Although Boeing does not market used BBJs, it has decided it is in the best interests of operators, potential buyers and the company to help facilitate the process and, further, to help establish fixed maintenance costs for those considering a pre-owned BBJ.
The fully paperless cockpit is becoming a reality with the advent of FAA-certifiable tablet computers that may be used as Class 1 electronic flight bags in accordance with Advisory Circular 120-76C. Garmin, among other avionics manufacturers, is developing wireless interfaces between tablet computers and avionics systems. Garmin’s link between the G5000 and tablet computers running Garmin Pilot software is the $1,500 Flight Stream 510 SD card that has both internal Bluetooth and Wi-Fi transceiver chips.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
The FAA officially awarded Cirrus Aircraft its type certificate for the $1.96 million, 300-kt. single-engine turbofan SF50 Vision Jet at the National Business Aviation Association annual convention. The approval comes after an intensive four-year development program. The Vision Jet is powered by a 1,840-lb.-thrust Williams International FJ33-5A, and features a Perspective Touch flight deck powered by Garmin G3000 avionics.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Florida, celebrated its 50th anniversary in October. Its 21,000 graduates have flown for 62 airlines and over 100 corporate flight departments around the world. It employs 160 people and owns nearly 90 aircraft. Its campus also includes classrooms, flight training devices, an Air Traffic Control communications laboratory and on-site accommodations for 300 students.
Performance-based navigation promises to make air traffic management more efficient than ever before . . . but what does this mean for business aviation?
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Jeppesen has launched Operator, a cloud-based business aviation platform that integrates flight planning, runway performance and weight and balance calculations, crew scheduling, accounting, pricing, regulatory compliance and trip checklists, among other things. BoldIQ, the fleet optimization and management program that evolved from the failed DayJet operation is intrinsic to the new Jepp service.
Since its introduction nearly a half-century ago, the Boeing 737 has proven to be the most popular civilian jet ever, with more than 9,000 delivered to date. And the manufacturer is moving to increase its production rate to more than 50 per month, easily the highest in its history. New models and variants — notably including the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft — are in production and with thousands on back order, the 737 will be a significant presence for a long time to come.
Soon, everything will be connected on the internet. It has become clear that business pilots, flight attendants, and maintenance and operations personnel will increasingly rely on their aircraft's avionics and communications capabilities—usually via satcom—for many other applications.
Between November 2015 and October 2016, Teterboro Airport was the most requested departure and destination airport for brokers and travelers shopping for charter flights with the Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder.
Bombardier’s new Global 7000 made its maiden flight Nov. 4 in Toronto. First delivery is expected in the second half of 2018. The OEM provided this promotional video touting the first flight milestone. Courtesy: Bombardier Business Aircraft
Fred George, Business & Commercial Aviation’s Aircraft Evaluation Editor, shows us the features and performance of the Gulfstream G500 as he takes us up on its 66th test flight.
Despite the seemingly glacial-pace of air traffic management evolution, the FAA has begun upgrading its services and capabilities, including controller-pilot data link communications to help make the flow of traffic safer and more efficient.
While Honeywell Aerospace's forward view is firmly fixed on the super-midsize business jet market, the Phoenix-based OEM continues to produce its stable of smaller turbine engines.
Going behind the scenes to see how much work is involved in creating an avionics product and bringing it to market gives one an appreciation and respect for the work of the designers, engineers and technicians who make this happen.
Many of the checklists designed for business aircraft are lengthy, especially when addressing critical phases of flight, and they can increase a pilot's workload, thereby detracting from the primary task of managing the aircraft's trajectory. The challenge becomes compounded whenever the list is temporarily halted for whatever reason.
The director of maintenance of a large U.S. charter/management company with experience with HTF7000 turbofans half jokes that, while the engine runs well, you do not want to borescope it.
According to Honeywell, there are 700 HTF7000-powered aircraft in service with 1,400 engines that have collectively logged more than 2.6 million hours.
The enduring innovation of Universal Avionics products is closely tied to its core characteristics of designed by pilots, and built by pilots for pilots.
The turbofan for the USAF Fairchild-Republic T-46 advanced trainer was rated at 1,330 lb. thrust and was assigned the designation F109. But the program was canceled after the first 28 F109s were delivered.
Rick Stoulil, chief pilot for Hormel Foods Corp., says: "The way the HTF7000 is set up, it works great. It is equipped with autothrottles and is very responsive [on spool-up] with very little lag. And it's really fuel efficient.
Universal Avionics' InSight Integrated Flight Deck system allowed the writer to instantly form a mental image of our proximity to terrain and obstacles.
