Eurocopter and Mercedes-Benz unveiled the first production example of their latest cabin, the EC 145 “Mercedes Benz Style” at last week’s EBACE show. Conceived under a project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, the EC 145 interior is Eurocopter’s third major cabin creative initiative in the last seven years. The newly designed cabin enabled designers to take a modular approach to the new high-end interior, inspired by the automaker’s R-Class series.
Aviation Week group will strengthen its presence in the Chinese business aviation market leading up to next year’s Asian Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (ABACE) in Shanghai March 27-29, 2012. The group will launch BGA, a bilingual business aviation magazine, there in early fall; will hold a business aviation conference in Beijing and publish daily bilingual ShowNews magazines at ABACE, all in cooperation with its Chinese partner China Aviation Publishing & Multimedia Co. (CAPMC), formerly the International Aviation Group.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE EC 120B helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2011-0448; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-51-AD] — This proposed AD would require operators to modify the pilot’s cyclic-control friction device by replacing a certain thrust washer with two thrust washers, per the instructions of Eurocopter Alert Service Bulletin No. 67A011, Rev. 1 (dated Oct. 7, 2005).
ROB TOMENENDAL was named VP-sales and marketing for King Aerospace Commercial Corporation’s large-aircraft completions and modifications. Tomenendal previously served as director of business development for Gore Design Completions in San Antonio. He also has served as director of sales for Garrett Aviation, specializing in large-aircraft completions, and has held positions of increasing responsibility with Gulfstream Aerospace and Cessna Aircraft.
Gama Aviation is expanding its fleet and network internationally. In Europe, the business aviation services company added a Cessna Citation CJ2+, Bombardier Global XRS and Dassault Falcon 2000 to its charter fleet. In the U.S., GAMA is adding several more aircraft, including a Hawker 800XP, Citation Excel, Gulfstream 450 and Global 5000, while a Gulfstream 450 and Bombardier Challenger 300 owned by Latin American clients are joining the fleet later this year. All the aircraft will be available for charter.
Bombardier substantially scaled back its outlook for the business jet market in its most recent annual forecast, which was released during last week’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. Reflecting the ongoing struggles of the industry, Bombardier predicts the delivery of 24,000 business jets valued at $626 billion over the next 20 years. The business jet forecast is markedly down from last year’s predictions of 26,000 deliveries valued at $661 billion over 20 years.
AMAC Aerospace, the Basel, Switzerland-based completions company, announced at EBACE last week that it will handle a Boeing 747-8I VVIP completion next year. Alongside the new 747 will be an Airbus ACJ319 for Doha, Qatar’s Rizon Jet, the four-year-old company revealed at the show. The ACJ319 will arrive at AMAC in January 2012 and will be redelivered for management by Rizon Jet in January 2013. It is AMAC’s first work for Rizon Jet. The 747-8I, destined for a Middle Eastern head of state, is to arrive in July 2012 and will be returned to its owner by March 2014.
Following NetJets’ $1 billion deal for Embraer Phenom 300s and a $6.7 billion order with options for Bombardier Global 5000 Visions, Global Express Visions, Global 7000s and 8000s, the company is now looking at potential mid- and super-mid-sized aircraft, says NetJets Europe CEO Eric Connor. “We will put in place a contract similar to that with Bombardier and Embraer, which will give us flexibility over the next 10 years. The structure is such that the firm orders are to replace assets, and the options will allow for growth.”
Gulfstream’s G250 program continues to pass milestones on its way to certification this year, with three flight-test aircraft having accrued more than 1,150 flight hr. in more than 400 flights, the company reports. Gulfstream has completed a number of the tests required for FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency and Civil Aviation Authority of Israel approval, the company says.
Avfuel continues to expand its dealer network with the additions of Minuteman Aviation and Morgantown Municipal Airport (MGW) to its list of branded dealers. Minuteman, one of the largest full-service fixed-base operations in Montana, has provided FBO services in Missoula for more than 40 years. The facilities include an executive conference room, concierge team, flight planning room, crew cars, supplies, charts and shower. Based in Morgantown, W.Va., MGW provides full ground services, aircraft handling, fuel, pilot planning services, and hangar and tie-down space.
Slot constraints at Frankfurt International Airport in 2009 prompted NetJets Europe to buy Egelsbach, a general aviation airfield 10 km to the south, to improve business jet service for the German banking community and industrialists from the surrounding Rhein-Main region. This is the first airport purchased by NetJets, which plans €30-40 million in infrastructure investment to make it as “all-weather” as possible.
