Air Partner has rebranded its global flight support division—formerly called Air Planner—as Air Partner Ops 24. Air Partner says the move eliminates confusion over Air Planner’s association with Air Partner and builds on the Air Partner Group branding. Over the last year, Air Partner, led by Operations Manager Peter Turner, has strengthened and restructured the unit’s operations base. “This is the first time Air Partner has had a round-the-clock specialist operations team of this caliber,” Turner says. “Following reorganization, our portfolio of experience and skills ...
PIPER PA-46-310P (Malibu), PA-46-350P (Malibu Mirage) and PA-46R-350T (Matrix) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1295; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-060-AD; Amendment 39-16635; AD 2011-06-10] – Inspect, clean, and calibrate the Turbine Inlet Temperature (T.I.T.) system, replacing any system that fails the calibration test. Also, repetitively replace the T.I.T. probe on certain airplanes and insert a copy of this AD into the Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH).
April 14—National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Regional Forum, Dallas, (202) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org April 19-21—Flight Safety Foundation/National Business Aviation Association 56th Annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar, San Diego, www.flightsafety.org or www.nbaa.org April 21—The Wings Club Luncheon featuring Calin Rovinescu, President & CEO, Air Canada, The Yale Club, New York, (212) 867-1770, [email protected]
ANN HEIN was appointed director of public relations and communications for Jet Aviation in the Americas. Hein, who has been with the organization for 17 years, will represent all of Jet Aviation’s businesses in the Americas, including maintenance, repair and overhaul; completions; fixed-base operations; charter; management and staffing services (Jet Professionals). She formerly spent seven years as a communications professional in the engineering industry.
In the first three months of this year, U.S. jets and turboprops flying on business missions were involved in 15 accidents, including four fatal mishaps that resulted in 13 fatalities, according to a report released last week by Boca Raton, Fla.-based Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc., which publishes the annual Business Turbine Aircraft Accident Review each year. The 2010 edition was recently released.
Dubai-based aviation services company Project Phoenix is still working on its Bombardier CRJ200 VIP conversion program, but plans to do similar conversions on Boeing 737-800s (Phoenix LBJ), announced at last year’s EBACE, are on hold. Project Phoenix President Mike Cappuccitti declined to release the number of CRJs and LBJs converted and sold to customers, although one CRJ was delivered to a customer in Macau back in May 2009 (BA, May 18, 2009/16).
PAULINE SMITH was appointed fixed-base operations (FBO) manager for Abu Dhabi-based Al Bateen Executive Airport. Smith joins the airport from ExecuJet Middle East, where she was responsible for the day-to-day running of its FBO facility at Dubai International Airport. She has 17 years of aviation experience, beginning with Harrods Aviation at London Stansted Airport.
The Air Transport Association has named Steve Lott, currently head of communications for North America at the International Air Transport Association, as its new VP-communications, reporting to Jean Medina, who joined in January from United Airlines as senior VP-communications. Lott is a previous senior editor for Aviation Week.
The 100th Global 5000 business jet recently entered service with Heritage Aviation, a Vermont corporation, Bombardier says. Bombardier celebrated the event during a delivery ceremony late last month at the company’s Global Completion Center in Dorval, Québec. Based at Burlington International Airport, Heritage Aviation provides fixed-base operation, charter, management and maintenance services.
Bombardier Aerospace expanded its aftermarket service network for Challenger business aircraft customers in Latin America, increasing the authorizations at Aerovitro S.A. of Monterrey, which is based in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and Aviacion Atlantico Sur S.A. (AASSA) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Aerovitro was named an authorized service facility (ASF) for Challenger 300 and Challenger 604/605 aircraft, while AASSA was appointed an aircraft-on-ground line maintenance facility (AOG LMF) for Challenger 604/605 aircraft.
TIMOTHY DECOURSEY was promoted to assistant manager of FlightSafety International’s facility in Columbus, Ohio. Decoursey joined the Columbus center in 2002 as a Cessna Citation ultra instructor and has been promoted into positions of increasing responsibility, including assistant program manager for the Citation X and program manager for the Citation Ultra.
