Sikorsky announced that Transport Canada had certified the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engine that will power Sikorsky's new S-76D helicopter. P&WC and Sikorsky are subsidiaries of United Technologies. The engine has accumulated more than 8,700 hr. in test cells and flight tests. S-76D senior program manager Tim Fox said delivery of the first aircraft to the launch customer is slated for 2012.
Jettech, the aviation systems design firm that specializes in developing Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) aftermarket solutions, has been awarded an STC for installation of a glass cockpit in Piper Cheyenne III, IIIA and 400LS aircraft. The package includes dual Garmin G600 RVSM primary instrumentation with RVSM-capable air data computers. Garmin GTN 650 and 750 instruments are available as an additional installation.
Increasing demand for pilot training at FlightSafety International (FSI) and slight improvements in rates and revenue hours flown at NetJets are helping drive stronger performance of the services business for parent company Berkshire Hathaway. Both FSI and NetJets contributed to improved revenues in the third quarter, Berkshire Hathaway reports. For NetJets, the revenues reflect an effort to pass aircraft operating cost increases on to customers, along with the slight increases in rates and revenue hours flown.
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation announced it has opened an expanded office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates staffed by a team of sales and support experts available to provide advice on the full Hawker Beechcraft product line and turnkey solutions for aircraft ownership and support. The decision to expand HBC's operations in the UAE comes as demand for private aviation in the Middle East continues to expand during the global downturn.
Some Customs and Border Protection (CBP) user fee exemptions have been eliminated as part of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement recently signed by President Obama. Prior to this change, commercial operators were not required to remit the $5.50 per-passenger fee on arrivals to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, U.S. territories and possessions and “adjacent” islands. Under the new law, the exemption for arrivals from Canada, Mexico and adjacent islands has been eliminated. The exemption for arrivals from U.S. territories and possessions is still in place.
Nov. 3 — At about 1210 local time (1110 UTC), a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 (9V-SWQ), experienced a runway excursion upon landing on Runway 08R at Franz Joseph Strauss Munich Airport (EDDM), Munich, Germany. None of the 143 passengers or 15 crewmembers was injured. The airplane sustained minor damage. The flight originated at Manchester Airport, Manchester, England (EGCC).
Recent NBAA updates and notes in your Intelligence section have passed on a request by FAA that cockpit crews heed mention of runway construction activity on the ATIS. I remember a time when the ATIS was a fantastic aid to crews approaching a busy terminal area because it usually contained ONLY info that had probably changed since the crew's preflight briefing (weather, approach in use and any notams issued in the last 24 hr.) and typically lasted about 15 seconds.
With overwhelming evidence of severe interference, the FCC should promptly rule that LightSquared can never use its frequencies closest to those used for GPS, says a coalition opposed to the company's plans to use the satellite communications spectrum for a terrestrial broadband wireless network.
Blackhawk, the Waco, Texas, provider of turboprop engine upgrades, has received a Brazilian STC for its Cessna 208B Caravan XP42A performance package, which enables Blackhawk to install the XP42A upgrade into Cessna Caravans licensed to operate in the South American country. Blackhawk officials say Brazil has one of the largest fleets of Caravans flying in commercial, civil, military and law enforcement roles. The Brazilian approval follows certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency in September and approval from the FAA in June.
300 U.S Hawker Beechcraft employees were issued 60-day layoff notices Nov. 11. Kansas.com reported that many were escorted off company property that day, but the company stated they would receive pay for the two-month notice period. HBC employs about 6,000 workers in Wichita and Salina, Kan. Hawker Beechcraft has been closing plants, outsourcing work and shifting other work to Mexico.
Aviation industry groups are keeping up the pressure on Capitol Hill to stay away from user fees. The Air Transport Association (ATA) released a “unified message to Congress” against the White House's proposed $100 per-flight user charge from a coalition of nearly 30 organizations — including the major general and business aviation groups. The ATA, which just a few years ago sparred with the business aviation community over user fees, reiterated on Oct. 27 its position that “our policymakers should be focused on increasing U.S.
