Boeing said it completed work on the first Boeing Business Jet 3 (BBJ3) and the aircraft is expected to be delivered to an undisclosed customer next year. The aircraft, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range), will provide 1,120 square feet of cabin floor space, 35 percent more interior space and 89 percent more luggage room than the BBJ2. The BBJ3 will have a maximum range of 4,725 nautical miles to 5,435 nm, depending on the number of passengers and luggage being carried.
Sentient Jet Holdings continued to restructure its businesses with an agreement to sell its jet membership, retail charter brokers and fuel management units to Macquarie Global Opportunities Partners (MGOP), the company announced last week. Sentient said it was dividing its units into two standalone companies – one encompassing aircraft management and charter operations, technical services and FBO businesses and the second comprising the units that will be acquired by MGOP. Terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close later this month, were not disclosed.
EXECUJET AVIATION GROUP, a Zurich, Switzerland-based business aviation company, recently established a sales group for used aircraft. The new group, led by Nicholas McHaffey, former sales director for ExecuJet Middle East, will have representatives based in Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and the U.S.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are working together to develop a joint program office for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), according to the Coast Guard’s commandant. Adm. Thad Allen said the Coast Guard and CBP – both uniformed agencies within the Homeland Security Department – are working together on land-based unmanned aerial surveillance. The agencies also have had talks with FAA about the U.S. military’s UAV technology used in Iraq and how the Coast Guard could implement that in U.S. maritime security.
AN AGUSTAWESTLAND GRAND set a new speed record during a flight between New York and London. That trip was the first leg of an attempt to break the existing around-the-world speed mark for helicopters. The New York to London leg, flown by pilots Scott Kasprowicz and Steve Sheik, covered 3,449 nautical miles and took 40 hours and 41 minutes to complete. Ratification of the record by the National Aeronautic Association is pending. The round-the-world trip, dubbed the “Grand Adventure,” is to be completed this week.
AN EXECUTIVE DORNIER 328 has been introduced by Comtran International, which recently earned a supplemental type certificate for the 12-passenger version of the Dornier 328 JET. Models of the regional twinjet are being converted at Comtran’s facility in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, just north of San Antonio. The first modified aircraft, dubbed the Revolution Series 328, was completed and delivered to a European customer in July 2008.
SAAB 2000 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0848; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-082-AD] – This proposal would require operators to replace the fuel pump harness inside each inboard wing fuel tank in accordance with the instructions of Saab Service Bulletin 2000-028-013 (dated Oct. 11, 2007). Also, operators would need to modify the wiring of the fuel quantity indication system’s 28 VDC supply to the signal conditioner and the 132VP (feed through connector), per the instructions of Saab Service Bulletin 2000-28-014, Rev. 02 (dated Jan. 23, 2008).
September 10 – National Business Aviation Association, Regional Forum, Hanscom Field (BED), Bedford, Mass. For more information, contact NBAA at (202) 783-9000 September 10-11 – Technology Training Corp’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference, Holiday Inn, Arlington, Va., (310) 563-1223 September 15-18 – Arinc’s Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference, Hilton Salt Lake (Utah) Center. For more information call (410) 266-2008 or see www.arinc.com
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 230 [Docket No. FAA-2008-0450; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-39-AD; Amendment 39-15634; AD 2008-16-16] – Requires adjusting the rigging of the tail-rotor pitch-change mechanism, per the instructions of Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin 230-07-36 (dated Jan. 9, 2007). If, at either full-left pedal position or full-right pedal position, a gap exists between the tail-rotor yoke and the flapping stop, the AD requires replacing the tail-rotor yoke with an airworthy yoke.
FORMER ECLIPSE CEO Vern Raburn decided to sever ties to the company he founded. Raburn and Eclipse Chairman Roel Pieper jointly announced late last month that Pieper was taking over as CEO, and Raburn was stepping aside (BA, Aug. 4/49). Raburn said the move “was required by the investors to pave the way for a new round of financing.” Raburn was offered the position of vice chairman of ETIRC Aviation, a key investor in Eclipse, but he said late last week he was declining the position.
The pilot of an Eclipse Aviation EA500 business jet, N333MY, said the speed of his aircraft was “a little high” before it touched down and skidded off the runway at Brandywine Airport (OQN) in West Chester, Pa. July 30. The aircraft was substantially damaged during the runway overrun, but the pilot and sole passenger were not injured.
