While climbing through FL 250 on the night of June 19, 1996, the crew of a Boeing 767, westbound from Salt Lake City to Portland, Ore., got several cockpit warnings that something was wrong with the right engine. Just then a flight attendant reported that an aft passenger had seen sparks shooting from the big turbofan. The first officer went to see for himself.
Summertime canoeing and the big centennial celebration gotme thinking, grudgingly, about the Boy Scouts of America. I was once a loyal Scout, pledging to do my best, but parted ways after three offenses — the BSA’s, not mine. First, the bad stroke. I’d paddled canoes since kidhood under all kinds of conditions, so was taken aback when camp counselors insisted I master the J-stroke, to which I objected as ineffective. That cost me my paddle rights. Strike 1.
Cessna Aircraft is collaborating with Bye Energy, Inc., to design and develop an electric propulsion system for a Cessna 172 proof-of-concept (POC) aircraft. First flight of the electric-powered Skyhawk POC is expected to take place by year-end, according to the Wichita aircraft manufacturer. Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton said at the EAA AirVenture, “As we look at the landscape of alternative fuels for general aviation aircraft, the electric power plant offers significant benefits, but there are significant challenges to get there.
Embraer publicly debuted its new Legacy 650 at the seventh Latin American Business Conference and Exhibition (LABACE), at Congonhas Airport, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A variant of the Legacy 600, the new model is fitted with an aft ventral tank and a wet center wing box to provide a 500-nm range increase. That enables the new model to fly 3,900 nm nonstop with four passengers, or 3,800 nm with eight passengers, with NBAA IFR fuel reserves. The three-zone cabin, identical to that of the Legacy 600, can accommodate 14 passengers.
Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research has developed an Aging General Aviation Education & Training website that is designed to provide a single access point for type-specific maintenance information on aging general aviation aircraft.
ARGUS TRAQPak data indicates July business aircraft activity was up very slightly at +0.6% from the previous month. The fractional industry market segment had the strongest increase over June at +10.8%, with Part 135 charter showing modest growth of +2.5%. The Part 91 corporate sector showed declines in all aircraft categories. Comparing year over year results (July 2010 vs. July 2009), aircraft activity was down slightly, -0.9% overall.
NetJets has canceled the last of the orders it had with Hawker Beechcraft, a move that trimmed about $400 million from the company’s backlog. Company executives stress that the cancellation has little impact on the company’s current bottom line, with none of the aircraft on order scheduled for delivery this year and only one in 2011.
The EPA conceded FAA authority over aviation fuels and says its recent Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on the use of lead in avgas only provides a means to collect additional information, and that the agency has not established or proposed any deadline for banning the use of leaded avgas.
In most countries, imports of new and pre-owned business jets are on the decline. However, in Canada, whose economy added 93,200 jobs in June and gross domestic product rose to 6.1 percent, business jet imports are rising, according to Aircraftpost.com. For medium and long-range aircraft produced since the mid-1990s, imports into Canada for all of 2009 totaled 17, compared to 19 aircraft imported in the first six months of 2010 alone.
AgustaWestland’s new AW169 twin, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210 turboshaft engines is scheduled for first delivery in 2015. The company hopes to sell 1,000 units of the helicopter into the government and emergency medical services markets over 20 years. The AW169 is designed to fill a gap in the Italian manufacturer’s product line between the AW139 and the Grand. The new model has a design weight of just over 9,900 lb, measuring about 39 ft. long and 5.6 ft. wide.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association board of directors has approved Duncan Aviation and Greenwich AeroGroup as its newest members, bringing the international trade association’s membership to 69.
Sikorsky Aerospace Services signed an agreement appointing the Mumbai facility of Deccan Charters Ltd. of Bangalore, India, as an authorized Customer Service Center to support Sikorsky S-76 helicopters.
Max-Viz EVS-1500 infrared Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) now can be installed on King Air 200 and 300 series aircraft. Through an exclusive agreement, in-service King Air owners, operators and repair stations can now purchase the EVS-1500 directly from Hawker Beechcraft Parts & Distribution. Installation is being offered through Hawker Beechcraft Services, the airframe manufacturer’s factory-owned service center network.
