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OCT. 23, 2013

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Las Vegas

Bolen harks back to ’08, praises bizav’s survival

MARIANO ROSALES

by Curt Epstein

To celebrate a very light jet, it’s ironic to call on Bruce Dickinson, front man for Iron Maiden, one of rock’s iconic heavy metal bands. A former airline pilot and non-executive chairman of Aeris Aviation, Dickinson earned his Eclipse type rating last month.

Eclipse is shining again, delivers first 550 here

With a snip of the ribbon, NBAA 2013 was opened yesterday morning–marking the first time the association’s flagship annual event has been called the “Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition” (BACE). While the association has been hosting this event every year since 1950, it recently renamed it to conform with its other global shows, such as EBACE (Geneva) and ABACE (Shanghai).

Addressing the audience, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen noted the fifth anniversary of the start of the global economic downturn that has mired the industry. Acknowledging the hardships the organization’s

members have faced, Bolen noted that the investment in new products never ceased, resulting in the many new products announced here at the show.

“We never ate the seed corn and today we are seeing a lot of that coming through the market,” he said. “We are seeing all of that investment coming to fruition.”

Sharing the word about the value of business aviation to the world is one of the key efforts of the show, and Bolen referred to a newly released study demonstrating the long-held belief that companies that use business aviation out-perform those that don’t is valid, not just in

Continued on page 93 u

Eclipse Aerospace (Booth No. C10844) ceremonially delivered the first Eclipse 550 yesterday at NBAA 2013, marking the first aircraft to come off its revived production line since its predecessor company filed for bankruptcy and shut down in 2009. The new twinjet builds upon the “proven and reliable” Eclipse 500, adding more range, upgraded avionics and improved cabin comfort.

“You’ve all heard that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” Eclipse CEO Mason Holland said yesterday at the ceremony. “Well, let me tell you–what happens in Vegas today for Eclipse, we tell the world!”

Serial number 265 will officially be delivered to

its customer, Fred Phillips, in the coming weeks after three minor modifications are approved by the FAA. These approvals–for the very light jet’s synthetic vision system and enhanced vision system cable connection–were expected before the NBAA show but approvals were held up by the 16-day-long U.S. government shutdown earlier this month, Holland told AIN. This is the third Eclipse purchased by Phillips.

“We upgraded his first one to the Total Eclipse configuration,” Holland said. “Then he bought a Total Eclipse, and now he has the first Eclipse 550. He really loves the airplane.”

Continued on page 93 u

MARK WAGNER

by Chad Trautvetter

Cutting the ribbon to open NBAA 2013 are (l to r) NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen; Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo); actor-pilot (and 2013 Al Ueltschi Award winner) Harrison Ford; TSA Administrator John Pistole; and ex-U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow.

Safety

Outlook

New Aircraft

Bizjet History

Components

NBAA recognizes safe operators

Resale market still slow: Amstat

HondaJet aims for 2014 approval

Learjet celebrates its 50th anniversary

Hartzell thrives on new-tech props

Safe operations are the hallmark of business aviation. Every year, NBAA recognizes companies and pilots with exemplary records. Most pilots receiving accolades have more than 20,000 accident-free flying hours. Page 86

The market for preowned business aircraft is still struggling to recover, according to Amstat’s Business Aviation Market Update Report, published just before the NBAA show here in Las Vegas. Page 75

Honda Aircraft still targets next year for final certification of the HondaJet. Meeting that deadline is dependent on achieving engine certification by the end of this year, according to CEO Michimasa Fujino. Page 37

It all started while Bill Lear was living in Switzerland in the early 1960s, but the iconic Lear Jet is as American as a Chevy Corvette. Among his first customers were Vegas denizens Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Page 34

Hartzell Propeller, based in Piqua, Ohio, has embraced opportunities to enhance propellers on a wide range of aircraft. Using both aluminum and carbon-composite, the company has developed quieter, more efficient propellers. Page 6

Learn More on Page 67

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Harrison Ford receives Al Ueltschi humanitarian award

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Correction Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter (holding keys) shakes hands with Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture, taking delivery of the first of up to 105 King Airs. Also on hand to celebrate were David Baxt, president of Wheels Up (left) and Beechcraft executive v-p Shawn Vick (right). In yesterday’s issue, Baxt was incorrectly identified.

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MARK WAGNER

for missing hikers. In 2010 he was part of the general aviation relief effort to Haiti after the island nation’s capital was devastated by an earthquake. Ford also served as the chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program for five years, helping introduce countless young people to aviation, including many flights that he conducted in his own aircraft.

