Business & Commercial Aviation

Most maintenance technicians appreciate the value of monotony. We enjoy a day with no surprises. Unfortunately, those are far and few between. Over time, as we become familiar with both our aircraft and its OEM support network, we gain confidence in knowing what to do, and where to find help when problems arise. That assurance helps one cope with the inevitable crises that are sure to come.

Mason Holland, Chairman of the Board, ONE Aviation, Charleston, S. Car., discusses the Eclipse 550 and Kestrel Aircraft development and what CEO Alan Klapmeier brings to the organization.

Mooney International revealed its new M10 design to the U.S. market with a full-scale mockup at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. The M10 J and T model aircraft were unveiled in November at the Zhuhai Airshow. Mooney is in its final construction phase of a proof-of-concept flight-test aircraft scheduled to fly later this year. This follows the preliminary type certification board meeting between Mooney and the Los Angeles FAA-ACO in February.

The Pilatus PC-24 took off on its maiden flight on May 11 from Buochs Airport. Just under 1,800 Pilatus staff, all of whom are directly or indirectly involved in the PC-24 project, were there to applaud the business jet as it taxied for takeoff. Prototype P01, (HB-VXA), flew across central Switzerland for a total of 55 min. The twin-engine business jet took off from Runway 7 in just under 600 meters and climbed to 10,000 ft. (approximately 3000 meters) in about 3 min. where the two pilots completed a series of planned tests.

This excerpt from the CVR recording seems to demonstrate that power-up and acceleration was normal until 80 kt. and V1. At that point, comments are heard about “. . . lock is on,” and “can’t stop.” The FDR shows no indication of a stop-to-stop control check anytime from engine start to takeoff roll.

Private jet service business VistaJet has closed on its offering of $300 million in unsecured notes, the company said.

Fatigue management starts before the mission by determining if each crewmember is fit for flight.

San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas, was the most popular business aviation airport among U.S., Canada and Mexico airports during April 2015, according to an analysis of acukwik.com traffic from that month.

San Antonio International Airport in San Antonio, Texas, was the most popular business aviation airport in April 2015, according to an analysis of acukwik.com traffic from that month. Doha-Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, Paris Le Bourget Airport and London Stansted Airport appeared in the top 10.

Editor’s Note: While our regular readers might think they’re seeing double, that’s not the case. These business jet specification and performance tables may at first appear to be a repeat of those published last month in our May Purchase Planning Handbook, but they are not. We received quite a few changes, additions, revisions and corrections within the category after the publication deadline. Naturally, we determined to update the digital tables immediately.

General aviation manufacturers now are riding the wave of the improved economy. Billings increased to $24.5 billion and deliveries exceeded 2,400 airplanes.

The key to correct recovery the first time is to understand where things can go horribly wrong and how to best get the airplane back to right-side up.

In April 2015, air charter customers and brokers requested more quotes for flights terminating at and originating from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas than any other airport, according to an analysis of Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder data.

Attendees and exhibitors are expected to grow at EBACE 2015. Plus, a NetJets vice president acted alone when he inappropriately blogged and tweeted about the pilots’ union activities and positions, the company said. And the first contracts signed for Dishwashair, Lufthansa Technik's inflight diswasher, have been from owners of larger executive VIP business jets, according to the Hamburg-based interiors and MRO specialist.

Download the 2015 BCA Purchase Planning Handbook

Fly airplanes long enough and you’ll misidentify something sooner or later — a visual reporting point, a taxiway that looks like a runway, a lighting matrix that seems to be an airport, a waypoint that’s been fat-fingered, and so forth. Recently, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had cause to research incidents in which flight crews misidentified ground features as an airport environment or runway. Here’s what the bureau’s incident review revealed: Australian Occurrences

Built-for-comfort, not-for-speed has been the design mantra for 90 series King Airs for more than half a century. The roomy 179-cu.-ft. main cabin, measuring section 4.8 ft. tall, 4.5 ft. wide and 7.5 ft. long, seats four passengers in club. Some aircraft have an additional seat or two in the 48-cu.-ft. aft baggage compartment. In the aft cabin, there is a full-width, internally service lavatory with privacy curtain.

Of all the weather phenomena with which pilots must contend, that old nemesis, the thunderstorm, remains the most feared. And for good reason.

These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of Citation Latitude under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.

The Citation Latitude is the latest proof that Textron Aviation is back on its feet, largely recovered from the Great Recession and fully competing for its historic share of the business jet market. For more than four decades, Citation engineers have been business aviation’s undisputed masters of iteration and the Latitude embraces this low-risk design approach to perfection.

With the midsize Citation Latitude nearing the end of its flight test program, the new Citation Longitude super-midsize jet program is ramping up significantly with teams working on the project. “We think we know what the configuration of the aircraft is based on a lot of work with customers and where we are,” Textron Chairman & CEO Scott Donnelly said early this year. “So you’ll see that really start ramping up . . .

Duncan Aviation, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, has expanded its non-destructive testing services to helicopter operators. It has provided NDT services to business aircraft for more than 20 years. Helicopter operators can remove and send components to Duncan Aviation, along with the appropriate maintenance manuals and documentation, for any required NDT testing. It provides eddy current, florescent penetrant, ultrasonic and magnetic and particle inspections on all makes and model aircraft.

VistaJet has said farewell to it last Learjet, as it moved to an all-Bombardier Challenger and Global business jet fleet. The company has operated 20 Learjets since 2004. Since then, the Learjet fleet has made 18,262 flights, logged 42,962 flight hours and carried 28,685 passengers. Founder and Chairman Thomas Flohr bought the first Learjet, a Learjet 60 for personal use, in December 2003. That became the catalyst for the company, which operates the largest privately owned Bombardier business jet fleet of more than 45 large-cabin Global and Challenger aircraft.

​ Bell Helicopter’s Model 505 Jet Ranger X is making good headway — in both development and the marketplace. The helicopter began its flight trials at its Mirabel, Quebec manufacturing site last November, the same month that China’s Reignwood Investment, Ltd., signed for 50 of the light singles. The aircraft features a Garmin G1000H integrated flight deck and is powered by a Turbomeca Arrius 2R turboshaft engine rated at 504 shp (takeoff) and 457 shp (max continuous) and fitted with a dual channel FADEC.

Gulfstream’s 5,000-nm G500 and the 6,200-nm G600, unveiled with great showmanship last October, are well along in their development cycles with more than 1,800 hr. of wind-tunnel work completed. First flight of the $43.5 million G500 is to take place this year, with certification targeted for 2017 and entry into service the following year. The $54.5 million G600 is to trail by about a year. The G500 is powered by two 15,144-lb.