Honeywell and Astro-Med have signed a long-term agreement to make the Astro-Med ToughWriter 5 cockpit printer available for Primus Epic and other Honeywell business aviation and regional air transport cockpits. The compact, 7.3-in.-deep printer is more than 5-lb. lighter than current non-Honeywell printers installed in Primus Epic cockpits.
Diehl Aerosystems reports that two of its business units have been awarded Bombardier contracts for cabin interior products for Global 7000 and Global 8000 business aircraft. The work package covers cabin peripheries — including the baggage compartments — with high-end surface treatments and optimized acoustic behavior (Diehl Aircabin). The company is to provide all-LED cabin mood lighting. The contracts are a major success for Diehl in business jets, as they are “the first combined approach with both cabin interiors and cabin lighting products” in the segment.
Renovations of the Jet Centre at London City Airport (LCY) are now complete and a Border Force officer installed thereby supporting the facility's pledge to whisk business aircraft passengers from plane to car within 60 seconds. The airport-owned FBO now features an improved reception area, large passenger lounge, private meeting room, ground floor crew rest area and security screening area, as well as the border checking station.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., announced the Greg Arend was promoted to director, Commercial Programs for FSI's simulation design, manufacture and support facility in Tulsa, Okla. He will be responsible for delivery of all new training devices, as well as the relocation and modification of existing equipment. George Brady has been promoted to director, Product Support and Simulator Operations.
BlackJet's app is available now in the iTunes App store. Members can book a seat on a private jet from their smartphone in seconds, according to BlackJet. The company's technology enables instant private jet seat booking and real time confirmations. The seat service is currently available in San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles and South Florida, with service to Chicago, Washington, D.C., Boston and Dallas, with Seattle coming soon. You must be a BlackJet member to use the service.
At its Peebles Training Operation in Ohio, GE Aviation has begun certification testing of its 16,500-lb.-thrust Passport engine for the Bombardier Global 7000/8000 series of executive jets. An initial run of more than 3 hr. reached 18,000 lb. of standard-day, sea-level takeoff thrust. Testing is to include 4,000 ground hours and 8,000 cycles and will involve eight engines and one core, leading to flight tests next year and certification planned for 2015.
$450,000 and 80—the amount the Experimental Aircraft Association will pay—under protest—to FAA to cover the expenses of the four-score additional controllers and supervisors required to manage traffic at the July 29-Aug. 4 AirVenture gathering in Oshkosh, Wis., during which 8,000-10,000 aircraft are expected to alight and depart. This is the first time the agency has charged for the service.
The Eureka! moment of its creation came during a sit-down at a barbeque restaurant in Denison, Texas, back in 1991. As things turned out, there must have been magic wafting from the Jones Family BBQ firebox, because one of business aviation's greatest successes was served up that day along with the brisket, ribs and pulled pork.
SIKORSKY Model S-65E helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0454; Directorate Identifier 2009-SW-081-AD] – proposes to supersede an AD that currently requires inspecting and reworking the main gearbox (MGB) assembly second stage lower planetary plate. This action would establish or reduce the life limits for certain flight-critical components, remove from service various parts, require repetitive inspections and other corrective actions, and require replacing any cracked part discovered during an inspection.
ART DAWLEY was named managing director of Wyvern Consulting. Dawley has more than 25 years of business aviation experience, serving as a corporate pilot, aviation department manager and most recently, a member of Wyvern’s audit team. He also has owned and operated a charter and maintenance business in Latin American since 2004.
While the light-jet market malaise continues to linger, Bombardier believes the market will return to its prior peak levels by 2016 and is maintaining a forecast of 24,000 deliveries valued at $650 billion through 2032. That is nearly the same 20-year outlook the Canada-based company gave a year ago, even though it had predicted the beginnings of a pickup in deliveries in 2013.
Cobham has received an AUD$7 million one-year contract extension from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service to provide maritime surveillance services through June 2014 using two Reims F406 Caravan II twin turboprops. The aircraft, equipped with surveillance radar and satellite communications, fly 2,000 hr. of maritime patrol missions each year. The Australian Border Protection operation is the largest civil surveillance operation in the world, which Cobham has supported since 1995.
