PIAGGIO P-180 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0734 Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-036-AD; Amendment 39-16474; AD 2010-21-14] – Install Hi-Lok fasteners in place of rivets on the joint brackets on the right-hand and left-hand beam, per the instructions of Piaggio Mandatory Service Bulletin 80-0268, Rev. 0 (dated Dec. 18, 2008). This AD, which was prompted by an MCAI issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, is intended to correct a manufacturing error in which some rivets were not installed in the joints between two ceiling beams and the rear pressurized bulkhead.
The National Aeronautics Association and Federation Aeronautique International have confirmed a speed record established by a Bombardier Learjet 60 XR aircraft between Wichita, Kan., and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The aircraft completed the flight on Aug. 8 with one stop in Cali, Colombia, in 11 hr., 58 min. The aircraft departed Wichita with two crew and four passengers, cruising at 428 kt. true airspeed at Flight Level (FL) 370, climbing to FL430. The crew stopped for 25 min. in Cali. The record is the seventh for the Learjet 60 series.
U.K.-based business aircraft management and charter group Gama Aviation has added a Learjet 60XR to its aircraft operator’s certificate. The plane, previously operated privately with Gama Aviation on the Bermuda Registry, is now available for third-party charter from its European base. The 60XR boosts Gama’s core U.K. charter fleet to 10, joining two Hawker 800s (one B, one XP series), a Hawker 1000, a Gulfstream 550 (with an interior designed by Linley), two Learjet 45s, one Beechcraft 200 Super King Air and two Challenger 604s.
Although the ultimate location of Hawker Beechcraft’s operations is uncertain, company Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture is offering some encouragement that plans include a future in Wichita. In an Oct. 22 letter to employees, Boisture laid out recent downsizing actions underway, including the most recent loss of 350 employees and a total planned reduction of 800 workers, plant closings and outsourcing plans.
Embraer President and CEO Frederico Fleury Curado believes that the ultra-long-range business jet segment “will be the most promising and most profitable” in the future, but says Embraer has made no decisions about jumping into the fray. Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington last week, Curado noted that segment is built on brand recognition and reputation, adding, “we think that at this high end, [branding] is absolutely a key issue.
In a clear demonstration of the ying and yang of aircraft manufacturing, Piper Aircraft was set to conduct an engineering job fair last weekend – in Wichita, Kan. It touted the event on a billboard adjacent to West Kellogg, a main thoroughfare through the center of “The Air Capital of the World.”
Garmin International, which has helped revolutionize the cockpit of small aircraft with its flat-screen flight displays and GPS technologies, is setting its sights on larger business jets with the development of the G5000 integrated flight deck for Part 25 aircraft.
BAE Systems has placed two more Avro Business Jets (ABJ) in service with operators in Europe and Latin America, bringing the number of ABJs in service or under conversion worldwide to 27. In Europe, Casino Rodos is using its ABJ to carry clients from mainland Europe to and from the casino that is based on the Greek island of Rhodes. In Bolivia, Minera San Cristobal SA will use its BAe 146-200 to support mining operations in Potosi, 500 km. south of the capital La Paz.
ITT Corp. and Nexa Capital Partners are taking the lead in setting up a NextGen Equipage fund that essentially lets aerospace companies take on most of the risk that airlines will face in purchasing technology required for NextGen. The fund is designed to provide a private-sector answer to the aircraft equipage dilemma that is proving to be one of the major obstacles in the NextGen program.
Lufthansa Private Jet has announced plans to expand into the U.S. next year and is evaluating potential partners to operate business jets as an extension of its first-class airline service. “We are looking into it very deeply, but it is too early to announce anything,” says Sabine Dörflinger, director of global premium customer management at Lufthansa. “We plan to be there next year.”
CAE has teamed with APS Emergency Maneuver Training to offer an online computer-based training course designed to help business jet pilots to recognize, avoid and recover from loss of control while inflight. The CAE-APS upset recovery course is based on FAA recommendations contained in the Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid, Revision 2. “Aircraft upset is not a common occurrence, and the overwhelming majority of flights proceed without incident, thanks to modern aircraft technology and training,” says Lou Nemeth, CAE’s chief safety officer.
Bombardier Aerospace has added three aircraft-on-ground (AOG) line maintenance facilities (LMF). The new LMFs are located in Kuala Lumpur; Monterrey, Mexico; and Riga, Latvia. Bombardier’s worldwide service and maintenance support network includes 60 service centers, authorized service facilities and AOG LMFs. In Kuala Lumpur, ExecuJet Malaysia will handle Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft. The facility is the first Bombardier LMF in Malaysia. Mexico’s Aerovitro S.A. was named an AOG LMF for Bombardier Challenger and Global aircraft.
