Helicopter Association International (HAI) is intensifying its efforts to generate opposition to an air tour measure in comprehensive highway reauthorization legislation as negotiations on the bill reach a critical juncture. The House and Senate have until the end of the month to either reach an agreement on a long-term highway reauthorization bill or opt for another short-term extension of highway funding.
June 27-28—Irish Business Aviation (Shannon) Convention, Shannon Airport, Shannon, Ireland, www.miuevents.com July 9-15—Farnborough International Airshow 2012, www.farnborough.com July 15-17—Large Hub Winter Operations & Deicing Conference, Dulles, Va., www.necaaae.org July 16-17—Airports Council International-North America 2012 Small Airports Conference, JW Marriott Hotel, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.aci-na.org/event/562 July 23-29—Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org
Pentastar Aviation maintenance services are now available at Key Air, a fixed-base operation at Waterbury-Oxford Airport (OXC) in Connecticut. The new location marks Pentastar’s inaugural East Coast operation, complementing its FBOs at the company’s Waterford, Mich. headquarters at Oakland County International Airport (PTK) and California’s Van Nuys Airport (VNY). Aircraft based at OXC are being offered at preferred rates for services performed at both the new location and at Pentastar’s metropolitan Detroit facilities.
Hawker Beechcraft remains on track to file its reorganization plan under Chapter 11 by June 30, but that plan could pave the way for possible bidders for the sale of all or some of the company. The company is not providing details of bids, which will be tightly held and not public through the Chapter 11 filings, a company spokeswoman says.
Pratt & Whitney Canada plans to sell its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Brisbane, Australia to Vector Aerospace Corp. The sale includes the assets associated with Pratt’s PT6A engine repair and overhaul facility located in the area. As part of the transaction, Vector’s newly purchased service center will be appointed as a designated overhaul facility for PT6A engines by the engine manufacturer. Vector is an independent provider of helicopter and fixed-wing engine repair and overhaul and also offers helicopter airframe MRO.
ATR’s 42-600 has won certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The 50-seat, Pratt & Whitney-powered twin turboprop is slated to enter service later this summer. Since the launch of the -600 program in October 2007, ATR has received orders for a total of 250 ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 aircraft. The ATR 72-600 has been in service since August 2011 and is being operated by seven airlines worldwide.
Recent FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency approvals clear Gulfstream Aerospace to retrofit Gulfstream GV, GIV, GIV-SP, G400 and G300 business jets with its PlaneDeck cockpit upgrade, which converts the primary flight display from cathode ray tube to liquid crystal. The six-panel display configuration remains the same. Gulfstream, noting more than 700 of the covered models are operating, already has begun installations of the new PlaneDeck upgrade. The manufacturer estimates the installation takes 10-12 business days.
BELL 205A, 205A-1, and 205B helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0601; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-033-AD] – proposes to require replacing the starter/generator power cable assemblies and their associated parts and performing continuity readings on certain helicopters. This proposal was prompted by the determination that the power cable assembly connector can deteriorate, causing a short in the connector that could lead to a fire in the starter/generator, smoke in the cockpit and subsequent loss of helicopter control.
Eurocopter’s X3 hybrid aircraft began a month-long tour of the U.S. last week, during which it is demonstrating its unique operational capabilities for both civil and military operators.
A new ice-repellent technology has been invented by a team of Harvard University researchers. Surfaces treated with this new coating, called Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS), have easily shed water drops, condensation, frost and even ice.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on June 22 began its 90-day review of FAA’s final rule to mandate what are now voluntary helicopter routes over the North Shore of Long Island. OMB review is usually the last step before a rule is issued. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has pushed FAA to expedite release of the rule and introduced measures earlier this year to mandate the rule’s release. While those measures have not been enacted into law, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood earlier this year vowed to move forward on the rule.
FAA officials are looking at possibilities to tackle what they fear may be a looming pilot and mechanic shortage, including a concept for a private/public “U.S. Aviation Academy” partnership that would encourage new students to help feed the entire aviation system.
Nordic Aviation Capital has ordered 12 Bombardier CRJ1000s, which will be leased to Garuda Indonesia, the previously announced launch customer for the CRJ1000 NextGen in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the aircraft’s list price, the order is valued at about $595 million. In addition to the 12 leased CRJ1000s, Garuda Indonesia has ordered six of the airplanes directly from Bombardier and holds options for 18 more.
June 12, 1972 — Pan Am and Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation agree to establish Falcon Jet Corp. in New Jersey, with each owning a 50% stake but enabling Pan Am to divest itself of the liabilities of its Business Jet Division that distributed and marketed Falcon business jets.
Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd.’s U.S. division Vision Technologies Aerospace Incorporated has received bankruptcy court approval to proceed with its purchase of parts of Pemco World Air Services assets, including the company’s Tampa, Fla., maintenance business and its Boeing 737 freighter conversion supplemental type certificates (STCs). The deal, struck in late May and announced June 8, was blessed this month by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware. It is anticipated to close next month, ST Engineering says.
Duncan Aviation has installed an Aircell broadband system with WiFi in a Cessna Citation 560XL. This FAA supplemental type certificated (STC) installation also will apply to the 560XL/XLS. The Lincoln, Neb.-based company owns a dozen STCs for incorporating broadband with Wi-Fi in business aircraft and has completed installations on nearly 300 aircraft.
The Airbus Foundation is partnering with the United Way of the Plains in Wichita to sponsor an educational and mentoring program called the Airbus Foundation Flying Challenge. The effort, valued at up to $250,000, will connect employees from Airbus and engineering students from Wichita State University (WSU) with middle-school aged at-risk children in the community. Airbus and WSU mentors will urge the students to stay in school, improve their studies and consider a career in engineering.
Despite a sluggish start that will hold down deliveries at least through this year, Bombardier Aerospace expects the business jet market to accelerate over the next 10 years with the value of unit shipments nearly doubling through 2021 and then tripling over the subsequent 10 years. Bombardier is forecasting a market for 24,000 business jets valued at $648 billion through 2031. By 2031, business jet manufacturers are expected to be shipping 1,500 units annually, Bombardier says.
The general aviation accident rate has been “stubbornly resistant” to safety initiatives designed to lower the number of mishaps, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman said last week, kicking off a two-day NTSB forum in Washington to find ways to decrease the number of GA accidents, particularly among the personal flying segment of Part 91 operations.
Nav Canada and Iridium are partnering on a project that will bring satellite-based air traffic surveillance to areas of the globe with no coverage, starting with crucial North Atlantic routes.
Members of the House are trying to reinstate a rule to allow businesses to write off the cost of a major purchase – such as an aircraft – in the year the purchase is made rather than to spread the expense over many years. Bonus depreciation expired at the end of 2011, but a new bill, sponsored by Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), would extend the write off through 2012.
CAE received Level D approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia for a Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 full flight simulator. The simulator is housed at the Ansett Flight Training Center outside Melbourne. The location is CAE’s first business aviation training location in Australia.
Boeing still expects to fly its company-funded MC-12S Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System (Emarss) risk-reduction prototype this year pending a decision by the contractor on full-rate production, says Roger Krone, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems. In addition to the Boeing-funded prototype, four Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft are being modified with MC-12S equipment under government funding. They, too, are planned to fly this year.
Piper Aircraft has sold 10 M-class aircraft for delivery to retail customers in Europe so far this year. The latest transaction involves a Meridian single-engine turboprop that will begin service with a business owner in Spain later this year. Winters Aviation, Piper’s authorized new-aircraft dealer in Belgium and France, closed the sale during a recent exhibition in Cannes, France. Three Meridians have been delivered in France so far this year.
