The Mississippi Gulf Coast, a popular destination for tourists, convention participants and gamblers, was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina's winds and storm surge. At the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, battering hurricane-force winds damaged the control tower, airline gate areas and hangars. The local FBO, FBO AvCenter sustained major damage to its hangar and office spaces. The main hangar's roof blew away, deluging the facility with rainwater and debris.
Grob's G.180 SPn utility light jet has enough orders to fulfill its first year of production quota of 15 aircraft in 2007, according to Christian Grob, general representative of the owner. The prototype SPn has flown 23 times and accumulated 24 hours flight time between its first flight on July 20 and Sept. 10.
Atlantic Aviation added the 13th FBO to its chain, completing the acquisition of the former Las Vegas Executive Air Terminal at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in August. The latest addition is the largest FBO in the Atlantic Aviation chain in terms of fuel volume and acreage, an Atlantic Aviation spokesperson said, calling the base ``a real jewel in the chain.'' The FBO provides a range of fueling and line services, ground transportation, catering, hangar and maintenance capabilities. It has seven hangars and is the base for several large cabin-class aircraft.
Western Aircraft is launching an expansion project that will more than double the size of the FBO's terminal in Boise, Idaho, from 1,450 square feet to 3,600 square feet. The renovation will include the addition of a separate pilot and passenger lounge, customer conference room and flight-planning center. Western Aircraft expects the project to be completed by February 2006.
Are your hands full of flight controls or tools? Use your head. The hands-free Enduro headlight features a lightweight 0.5-watt LED, designed to last 100,000 hours while providing up to 18 lumens of output. Powered by two AAA batteries, the Enduro's solid-state power regulation maintains maximum output throughout the life of the batteries. A two-stage switch offers a choice of high- and low-beam settings, providing up to 24 hours of continuous runtime on the low-beam setting and up to seven hours on the high-beam setting.
The Connecticut Aviation Task Force (CTATF) has determined that no additional security procedures or programs will be initiated in the state. This, in the wake of national attention after an unlicensed 21-year-old sometime student pilot stole a Cessna 172 from Danbury Municipal Airport (DXR) and took two teenagers on a nocturnal, beer-fueled joyride that ended in a predawn landing at Westchester County Airport, N.Y. (HPN).
The National Air Transportation Association and the NBAA have teamed to tackle jet-fuel-tax changes that Congress adopted in the highway bill, H.R. 3. The bill requires most business aircraft operators to pay the diesel fuel tax rate when they buy jet fuel, then seek a rebate for the approximate two-cents-per-gallon difference between diesel fuel and jet fuel taxes.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta will be at AOPA Expo's Nov. 5 General Session to speak and answer member questions. The AOPA notes that ``Mineta has always been known for straight talk, so you'll hear the unvarnished reality from this Washington, D.C., insider, the only Democrat in President Bush's cabinet, and the man with his finger on the pulse of all transportation issues.''
The city of Chicago had not paid the FAA-imposed $33,000 civil penalty for failing to comply with a required 30-day notice for deactivating Meigs Field as we went to press. The deadline was Sept. 15 to pay the penalty or request a hearing. The FAA first warned the city of the proposed penalty in October 2004. The FAA also reportedly is continuing to look into whether the city improperly diverted $1.5 million in restricted airport revenues for carving up, then tearing out the runway at Meigs.
At least two members of the National Aircraft Resale Association are forecasting that their year-end results will surpass their robust 2004 sales totals. Dan Dickinson, chairman and CEO of General Aviation Services, an Illinois-based dealer, expects to close on 35 to 40 units this year, which will match or surpass his 2004 sales volume of approximately $80 million.
Swissport, one of the world's largest airline handling companies, is being sold to the Spain's Ferrovial Group. Under the sales agreement, Ferrovial will pay e336 million for the shares of Swissport and assume all its debt, another e310 million. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. Swissport operates at more than 170 airports in 40 countries.
Airlift Northwest of Seattle has taken delivery of two A109 Power EMS helicopters from Agusta Aerospace Corp., an AgustaWestland company. Airlift also has four Agusta Grands on order.
