Business & Commercial Aviation

In early May, Pratt & Whitney Canada completed production of its 100,000th engine, and of that total 60,000 remain in service operated by 12,300 customers in more than 200 countries and territories.

The medium and light business jet resale markets began 2017 with two of the best first quarters in the past 10 years, according to a report by market research company Amstat.

Falcon Aviation has opened a VIP Heliport at its new Dubai South VIP Terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport in the UAE. The heliport will be run and managed by Falcon Aviation personnel and will be available to those arriving in business jets at the terminal.

On June 24, 2006, a private pilot was receiving flight instruction in a Pilatus PC-12/47 at Big Timber, Montana's uncontrolled airport. Conditions for the departure from Runway 6 included winds at 17 kt. gusting to 23 kt. Witnesses said that the pilot had transmitted on CTAF with the intention of practicing a loss of engine power after takeoff, and turning 180 deg. to return to the airport. He and his instructor never made it back.

A highly experienced Mexican crew with newly minted Bombardier Challenger type ratings attempted an approach into one of business aviation's toughest airports with adverse winds on Jan. 5, 2014. The result was tragic.

Will supersonic business jets be streaking across oceans in the near future? No less an entity than Rolls-Royce is cautiously optimistic about the prospects and is actively studying a new generation of potential engine designs to power it.

Jet Aviation has signed an FBO management agreement with Pazos FBO at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico. It is the only FBO in Puerto Rico with a full-service on-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection terminal for customs, immigration and agriculture processing of international flights.

Boeing Business Jets and GKN Aerospace are offering a new window on the world at 41,000 ft., one that Boeing claims is the largest available on any passenger jet today.

Completions specialist Flying Colours Corp. has delivered the first three Bombardier CRJ200 ex-airliner-to-VIP conversions for Chinese luxury company Sparkle Roll's SR Jet, and will deliver three more by year-end.

Business aviation flight activity increased globally during the first quarter of 2017 compared to the last three months of 2016. In fact, it was the highest utilization of aircraft for any first quarter since 2008, according to Jet Support Services Inc., a provider of maintenance support and financial services.

Duncan Aviation has released a new edition of its Business Jet Model/Market Summary, an initial introduction and overview of market conditions.

Shenzhen, China-based Amber Aviation has launched its business jet management services. The company was founded by Chairman Chang Qiu Sheng. It will also have an office in Hong Kong.

Sometimes you come upon a physical construct of such wrongheadedness that the natural question is: What were they thinking?

Questions for Shawn Vick, CEO of Global Jet Capital Inc., Boca Raton, Florida.

Selected accidents and incidents in April 2017. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

CVR Recording for Challenger N115WF: Shortly past noon on Jan. 5, 2014, a Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger crashed during a landing attempt on Runway 15 at Colorado's Aspen-Pitkin County Airport/Sardy Field (ASE). The information below, from the NTSB report, is a record of what went on in the cockpit as the approach became unstabilized and the flight came to grief.

AirspaceX, a new company set up by design house Detroit Aircraft, is developing a tail-sitting electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft that can carry modular payloads, including a four-seat passenger cabin for air taxi operations.

Last November, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) cooperatively launched the first of three GEOS-16 weather and environment satellites, which collectively promise to greatly improve weather prediction and enhance aviation safety.

Compare Jet-A and avgas fuel prices by U.S. region based on a survey conducted in May 2017 by Aviation Research Group/U.S. Inc. and an analysis of the lowest fuel prices reported by FBOs on acukwik.com

Wingly, an internet-based private-pilot ride-sharing service, a concept ruled as a violation of air regulations by the FAA—a position upheld in federal court—is operating in the UK, France and Germany.

The fourth Cessna Citation Longitude test aircraft has joined the flight-test program. The aircraft is expected to receive FAA type certification later this year. The fourth Longitude flew for the first time on May 6.

ForeFlight, one of the aviation industry's leading providers of mobile electronic flight bag applications, and Jeppesen, a global powerhouse in aeronautical data, are teaming up to offer a broad range of products to business and general aviation, military and airline customers.

Uber announces partnerships with vehicle developers and infrastructure providers to support its planned electric vertical takeoff and landing flight demonstrations in Dallas and Dubai in 2020.

Rolls-Royce is developing a new generation of business aviation powerplants, for which the first full-up fan demonstrator is expected to run later this year. The ramp-up of work on the technology demonstrator, dubbed Advance2, signals a new phase for the manufacturer, which heretofore had revealed few details of its future business aviation family initiative. Covering the 10,000- to 20,000-lb. thrust range, the plan is to develop three Advance2 demonstrators with two different core sizes and three different low-pressure systems.

Vision Systems, through its new division Smart Lite, introduced the second-generation Electronically Dimmable Window, the Nuance V2 and the latest version of its smart interactive window, Acti-Vision Window adapted to business aviation.