Flying Colours Corp., the Ontario, Canada-based interior completions specialist, says it is experiencing increased demand for midsize business jet refurbishments. Since the beginning of the first quarter, the firm has seen “a steady growth in orders,” particularly from Bombardier Challenger 300 and 604, Dassault Falcon 900 and Hawker 800 operators.
SimCom Training Centers will acquire 14 flight training devices and simulators from FlightSafety International for piston and turboprop aircraft along with courseware for the Cessna 210, 421C, Conquest I and II; Hawker Beechcraft Baron 58, King Air B200 and C90B; Piper Cheyenne I/II and III and Navajo; Saab 2000; and Twin Commander 690A and 1000. With the addition of this equipment, SimCom will operate a total of 59 simulators in five training centers in the U.S.
Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support announced Aug. 12 that its Rockwell Collins Integrated Display System (IDS) flight deck upgrade for the Beechcraft 1900D had completed its first flight. The upgrade removes the factory installed Pro Line II EFIS 84 system, as well as other analog instrumentation, and replaces it with the fully integrated three-display Pro Line 21 IDS. The flight is one of the first steps in obtaining an STC.
This being a most awful anniversary, we're being confronted once again by all those horrific images from that terrible day. The mass murder of innocents that occurred 10 years ago marked the beginning of mutual bloodletting that continues.
Eurocopter wants to hire more than 300 experienced engineers. The recruiting outreach targets skilled engineers with more than four years of experience for Eurocopter's research and development teams in Marignane, France, and Donauwörth, Germany.
Elrey Jeppesen would be hard pressed to recognize the company he founded in 1934. The United Air Lines pilot began taking notes as he flew his routes, and soon other pilots were borrowing them. Jeppesen quit his airline job to launch the charting operation full time, and the company grew to become the dominant private navigational data provider to the world. In 1961, it became part of the Times-Mirror companies, and in 2000, the company was acquired by Boeing.
I'm a former Pax River/Edwards AFB, Calif., flight test engineer and regional airline pilot and now the proud owner of a P-Baron. I wanted to compliment you on what I consider one of the absolute best technical aviation articles I've ever read. I couldn't put down “High-Altitude Upset Recovery” when I read it. It's timely, extremely well written and referenced and frighteningly logical. There are simply not enough superlatives for the article. Great work. I'll reference that article for years to come.
GE Aviation is developing a 2,000-shp class CT7-2E1 commercial turboshaft engine to power the recently announced commercial AW189 helicopter as well as its military AW149 variant. The latest version of the CT7 family is being designed with an emphasis on low fuel consumption, low cost of operation and with other technical features to ensure the aircraft's requirements for long-range, high-speed and “Category A” performance.
Garmin International has delivered the first Daher-Socata TBM 700 upgraded with the avionics maker's G1000 integrated flight deck. The airplane, which went to the French Ministry of Defense, is part of a contract to upgrade 27 TBM 700 aircraft that are in service with the French military. The cockpit modification has received both FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency approval.
Flexjet has launched a Learjet 85 fractional jet ownership sales program. Flexjet, a division of Bombardier, will be the first customer for its parent's largest Learjet. The aircraft is the first FAR Part 25 certified business jet with fuselage and wing built primarily from carbon composites and it incorporates highly advanced aerodynamics and structural engineering. Delivery is expected in 2013, the company said. Flexjet is offering guaranteed access and availability to its fractional ownership program fleet of aircraft.
“Hypocrite-in-Chief” (Washington Watch, August 2011, page 62) is right on point. In my 52 years of involvement with the aviation industry I have never seen it so politically demonized as under the current administration, which seems to have chosen it to help foment class warfare. Unfortunately, we are looking at flat growth at best in the U.S. for the remainder of the decade with any OEM and service growth going to China, Brazil, India and the emerging economies.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. delivered two more S-76C++ helicopters to France's Heli-Union for offshore oil missions. The purchase contract was signed in November 2010. With this delivery, Heli-Union now has eight S-76C++ helicopters operating internationally.
