Perhaps at no time in recent memory has the long-term direction of the market for previously owned, turbine-powered business airplanes been more difficult to forecast. Ever since used-aircraft prices plummeted and inventories rose dramatically in late 2008, optimists have been searching for signs that a turnaround was imminent. As the economic malaise dragged on, however, predictions for recovery kept getting pushed out further and further.
Bombardier Aerospace received an order valued at $292.5 million from AVWest of Australia for five Global 6000 ultra-long-range jets. AVWest is a corporate jet operator that also owns and operates the fixed-base operations and business aviation services company Perth Jet Centre. AVWest's fleet includes a Challenger 604 and three Global Express XRS jets. AVWest also has firm orders for four Global 7000 and two Global 8000 jets.
“Different Juice, Same Mission” is a timely editorial. I suppose you noticed the recent report that Chevy sold fewer than 10,000 Volts, and the factory is closing with the loss of hundreds of jobs. At $40K it's tough to compete with the established Prius at a much lower price. The good news is that my Mooney M20J, which I maintain and fuel with after tax dollars, has become the envy of some of my twin owner friends.
The five-way fight over the amorphous “10K” (10,000-lb.-thrust) market that dominated the top-end of the thrust battle in the late 2000s has given way to a wider spread of engine developments over a high-thrust bracket. Pratt & Whitney Canada, for instance, is pushing aggressively into the 12,000- to 16,000-lb. thrust range with a larger PW800-based demonstrator that originally started life as a 10K contender.
FAA Advisory Circular AC 21-47 — Submittal of Data to an ACO, a DER or an ODA for a Major Repair or Major Alteration will help you understand how repair data become approved. This document will provide you with more detailed process steps that both the FAA and DERs use and will help you with your next project. You can download it at www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2021-47.pdf
The financial and operational benefits of NextGen modernization will be slower to emerge than previously expected, according to a March progress report from the FAA. There is no doubt that NextGen will eventually deliver impressive savings and greater efficiency. However, due to a combination of factors the FAA has shifted out by two years its forecast for achieving these benefits. The latest guidance is part of the agency's NextGen implementation plan, which is issued annually.
FAA officials estimate that they will select six test sites for integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace by December. The agency has been accepting public comments to help it shape the test sites. The comment period ran through May 8, officials said in a Web-based conference April 10. The agency will consider a few factors when choosing test ranges — including geographic and climatic diversity, the location of ground infrastructure and research needs — and it will consult with the Pentagon and NASA.
Textron's Cessna Aircraft and China's Avic (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) have signed two agreements addressing the People's Republic of China's desire to develop its general and business aviation manufacturing capability as well as the infrastructure needed grow aviation throughout that nation.
Manufacturer, Model In some cases, the airplane manufacturer's name is abbreviated, but the company's full name and address can be found on the manufacturers' websites. The model name also is included in this data group.
The NBAA and NATA have voiced strong opposition to an IRS memo released in March that opens the door for aircraft management programs to be treated as commercial carriers and taxed accordingly. That memorandum finds that a “management [firm] has possession, command and control of the aircraft” and “the monthly management fees, as well as the separately reimbursed amounts paid to management . . . are amounts paid for taxable air transportation of persons” and therefore are taxable under the passenger ticket tax.
Mike Venables, P.Eng. (TriLink Technologies Group Inc. )
To underscore your point in “Different Juice, Same Mission” (Viewpoint, March 2012) many years ago (pre-Twitter and Facebook), I took a communications course. The main point was that communication was 80% non-verbal, 15% vocal and only 5% the words. In other words, an email only delivers 5% of your message while telephone (or Skype) only delivers 20% (maybe a bit more for a Skype video call). Nearly 80% of your message is getting lost if you're not there in person.
The House General Aviation Caucus leadership is circulating a letter to build support for a repeal of the so-called “fuel fraud” measure that calls for aviation jet fuel to be taxed at the highway diesel fuel rate. Caucus members — including Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), and Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) — were collecting signatures for the letter in mid-April to be delivered to the House Ways and Means Committee, which would have jurisdiction over the fuel fraud tax measure.