Established in 2006, the Al Ueltschi award is presented to organizations and individuals that use general aviation aircraft effectively for humanitarian purposes.

“I am humbled and not just a little embarrassed by this award and this attention,” said Ford upon receiving the award. “I have done what I have been able to do and after receiving this high honor I promise to redouble my efforts to be of more use, to try and make myself available for more of the good missions that we can provide service to people in need, and to bring credit and proper understanding to the role that general aviation plays in all of our community.” o

MARIANO ROSALES

It was a visibly moved Harrison Ford who accepted this year’s Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership yesterday morning at the conclusion of the NBAA 2013 opening session. While more commonly known for roles such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo in Star Wars, the veteran actor in this case was recognized for his continuing role as a philanthropist.

“Harrison Ford is an enthusiastic and compassionate representative for general aviation,” said NBAA ­president and CEO Ed Bolen.

“In addition to utilizing a diverse number of aircraft types in support of his career and business endeavors, he also channels his passion for flight into demonstrating the vital humanitarian role that general aviation provides every day, in places all around the world.”

A pilot since 1996, Ford has regularly flown missions in support of numerous aviation charities including the Cessna Special Olympics (for which he served as chairman) and the Corporate Angel Network. He has also flown missions searching

Best known for his screen roles, actor and pilot Harrison Ford (right) has been active in advancing general aviation’s humanitarian side. For his achievements, and for highlighting GA’s contributions to the greater good, Ford received this year’s NBAA Al Ueltschi Award for Humanitarian Leadership. Ford promised “...to bring credit and proper understanding to the role that general aviation plays.”

Gore Design team tackles VVIP B787s

by Amy Laboda This is a banner year for Gore Design Completions (Booth No. N4900), according to Mohammed Alzeer, the company’s general partner, who announced here at NBAA 2013 that Gore had received a contract to complete two Boeing 787 Dreamliners in head-of-state VVIP configuration. The aircraft will be delivered from Boeing to Gore’s San Antonio, Texas facility.

“We are excited about the new contract,” said Alzeer.

“Last year, we delivered a head-of-state Boeing 777. This year, we are on track to deliver an industry record of four aircraft [three widebody Airbus A340s and one BBJ3]. That makes 50-odd projects in 13 years, of which 40 percent were head-of-state aircraft,” he said.

“The Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 represent the future for headof-state aircraft. They are the

4 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

most advanced technologically, and we intend to establish a knowledge base and the engineering solutions for the head-of-state configuration on both aircraft,” he said.

Gore Design Completions is FAA and EASA authorized to provide maintenance and completions on Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

Its hangar facilities accommodate up to three widebody and one narrowbody aircraft simultaneously.

The company, which was purchased last spring by Alzeer’s company, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Maz Aviation, also announced that it has finalized restructuring plans that involve a company-wide enterprise resource planning solution, acquiring the Dassault Systèmes Catia software for the engineering department and a global expansion strategy. o

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Hartzell seizes new opportunities

by Rob Finfrock Hartzell Propeller (Booth No. C7630) has witnessed the market for its aluminum–and, increasingly, carbon-composite–propeller blades and assemblies change markedly over the

past five years as the global aviation industry continues a long and deliberate rebound from the recent global economic downturn. While it would be a stretch to say the shift was a welcome

one for the Piqua, Ohio-based company, Hartzell executive vice president J.J. Frigge seems invigorated by the path his company has taken in the years since.

“This has been an extremely Hartzell’s swept-airfoil composite prop, recently approved for the TBM 700/850.

Murphy’s Law simply states:

exciting year for Hartzell Prop,” Frigge told AIN. “Our domestic sales have been solid, and we’re growing our international business and going after foreign validations across all platforms.”

A key part of that effort, Frigge added, was the creation this year of a dedicated department for international approvals throughout the Hartzell product line of constant-speed, variablepitch propellers for both piston and turboprop general aviation aircraft applications.

The company has also focused on broadening the number of applications for its “advanced swept-airfoil” propellers, with the third of three anticipated certification announcements–for the King Air C90– expected by the end of the year.

That follows the early October receipt of FAA and EASA approval for its five-blade, carbon-composite prop on the Daher-Socata TBM 700/850, which the company claims improves climb performance and results in a five-knot increase in cruise speed over competing wood-based prop blades. The company announced similar certification for the Beechcraft King Air 200 in January.

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Hartzell’s two newest sweptblade propellers for turboprops are on exhibit at the NBAA show this year. A single-engine TBM 700 equipped with Hartzell’s advanced structural composite five-blade swept propeller will be on static display at the Hartzell space at Henderson Executive Airport throughout the show, along with a King Air 200 featuring four-blade swept aluminum Hartzell props, developed for Raisbeck Engineering, at that company’s display.

