The newest and largest Air Traffic Control Center in Europe has been phasing in control since Jan. 5, and went fully operational when the controllers at Manchester Center handled the final aircraft from their old operations room before handing off control to their colleagues in Prestwick Scotland at 3 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. About 130 personnel from Manchester are being relocated to Scotland, which will bring Prestwick's workforce to 900. Prestwick in the North and Swanwick in Hampshire, near Portsmouth, now control all U.K.
U.S. business jet departures have steadily increased since the middle of 2009, wrote Jefferies & Co. analyst Howard Rubel. “In February 2009, departures declined 29 percent year-over-year, the largest drop since we started tracking the data in 2001,” Rubel said. November and December marked the first signs of improvement in the business jet market, with departures increasing 0.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Jefferies & Co. believes the market has stabilized, and volumes are increasing. “Aftermarket sales should see a pickup in the back half of 2010.
We had the opportunity to fly three legs in the airplane, accompanied by senior demo pilot Errol Wuertz and Dennis Hildreth, Hawker 4000 program manager. That gave us the opportunity to look at both extended high-altitude cruise performance and low-altitude handling qualities.
Pratt & Whitney has established a Center of Excellence at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Engineering for research in the field of aviation propulsion systems. P&W will work with UConn on fundamental and applied research initiatives that support the design and development of more-efficient gas turbine engines. The university's primary focus will be research in the field of advanced sensors, diagnostics and controls for use in commercial and military aircraft propulsion systems.
A second Gulfstream G650 has joined the flight test program for the company's new flagship aircraft, completing its first flight Feb. 26. The second test aircraft — T2 — took off from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport at 1250 EST, piloted by senior experimental test pilots Gary Freeman and Scott Buethe. T2 flew for two hours and 33 minutes, reaching 37,000 feet and Mach 0.80 before landing back in Savannah.
Western Aircraft of Greenwich AeroGroup has been selected by Piaggio Aero to become an Avanti Authorized Service Center. Located in Boise, Idaho, Western Aircraft is also an authorized service center for Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Universal and Pratt & Whitney.
Aviation Management Systems, Inc. (AMS) of Portsmouth, N.H., recently announced that it was expanding its corporate aviation consulting services to include client representation during new or pre-owned aircraft acquisitions. AMS helps determine which of the many aviation options is best for its clients and provides assistance in overall asset management, from both a technical and operational perspective. AMS officials say the expansion into acquisitions enables it to support its clients throughout the entire life cycle of aircraft ownership and asset management.
Cessna announced March 13 that the Citation CJ4 has received FAA Certification. The aircraft will debut the new Williams International FJ44-4A FADEC engines, which were certified on Feb. 2, but shares a common pilot type rating with the other CJs (a pilot rated to fly any of the CJs is rated to fly them all). The retail price in 2010 dollars for a typically equipped Citation CJ4 is $9 million, the company says.
Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) from World War II were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony March 10 in the U.S. Capitol. The WASP comprised 1,102 civilian female pilots, who were the first women to fly military aircraft under the U.S. Army Air Forces. WASP ferried fighter, bomber, transport and training aircraft and performed other missions in the Continental United States.
“The Empty Leg Syndrome” (February 2010, page 32) was most educational. LunaJets (www.lunajets.com) is one of those broker Web sites that you mention in the article, launched as a new and anonymous distribution channel for operators’ empty legs. Our business model is different from any other, with live empty legs listed, offers of price per seat and e-mail alerts on registered members’ favorite routes. Thank you and keep the information flowing!
There’s a good FAA and a bad FAA. Having just been found liable for its certificate action against Florida air ambulance and charter outfit, Air Trek, the same FAA New York office is now attempting to take action directly against the firm’s chief pilot for an entirely different matter.
