The FAA has issued a stern warning to Santa Monica, Calif., city officials that a proposed ordinance to ban larger business jets at Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) would violate federal laws and result in enforcement proceedings against the city. In early December 2007, the City Council agreed to a "first reading" of a proposed ordinance that would ban Category C and D aircraft - those with approach speeds faster than 121 knots - from using the airport. Santa Monica estimates that about 50 percent of the business jets that operate at SMO are Category C or D aircraft.
Regional carrier Chautauqua Airlines, a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways, reportedly is requiring all of its pilots to complete the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's Runway Safety online course as part of the airline's runway safety initiative. "There's really nothing better out there; it's certainly better than what we could have put together in-house," said Chautauqua Airlines Manager of Flight Standards Dirk Melchior. The AOPA says in its e-mail member newsletter, "You don't have to be an airline pilot to benefit from this free training.
Let's not kid ourselves. Business aviation is extremely vulnerable to political attack from environmental activists. Inevitably it will come to their attention that those of us who fly in business jets burn a lot more fuel than most people. Simple math will tell anyone who bothers to do the calculation that a business jet can burn as much fuel in an hour as a car will burn in a year.
Bombardier Aerospace has officially launched the Learjet NXT, its first clean-sheet Learjet since the Model 45 made its debut in the early 1990s. The NXT will, according to Learjet, have an eight-passenger standup cabin with the most volume in the midsize class, a top cruise speed of 0.82 Mach and a 3,000-nm NBAA IFR range at long-range cruise. It's intended to bridge the gap in Bombardier's product line between the 2,300-nm range Learjet 60XR and the 3,200-nm range Challenger 300. The newest Learjet debuted with 65 letters of intent to purchase in its order book.
New general aviation aircraft billings topped $15 billion for the first nine months of the year, a 14- percent increase driven by strong business jet deliveries. GAMA reported in November that its member companies shipped 2,909 aircraft in the period, up slightly from the 2,859 units shipped during the first three quarters of 2006. The relatively flat growth in deliveries came despite a 20.9-percent increase in business jet deliveries in 2007.
The number of fatal general aviation accidents was 5 percent below the FAA's goal in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, the agency said. GA aircraft were involved in 314 fatal accidents in fiscal 2007, or 17 fewer than the FAA target. The number of fatalities dropped from 676 in fiscal 2006 to 564 in fiscal 2007. The FAA includes both FAR Part 91 and non-scheduled Part 135 operations in its calculations. The agency attributed the better than expected results to GPS, glass panels, training and a "commitment to safety by everyone in general aviation."
Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Redmond, Wash., appointed H. Alan Howell as Electronics Group vice president of marketing and business development. Martin McCarthy has been named vice president of sales and marketing in Europe.
Bell Helicopter officials announced in November that they had frozen the exterior profile of the Model 429, the company's new light-twin helicopter. "This is one of the most significant events in the development of an aircraft," said Robert Fitzpatrick, Bell's senior vice president of marketing and sales. "This means our design meets the aesthetic and inflight handling specifications we set long ago.
The Max-Viz Enhanced Vision EVS-1000 recently won FAA supplemental type certification for installation on Cessna Citation 500 through 560XL aircraft and is available through Cessna Service Centers. Max-Viz said its EVS products are flying on more than 200 aircraft.
Eurocontrol estimates Europe will see a 4.6-percent increase in traffic next summer. It said growth for the summer 2008 months - May to October - will actually be similar to the increase of 5.1 percent during the same period this year. Next year will be "yet another challenging season" for European ATM, with the additional complication of the European Football Championships in Austria and Switzerland, a Eurocontrol official said.
Landmark Aviation, Winston-Salem, N.C., appointed Eric Faulkner to the post of general manager of the White Plains (HPN), N.Y. FBO. Dave Sunda has been named manager of the MRO/Avionics Division of the company's Winston-Salem, N.C., facility.
DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff says business aviation will have to comply with several new security requirements, including one that will require international business jet flights to be screened at designated overseas airports before departing for the United States. Operators of flights leaving from or flying to the U.S. must now provide advance notification to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) via the Electronic Advance Passenger Information System (eAPIS) program.
The Hawker 800 is slated to get an automatic throttle system. Safe Flight Instrument Corp. and West Star Aviation are working together to win FAA supplemental type certification of Safe Flight's AutoPower system in the twin-engine business jet by late 2008. West Star, located in Grand Junction, Colo., plans to offer installation of the system on all types of Hawker 800s.
By the end of 2008, Saab hopes to win European Aviation Safety Agency approval of its Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System (CAMPS), which is designed to protect business aircraft from man-portable air defense systems, the shoulder-fired rockets that have been used by terrorists to shoot down a number of civil airliners in recent years.
Our legal columnist, Kent Jackson, has addressed the subject of regulations affecting flight department companies several times, the most recent being in Point of Law in the May 2007 issue (page 100)
Aviation Fleet Solutions has installed a QuietEagle Noise Reduction System on a VIP MD-87 for SG Air Leasing Limited. The system brings the aircraft into compliance with FAA Stage 4 and ICAO Chapter 4 noise standards. The installation was the second on a VIP MD-87. The QuietEagle includes a 16-lobe internal mixer, a muffler, a tabbed nozzle and improved front fan case, replacing the original hardware on the Pratt & Whitney Canada JT8D-200 engine.
At the World Air Transport Forum 2007 in Cannes, France, in October, Airports Council International Director General Robert Aaronson asked, "How and what are the best strategies for each of the aviation stakeholders to employ in meeting their environmental responsibilities?
Fitzgerald & Associates, Oakland, Calif. Andrew Fitzgerald has retired from KaiserAir, Inc., capping a 33-year career with the Oakland, Calif.-based charter/ management company as vice president, maintenance, aircraft acquisitions, sales and maintenance development. He has formed Fitzgerald & Associates, a consultancy providing project management, technical, presale and pre-buy audits, and aircraft acquisition and selling services. Contact him at [email protected].
Elliott Aviation, the Midwestern aircraft sales and support organization, has received an FAA STC for installation of the Rockwell Collins Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) on King Air B200s and 350s equipped with Pro Line 21 avionics. European Aviation Safety Agency approval of the retrofit is pending.
If you did not know better you would think they are magic. And they give your airplane's appearance some real jazz. "They" are winglets and the magic is how they seem to make most of the induced drag disappear. There is no free lunch and no free lift. Produce lift and induced drag comes with it. Increased lift or increased angle of attack increases induced drag. Reduce induced drag and the rewards come tumbling out like hitting three cherries on a slot machine.
Schubach Corp. has added a Cessna Citation SII and a Hawker 800 to its charter certificate. The San Diego operator's fleet also includes two Bombardier Challenger 601s, two King Air 200s, a King Air C90, three Citation CJ1s, a Citation 1SP, a King Air 350, another Hawker 800, a Hawker 700 and two Hawker 600 fanjets.
At about 1400 PDT, a Hawker 800XP, N800CC, was substantially damaged by a fire originating from the left main landing gear after a takeoff was aborted at the John Wayne-Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. The aircraft is owned and operated by CIT Leasing Corp. The pilot reported to the FAA inspector from Long Beach that the takeoff was aborted twice before the third attempt due to an engine warning light. All three takeoff attempts were made within about a 20-minute period.
I enjoyed the Flight Log contribution by my old friend and ex-Misty mate, Ross Detwiler (November, page 112). In his piece on the Vietnam War era 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron mascot - a rather famous black leopard named Eldridge - he mentions Ramrod, an equally famous python mascot of that era.
