Cleveland-based Flight Options has developed a hybrid program that combines traditional fractional ownership with the flexibility of a jet card for its fleet of Embraer Phenom 300s.
AgustaWestland expects its new AW189 twin helicopter—a civilian stretch of the military AW149—will tap into a broad market, ranging from offshore support, search-and-rescue and other parapublic uses to passenger transport. AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini unveiled a mockup of the new AW189 twin helicopter during the recent Paris air show.
Austria’s Diamond Aircraft is exploring possibilities for electric-powered aircraft, unveiling concepts for two such aircraft during the recent Paris air show. The aircraft were among four electric-powered aircraft that made their international debuts at Paris. The largest was the Solar Impulse green-energy concept aircraft, with its 208-ft. wingspan. EADS also showed its Cri-Cri single-seater, powered by four electric motors.
KEVIN BREEDEN has joined Elliott Aviation as regional sales manager for the central U.S. Breeden formerly was with Excel Aviation, where he served as director of sales. He has more than 20 years’ experience in business aviation, working at companies including JetCorp, Amerijet International, Midcoast Aviation, Wing Aviation, StandardAero and Sabreliner Corporation.
ELOI DUFOUR was appointed director of customer relations and field service for Dassault Aviation. Dufour will lead the Eastern Hemisphere front-line customer support organization, including customer support managers, customer support engineers at the tech center and oversight of Dassault’s Authorized Service Center Network. He continues to report to Pierre Thiélin, vice president of customer support. He joined Dassault Aviation in 2008 as director of the authorized service center network.
More than two dozen senators have urged Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to scrap a plan to dismantle the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, saying the change to lift privacy protections “sets a dangerous precedent.” In a letter spearheaded by Senate General Aviation Caucus co-chair Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and co-signed by 24 additional senators, the legislators say the new limits on use of BARR “is a troubling reversal of a decade-old policy put in place to uphold the privacy rights of thousands of Americans.”
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) has developed a new Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) science degree program. The program, to be offered beginning in the fall semester at the university’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, is designed to help meet the growing demand for skilled UAS pilots and operators, ERAU says. Unmanned aircraft are becoming more prevalent in firefighting, disaster relief, law enforcement and military applications, among others, the university adds.
LEARJET 45 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0802; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-256-AD; Amendment 39-16733; AD 2011-13-10] – Replace the left-hand engine’s fuel and hydraulic tubing and install a tubing support channel. This AD, which supersedes an existing airworthiness directive (AD 2009-11-13), is designed to prevent chafing of hydraulic tubes in the left-hand engine, which could lead to tube failure and uncontrolled loss of flammable fluid within the engine cowling. FAA estimates that this new directive will affect 358 airplanes on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S.
With time running out on the 19th extension of FAA reauthorization, lawmakers last week unanimously passed a 20th extension. The legislators are looking at just a few weeks for the next extension – anywhere between 15 to 30 days – giving hope that they may be close to an agreement on a comprehensive long-term deal. But the remaining sticking points loom large, including significant funding differences between the House and Senate, along with a contentious labor measure in the House-passed version of the long-term bill. The 19th extension expires this week.
Fixed-base operators aired concerns about their ability to secure long-term leases during a recent roundtable with key House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members. Participants, including Signature Flight Support President Michael Scheeringa and TAC Air President Greg Arnold, discussed difficulties in making significant investments in facilities at airports where the sponsor is reluctant to enter longer-term lease agreements. They estimate that millions in investments are being withheld as a result.
Embraer-CAE Training Services (ECTS) will expand its training programs for Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 pilots and maintenance technicians in Brazil. The joint venture will install a CAE 5000 Series Level D full-flight simulator in the São Paulo area. The unit will be ready for training in 2012. ECTS currently operates training programs for the Phenom 100 in Burgess Hill, U.K., near London, and for both the Phenom 100 and 300 in Dallas.
The Bell 407GX and 407AH made their international debuts at last week’s Paris Air Show. Following the Paris exhibition, the two new models, which were formally introduced earlier this year at Heli-Expo, are to embark upon international demonstration tours that will last several months. The 407GX will demo throughout Europe, while the 407AH will be shown throughout the Middle East.
VALERIE ARMSTRONG was named human resources specialist for Mid-Continent Instruments. Armstrong, who recently received her professional human resources certification, will focus on payroll and benefit administration.