The G100/Astra SPX production line will stop in early 2006 after a 10-year production run. The design team that developed the Astra family put top priority on speed and range for more than 20 years. Early in 1996, IAI upped the ante with the introduction of the Astra SPX, an even higher performance version of the original aircraft fitted with higher thrust Honeywell (nee AlliedSignal) TFE731-40 turbofans and winglets. The changes boosted range by 250 nm to 270 nm, depending upon cruise speed.
Raytheon Aircraft, which recently unveiled the new King Air C90GT, is seeking customer feedback concerning a possible factory-backed retrofit program that would outfit existing King Air 90s with the new airplane's more powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135-A engines.
Aviation Technology Group selected Front Range Airport as its Javelin manufacturing site. ATG signed contracts to lease two buildings at Front Range (FTG) in Adams County, Colo., as interim facilities until permanent production facilities are built in 2009. A 21,000-square-foot building will be used by ATG's Flight Operations department to manufacture four conforming Javelin aircraft and serve as test facility headquarters. An adjacent building will be used to assemble production aircraft.
WHILE YOU APPRECIATE the advantages of a business aircraft, as an officer or owner of a company using business aviation your principal responsibility is returning value to shareholders. Even if you own the company and are rated to fly its aircraft, it is a safe bet that your role first and foremost is that of entrepreneur, not aviator. Yet as a user of business aviation, you have an important part to play in safety.
The 100-seat Embraer 190 airliner has been certified by the Brazilian certification authority, Centro Tecnico Aeroespacial (CTA). The company said CTA certification was followed by FAA type certification, paving the way for deliveries to begin to launch-customer JetBlue. The certification program used five pre-series EMB 190 jets, flying approximately 1,800 test flight hours, and involved the production of more than 970 reports and thousands of development and supporting documents. An additional 140 tests were conducted in laboratories and ground test simulators.
GlobalJet Corp. has added a Gulfstream IV to its charter and managed fleet. While GlobalJet is headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., the GIV is based in Van Nuys, Calif., and has undergone recent interior and exterior refurbishment. The company reports both the aircraft and crew are Wyvern and ARG/US approved. For more information, call (480) 563-4711.
Now in completion, the 100th Piaggio Avanti will go to a U.S. customer. Completion is being done at Stevens Aviation in Greenville, S.C. The first Avanti production model flew in May 1990, and was certified in October 1990. The speedy turboprop can fly more than 1,700 nm at up to 395 KTAS and cruise at 41,000 feet, according to the company.
In addition to rescuing those in peril, protecting the environment, and guarding ocean borders, the U.S. Coast Guard is charged with finding and interdicting drug smugglers on the open sea. In years past, drug runners in high-speed, ``go-fast'' boats would often outrun the service's surface vessels and ignore halt orders from its helicopters since they were unarmed. Frustrated by such defiance and the steady incoming flood of drugs, the service created a special drug-busting squadron that operates A109E Power helicopters, notable for both their speed and teeth.
It's perhaps a cruel irony that this is one of the best times in recent years to fly a private aircraft to Europe -- but one of the worst in terms of cost.
Boeing Business Jets received its first order from the People's Republic of China, the company announced in September. Boeing did not reveal the identity of the operator at the customer's request. ``We are absolutely thrilled and confident that this order will be the first of many in the growing China market for VIP airplanes,'' said Steven Hill, BBJ president. ``The order brings us closer to our 100th sales order, which we hope to achieve before the end of the year.'' With this order, the total number of BBJs ordered since the program's inception in 1996 is 98.
Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH is the latest non-U.S. manufacturer to join GAMA. Based in Lichtenstein, Germany, the company builds piston engines for cars and aircraft. Its aviation product line includes the Centurion family of diesel engines that burn jet fuel. The Centurion 1.7 is certified for retrofit installation on the Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28, and is the standard powerplant on the Diamond DA-40 and DA-42 Twin Star. Frank Thielert, owner, president and CEO, will sit on GAMA's board of directors. Thielert is GAMA's 55th member company.
Transportation fatalities in the United States decreased slightly in 2004, according to preliminary figures released Sept. 9 by the NTSB. Deaths from transportation accidents in the United States in 2004 totaled 44,870, down from 45,158 fatalities in 2003. ``Although it is always gratifying to see transportation fatalities decline,'' NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker said, ``the yearly toll, especially on our highways, continues to be unacceptable.
