Metis Systems, a division of DHK Holdings, LLC, has just released version 1.2 of the eAPIS Tool. This program safely and securely saves all of your aircraft, pilot and passenger data on your computer and makes submitting a Customs eAPIS manifiest a snap, according to the company. It validates your data against the Business Rules published by Customs, then prepares a fullly compliant and sufficient “.xml” file that can be uploaded to the eAPIS Web site. The tool keeps information in several tables that interact with the part of the program that produces the file.
The National Air Transportation Association has named Wyvern Consulting the exclusive sales and support organization for its recently launched IC Check, a comprehensive compliance-driven flight release system for professionally flown general aviation aircraft operations. IC Check is an online application that assesses “whether individual flights for which an operator exercises operational control are flown with a legal crew, legal passengers, legal aircraft and legal flight parameters,” NATA said.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently received FAA certification for the second-generation Gulfstream Enhanced Vision System (EVS II) on the wide-cabin, high-speed Gulfstream G150. The system is available for both new and in-service G150 aircraft.
That night the two rock performers — one a drummer, the other a DJ — had wowed a crowd of 10,000 people at a free concert near the University of South Carolina. Now, even though it was approaching midnight, they wanted to get home to California. They, along with two support staffers, boarded the chartered Learjet Model 60 that had landed at Columbia Metropolitan Airport 40 minutes earlier. The passengers took their seats, the cabin door was closed and locked, and the two pilots began to taxi to the active runway. It was Sept. 19, 2008.
Embraer began deliveries of its entry level Phenom 100 executive jet in Brazil at the end of June. The first customers to receive the aircraft were Algar Aviation, from Uberlândia; Minas Gerais, for its charter operations; Wellborn Participações, from Londrina, Paraná; and Locar Guindastes e Transportes Intermodais, from São Paulo. The latter two will be using their Phenoms as corporate aircraft. Of the 800-plus firm orders for the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300, more than 100 are for Latin America, with 70 percent of them for Brazilian customers.
NASA is funding development of a turbulence/severe weather detection system for remote ocean regions, where pilots have little access to weather information. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at Boulder, Colo., and the University of Wisconsin will design the system using satellite data, computer weather models and artificial intelligence techniques. The system’s goal: to identify and predict rapidly evolving storms and other areas of turbulence.
Boeing, a member of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, announced last month that the group has admitted five new airline members, including Alaska, its first U.S. airline member, and said the group will launch a “sustainability assessment” of halophytes, a class of plants that thrives in saltwater habitats. The group, which previously announced research projects on algae and jatropha curcus, said the initial halophyte effort will assess its lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions and socio-economic impacts.
Personnel costs represent captain and first officer salaries not including benefits. The figures are based on a nationwide average of quotes taken from aircraft operators.
Executives at several business jet manufacturers have suggested that the return of stability to the used aircraft market may be a reason to be cautiously optimistic that the dramatic decline in aircraft prices and sales may be abating.
CitationShares is now associated with TerraPass, a leading retailer of carbon offsets and consumer energy efficiency products, and Corporate Angel Network (CAN), a public charity that arranges free flight to and from treatment for cancer patients. Through CAN, customers will be able to donate flight hours aboard CitationShares jets to a CAN Jet Card account and through TerraPass, customers can balance their carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offsets for the hours they fly on a CitationShares jet. CitationShares Five American Ln.
Looking for help with your foggy or scratched windows? Check out the NBAA’s Products and Services Directory to locate outfits that specialize in aircraft window repair and replacement. First, access the Web site at http://data.nbaa.org/prodsvcs/directory/search.cfm, and then from the pull-down Categories menu select Window/Windscreen Repair.
Especially in today’s volatile market, Rick Engles believes it is critical that aircraft brokers clearly communicate to prospective airplane sellers what the true value of their aircraft is.
