DUSTIN WILCOX was appointed director of safety programs for JDA Aviation Technology Solutions. Wilcox will implement JDA’s Safety Management Systems and Virtual Safety Office products. He has been a JDA associate for two years, supporting safety and maintenance projects. He also has served IBM’s Flight Operations Group and held safety positions with BSNF Railway.
AIR MEDICAL leaders are proposing that FAA require all medical night flight operations to use night vision goggles or similar enhanced-vision systems, or be conducted strictly under instrument flight rules. The recommendation was one of several that the Association of Air Medical Services, the Helicopter Association International and the Air Medical Operators Association outlined in a joint position paper submitted in advance of the National Transportation Safety Board’s medical helicopter safety hearings scheduled for Feb. 3-6.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY added a pressurized twin-piston Cessna 421B to its training program. The aircraft was a gift from K-State supporters and aviation enthusiasts Kenneth and Tamara Knight. The aircraft is used for maintenance education programs as part of the Airframe & Powerplant degree track. “This donation allows us to take learning to an even higher level than before,” said Andrew Smith, assistant professor of aviation. “For the students, it is a true hands-on experience with a flying airplane, one that requires constant care and maintenance.”
CESSNA renamed the former Columbia single-piston models as the 350 Corvalis and 400 Corvalis TT. The Wichita plane-maker originally called the models the Cessna 350 and Cessna 400 after the 2007 acquisition of the assets from Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company. “Our customers and sales team asked us to name these products like other popular Cessnas such as the Cardinal and Skyhawk,” said Tom Aniello, vice president of marketing. Cessna said the name was inspired from a town that is about 120 miles west of the Bend, Ore. plant where the aircraft are produced.
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., has ordered 10 Diamond DA42 L360 twin-engine aircraft. Deliveries will begin in the spring, with the full fleet in service before the 2009-2010 academic year begins.
RICK HANSEN was promoted to chief pilot for Northern Jet Management in Grand Rapids, Mich. Hansen has some 11,000 hours of flying time over 20 years and has accrued a number of different jet aircraft ratings as well as qualifications. He joined Northern Jet in 2002, and before that he was director of operations and chief pilot for Corporate Aviation, Inc.
Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware approved the sale of Eclipse Aviation’s assets to EclipseJet Aviation International, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based ETIRC Aviation, according to an announcement made by Eclipse Aviation last week (BA, Jan. 19/25). EclipseJet was named in Eclipse’s Nov. 25, 2007 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as the “stalking horse” or lead bidder that proposed to purchase the assets of the firm for $28 million in cash, plus $160 million in new equity notes.
NASA is planning wind tunnel tests of low-noise hybrid wing/body configurations as it pushes to enable the introduction of a new generation of highly fuel-efficient large aircraft as early as 2020. Boeing has been studying blended wing/body (BWB) aircraft for years, in the belief airplanes could burn 20-30 percent less fuel than conventional tube-and-wing airliners because of the aerodynamic and structural efficiency of the flying-wing design.
ERA SYSTEMS CORP. completed installation of surface ADS-B and multilateration solution (MSS) at the Oslo, Norway Airport. The system feeds into an advanced surface movement guidance and control system that was developed by HITT, the prime contractor on the program.
In one of its first official acts since acquiring a majority interest in Socata from EADS earlier this month, the newly minted Daher-Socata reported this month that the Tarbes, France-based manufacturer delivered 60 TBM 850 turboprop singles in 2008. The company has delivered 148 units total since the aircraft, with its more powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6 engine and Garmin 1000 cockpit, was introduced to the market in early 2006.
NEW XOJET CHIEF David Siegel, however, tells a different story for his blended charter/fractional operation. He said XOJET sales were up by 13 percent last fall, and the company has aggressive growth plans of up to 50 percent for 2009. He acknowledged that the company has deferred nearly 45 percent of its planned Bombardier and Cessna deliveries in 2009, saying “We’re trying to protect the downside a little bit.” But XOJET still expects to add 16 more of the planes this year. See BA Q&A with Siegel on Page 39.
Financially beleaguered JetDirect Aviation entered into a letter of intent with a private equity firm that will become the charter and management company’s “control investor.” The LOI came as Jake Cartwright, president of JetDirect Aviation, Inc., retired.
