GULFSTREAM GV and GV-SP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-1313; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-080-AD; Amendment 39-17651; AD 2013-22-19] – requires inspecting to determine if fuel boost pumps having a certain part number are installed, replacing the fuel boost pumps having a certain part number, and revising the airplane maintenance program to include revised instructions for continued airworthiness.
Cessna is within days of receiving certification and beginning delivery of its new Citation Sovereign midsize and M2 light business jets, but the new Citation X may still be a number of months away. Cessna is working at a “feverish pace” to wrap up the certification programs for the M2 and Sovereign by year’s end, a goal that Brad Thress, senior vice president-business jets for Cessna believes will be accomplished.
In a move that would mark a major consolidation within the U.S. general aviation manufacturing industry, Cessna Aircraft parent Textron is reportedly buying Beechcraft for nearly $1.4 billion. The Financial Times on Dec. 20 reported the sale.
KEVIN BRINK was named sales director, North American sales, Northwest for Gulfstream Aerospace. Based in Oregon, Brink will be responsible for sales in Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada, eastern Oregon, Saskatchewan and Washington. He is based in Lake Oswego, Ore. He joins Gulfstream from Dassault Falcon, where he was responsible for sales in western Canada and the Pacific Northwest.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS350B, BA, B1, B2, B3, D, AS355E, F, F1, F2, and N helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0354; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-072-AD; Amendment 39-17665; AD 2013-23-10] – supersedes AD 2010- 21-01, which required an inspection to determine whether a cross-member is installed at station X 2165 and doublers at X 2325 and Y 269, and installing them if they are missing.
SOCATA Model TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-1019; Directorate Identifier 2013-CE-038-AD] – proposes to require a one-time inspection of the landing gear actuators piston/rod and ball joint centering and, depending on findings, accomplishment of applicable corrective actions. The AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information from the European Aviation Safety Agency that cites a report that during a maintenance check, possible unscrewing of rod and piston during operation was detected on a landing gear actuator.
Because of the holiday schedule, The Weekly of Business Aviation will not publish a Dec. 30 edition. The next issue will be dated Jan. 6. Please refer to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network (subscribers only) or AviationWeek.com for additional coverage. And, please accept our best wishes for a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Citing safety justification and cost concerns, industry groups are reiterating their call for FAA to shelve its proposed airworthiness directive (AD) to require inspections and replacements of Engine Components Inc. (ECi) and Airmotive Engineering “Titan” cylinders found on 6,000 Continental 520 and 550 model reciprocating engines.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS332L2 and EC225LP helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0487; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-056-AD; Amendment 39-17666; AD 2013-23-11] – requires inspecting the torque value of the bolts that secure the front and rear main gearbox (MGB) suspension bar attaching fittings, and re-torqueing the bolts to the proper value if the torque value is out of tolerance. This AD also requires, if the torque value is out of tolerance by more than 20%, inspecting the bolts, frames, and related equipment for a crack and repairing or replacing them if cracked.
Avflight has increased its chain of fixed-base operations with the acquisition of the fueling and services assets of America Jet at Salina Regional Airport. Avflight will provide the serves out of the existing FBO facilities at the airport. An Avfuel-branded dealer, Avflight operates at eight other locations, including Detroit (DET), Flint (FNT), Lansing (LAN), Saginaw (MBS), and Ypsilanti, Mich. (YIP), along with Durango, Colo. (DRO), Harrisburg, Pa. (MDT) and Roswell, N.M. (ROW).
Eurocopter is requesting operators of all EC135s twin-engine light helicopters to carry out checks on the type’s fuel supply tanks and fuel monitoring systems. The move follows the recent short-term grounding of the U.K.-based fleet of EC135s operated by Bond Air Services after a series of what have been described as “supply-tank fuel-gauging errors on some aircraft.”
Signature Flight Support won San Jose City Council approval for its planned $82 million fixed-base operation complex at Norm Mineta San Jose International Airport. The approval included a 50-year lease and operating agreement to build and operate the FBO on 29 acres on the west side of the airport. The city council in April formally approved Signature’s bid to develop the project. Signature teamed with Blue City Holdings, a San Jose company representing the personal aircraft of the principals at Google, on the project.
Embraer last week celebrated the delivery of the 1,300th Ipanema agricultural airplane. In production for more than 40 years, Embraer says sales remain solid for the aircraft. The company sold 66 Ipanemas to customers in Brazil and the Mercosur community in 2012, a 12% increase over the previous year. Shipments are expected to grow to 70 this year. The 1,300th aircraft went to Brazilian operator Fort Aviaco Agricola, which has accepted eight of the aircraft since 2007, when it was founded.
Keith Plumb, president and COO of regional fractional ownership provider Executive AirShare, is adding the title of CEO effective Jan. 1. Plumb is succeeding Bob Taylor as part of a succession plan that began in early 2013. Taylor, who has been chairman and CEO, will become chairman emeritus, focused on various sales and business development projects in Kansas City and Wichita, and will remain active with the board.
HondaJet received type inspection authorization (TIA) for its HondaJet, clearing the way for FAA to begin certification flight tests. The TIA award follows the certification of the GE Honda HF120 turbofan powering the new light jet. Honda President and CEO Michimasa Fujino calls the TIA a “significant step toward type certification … We are now ready to begin the final stage of certification flight testing.” Honda expects certification for the HondaJet in 2014.
FAA is holding off on its plan to require pilots and controllers with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more to undergo obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screening, a move widely welcomed by aviation industry groups last week.
Avic has launched full-scale development of its MA700 78-seat turboprop airliner, aiming at a first flight in 2016 and first delivery in 2019. New details show the MA700’s cabin width has shrunk during pre-development. Adoption of a narrower fuselage and shorter wingspan than previously planned partly explain a reduction in what already looked like an aggressive weight target. Avic will choose an engine supplier within a few months, MA700 designer Dong Jianhong tells Aviation Week. Bids were due in June.
Industry leaders remain hopeful that the long overdue repair station security rule will finally shake free from its White House review in the next few weeks, but they are still calling on newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to make sure that happens.
Business aviation's most unique aircraft, both Italian, are progressing despite setbacks worthy of operatic treatment. After years of togetherness, the Bell/Agusta 609 was in 2011 spurned by its U.S. partner, whose commitment seemed to range from indifferent to obstreperous, casting further doubt on the long-delayed civil tiltrotor's future. In case you've lost track, the BA609 project began in the late 1990s with deliveries to begin in 2002. Needless to say, that deadline was missed, as has almost every one since.
Industry trade groups are urging the FAA to put the brakes on a well-intended guidance-streamlining effort that would result in mass cancellation of official agency interpretations that are not housed in one of three online repositories. The FAA’s move, outlined in a Dec. 3 memorandum from Flight Standards Service (FSS) Director John Duncan to all FSS employees, would cancel any guidance not found in the Flight Standards Information System, the Regulatory and Guidance Library, “or elsewhere on www.faa.gov,” effective January 14, 2014.
Global demand for agricultural aircraft is boosting sales, with Embraer forecasting an increase in Ipanema deliveries this year as it hands over its 1,300th aircraft to Rio Verde, Brazil-based Fort Aviacao Agricola. The Brazilian manufacturer expects to deliver 70 Ipanemas this year, up from 66 in 2012 and 58 a year earlier. The single-engine aircraft has been in production for more than 40 years.
