Business & Commercial Aviation

This month we’ll take a quick look at the loss of a Learjet 35A (XA-USD) fatal to all four occupants on Nov. 19, 2013, when it crashed into the sea off the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, coast just 3 min. or so after takeoff.

Duncan Aviation has launched an electric logbook feature to myDuncan, a web-based project management system. The feature allows customers to view logbook entries in real-time and categorized by airframe or engine and communicate with inspectors through the system. Duncan, introduced in 2006, allows customers to monitor the progress of maintenance or upgrades through email alerts, job status reports and updates with hour and cost estimates.

Nearly two years after the last E-4B flew from Boeing’s Wichita, Kansas facility — along with Boeing — a new large aircraft completions center has opened inside the former Boeing hangar. Emerald Aerospace is leasing two of three large hangar bays where Boeing employees once performed modification and maintenance on commercial and military aircraft, including E-4Bs and VC-25s, or Air Force One — all military versions of the civilian 747. And as it grows, Emerald intends to lease the third hangar bay.

​ Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 8X ultra-long-range business jet is entering the final stages of its flight test and certification program as the company prepares for initial delivery. FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification of the trijet is expected by midyear, with entry-into-service by late summer, Dassault said. Three aircraft are in the flight test program, have flown more than 650 hr. in 325 flights and have nearly completed all certification test requirements. In the meantime, production and support activities are ramping up.

A new forecast by the FAA predicts that the number of turboprops, business jets and rotorcraft in the active general aviation fleet will increase over the next two decades, although the largest segment of the fleet, fixed-wing piston aircraft, is expected to shrink. The agency said the long-term outlook for general aviation is favorable, though the active fleet should increase by just 0.2% per year from 2015 to 2036.

The potential mainland Chinese business aircraft market is perhaps six times as large as the current fleet, research based on the buying and chartering capacity of the country’s rich people suggests. Already, 1,420 people in mainland China have the potential to own business aircraft, according to estimates gathered by luxury publisher and rich-list compiler Hurun Report and Minsheng Financial Leasing. The purchasing potential of those people is 1,750 aircraft, the companies say. In addition, 9,000 Chinese mainlanders could charter business aircraft.

Italy’s Tecnam has rolled out the P2012 Traveller, a piston twin aimed at meeting demand for a new small airliner to replace types such as the Cessna 402Cs operated by Cape Air. Capua-based Tecnam says Cape Air will be the launch customer for the new model, but adds that details of the Nantucket, Massachusetts airline’s commitment are confidential until the first flight, expected this summer. According to Tecnam, Cape Air has been involved in joint development of the 11-seat aircraft and members of its leadership team were present at the roll-out on April 1.

On April 14, the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) launched its 50,000th flight, carrying one-year-old cancer patient Baron Yerbe and his parents back to Atlanta after receiving his treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. Diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer, at three months of age, the little boy has been undergoing treatment available only at Sloan Kettering. The flight, conducted by NCR, flew from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Cobb County International Airport - McCollum Field.

Blackhawk Modifications in Waco, Texas, has appointed Wipaire’s Leesburg, Florida, facility as an authorized dealer and installation center for Blackhawk XP series engine upgrades. The facility recently completed the installation of Blackhawk’s newly FAA-certified engine upgrade, the 867-shp PT6A-140 engine upgrade for the Cessna Caravan.

Light jet charter operator JetSuite is adding 10 Embraer ERJ 135LR aircraft to its fleet of Embraer Phenom 100 and Cessna Citation CJ3 jets.The first of the 30-seat ERJ 135s has been delivered by Embraer, with the rest to follow by mid-2017. The aircraft will be available for booking, with charter flights beginning this month. The new jets can be chartered for $8,000 per hour plus sales tax, which equates to less than $300 hourly per seat for 30 passengers.

Gen. J. R. Jack Dailey, director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, took the wraps off a larger than life-size bronze statue of R. A. “Bob” Hoover at a private reception at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 2, 2016. “Bob Hoover has been an eye witness to the history of aviation. He’s the only pilot ever to taxi his (Aero Commander Shrike) airplane into this hangar. And that’s a record we intend to let stand forever,” Dailey said.

Teterboro Airport was the business aviation airport acukwik.com users searched the most during March 2016, according to a review of site traffic data. Paris Le Bourget Airport was the top airport outside North America. It was the eighth most search airport overall.

According to the 2016 Global Fleet & MRO Market Assessment released at a Capitol Hill briefing by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, the U.S. civil aviation maintenance industry — often an unseen part of the aviation industry — employs more than 270,000 people and generates $43.1 billion in economic activity. The March event was part of ARSA’s annual Legislative Day and headlined by House Aviation Subcommittee member Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).

BBA Aviation, the biggest U.S. operator of business jet service facilities, has sold six fixed base operations for $190 million to affiliates of KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm. The sale allows BBA Aviation to satisfy U.S. Department of Justice requirements for regulatory approval of the acquisition of its U.S. competitor, Landmark Aviation. BBA will use the proceeds from the sale of the FBOs to repay debt. In September 2015, BBA announced the deal to buy Landmark from the Carlyle Group for $2.1 billion, which doubles its size.

In early April, Bell Helicopter signed a letter of intent (LOI) with PT Whitesky Aviation of Indonesia for 30 Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopters. The aircraft will be used for air taxi operations throughout the nation which is made up of more than 14,000 islands.

The FAA has selected two unleaded aviation fuels for further testing as it works to develop an acceptable lead-free “drop-in” replacement for 100LL avgas. The new fuel formations for Phase 2 testing are from Shell and Swift Fuels. The test data will help the companies acquire an ASTM International Production Specification for the fuels. It also will eventually allow the FAA to authorize the existing general aviation fleet to use the unleaded replacement. Testing will begin this summer and conclude in 2018.

April 1st, Bombardier announced it had received a firm order for 20 Challenger 350 jets, but declined to identify the buyer “for competitive reasons.” Based on the 2016 list prices for standard-equipped aircraft, the firm order is valued at approximately US$534 million. David Coleal, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft, noted the popular model’s lead in the super midsize class, adding, “It’s simply one of the best business jets in the market.”

NTSB Decision Puzzling I just finished reading “Icing and Failed Equipment” (Cause & Circumstance, April 2016) and while I seldom disagree with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as their investigation depth is second to none, in this case I have to say that their probable cause decision is puzzling.

Executive AirShare is moving its headquarters to a 10,000-sq.-ft. facility in Lenexa, Kansas, to accommodate growing flight operations, sales, accounting and executive teams, the company said. Executive AirShare’s aircraft, pilots and maintenance teams for Executive AirShare and its subsidiary Executive Flight Services, an aircraft management and charter company, will continue to operate out of the Atlantic Aviation’s fixed base operations at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City. They employ nearly 200 workers, including 96 pilots.

As development of the Aerion AS2 continues, the highest priority is the engine. Co-chairman Brian Barents discusses with BCA's William Garvey the key factors involving the selection of an engine manufacturer.

Jet-A and Avgas Per Gallon Fuel Prices March 2016

Industrial grade anti-virus software that verifies data and application integrity at every boot is the hallmark of a top-notch systems supplier.

News of promotions, appointments and honors involving professionals within the business aviation community

Even though no spectators attending a British air show had been killed in more than a half century, the repercussions from the crash at the Shoreham Air Show appear to be formidable.

They are those convenient intellectual shortcuts we use to streamline our decision-making processes. Cognitive biases help us process information expeditiously when we're under pressure.