Robert E. Breiling Associates Inc., a global resource for business turbine aircraft/helicopter accidents and incidents and their analysis, has provided BCA with a current world accident picture. The data presented show the U.S. and non-U.S. fleet accident/incident data by major operator type through the first nine months of 2012 versus 2011. Data are preliminary and may change as the year progresses, particularly with non-U.S. data, which are obtained from numerous international sources. Business Jets
Blackhawk Modifications is completing flight tests aimed at winning an STC for Cessna 208 Caravan utility aircraft to install the same XP42A Upgrade Package that has boosted the performance of Cessna 208B Caravan since June 2011. According to Blackhawk President and CEO Jim Allmon, two Caravan customers already have signed for the new upgrade package. Blackhawk began accepting pre-certification orders and offered a number of special pricing packages. FAA STC certification is expected during the fourth quarter of 2012.
At the end of the last decade, it seemed fairly certain that a robust, seamless backup to GPS, in the form of enhanced Loran (eLoran), could be made available at a reasonable cost to GPS users in North America.
Piper Aircraft recently rolled out the 500th pressurized single-engine turboprop M-Class Meridian to SouthEast Piper for delivery to the aircraft's new Florida-based owner. “The milestone delivery of the 500th Piper Meridian, since first delivery in the year 2000, emphasizes its enduring value proposition even during recent periods of economic uncertainty around the world,” said Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott.
360 Aviation Solution has a free app for the iPad that serves as a Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT). The app works in English and Spanish and is in the form of a questionnaire, which helps the operator determine a risk factor for each individual flight. Once the operator has answered 41 simple “yes or no” questions, the app produces a PDF that can be stored, printed or emailed. The company says its FRAT complies with IS-BAO/SMS requirements.
Cockpit Apps has launched iLOG, an app that provides flight crews an alternative to traditional pen and paper flight logs. According to the company, the easy-to-configure app follows a crew through a typical duty day, tracking critical components such as duty and flight time, VOR checks and RVSM altimeter settings. The app is also configured to record squawks as well as engine, airframe and component time. At the end of each day, crews can either electronically sign the documents using an iPad digital signature and email their flight logs to dispatch, or print them out.
Bombardier Aerospace has opened a Regional Support Office in Moscow (Denisovskiy Pereulok, 26, Moscow), operated by Bombardier Aerospace Service Russia LLC. It will serve as a regional support hub for commercial aircraft customers in Russia and the CIS. According to the company, when the office is fully staffed it will include support resources for operators of Bombardier business aircraft and have as many as 15 customer service managers, liaison pilots, field service reps and mobile response technicians.
Jet Aviation has added a Moscow-based Global 5000 to its managed aircraft fleet. The company is working in close cooperation with Swiss certification authorities to bring the aircraft onto its AOC, and expects the aircraft to be available for charter services in December 2012.
Thrush is shipping its newly certified 510G agricultural aircraft, the first application for GE's H80 turboprop engine. Certification followed a two-year development program with both GE and Albany, Ga.-based Thrush Aircraft and comes just a few weeks after Thrush obtained type inspection authorization from FAA. GE obtained certification for the H80 engine, earlier this year. Thrush has built 11 of the H80-powered 510G aircraft and has begun initial deliveries both within the U.S. and to Latin American nations.
Eurocopter Canada Limited delivered an AS350 B3e to Blackcomb Aviation for its utility and heli-skiing operations in British Columbia. Blackcomb now operates seven Eurocopter aircraft: one AS350 B3, one AS350 B2, four AS355s, one EC130 B4 and one EC120 B.
Business Jet Center has added a 61,505-sq.-ft. hangar to its facilities at Oakland International Airport in California. The structure, which previously served as a cargo handling facility, is undergoing a $5 million renovation and will bring the company's total designated business and general aviation hangar space at OAK to over 155,000 sq. ft. The hangar features 28-ft.-tall doors able to accommodate multiple large aircraft including the Gulfstream G650.