BELL HELICOPTER broke ground on a 176,000-square-foot expansion of its facilities at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas. The expansion will boost the size of the Bell Amarillo facility to 1.095 million square feet. Bell said the extra space will help accommodate the ramp up of its H-1 and the Bell Boeing V-22 programs. Bell Boeing in March signed a V-22 production contract covering 167 aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force Special Operations over five years. The contract included annual options to add five aircraft.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries in the next decade hopes to offer an airliner of 93-150 seats that would compete with the Bombardier CSeries and probably enter service just as Airbus and Boeing are fielding their next-generation narrowbodies. The aircraft, called YPX, would slot in just above the seating range of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ MRJ regional jet, thus forming the beginnings of a Japanese family of commercial jet aircraft.
MOONEY AIRCRAFT plans to begin installation of Garmin’s Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) G1000 avionics packages on production Acclaim and Ovation aircraft shortly and is developing upgrade packages and pricing for existing aircraft, the company said. The FAA recently approved the installation of the SVT technology, which provides virtual depiction of terrain, water features and obstacles on the Garmin G1000 Integrated Flight Deck.
RAPCO FLEET SUPPORT (RFS) of Hartland, Wis., won FAA parts manufacturer approval for Sabre 40 and 60 brake components. The RFS parts can be used on Sabreliners originally equipped with ABSC (Goodyear) brakes. RFS also manufactures replacement steel brake parts for a variety of other corporate and regional aircraft, including Beech 1900 and B99s, Citations, EMB-120s, Hawkers, Jetstream 31s, King Airs, Learjets and Swearingen Metroliners.
DORNIER Model 328-300 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0857; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-317-AD] – This proposed rule would change the inspections requirements of an existing directive (AD 2005-15-16) from a flight-hour-based schedule to a calendar-based one.
GE Honda Aero Engines has built and tested eight HF120 engine cores and eight full turbofan engine configurations in preparation for formal certification testing later this year.
BOMBARDIER delivered the 200th Challenger 300 business jet to Swiss-based VistaJet. The Challenger 300 was one of three Challengers that Bombardier handed over to VistaJet in July. VistaJet also added a Challenger 605 and 850 to its fleet. The delivery of the 200th Challenger 300 comes less than five years after the aircraft first entered customer service in January 2004.
ECLIPSE AVIATION named Harbour Air of Vancouver, British Columbia as the first Designated Service Center for the Eclipse 500 in North America. Harbour Air will provide Eclipse 500 maintenance, repair and overhaul support for operators in Western Canada. Eclipse said Harbor Air’s coverage area could expand later to include Eastern Canada and Alaska. In addition, Harbour Air will provide service support for Eclipse 500 operators in the Northwest U.S. until Eclipse fully implements its factory-owned service center network in the U.S.
A strike by thousands of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers members against Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) entered its second week Aug. 9, with no negotiating sessions last week between company and union representatives and none scheduled (BA, Aug. 4/49).
ANDREW GEIST was promoted to senior vice president, business aviation solutions, for Aircell. Geist, who will report to Aircell President and CEO Jack Blumenstein, will be responsible for all aspects of Aircell global business aviation sales, marketing, customer service and technical support. Geist joined Aircell in 1997 and before that held positions in management and flight operations at People Express Airlines, Continental/GP Express Airlines, Jeppesen and USAIG.
Lycoming Engines, a division of Textron, announced the expected November 2008 FAA certification of its 210 hp, four-cylinder IO-390 gas-fueled piston engine, intended for use in light aircraft. Intended to replace the 200 hp IO-360, the IO-390 has virtually the same external dimensions as the less powerful four-cylinder Lycoming and about the same net weight. The first application will be an IO-390-A1A6 retrofit for the Cessna CE-177 Cardinal, an aircraft on display at the Lycoming exhibit at Oshkosh AirVenture this year.
DASSAULT Falcon 2000EX airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0830; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-285-AD] – This proposal, which would supersede an existing AD (AD 2007-02-01), would require replacement of the two fire-monitoring units with new, improved models, per the instructions of Dassault Service Bulletin F2000EX-138 (dated March 5, 2007). This proposed AD, which resulted from an MCAI originated by the European Aviation Safety Agency, was issued after an investigation of a crew alerting system message “ENG 1 FIRE DETECT FAIL” that occurred on an in-service aircraft.
STEVE TAYLOR was named vice president, aircraft management sales, for Executive Jet Management (EJM). Taylor will be responsible for EJM sales in the Western U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. Taylor joined NetJets Aviation in November 1999 as a Falcon 2000 first officer in training. He subsequently served as standards captain, international captain and assistant chief pilot. Most recently he was international operations and special programs manager. Taylor began his career as a naval aviator with the U.S.
