Fresh off its July fiasco, when interminable political squabbling led to temporary unemployment for tens of thousands of FAA employees and construction workers assigned to FAA-funded projects, Congress returns to Washington this month faced with the same issue that led to the shutdown: the need to pass long-term legislation to authorize the FAA's operation.
The first production Gulfstream G280, s.n. 2004, is having its interior installed at the company's Dallas center and is to be certified and delivered later this year. The midsize aircraft is manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv. The first three aircraft are involved in certification flight testing and have accumulated 1,500 flight hours to date. Originally designated the G250, Gulfstream renamed the aircraft in July in deference to sensibilities in the important Chinese market, where the number 280 is perceived there as more auspicious.
An analog computer, the first of its kind designed specifically for airline maintenance, tests an autopilot at United Air Line's San Francisco maintenance base in 30 min. or less. Formerly, static testing of malfunctioning autopilots took up to eight hours.
The Gulfstream Aerospace service center in Dallas, which supports business jet operators in Latin America and the Southwestern U.S., has earned approved maintenance organization (AMO) designations from Mexico and Brazil, meaning that aircraft registered in those countries can undergo maintenance, repairs, alterations and inspections at the Dallas Love Field facility.
Recent research reports published by corporate aviation information provider JETNET and J.P. Morgan's aerospace and defense analysts say there are some positive signs in the pre-owned aircraft market, but that a broad-based recovery has yet to take hold. In releasing first-half results for the pre-owned business jet, business turboprop and helicopter markets, Utica, N.Y.-based JETNET called 2011 a “year of correction.”
Cessna is offering Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades for the Citation Ultra and Citation Encore. The STCed installation, which covers all Ultras and Encores serial number 260 through 750, includes dual Universal UNS-1Espw flight management systems certified for fully coupled WAAS LPV (localizer performance with vertical guidance) approaches.
When asked recently about the state of his used aircraft business, John Newton said Cessna's deliveries of previously owned Citations are 300% ahead of last year, and the order rate “is pretty consistent. I am feeling pretty good.”
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.
Blackhawk Modifications, the Waco, Texas-based company that specializes in engine performance solutions for turboprops, has won an FAA STC for its powerplant enhancement package for the Cessna Caravan 208B.
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.
Digital monitoring systems that can record various parameters of aircraft operation in flight, covering engines, systems and the airframe, for maintenance purposes, trending or emergency response are becoming de rigueur in business aviation.
The Cessna 441 Conquest II's blend of over 300 kt. cruise speeds and top-notch fuel efficiency is stimulating buyer interest. In the past three years, the increasing price of jet fuel and the pressure to “go green” are causing some would-be used light jet buyers to reconsider high-performance turboprops instead. Cessna built 362 units from 1977 through 1986 and more than 300 aircraft remain in service. Midlife aircraft in good condition now command $1 million to $1.9 million.
I was working on my second cup of coffee that Tuesday morning at 800 Independence, and reviewing some paperwork, when the phone rang. My wife, Lenore, was all business: “Go to the TV! Oh my God! It's unbelievable.”
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.
I don't want to sound picayune, but the caption on page 46 of the July BCA about Budapest's international airport has the name “Franz List,” which is misspelled. It should be “Franz Liszt.” The name is, however, spelled correctly on page 47. Liszt (1811-1886) was Hungary's most famous composer and the airport was re-named in his honor for this, his bicentenary year. Kiepura Aviation Corp.
The partial FAA shutdown ended Aug. 5 when the U.S. Senate adopted the House-passed version of a temporary FAA reauthorization bill by unanimous consent. The two-week FAA shutdown was estimated to cost the government $400 million in lost excise taxes and halted numerous construction projects. About 4,000 FAA workers and as many as 70,000 construction workers were affected. Trust fund paid positions were not. But that reauthorization, itself, will expire Sept.
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).
Eclipse Aerospace Inc. (EAI) has completed a combustion liner recertification project that will enable its EA500 very light jet (VLJ) to return to its maximum certified service ceiling of 41,000 ft. EAI calls the FAA approval the last of a lengthy list of certification projects that the company has undertaken to fix problems and improve the aircraft since it bought the program out of bankruptcy in August 2009. The fixes are expected to increase the value of existing EA500s and set the stage for new production of the VLJ.
“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.
Original equipment demand showed signs of perking up in the second quarter, says an August report from J.P. Morgan. “Updates from business jet OEMs were generally encouraging, though mixed signals persist,” according to the August Business Jet Update. The gap between the healthier high end and the still sluggish lower end remained in place, with the strongest numbers coming from Gulfstream, with an estimated 1.5x book-to-bill, writes analyst Joseph Nadol.
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.
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.
Inmarsat's decision to go with Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) for its Global Xpress deal marks a major step forward for the aerospace giant's goal to return in force to the commercial satellite business.The company will attempt to raise commercial satellite sales to 30% of the company’s space business within five years, up from 10% now.
The next generation of unmanned aircraft could be today's systems, but linked in ways only now becoming possible, thereby enabling them to perform missions beyond their individual capabilities. Use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has grown during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as the conflict draws down, services are seeking ways to make better use of their existing assets, recognizing that prospects for new systems are receding as budgets tighten.
