While the budget deal that passed the House last week would double passenger security fees to $5 this year and then to $5.60 in fiscal 2015, proposals floated recently to lengthen business aircraft depreciation schedules were left out of the package. Democrats in both the House and Senate in recent weeks have expressed a desire to close “tax loopholes,” such as the five-year business aircraft depreciation schedule. The budget deal must still pass the Senate, where it may run into more opposition.
Inmarsat’s first Global Xpress satellite successfully launched Dec. 8 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Proton Breeze M rocket. Inmarsat expects the Global Xpress constellation to comprise three satellites by the end of 2014, enabling Inmarsat to provide seamless global Ka-band coverage under the GX Aviation brand. The satellites are built by Boeing Satellite Systems International.
Wheels Up, the recently established and rapidly growing private membership and aviation services company, is teaming with Cessna’s CitationAir operation to offer flights on Cessna Citation Excel and Sovereign jets.
KELLY ALLENDER was appointed manager of FlightSafety International’s learning center in Dallas. Allender joined FlightSafety in 2001, serving in the company’s Cessna facility in Wichita. There he served as assistant manager, director of programs, program manager for Cessna Citation Mustang training, and ground and simulator instructor. He most recently was manager of the company’s facility in Tucson, Ariz.
The Drug Enforcement Agency is investigating a Florida executive jet company for its alleged role in aiding drug traffickers in South America, Africa and Mexico.
Beechcraft is nearing completion of the sale of its shuttered Hawker 4000 and Premier aircraft lines along with tooling and associated facilities. The company has long maintained that it had hoped to close on the sale of those programs by year’s end, and confirms that it is still on track this month.
ERICKSON AIR-CRANE (type certificate previously held by Sikorsky) Model S-65E helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0556; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-30-AD; Amendment 39-17662; AD 2013-23-07] – supersedes an existing AD that required checks of the main rotor blades for a crack. This new AD retains the actions required by AD 90-26-12, reflects that the type certificate (TC) for this model helicopter has been transferred to Erickson Air-Crane, and expands the applicability to include the similar Erickson Model S-64F helicopters.
The General Electric Honda HF120 engine for the HA-420 HondaJet light business aircraft has received FAA Part 33 engine certification, clearing the way for the start of full-scale production.
PIAGGIO Model P-180 [Docket No. FAA-2013-0964; Directorate Identifier 2013-CE-035-AD] – proposes to require accomplishment of a one-time measurement of the actual clearance between the elevator horn and the horizontal stabilizer tip rib, and depending on findings, restoration of the required minimum clearance value.
Air Tractor signed an agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada covering the acquisition of PT6A-15AG, -34AG, -60AG, -65AG, -67AG and -67F engines. Pratt & Whitney engines have powered Air Tractor aircraft since 1979, beginning with the AT-400. Since then, more than 2,100 PT-6 engines have been installed on Air Tractor aircraft. The agriculture market accounts for nearly one-quarter of PT6A deliveries. Separately, Air Tractor announced a new airframe and engine warranty policy.
BETH MCCLURG was appointed director of real estate for Gulfstream Aerospace. McClurg will be responsible for Gulfstream’s development and construction projects, lease transactions and property acquisitions worldwide. She will develop and execute a long-range strategic real estate plan. She was previously vice president of corporate real estate for Capital One in McLean, Va., and has also served as vice president of corporate real estate for NCR Corp. in Duluth, Ga.
The 11th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards, scheduled Jan. 17, will honor FedEx founder and CEO Frederick Smith with the Legends Lifetime Aviation Entrepreneur Award. Bruce Whitman, chairman and CEO of FlightSafety International, was selected as the recipient of the Lifetime Aviation Industry Award. Also being recognized are Major Gen. Patrick Brady, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, with the Freedom of Flight Award, and Col. Bud Day, posthumously, will be honored with a Bob Hoover medallion.
Despite growing opposition and a bill pending in Congress, the Federal Air Surgeon is staying on course with his plan to require pilots and controllers with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 40 to undergo testing for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and seek treatment, if necessary.
AGUSTAWESTLAND Model A109C, A109E, A109K2, and A119 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0943; Directorate Identifier 2013-SW-001-AD] – proposes to require recurring visual inspections of the tail rotor (T/R) blade retaining bolts (bolts) for a crack, corrosion, damage, or missing cadmium plating in the central part of the bolt. If a crack is not detected by the initial visual inspection, then this proposed AD would require a liquid penetrant inspection. Replacing a cracked or damaged bolt would be required before further flight.
RANDY ANNETT was promoted to manager of FlightSafety International’s learning center in Tucson, Ariz. Annett joined FlightSafety in 2011 at the Hawker Beechcraft training facility in Wichita, and served as instructor, program manager and assistant director of training there. Most recently he was assistant manager of FlightSafety’s Cessna learning center, also in Wichita. He formerly served as a pilot for Air Wisconsin Airlines and TMC Transportation.
Spirit AeroSystems is “deep” into the process of selling its Tulsa, Okla. production facility, a move that should mean significant bottom-line improvement as the supplier shifts focus to growing airliner programs and tackles issues uncovered in a sweeping strategic review, say analysts at Canaccord Genuity.
Business aviation groups are encouraging the Department of Transportation to establish a registry for air charter brokers as part of a larger regulation to improve air charter consumer protections.
FAA is advising operators of various Hawker 750s, 800s, 900s and 1000s to check the aircraft aileron and aileron tab assemblies for potential problems that could cause oscillations at high altitudes. The agency issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) in late November encouraging the checks, saying it had received reports of wing/aileron oscillations from operators of Hawker 800XP and 850XP airplanes at altitudes above 33,000 ft. and at speeds of more than 0.73 Mach.
