Oliver Stone, managing director of the new London-based aircraft brokerage, Colibri Aircraft Ltd., believes the market for previously owned business airplanes is gradually recovering. In today's market “typically, the newest and largest planes are doing the best,” says Stone. “The ultra-long-range, large-cabin jets are actually doing quite well. Prices have stabilized and inventory is thinning out.”
A cross-section of the aviation industry joined together to combat President Obama's proposed $100 air traffic control fee for most operations in controlled airspace. Twenty-seven organizations — including all of the major general aviation associations — sent a letter of opposition to House and Senate leadership, along with Super Committee members. The Obama White House unveiled the ATC fee Sept. 19 as part of its plan for economic growth and deficit reduction as the Super Committee continues its deliberations on future spending cuts and new taxes.
“Uppermost to keep in mind, I think, is that the Muslim people are a very devout group and are extremely serious about practicing their religion,” Daniel Warnick, a Bombardier Global Express captain based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, noted. “It seems to drive all they do and, in many ways is to me a welcome change from the rest of the world. I respect them for that.
Israel Aircraft Industries invented the super-midsize business aircraft in the mid-1990s when it launched its IAI 1126 Galaxy. These aircraft can fly eight passengers 3,200 nm and land with NBAA IFR reserves. They offer nearly Gulfstream GII cabin dimensions, but with the fuel consumption of a standard midsize jet. On a 1,000-nm trip, for instance, the aircraft actually burns slightly less fuel than a Hawker 750 or Cessna Citation Sovereign. IAI earned FAA certification for the Galaxy in December 1998, and 53 units were delivered from 1999 to 2001.
Eclipse Aerospace is restarting production of its very light jet. The company has begun taking orders for the Eclipse 550, based on the 500. The 550 will feature integrated avionics by IS&S, auto-throttles and FAR Part 135 upgrades. The aircraft will be priced at $2.695 million in 2011 dollars. Mason Holland, chairman and CEO of Eclipse Aerospace would not say when production of the Eclipse 550 would start or how many aircraft he expects to deliver the first year. He did project average deliveries of 50 to 100 aircraft per year during a 10-year period.
Next year, Bombardier's Global 5000 and 6000, fitted with Global Vision cockpits powered by Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics, will be the first production business aircraft to enter service with head-up displays with synthetic vision system (SVS) background imagery.
Piper is reviewing the fate of its Altaire PiperJet program as it focuses on its successful piston and turboprop business, the company announced Oct. 17. In the same announcement the company said Piper President Geoff Berger and Executive Vice President Randy Groom had left the company. Simon Caldecott has been appointed interim president and CEO of Piper Aircraft, effective immediately. Caldecott stated, “Our team is dedicated to moving Piper forward.
Hawker Beechcraft plans to petition the FAA to permit FAR Part 135 charter operators of Hawker 800XP, 800XPR, 850XP and 900XP models to conduct extended over-water operations, such as San Francisco to Hawaii, without requiring the agency's Extended Twin-Engine Operations Standards (ETOPS) approval. Based on extensive testing, Hawker Beechcraft believes the aircraft have the capability to travel the required distance within the allotted time.
The September edition of J.P. Morgan's Business Jet Monthly report noted that prices rose slightly in August for used business jets that are out of production but still have derivatives being manufactured.
The industry has successfully pushed back on user fees— at least in one venue. In a jobs bill introduced Oct. 5, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) removed provisions floated by President Barack Obama to impose a $100-per-flight ATC fee. The bill also would extend 100% expensing for another year. While the news of the per-flight fee might typically have industry executives dancing in the aisles, they remain reserved. It is early in the process for Democrats to ditch the idea — one that Congress has rejected numerous times in the past.
I pushed yesterday's pile of notes, junk mail, newspapers and candy wrappers aside to set down my steaming cup of java. Hands free, I awakened the computer, raised my right forefinger above the Mac mouse to announce my reporting for duty, and delivered a downstroke, “Click.” “Access denied. Incorrect login or password” Harrumph.
As Honda Aircraft begins its sixth year, it is advancing cautiously but steadily toward the 2012 scheduled certification of its $4.5 million HA-420 HondaJet. One pacing item for the airplane's overall approval is its turbofan engine, the HF-120. A product of GE Honda Aero Engines, the powerplant first ran in 2009 and became available for testing on a conformal aircraft for the first time in 2010. Development issues with the engine are forcing Honda to delay first deliveries of the light business jet by around nine months to mid-2013.
