role as executive vice president of General Dynamics’ Aerospace Group, which includes Jet Aviation, as well as Gulfstream. Lombardo has held that corporate position since 2007.
FAA implemented changes, as expected, last week to the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, enabling flight-tracking programs to display real-time movements of business aircraft. The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), which had administered the BARR program to protect the tail numbers for 3,000 operators, immediately began receiving calls from members who discovered that subscribers to the flight-tracking programs could track their movements, notes Doug Carr, vice president of safety, security and regulation for NBAA.
Thrush Aircraft obtained Brazilian civil aviation authority (ANAC) type approval for the Thrush 510P. The certification comes after Thrush established a unit in Brazil to sell, service, train and support the aircraft. “ANAC certification is a significant milestone for our company, as it allows us to now serve operators across this nation who have been demanding a state-of-the-art, high-performance agricultural aircraft,” says Thrush President Payne Hughes.
An Air Methods Eurocopter AS 350 B3, N808LF, was damaged but landed safely after the helicopter was struck by an object—possibly a bird(s)—while in flight near Troutdale, Ore., on July 27. The helicopter had departed Aurora, Ore., at about 4:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on a Part 91 repositioning flight to Dallas Port, Wash. About 10 min. into the flight, the pilot experienced a vibration that he thought stemmed from a bird strike. He made a precautionary landing and subsequently discovered the aft section of the tail-rotor drive shaft covering was missing.
Gulfstream is poised to further expand its presence in China with the recent type certificate validation for the G150 business jet from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The validation, which enables operators to register their G150s in the nation, was accomplished through coordination with the FAA, CAAC and the Civil Aviation Administration of Israel, where the airframe is built.
A revised FAA airworthiness directive (AD) issued Friday lays out procedures for U.S.-registered Falcon 7Xs to return to flight. The AD incorporates instructions contained in a series of ADs that the European Aviation Safety Agency issued on the Falcon 7X in June and July after a production problem was discovered involving the 7X’s horizontal stabilizer electronic control unit (HSECU). EASA initially grounded the fleet May 26 after a 7X experienced an uncontrolled pitch-trim runaway during descent.
DASSAULT Falcon 7X aircraft [Docket No. FAA-2011-0631; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-134-AD; Amendment 39-16759; AD 2011-16-01] – Supersedes an existing emergency airworthiness directive that grounded 7X business jets after one of the models experienced an uncontrolled pitch trim runaway during descent. The crew recovered and safely landed. But the FAA says the condition could lead to loss of control of the airplane.
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services, a Charleston, S.C.-based aviation service company, has set in motion a plan to acquire 17 to 22 fixed-base operations (FBOs) at reliever airports across the U.S. Company CEO Steve Levesque told Aviation Week that everything is moving forward and he expects the first deal to close within 60 days. “We can’t talk specifics because we’re under a confidentiality agreement with a number of parties, but we have things moving forward as discussed,” he said.
MIKE QUAID was named operations manager for Gulfstream Aerospace’s newly formed western U.S. field service region. Quaid oversees field service representatives in California, Washington, Colorado and Mexico. He has served as a senior regional field service representative in Southern California since 2002. Before that, he was a regional sales manager for Gulfstream and General Dynamics Aviation Services maintenance facilities.
Australia’s GippsAero has signed a deal with Rolls-Royce to use the engine manufacturer’s M250-B17F/2 turboprop for the GA10, a new 10-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Under the deal, Rolls-Royce will work with GippsAero, a subsidiary of India’s Mahindra Aerospace, on gaining certification of the engine on the GA10, which is in the prototype design phase. The deal also gives Rolls-Royce the chance to use its RR500 engine on future GippsAero applications.
Dassault is seeing a slight improvement in the business aircraft sales environment, but several years of high order cancellations and poor bookings are making themselves felt in low aircraft deliveries. The aircraft maker booked 22 Falcon business jet orders in the first six months of this year, up from only two net orders at the midyear point in 2010, but deliveries during the first half dipped to 19 Falcons from 45 a year ago. Falcon deliveries also were down because of a delay in aircraft handovers following a technical incident with a Falcon 7X.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on July 27 urged U.S. State and Transportation department officials to file a World Trade Organization (WTO) complaint against the inclusion of international aviation in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS).
Continued problems with Jet Aviation’s completions business led to softer second-quarter profits and margins for the General Dynamics Aerospace Group—which includes both Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation—but the group’s backlog grew for the third straight quarter, reflecting the continued strength of the high-end of the business jet market.
Aug. 11-13—Eighth Annual Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition, Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, www.abag.org.br/labace2011/ Aug. 12—Aeropodium’s Third Annual Business Aviation in Latin America Summit, Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, www.aeropodium.com/conferenceprojects Aug. 13-17—American Association of Airport Executives’ 53rd Annual Northeast Chapter Conference, Sheraton Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention Center Hotel, (609) 641-3833, www.necconference.org
Associated Air Center (AAC), StandardAero’s large VIP aircraft completion center in Dallas, has developed a full-scale airframe mockup that will be used for creating and testing new designs, fabrications and systems for the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). The mockup enables AAC to reduce aircraft downtime by starting key elements of the completion process before a customer’s aircraft arrives at the completion facility. The tool supports the BBJ, BBJ 2 and BBJ 3, and the company is in the process of developing the same capability for the Airbus Corporate Jet.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood led off a White House press briefing July 28, urging lawmakers to end the partial shutdown of FAA by passing a clean extension of the agency’s reauthorization bill that would let 4,000 furloughed employees come back to work and enable the resumption of important and job-creating airport construction projects.
Airbus has made a major move on the air traffic management (ATM) front with its acquisition of Metron Aviation, a company that is heavily involved in the U.S. NextGen effort. While a definitive agreement has been reached, the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to be completed later this year. The financial terms are not being revealed.