Hartzell has also expanded into lower-speed applications to broaden its market, most notably in the Bantam series of composite propellers for small manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

“While we’ve adapted as

Continued on page 54 u

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Unmanned aircraft may soon share the skies

The Insitu ScanEagle received an FAA Part 21.25 restricted category type certificate on July 19, permitting operators to use it for commercial purposes.

by Bill Carey Slowly but surely, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are entering the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) despite a regulatory regime that was previously considered prohibitive to all but government agencies and research institutions. Unmanned aircraft have flown for the first time commercially in remote Arctic airspace, and companies are considering or have already begun the process of obtaining FAA airworthiness certification of their UAS designs.

Heretofore, the FAA has required that private entities obtain a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category to operate UASs, a status that prohibits them from being used commercially. Military services and public organizations require a certificate of authorization (COA).

Pushed by Congress, the FAA is gradually lowering the barriers blocking entry by unmanned aircraft into the NAS. In the 2012 FAA reauthorization act, Congress directed the agency to shorten the COA process for public entities. Another provision requires it to allow public safety agencies to fly aircraft weighing 4.4 pounds or less under certain restrictions. To facilitate the mandate, the FAA signed an agreement with the National Institute of Justice, the researchand-development agency of the Department of Justice, to train police departments in operating

UASs and authorize their use in local jurisdictions. The agreement expands the UAS weight to 25 pounds.

The FAA said it issued an emergency COA “in just a few hours” that allowed the California Air National Guard to fly a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator in support of firefighters battling the Rim Fire in the Sierra Nevada region in late August. The aircraft flew from Victorville, Calif., for up to 22 hours without landing, training its electro-optical/infrared sensor payload with full-motion video camera on remote areas of the wildfire. The imagery was shared with incident commanders on the ground in real-time.

Safe Integration in the NAS In an overarching provision of the reauthorization legislation, Congress required the FAA to provide for the “safe integration” of UASs in the NAS by Sept. 30, 2015. In parallel with a similar requirement expressed in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress also directed the agency to designate six UAS test ranges, an eagerly awaited selection the FAA has said it will make this year.

Less publicized until recently was a provision requiring the FAA to “designate permanent areas in the Arctic where small unmanned aircraft may operate 24 hours per day for research and commercial purposes.” The legislation defines “Arctic” as the

U.S. zone of the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea and the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian island chain. Under this provision, the FAA granted Part 21.25 restricted category type certificates to the hand-launched AeroVironment Puma AE and the Insitu ScanEagle on July 19, for the first time permitting operators to use the aircraft for commercial purposes. Treating each aircraft as “military surplus” already vetted by the Department of Defense facilitated the certifications, according to Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS integration office.

The agency considers these first certifications to be an important step toward meeting the 2015 integration mandate from Congress. On September 12, energy company Conoco­ Phillips made history by launching a ScanEagle from the research vessel Westward Wind in the Chukchi Sea some 120 miles off Wainwright, Alaska, the first FAA-approved commercial UAS operation. “Airborne surveillance is often a Yamaha Motor Corp. has approached the FAA’s Los Angeles aircraft certification office concerning its RMax unmanned helicopter. Below, Yamaha and the University of CaliforniaDavis started flying the RMax last November at the university’s Oakville Experimental Vineyard.

8 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

The FAA issued an emergency authorization that allowed the California Air National Guard to fly an MQ-1 Predator in support of firefighters battling the Rim Fire in late August.

component of offshore projects,” stated ConocoPhillips Alaska president Trond-Erik Johansen. “The UAS could be useful in our monitoring and data collection efforts, with the benefit of improved safety and lower noise levels as compared to using manned aircraft.”

Monitoring Ops Controversial

However, the company’s use of the catapult-launched ScanEagle to monitor ice flows and whale migrations is seen as supporting drilling operations in environmentally sensitive Arctic waters, which is controversial. In April, ConocoPhillips said that it would suspend exploration drilling in the Chukchi Sea next year “given the uncertainties of evolving federal regulatory requirements and operational permitting standards.”

More than two years ago, the FAA began formulating a regulation for operating small UASs weighing up to 55 pounds within line of sight of the ground. But the agency’s progress toward issuing the small UAS notice of proposed rulemaking ground to a halt during its vetting by the White

House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Initially, federal officials attributed the delay to privacy considerations arising from the surveillance capabilities of UASs; more recently they have cited “sequestration” budget cuts at the OMB. The latest estimate for the rule’s release is early 2014.