Jet-A and AvgasPer Gallon Fuel PricesJuly 2009 Jet-A and AvgasPer Gallon Fuel PricesJuly 2009 Jet-A Region High Low Average Eastern $7.06 $3.10 $4.98 New England $5.25 $3.44
There’s not another current production business aircraft that can beat the Learjet 60 in a time-to-climb contest. With a weight-to-thrust ratio of 2.55:1, you can soar from sea level to FL 410 in less than 18 minutes. It’s also fuel efficient. After level off, its Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A engines enable the Learjet 60 to cruise at 440 KTAS with an average fuel burn of 1,300 pph.
Rockwell Collins’ Corporate Aircraft Service Program (CASP) offers corporate aircraft operators maintenance for their avionics and cabin entertainment equipment. Rentals, exchanges, component repairs, comprehensive reliability upgrades, equipment removal and refit coverage are included. CASP also offers one consolidated annual invoice based on a forecast of annual operating hours received at the start of the annual program and covers each aircraft for an entire year.
The AOPA’s Aviation eBrief says both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are backing an FAA reauthorization bill introduced in mid-July that would accelerate NextGen implementation. The bill would require satellite-based ATC at the 35 busiest U.S. airports by 2014, with the rest of the country coming online by 2018 with $40 billion in funding through 2011 but with out-year system funding unspecified, postponing the tough decisions until 2011, AOPA states as we go to press.
The following abbreviations are used throughout the tables: “NA” means not available; “—”indicates the performance is not applicable; “NP” signifies that the specific performance is not possible.
Rolls-Royce has received European certification for the BR700-725A1-12 turbofan that will power the Gulfstream G650 business jet. The European Aviation Safety Agency granted approval on June 23. First flight of the G650 is planned for later this year. The 16,100-pound-thrust engine features a 50-inch fan and 24 titanium blades.
You awake in the hotel room, turn on The Weather Channel and see red- and orange-colored warning areas promising thunderstorms on your return flight. A last check of the WSI weather screen when leaving the FBO shows the line of CBs growing in size and intensity, directly on your route home. Throughout the flight you keep adjusting the weather radar to pick your way around the cells.
There has been a great deal of talk about the damage that has been done to business aviation by politicians, the news media and ignorant senior executives. I don’t see it that way. Much of the “damage” was the predictable result of companies that leaned too strongly into unsustainable economic winds. When those economic winds stopped, they fell on their faces. Their companies, and their travel resources, have gone through the normal Darwinian process of the survival of the fittest.
New Zealand-based aircraft tracking company spidertracks has launched spiderwatch, a flight following component that actively watches over every flight. The company is positioning the system as an alternative to ELTs. Spiderwatch is automatically turned on when the aircraft accelerates through 40 knots. This tells the system to “actively monitor the flight. If the spider tracking device loses power, the system loses contact with the spider, triggering text and e-mail alerts to be automatically sent to recipients designated by the user.
The AOPA has expressed concern over the FAA’s push to extinguish all existing “through-the-fence” access at public-use airports involving homes and businesses on private property that have access to airport taxiways or runways. The AOPA says the problem is of particular concern in the Northwest where the FAA is conducting an inventory of airports that have existing through-the-fence operations and is pressuring airport sponsors to eventually eliminate that access.
I enjoyed your recent article about night visual traps (Cause & Circumstance, June, page 68). A convincing case could be made that, unless you’re over a built-up area with lots of lighting, there really is no such thing as night VFR.
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace has expanded its global presence to meet increasing demand in Asia and the Pacific Rim by adding new authorized distributors in China and Australia. The new distributors include Shen Zhen Lubair Aerospace Co., Ltd., with two locations in Shen Zhen, China, and Pacific Dynamics in Artarmon, New South Wales, Australia. They will offer Sherwin-Williams’ entire range of aerospace products including Jet Glo, Acry Glo, Jet Glo Express and Jet Flex. The company’s new product, Fill Bond aerospace putty, also will be offered. Price: Varies