There are certain flight conditions and control inputs that can overstress the main rotor mast components of a semi-rigid system, resulting in catastrophic failure. Consequently, it's vital that pilots fully understand the limitations of this type of system.
Cessna introduced a virtually all-new jet, the Citation Latitude, in a surprise announcement at the NBAA Convention. It's the second new model to be announced by the firm in a two week period. Cessna unveiled the Citation M2, an evolutionary successor to the CJ1+, in late September. Market demand for a larger cabin was a significant driver of the Latitude's design. The Latitude will have a nearly 7-ft.-wide fuselage that will allow it to compete directly with the Embraer Legacy 450. Compared with other midsize Citations, the Latitude features 3.6-in.
ICAO's target of having satellite-based approaches at every qualifying airport by the end of 2016 will not be met at the current rate of deployment, industry experts say. Only a few years into the ICAO time line, deployment already is well behind schedule. There would have to a significant acceleration in the rollout of these procedures for the ICAO goal to be met, says Steve Fulton, technical fellow with GE Aviation's PBN Services. Fulton was speaking at GE's annual Global PBN Summit in Seattle.
Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS) has broken ground on a 48,000-sq.-ft., company-owned factory service center at General Mariano Escobedo International Airport in Monterrey, Mexico. The facility, which is scheduled to open in spring 2012, will include a 13,400-sq.-ft. paint hangar in addition to a 24,000-sq.-ft. maintenance hangar and 10,700 sq. ft. of office and customer hospitality space. The new facility will join the previously announced Hawker Beechcraft Services facility in Wilmington, Del.
It is important to be aware of Islamic holidays in terms of preflight planning for a trip into Saudi Arabia. These include the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, falling Nov. 4-9 this year and in late October in 2012; Ramadan, which in 2011 was the full month of August and next year will occur between mid-July and mid-August; and Eid, which occurs twice a year. The dates of these religious holidays vary according to the Muslim lunar calendar. All this affects application for visas and permits, as government offices close during the religious periods.
David C. Hook, PSP (President Planehook Aviation Services, LLC San Antonio, Tex.)
Thank you for your excellent article, “Your Papers, Please” (Point of Law, October 2011). Common sense is a good term when applied to an area where there is an accepted body of knowledge that people are expected to know and follow. We can talk about common sense for pilot skills because the Airman Practical Test Standards provide the minimum standards for a common body of knowledge.
Sierra Industries has received an STC for a state-of-the-art digital avionics retrofit that it developed in cooperation with Garmin International for any serial number or configuration of the popular Cessna Citation 501. The STC allows installation of a three-screen digital flight deck suite using the same displays as the Garmin G1000 system. The G501SP flight deck includes individual Garmin GDU 1040 10.4-in. LCD primary flight displays for pilot and copilot and a centrally-mounted 10.4-in. LCD multifunction display.
Plenty of diehard Eclipse 500 skeptics scoffed at Mason Holland, chairman and CEO of Eclipse Aerospace, when he announced at the 2011 NBAA Convention that his firm intended to resume building the aircraft sometime in 2013. Cynics all but buried the very light jet (VLJ) concept after EA500 production stopped in 2008, writing it off as a misguided, overhyped folly of Vern Raburn, founder of failed Eclipse Aviation (See Fast Five, page 25.)
Piaggio's Avanti II has been granted type and production certificates by Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee, enabling the twin turboprop to be legally registered and operated throughout the Russian Federation. “We are really happy to have achieved Russian certification for the Avanti II on schedule. This now opens the way for our first aircraft deliveries [there],” said Alberto Galassi, Piaggio Aero CEO.
Saab Sensis has completed deployment of its ASDE-X advanced airport surveillance system at 35 of the largest U.S. airports. The airport surface detection equipment, model X system combines data from surface movement radar, multilateration and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) to give controllers an accurate picture of surface movements. It also provides conflict alerts. The company also said it won a contract from U.K. ATM provider NATS to install a wide-area multilateration system for Edinburgh Airport.
August 2011 statistics on the used aircraft markets contain good news, says Jetnet, the Utica, N.Y.-based provider of corporate aviation information. In the first eight months of this year, the year-to-date average asking price for business jets rose 3.5%, while the industry maintained double-digit growth (11.4%) in used business jet retail sale transactions.