July 11—National Business Aviation Association, Business Aviation Regional Forum, Denver, Colo., (703) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org July 29-Aug. 4—2013 EAA Airventure Oshkosh, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org Aug. 12-13—Aircraft Electronics Association Regional Meeting, Sao Paulo, Brazil, www.aea.net/events.asp Aug. 27-28—Aircraft Electronics Association Regional Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, www.aea.net/events.asp
Rockwell Collins is providing traffic alert and collision avoidance (TCAS II) systems for Bristow Group’s fleet of 44 helicopters, including Sikorsky S-76 C++ and S-92A helicopters. Retrofit of the Rockwell Collins TTR-4000 TCAS II systems aboard 24 Bristow helicopters is under way. Rockwell Collins will install its TTR-4100, which adds traffic computer capability and enables automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast applications on the remaining 20 helicopters within the next year.
Kaman Aerospace Group’s Aerosystems division was select to produce fixed leading edge (FLE) assemblies for Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000 wings. Kaman will be under subcontract to Vought Aircraft Division (Triumph), which is responsible for the design and manufacture of the wings. Triumph issued an advanced procurement authorization to Kaman while contract details are finalized. Kaman will produce the FLE assemblies at its facilities in Jacksonville, Fla., and Chihuahua, Mexico. The Global 7000 is expected to enter service in 2016, followed by the Global 8000 in 2017.
GKN Aerospace has signed a long-term agreement with Snecma to manufacture low-pressure turbine (LPT) cases for its new Silvercrest large/long-range business jet engine. First deliveries of cases to Snecma in Villaroche, France, will take place this month, ramping up as the engine is introduced into service through 2016. GKN Aerospace is a risk- and revenue-sharing partner with Snecma in the CFM56 program and has been the sole supplier of LPT cases for the CFM56 since 1986.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-215-1A10 and CL-215-6B11 (CL-215T Variant) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0426; Directorate Identifier 2013-NM-084-AD; Amendment 39-17463; AD 2013-11-03] – requires repetitive detailed inspections for cracking of the left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) wing lower skin, and repair if necessary. This AD also provides terminating action for the repetitive detailed inspections. This AD was prompted by reports of a fractured wing lower rear spar cap and reinforcing strap.
Bombardier recently commemorated two milestones: the deliveries of the 500th Global long-range business jet and the 400th Challenger 300 super-midsize jet. The 500th Global business jet, a Global 6000, will enter service with French company Groupe Bollore. The 400th Challenger 300, meanwhile, will be operated by BJet, which also operates a Global 5000, Global 6000, Challenger 605, Challenger 850 and Learjet 60 aircraft.
Pilatus Aircraft opted for a clean-sheet design of its new PC-24 business jet after ruling out the Grob SPn-180, says Chairman Oscar Schwenk. During the preliminary design phase, Schwenk says that Pilatus was invited by the German government to bid on the SPn-180 program from bankrupt Grob. He was tempted because he says he has great respect for Dr. Burkhart Grob as an engineer. “I put 40 top people to work for three weeks studying the program. But Grob never built a production conforming prototype. There was no configuration control.
Icon Aircraft, the developer of the amphibious light-sport A5 aircraft, is moving forward to ramp up full-scale production with $60 million in new equity funding led by a Chinese investor. The latest investment is the company’s fourth and final round, which Icon says will be enough to demonstrate regulatory compliance, to ramp up production and to begin work on the next aircraft in the model line.
Voldirect SAS, a Rennes, France-based carrier, received air operator’s certificate approval to provide commercial service using the Daher-Socata TBM 850 in instrument meteorological conditions – marking the first such European approval. The European Commission recently signed off on single-engine IMC commercial operations, and the European Aviation Safety Agency is developing rules to recognize the operations, which are already cleared in Canada and the U.S.
JOHAN MOBERG was appointed safety auditor for Wyvern Consulting. Moberg has experience in offshore oil, gas and petroleum helicopter operations with more than 8,000 hr. of flight time. He has experience in the West African and Middle East regions. He also is type rated in Gulfstream, Learjet and Sabreliner aircraft.
PIAGGIO Model P-180 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0472; Directorate Identifier 98-CE-097-AD] – proposes to rescind an AD that would required inspections and corrective actions on the nacelles. The existing AD resulted from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) from the European Aviation Safety Agency that cited reports of a partial detachment of the inner protective film of the composite nacelles. Since FAA issued that AD, the agency has determined that the unsafe condition does not exist or is not likely to develop on affected type design airplanes.
