EXECUJET AVIATION GROUP is expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific region with the opening of aircraft maintenance facilities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Melbourne, Australia. Last December, ExecuJet Australia was awarded the right to establish in Kuala Lumpur a Bombardier authorized service facility for Southeast Asia, and the company concluded an agreement with a local aviation firm for use of its hangar and maintenance facilities at Subang Airport.
PIAGGIO AERO INDUSTRIES has delivered the first of two P180 Avanti IIs to ENAV, the Italian air navigation services company, which will use the turboprop airplanes to monitor and validate the accuracy of navaids. ENAV, which plans to use the first P180 to conduct in-flight testing of optical landing indicators, also holds an option for a third Avanti II.
FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION (FSF) established a base in the Pacific region with the consolidation of the Aviation Safety Foundation of Australasia (ASFA). FSF folded ASFA into its organizational structure, setting up an FSF regional office in Melbourne, Australia. “Our new office in Melbourne is an important part of our mission to spread aviation safety information as widely as possible,” said FSF President and CEO William Voss. The office will initially focus its efforts on Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
SOON NEARLY one in five of the world’s active business jet fleet will be up for sale, according to a new report from Brian Foley Associates (BriFo). But BriFo President Brian Foley believes the peak is in sight, perhaps by midyear. “It won’t get much higher,” he said. “At the peak, inventory levels will meander for a few months before falling somewhat by year-end.” Some owners are listing aircraft but have no real interest in selling, he said. They are listing in hopes of getting an offer too good to be true or as a contingency in case things get worse.
BUSINESS JET ACCESS, based at Love Field in Dallas, added a second Challenger 300 to its Part 135 certificate. The aircraft seats up to nine passengers and has a 3,100-nautical-mile range. Business Jet Access has eight aircraft on its certificate.
SAFETY UPGRADES and fleet purchases are among the recommendations made in a new report by the Maryland House of Delegates’ Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup. The workgroup was formed in January after the crash of an EMS helicopter in September 2008. Panel recommendations on safety upgrades included retrofitting the existing fleet with night vision goggles, ELT beacons and Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT Model 208 and 208B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1319; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-071-AD; Amendment 39-15836; AD 2009-05-12] – Modify the aileron carry-through cable attachment to the aileron upper quadrant with parts of improved design, following the instructions of Cessna Caravan Service Bulletin CAB08-6 (dated Oct. 27, 2008).
EDWARD PETKUS was appointed vice president, product development and engineering for Hawker Beechcraft. Petkus, who joined Hawker Beechcraft in May 2007, had been serving as acting vice president, engineering. He formerly spent 16 years with The Boeing Company, most recently serving as director, 787 airplane development. He led the 787 program development team responsible for requirements, configuration development, airplane level analyses, environmental impact and reliability/maintainability.
PIPER AIRCRAFT PA-23, PA-31, and PA-42 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0218; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-006-AD] – This proposed AD would establish life limits for safety-critical nose baggage door components and require operators to replace those components and repetitively inspect and lubricate the nose baggage-door latching mechanism and lock assembly, according to the instructions of Piper Aircraft, Inc. Service Bulletin No. 1194A (dated Nov. 10, 2008).
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1318; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-155-AD; Amendment 39-15848; AD 2009-06-12] – This new rule, which supersedes an existing directive (AD 2008-01-04), retains the requirements of the earlier rule regarding operation of the flaps and adds new requirements.
ELLIOTT AVIATION, the Moline, Ill.-based business aviation services company, has added an Astra 1125SP to its charter certificate. The aircraft is based at Forest City, Iowa (FXY).
EMBRAER has signed its first U.S.-based Phenom 100 owner to an Embraer Executive Care (EEC) contract. Elizabeth and Jim Frost, who took delivery of their Phenom 100 December 2008, have signed up for the plan, which offers Phenom 100 and 300 customers fixed cost-per-hour maintenance support, including access to web-based maintenance tracking software. The EEC was originally created in 2001 for the Legacy 600.
