The NBAA and NATA have voiced strong opposition to an IRS memo released in March that opens the door for aircraft management programs to be treated as commercial carriers and taxed accordingly. That memorandum finds that a “management [firm] has possession, command and control of the aircraft” and “the monthly management fees, as well as the separately reimbursed amounts paid to management . . . are amounts paid for taxable air transportation of persons” and therefore are taxable under the passenger ticket tax.
Northrop Grumman and Quest Aircraft of Sands Point, Idaho, are teaming to explore civil, military and government applications of the Quest Kodiak single-engine turboprop aircraft integrated with a modular, reconfigurable C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) system. Quest has delivered a Kodiak to Northrop's Aberdeen Integration Center in Baltimore, at its Martin State Airport facility, for integration of Northrop equipment for use as a demonstrator.
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation announced its Beechcraft King Air 250, has achieved EASA certification. The King Air 250 received FAA certification in June 2011, followed by type certification from the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) in November. The King Air 250's new features include composite winglets that improve efficiency in all phases of flight, composite propellers that provide new aerodynamic technology and lighter weight, and engine induction modifications that contribute to increased performance.
AgustaWestland forecasts that it will deliver 450-500 AW609 tiltrotor aircraft over 20 years. Now in full control of the civil tiltrotor program it began with Bell Helicopter, the company plans to begin certification flights of its renamed AW609 next year with the with the objective of obtaining FAA certification and beginning deliveries by mid-2016. The company reports cash-backed orders in hand for 70 units from 40 customers in 15 countries. Two prototypes have been involved in initial flight tests. A third aircraft is being assembled in Italy and will fly next year.
Piper Aircraft continues to expand its international network with the appointment of Duran Aviation as a distributor for new airplane sales in Central America. Based at Airport Marcos A. Gelabert in Panama City, Duran Aviation is part of Company Consultenos, S.A., which is a family-owned company that is involved in several areas, including automotive, golfing and real estate. Duran Aviation will market and sell Piper aircraft throughout Central America in Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Belize.
Perhaps at no time in recent memory has the long-term direction of the market for previously owned, turbine-powered business airplanes been more difficult to forecast. Ever since used-aircraft prices plummeted and inventories rose dramatically in late 2008, optimists have been searching for signs that a turnaround was imminent. As the economic malaise dragged on, however, predictions for recovery kept getting pushed out further and further.
Cirrus Aircraft announced April 18 that its Cirrus Vision SF50 personal jet program, with major investment by its new owner, China's CAIGA, is now fully funded through certification and initial production. The company anticipates first customer deliveries will take place in 2015. The Cirrus Vision single-engine jet is designed to fill the gap between high performance pistons and traditional turboprop twins and light business jets. “Today is simply a tremendous milestone for Cirrus,” said Dale Klapmeier, CEO and cofounder of Cirrus Aircraft.
“Dangerous Destinations, Part 1” was excellent! I am going to give it to our Chief of Security and also recommend it to my boss here in the flight department. I am looking forward to Part 2. Safety Officer Ball Corp. Broomfield, Colo.
Cessna has begun to see a rebound in the market in 2012, with first-quarter orders outpacing the first three quarters of 2011 combined, but soft pricing is still hurting the company's bottom line, says Scott Donnelly, chairman and CEO of Cessna parent Textron. Cessna delivered 38 Citations in the first quarter, up from 31 in the first quarter of 2011, and Donnelly says, “We continue to see improvement in customer activity.
Mike Venables, P.Eng. (TriLink Technologies Group Inc. )
To underscore your point in “Different Juice, Same Mission” (Viewpoint, March 2012) many years ago (pre-Twitter and Facebook), I took a communications course. The main point was that communication was 80% non-verbal, 15% vocal and only 5% the words. In other words, an email only delivers 5% of your message while telephone (or Skype) only delivers 20% (maybe a bit more for a Skype video call). Nearly 80% of your message is getting lost if you're not there in person.
Qatar-based Gulf Helicopters has received EASA Part 147 maintenance training approval for its Gulf Helicopters Training Academy and now can conduct AgustaWestland AW139 training courses for third-party commercial and private operators.
