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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Paris Salon (threesome in foreground) were old-time flying boat designers Claude Dornier (right), now making STOL airplanes, and Igor Sikorsky (left), helicopter designer. Sikorsky took Dornier for a ride in his S-61 (background), which features turbine power and flying boat hull.
Over the past several months, business aviation has been beset by negative media reports and congressional criticism, which was even furthered by the president himself, all of it prompted by thoughtless behavior and furthered by misinformation and generally tough financial times. Some companies closed the hangar doors and quit flying, leaving hundreds of flight department employees out in the cold. Since that time, progress has been made by aviation’s alphabet groups and others to turn back the tide of negative public opinion.
The Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Aviation Rulemaking Committee has completed its recommendations on operating small UAVs (sUAVs) in civil airspace. The sUAVs generally weigh 55 pounds or less and operate within line of sight of the “pilot” in day VFR conditions. New rules could even govern rubber band-powered balsa models. The FAA convened the rulemaking committee and will now consider its recommendations when writing a new special federal aviation regulation (SFAR).
I am amazed that thus far there has been little mentioned about the lack of angle of attack (AOA) or “alpha” awareness on either pilot’s part related to the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo. As a former FAA DPE (DA-20 and CE-500 series) and military combat instructor pilot (F-15 and F/A-18), I disagree with the FAA’s policy of minimizing the importance of the AOA gauge as a “secondary” instrument. Military pilots, especially U.S. Navy types, lived (and died) by AOA awareness.
Way back in the early 1980s as a maintenance manager or senior technician, you had to plan your life around being “on call.” That meant that you had to be sitting next to a telephone just in case your crew ran into trouble while on a trip. The invention of the pager was received as a miraculous gift for those of us who had a life outside the hangar. You could actually go see your kids play ball or tap dance, go fishing or maybe see a movie. Sweet freedom! Right up to moment the darn thing went off.
Commercial airlines provide scheduled service to fewer than 500 cities in the United States, according to GAMA. That would seem to suffice for most companies’ routine business travel needs. However, only slightly more than two dozen hub cities have frequent nonstop commercial flights. Flying between the remainder of them requires one or more stopovers at hub airports, frequently resulting in lengthy travel times.
Rockwell Collins acquired DataPath, Inc., a global leader in creating satellite-based communication networks, the company announced June 1. DataPath, which includes a wholly owned subsidiary SWE-DISH Satellite Solutions AB, will operate under the Rockwell Collins brand as part of the company’s government systems business.
Airbus has become a full member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, a private/public partnership to modernize European Air Traffic Management (ATM). An agreement with the 16 partners of the SJU was finalized June 12. SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) will develop and deliver the operational and technical standards for the progressive deployment of the new European ATM system — roughly equivalent to the U.S. NextGen ATM program. Patrick Gavin, Executive Vice-President, head of Airbus Engineering explained, “ATM is a limiting factor to the growth of air transport.
Cessna Aircraft Co. announced two major single engine sales June 16. One was a signed agreement with Indonesia’s Susi Air for the purchase of 30 Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops. Eight of the new Caravans will be delivered this year, with the remainder of the order to be completed in 2011. Susi Air already operates 10 Grand Caravans. It began operations with two Caravans in December 2006, providing scheduled and charter passenger and cargo service throughout Indonesia, as well as humanitarian airlift support for the region.
Analysts in the global equity research department of financial services company J.P. Morgan report that inventories of previously owned business jets are stabilizing, but at a relatively high level, indicating that a recovery in the market is not imminent.
Jeff Saucedo (Newport News, Virginia), Vice President, Sales & Marketing (Newport News, Virginia), International Communications Group (Newport News, Virginia)
The annual BCA Planning and Purchasing Handbook is a comprehensive and valuable resource for the business aviation community and I always read it with great interest. My interest, however, turned to dismay when I reviewed Mal Gormley’s article “Cabin Electronics” (May, page 202). I realized that International Communications Group (ICG) was conspicuous by its absence.
Mike Ellis, Hawker Beechcraft’s vice president of pre-owned aircraft, characterizes today’s market for previously owned business aircraft as “tentative.”
Raytheon will lead a team of five companies to study how NextGen architecture will affect the National Airspace System from 2018 to 2025. “The next generation of airspace management must support a broad array of capabilities — from classic aircraft with minimal automation to highly integrated, multi-sensor aircraft, including unmanned aerial systems,” a Raytheon official told Avionics magazine.
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt gathered representatives from the major air carriers, their regional partners, aviation industry groups and labor in Washington, D.C., on June 15 to participate in a closed-door “call to action” summit to improve airline safety. This discussion addressed pilot training, cockpit discipline and other issues associated with flight safety.
The actions by a group of protestors calling themselves Plane Stupid, who chained themselves to the wheel of a private jet parked at London City Airport on June 10 were called “misguided” and “politically driven” by the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA). The protesters were arrested and charged with criminal damage, along with breaking and entering. Plane Stupid activists have a record of pulling aviation-related publicity stunts to highlight their concerns about climate change, says the BBGA.
Dassault issued 111 more layoff notices, effective June 5, at its Little Rock, Ark., completion center, blaming the economic downturn and the business jet slump. The layoffs came largely in the initial engineering and design areas, said spokesman Andrew Ponzoni. “Our main production activities, such as building interiors, painting and flight test, were less affected,” he said. Staffing levels are now roughly the same as they were in January 2008, said Ponzoni.
More than 1,000 new turbine-powered business aircraft were delivered in seven of the past ten years, but those numbers, while impressive, pale when compared to the used turbine aircraft marketplace which typically sees several times those figures — even in down years.
