CHRISTIAN MARRONE joined Aerospace Industries Association as vice president for national security and acquisition policy. Marrone formerly held a number of positions within the Department of Defense, including special assistant to former Secretary Robert Gates. He has also served as acting assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs. Most recently, Marrone served as an executive for defense markets for 3M.
Embraer is remaining cautious about the outlook for the executive jet market, even as the company’s revenues from the segment grew 15.5% last year. Embraer has been encouraged by the growth of American corporate profits and the number of millionaires worldwide. But the company says slow growth of some economies and uncertainty in Europe, as well as lower utilization of business jets are factors “that jeopardize a full recovery of the demand for business jets.”
Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling is leaving the EADS-owned company to head up the rail division of Bombardier. Bertling, who took the helm of Eurocopter from Fabrice Bregier in 2006, will take on the role of president and chief operating officer of Berlin-based Bombardier Transportation, effective June 3, 2013. He will be replaced at Eurocopter by the current head of research and development at French automotive company PSA, Guillaume Faury.
ROGERIO MULLER was named director of business development for South America for Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI). Muller, a Brazilian native who is based in Rio de Janeiro, previously was business sales manager for JSSI. He formerly spent more than two decades holding managerial positions with GE Celma, a General Electric Company responsible for aircraft engine and accessory overhauls.
IAN VICKERS has joined Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) as a technical services representative. Vickers is based at JSSI’s European headquarters at Farnborough Airport in the U.K. He has more than 25 years of business aircraft maintenance experience, specializing in avionics engineering. He formerly was engineering manager for Oceansky Engineering Ltd. at Manchester Airport.
JOE DRAKE was promoted to vice president, real estate and facilities for Gulfstream Aerospace. Drake oversees the company’s real estate transactions, including construction and development projects, along with worldwide implementation of the Gulfstream’s facility master plan. He previously served as director, real estate for the company. Before joining Gulfstream in 2007, Drake was executive vice president at Orr Partners in Falls Church, Va., where he managed large-scale commercial, institutional and retail projects.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), working with Build A Plane, has launched a nationwide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) educational competition. The competition involves students designing an aircraft and competing in a virtual fly-off that will be scored on aerodynamic and performance parameters. GAMA member companies and Glasair Aviation are donating technical expertise, workspace, aircraft equipment and supplies to the competition. Winners will receive trips to the Glasair Aviation facilities in Arlington, Wash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is releasing five safety alerts for general aviation pilots and mechanics, warning of the need to improve decision-making, risk assessment and maintenance errors. The alerts, adopted during a March 12 board meeting, is part of the NTSB’s effort to raise visibility on one of its “Most Wanted” safety issues – general aviation safety.
Dassault is prepping the next two members of its Falcon 2000 family – the S and LXS – for initial deliveries after both received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification last week. The March 11 certification puts the 2000LXS ahead of schedule. It was originally anticipated to enter the market in 2014, but Dassault now expects the aircraft to enter service in the second half of this year. The 2000S, meanwhile, is slated for first deliveries in the second quarter.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) management board elected Patrick Ky as the new executive director. Ky will take up his position on Sept. 1. The selection was announced with a tweet from European Commission (EC) Vice President-Transport Siim Kallas congratulating Ky on last week’s vote. Ky was one of the two candidate shortlisted by the EC for the position of EASA’s executive director. Ky succeeds Patrick Goudou, who is reaching the end of his second five-year term, having led the agency since its establishment in 2003.
The emergence and strong sales of Frank Robinson’s R66 Turbine is causing helicopter manufacturers to think again about the light single-turbine market. For years, Robinson’s piston R22 and R44s were considered to be in a league of their own. But the development and certification of the R66—nearly 200 of which were delivered in 2012—has raised eyebrows, as it begins to impinge on markets that were previously strongholds of models produced by Bell, MD, Enstrom and to some extent Eurocopter.
CESSNA Models 172R, 172S, 182S, 182T, T182T, 206H, and T206H airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-1052; Directorate Identifier 2012-CE-014-AD] – revises a proposal to supersede an existing AD that currently requires an inspection of the engine oil pressure switch and, if applicable, replacement with an improved engine oil pressure switch.
Pilatus Aircraft has selected Million Air Houston and Northern Air and as satellite service centers for the PC-12 single turboprop. The newest centers joined the Pilatus service network as the fleet approaches 1,200 aircraft. Based at Gerald Ford International Airport (KGRR) in Grand Rapids, Mich., Northern Air will operate as a satellite service center under the sales and service region managed by Pro Star Aviation. Founded in 1943, Northern Air provides a range of maintenance and general aviation services.
AgustaWestland is using an unconventional tiltrotor fan-in-wing demonstrator, flown in secret in Italy since 2011, as a self-funded technology incubator for advanced rotorcraft concepts. Measuring several meters in span, the “Project Zero” sub-scale demonstrator has two electrically driven, tilting rotors embedded in the wing. Surprising attendees at the Heli-Expo 2013 show in Las Vegas this month by revealing the program, newly installed CEO Daniele Romiti says the flying wing represents how the manufacturer is “thinking today of how we could fly tomorrow.”
Eurocopter has delivered its greatest hints yet about the thinking behind its future product lineup. The EADS-owned helicopter manufacturer walked away with 69 orders at Heli-Expo here this month and also launched a new version of its EC135 light twin, but the company is keeping the industry waiting to see what results from its X4 program to replace the AS365 Dauphin.
The deficit-reduction measure that went into effect March 1 cuts 7.9% from discretionary defense spending and 5.3% from non-defense discretionary spending. Surely, Washington's latest manufactured crisis will not do any serious damage, will it? Well, consider this:
Universal Avionics is close to certifying a micro-electromechanical (MEMS)-based attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) that the company says will enable it to better compete with avionics providers offering the technology for retrofit on business jets and turboprops.
Honeywell is set to receive initial certification of a combined satellite-based communications and helicopter health and usage monitoring system (HUMS), which will send real-time alerts of exceedances and maintenance issues to ground personnel. The development, which will be offered initially as an option under a supplemental type certificate on the Sikorsky S-76C++, combines the company’s Zing HUMS and the latest Sky Connect III version of Honeywell’s satcom and aircraft tracking system.
Unmanned aircraft could generate more than $13 billion in economic benefits within three years if the FAA develops regulations allowing their integration into U.S. national airspace by 2015, as directed by Congress, according to a new study by the industry’s trade body. The study by aviation economist Daryl Jenkins, commissioned by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), forecasts a rapid adoption of small, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for precision agriculture and public safety.
The FAA is gauging the interest of aerospace companies in the development of upgrades to the ground-based portions of its wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) in advance of dual-frequency GPS operations for the aviation community later this decade.
LONDON — Eurocopter CEO Lutz Bertling is leaving the EADS-owned company to head up the rail division of Bombardier. Bertling, who took the helm of Eurocopter from Fabrice Bregier in 2006, will take on the role of president and chief operating officer of Berlin-based Bombardier Transportation, effective June 3, 2013. He will be replaced at Eurocopter by the current head of research and development at French automotive company PSA, Guillaume Faury.
Elit'Avia, a fully-integrated provider of business aircraft charter, management and operation services, has announced that it has earned stage 3 International Standard – Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO).