Jeppesen has been experimenting with nothing less than a complete overhaul of how flight information is presented, with the assumption that some form of digital access and display device will serve as the platform and that aircraft will be connected electronically to a dispatch operation or its equivalent. Another tacit assumption is that NextGen and the implementation of ADS-B will be paralleling the Jeppesen development effort.
“High Altitude Upset Recovery” was excellent and well thought out. I fly a Falcon 20 and a Learjet 31A, and as you know the latter is a high climber (FL 510) and many of the points your article makes apply to us. As one who regularly flies from Ohio to the West Coast I deal with a lot of wave activity and what I like to call “teetering effect” with regard to the feel of the airplane that takes place at FL 450 or FL 470.
Deborah Hersman was sworn in for her second two-year term as NTSB chairman. She originally filled the spot vacated by acting Chairman Mark Rosenker in mid-2009. Hersman also is in the middle of serving her second term on the board, with her term as a member scheduled to expire in December 2013, five months after her current chairmanship expires. The reconfirmation of Hersman, which occurred shortly before the Senate recessed for its August break, caps a yearlong period in which the safety board has had its full complement of members.
Oliver Stone, a long-time broker with Texas-based Business Air International, is now the managing director of London-based Colibri Aircraft Ltd., a new firm that is offering aircraft acquisition, resale and asset consultation services. “My work was always based on being overseas, especially in London, so this takes advantage of being in the same time zone as a number of people who buy and sell aircraft,” said Stone recently.
Flying Colours, the Ontario, Canada-based interior completions specialist, says it is experiencing increased demand for midsize business jet refurbishments, particularly from North American operators and Bombardier Challenger 300 and 604, Dassault Falcon 900 and Hawker 800 owners.
Industry analyst Brian Foley thinks that, the industry will eventually emerge stronger than ever. Foley concedes the recent market volatility may result in a short period of slower sales for some manufacturers, but net orders (sales less cancellations) will remain positive. There's also the likelihood of temporarily lower aircraft utilization, which negatively affects service providers such as those in the maintenance, fuel, charter and fractional business.
“Ditch Digger” (Viewpoint, August 2011, page 9) was an excellent article and right to the point. Some in our country are so involved in the “I've-got-mine, pull-up-the-ladder” mentality that we seem to have lost the lessons of economic history. Thanks for your article. I hope our leaders are listening. M & K Aviation LLC Troy, Mo.
Gulfstream's ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range G650 has completed several flight-testing milestones en route to its anticipated FAA and EASA type certification later this year. As of July 16, the four aircraft in the flight test program had accumulated more than 1,760 hr. over more than 535 flights. Serial number 6004, the first G650 test aircraft with a fully outfitted interior, finished certification testing of the aircraft's water and waste systems, traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) and enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS).
All manufacturers of auxiliary power units (APUs) make other aircraft components as well. Honeywell makes propulsion engines, among other things, Hamilton Sundstrand is just one small part of United Technologies, and Goodrich makes landing gear, nacelles and a whole catalog of system components. APUs provide electrical power, compressed air and, in some cases, hydraulic power, mostly while the airplane is parked and has no external power sources. APUs may also be capable of starting in flight to provide backup power when necessary.
Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Ghost electrically powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) mini-UAV is making its debut at this week's Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Washington. Weighing 9 lb., the tandem-rotor autonomous aircraft can fly for up to 30 min. on battery power and is designed for low noise and ease of use in urban warfare and special operations. IAI has also developed the Panther family of tilt-prop small VTOL unmanned aerial systems.
Few details about the merger are being disclosed, but if approved, it will create a company with more than 40,000 employees and operations to 115 destinations in 23 countries. The combined entity will be named LATAM Airlines Group, although the two companies will operate as separate brands.
After the hugely embarrassing two-week partial shutdown of the FAA, lawmakers are turning their attention to negotiations on a long-term reauthorization bill—something the agency has not had since 2007. However, that does not mean posturing on the Hill is being replaced with “Come, let us reason together.” Lawmakers return to town after the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday with less than two weeks to agree to a long-term bill, pass the 22nd extension of the Airport and Airways Trust Fund authority or hit replay on the shutdown drama.
