Empire Aviation Group (EAG), the Dubai-based private aviation specialist, has added the world's most advanced business jet - the Gulfstream G650 - to its managed fleet.
Senior Editor for Avionics and Safety John Croft visits Honeywell's Flight Deck of the Future (FD-X) Lab to see some of the advanced technologies being developed there, including eye-tracking, gesture- and voice-control modalities for next-gen cockpits.
Universal Avionics is about to certify a new flight deck called InSight that tightens the working relationship between pilot and machine with a blend of higher-resolution 3-D synthetic vision, larger displays and new icon-based command-and-control architecture. The system is the first major integrated cockpit refresh in nearly a decade from the company that first certified synthetic vision for the multifunction display in 2002, light airplanes in 2005 and air transport cockpits in 2006.
In 2010, the hope was that by 2015 private aircraft would be widely usable in China. As of 2014, little progress has been made for propeller-driven aircraft, although helicopter operations are making progress.
We provide leasing, lending and related services for the business aviation market. We’re targeting new and used business jets valued at $25 million or more and we’re brand neutral, financing everything from BBJs and ACJs to Gulfstream, Bombardier, Falcon, Embraer and Textron aircraft
My left leg had begun to ache, as is often the case on long drives. We’d covered some 711 interstate miles by the time we pulled into the motel lot in Johnson City, Tennessee, that day. I’d earned a steak, a bed and a tumbler of Jack, and not in that order. Tomorrow, another 350 mi. before reaching the gate. Ugh.
The wait is over. On October 14, Gulfstream rolled out the G500, the first of two models from its secretive P42 development program. In the works since 2008, the project actually spawned two new models, the 5,000-nm G500 and the 6,200-nm G600. Both look a lot like the firm’s 7,000-nm G650 flagship, but they have less range, smaller cabin cross-sections and lower price tags. The G500 is priced at $43.5 million and the longer G600 will go for $54.5 million.
On April 2, 2011, a Gulfstream 650 test crew perished while completing steps along that airplane’s road to certification under Title 14 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Part 25 (14 CFR 25). They had been hard at work, proving the aircraft could fly the very low takeoff safety speeds predicted by its designers.
The Challenger 300 is a tough act to follow. When it made its debut in late 2003, it instantly became a modern day and more affordable successor to the Gulfstream II, with plenty of thrust, a generously sized wing and sporty performance. Similar to the GII, it had transcontinental U.S. range, a flat floor, room for eight in a double club cabin, inflight baggage access and rock-solid reliability. If it had wide oval cabin windows and a heavy-iron price tag, people might have thought it was built in Savannah, Ga., rather than Montreal.
Two FADEC-equipped, 7,323-lb. thrust AS907-2-1A engines, marketed as HTF7350 turbofans, power the aircraft. Normal takeoff thrust is available to ISA+15C. APR increases the takeoff thrust flat-rating to ISA+20C.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of Challenger 350 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Designers attempt to give exceptional capabilities in all areas, including price, but the laws of physics, thermodynamics and aerodynamics do not allow one aircraft to do all missions with equal efficiency. Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design.
TSB investigators determined that the accident pilot was getting a briefing on the King Air’s instrumentation and avionics systems from the assisting pilot during the flight from Georgetown, Texas, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
RUAG Aviation has performed an avionics modification on an Airbus Helicopter AS350 B3e that provides significant advantages over the original avionics system, according to the company. Modifications include the integration of a Garmin G500H Electronic Flight Display and an L3 ESI-2000 Standby Indicator and a Garmin GTN650 Nav/Com Dual Installation. RUAG also installed an Avidyne TAS605 and a Cobham HeliSAS autopilot and a Freeflight RA4000 radar altimeter. Whelen LED strobe lights were installed on the fuselage.
The official unveiling of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW800 turbofan at this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention marked a sea change in the provision of engines for the world’s long-range business jets.
We look at the new features being introduced in the cockpit of Gulfstream's G600 and the Pratt & Whitney PW800 engine that will power the new ultra-long-range business jet.
Avinode’s Business Jet Charter Market Forecast is predicting the recovery of the U.S. market to continue in 2015, with a 3.5% increase in flights over 2014. All U.S. regions will see charter market growth next year, it predicts. The South will be strongest, with an increase in flight numbers of 4%, closely followed by the West, where volumes will grow by 3.6%. The Northeast will see a 3.3% increase in activity, while the Midwest will record growth of 2.5%.
Growth through acquisition is the current modus operandi among the larger FBO chains. Landmark Aviation’s recent FBO acquisitions also fill a void in its domestic and international network.
Wilson Air Center is doing a brisk business at its four U.S.-based FBOs, particularly at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (KCHA), where it is the sole FBO on site since TAC Air sold out in January 2014 to the Airport Authority for $12 million.
