Signature Flight Support’s planned acquisition of Jet Systems, a rival FBO at Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, N.Y., could signal the start of further consolidations at HPN. There’s been speculation among airport tenants about such developments, fueled in part by a proposal before the County Board of Legislators to assign the lease for Panorama Flight Service, an independent FBO, to Landmark Aviation, which, like Signature, already has a base at HPN. That would leave Westair, a Million Air branded operation, as the third remaining operation.
AGUSTA Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0886; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-067-AD] – revises an earlier notice of proposed AD covering affected helicopters with a certain wire strike protection system (WSPS) top cable cutter assembly installed. The existing proposal would require reworking or replacing the top cable cutter assembly to increase clearance between the WSPS and the main rotor (M/R) blades. The proposal was prompted by a report of inflight contact between the top cable-cutter assembly and two M/R blades.
LUIZ SANDLER was appointed regional vice president of sales for South America for Gulfstream Aerospace. Sandler will be responsible for Gulfstream sales in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay. He joins Gulfstream from International Jet Traders, Gulfstream’s sale representative for Brazil. He also has marketing and sales experience with Embraer.
Bell Helicopter delivered its first 407GX to a customer in Poland. The helicopter, delivered by Bell’s representative in the country, JB Investments, is the first of two to be delivered in Poland this month. Nearly 100 407GXs have been delivered to date. The GX model incorporates the Garmin G1000H flight deck that includes a Helicopter Terrain Avoidance Warning System, Helicopter Synthetic Vision Technology and Traffic Information Systems.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE AS350B, BA, B1, B2, B3, D, AS355E, F, F1, F2, and N helicopters. [Docket No. FAA-2013-0354; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-072-AD] – proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires inspecting to determine whether a cross-member is installed at station X 2165 and doublers at X 2325 and Y 269, and installing them if they are missing. Since FAA issued that AD, it was decided that the applicability of the AD should be limited to those helicopters with collective-to-yaw control coupling.
BRIAN ROHLOFF was named vice president of quality for Cessna Aircraft. A 16-year Cessna veteran, Rohloff previously had been business leader for the Mustang and M2 business jets. He has also served as value stream manager for the CJ4, senior product director for the XLS+ and Citation X and product director for paint operations.
Daher-Socata is encouraged by an uptick in orders for its TBM 850 single turboprop, selling out all but one delivery slot this year and building a backlog to 39 aircraft. The company credits the improved results in part to its “Elite” version of the 850, which incorporates a tailored cabin with flexible seating arrangements, and the incorporation of the L-3 Avionics Trilogy ES-2000 electronic standby instrument.
Hangar Ten Aviation Services is expanding its complex at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City (MKC) with an a new 11,000-sq.-ft. multi-use hangar. The new facility, which will join Hangar Ten’s existing 55,000-sq.-ft. hangar, will house aircraft the size of a Citation X, along with adjoining offices. The hangar comes as Hangar Ten has seen an increase in transient traffic in fuel volume over the past three years.
Fractional sales continue to rebound this year for some major operators, even as flight operations are still lagging. Bombardier’s Flexjet is reporting 96% growth in new fractional and jet card business combined in the first half of the year. Sales of fractional shares alone were up 112%, while jet card sales grew 68%. Rival NetJets, meanwhile, helped boost the bottom line of parent company Berkshire Hathaway.
BOB KING was named business leader for the Mustang, M2, CJ2+, CJ3 and CJ4 aircraft for Cessna Aircraft. King was previously vice president of information technology for Cessna. Before that, he had held positions at the corporate office of Cessna parent company Textron, along with Cessna affiliate companies Jacobsen and E-Z-Go.
German light-sport aircraft (LSA) manufacturer Flight Design continues to make progress on its first Part 23-certified aircraft with the selection of a Garmin avionics package, negotiations for a diesel engine and plans to assemble the C4 in both the U.S. and China.
ERICKSON AIR-CRANE Sikorsky Model S-64E helicopters (type certificate previously held by Sikorsky) [Docket No. FAA-2013-0556; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-30-AD] proposes to supersede an existing AD that requires checks of the main rotor blades for a crack. This proposed AD would retain the actions of the existing AD, would reflect that the type certificate (TC) for this model helicopter has been transferred to Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated (Erickson), and expand the applicability to include the similar Erickson Model S-64F helicopters.
Signature Flight Support is remaining on the acquisition trail, picking up the Jet Systems facility at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y. for $38.5 million, a move that strengthens its position on a key business aviation airport.
A group of business aviation officials led by VanAllen Group Chairman Peter Agur is teaming with Georgia State University (GSU) to help develop leadership skills of industry executives. VanAllen and GSU are hosting a Business Aviation Leadership Summit/Certificate Program next month to improve executives’ performance as leaders.
Air Tractor celebrated the delivery of its 3,000th airplane, an AT-502B that was handed over to a Brazilian customer. The single-seat ag plane rolled off the company’s production line in Olney, Texas in mid-July and was on display at EAA AirVenture 2013 in Oshkosh, Wis., before last week’s formal delivery. Air Tractor’s roots trace back to founder Leland Snow, who began designing and building ag in 1958 as The Snow Aeronautical Company. The company later was sold to Rockwell-Standard and began building the first “Thrush” aircraft.
Putting its Oklahoma operations on the market could be the first major step in Spirit AeroSystems’ effort to re-focus resources on what it does best: playing major roles in maturing, growing Boeing and Airbus airliner programs. Spirit executives last week announced that the company’s Tulsa manufacturing operation is for sale, along with its McAlester, Okla., facility, which provides machined parts and subassemblies.
FAA is soliciting comments on the next round of recommendations to streamline and improve pilot training and certification standards. The agency considers the push to revise the standards as a key component in a multipronged effort to improve the general aviation fatal accident rate. The latest round of documents, open for comment through Aug. 23, includes new recommendations for authorized instructors standards, along with revisions to previous work of pilot certification/instrument ratings.
DAVE MILLS was appointed general manager of Landmark Aviation’s facility at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California. He has 30 years of aviation experience, formerly as general manager for Business Jet Center in Oakland. He has also served as director of operations for Sierra Academy of Aeronautics.
Purdue University is expanding biofuel research to very light jets, teaming with Embraer and Honeywell on a project involving a Jet A/camelina-based blend.
Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) continues to expand its membership with online broker JetCharters.com the latest to join. JetCharter.com is among a handful of brokers and operators that joined the foundation this summer, with others including Air Trek, New Flight Charters, Private Jet Charter and Apollo Jets. The foundation membership has reached 107 businesses.