Detect and Avoid

Industry, the FAA, the Department of Defense and NASA are working on the technological challenges confronting UAS airspace integration, among them the need for “detect and avoid” technology to prevent midair collisions of manned and unmanned aircraft. Special Committee 228, an industry-government group formed by federal advisory organization RTCA, is developing minimum operational performance standards for both detectand-avoid and command-andcontrol aspects of UASs. It met for the first time on July 30.

An FAA aviation rulemaking committee is looking into amending Part 91.113, the federal aviation regulation Continued on page 10 u

uContinued from page 8

prescribing aircraft right-of-way rules, to permit an “electronic means” of sensing and avoiding potential collisions, according to Williams. He expects the regulation will be amended by 2016.

NASA is halfway through a five-year, $150 million UAS Integration in the NAS project. In late September, the space agency opened the registration process for the “2014 UAS Airspace Operations Challenge,” an awards competition to demonstrate critical technologies for safely integrating unmanned aircraft in the airspace system.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to extend its Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety program, which has tested small UAS in operational scenarios at an Oklahoma State University test site near Elgin, Okla., and evaluated their performance for law enforcement, disaster relief and firefighting applications.

BILL CAREY

UAVs may soon share the skies

AeroVironment promoted its high-altitude, longendurance Global Observer at the Unmanned Systems 2013 conference in Washington, D.C., in August.

Standards organization ASTM International has developed draft standards for UAS design, performance, quality acceptance and safety monitoring, which will help pave the way to certifying new types. Among interested companies, Yamaha Motor has approached the FAA’s Los Angeles aircraft certification office concerning its RMax unmanned helicopter, widely used in Japan for agricultural spraying.

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Earlier this year, the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International released a UAS economic impact study that identifies precision agriculture, including remote crop monitoring and precision spraying of pesticides and fertilizer, as the most promising U.S. commericial market for unmanned aircraft. Under a research collaboration, Yamaha and the University of CaliforniaDavis started flying the RMax last November at the university’s Oakville Experimental Vinyard, located in the Napa Valley winegrowing region.

UAS manufacturer AeroVironment started the process of obtaining FAA type certification of its high-altitude, longendurance Global Observer UAS in August 2012, Williams has said. The company touts the liquid hydrogen-fueled aircraft for communications relay, border patrol and remote sensing applications. In April 2011, one of two aircraft developed under a joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) crashed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., about 15 hours into its ninth test flight. AeroVironment acquired the second aircraft from the JCTD program, which was supported by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Interviewed at the Unmanned Systems 2013 conference in August, Dave Heidel, AeroVironment’s UAS marketing manager, said production of the second aircraft is “somewhere [around] 80 to 90 percent complete.” He declined to comment on any FAA certification effort, saying only, “We continue to pursue customer opportunities.” o

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news clips z Bombardier Signs Mx Deal In Beijing To boost aftermarket service for operators of its business aircraft in China, Bombardier Aerospace has signed an agreement with Beijing Airlines that will allow the latter to provide technical support for all of the Canadian OEM’s business aircraft based at and visiting Beijing Capital International Airport. “Bombardier has long-standing and valued relationships in China and we are steadily increasing our customer support in strategic locations across the country,” said Éric Martel, Bombardier president of customer services and specialized and amphibious aircraft.

Bombardier also has a mobile response team to support AOG service in the region and authorized service facilities at four other locations: Metrojet in Hong Kong; Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aircraft Service in Shanghai; ExecuJet Haite Aviation Services China in Tianjin; and Staeco in Jinan.

In the past two years Bombardier has opened regional support offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong and established parts depots in both Beijing and Hong Kong. Currently, 99 Bombardier aircraft are based in the Greater China region and the OEM forecasts a market for 2,420 business jets in China over the next 20 years.

z Euravia, Greenwich Team On PT6 Mx Euravia Engineering and Greenwich AeroGroup (Booth No. N4113) have entered into a partnership to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A and PT6T turbine engines on fixed- and rotarywing aircraft in the U.S. Through its MRO facilities (Atlantic Aero in Greensboro N.C.; Summit Aviation in Middletown, Del.; and Western Aircraft in Boise, Idaho), Greenwich AeroGroup will provide engine inventory and component storage, logistics and distribution services across the U.S. and also between the U.S. and the UK. The new service is available to operators of the Beechcraft King Air and 1900; Cessna Caravan and Conquest; Piaggio Avanti; Pilatus PC-6, PC-7, PC-9 and PC-12; Piper Meridian and Cheyenne; Quest Kodiak; Socata TBM and other fixed-wing aircraft, as well as operators of the AgustaWestland AW119 and AW139 and Bell 212 and 412 helicopters.