Honeywell's second-generation HTF7000 series engines are more powerful and fuel efficient than the original powerplant that entered service in 2003, plus they have lower emissions. Aboard the Gulfstream G280, they're rated at 7,624 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+16.7C and they produce 7,240 lb. thrust at the max continuous rating.
For U.S. operators, charging someone for a ride in the company jet is a subject thick with claims and counterclaims, ignorance and outright bad behavior. The arguments are old, but some of the consequences are new. Today, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be more likely than the FAA to punish practitioners of any "Part 134½."
From October through March few pilots turn on their aircraft radars when flying in the northern latitudes. What a shame, and what a waste of safety potential. Operators have a lot of money invested in airborne radar, so why give it a free ride five months of the year when its safety potential in winter flying, as well as in summer, is immense? From vertical gyro failures or altimeter errors to errant GPS, airborne radar is the most reliable backup device and arbitrator on your panel.
While a University of Calgary undergrad in the 1970s, I flew ag planes in the summer. My boss, Bob Lukens, had good relations with the Hutterite community in rural Irma, convincing them that aerial spraying of their 5,000 acres of grain was a sound investment. While the religious group was close-knit and ultraconservative in speech and dress, their farming practices were some of the most modern in Alberta.
As aviators, we now take the global positioning system (GPS) and its constellation of transmitting satellites for granted. The U.S. Air Force manages the constellation to ensure the availability of at least 24 GPS satellites 95% of the time. For the past several years, the Air Force has been flying 31 operational GPS satellites, plus 3-4 decommissioned satellites (residuals) that can be reactivated if needed.
For less than $750,000, you can buy a Learjet 35 that can fly farther and faster than some of the latest $9 million to $10-million light jets. Introduced in mid-1974, the Model 35 can fly seven passengers 2,000 nm while cruising at 430 KTAS and land with NBAA IFR reserves. The Model 36, having 1,200 lb. more fuselage fuel, but three feet less of cabin length, can fly 2,450 nm.
CAE will provide a suite of products, engineering services and simulation-based technology tools, including a simulator, to support the design, testing and certification of the Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft platform as part of Bombardier's Integrated System Test and Certification Rig (ISTCR).
SoCal Jets, based at California's Van Nuys Airport, has expanded its services to include complete avionics service and support. The avionics team offers troubleshooting and maintenance, including pitot/static checks, RVSM certification and ELT inspections to installations and repair. The company's 18,000-sq.-ft. facility also offers sheet-metal work, major inspections and import/export services, among other services. The company is also an authorized Aircell dealer in Mexico.
Gene Condreras (President Panorama Flight Service Inc. Westchester County Airport (HPN) White Plains, N.Y. )
I'm concerned that the choice of observations attached to me in “Melbourne Muddle” (Viewpoint, October 2012, page 9) muddied my real concern about the continuing trend of airport sponsors placing private FBOs at a disadvantage through various devices.
Bell Helicopter is continuing to work with U.S. and European certification authorities in the hope of overturning their rejection of a gross weight increase for the Model 429 light twin that takes the aircraft beyond the certification limit for its class.
During the Oct. 3 debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the president once again took a swipe at business jet owners, and the reference brought an immediate objection from the NBAA. On the subject of taxes, Obama said, “Why wouldn't we eliminate tax breaks for corporate jets?
On May 11, 1996, a ValuJet Airlines DC-9 departed Miami International Airport bound for Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta. Shortly after takeoff, the crew was alerted by an electrical problem, rapidly followed by systems dropping offline and smoke in the cockpit. While making emergency calls to the tower, voices in the background could be heard shouting that the aircraft was on fire. The aircraft was cleared for an immediate return to Miami.
The Carlyle Group is set to buy the FBO chain it helped create nearly three decades ago. But its reacquisition of Landmark Aviation comes at a price believed to be $200 million more than when Carlyle sold the chain five years ago. Carlyle and Landmark owners GTCR and Platform Partners announced the sale on Sept. 14, but did not disclose terms of the agreement, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Carlyle sold Landmark in August 2007 to Dubai Aerospace under a $1.9 billion package deal that also included StandardAero.