Fred Reid joined Bombardier on Aug. 25, 2008, as president of Flexjet and Skyjet U.S. He came to Flexjet from Virgin America, where he served as chief executive and created the airline from the ground up. He has served in executive positions at Delta Air Lines and was president and chief operating officer of Lufthansa. Q: Why did you find Flexjet such an interesting proposition?
STACY SPRY was promoted to a service center sales post for StandardAero. Based in Mocksville, N.C., Spry will oversee CF34, AE3007 and PW600 engine services for business aviation operators in Eastern North America. He also will oversee TFE731 engine and auxiliary power unit service sales. Spry joined StandardAero in 1998, running the PT6 test cell in Salisbury, N.C. Before joining StandardAero, he was an airframe mechanic at Timco Aviation and also served in the U.S. Air Force as a jet mechanic.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently completed its first simulated flight of the company’s top-of-the-line G650. The simulation took place Dec. 15 in the G650 Integration Test Facility (ITF) at Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah, Ga., with Project Pilot Jake Howard and Chief Experimental Pilot John O’Meara conducting the first real-time simulation.
BAE SYSTEMS BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0133; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-107-AD] – FAA has proposed a new AD to supersede an existing directive (AD 2006-12-09) which currently requires operators to repetitively inspect for corrosion of Frames 15, 18, 41 and 43 and take applicable related investigative and corrective actions. This proposed AD would add a high-frequency eddy current (HFEC) inspection for corrosion of the outer frame flanges and door hinge bosses of Frames 15, 18, 41 and 43.
Illinois state Rep. LaShawn Ford (D) has introduced a bill that would impose a 5 percent luxury tax on aircraft costing more than $500,000. The measure would help plug a projected $9 billion state budget gap.
PIPER AIRCRAFT plans to offer the AmSafe Aviation Airbag System as optional equipment on all its new PA-46 aircraft and as an aftermarket installation on all other current Piper models. The airbag system is a self-contained, modular restraint designed to improve occupant protection from serious head-impact injury, thus enhancing the ability of occupants to exit the aircraft following an otherwise survivable accident.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT has sold a civil S-76C++ helicopter to Shanghai Kingwing General Aviation Company. The aircraft is to fly in support of civil onshore rescue missions organized by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs. The S-76 is to be delivered in May.
CASA C-212-CB, -CC, -CD, -CE, -CF and -DE airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0005; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-164-AD] – This proposal would require operators to inspect the pitot tubes. If cracks are found in the tubes, they would need to be replaced, per the instructions of CASA Service Bulletin SB-212-34-11, Rev. 1 (dated Feb. 27, 2008).
Business aircraft activity continued to decline in January, down 22.2 percent from December 2008, according to statistics from Aviation Research Group/US. ARG/US estimated flight activity dropped an average of 3.58 percent per month for the last 12 months, with total flight activity declining 19.07 percent year over year. In general, a combination of economic factors and unfavorable media coverage of the business aviation industry have negatively impacted overall flight activity, ARG/US said.
General aviation airports could receive more funding under the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) if Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) gets its way under the FAA reauthorization bill that just cleared the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Gulfstream is cutting production of its large-cabin aircraft by more than 20 percent this year, reversing management’s earlier belief that a steep decline in global demand for business jets would not have a severe impact on its higher-end models.
XOJET has reported year-over-year increases in revenue, flight hours and customers. The company ended 2008 with a 66 percent rise in revenue and 60 percent increase in flight hours over 2007. XOJet ended 2008 with more than 1,500 customers, up from 1,000 last year, and flew charter and guaranteed availability customers to 52 countries, up from 34 the previous year.
CESSNA 182Q and 182R airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1205; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-062-AD; Amendment 39-15811; AD 2009-04-05] – For airplanes that are equipped with SMA SR305-230-1 diesel engines or SR305-230 powerplants converted to the SR305-230-1 configuration, operators need to remove the intercooler and the intercooler inlet and outlet hoses and install a reworked intercooler and new intercooler inlet and outlet hoses, per the instructions of SMA SAFRAN Group Service Bulletin SB-C182-75-004 (dated July 8, 2008).