Euravia is approved by the FAA, EASA, various OEMs and other national airworthiness authorities. The company supports more than 100 different civil and military customers in 50 countries.

z Brazil Approves Duncan Aviation Provo The Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority has approved Duncan Aviation (Booth No. C8543) in Provo, Utah, as an aircraft maintenance organization. In addition, the company’s location in Battle Creek, Mich., recently received approval by Argentina’s Civil Aviation Authority. In addition to their FAA and EASA approvals, Duncan Aviation’s locations in Lincoln, Neb.; Battle Creek and Provo hold certificates for 10 more civil aviation authorities, including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, China, Gambia, Mexico, South Africa and Venezuela.

z Aircraft Shopper Online offers discounts Aircraft Shopper Online (Booth No. C10016) has signed an agreement to provide its clients with the services of Asset Insight at a discounted rate. Asset Insight employs a grading system that it says allows it to accurately assess the value of more than 75 large, medium and small jets. It does so by evaluating an aircraft’s maintenance condition and comparing it with the condition of other aircraft of similar make, model and age, particularly those listed for sale.

“This agreement provides a value-add service to ASO clients by increasing their convenience and lowering their cost to access and utilize Asset Insight’s services,” said Andrew Young, general manager at Aircraft Shopper Online, which lists personal, business and transport aircraft for sale by owners and dealers. The site receives more than 150,000 unique visitors per month.

New Falcon features Silvercrest powerplants

by Thierry Dubois and Ian Sheppard French engine manufacturer Snecma (Booth No. N5506) has been selected as the powerplant supplier for the new Dassault Falcon 5X twinjet, which was unveiled earlier this week here in Las Vegas. The new Silvercrest turbofan, rated at 11,450 pounds of thrust at takeoff and with a thrust-to-weight ratio of five, is expected to be certified in 2015.

It will be the culmination of a 10-year effort, as Snecma began considering designing its first business jet engine in 2005.

“We are providing Dassault with an integrated powerplant system [IPPS],” Silvercrest program general manager Laurence Finet told AIN, adding that it represents a “plug-andplay” propulsion system for Dassault. Fellow Safran group member Aircelle is supplying a long, mixedflow nacelle for lower noise and better performance, Finet said.

The thrust reverser is Aircelle’s Planar exit rear target design, which has two blocker doors that serve as the engine’s exhaust exit during flight. Also part of the IPPS are engine soft mounts to improve passenger comfort as well as part of the cabin environmental control system.

Flight-testing on a modified Gulfstream II is slated to start by year-end, after a few months of delay, and will allow testing up to 45,000 feet “unlike an airliner [testbed],” the company said. San Antonio, Texas-based Skyway Aerospace Technology (a sister company to Sierra Industries) is performing the modification.

Snecma planned to obtain a permit to fly the modified Gulfstream in the U.S., with one of its original Rolls-Royce Speys and one Silvercrest that it had hoped would be ready just before the NBAA convention. After that, the GII is to be

refitted with its two Speys, and Snecma will ferry it to France, where the Silvercrest will replace one of the Speys. An extensive flight-test program will then take place at Snecma’s development center in Istres. “We don’t need flight tests for certification but we want to reassure our airframers by operating the engine in realistic operational conditions,” Finet said.

Fourth Test Article

Last month, Snecma put a fourth Silvercrest to test on the ground. Developing and certifying the engine will involve eight whole engines and one core engine.

During a visit to Snecma’s Villaroche plant near Paris in late September, the company had the second engine core in its test cell,

Silvercrest

specifically for performance testing, the first having been removed for analysis following initial tests that will allow Snecma to obtain a permit to fly. The second engine has been run to full thrust and had demonstrated “very good acceleration”–three to six seconds to full thrust. It also “starts extremely well,” said test-cell engineers, who are helping to perfect the Silvercrest’s new electric starting system.

A fifth engine core was in the process of being assembled and fitted with test instrumentation, while two others had already been dispatched to the Istres outdoor testing center in the south of France and to another test center elsewhere in France.

Bird-strike and blade-out testing will ultimately be carried out at Istres, said Finet.

Silvercrest Teams Suppliers

Elements

Aircelle (Safran)

Nacelle and thrust reverser

Techspace Aero (Safran)

Lubrication unit, booster, forward sump

Sagem (Safran)

Electronic control unit

Liebherr Aerospace

Bleed-air system

Hamilton Sundstrand (UTC AS)

Accessory gear box

Woodward

Fuel pump metering unit, actuators

12 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

The certification program will essentially take place in 2014. In the same year, approximately 15 engines are to be produced.

