The FAA released a report Sept. 12 that concluded the Eclipse EA500 had been properly certificated, but that the procedures need to be improved for future VLJs. The process left several FAA personnel feeling that the certification had been artificially rushed and that their own findings had been ignored or overridden by senior FAA management. The Special Certification Review (SCR) team, comprised of current and retired FAA personnel not involved in the Eclipse certification, was spurred by complaints of those employees to congressional staffers.
Simon Wade, training and safety manager at Universal Weather & Aviation's London Stansted facility, is set to go running again. Wade completed the 2006 Jungle Marathon in Brazil (see "Off Duty," Business & Commercial Aviation, March 2007) and says he'll be running for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in March 2009. Interested sponsors can visit his fund-raising Web page at www.justgiving.com/run-4-diabetes and help cure juvenile diabetes.
*Civil Air Patrol, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., announced that Reggie Chitwood of Van Buren, Ark., was elected national vice commander of the CAP by vote of the National Board, the CAP's governing body, and Maj. Gen.-elect Amy S. Courter of South Lyon, Mich., was elected national commander.
Rated at 1,695 pounds of thrust to ISA+10°C, the PW617F is a scaled-up version of the PW615F that powers the Citation Mustang with hot section durability improvements added to withstand the rigors of the high-cycle operating environment of air taxi operations. An automatic performance reserve feature boosts engine output to 1,777 pounds of thrust in the event of engine failure on takeoff, if APR is armed prior to takeoff roll.
A May 2008 agreement with the United States made Aruba the first country to secure customs and immigration pre-clearance. Aircraft will land at Queen Beatrix Airport in Oranjestad and enter a wing of the general aviation terminal operated by a subsidiary of Universal Weather and Aviation. Once cleared, the aircraft may then proceed to any destination within the United States. Just two and a half hours from the U.S. border, Aruba is ideally situated to save operators time in transit.
Schedulers and dispatchers will be as eligible as flight crew members for points earned under Chevron's new rewards program. "If the flight department chooses to, it can share the points so that everyone benefits across the organization," says Bob Taylor, Chevron manager of branded programs. The new program is based on extensive market research that indicated a rewards program needs to be fair to all within a flight operation. Besides fuel, rewards include products and gift certificates that provide hundreds of options from retailers.
StandardAero -- a designated PT6A overhaul facility based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada -- has received supplemental type certification of its program to replace the original Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41 engines on Beech King Air 200s with new or serviceable PT6A-42 engines.
All national aviation authorities hold the sovereign right to enforce their own regulations on foreign-registered aircraft operating in their airspace. In the E.U., at least, this includes ramp inspections under the Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft program, or SAFA.
Both of International Communications Group's new systems support ACARS and will now support Future Air Navigation Systems and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications. The Model 120A is intended for the flight deck; the 220A serves both flight deck and crew. The company says the 120A is ideal for dedicated voice channel along with a dedicated data-link circuit, while the 220A adds an additional channel.
*Executive AirShare, Kansas City, Mo., announced that Brian W. Jewell has been promoted to chief pilot. He will report to Adam Letts, director of operations.
*DAE Engineering and StandardAero, Tempe, Ariz., announced the consolidation of their leadership teams. Rob Mionis, currently CEO of DAE Engineering, will assume leadership of the combined management team and take on the additional position of president and CEO of StandardAero. Paul Soubry, currently president and CEO of StandardAero, will become a strategic advisor to the new organization.
A prominent House lawmaker criticized the FAA for bringing the multi-agency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) further under the agency's wing -- without notifying Congress first. JPDO was established as an independent office in 2003, to create a blueprint for a future ATC system and oversee its implementation. It was to report directly to the FAA administrator. However, this past May, the FAA created a new position, senior vice president for NextGen and Operations Planning, held by Victoria Cox, and gave her oversight of JPDO and other FAA planning efforts.