GULFSTREAM GV and GV-SP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0572; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-009-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to determine whether a third Halon fire-extinguisher bottle is installed in the auxiliary power unit (APU) fragment-impact zone. The third bottle would need to be removed from certain airplanes. Operators of other airplanes with a third bottle would need to revise the “Limitations” section of the Airplane Flight Manual to add restrictions on APU usage.
General aviation (GA) safety has made the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) top 10 most-wanted list for 2011. Two GA advocacy groups took exception to the board’s findings, noting that safety is the industry’s number one priority.
Hawker Beechcraft is developing a King Air 350 upgrade package that boosts electrical power for special-mission applications. The package includes two 400-amp starter-generators with paralleled output of 760 amps, an additional mission electrical bus with cockpit control and automatic load shedding. The upgrade will add another 190 amps of 28-VDC power for special-mission King Air 350s. The package will be offered for late-model King Airs 350s (serial number FL-500 and on) as an aftermarket kit, but also on new-production special-mission King Air 350s.
Fokker Aircraft Services has delivered a 26-seat head-of-state VIP configured Airbus A320 to aircraft management company Masterjet, based at Le Bourget, France. This is the first A320 produced with 26 seats and certified for commercial and private transport by the European Aviation Safety Agency and FAA.
Claims by communications company LightSquared that it has a solution to the problem of interference with GPS receivers have been met with skepticism from opponents of its plans for a nationwide broadband-wireless network using frequencies close to GPS. LightSquared says tests show the lower of its two 10-MHz blocks of L-band spectrum, located farther away from GPS frequencies, “is largely free of interference issues with the exception of a limited number of high-precision GPS receivers.”
JACQUELINE FAWCETT was named advertising and exhibit sales assistant for Helicopter Association International (HAI). Before joining HAI, Fawcett was co-manager at a Books-A-Million retail store. She has also interned for the Frederick Keys Minor League baseball team and worked as a sales representative for the Washington Redskins.
PIPER PA-24, PA-24-250 and PA-24-260 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0639; Directorate Identifier 2011-CE-016-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to either replace the stabilator horn assembly or conduct repetitive inspections of the assembly, looking for corrosion or cracks, per the instructions of Piper Aircraft, Inc. Service Bulletin No. 1189 (dated April 29, 2010). If any corrosion or cracks were found, operators would need to replace the stabilator horn assembly.
LARRY ALEXANDRE was appointed president of helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul specialist Heli-One. He replaces Neil Calvert, who is retiring after a 30-year career. Alexandre most recently was CEO of Sagem Avionics and also has held leadership positions with Turbomeca and Teleflex’s aerospace business unit.
ST Aerospace completed a full cabin reconfiguration and refurbishment of a DC-8 VIP aircraft for a Middle East-based customer. ST Aerospace’s in-house design and engineering team in Singapore undertook an extensive redesign and reconfiguration of seats, galleys and lavatories, while the company’s facility in San Antonio performed the modification and refurbishment, as well as managed the engineering authorization and certification.
Joe Lombardo, executive vice president of the General Dynamics Aerospace Group and president of Gulfstream Aerospace, is temporarily taking the helm of Jet Aviation in the wake of the upcoming departure of Peter Edwards. Edwards is stepping down from his full-time duties as president of the Jet Aviation Group on July 4, but will support the leadership transition through Aug. 31.
Northern Ireland suppliers are the beneficiaries of £70 million ($113 million) worth of new contracts awarded recently by Bombardier. Five companies — three Northern Ireland firms and two U.S. companies setting up facilities in Belfast — have been charged with supporting development of wing components for the CSeries airliner and the Learjet 85 business jet. Denroy Plastics Limited will manufacture injection-molded thermoplastic hydraulic and fuel brackets for the CSeries aircraft outer wing box.
Since the second prototype joined the flight test program in December, Eurocopter’s 16-passenger, twin-engine EC175 has logged more than 100 hr. and is on track for certification at year’s end, with first deliveries in late 2012. The EC175 sits between the EC155 and the larger EC225, and is being developed initially for the offshore oil and gas markets, which account for all current orders. Program partner China’s Harbin Aviation Industry Group delivered the first production airframe to Eurocopter in December.
