Raisbeck Engineering will provide its Ram Air Recovery System (RARS) for the new Beechcraft King Air 250. The system boosts performance throughout the flight envelope by reducing engine inlet turbine temperature by about 20°C, Raisbeck says. The effects include increased flat-rating for operation at hot, high-altitude airports; increased climb capability; increased cruise speeds; and a more efficient engine. The system is installed as a retrofit on Super King Air 200s and B200s, and more than 1,000 systems have been installed on King Airs since 1982.
Congratulations for your excellent article on spins (“When the Very Best Fall,” October 2010, page 46). As an experimental test pilot, I was involved in about 15 development and certification spin test campaigns on normal and acrobatic category aircraft.
Dassault Aviation and Aviation Partners Inc., have an agreement that allows the French firm to fit new Falcon 900EX EASy aircraft on its production line with API winglets, thereby transforming them into Falcon 900LX models. Meanwhile, API has the rights to the retrofit market. The Seattle company expects to have STC approval for fitting the same blended winglets to older Falcon 900 aircraft, including existing Falcon 900EX EASy models, by the first quarter of this year.
U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.) was confirmed by vote of the House Republican Conference Dec. 8 to serve as chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the 112th Congress. The committee has broad jurisdiction over the nation’s highways, aviation system, transit, rail transportation, pipelines, the Coast Guard, maritime transportation, water resources, economic development, public buildings and emergency management.
Tucson, Ariz.-based Universal Avionics and Boise, Idaho-headquartered Western Aircraft have partnered to develop a technologically advanced cockpit for the Dassault Falcon 900B. The upgrade will replace 25 older instruments, thereby significantly improving reliability and situational awareness while reducing downtime. Western Aircraft expects to earn an STC for the Falcon 900B cockpit makeover by midyear.
As a 30-year business aviation industry veteran, Doug Smith — who recently joined Avpro, an Annapolis, Md.-based aircraft brokerage, acquisition and consulting company — has been through several economic down cycles. Although he calls the most recent downturn “one of the most profound economic declines I have seen in a while,” he is confident that 2011 is going to be “a major year because all the signs are pointing in the right direction.”
The super-midsize class has been one of the hottest selling segments of business aircraft in recent years. These versatile aircraft can fly eight passengers nonstop between East Coast and West Coast North American cities at true jetliner speeds. They also can fly nonstop across the North Atlantic eastbound. Almost all can fly westbound from England or Ireland to the U.S. East Coast. To fly from virtually any city in Europe to any destination in North America, they need no more than one refueling stop.
The FAA has responded to criticism of its NextGen implementation efforts by stressing its focus on completing the complex program. A recent Government Accountability Office study noted that some major policy decisions must be made for NextGen to progress, although it also found that the agency is working to address open questions. House Republican aviation leaders say the study shows the FAA is jeopardizing NextGen by not providing metrics or targets for achieving benefits, and not laying out a solid business case for users.
I first went to Haiti as a photographer and videographer assigned to capture images there following last year's earthquake. The extent of the destruction was so overwhelming, that what I was seeing through my viewfinder seemed more surreal than fact. But my other senses — hearing the weeping, the cries of anguish; smelling sewage and death everywhere; tasting the dust; stepping on and over garbage, obliterated buildings, body parts — constantly confirmed the terrible truth of the scene.
Rizon Jet of Doha, Qatar, is to become a new operator of an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ), which it will manage on behalf of a Gulf customer that ordered it last year. Delivery of the “green” ACJ is planned for this year, with the completed aircraft to be handed over to the customer in 2012.
Auckland’s Air Center One executive FBO was founded by former air traffic controller and regional airline and long-distance ferry pilot Robin Leach. “In the early ’80s, I saw a need for business aircraft support, as there was little available in the country,” Leach told BCA. “We set up the FBO at Auckland International Airport [NZAA] in 1984 and did a great business until the 1987 economic downturn, after which the aircraft disappeared overnight.”
Embraer delivered the first Legacy 650 to Lord Alan Sugar’s Amsair Aircraft Ltd. The aircraft will be operated by Titan Airways Executive, a VIP charter company based at London Stansted Airport, the company announced, Nov. 22. The following day, the Brazilian planemaker announced construction had begun on a new manufacturing facility in Évora, Portugal. The 330,000-sq.-ft. facility will produce complex composite airframe structures and components. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2011, with production expected to start in 2013.