Anthony Nicholas Turiano (Air Traffic Controller Miami, FL )
I was surprised and sorry to see that BCA printed Mike O’Rourke’s letter (February 2010, page 8) without editing the offensive language from it. Mr. O’Rourke seems to attribute an awful lot of power to the controller’s union, which cannot negotiate on matters of pay. Let us remember that it was FAA management that signed off on pay reclassification, and that thousands of FAA managers benefited as well — including plenty of deadwood.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., appointed Shane Eddy as vice president of Sikorsky Global Helicopers, responsible for strategic leadership and general management.
There’s a trail — a former rail bed — behind my house popular with joggers, strollers and one canine in particular. And when we walk it, taking in the woods and wildflowers, watching for hawks and deer — “Get him, Boomer!” — I often wonder where the agony befell poor William Horan.
An experienced businessman pilot and four passengers boarded a company-operated Malibu An experienced businessman pilot and four passengers boarded a company-operated Malibu Mirage Jetprop DLX (PA-46-350P) shortly before 0730 on March 28, 2008, and departed from Edmonton, Alberta, on an IFR flight plan to Winnipeg, Manitoba, a distance of about 950 nm. Thirty-five minutes after takeoff, the aircraft (C-FKKH) broke up in flight and crashed into a hillside 16 miles northeast of Wainwright, Alberta. There were no survivors.
Wavepilot, LLC, has launched an online markektplace in which aircraft operators and FBOs buy and sell fuel. According to the company, the service operates similar to eBay except it is a reverse auction where sellers compete for the buyer’s business. It works like this: An aircraft operator posts a request for quote (RFQ) that invites FBOs to submit their best prices for fuel and services. FBOs post their quotes online and update them to remain competitive. The aircraft operator then reviews the quotes, awards the RFQ to an FBO and schedules the trip online.
Pratt & Whitney Canada held a special ceremony at its engine manufacturing facility in Longueuil, Quebec, Jan. 21 to mark delivery of its 500th PT6A turboprop engine to Blackhawk Modifications Inc. of Waco, Texas Founded in 1999, Blackhawk specializes in replacing engines on five aircraft models, including Raytheon King Air 90, Cessna 425 Conquest and Cheyenne turboprop aircraft with factory-new PT6As. The ceremony included Dan Rogers, owner of DuoTech Services of Franklin, N.C., whose Cheyenne II was the 250th aircraft to receive a Blackhawk upgrade.
There’s a tiny ray of light illuminating a possible improved relationship between the TSA and general aviation. In an interview with National Public Radio Feb. 5, TSA general aviation manager Brian Delauter said the agency plans to collaborate more with the industry than in the past. Speaking to the LASP issue, which generated a torrent of objection last year, he said the TSA will convene a new general aviation advisory panel with industry representatives in March. “We’re going to be 10 times more successful in partnership than . . .
NBAA President Ed Bolen said the threat of aviation user fees seems to be dead “at least for this term of Congress,” and that the FAA’s reauthorization bill could advance within the next “four to eight weeks.” The fact that the Obama administration’s 2011 budget proposal, issued Feb. 1, contained no mention of user fees to help fund the FAA was a “milestone” event, Bolen told BCA.
Wayfarer Aviation, Rye Brook, N.Y., named Wendy Burton director of Industry Charter, focusing on wholesale and internal charter. She will manage relationships with aircraft operators, brokers and vendors in the United States and overseas.
Swiss AviationTraining has added fuel tank safety training for aviation maintenance personnel via its Learning Management System, which is a joint development by Swiss AviationTraining and their software partner infoWERK Multimedia GmbH. Other courses include human factors, winter operations and hazmat transport and handling.
Second-story jetways let passengers get quickly and comfortably aboard United DC-8s at San Francisco International Airport. Self-powered, telescopic loading corridors are by PI Iron and Steel, Los Angeles. President Lopez Mateos of Mexico is shown a Beech Twin Bonanza and an Aero Design Alti-Cruiser at the 50th Anniversary of Flight in Mexico City, elevation 9,000 feet.