I would like to hand “Second-Grade Math” (Washington Watch, April 2012) to every Jet A customer that walks through the door of my FBO. I would also like to be able to forward it to Montana legislators. The repeal of the “fuel fraud” measure should be the aviation industry's top priority.
India's MRO industry could expand by 300% to $1.369 billion by 2020 from $440 million in 2010, boosted by a government plan to exempt aircraft spares and other equipment from customs duties, according to a civil aviation ministry report. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to slash high customs and countervailing duties on aircraft spare parts, new and retreaded tires, and training equipment, starting with the fiscal 2012-13 federal budget, which began April 1.
The first flight of the Hawker 400XPR is imminent as we go to press. An upgrade of the discontinued Beechjet/Hawker 400, the new model features Williams International FJ44-4A-32 engines, winglets and an optional four-display Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 cockpit. The avionics suite was recently certified, and the engines and winglets are expected to get their approvals by the end of September. The Williams engine is flat rated at 3,200 lb. thrust, or 8% more than the PWC JT15D it replaces. The new fanjet also features dual-channel FADEC systems.
Bombardier Aerospace received an order valued at $292.5 million from AVWest of Australia for five Global 6000 ultra-long-range jets. AVWest is a corporate jet operator that also owns and operates the fixed-base operations and business aviation services company Perth Jet Centre. AVWest's fleet includes a Challenger 604 and three Global Express XRS jets. AVWest also has firm orders for four Global 7000 and two Global 8000 jets.
City: Budapest Country: Hungary Status: Capital and largest city (actually two cities: Buda and Pest on opposite sides of the Danube River) Country visa: Not required for U.S. citizens. Landing permit: Not required for FAR Part 91. However, commercial (i.e., Part 135 charter) flights are required to have a permit plus approval from CAA-Hungary. Sponsor letter: Not required; however, see “Documents required” below.
In many respects, Cessna and Textron are ideal partners in developing China's general aviation structure. The company's roots extend to the birth of general aviation in the U.S. Cessna knows how to design and build aircraft ranging from light sport and single-engine piston, the single-engine turboprop Caravan utility aircraft, twin turboprops and the light and medium Citation business jets. And it knows how to certify its products internationally. It knows how to set up pilot training and aircraft service center networks.
The House General Aviation Caucus leadership is circulating a letter to build support for a repeal of the so-called “fuel fraud” measure that calls for aviation jet fuel to be taxed at the highway diesel fuel rate. Caucus members — including Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), and Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) — were collecting signatures for the letter in mid-April to be delivered to the House Ways and Means Committee, which would have jurisdiction over the fuel fraud tax measure.
“Made in China” (March 2012) was one of the best I've read and Bradley Perrett clearly has a better 'handle' on 'China-think' than some of the other aviation writers I've seen who would rather 'wing-it” (excuse the pun). Aviatrade Inc. has been in China since 2005 (www.aviatradeasia.cn) and I read everything . . . aviation mags, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, etc . . . plus, I get a healthy dose of Confucian-thinking from our “native” marketing director in Shenzhen.
Dating from the 12th century and named for the Moskova River, the city dominates the political, economic, educational and scientific, religious and cultural life of the vast Russian territory.
Piper Aircraft has landed a contract valued at $90,000 to provide complex multi-axis machined parts for Triton Submarines, which like Piper, is based in Vero Beach, Fla. Piper Aircraft's Services business unit, which was formed in part to preserve engineering expertise originally developed for the now-shelved Altaire single jet, is providing the work for Triton.
“Different Juice, Same Mission” is a timely editorial. I suppose you noticed the recent report that Chevy sold fewer than 10,000 Volts, and the factory is closing with the loss of hundreds of jobs. At $40K it's tough to compete with the established Prius at a much lower price. The good news is that my Mooney M20J, which I maintain and fuel with after tax dollars, has become the envy of some of my twin owner friends.
The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) is a “unilateral tax by one region of the world,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen at the 11th Annual Aviation Summit of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, adding that the scheme is “not the way to promote global aviation in an environmentally friendly way.” Bolen emphasized how the aviation industry has worked together to promote NextGen and emissions-reducing technologies.
