Rockwell Collins has introduced a digital high-definition (HD) upgrade to aircraft equipped with its ACMS and CMS-1 cabin management systems. The upgrade includes HD monitors, dual Blu-ray disc players and an HD audio/video distributor that also can upscale analog content to HD quality. The avionics manufacturer says the upgrade enables passengers to enjoy a high-end home-theater experience without the expense and downtime required by changing control switches and modifying the woodwork.
“The future for DCA and general aviation is bright,” said the TSA's Douglas Hofsass (see above). General aviation has been allocated 24 arrival and 24 departure slots there each day, Hofsass said, and the TSA's goal is to fill each of those slots. Several improvements to the DCA Access Standard Security Program (DASSP) instituted in early March have begun to bear fruit, he said. As a result, operations have markedly increased. Before March, the number of general aviation operations averaged two to three a day. Now it is at eight to 10 a day.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Dassault Falcon 2000S under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Bill Miller, Dassault Falcon Jet's chief sales engineer, provided the data for the Range/Payload Profile. Data for the Specific Range chart were extracted from the Dassault Falcon 2000LX Performance Manual, adjusted for the projected basic operating weight and fuel capacity of the Falcon 2000S.
I have been reading BCA for many decades and your comments about John Wiley in “Fleeting Permanence” (Viewpoint, April 2011, page 9) have caused me to write.
The Transportation Research Board's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has released a Handbook for Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Alternative Aviation Turbine Engine Fuels at Airports contains an Alternative Fuel Investigation Tool (AFIT), instructions for using the tool, and a report on its development. AFIT is an analytical model designed to help airport operators and fuel suppliers evaluate the costs associated with introducing “drop-in” alternative turbine engine fuel at airports and the benefits measured by reduced emissions.
Compiled By Jessica A. Salerno April 16 — A Cessna 172S (N1835U) was substantially damaged when it hit terrain following a touch-and-go landing at Payson Airport (PAN), Payson, Ariz. The private pilot, the sole person on board, received minor injuries. It was VFR for the instructional flight and no flight plan had been filed.
ITT Corp. has finished more than 300 of the 794 planned ADS-B ground stations, a keystone of the NextGen ATC system. The program has deployed ADS-B at key sites in Alaska; the Gulf of Mexico; Louisville, Ky.; and Philadelphia. Air traffic controllers at Houston and Philadelphia are already using ADS-B to track and separate aircraft independent of radar. The FAA selected ITT in August 2007 as the prime contractor for the ADS-B ground stations — to build, install and maintain the nationwide network, Glen Gibbons writes in Inside GNSS.
Maintenance standard orders proposed by the FAA would gradually replace maintenance guidance material now provided by CAMs and CARs. MSOs are intended to prescribe maintenance minimums and generally would not go into detail, but would provide for alternate methods acceptable to the FAA. The Bureau of Flight Standards invites industry to comment and has proposed a typical new MSO A-1 relating to tire retread.
MD Helicopters Inc. announced that ADAC Luftfahrt Technik GmbH, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, has been approved as an Authorized MD Helicopters Service Center. ADAC is now approved to provide airframe maintenance, component overhaul, and part and accessory sales to the operators of MD 900/902 Explorer helicopters. MD Authorized Service Centers provide factory authorized service and MD factory parts and accessories to their respective regions.
When people who know me learn that I'm writing about computers, they smile, shake their heads and say, “This should be cute.” Those who don't know me would surmise that anyone this old and beat up can't have much to teach about the technology. A big "Thank You" to both groups.
Cessna's management changes followed the release of Textron's first quarter 2011 earnings, disclosing that Cessna posted a $38 million loss during the first three months of the year as compared to the $24 million lost in first quarter 2010 — which was then believed to be the trough of the market. Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly had called the financial results “disappointing” and stated, “We are taking necessary actions to restore our profitability.”
The NBAA's 2011 Business Aircraft Transactions Conference is scheduled to take place Thursday, June 9 and Friday, June 10 at the Hilton New York in midtown Manhattan. The two-day event — which will be co-chaired by Eileen M. Gleimer, a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, and David Labrozzi, president of GE Capital Corporate Aircraft Finance — is to feature a variety of expert presenters on financing, insurance and other topics related to aircraft ownership, as well as an opportunity to network with these industry principals.