Since the ouster of company founder and CEO Vern Raburn and the takeover by principal investor Roel Pieper in July, Eclipse Aviation has been caught up in a perfect storm of problems. The woes include cash flow, disaffected and non-performing suppliers, production cuts, layoffs and a Special Certification Review of the Eclipse 500 spurred by internecine battles within the FAA that culminated in unwelcome congressional attention. Eclipse had planned to build more than 450 Eclipse 500s in 2008, but actual production will be closer to 250 units.
General Dynamics is buying Jet Aviation of Switzerland from Permira Funds, for $2.25 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close by year-end -- subject to normal regulatory reviews. General Dynamics said it plans to retain the Jet Aviation and Midcoast Aviation brands and management and operate the business as a unit of its aerospace business, which now consists of Gulfstream Aerospace and General Dynamics Aviation Services. Jet purchased Midcoast in 2005 and expanded its St.
Carl Janssens, editor of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, declared, "The second quarter of 2008 was a turning point for pre-owned aircraft sales activity. Sales have throttled back, and inventories have increased."
John Lurker currently flies Citations out of Indianapolis International Airport (IND). Previously Lurker spent 33 years with the FAA, including 14 years as a front line manager and five years as a traffic management supervisor with Indianapolis Center. Lurker agrees there is some confusion over what happens when a flight declares minimum or emergency fuel.
I found your article "Global Warming, Jet-A Prices 'Fueling' Interest in Alternative Gas" very interesting. While many governments and airlines have been searching for an alternative energy source, Texas A&M University has developed and patented a revolutionary technology that will facilitate the conversion of stranded and remote natural gas worldwide to a high-octane, clean-burning jet fuel directly onsite without the need of an existing infrastructure or pipeline.
Roel Pieper, the interim CEO of Eclipse Aviation, has organized the company into three separate divisions. Peg Billson, formerly chief operating officer of Eclipse Aviation, has been reassigned as president and general manager of Eclipse Manufacturing division. On an equal level with Billson, Mike McConnell, previously Eclipse Aviation's vice president of sales and marketing, has been appointed president and general manager of the Eclipse Customer division.
*DeCrane Aircraft Seating certified its first seat for an executive aircraft 25 years ago. Today, this division of DeCrane Aerospace is a leader in aircraft seating. Started as Engineering, Research and Design Associates (ERDA), seating was not the company's initial focus. Instead, they were developing composite propellers, auxiliary fuel tank systems and ovenless hot food preparation systems. Company founder David Brandt had an opportunity to tour the inside of an executive jet and was surprised at how loose and shaky the seats were on a $6 million aircraft interior.
May I first convey my appreciation of your well-written magazine. We are a small South African-based company, operating about a dozen aircraft in the C208, BE20 and B190 class, mostly for humanitarian ends. Roger Johnson's excellent article in the June issue ("Captain Fix-It," Flight Log, page 92) will go a long way in capturing the air crew and technical crew in our efforts to create and promote a positive safety culture.
Macquarie Global Opportunities Partners (MGOP), which purchased the non-flying businesses of Sentient Flight Group (SFG), has also grown rapidly through a series of acquisitions of FBOs and other aviation businesses. It had been in discussions with Sentient since the beginning of the year about potentially investing in the company.
The FAA requested information and documentation from about one dozen executives at Sentient Flight Group in August, just prior to the company's reorganization. Some of the requested information involved questions about ownership, and many of the requests were sent to former TAG Aviation executives. The requests came out of the agency's Eastern Region, which was involved in the investigation and certificate revocation of TAG affiliate AMI Jet Charter. Sentient says it will fully comply with the request.
I agree entirely, although a component failure in a recip can often lead to fire. Sometimes the best option, as you know, is simply to get the airplane onto the ground under control.
*Bombardier, Waterview, Texas, announced the appointment of Brad Tolbard as director, business development, Bombardier Service Center Network. He will be responsible for the network's strategy regarding the interiors market.