Global Industry Analysts, Inc. released a report on the global PMA parts market. The world market for FAA-authorized PMA parts is projected to reach $749 million by the 2017. GIA says growth will be partially driven by robust demand gains in South East Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. PMA parts generally cost less than OEM parts.
Gulfstream Aerospace detailed three more orders that will expand its growing fleet in Asia: Nanshan Jet, which is taking delivery of its second G450 long-range jet, with an additional G450 and G550 on order; AllPoints Jet, which signed an order at March's Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition for a G450 and G550; and Asia Jet, which is expanding its Shanghai charter fleet with a G200. “Asia, and particularly China, remains our leading export market,” says President Larry Flynn. “Twenty-seven percent of our current backlog is in Asia-Pacific.
Quest Aircraft Company said that its Kodiak single-engine, multi-mission turboprop has received certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Mexican Republic, Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil. The Kodiak is now certified in eight countries. Additional certifications are in process. Quest delivered its first Mexican-registered Kodiak to a mining company based in the Northeastern State of Coahuila, Mexico.
Gulf Coast Avionics, based on Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Fla., has announced the addition of two international satellite operations. The latest locations include Gulf Coast Avionics Peru in Lima, Peru, and Gulf Coast Avionics España located in Tarragona, Spain. Gulf Coast Avionics is a supplier of avionics, instruments and pilot supplies to customers worldwide and is an FAA Approved Repair Station.
Over the years we've seen a relatively large number of approach accidents involving aerodynamic stalls during the last moments of instrument approaches.
The February 3rd crash in Boise, Idaho, that took the life of Micron Technology CEO and Chairman Steve Appleton was yet another executive/pilot accident — the list is long and keeps growing, unfortunately — that draws attention to the subject and to the risks, rewards and fundamental responsibilities of those involved. Should a corporate board of directors place limitations on the business and/or personal flying of the company's chief executive? In my opinion, the answer is, Yes — a wildly unpopular response for many entrepreneurial aircraft owner/pilots.
Regarding “Different Juice, Same Mission” (Viewpoint, March 2012), I think there is even more to the value of a face-to-face meeting than we often consider. Bear with an anecdote. While working as an editor some 30 years ago, I flew a small plane on behalf of AOPA Pilot to visit an ultralight manufacturer. If they had brought their aircraft to us, it would have been one kind of story. Seeing their factory, it became another- — there was nothing inside it.
AgustaWestland forecasts that it will deliver 450-500 AW609 tiltrotor aircraft over 20 years. Now in full control of the civil tiltrotor program it began with Bell Helicopter, the company plans to begin certification flights of its renamed AW609 next year with the with the objective of obtaining FAA certification and beginning deliveries by mid-2016. The company reports cash-backed orders in hand for 70 units from 40 customers in 15 countries. Two prototypes have been involved in initial flight tests. A third aircraft is being assembled in Italy and will fly next year.
India's MRO industry could expand by 300% to $1.369 billion by 2020 from $440 million in 2010, boosted by a government plan to exempt aircraft spares and other equipment from customs duties, according to a civil aviation ministry report. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to slash high customs and countervailing duties on aircraft spare parts, new and retreaded tires, and training equipment, starting with the fiscal 2012-13 federal budget, which began April 1.
Dating from the 12th century and named for the Moskova River, the city dominates the political, economic, educational and scientific, religious and cultural life of the vast Russian territory.
Jeppesen, a unit of Boeing Flight Services, recently recognized five leading ground handling companies with a “Jeppesen Handler of the Year” award to recognize customer service excellence. The 2011 winners are: Air Consult — Europe and Russia region, based in Rome. Manny Aviation Services (MAS) — Canada, Latin America, Australia and the Pacific region. This year, MAS celebrates 15 years of service. Jet Aviation Dubai — Africa, Middle East and India region.
Embraer and Avic are working toward approval from Beijing to convert a Harbin production line that previously built ERJ-145 regional jets to use existing tooling to make Legacy 650 executive jets, a derivative of the ERJ-135, itself a shortened ERJ-145. Guan Dongyuan, the head of the Brazilian company's operations in China says the production line is currently 51% owned by Embraer and 49% by Avic, but that could change. The Harbin plant is part of Avic's rotary-wing division, Avicopter, but Guan says Embraer is dealing with Avic headquarters.
