PACIFIC AEROSPACE Model 750XL airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2014-0494; Directorate Identifier 2014-CE-017-AD; Amendment 39-17986; AD 2014-20-13] – requires inspection of the fin forward pickup fitting and replacement of both plates if cracks are found. The AD is intended to prevent failure of the fin forward pickup. FAA estimates the AD will affect 17 aircraft on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $1,445, or $85 per aircraft, for the inspections and $753 per aircraft for follow-on actions. The AD takes effect Nov. 12.
EVERETT HORST was named director of Decatur, Texas, operations for Air Methods’ United Rotorcraft. Horst has a 30-year background in the aviation industry, starting out as an avionics supervisor for Addison Avionics and later becoming a completions manager for the San Francisco Emergency Nurses Association. He co-founded two companies, Premier Aviation and Heritage Aviation, holding the title of vice president. In his new role he will oversee completion projects at United Rotorcraft’s Texas facility.
ROLLS-ROYCE 250-C20, -C20B and –C20R/2 engines [Docket No. FAA-2011-0961; Directorate Identifier 2011-NE-22-AD] – proposes to supersede AD 2012-14-06, which currently requires a one-time visual inspection and fluorescent-penetrant inspection (FPI) on certain 3rd-stage and 4th-stage turbine wheels for cracks in the turbine blades. Since FAA issued AD 2012-14-06, the agency determined that the one-time inspection required by AD 2012-14-06 should be changed to repetitive inspections and that an inspection should be added after any engine hot start.
TIM RAYL was appointed senior vice president of sales and marketing for ICG. He brings more than 29 years of industry experience to his new role. He spent 28 years with Rockwell Collins, beginning as a systems engineer and moving into product line and program management. Most recently he was director of sales and marketing for Cobham Avionics.
BOB YOUNGREEN joined United Rotorcraft, a division of Air Methods, as account manager within the global sales and marketing department. Youngreen has 30 years of industry experience, beginning as a technician for Rocky Mountain helicopters. There he supported utility and logging operations in the Western U.S.
NetJets is launching its second Bombardier Challenger aircraft, this time the Challenger 650. Chuck Suma, NetJets senior vice president of global asset management, stood alongside Bombardier Business Aircraft President Eric Martel as they announced the new model Oct. 19 in front of the mockup of the follow-on to the Challenger 605 on the eve of last week’s National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is laying out a six-pronged road map to foster the growth and safety of general aviation in Europe. At the recent EASA Safety Conference on General Aviation in Rome, EASA released its 2014 road map report and made six “commitments” that EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky says are “part of the strategy to change fundamentally the way the GA sector is regulated in Europe.”
General Dynamics’ (GD) Gulfstream Aerospace and Jet Aviation businesses combined for their highest quarterly earnings ever reported by the GD Aerospace Group as third-quarter revenues approached $2.3 billion. Revenues were up by 6.4% ($137 million) in the third quarter and earnings grew 11.4% to $411 million, resulting in margins of 18%. GD is crediting the increase in margins to the continued improvements in G650 and G280 manufacturing and outfitting. But returns from Jet Aviation also provided a boost to performance, the company says.
Textron Aviation took another step toward integration with the 73% vote by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to accept a new six-year collective bargaining agreement covering for the first time both Beechcraft and Cessna workers.
NetJets is launching its second Bombardier Challenger aircraft, this time the Challenger 650. Chuck Suma, NetJets senior vice president of global asset management, stood alongside Bombardier Business Aircraft President Eric Martel as they announced the new model Oct. 19 in front of the mockup of the follow-on to the Challenger 605 on the eve of last week’s National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition.
Signature Flight Support’s latest expansion into Canada is part of an overarching and aggressive growth strategy the company has employed in recent years as the fixed-base operation chain seeks to fill in the gaps of its network for its customer base. Signature Flight Support last week announced a new licensing agreement with Skyservice that gives Signature a branded presence at the top five busiest business and general aviation airports in Canada.
Robert Bass, chairman of Aerion Corp., and T. Allan McArtor, chairman and CEO of Airbus Group North America, celebrated a joint venture that will boost development of the AS2, the first supersonic business jet. It also will give Airbus complete access to Aerion’s broad range of proprietary design tools, including its supersonic natural laminar flow airfoil (SNLF) designs. “We are delighted to formally launch our partnership with Airbus to launch the AS2,” says Bass. “We are aerodynamicists. Airbus can provide systems design and certification.”
26,000: The National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida reflected increased activity in the marketplace with a busy convention floor, two general sessions, the first indoor static display at the Orange County Convention Center and 1,100 exhibitors. Executives from a number of the exhibitors, including Signature Flight Support President and CEO Maria Sastre, noted that business had picked up at this show with many of the displays drawing crowds.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) is on track to certify the PW800 by the end of December, says company president John Saabas. Officially unveiling the engine last week at the NBAA convention, Saabas says the 16,000-pounds-thrust powerplant will provide the jumping-off point for a new family of business jet engines covering the 12,000-pounds-thrust to 20,000-pounds-thrust range.
National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen and General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and CEO Pete Bunce believe business aviation is in a stronger position heading into debate on the next FAA reauthorization bill thanks to a concentrated effort by industry to educate lawmakers and the general public on the important role the industry plays in the national economy.
Russian and French investigators have downloaded the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from a French-registered Falcon 50EX (F-GLSA) that slammed into a snow removal vehicle during takeoff at Moscow Vnukovo airport late Oct. 20.
