Jetcraft Corp., a major business aircraft broker with headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., has acquired the aircraft sales division of ExecuJet Aviation Group, of Zurich, Switzerland. The combined Jetcraft sales force comprises 20 senior sales executives, and another 20 sales, technical and marketing support staffers, located in offices worldwide. Chad Anderson remains president of Jetcraft and Andrew Hoy, formerly managing director of the ExecuJet group, will oversee sales in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
I enjoyed “Oh, for a Good Night's Sleep” (July 2013). I think that Part 91 should start to think about adhering to the Part 121 flight/rest limitations and requirements, especially now that we monitor ourselves through an SMS. I hate the fact that more regulation is required, but unfortunately there are too many flight departments nowadays that will operate “as ordered” by their manager or principal. This would at least give them something to hang their hat on.
Gulfstream Aerospace released its new PlaneBalance application, a weight and calculation tool. The app complements the company's PlaneBook iPad application. PlaneBalance is available from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore. Gulfstream's PlaneBook Software Version 2.0 must be downloaded onto the iPad prior to downloading PlaneBalance. For question or comments go to [email protected]
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., selected Dr. Brent Bowen as dean of the College of Aviation at the Prescott, Ariz., campus. He comes to ERAU from Purdue University, where he was professor and head of the Aviation Technology department.
AVIC International, which acquired Continental Motors from Teledyne in 2011, has now added bankrupt Thielert Aircraft Engines of Germany to its collection of general aviation businesses and is integrating their product lines. Going forward, Thielert's diesel power plants will be known as Continental Centurion engines, and Continental President Rhett Ross says the company could begin shipping units soon. Continental's product line will now include the Centurion 2.0 series of 135-hp and 155-hp Jet A engines, in addition to 4.0 series 350-hp engines.
Nextant Aerospace, Cleveland, appointed James Immke to vice president of Quality and Safety. He joined the company in 2010 and has over 20 years of quality and safety experience in highly regulated industries, including aerospace and defense.
B. Coleman Aviation will develop a new Chicago-based FBO and general aviation facility at Chicago-Gary International Airport. Features include more than 25,00 sq. ft. of terminal and hangar area, and a 12,500-sq.-ft. airside canopy large enough to provide year round shelter for a Gulfstream V or Bombardier Global Express aircraft. Completion is scheduled for spring 2014.
Turbine business aircraft are so reliable, passengers are so predict–able and ATC services are so dependable that it's easy to slip into a cozy cocoon within which you're completely isolated from possible weather, mechanical, operational or physiological contingencies. In reality, though, “what if” contingencies pop up with alarming regularity. Some result in fatal consequences.
Hangar Ten Aviation Services is expanding its complex at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City (MKC) with a new 11,000-sq.-ft. multi-use hangar. The new facility, which will join Hangar Ten's existing 55,000-sq.-ft. hangar, will house aircraft the size of a Citation X, along with adjoining offices. Hangar Ten expaned because it has seen an increase in transient traffic fuel volume over the past three years.
The long economic downturn notwithstanding, PlaneSense, the Pilatus PC-12 fractional aircraft operation, is still putting up some strong numbers. Since beginning operations with a single aircraft in September 1995, the company — which now operates a fleet of 30 Pilatus singles — has completed 200,000 sorties into 1,140 different strips ranging in length from 1900 ft. to 10,000 ft. In 2012, its on-time departure record (excluding weather, passenger or ATC delays) was 99.5% and its busiest day ever was July 7, 2013, when it logged 156 sorties, a record that stood until Aug.
Commuter Air Technology, Inc., (CAT), Midwest City, Okla., appointed Juan “Johnny A” Alverez as director of Special Operation Forces and Latin America Business Development responsible for procurement and management of active commercial and para-public aviation, training, integration and ISR projects.
A corporate and VIP edition of Russia's Mi-171 helicopter has been certificated. Russian Helicopters received the certificate at the MAKS show in Moscow yesterday.
LONDON — U.K. air crash investigators have salvaged the voice and flight data recorder from a CHC-operated Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma that crashed near the Shetland Islands on Aug. 23. Investigators have been using sonar to try to locate the recorder, housed in the tail boom section of the aircraft, which crashed on approach to Sumburgh airport while returning from the drilling platform Borgsten Dolphin on behalf of oil company Total.
The FAA is closing in on its goal of drastically decreasing the amount of time it takes to analyze the impact of various types of damage and maintenance actions when it comes to predicting the life of aircraft safety-critical structural components.
Russian Helicopters has achieved civil certification of its Kazan Ansat twin-engine medium helicopter. Kazan initially designed the Ansat with fly-by-wire controls, but the company struggled to have the aircraft certified for civil use, so instead it developed a new version with hydro-mechanical controls. The new version was awarded type certification from the Aviation Register of the Interstate Aviation Committee (AR IAC) at the MAKS air show near Moscow on Aug. 28.
The FAA’s updated policy on cabin workplace safety—opposed by most commercial operators—is even broader than many lined up against it feared, information released by the agency shows. The policy, which replaces a 1975 notice and is effective Sept. 26, requires operators to apply Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards in three areas—hazardous chemical communications, exposure to blood-borne pathogens, and a hearing conservation program—to aircraft cabins.
LONDON — All three North Sea oil and gas helicopter operators have halted operations of the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter as investigators begin their probe into why a CHC-operated Super Puma ditched into the sea just minutes before its planned landing in the Shetland Islands, resulting in the deaths of four passengers.
All three North Sea oil and gas helicopter operators have halted operations of the AS332L2 Super Puma helicopter as investigators begin their probe into why a CHC-operated Super Puma ditched into the sea just minutes before its planned landing in the Shetland Islands, resulting in the deaths of four passengers.
Autonomy and low-carbon propulsion are two areas likely to receive greater emphasis at NASA as it embarks upon its new strategy for aeronautics research. The new strategy aligns civil aeronautics research under six thrusts: safe, efficient growth in operations, low-boom supersonic and ultra-efficient subsonic commercial aircraft, low-carbon propulsion, real-time system-wide safety assurance and assured autonomy.
Mexican carrier Interjet has formally unveiled its first Sukhoi Superjet 100, one of two Russian regional jets it plans to place into domestic service next month. The carrier during an unveiling ceremony late last week at its maintenance hangar in Toluca, Mexico, said the SSJ100 will allow it to greatly expand connectivity in the Mexican domestic market.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is bringing in a seasoned business executive who has a background managing large companies to serve as its next president. Mark Baker, a long-time general aviation pilot and AOPA member since 1987, is stepping down from his role as CEO of San Jose-based Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corporation, to become the fifth president of AOPA.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. intends to display a VIP version of the SSJ100 this week at MAKS 2013, an early production airframe initially planned for Armavia that now carries the logo of Rosoboronexport, Russia’s government-owned arms trade monopoly. Sukhoi representatives tell Aviation Week the aircraft will be delivered in the next few months, but stressed that it is not the Sukhoi Business Jet variant that is expected to be ready as early as 2015.
FAA released its final policy putting in place permanent procedures for aircraft owners seeking to block their registration information from near-real-time flight-tracking programs. The policy comes about 20 months after the agency restored the program, formerly known as the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR), on an interim basis at the direction of Congress.
