From the editors of Aviation International News
September 28, 2010
This issue sponsored by Gulfstream, Honeywell and Dassault Falcon.
From the editors of Aviation International News
September 28, 2010
This issue sponsored by Gulfstream, Honeywell and Dassault Falcon.
Socata To Join Jet Set with Reworked SPn
Daher-Socata confirmed that it is jointly studying plans for a new aircraft development under an exclusive agreement with Allied Aviation Technologies, which owns the assets of the SPn light business jet program on behalf of the main creditor for Grob Aerospace, the aircraft’s former developer. The agreement has been concluded with former Grob Aerospace CEO Niall Olver, who since the company’s bankruptcy in January 2009 has been seeking fresh investors for the SPn. Speculation about possible new plans for the SPn has been prompted by unofficial reports that the three remaining prototype examples for the aircraft are set to be relocated from Grob Aircraft’s headquarters at Tussenhausen-Mattsies in southern Germany. Grob Aircraft, owned by Germany’s H3 Aerospace group, controls Grob Aerospace’s training aircraft business, which was sold separately during the insolvency process. Allied owns the prototypes, in addition to all intellectual property associated with the SPn program. Daher-Socata’s confirmation of the joint study agreement with Allied says that it is “evaluating a 100-percent composite, twin-engine business aircraft program based on the SPn platform.”
Eurocopter Reveals X3 Compound Helo Demonstrator
Eurocopter yesterday unveiled the X3 (“x cube”) demonstrator, a compound helicopter with a 220-knot cruise speed. The aircraft first flew on September 6 in hover, and is scheduled to fly again on Thursday. Some 100 flight-test hours are planned in the next 18 months, with the target speed expected to be reached in the first quarter. The demonstrator uses a Dauphin-series fuselage and main rotor, with two short wings fitted to the upper fuselage, each holding an eight-foot-diameter propeller. A conventional empennage replaces the tail rotor. Its two RTM322 engines are borrowed from the NH90 military transport and the main gearbox comes from the EC175, but with two additional drives for the propellers. Eurocopter has been secretly working on the X3 project since early 2008. The company said it is not engaged in a speed race with Sikorsky’s X2, which recently reached 250 knots. Rather, Eurocopter officials believe they have found a sweet spot at 220 knots. On a given mission, time savings are projected to translate into lower hourly costs–about 20 percent lower from the standpoint of cost per passenger mile–which Eurocopter said will compensate for the increased purchase price. A 20-seat, 30,000-pound-class certified variant of the X3 could enter service in about eight years, Eurocopter said.
Platinum Jet Pilot Pleads Guilty, Trial Set for Others
Francis Vieira, a former contract pilot of now-defunct Platinum Jet Management, pleaded guilty yesterday to “conspiring to defraud charter customers and brokers using interstate wires and to impede and obstruct the FAA, admitting he and his co-conspirators flew illegal flights and falsified FAA paperwork relating to the safety and regulatory compliance of its flights.” The case stems from an accident in February 2005 when a Challenger 600 operated by Platinum Jet failed to lift off, overran the end of Runway 6 at Teterboro (N.J.) Airport and plowed into the side of a clothing warehouse. The two pilots, eight passengers and a “cabin aide” suffered minor injuries. Following the accident investigation, the original indictment named Vieira, along with Platinum Jet president and CEO Michael Brassington, v-p Paul Brassington, director of maintenance Brian McKenzie, managing member Andrew Budhan and director of charters Joseph Singh as involved in conspiracy and operating the aircraft as on-demand without having a Part 135 certificate, among other charges. The Brassingtons, McKenzie and pilot John Kimberling (captain of the ill-fated flight and charged later in a separate indictment) are scheduled to stand trial starting October 12.
Hawker Beech Laying Off Another 350 Workers
“While there are pockets of growth in the global economy, the market for new production aircraft has stagnated at a very low level,” Hawker Beechcraft chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said in a memo to employees on Friday. In the letter, he said the company plans to “reduce the size of our salaried (non-hourly) work force by approximately 350.” Although this latest round of layoffs does not affect hourly union workers, Boisture made it clear that future reductions in force might do so. “While we do not see a large-scale layoff of hourly employees at this time, small reductions or short furloughs may be required to modulate production line output in an attempt to reduce unsold aircraft inventory.” Hawker Beechcraft and the machinists union are currently attempting to negotiate a new contract. There is a year remaining on the current contract, but the union, at the request of Hawker earlier this year, agreed to reopen negotiations. Union officials are expecting an offer from Hawker in time for a member vote on October 9. According to Wood, it will be a simple vote to accept or reject the new contract. There won’t be a strike option if it is rejected.
NextGen Challenges Top RTCA Symposium Agenda
Presenters at an RTCA symposium in Washington, D.C., last week warned that the FAA’s ambitious NextGen overhaul of the ATC system in the U.S. faces daunting challenges that must be addressed now to avoid delays and cost overruns in the future. But FAA officials speaking at the event also pointed to progress in deploying ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) ground stations across the U.S. and redesigning airspace around the nation’s busiest airports as reasons to be confident that NextGen initiatives under way now will pay significant dividends by the end of this decade. “We’ve made good progress and we should all be proud of that,” said FAA director of surveillance and broadcast services Vinny Capezzuto, “but there’s still much work to be done.” A special aviation rulemaking committee formed in July has been tasked with exploring applications for use with ADS-B IN avionics, which can deliver operational information and other data to properly equipped aircraft. Panelists also debated how to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles in U.S. civil airspace and discussed the progress in speeding the deployment of controller-pilot datalink communications, which are predicted to be in wide use at most large hub airports and ATC centers by 2018.
Also Noted...
Tac Air’s Lexington, Ky., FBO saw a “huge surge of traffic” over the weekend as the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games began on Saturday, said facility general manager Kip Simanek. The Blue Grass Airport Tac Air staff was augmented with line and counter service personnel from other Tac Air locations to prepare for the expected 50-percent bump in traffic. Tac Air, the preferred FBO for the World Equestrian Games, is offering triple Phillips 66 WingPoints awards to FBO customers at all Tac Air locations through October 10.
Europe is facing ATC disruption for the second consecutive week. Belgian air traffic controllers today staged a 24-hour strike, and Spanish controllers tomorrow are expected to join other government employees in a general strike. These strikes follow trade union action in France last week. The Spanish strike has also resulted in the postponement by 24 hours of Eurocontrol’s flight-level adherence days, which will now span all day Thursday and Friday.
Garmin received FAA STC approval of its helicopter terrain awareness and warning system for the GNS 430W/530W navcoms. It is available immediately as an option on newly purchased systems or as a field upgrade for current owners. Meanwhile, Garmin, in partnership with Rotorcraft Services Group, also obtained STC approval for installation of the Garmin G500H glass cockpit in the Eurocopter AS350B2, AS350B3 and EC130B4 helicopters.
NBAA lauded President Obama for signing into law legislation yesterday that includes a provision for bonus depreciation to accelerate cost recovery of strategic business purchases this year, including business aircraft. The measure was included as part of an overall legislative package for small businesses.
Avidyne’s DFC90 attitude-based digital autopilot received approval from Brazil’s Agencia Nacional De Aviacao Civil (ANAC) for retrofit installation in Entegra-equipped Cirrus aircraft. This will help streamline any future similar approvals in other aircraft retrofitted with Entegra glass cockpit systems.
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