Jet Aviation has added six business aircraft to its U.S. management fleet, raising the total to 76 aircraft. Included are the company's first Dassault Falcon 2000, two Falcon 50s, a Falcon 900EX, a Falcon 900B and one Gulfstream IVSP. Jamie Barrett, general manager of Jet Aviation's U.S. charter division, says ``all of these new additions, except one Falcon 50 and the Falcon 900B, will be available for charter through Jet Aviation's certificate partner New World Jet.''
A random sampling of airline crews chose to penetrate convective weather rather than deviate around it more than two-thirds of the time, according to data collected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. Pilots were found to be more likely to penetrate convective weather -- including cells with precipitation intensities of National Weather Service levels 3, 4 and 5 -- when near the destination airport, when following another aircraft, when more than 15 minutes behind schedule or while flying at night.
Photograph: BAE Systems' Avro RJ 85 soon may give way to the derivative RJX, launched in March. BAE Systems Regional Airliners Turboprops fight for survival as the regional jet onslaught grows. Political, economic and operational issues associated with regional jet proliferation are expected to dominate regional airline thinking over the coming year, as use of the type gathers momentum around the world. The evidence is plain -- just watch the action at any hub airport.
Eclipse Aviation has chosen this summer's AirVenture 2000 in Oshkosh, Wis., for the first public display of its proposed Eclipse 500 light jet. In addition to displaying the full-size mockup, Eclipse has signed a three-year agreement to sponsor the show's Forums Plaza area. AirVenture is scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 1 and is the world's largest air show. Eclipse founder Vern Raburn also serves on the Experimental Aircraft Association's board of directors.
Photograph: Cessna Citation Sovereign Cessna Ayres Emerging Aircraft Existing manufacturers add new designs while many new manufacturers struggle to overcome funding, certification obstacles. Although none of the aircraft on 1999's emerging aircraft list have ``graduated'' yet to the performance charts, neither have any been dropped due to lack of funding, interest or certification problems.
NTSB Air Safety Investigator Bob Hancock is working on two unusual business aircraft accidents -- one involves a King Air pilot who attempted to fly an out-of-service approach procedure, and the other an experienced Baron pilot who seems to have been overwhelmed by the complexities of a New York Metroplex arrival. Both deserve your contemplation in that each represents situations that all business pilots face from time to time. Clearance for a Non-Approach
The captain of an Ansett New Zealand Dash 8 turboprop that crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain five years ago now faces manslaughter charges brought by the New Zealand Police. Four people died but 18 survived the June 1995 crash, which occurred as the pilots allegedly dealt with a landing gear problem. Also controversial is the court's reputed use of the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder tape as evidence. The flight was a scheduled run between Auckland and Palmerston North, a route over rough country including the Manawatu Gorge.
It's important that worldwide aviation dialog focuses on preserving a place for business aircraft. As the business climate becomes ever more global in scope, it's necessary that tools that serve business also evolve. It is evident in production figures of business aircraft that the evolution is in place. In 1999, more intercontinental business jets were built than the industry's entire output just a few years ago.
Women in Aviation, International (WAI) awarded almost $461,570 in aviation scholarships at its recent convention in Memphis. The value of the scholarships for flight training, maintenance, aviation management and continuing education represented an 18-percent increase over the 1999 awards. Sponsors included Bombardier, Cessna, FlightSafety International, SimuFlite, and other commercial and professional aviation organizations.
SimuFlite (Dallas) -- Kyle Drake has been named quality leader/master black belt. Drake will implement the training company's Six Sigma program and other training programs. Bill Wilhelmi is now managing director for training services and David Boggess has been named director of training support.
In earlier years, if you were a salesman for Executive Jet, your presence and solicitations in a corporate hangar were about as welcome as a sack full of adders. The president of EJA, a retired distinguished brigadier general named Olbert Fearing Lassiter envisioned more or less taking over corporate jet operations nationwide. His determinations were tempered by wiser heads to spread the word that EJA's jet fleet, mostly Lear 23s, could supplement, not replace, flight operations, a move that proved successful.
