Tailwind Technologies, the parent company of Hartzell Propeller Inc., has purchased assets from Kelly Aerospace Energy Systems LLC, of Montgomery, Ala. Price of the transaction was not disclosed. The new Tailwind-owned company is named Hartzell Engine Technologies LLC, and will be led by Mike Disbrow, who currently serves as senior vice president of sales, marketing and customer support at Hartzell Propeller in Piqua, Ohio.
Gulfstream’s large-cabin G450 business jet recently established a city-pair speed record between Savannah, Ga., and São Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft, flying to LBACE, completed the 3,922-nm flight in less than 9 hr. The G450 departed Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at 8:07 a.m. local time with six passengers, one flight attendant and international captains Eric Parker and Jaime Bahamon on board. The aircraft landed at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo 8 hr. and 50 min.
The FAA proposed broad new rules for helicopter operators Oct. 7, which, if finalized, would require stricter flight rules and procedures, improved communications and training, and additional onboard safety equipment. Under the proposed rules, air ambulance operators would use the latest onboard technology and equipment to avoid terrain and obstacles. The proposal also contains provisions that, if finalized, would require commercial and FAR Part 91 operators to develop procedures for flying in challenging weather, at night and when landing in remote locations.
Honeywell’s annual Business Aviation Outlook issued Oct. 17 forecasts delivery of approximately 11,000 new business jets 2010 through 2020, generating estimated industry sales in excess of $225 billion. This represents approximately a 10% increase in total expected industry sales value versus the prior ten-year horizon forecasted in Honeywell’s Business Aviation Outlook in 2009.
Having persistent problems getting timely log-ins of crew duty and rest time? You’re not alone, and Avianis Systems has now added some new tools to its Clarity Control Center to help solve the problem. Its Flight Crew Portal provides a pilot-pleasing format for use anywhere and anytime there’s online access so crews are encouraged to keep their time logs current. A companion Crew Dashboard provides schedulers, dispatchers and managers with an easy-to-read graphic overview of flight time, block time, duty time and rest.
It would be an understatement to say 2010 has been a bad year for business aviation. A grim economic outlook in January got worse as the year progressed. In recent weeks, Cessna Aircraft — which had aircraft order backlogs stretching four years into the future in 2008 — has trimmed production schedules again and announced yet another round of layoffs that will cost 700 more workers their jobs. When the latest cuts are implemented, Cessna’s employment will have fallen from 16,500 in late 2008 to approximately 7,400.
Eclipse Aerospace Inc. (EAI) has developed a new windshield application and is completing engineering requirements for an existing Airworthiness Directive (AD) that would enable the Eclipse 500 very light jet to return to operations at 41,000 ft. The wind¬shield application and AD requirements were among the last of the original upgrades the company had promised when it acquired the assets of the now-defunct Eclipse Aviation. Those upgrades had been left undone by the former company.
Bell 407 direct operating costs have been lowered as a result of the manufacturer removing 14 life-limited parts from the rotorcraft’s maintenance manual. The removal of these items, plus an adjustment to the on-condition section, will result in a reduction of more than 12% per flight hour to the published direct maintenance cost estimate, according to Bell.
Aug. 16 — At about 0645 MDT, a Bellanca 7GCBC (N5034K) crashed approximately 10 nm south of Douglas, Wy. The commercial pilot and his passenger received serious injuries, and the airplane, which was owned and operated by Laird Flying Service, was substantially damaged. The local FAR Part 135 aerial wildlife spotting flight departed Douglas about 10 min. prior to the accident. It was VFR and no flight plan was filed. According to the FAA inspector who interviewed the passenger, the pilot was maneuvering about 300 ft.
Business jet marketers in the United States might envy their counterparts in Australia in the recessionary era of low sales. “Business aviation has gained momentum in the last three years, with development in all facets of it, especially the big iron,” Mike Keenan told BCA. Kennan is sales manager at Cessna dealer Aeromil Pacific at Bankstown Airport in a suburb of Sidney. A veteran aircraft salesman, he also serves as chairman of the Australian Business Aircraft Association.
Air Ambulance Worldwide announced has started a medevac and air ambulance service operating Piaggio Aero P.180 Avanti aircraft in an air ambulance configuration. The first U.S. medevac flight for a P.180 in the U.S. was from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to Lancaster, Penn. on August 27. The West Palm Beach, Fla. selected P.180 after an evaluation process that took into consideration aircraft performance and its cost effectiveness in the medevac role.
Duncan Aviation’s Authorized Service Center agreement with Bombardier Aerospace was officially extended in September to include Duncan Aviation’s newest maintenance facility in Provo, Utah. Duncan Aviation-Provo joins Duncan’s full-service facilities in Lincoln, Neb., and Battle Creek, Mich., as a Bombardier Authorized Service Center. The Provo facility opened Aug. 1 and also is in the process of obtaining authorizations for the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 and the Legacy executive jets.
