EMBRAER President and CEO Frederico Curado said the sudden and severe collapse of demand for business jets stunned manufacturers and their suppliers. “We just didn’t see it coming,” he told Aviation Week Group editors during an interview at the Paris Air Show last week. The company should have watched broader economic trends more carefully, he said. “It’s shocking to see what happened to Cessna,” Curado added, referring to that company’s 50 percent cut in production rates.
GE AND NASA are to begin wind tunnel testing of open-rotor jet engine systems this summer. The component rig tests are to continue through early 2010 at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. In the 1980s, GE successfully ground-tested and flew an open-rotor jet engine that demonstrated fuel savings of more than 30 percent compared with similar-sized jet engines with conventional, ducted front fan systems.
The Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has determined that general aviation operations do not pose a “serious homeland security vulnerability” that would require a significant increase in regulatory oversight. At the request of Congress, the DHS IG conducted a report on the Transportation Security Administration’s role in general aviation. DHS defined GA as all flights other than scheduled airline and military operations.
Dassault Aviation sees the current economic crisis as an opportunity to work more closely with its customers by helping them resolve their problems, whether in terms of services, warranties or financing, said Chairman and CEO Charles Edelstenne at the opening of last week’s Paris Air Show.
COLIN MAHONEY was promoted to vice president, sales, marketing and support for Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems. Mahoney, a 22-year company veteran, most recently was senior director, business and regional systems sales in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He also has filled business development and operations functions for Rockwell Collins Services in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE recently celebrated several milestones in the development of its new Gulfstream G250 “mid-cabin” jet in preparation for first flight later this year. Electrical power was applied to the aircraft May 5, and the electrical system distributed power to several aircraft systems, including the avionics. The wing – designed and built by Spirit AeroSystems – was joined to the fuselage May 12 at Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv Israel.
LUTZ WIERSCHIN was named vice president and general manager for Jet Aviation’s joint venture in Beijing. Wierschin succeeds Helmut Wegner, who had been interim general manager since November. Wierschin, who joined Jet Aviation Basel in early 2008 as director of maintenance shops, has previously worked in China with Ameco Beijing.
Although Dassault’s Super Mid-Size (SMS) jet still is being designed on the firm’s CATIA V workstations, engineers already are brainstorming concepts for a family of aircraft to be introduced in two decades, Bruno Stoufflet, vice president scientific strategy, R&D and advance business, said last week at the Paris Air Show. The European Community’s $2.2 billion Clean Sky joint technology initiative is a main driver.
TURBOMECA Arriel 1B, 1D and 1D1 engines [Docket No. FAA-2009-0503; Directorate Identifier 2009-NE-12-AD] – Replace the reduction gearbox intermediate pinions with new pinions incorporating Turbomeca modification TU 232, per the instructions of Turbomeca Mandatory Service Bulletin 292 72 0276 Version B (dated Nov. 6, 2008). This AD, which resulted from an MCAI issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, was prompted by several ruptures of Arriel 1 reduction gearbox intermediate pinions.
BAE SYSTEMS BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0532; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-024-AD] – This proposed rule would require operators to conduct eddy-current inspections of the upper airbrake crossbeam for cracking, discrete surface damage, corrosion and mechanical damage, per the instructions of BAE Systems Inspection Service Bulletin ISB.53-200, Rev. 1 (dated March 13, 2007). If any damage were found, operators would need to repair the airbrake upper crossbeam.
DORNIER 228-100, -101, -200, -201, -202 and -212 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0284; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-016-AD; Amendment 39-15939; AD 2009-12-16] – Conduct a detailed visual inspection on the inner structure of the rudder and elevator for signs of corrosion, debonded primer or any other surface protection deviation, using procedures outlined in RUAG Aerospace Defence Technology Dornier 228 Service Bulletin No. SB-228-270, Rev. No. 1 (dated Nov. 28, 2008).
