At press time, Blackhawk Modifications’ Cessna Caravan engine upgrade was in the final stages of flight testing, and officials at the Waco, Texas, re-engining specialist were anticipating basic FAA certification of the single-engine turboprop modification by the end this month. EASA approval was expected by the end of September. The upgrade, which involves replacing the existing 675-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A with an 850-shp PT6A-42A, will offer the following benefits:
On the European front, London Executive Aviation CEO Patrick Margetson-Rushmore says he’s optimistic that European business aviation traffic will continue to increase this year. “For us, the year is going well so far. One glance at our order book shows that the European business aviation industry is beginning to recover,” he notes. “We’re realistic, of course. The industry recovery will be gradual rather than dramatic.”
EAA’s gathering, July 26 through August 1 in Oshkosh, Wis., is expected to reflect an improving economy, drawing more than a half million attendees, 10,000 airplanes and 700+ exhibitors, association spokesman Dick Knapinski said. Show goers will see permanent improvements at the AirVenture site: more paved roads, new bike paths and expanded facilities in the warbirds area, sponsored by Scott’s Miracle Grow.
DOT officials intend to issue an NPRM aimed at air charter brokers. Dayton Lehman, DOT’s deputy assistant general counsel in the Office of Aviation speaking at the NATA Air Charter Summit in June said the NPRM will be “quite expansive,” seeking a substantial amount of input on a proper direction for regulating charter brokers. “There are areas where we have truly not made up our minds as to what to do,” Lehman told the audience at the summit held in Chantilly, Va. The NRPM is expected later this year.
The FAA announced ADS-B performance requirements in terms of accuracy, integrity, power and latency on May 27. The nationwide rollout of ADS-B ground stations will be complete in 2013. By 2020, the FAA will require ADS-B-out equipment (either 1090 MHz extended squitter or Universal Access Transceiver broadcast links) for aircraft flying in Class A, B and C airspace and above 10,000 feet. The most controversial aspect of the rulemaking, among several, is that ADS-B will not replace existing transponders, which still must be carried in addition to ADS-B.
The FAA has rolled out a new surveillance technology to help track aircraft in the mountainous region around Juneau, Alaska. The ground-based Wide-Area Multilateration (WAM) system will provide interim surveillance capability until the agency deploys satellite-based ADS-B in the area. WAM comprises a network of sensors that transmit signals, which are received and returned by aircraft transponders. The WAM system “triangulates” returning signals to determine the location of the aircraft and present it to controllers on their consoles as if it were a radar target.
Cessna will to extend its Citation Mobile Service Unit (MSU) teams to Europe by year-end. Part of Cessna’s Service Direct program, mobile units are already operational in the United States. Cessna executives say the extension to Europe is a “natural progression” of the program since more than 1,000 Citations have been delivered to customers in the region. Cessna has not yet determined the specific base for the European MSU but expects the unit will be located in southern France and also cover Geneva, northern Italy and northern Spain.
Signature Flight Support and Aviapartner Executive have opened an FBO facility in a new general aviation terminal at Nice Cote d’Azur Airport in France. The facility includes a VIP lounge, a pilots’ lounge with entertainment systems and flat-screen televisions, WSI weather and business center services. Signature and Aviapartner provide ground handling, flight planning, crew accommodations coordination, crew transportation and catering services. Customs and immigration services also are housed in the general aviation terminal.
The Iridium 9555 satellite handset has a new firmware release that allows users to plug in to a computer running Windows XP, Vista and 7 or Mac OS 10.4 or later. The handset connects to the computer through a standard Mini-USB cable. The phone also has “enhanced” short-message-service (SMS, or “texting”) performance, providing up to 1,000 characters in length instead of 160. As with all Iridium satellite service coverage is 100 percent of the globe.
The flight deck has an impressive avionics suite, including three, eight-by-ten inch, portrait configuration AMLCD adaptive flight displays, dual solid-state AHRS, dual digital air data computers, full-function, multi-sensor FMS-3000 with GPS receiver, dual 4000-series Pro Line 21 comm/nav/surveillance radios with Mode S diversity antennae, standard TWR-850 Doppler turbulence detection radar, L3 Skywatch HP TCAS I, ACSS Class A TAWS and a solid-state Meggitt secondary flight display system [emergency standby instrument system].
The Beech King Air 90 now has distinguished itself as the longest-lived general aviation turboprop in continuous production ever. More than 2,300 Model 90 aircraft have been built in the last 46 years and that’s 37 percent of all King Airs yet built for the civilian market.