LEVAN TABIDZE was named engineering manager for Twin Commander Aircraft in Creedmoor, N.C. Tabidze has worked with a number of aircraft programs, including Luscombe, Tiger, Sino-Swearingen and Sierra Nevada. Before emigrating to the U.S. in 1993, Tabidze served with several Soviet aircraft manufacturers, including the Sukhoi Company and Yakolev.
Oklahoma has brought back a measure that re-establishes tax credits for engineers going to work for state companies, as well as the companies that hire them. Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) April 4 signed a bill lifting a two-year moratorium placed on the credit last year to help overcome a $17 billion budget deficit. The moratorium will be lifted effective July 1.
The SJ30 business jet program is coming under new ownership with the April 7 approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for Utah-based Metalcraft Technologies to purchase the assets of Emivest in San Antonio. The asset purchase agreement also was signed on April 7 for Metalcraft, an aerospace components specialist, to buy Emivest for $3.5 million and assume Emivest’s liabilities, including $1.688 million related to production of SJ30 No. 12, according to court documents.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Namibia has become the 69th organization worldwide and the seventh in Africa to join the International Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilot Associations (IAOPA). IAOPA notes that general aviation is particularly important in Namibia, which is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with a population of 2.1 million people and a size that is a little more than half that of Alaska.
Dassault Falcon is now offering its certified Practical Training Program for Falcon 900 and 2000 EASy business jets, following approval from the French aviation authority, DGAC. The 10-day program, which was launched in 2007 to support entry of the Falcon 7X into service, provides maintenance technicians with hands-on instruction using actual aircraft.
Correction: Gregory Sahr has joined Elliott Aviation in Moline, Ill., as VP, sales, marketing and business development. The April 4 edition of BA incorrectly identified the company.
The National Business Aviation Association and Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) have signed a memo of cooperation (MOC) with the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) to formalize support for the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) in 2012. Signed on March 18, the MOC states SAA will exclusively support ABACE and that the cooperation will continue for at least five years.
Signature Flight Support has launched a new maintenance brand, Signature TECHNICAir. The division consolidates all of the Signature-owned maintenance facilities under one unified brand, including the former Executive Beechcraft locations at Kansas City Downtown Airport (MKC); Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS); New Century Air Center Airport (IXD) and Signature locations at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. (BED); St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP) and the newly acquired Yellowstone Jetcenter in Bozeman, Mont. (BZN).
Determination of the probable cause of a Gulfstream G650 crash April 2 in Roswell, N.M., may be more than a year away, but Gulfstream Aerospace says it plans to resume flight testing once it and FAA are satisfied it is safe to proceed. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on April 7 released the preliminary report of the investigation into the crash that killed all four people aboard and left a charred hulk of Serial Number 6002 lying beside Runway 3/21 at Roswell International Air Center (RIAC).
BRENT HORNBECK joined Dallas Airmotive as manager of the company’s Regional Turbine Center in Phoenix. Hornbeck has more the 25 years of experience in the aviation industry as a maintenance manager and technician and was most recently customer project manager at Hawker Beechcraft Services in Mesa, Ariz.
The Aircraft Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) scheduled a meeting of key industry leaders on May 4 to discuss potential changes to its Industry Audit Standard (IAS) and means to make it more accessible to smaller operators. The move to take a new look at the standard comes after a key supporter of the IAS, Executive Jet Management, dropped its backing of the standard and instead brought its audit work in-house.
Dallas Airmotive has unveiled a dedicated website for its First Support command center. FirstSupportAOG.com gives visitors an overview of First Support capabilities, as well as a list of locations, contact information, downloads and a video tour of the operation. The new website provides customers with a look at how First Support operates and provides several options for contacting the center.
Planning, conceptual design, preliminary design, systems integration, wind tunnel model, testing (2 entries) and loads analysis done around 2 Williams FJ33. Work has been completed by leading FAA Designated Engineering Representatives in Wichita, KS USA. Next step is detailed structure design. (303) 859-4618 or [email protected] Click here to view the pdf