West Star Aviation has earned several FAA approvals recently, which is enabling the company’s East Alton, Ill., facility to offer upgrade packages for various Falcon business jets.
Much angst has been expressed by business aircraft operators in recent months about whether a Nov. 18, 2010, international target date for adoption of Safety Management System (SMS) requirements would complicate or prevent flights of U.S. registered business aircraft to other nations. Some flight department managers expressed concern that operators who do not have an SMS in place could see their aircraft denied entry to certain countries or detained by foreign aviation authorities. At least in the short term, those worries appear to be overblown.
Beech King Air 350 cockpits now can be upgraded with Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line 21 integrated display systems (IDS). The avionics maker recently won an STC to install IDS in the twin turboprop while retaining the aircraft’s existing APS-65 autopilot and Pro Line II radios and sensors.
While the operating conditions in New Zealand are similar to those in North America, operators must resign themselves to paying for everything — all forms of aviation infrastructure. Here are some sample fees, all converted to U.S. dollars: Typical Landing Fees at Auckland International Airport Global Express/G550 $455.70 Falcon 900 $166.20 Challenger 604 $163.00 Typical Navigation Charges, Airways Corp. of New Zealand, Global Express, Sydney to Auckland En route Oceanic $508.82
Hawker Beechcraft Services (HBS) has begun taking orders and scheduling Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) upgrades on Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 equipped Premier IA aircraft.
A new VIP version of the Dornier 328 has been launched by Germany’s 328 Support Services, the type certificate holder for the twinjet regional airliner. The 328DBJ made its debut at MEBA. It replaces the Envoy version of the 328 and will be the standard for all future VIP conversions, says 328 Support Services. Features of the 328DBJ’s “higher-spec, new-generation” interior, developed in cooperation with U.K.-based ctm design ltd., with a new galley and redesigned ceiling and sidewall panels that include electric window blinds and slim-line passenger service units.
Russian Helicopters’ Mi-171A1 has been selected to support Brazilian national energy company Petrobras as it steps up oil production in the Amazon. Brazilian operator Atlas Taxo Aero won the tender. The first batch of two transport-configured Mi-171A1s, manufactured at Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, is scheduled for delivery to Brazil this year. “Further deliveries and the creation of an MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] center based on a Brazilian company can be reviewed in the future,” says Russian Helicopters.
The -60 is the most powerful variant of the second-generation TFE731 turbofan engine, producing 5,000 lb of thrust up to ISA+17°C. The engine is equipped with a single-channel, fail-passive, N1 referenced DEEC that provides most of the functionality of a dual-channel, fail-active FADEC.
Elliott Aviation has added an Astra 1125SP jet aircraft, based at Forest City, Iowa (FXY), to its charter certificate. The company operates a fleet of 15 jet and turboprop aircraft at its locations at Quad Cities International Airport (MLI) in Moline, Ill.; Eppley Airfield (OMA) in Omaha, Neb.; Des Moines International Airport (DSM) in Iowa; and Flying Cloud Regional Airport (FCM) in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Jet Aviation Basel won a contract to complete a VVIP Boeing 747-8 cabin for an undisclosed Middle East customer. Jet Aviation says it is the first completion center to be contracted to outfit a cabin interior for one of the eight VIP B747-8 aircraft sold to date. The Basel completions center will build a full-size cabin model of the aircraft so the client can experience a 1:1 view of the cabin interior during the decision-making process.
In the first quarter of this year, the Falcon 900LX is slated to be the first Falcon Jet equipped with second-generation EASy II avionics. All Falcon 900LX aircraft on the assembly line are being upgraded with second-generation advanced graphics modules with more processing power to handle an optional synthetic vision system function that will be part of EASy II.
The DOT inspector general called for better oversight of airport grants after an audit revealed that about $161 million of the U.S. government’s Fiscal 2008 payments to Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grantees nationwide were improper, at least in terms of documentation. “FAA’s risk-based approach to AIP grant oversight is inadequate and does not effectively prevent or detect improper payments,” the inspector general says.
