SimCom now offers an accellerated nine-day Eclipse 500 initial type rating course for pilots with turbine and high-altitude operating experience. The course has fewer classroom hours than the 14-day course for less-experienced pilots. Total simulator hours are the same for both programs.
Eurocopter was to debut its X3 hybrid helicopter at the 2011 Paris Air Show as we went to press. Lutz Bertling, Eurocopter president and CEO says, “The X3 is an excellent example of how we are preparing for the future . . .
Air Methods Corp. has agreed to acquire OF Air Holdings Corp., parent of Omniflight Helicopters Inc. Omniflight provides air medical transport services throughout the U.S. using community- and hospital-based service delivery models, using a fleet of approximately 100 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Omniflight is headquartered in Addison, Tex., with operations in 18 states involving over 75 base locations. Air Methods will acquire Omniflight for an aggregate purchase price of $200 million in cash on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
The FAA certified the Hawker Beechcraft King Air 250 in June. Announced during last year's NBAA convention, the King Air 250 is derived from the King Air 200, but offers improved efficiency and field performance with BLR Aerospace composite winglets and a lighter weight design. The company launched the King Air 250 after surveying more than 3,000 customers.
FlightOne of Telluride, Colo. Has added a Citation Ultra to its charter certificate. The aircraft will be based permanently at Telluride Regional Airport (TEX) along with the company's King Air B200. FlightOne serves the Colorado western slope and all Colorado ski resorts.
Gulfstream Aerospace delivered the 500th PlaneView cockpit, just eight years after the system's first delivery. The company also announced that it has delivered 200 synthetic vision systems and more than 100 enhanced navigation systems as of April. Gulfstream reached the 500th PlaneView mark with the delivery of the 209th G450 aircraft.
Initial testing of GPS receivers confirms aircraft navigation systems will experience significant jamming from thousands of broadband-wireless transmitters planned to be deployed across the U.S. The tests were conducted to determine the susceptibility of GPS receivers to interference from the high-power terrestrial transmitters LightSquared plans to deploy.
In the wake of the departure of Brian Delauter, the TSA's general aviation branch general manager, the agency hopes to continue building on its collaborative approach with industry, improving access to Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), moving forward on the proposed Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) and refining temporary flight restrictions (TFRs).
“The future for DCA and general aviation is bright,” said the TSA's Douglas Hofsass (see above). General aviation has been allocated 24 arrival and 24 departure slots there each day, Hofsass said, and the TSA's goal is to fill each of those slots. Several improvements to the DCA Access Standard Security Program (DASSP) instituted in early March have begun to bear fruit, he said. As a result, operations have markedly increased. Before March, the number of general aviation operations averaged two to three a day. Now it is at eight to 10 a day.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. reopened Hangar F at its Dallas Love Field location to service mid-cabin G200 and G250 aircraft. The 62,000-sq.-ft. hangar increases space by nearly 18% at the site, freeing up space to service more large-cabin jets including the G650 due for certification this year.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company signed a lease with Jet Aviation authorizing it to provide aviation services at Al Bateen Executive Airport later this year. Under the deal, Jet Aviation becomes Al Bateen's first independent maintenance, repair and overhaul provider.
Santa Monica, Calif., announced June 2 that it has finally dropped its long fight to ban large business jets from flying into Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The handwriting was already on the wall for the airport after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the city's petition to overrule a finding back in January by the FAA that the ban was illegal.
The fractional aircraft business is rebounding, Flight Options CEO Michael Silvestro said June 8 at the NBAA Regional Forum at Westchester County Airport (HPN), and he expects to be adding another half dozen or more jets to his 101 aircraft fleet by year-end. “My fractional business is up 400%,” he said, comparing sales activity of the first quarter of this year with the corresponding quarter in 2010. He attributes that increase to “the world feels a little bit better” about the economy, and the fact that there are great aircraft deals out there.