Jack DeCrane, who had managed merger and acquisition activities for the Aerospace and Defense Group of BF Goodrich, set up his own venture to acquire aircraft suppliers in 1989. That company, DeCrane Aerospace, evolved in to a major supplier of business aircraft cabin products with projected 2010 sales of $170 million. Along the way he acquired auxiliary fuel system maker and completion company, PATS Aircraft Systems. Jack DeCrane died in 1979. Now, coming full circle, DeCrane Holdings has agreed to sell off its interior fittings business to Goodrich.
Linear Air acquired a fifth Eclipse 500 jet, making the VLJ jet-taxi charter service the largest exclusive operator of Eclipse aircraft in the United States. Linear Air, headquartered in Concord, Mass., also announced it is expanding its metropolitan New York presence with two Eclipse 500s based at the Million Air terminal at Westchester County Airport, allowing Linear Air to reduce or eliminate positioning costs and offer lower-priced on-demand service for customers in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Hawker Beechcraft announced that its piston-twin Beechcraft Baron has become the only aircraft in its class to be approved for operations at London City Airport. Due to the airport’s city location and extremely steep (5.5 deg.) approach requirements, aircraft must demonstrate the necessary performance capabilities, including a 7.5-deg. approach, and receive approval from EASA and London City Airport to utilize the airport.
In a move reflecting the challenging market confronting its membership of aircraft brokers and dealers, the National Aircraft Resale Association is shuttering its headquarters office at Reagan Washington National Airport, and parting with long time president Susan Sheets. “A lot of it is driven by cost,” NARA Chairman Steve Gade told BCA Aug. 17. He said NARA headquarters was officially transferring to Grapevine, Texas, which “is logical” since it is home to the organization’s meeting planner, Devri Surpless.
When one Fortune 500 company after another shut down their flight operations during what were probably the darkest days of the still ongoing economic downturn, the spotlight was on their fixed-wing flagships. But helicopter operations suffered as well, especially those used for executive transport — and most particularly the larger helicopters, which we’ll categorize here as those with gross takeoff weights of 10,000 lb or greater.
L-3 Avionics Systems’ Trilogy ESI-2000 3 ATI electronic standby instrument with battery backup won FAA TSO authorization, the company announced Aug. 13. The all-solid-state ESI-2000 provides primary flight display information for a minimum of one hour and up to four hours of backup power, depending on temperature if primary power is lost. A 3.7-in. backlit screen makes the ESI-2000 clearly visible in daylight or dark cockpit conditions.
Even those who follow international affairs in the most cursory way recognize that things can change at lightning speed, often for the worse. So, if you are a flight department manager with executive and other personnel based in a place where bad things are likely to happen or even possible, then you’d better have a contingency plan for organizing your people and dealing with the unexpected.
The AOPA and NBAA will help their members make the most of their light general aviation aircraft as business tools this fall at each group’s annual convention. Speaking on “AOPA Live” at EAA AirVenture, AOPA President and CEO Craig L. Fuller and NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen unveiled the six forums that will be presented as the Light Business Airplane Conference at both the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, Oct. 19 to 21 in Atlanta, and the AOPA Aviation Summit, Nov. 11 to 13 in Long Beach, Calif.
Montreal-based aviation services firm Zenith Jet is predicting that Cessna will reinitiate the Columbus program with an entry-into-service date of 2016. In its recently released 10-year forecast, Zenith believes Cessna will account for 35% of all business jet deliveries, giving it the largest share of business jet unit volume. Embraer will move into the “Number 2 spot” in terms of unit deliveries, capturing 18 percent of the market share, Zenith forecasts.
The FAA has granted an STC for Garmin’s G1000 integrated flight deck in the Cessna CitationJet (Model 525, serial numbers 0001-0359). The RVSM-compliant system will save approximately 100 lb. of weight, and will give pilots the advantages of flying WAAS approaches with Garmin’s GFC 700 autopilot, electronic charts, data link weather and optional Synthetic Vision Technology. (See related story on page 38.)
Everett, Wash.-based AeroMech Inc. is helping Mid-Continent Instruments of Wichita obtain an STC for the installation of Mid-Continent’s MD835 lithium ion battery in a variety of general aviation aircraft, including the Beech King Air 200 and 300 and several Citation models. AeroMech, which provides engineering consulting services, is overseeing the initial battery installation in a King Air 200.