A key part of the Silvercrest design is 3-D aerodynamics. The 42.5-inch diameter wide-chord fan (which Finet admitted is “pretty large for a bizjet”) and the four-stage lowpressure (LP) compressor are driven by a four-stage LP turbine. In the high-pressure (HP) core, the compressor is made of four axial blisk stages and one centrifugal stage, to keep the engine “robust and short” and because blade-tip clearance control for axial stages that small is difficult. The HP turbine has one stage. The HP and LP spools are contrarotating for better fuel efficiency, and active clearance control is used, something that Finet described as “unique on a business jet engine.” The bypass ratio is 5.9 and overall pressure ratio is in the region of 40.

Snecma promises fuel burn will be cut by 15 percent–compared to in-service engines in the same class (for example, the GE CF34-3 or RollsRoyce AE 3007)–while NOx emissions will be up to 50 percent below the CAEP 6 standard and noise will be up to 20 EPNdB lower than Stage 4.

A key differentiator, according to Finet, is Snecma’s experience in commercial engines. The ubiquitous CFM56 has logged more than a half-billion flight hours. This translates into algorithms that can interpret even weak signals for engine health prognosis. “We identify the engine’s bearing signatures, which can avoid failures,” Finet said. The Silvercrest’s new monitoring system is called ForeVision.

“The engine was designed from the start as an on-condition engine,” said Finet, and with 180-minute ETOPS capability from entry into service (the aircraft’s big brother, the 7X, is a trijet so does not need ETOPS certification).

Snecma launched market studies for a 10,000-poundthrust engine in 2005. A core demonstrator ran in 2008.

Full-scale engine development began in late 2010, which AIN understands was simultaneous with the secret selection of the Silvercrest on the 5X. The first complete engine made its first run in September last year.

On the Cessna Citation Longitude, which is to enter into service in 2017, the Silvercrest will be rated at 11,000 pounds. o

Securaplane Highlights cameras, security systems

Rolls-Royce gears up for future bizjet engines

by Thierry Dubois Rolls-Royce is preparing technologies for the next generation of business jet turbofans and the design engineers’ motto seems to be “smaller, faster, leaner.”

Karsten Mühlenfeld, Rolls-Royce executive v-p of engineering and technology for civil small and medium engines, provided AIN with details on future designs that will feature swifter development cycles, near-perfect reliability and reduced acquisition costs.

As one of the main drivers is reducing fuel burn, the engine maker’s specialists in Dahlewitz, Germany, are endeavoring to make the core engine more compact, since a smaller core greatly facilitates design of a lighter engine. At the heart of the next generation of engines will be a new high-pressure (HP) spool nearly half the size of those in today’s core engines. It will feature a pressure ratio of about 23:1, much greater than the current 16:1. (Increasing the pressure ratio improves efficiency.) The compressor will have 10 stages and the turbine will have two.

However, smaller blades in a smaller engine create a challenge: preventing air leaks. “If blades are inserted into disk slots, there are still under-platform gaps and, as the blades have gaps between each other, during each run they can slightly reposition themselves and therefore tip clearance can slightly vary,” Mühlenfeld explained. The smaller the blade, the more difficult it is to have a good command of clearances. In response, Rolls-Royce is developing blade-integrated disks

(blisks) for all compressor stages, rather than for just a few.

As a result of the smaller rotor size, rotors in the HP system of future engines could spin at more than 26,000 rpm, far in excess of rotation speeds found in large civil engines. So designing the rotors for the lowest vibration possible becomes increasingly important.

Again, blisks are a response.

Moreover, residual imbalances are reduced through the design of optimized squeeze film dampers into bearing housings.

In the low-pressure spool, more compression is also needed. Just as GE is doing on the Passport engine, Rolls-Royce is pursuing a blisk fan concept.

“Manufacturing the blade and disk as one unit will allow more airflow and higher pressure ratios,” Mülhenfeld asserted.

In combustion, the company is targeting lean burn for the long term. “Lean burn combustion quite simply involves burning the fuel in an excess of air to significantly reduce the formation of NOx [nitrous oxide]; the operation of the system is based on premixing the fuel and air inside the fuel injector prior to entering the combustor,” Mühlenfeld said. The injectors use fuel staging, with a pilot and a main fuel injector. The pilot maintains combustion stability at low power, while the main injector reduces NOx emissions at high power conditions.

To meet its “best reliability from day one” goal, Rolls-Royce will keep using the lessons learned on in-service engines. “This data

To reduce air leaks around small blades that will be part of the new design of smaller engines, Rolls-Royce is considering using blisks for all compressor stages.

will be used and crosschecked during the development phase,” Mühlenfeld said. In addition, the engine is run in endurance tests in conditions well beyond those experienced in service. Special rig tests for accessories have been developed with suppliers.