DASSAULT Falcon 50 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0042; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-267-AD; Amendment 39-16695; AD 2011-10-14] — Perform a visual inspection for correct installation of emergency brake system No. 2, per the instructions of Dassault Service Bulletin F50-515 (dated Oct. 12, 2010). If the brake system is installed incorrectly, reinstall it correctly before further flight.
GE unveiled a new brand name for its latest business jet engine—Passport—the company announced at last week’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition. The engine, chosen as an integrated power system for Bombardier’s long-range Global 7000 and 8000 business jets, incorporates many of the advanced commercial and military technologies demonstrated in the company’s TechX program to develop a powerplant family for business jets.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND EC135 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2011-0453; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-16-AD] — This proposed AD would require operators to insert into the Rotorcraft Flight Manual a manual synchronization procedure for pilots that is designed to prevent failure of the Full-Authority Digital Engine Controls (FADEC) to automatically meter fuel.
BOMBARDIER DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0471; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-219-AD] — This proposed AD would require operators to determine the part numbers of the left and right elevator torque tube assemblies and, if necessary, replace the tube assemblies or the elevator torque tube rivets and reidentify the assemblies, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 84-27-50, Rev. C (dated July 26, 2010).
May 24-25—National Air Transportation Association Line Service Supervisor Training, Windsor Locks, Conn., www.nata.aero/events May 25—The Wings Club Luncheon (“Sight” Lecture) featuring General Duncan McNabb, Commander U. S. Transportation Command, The Yale Club, New York, (212) 867-1770, [email protected] May 26-27—National Air Transportation Association OSHA Safety and Health Training for Ground Ops, Windsor Locks, Conn., www.nata.aero/events
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) is withdrawing a controversial amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill, saying it might have bogged down conference negotiations on the legislation. The provision would have required FAA to recognize the various segments of the industry and the differing operating characteristics as it creates new regulations. But the amendment had drawn criticism that it would have made it harder for the FAA to make safety rules such as those being put in place in response to a Continental Airlines crash in 2009.
Hawker Beechcraft has developed new retrofit packages for the Hawker 750 and King Air 200GT and is approaching milestones in its upgrade programs for the Hawker 450 and 800. The company detailed the efforts at last week’s European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition in Geneva.
JOHN BLATCHLEY has joined Avantair as Northeast regional sales director. Blatchley will be responsible for expanding Avantair’s fractional aircraft ownership program in the Northeast and Eastern Canada, as well as management relationships with existing customers. He formerly served with Columbia Aircraft Sales, where he managed Piper sales in the Northeast, and has held management positions with Cutter Aviation.
Work on the Hawker 450, Hawker Beechcraft’s clean-sheet twinjet, is not going to resume soon, says company Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture. The project was shelved when the economic downturn began and is not expected to be restarted for a while. “Not in the next 12 months,” says Boisture. The same might go for a new Beechcraft turboprop single, but Boisture admits to having taken “some actions.”
Rockwell Collins is planning to offer a synthetic vision upgrade for aircraft equipped with Pro Line 21 avionics as both forward fit and aftermarket installations beginning in 2012. The technology improves situational awareness in low visibility and unfamiliar territory by using a computer-generated three-dimensional depiction of terrain. Rockwell Collins notes that more than 4,000 aircraft are equipped with Pro Line 21 and 300 more enter service each year.
FlightSafety International is increasing its training offerings for Bombardier aircraft to include the Global 5000 Vision and Global XRS Vision. The training company is designing a full-flight simulator that will be Level D qualified, along with other training equipment and courseware. Plans call for the new Global training to be offered at FlightSafety’s center in Columbus, Ohio. FlightSafety currently offers Bombardier Global Express training at its Greater Philadelphia Area Learning Center in Wilmington, Del.
12,751—Attendance at the 11th annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition last week grew from last year’s 11,174 to 12,751. This was the event’s second highest attendance. The convention, held May 17-19, drew a record 551 exhibitors who occupied 2,074 booth spaces and brought 62 aircraft to Geneva International Airport. The number of exhibitors was up from last year’s 436. Booth spaces sold topped the previous best of 1,691. The number of aircraft on static display was down slightly from last year’s 65, but the ramp was full.
JENNY MUNRO was tapped to serve as managing director for London Biggin Hill Airport in the U.K. Munro succeeds Peter Lonergan, who retired after serving as airport director since 1994. She formerly spent 11 years in the Middle East with Dubai International Airport and Emirates Airline.
Some 36,000 Cessna airplanes will be affected by a new airworthiness directive that will require more rigorous, repetitive 100-hr. or 12-month inspections of seat rails, rollers and other related hardware. AD 2011-10-09, which goes into effect June 17, adds steps to the seat inspection procedures specified in an earlier directive (AD 87-20-03 R2), which is being superseded.