European Union interior ministers came away from a meeting in Luxembourg stressing a need for the European Union to speak with one voice on security matters such as terrorism threats, Homeland Security Today reported Oct. 8. The interior ministers heard from U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute, who was invited to join the meeting to explain a recent travel alert from Washington warning U.S. citizens to be vigilant of terrorist attacks when visiting Europe. In the wake of the U.S.
Signature Flight Support has signed a deal with McDonald Aviation to manage its facility at Fresno Yosemite International Airport (KFAT). McDonald Aviation LLC acquired the nearly new facility earlier in the year and completed an extensive refurbishment. The 6,100-sq.-ft. executive terminal will be branded and operated as Signature and features a passenger lounge, crew lounge, two sleep rooms, executive conference room and Signature’s standard refreshment area. The facility also has a 40,800-sq.-ft.
Bell Helicopter sold 32 units at the 2010 Air Medical Transport Conference including one new EMS-configured 429 to Mercy Flight of New York. In a teleconference Oct. 12 from AMTC, Bell Helicopter Textron’s Larry D. Roberts, senior vice president for commercial business, said, “[Mercy Flight is] looking to replace its current fleet, so we expect two more orders will be coming soon.” Delivery of the first unit is expected before the end of 2011. In addition, the company announced contracts for 15 Bell 407s to Air Methods and 16 of its 206L4s, signed Oct. 11, to Air Evac.
Hawker Beechcraft and Machinists union negotiators reached a tentative deal, Oct. 13, on a seven-year contract that calls for a 10% reduction in base pay and increased health care contributions from workers, but keeps two-thirds of the union jobs in Wichita, Kan. The union recommended its members accept the agreement, saying, “These have been extraordinary negotiations, during extraordinarily bad times. This community has suffered from layoffs and job losses. With plant closures and threats of relocation, we kept one goal in mind: It’s about having a job.
JetFlite International has been providing private air service for 20 years from its Farmingdale, N.Y., operation at Republic Airport and now adds a West Coast facility with Long Beach Air Center, which will operate as a JetFlite FBO.
European Maintenance Service AB has opened the first Cessna-authorized Citation Service Center in Scandinavia. Located at Gothenburg Säve Airport in Sweden, the 3,000-sq.-meter Nordic Citation Service Center will serve customers throughout Scandinavia. The center will provide maintenance for 500, 525, 550, 560, 560XL and 680 series Citation business jets and can house up to eight aircraft at a time.
On July 23, 2010, a Cessna 206 departed Gratiot Community Airport (AMN), Alma, Mich., on a personal flight to Rochester International Airport (RST), Rochester, Minn. Although not for hire, the mission was to transport a cancer patient for advanced treatment at the Mayo Clinic. In addition to the pilot, there was a pilot-rated passenger in the copilot seat, the patient and his wife, as well as the patient’s doctor aboard. After climbing to a cruse altitude of 10,000 ft., the pilot set course for Rochester.
Pan Am International Flight Academy acquired the training and simulator assets of Miami-based Aeroservice Aviation Center, the company announced Sept. 15. Aeroservice’s simulators will be integrated into Pan Am’s system and positioned where they most effectively serve customers. Aeroservice’s Miami training center will become Pan Am’s seventh training facility and will operate under Pan Am’s FAR Part 142 certificate. Pan Am, with the exception of a Cessna Caravan simulator in Memphis, focuses on heavy-iron training.
Nextant Aerospace expected to fly its remanufactured Beechjet 400 for the first time in early September, and the Cleveland-area company anticipates certification of the upgraded light jet during first quarter 2011.
There are people way behind the eight ball . . . in panic mode. There is a whole list of issues, and operators are fed up. They say, ‘Here’s another regulation. It takes time. It takes money. Why do I need it? I haven’t had an accident.’” The speaker is one of the many who deal with the safety management system (SMS) issue on a daily basis. And no operator wants to go on record expressing anything negative on the subject. “It sounds as if we’re against safety,” as one put it.
As the northern hemisphere slips into the cold seasons, cautious pilots will review the ice protection information located in their airplane’s documentation (AFM, POH, etc.) and their company’s winter operating procedures. Ice destroys lift and chokes off power. Ice takes down large aircraft and small. Ice is insidious. Small amounts of barely visible ice on a modern high-performance wing can glue your airplane to the ground and send you rolling off the end of the departure runway at takeoff velocity with no options and lousy prospects.
She seemed frail and delicate, but was alert throughout the proceedings, which her bright eyes followed with keen interest. At the tables filling the ballroom sat a mixture of young, less young and middle-aged, with an ample portion of white-haired or bald-domed seniors, some stooped, some hard of hearing, but all smiling, clearly glad to be there. This was the Wichita Aero Club’s second annual dinner dance and the evening’s highlight was the inaugural presentation of the club’s trophy to Mrs. Velma Wallace, the diminutive nonagenarian sitting opposite me.