KEVIN SMITH was appointed vice president, sales-Americas for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. Smith also will serve as interim senior vice president, sales for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, replacing James Dailly, who is retiring after 33 years with Bombardier and de Havilland. Smith most recently has been vice president sales – international and oversaw the sales campaigns for the CSeries aircraft.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week approved General Motors’ petition to reject the leases on its fleet of Gulfstream jets (BA, June 8/269). The court also voided the lease on a hangar at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. GM had leased two GVs from Sun Trust Corp. and five other Gulfstreams from AVN Leases. The automaker is allowing AVN to keep $13 million in deposits for the five GIVs and put it toward amounts outstanding on the leases
BELL HELICOPTER named Kazan Aviation Enterprise as its first Customer Service Facility (CSF) in Russia. Kazan will provide field maintenance for the Bell 407. The Bell CSF network includes133 facilities located in 33 countries. Each CSF must undergo Bell training and carry an inventory of Bell spare parts. Founded in 1994, Kazan has Russian CAA certification to provide maintenance for the Bell 407, along with other airplane and helicopter models.
ROLLS-ROYCE’S new North American headquarters for On-Wing Care has opened at Indianapolis International Airport. The latest facility in the engine maker’s network of repair and overhaul service centers is a 14,000-square-feet hangar that includes 11,000 square feet of shop space for line maintenance and hospital-level support for all Rolls-Royce business and regional aircraft engines. The state-of-the-art center is capable of servicing more than 100 powerplants a year. The Indianapolis facility is the third On-Wing Care center to open in the past 18 months.
JET AVIATION’S EMEA and Asia aircraft management division recently won approval from the Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation for meeting new flight- and duty-time regulations. Companies operating and managing Bermuda-registered aircraft must meet new safety and fatigue management regulations by Oct. 31. Bermuda is the first country to implement such requirements for all privately held aircraft, Jet Aviation said. Jet Aviation manages 20 Bermuda-registered aircraft.
AN AVIATION RULEMAKING COMMITTEE (ARC) tasked with considering takeoff and runway landing distance parameters expects to hand over its recommendations by the end of the month. FAA formed the ARC at the request of industry after an earlier policy notice on landing distance safety margins drew substantial opposition. FAA released the notice in June 2006 calling for an additional 15 percent margin in landing distance calculations based upon runway conditions that exist at the time the aircraft arrives in the vicinity of the airport (BA, June 19, 2006/271).
Honeywell last week unveiled a new technology designed to alert pilots of the potential for unstable approaches and unsafe landings. Honeywell’s SmartLanding builds on the company’s existing technologies that protect against runway excursions, the company said.
PAUL DESGROSSEILLIERS was named director of fixed-base operation services for Jet Aviation’s Beijing joint venture with Beijing-based Deer Air and Hong Kong-based Reach Investment. Desgrosseilliers has served with Jet Aviation since 2002 and has managed ground and facility operations at the company’s Boston/Bedford FBO. Jet Aviation and Deer Air signed a joint venture agreement in April 2008 to operate an FBO and line maintenance facility at Beijing’s Capital International Airport.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY’S National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) recently completed low-speed wind tunnel testing for Bombardier’s Learjet 85 program. The tests involved an 11 percent Learjet 85 model in NIAR’s Beech Wind Tunnel. NIAR, under a long-term agreement to support certification of the Learjet 85, also is providing material and structural testing for the aircraft. The Learjet 85, a clean-sheet design, will fly up to Mach .82 and a have a 3,000-nautical-mile range.
A NEW DASSAULT FALCON service center has opened at Sorocaba Airport (SOD) in São Paulo after being certificated by Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil. Dassault Aircraft Services – São Paulo is authorized to perform line maintenance and all multiples of “A” checks on Brazilian-registered Falcon 7X, 10, 50, 50EX, 100, 900 and 2000 models. A repair station application has been filed with the FAA to work on U.S.-registered Falcons at this facility, with approval expected by the end of the third quarter. European repair station approval will be sought in autumn.
TWO MORE S-76D PROTOTYPES are poised to join the test program shortly as Sikorsky continues to expand the flying envelope of its latest helicopter. Since the D1 prototype’s first flight on Feb. 7, the rotorcraft has conducted numerous maneuvers, and, as of May 21, had achieved 120 knots in forward flight and executed 25-degree turns. Testing also has verified the performance and vibration characteristics of the new main-rotor blades at speeds of up to 155 knots.
Despite the sharp economic downturn in 2009, Bombardier Aerospace believes business aircraft manufacturers will still deliver some 75 percent more aircraft in the next 10 years than they did in the previous 10-year period. Bombardier, which released its Business Aircraft Market Forecast during last week’s Paris Air Show, predicted a market for 11,500 aircraft that will generate $256 billion in revenue from 2009-2018. This compares with 6,500 business aircraft valued at $122 billion delivered between 1999 and 2008, Bombardier said.