In its 25th year of making business jets, Bombardier Aerospace plans to deliver 150 Globals, Challengers and Learjets by year-end, according to information provided by the manufacturer. And because the company plans to alter its fiscal year's end to coincide with the calendar year, those deliveries are to take place over an 11-month period. Bombardier entered the business jet business when it acquired Canadair in 1986. Additionally, the company is planning to deliver 90 commercial aircraft this year.
Smyrna Air Center, near Nashville, Tenn., has completed its first engine upgrade of a Beech King Air E-90 with 750-shp GE Aviation M601E-11As. The switch from the original Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-28 turboprops was made for AeroMetric, which operates the King Air on geospatial survey work to develop digital elevation models and maps out of Anchorage, Alaska.
JetSupport announced it added the Dassault Falcon 7X to its EASA Part-145 maintenance approval certificate. JetSupport's certificate now covers business aviation aircraft types ranging from the Cessna Citation series to all Dassault Falcon aircraft. JetSupport is based next to the new business aviation terminal at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, The Netherlands.
HeliSAS, Cobham's Autopilot and Stability Augmentation System, has STCs for installation on the Eurocopter AS350 series and EC130 helicopters. Earlier this year, HeliSAS was certificated on the Bell 206B, 206L and 407. The two-axis system is designed to be engaged at all times: “on” before takeoff and “off” after landing.
Air Methods Corp. will acquire OF Air Holdings Corp., parent of Omniflight Helicopters Inc. Omniflight provides air medical transport services throughout the U.S. under community-based and hospital-based service delivery models, utilizing a fleet of approximately 100 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Omniflight is headquartered in Addison, Texas, with operations in 18 states involving over 75 base locations. Air Methods will acquire Omniflight for an aggregate purchase price of $200 million in cash on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
Honeywell is acquiring EMS Technologies, an Atlanta-based network and satellite communications company, for $491 million, and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter this year. Honeywell is paying $33 per share in cash, or 13 times EMS Technologies' earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the companies said in a statement. EMS will be split between Honeywell's Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) and Aerospace groups.
The Transportation Research Board's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has released a Handbook for Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Alternative Aviation Turbine Engine Fuels at Airports contains an Alternative Fuel Investigation Tool (AFIT), instructions for using the tool, and a report on its development. AFIT is an analytical model designed to help airport operators and fuel suppliers evaluate the costs associated with introducing “drop-in” alternative turbine engine fuel at airports and the benefits measured by reduced emissions.
With two limited free-flight “experiments” on unscheduled general aviation operations in China's airspace, otherwise rigidly controlled by the nation's military, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) expressed its opposition to a “free-for-all in the skies.” Despite what earlier reports might have indicated, Cai Jun, head of the air traffic control department reporting to PLAAF general headquarters, quoted in an article in the People's Daily Online, said that low-altitude flight (below 1,000 meters or 3,280 ft.) restrictions for small planes will be reduced but in
Landmark Aviation will take over the operation and management of the West FBO at Tampa (Fla.) International Airport from the current tenant, Signature Flight Support, on Oct. 8. The agreement with the Tampa Airport Authority is for 20 years with a five-year renewal option if Landmark constructs a minimum 30,000-sq.-ft. hangar facility during the initial 20-year term. Under the agreement, Landmark will provide Signature's current Tampa employees with employment opportunities. In addition, Landmark is required to make a one-time payment of $2,569,500 on or before Oct.
Greenpoint Technologies and Aviation Technical Services (ATS) have signed agreements for two Boeing Business Jet aircraft completions. Installation will be performed at ATS' facility at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., which is located adjacent to Boeing's 777 and 747-8 production lines.
Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo recently signed an agreement with Vnukovo Invest, a co-owner of Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, to expand its operations into a new hangar, storage and office facility later this year. Jet Aviation began operating at Vnukovo in November 2007 and has offered 24/7 line maintenance and AOG support throughout Russia since 2009.