Not content with lighter, more efficient and more dependable engines, Rolls-Royce is trying to bring them to market faster, too. “There is a mutual benefit for us and the airframer to carry out flight testing of a new airframe with engines that are mature and pre-certified,” he pointed out.

All this progress should be made within strict engine cost limits. Corporate jets are flown less intensively than airliners and, for the owner, the balance between acquisition and maintenance costs is different, Mühlenfeld said. The pressure on reducing the purchase price is even more intense in business jet engines. Rolls-Royce is thus looking for lower-cost materials and is developing a new, lowercost alloy for HP turbine disks, a high-strength nickel alloy, called “Allvac 718 plus.” o

Securaplane Technologies, part on an aircraft are hard-wired to the of the Meggitt family, is displaying controller. The new technology will its current line of airborne cameras allow the signal from the sensor to and integrated ground security be transmitted wirelessly, which systems, along with prototypes of saves weight, enhances reliability improved products, at its NBAA and makes installation easier. booth (No. N4527).

In case of a proximity breach or The company’s wireless-con- an intrusion, the current PreFlite trolled cameras are easily product warns the pilot (or any retrofitable, according to Steffen designated person) via an autoSpell, Securaplane v-p of sales, mated call and a text message. “It marketing and customer service. is providing real-time alerts, interIn fact, the cameras still need wir- rogation and monitoring from any ing for power but they can tap into telephone,” Spell said. power wires already installed for Securaplane’s PreFlite is intewingtip and empennage lights, grated with the aircraft and for example. therefore needs certification (either On the wingtips, fuselage or as part of the type certificate when vertical fin, the cameras offer pilots delivered new or as a supplemenbetter situational awareness on the tal type certificate). Integrated ground, which can help avoid a also means, Spell said, “you don’t collision when taxiing. In flight, cam- have to leave something on the eras can help pilots verify a system’s ground, which could be stolen status, for example, and increases crew visually confirming that workload.” The systhe landing gear is tem works on its own deployed, or viewing autonomous power. critical flight controls, PreFlite employs engine and exhaust three kinds of senareas. The Tucson, Ariz.sors: passive infrared, based company also range-controlled radar Securaplane’s airborne builds airborne cameras and micro reed. Rangecamera for the G650. for inside the aircraft. controlled radar and “In addition, our cameras can passive infrared sensors provide be integrated with our onboard proximity detection. The former aircraft security system to allow uses micro-power impulse radar for video recording should some- to detect moving objects within a one attempt an intrusion on the predetermined area, and it can be aircraft while it is parked and adjusted to set a specific range. unattended,” Spell said. A basic Both passive infrared and rangecamera costs $3,000, but a fully controlled radar sensors are used integrated system, with camera in areas such as wheel wells. Therecontrol on the flight deck’s main fore, a proximity breach around the displays, can cost $75,000. aircraft–such as someone trying For security on the ground, to steal a part–can be detected.

Securaplane is currently develop- PreFlite can also detect intrusion ing its next-generation system, thanks to the micro reeds on the which will include a more user- doors and the access panels. friendly interface, the ability to PreFlite prices range from stream images on any smartphone, $35,000 for a basic system to wireless switch technology and a $140,000 for integration with the reduction in weight, according to cameras. Weight is between 50 Spell. All sensors currently installed and 65 pounds.

–T.D.

TEB, Biggin Hill join hands In an effort to support and develop business aviation traffic between New York and London, Teterboro Airport and London Biggin Hill Airport recently signed a memorandum of understanding, in essence becoming “sister airports.” According to the agreement, the two will participate in mutual assistance and cooperation in areas such as customer service, communication, safety and security.

The airports have much in common: both are international general aviation gateways located within 12 miles of their respective country’s largest city, both support

major commercial airports, both have multiple FBOs and MROs and both must be mindful of community neighbors. With Biggin Hill anticipating increased development to address a shortage of runway capacity in the London area, its operators hope to use the New Jersey airport as a template.

“This is an ideal opportunity for us to learn what Teterboro and its operator, the [Port Authority of New York & New Jersey], have done to settle their local community affairs, and [how they have dealt with] the noise and environmental impact on a world-quality business

airport,” Biggin Hill chairman Andrew Walters told AIN. Taking a lead role in this effort will be Will Curtis, Biggin Hill’s new managing director.

Curtis has extensive experience in corporate aviation both in the UK and abroad. His background includes executive roles in aircraft management and charter, and he was instrumental in establishing the Rizon Jet facility in Qatar and its subsequent installation at Biggin Hill.