ABS Jets has begun construction on a new hangar at Prague Ruzyně Airport. The 6,000-sq.-meter facility will triple ABS Jets’ available hanger capacity. “Hanger space in the new facilities, preconstruction, is already 50% sold,” says Radomír Šaňák, ABS Jets commercial director and director of ground operations. ABS currently has 11 planes in its fleet, having added one plane a year since 2004. The additional space will enable the firm to add more aircraft, in addition to increasing ground support and improving handling services.
THOMAS MITCHELL has joined Portsmouth, N.H.-based business aviation consultancy Aviation Management Systems (AMS) as senior vice president-operations and business development. Mitchell has more than 30 years of experience, previously holding positions as a director, general manager, vice president and senior vice president for Jet Aviation. He also has served as a manager for a Fortune 500 company that owned several Dassault and Bombardier business jets and was director of maintenance for a Part 135 charter business.
The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) recently received two sizeable donations from the aviation industry totaling more than $240,000. The National Business Aviation Association’s/CAN Charity Benefit, held during the recent NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta, raised more than $220,000. Also, a check for $21,000 was presented to the charity from the proceeds of full-page ads placed in BA affiliate Business & Commercial Aviation magazine.
London Stansted-based Inflite Jet Centre will take delivery of a new Embraer Legacy 650 next month. Configured with 12 seats, the Legacy 650 will be available for charter with Titan Airways.
Avfuel Corporation has established a new in-house subsidiary, Avplan Trip Support, dedicated to flight and trip-planning services. The subsidiary was made possible through Avfuel’s acquisition of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Pacific Coast Forecasting earlier this year. The acquisition was designed to build on Avfuel’s existing ground-handing and trip-planning services. Formalizing the services under Avplan Trip Support will “streamline and enhance Avfuel’s service matrix, allowing for quality control,” the company says.
Business Jet Access has been awarded a certificate of registration for implementing the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO). BJA, as part of the IS-BAO certification, has successfully implemented a safety management system and meets all criteria for operating aircraft internationally. BJA also has been recognized with the ARGUS Platinum rating, received FAA Part 145 repair station certification and has been designated as an authorized air carrier for conducting flights into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Charter operator ExcelAire has added two Bombardier Global 5000s to its fleet. One aircraft will be based in Columbus, Ohio and the other at MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y.
FAA’s reservation system for unscheduled arrivals at Chicago O’Hare International Airport is set to expire Oct. 31. The system was established in 2003 under Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 105 as a means to assist with overcrowding at the airport. In 2008, the agency extended SFAR 105 through Oct. 31, 2010. The agency said at the time that the extension was necessary to continue to reduce congestion and delays at O’Hare.
RICHARD AGEE has joined Stoneworth Financial, a Houston-based aviation merger and acquisition advisory firm that serves middle-market companies with revenue or values between $20 million and $250 million. Agee formerly served as chief financial officer and vice president for the AR Group, which included Air Routing International. AR Group was a client of Stoneworth Financial before it was acquired by Rockwell Collins earlier this year. Agee will be a principal of Stoneworth.
Cessna Aircraft sales veteran Roger Whyte is retiring at the end of the year following a 28-year career with the company. Whyte, currently senior vice president, sales and marketing, joined Cessna in 1982. During that time he has held a number of positions, from regional sales manager to vice president, Citation worldwide sales. He was promoted to his current position in January 1997 and has been responsible for the worldwide sales and marketing of Cessna’s entire product line.
EMBRAER EMB-500 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1023; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-055-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to install clamps and protection sleeves to wiring harness W101 in the cockpit area. In addition, operators would need to rework adjacent structures to eliminate the fretting spots of the harness with the main-door locking mechanism and with the oxygen tube, per the instructions of Embraer Service Bulletin No. SB 500-24-0002 (dated March 8, 2010).
Analysts attending the recent National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) 63rd Annual Meeting and Convention in Atlanta believe the show was more upbeat than in 2009, but also believe the industry’s full recovery will not begin until 2012. This follows similar sentiments expressed by a number of industry leaders at the convention, including Rob Wilson, president of business and general aviation at Honeywell Aerospace, who has characterized 2011 as “another ‘bounding along the bottom’ type of year” (BA, Oct. 18/2).