Investment houses Clayton, Dubilier&Rice (CD&R) and Allianze Capital Partners have completed their acquisition of Fairchild Aerospace and arranged for $1.2 billion in financing for the manufacturer. The financing comes in the form of $400 million in capital from the two companies and an additional $800 million in loans from a consortium of Germany companies. The funds will be used to further projects in development such as the Fairchild 428JET and 728JET. CD&R principal Charles P.
Receivers have placed Britten-Norman, Ltd. up for sale after company directors failed to solve cash flow problems. ``This is a very regrettable situation for a company with a good order book and requisite approvals from the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defense,'' said Chris Laughton, of administrative receivers Levy Gee. The manufacturer has cut 112 jobs, leaving behind a skeleton staff of 21 as caretakers at Bembridge Airport, Isle of Wight.
Galaxy Aerospace delivered a Galaxy business jet to Lions Air, a Swiss charter operator. The delivery marked the first Galaxy to a European operator and the third Galaxy in customer hands. The second Galaxy was delivered to Veridian Aviation Services, an aircraft sales, insurance and consulting company. Galaxy is the manufacturer's first large-cabin business jet, featuring intercontinental range and an $18.2 million price tag.
Honeywell's Hardware Product Group is opening a 384,000-square-foot parts distribution center in August at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth. The new center will distribute parts worldwide and employ 150 people initially. Honeywell is the latest in a series of aerospace companies at Alliance. Its neighbors will include Galaxy Aerospace, Bell/Agusta and Century Aerospace.
JetBrokers (Chesterfield, Mo.) -- Charlie Stearns joins as vice president of sales, overseeing the aircraft sales company's new Northport, N.Y., office.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Perry Bradley, in Brussels, Belgium
A Dubai-based operator has signed a deal for two Airbus A319CJs that will be used for VIP charter service. SAPO Inter-national will take delivery of the first aircraft in November, followed by a second in June 2001. The aircraft are expected to enter service in mid and late 2001, respectively.
SunJet President James Watkins says that although he was ``quite surprised'' by the day-long FBI raid, he added ``when you have things like Waco and Ruby Ridge, why should this surprise us? At least they didn't set fire to us or shoot anybody.'' Watkins adamantly denies any criminal wrongdoing or cover-up in the Learjet 35 crash and investigation, and brands any suggestion to the contrary ``the most ridiculous assumption in the world.'' According to Watkins, FBI agents ``rounded-up'' SunJet employees and prevented them from making or receiving calls.
MD Helicopters, Inc. (MDHI) has chosen Kaman Aerospace Corp. as the sole supplier of fuselages for MDHI's entire line of single-engine helicopters. The multi-year agreement has a potential value of $100 million, with 14 deliveries planned this year, 49 in 2001 and 60 by 2002. ``This will provide a good balance to our in-house programs, the SH2G Super Seasprite and KMAX, and it further enhances Kaman's position as a key player in the global aerospace market,'' Kaman President Walter R. Kozlow said.
Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/US) has launched a new safety audit program for charter operators. The new audit is modeled after the U.S. Department of Defense's Air Carrier Quality and Safety Requirements Program. ARG/US is employing ex-DOD safety inspectors to conduct on-site reviews of operators' financial records, safety training and operating policies to create a report that does more than just ``repeating the work done by the FAA FSDO office.'' Audit clients will receive detailed reports highlighting areas needing improvement and recommended solutions.
The U.S. Coast Guard has selected Agusta Helicopters to provide up to eight A109 helicopters for its Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron TEN marine smuggling program. The armed A109 Powers will be equipped with Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR), a mission equipment package, and Fully Automated Digital Electronic Controlled (FADEC) Pratt&Whitney Canada 206C engines. The contract includes two firm orders this year and options for six more in 2001. This is the first U.S. government contract awarded to Agusta in support of aviation missions.
Executive Jet Management has added two Cincinnati-based and one Newburgh, N.Y.-based Cessna Citation Excels to its charter fleet. The operators say it now manages 50 aircraft nationwide.