Icelandair wants to capture more data on flying in volcanic ash clouds, so its maintenance operation, Icelandair Technical Services, modified a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle to enable the aircraft to measure ash cloud density, says Jens Bjarnsson, senior vice president of technical services for Icelandair. “We put the required cables in, so when there’s another volcano, we just have to put the external probes on, and the aircraft can take off and start measuring,” he says.
In reviewing the FAA's final rule pertaining to Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B), one of the critical building blocks of its NextGen air traffic management system, two things are apparent: First, the agency lowered the bar to make compliance more affordable; and second, the thing is still way, way expensive and could cost the aviation industry $2.5 billion to $6.2 billion, depending upon discounted rate of return assumptions. General aviation will incur costs of $1.2 billion to $4.5 billion.
Rated at 550 shp up to ISA+30°C, the -135 enables the C90GTx to climb directly to FL 300 and reach FL 250 in 18 minutes. Maximum cruise speed is 272 KTAS at 9,500 pounds, assuming ISA conditions at FL 200.
As more business jet operators register for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), many are (unhappily) discovering their aircraft must be equipped with a flight data recorder. The ICAO standard applies to all jets with certificates of airworthiness issued after Jan. 1, 2005, “and no one knew it was there,” Roger Baker told BCA editor-in-chief, William Garvey. The head of the Safety Focus Group, Baker conducts IS-BAO audits of flight departments. He and other auditors say the FDR rule is becoming better known as more U.S.
The U.S. Senate declined to consider a resolution disapproving EPA regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions by a vote of 47-53 on June 10. The Helicopter Association International reports the White House aggressively lobbied against the bill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) introduced the resolution that would have put the Senate on record as wanting to bar the EPA from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, which the EPA says gives it the authority to regulate any greenhouse gas emissions by rulemaking, without legislation.
Hawker Beechcraft Services (HBS) has selected the Thrane & Thrane Aviator 200 system to provide broadband connectivity for in-service King Air 90, 200, 300 and 350 aircraft. Certification of the system on the twin turboprops is expected in the fourth quarter. In 2009, the high-speed Internet equipment was certificated on Hawker Beechcraft’s Hawker business jets.
According to NASA Ames Research Center, pilot distractions are an accident category that is difficult to measure. As such, assembling data about distraction events is the only way to understand the risk fully so as to create strategies to defeat the problem. If you have a cockpit distraction that leads to a miscue, do make use of the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS). It captures confidential reports, analyzes the resulting aviation safety data and disseminates this critical information to the aviation community. Go to asrs.arc.nasa.gov for more information.
Mike Ellis, Hawker Beechcraft’s vice president of pre-owned aircraft, characterizes today’s market for previously owned business aircraft as “tentative.”
The new FAA NIEC is off to a flying start with Boeing subsidiary Insitu providing unmanned aircraft for research to help develop recommendations for integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace. The system, including two ScanEagle small unmanned aircraft, has been delivered to the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. The FAA will fly the UAVs in restricted airspace over the New Jersey Air National Guard’s Warren Grove Gunnery Range as it works to develop air traffic management procedures for them.
Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock Texas, March 1967. This was it. We had arrived. The T-37 program was finished and we were on to the T-38. Nobody had their picture taken standing next to a T-37, the Cessna "Tweet" primary trainer. The supersonic Northrop T-38 Talon advanced jet trainer, aka "The White Rocket," was the plane we had waited to fly for a long time.
“As we move into the summer of 2010, there has never been a market so fractured, with so many ups and downs,” commented Fletcher Aldredge, publisher of the Vref Aircraft Value Reference and the Vref Market Leader newsletter. Aldredge noted in the second quarter edition of Market Leader that international buyers have buoyed the used aircraft market in recent months. “The robust export market has helped breath life back into everything from Cessna 182s to Gulfstream 550s.”
Belgian charter operator Philippe Bodson has become the first European operator to place Hawker Beechcraft’s King Air 350i twin turboprop into service. Hawker Beechcraft obtained EASA type approval for the 350i in December 2009. Bodson founded and manages Antwerp-based charter ASL, which operates 14 aircraft throughout Europe and North Africa.
Aviatrax S.A., Luxembourg, appointed Marijana O’Dwyer head of Commercial, responsible for commercial activities and coordination of affiliates and partners. Axis Jet, Sacramento, Calif., announced the addition of Amy Dose to the company’s aircraft charter division as charter sales director.