JetFlite International (JFI), an aircraft management and charter provider based in Long Beach, Calif., has added a Challenger 601 to its charter fleet. The aircraft is based at the JetFlite International facility in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Embraer posted first-quarter 2011 earnings higher than the same quarter last year, reporting a net income of $105.1 million, up from $24.1 million in the first quarter of 2010. The rise largely is attributable to tax credits from the appreciation of Brazil's real. The appreciation of the real is a “real challenge,” the company says, and Embraer's response has been to increase productivity at its manufacturing facilities. Embraer delivered two large business jets and six light jets in the first quarter, which the company said was in line with expectations.
The concept of Required Navigation Performance (RNP) isn't new, GE Aviation PBN Services technical fellow Steve Fulton points out. “The Boeing 737 was certified in December 1994 with that capability,” he noted. “It's encouraging to see things moving the way they are [with the FAA's RNP-dependent NextGen program]. It's taken us a long time to get there, though.”
StandardAero Business Aviation has upgraded the cockpit of a Dassault Falcon 50EX from Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 to Pro Line 21 avionics, and says it is the first maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organization to successfully complete such a retrofit.
GAMA plans to continue to work with FAA on improving the Organization Delegation Authority (ODA) and other designee processes. GAMA met with FAA in April and has had an ongoing dialog about making the designee processes more efficient. Both FAA and industry officials believe this is particularly important as the agency grapples with resource limitations, which have created a backlog in certification processing. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt continues to warn that tight budgets could exacerbate the situation.
The General Aviation Avgas Coalition is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to hold off on a draft plan that could lead to further restrictions on 100-octane low lead aviation gasoline because it doesn't account for recent changes to the standards. The EPA released the Draft Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Lead in April, outlining plans for the review of the air quality criteria and national ambient air quality standards for lead.
Aircraft owners looking to sell their airplanes are not the only ones being adversely impacted by depressed aircraft valuations. Original equipment manufacturers continue to be affected as well. For example, when Hawker Beechcraft reported its first-quarter financial results, the company noted “continuing weakness in the general aviation market” and cited aircraft pricing as a continuing problem, both for used and new aircraft.
Max-Viz, Inc. shipped its 1,000th Enhanced Vision System to the AgustaWestland factory in Italy. It was expected to be installed on an AW139 helicopter.
Russian Helicopters and France's Turbomeca (Safran group), have signed contracts to supply at least 308 Turbomeca Ardiden 3G turboshaft engines to be installed on the updated Ka-62 helicopter, a new single-rotor design in the medium class designed to international standards. It is built with an enclosed tail rotor and airframe and propeller blades with over 50% polymeric composite materials. It is designed to transport 12 to 14 passengers in the cabin or a 2.5 metric ton load on the external sling, and is equipped with standard anti-icing and firefighting systems.
Rizon Jet has opened a two-level FBO and VIP lounge at London Biggin Hill Airport. The FBO will cater to an international clientele, including Middle Eastern families and business travelers. The ground floor includes five open and semi-private seating areas, and the mezzanine floor offers semi-enclosed lounge areas, as well as meeting facilities, including a boardroom with videoconferencing, and a children's corner.
A time long ago, but not so far away, I was paging through a favorite magazine when my eyes fixed on a gorgeous photo that filled me with desire. No, not Penthouse, nor Playboy. Not even Sports IIlustrated's bikinied babes issue. I was poring over Boy's Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, and was simply transfixed by a hatchet.
Embraer announced May 5 that Ernest Edwards has been promoted to head the company's executive jet business, replacing Luis Carlos Affonso, who now assumes responsibility for new business companywide. Affonso led the development of Embraer Executive Jets from a single product offering, the ERJ 145-derived Legacy 600, through the development of two clean-sheet-of-paper business jets, the Phenom 100 and 300 announced in 2005, with two more on the way, the longer-range Legacy 650 and the large-cabin Lineage 1000 executive jet derived from the Embraer 190 airliner.
GE Aviation PBN Services deployed the first public-use Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedure in Alaska at Deadhorse, May 5. The satellite-based instrument approach will increase approach options into Deadhorse while reducing fuel burn, CO2 emissions and flight time over currently published approaches. Deadhorse is more than 200 mi. north of the Arctic Circle and is an important staging point for personnel and equipment bound for Alaska's Prudhoe Bay and North Slope oil operations. The airport has approximately 189 arrivals per week.