So what do you think would happen if a commercial entity proposed creating a new wireless communications network that threatened to disrupt the Global Positioning System, causing catastrophic GPS signal losses for military, government, industrial and private users — jamming everything from smart bombs to oil tankers to Toyotas — and undermining the foundation of the FAA's NextGen ATC system?
The Rugby World Cup was the busiest time ever for corporate jet movements into Auckland and the rest of New Zealand. I don't think I will see that many airplanes here again for a long time. Our traffic has continued to grow steadily, so the BCA story (“Business Aviation in New Zealand,” January 2011, page 34) and exposure helped in this. Chief Executive Air Center One
Jeppesen received an FAA Type 1 Letter of Acceptance endorsement for its processing of navigation obstacle data. The endorsement letter, the first for navigational obstacle data processing, notes that Jeppesen complies with FAA Advisory Circular 20-153A Acceptance of Aeronautical Data Processes and Associated Databases, as well as RTCA/DO-200A Standards for Processing Aeronautical Data. The Jeppesen obstacle database contains about 750,000 obstacle data points worldwide.
Paul Newman's estate has put the late movie star's 1981 Sabreliner 65 up for sale. The white and blue aircraft, serial number 465-56, has a total time of less than 5,000 hr., its Honeywell TFE731 engines are on the MSP Gold maintenance plan, and the aircraft was reportedly pampered by Newman, its second owner, since he acquired it in 1995.
Flexjet has submitted a letter of intent to the FAA to use the iPad 2 as an electronic flight bag (EFB). Full approval, expected by mid-2012, would cover iPad 2 use for viewing navigational charts, aircraft publications and other flight documents. Flexjet is hoping to obtain interim authorization early next year.
Jet Aviation Dubai is working with Dassault to secure base maintenance approval for Falcon 7X aircraft. Maintenance engineers at Jet Avation Dubai have completed training and are Dassault Falcon 7X type-rated for base maintenance and the required tooling is enroute to Dubai.
The recent legal victory scored by environmentalist groups in their attempt to end the sale, distribution and use of aviation gasoline in California has captured the attention of several federal agencies. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told attendees at the NATA Aviation Business Roundtable that the Department of Justice is weighing whether it should get involved in the matter. Under consideration is whether California-imposed fines and/or restrictions would overstep the state's jurisdiction and conflict with federal regulation.
In recent years, I've spent a lot of time in Europe shuttling our company's customers to product demonstrations and briefings. In doing so, I've become quite familiar with navigating the region — sifting through the various accents of the controllers, deciphering the intricate arrival and departure procedures, and once on the ground, maneuvering in and out of roundabouts, and when in the U.K., bravely driving on the “wrong” side of the road.
General aviation manufacturers are facing a near double-digit decline in deliveries this year, extrapolating data for the first nine months. But GAMA's third-quarter unit shipment report did show a slight upturn for turbine aircraft over the past three months. In the most recent quarter, business jet shipments improved from 136 in third quarter 2010 to 166 this year. Turboprop shipments ticked up from 75 in third quarter 2010 to 80 this year. Third-quarter piston aircraft deliveries, however, are still down from 209 last year to 190 this year.
BLR Aerospace of Everett, Wash., has earned certification of a new LED lighting system for King Air 200s equipped with the company's winglets. The FAA-certified advanced LED lighting system also is available for all King Air 200GT, 250 and 300 series aircraft. Approval of the light system from both the European Aviation Safety Agency and Brazil's Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil is expected soon, says BLR. In addition, the company expects to win an FAA STC in early 2012 for installation of the lights on King Air 90s.
ExxonMobil says it is done serving business aviation and is shuttering its Avitat system. In so doing, it's merely following other “Big Oil” outfits. Many within the fixed-base operations and fueling business say they've anticipated ExxonMobil's withdrawal for some time. Foremost among them is Craig Sincock, president and CEO of Avfuel Corp. of Ann Arbor, Mich.
