A $10 million executive jet facility is to be built at Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man, U.K. A local company, as yet to be named, will run the facility, which will offer maintenance and fueling. An executive passenger terminal and a new hangar capable of holding six Citation Sovereign/Falcon 7X size aircraft are planned for the first phase. The unnamed owner/operator has been selected. Word has it that it operates three business aircraft from the island. There are plans to build a second similar-size hangar at a later date.
DART Helicopter Services and its affiliated partner, Apical Industries, have received FAA approval for the Emergency Float and Emergency Float With Life Rafts systems for the R44/II helicopter. The two forward and two aft cylindrical floats are inflated electrically when the float deployment switch is activated. The optional integrated six-man life rafts are deployed via separate electrical switches.
Gradient Lens Corp. has introduced a line of borescopes called the Hawkeye Pro and Classic Slim. They are each 22 inches long, making them the longest four-mm-diameter scopes available, according to the company. The new scopes use GLC's patented endoGRINs lens system, which allows them to relay images at long distance while maintaining the quality of the image. Users can clearly see defects and surface finish in deep bores and cross-holes.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates major airline hubs JFK, La Guardia and Newark Liberty airports as well as Teterboro Airport (TEB), the business aviation reliever airport for the New York metro area, wants to purchase Stewart Airport (SWF), about 50 miles north, to offload more traffic from TEB and the airline airports if it needs to.
The most recent effort by the FAA to define "known icing" is improved over past interpretations, the AOPA said, but it also worries that the newest determination leaves open the door for enforcement action.
Regarding the March 2007 Reflections ("For the Record," page 48), I must say that the Brazilian airman Alberto Santos-Dumont is not only the first aviation record holder, but he is considered in many parts of the world as the real inventor of the airplane. And there's a good reason for that: First, Dumont's airplane named 14-Bis, which flew in Paris in 1906, was the first airplane to take off by its own means, using his engine power to takeoff, fly and land. We need to remember that the Wright brothers' airplane, the Flyer, was catapulted.
"The market today, pretty much across the board, is on fire. It is very strong and healthy," declared Rick Engles, a principal in the Washington, D.C.-based aircraft brokerage of Vance & Engles.
A RECENT WEB POSTING about how to "green up" business jets generated a widely varied response, including some acerbic comments from a few who seemed to resent that the issue had been raised at all. In a note to "Dear All," veteran U.K.-based pilot Jamie Shawyer asked the business aviation community: "Have any of you looked into how to reduce the CO2 emissions in the workplace or in the way in which you are operating your aircraft, i.e., speeds, altitudes, etc.?"
Mooney Airplane Co. and AmSafe, Inc. have announced the availability of AmSafe Aviation Inflatable Restraints (AAIR) retrofit kits for Mooney airplanes. The airbag systems are currently standard equipment on new Acclaims, Ovation 2GXs and Ovations 3s. The system is available in three separate configurations: front and back seat (four places); front seat only (two places) and rear seat only (two places). They come in gray or tan and take approximately one week to install. Price: $6,900 (two seats); $10,800 (four seats) Mooney Airplane Co.
U.K.-based BBA Aviation, the parent company of Signature Flight Support, has acquired 100 percent of the capital stock of the United States' Executive Beechcraft, Inc. It includes four full-service FBOs, their associated maintenance services and charter/management businesses, as well as aircraft sales activities and all aircraft inventory. In the year ended December 2006, Executive Beechcraft had sales of $63 million and gross assets of $33 million.
Intelligence | 17 * TSA, NATA, Airports Unveil New Screening Effort * Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J. Acquires SWF as Possible Reliever * OpSpec A008 Oversight to Tighten * Nav Canada Goes to Piggy Bank to Avoid Loss Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey A Good and Clever Friend 84 | Cause & Circumstance By Richard N. Aarons Silent Too Long 88 | Point of Law By Kent S. Jackson Dueling FBOs
Xuron Corp. has introduced a new line of precision aircraft maintenance hand tools that are ideally suited for a wide range of avionics, harness making and repair applications, according to the company.
(Salt Lake City) -- Brian R. Jones has joined the FBO's aircraft sales team and has been given the responsibility for the sale and acquisition of turboprop and jet aircraft. Prior to joining Million Air Salt Lake City, Jones, who has almost 40 years of aircraft sales experience, owned and operated B.R. Jones and Associates, LLC and previously held marketing and sales positions with Learjet, Raytheon and Piper.
I was delighted to receive your note and pleased to learn of your satisfaction with B&CA. Orbis is indeed a fabulous application of technology for the good of humankind.
The NTSB said it believes a Piper PA-46-310P Mirage crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in April shortly after taking off from the Bahamas. The aircraft, N444JH, had departed Nassau International Airport for Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Fla., International Airport on April 10 at about 1650 EDT. The pilot and the controller had several communications about altitude and heading before the pilot was advised to contact Miami Air Route Traffic Control after being cleared to climb to 12,000 feet. The pilot did not acknowledge the last transmission.
International Communications Group (ICG) of Newport News, Va., has earned FAA parts manufacturing approval (PMA) for replacement satellite communication systems on Gulfstream G150s.
AeroMech -- the Everett, Wash.-based company that provides RVSM certification and support services -- has teamed with Mid Canada Mod Center of Mississauga, Ontario, to certify Rockwell Collins IDS-3000 flat-panel displays in an RVSM-capable Cessna Citation 550. The process involved an upgrade to Aeromech's existing Citation 550 RVSM group STC.
I just came across the October 2006 issue of B&CA where you have a brief description of a Hawker that collided with a glider near Reno. You state that, "The female pilot suffered lacerations from flying glass . . ." The inclusion of the pilot's gender is irrelevant to the story. Unless you intend to include this modifier in all future references to pilots ("the male pilot," "the female pilot"), it would seem to be a sexist approach to reporting that should be discontinued.
The Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Integrated Display System (IDS) has been certified on a Piaggio 180 aircraft. Jet Works of Denton, Texas, installed the system in the twin-turboprop aircraft. The Pro Line 21 IDS is an upgrade program that is less expensive than performing a major cockpit retrofit. The system integrates next-generation LCDs and enhanced graphics with existing traffic alert collision avoidance, terrain awareness warning, communication, flight management and autopilot systems.
Sabreliner Corp. -- the Perryville, Mo., company that offers a variety of modifications and retrofit programs designed to extend the service life of the venerable business jet to 30,000 hours or landings -- recently refurbished "Sabre One," the first Sabreliner business jet ever produced.
I very much enjoyed David Esler's "Coping With the Future: Major Business Airports" (May, page 76). Each airport has its unique set of plusses and minuses.