MCCAULEY PROPELLER SYSTEMS Model B5JFR36C1101/114GCA-0, C5JFR36C1102/L114GCA-0, B5JFR36C1103/114HCA-0 and C5JFR36C1104/L114HCA-0 propellers [Docket No. FAA-2006-25173; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-24-AD] – This proposed rule would supersede an existing directive (AD 2008-08-01) that requires repetitive fluorescent-penetrant and eddy-current inspections for cracks of certain propeller blades installed on BAE Systems Jetstream 41 airplanes. The old directive required removal of any cracked blade from service.
Dassault Falcon Service has completed a 10-month expansion project that adds 50,000 square feet to its complex in Le Bourget, France. The new facility includes nearly 41,000 square feet of hangar space that can accommodate four Falcon 7Xs or seven Falcon 900s simultaneously. The complex also includes an additional 9,000 square feet of office and warehouse space.
JOHN RAHILLY , principal of Rahilly Aviation Associates, LLC, was tapped to act as director of business development – Americas for International Water-Guard Industries Inc., a Canadian aerospace company that provides aircraft potable water treatment technologies. Rahilly has 30 years of corporate aviation experience, beginning as an aircraft mechanic and rising to the post of president of KC Aviation, which is now part of General Dynamics Aviation Services.
EMBRAER named India’s Indamer Company Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of European Aviation Holding Co. Pvt. Ltd., as an authorized executive jet service center. This marks the first MRO company to serve Embraer’s Phenom and Legacy 600 customers in India. Mumbai-based Indamer has 12,900 square feet of space of hangar and facilities, and handles routine checks and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Operations are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2009.
David Siegel is the president and CEO of San Carlos, Calif.-based XOJet, a blend of a fractional and on-demand charter aircraft company. He has more than two decades of experience in commercial aviation, including stints at Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines and as CEO of US Airways. He came to XOJet in October 2008 from airline catering company Gate Gourmet Group, where he served as chairman and CEO.
NORTHSTAR AEROSPACE sold all of its interest in Vector Aerospace Corp. for gross proceeds of about C$14.2 million. The sale enables Northstar to focus on its core business of manufacturing flight-critical aerospace gears and transmissions, Glenn Hess, president and CEO, said.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has decided to pull the plug on its annual Fly-In held in June at its Frederick, Md., headquarters. The association instead will build on its “Let’s Go Flying” campaign, and fly out to industry air shows and events.
The Houston City Council has approved a measure to change Ellington Field’s name to Ellington Airport. The move was championed by Houston Airport System (HAS) Director Rick Vacar as part of a campaign to promote the facility to general aviation operations.
The first pilot production VH-71 presidential helicopter has arrived at Lockheed Martin’s Owego, N.Y., facility to begin the integration and final production process. Pilot production aircraft number three (PP-3) will now be integrated with mission systems, outfitted with a cabin interior, painted in presidential livery and flight-tested before being delivered to the U.S. Navy and ultimately to Marine Helicopter Squadron One.
GARMIN INTERNATIONAL has developed two new multifunction display (MFD) options for the light sport and experimental markets. The GDU 370 and GDU 375 are based on Garmin’s portable GPSMAP 695 and GPSMAP 696 and designed as “building blocks” that can network with other Garmin products. The seven-inch MFDs use soft keys at the bottom of the display to control commonly used features, such as turning weather display on or off.
NAPLES JET CENTER won approval from the Instituto Nacional De Aeronautica Civil Venezuela to serve as a Venezuelan repair station. Based at Florida’s Naples Municipal Airport, Naples Jet Center provides maintenance and repairs for Citation, Learjet, Hawker, Embraer and Twin Commander aircraft. Naples is an authorized service center for Twin Commander and specializes in Honeywell TFE731 and TPE331 engine service and support. Naples Jet Center noted that Venezuela is the second largest Twin Commander market behind the U.S.
BUSINESS JET ACCESS added a King Air 350 to its charter certificate. The aircraft has a 1,440-nautical-mile range and is configured for eight passengers. The Dallas, Texas-based operator has seven aircraft on its charter certificate, including two Citation VIIs, a Gulfstream III, Hawker 850XP, BAC 1-11, and Challenger 300, along with the King Air 350. BJA is authorized to conduct flights into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
China’s newly formed helicopter company will be based in Tianjin, where the city government will take 31 percent of the capital in a first step toward separating the rotary-wing business from national aircraft-making conglomerate Avic. Tianjin also will host a new production line with which the company will build light civilian helicopters, part of a range of initiatives that are turning the city, a big port close to Beijing, into a globally important aerospace center.