“Today’s agreement strengthens what is the strongest bond between two international cities anywhere in the world,” said

Teterboro Airport (above) recently signed a cooperative agreement with London’s Biggin Hill Airport.

Ralph Tragale, assistant director of the aviation department of the Port Authority. “The NewYork-to-London route is the most popular and lucrative international aviation flight route.”

In the short term, Walters said Teterboro users will benefit from ­ familiarization with an alternative airport in the London area, with some

complementary limo service and passenger handling. “Anticipating issues that will arise in London when runway capacity gets tighter, we can work with Teterboro to ensure that not only is airport capacity safeguarded for the business and general aviation sector, but that quicker customer access to and from London is achieved.” –C.E.

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 13

Wheels Up ready to roll out jet card, membership programs

by James Wynbrandt

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14 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Jet card and membership programs, which provide guaranteed access, block charter rates and a variable menu of other perks, are reporting growing demand this year. Card and membership sales are up 22 percent at Magellan Jets, 68 percent at Flexjet and 102 percent at JetSuite, according to the companies, and now a new provider, Wheels Up, is set to enter the arena.

Established by Marquis Jet founder Kenny Dichter, who is CEO of the new company, New York City-based Wheels Up is scheduled to begin selling memberships and providing lift November 1, on a fleet of its own King Air 350i twin turboprops and aboard partner VistaJet’s Bombardier Global long-range jets. Wheels Up has not yet named the charter operator that will fly its King Air fleet.

Wheels Up (Booth No. C12749) ordered up to 105 of the new King Airs (35 firm, 70 options) in July, worth $788

Happy Design Wins Wheels Up Contract Happy Design Studio of Strasbourg, France, has been selected by recently launched Wheels Up to create the livery design for the private aviation club’s fleet of King Air 350i twin turboprops.

Wheels Up (Booth No. C12749) rolled out its first aircraft in August and has on display the first of an order of 105 King Air 350i twins with the Happy Design exterior.

According to Happy Design founder and designer Didier Wolff, it is the first design created by the firm for a King Air 350i. He added that the selection process was completed “in an industry-record 15 days, compared to the typical to three months.”

“Happy Design Studio is known within the industry for its cutting-edge aircraft exterior designs, and for pushing boundaries with their modern aesthetic,” said Kenny Dichter, founder and CEO of Wheels Up. The final livery design features a selection of unique aesthetics, including a distinctive “UP” on the aircraft tail, and a blue-andwhite color palette offering a sleek, aerodynamic appearance.

Wheels Up claims the order for 105 King Air 350i turboprops represents the largest general aviation, propeller-driven aircraft order in history. As an active partner in the design process, 350i manufacturer Beechcraft will oversee the exterior paint process. –K.J.H.

Wheels Up is set to enter the charter arena with a fleet of King Air 350i turboprops featuring a Happy Design livery.

million at list price, touted as the largest propeller aircraft purchase in general aviation history. The first nine deliveries are scheduled for this year, and the fleet will be operated from seven or eight regional clusters, commencing with service in the Northeast and Southwest, Dichter said.

The Wheels Up membership fee is $15,750; hourly rate for the King Airs is $3,950 and, for the Globals, $15,950.

Dichter estimates the average member who accesses King Airs will fly about 20 to 30 hours per year, while Global users are projected to fly some 150 hours annually. Wheels Up is working with Beechcraft to develop a customized Aircell Gogo Biz Wi-Fi-equipped version of the 350i for its fleet.

New Types To Be Added

Dichter told AIN that the company anticipates adding light, midsize and supermidsize aircraft categories to the program before the end of the year. Going forward, the club will offer a “full waterfront of options” for aircraft access, including card and lease products and on-demand charter, but he added, “I don’t see us selling fractional in the club. The common theme is going to be ‘asset-light.’”

In September Wheels Up announced 15 appointments to its executive corps, including CFO Carl Thornburg from Marquis, Robert Garrymore (former president of Executive Jet Management) as president for ventures and Rob Patris, executive v-p for flight operations, who was v-p of owner services at NetJets.

The company will complement its air transportation offering with Wheels Down, an “off-the-ramp, experiential arm,” as Dichter calls it, providing members with access to exclusive activities and unique experiences, such as private concerts, intimate gatherings with noteworthy figures and tickets to major sports events. Dichter said these were an important component of Marquis Jets’s success.

“We believe owners knowing each other and having fun with each other and sharing common interests is really important to these types of fliers, and we’re going to make that a big facet of the Wheels Up and Wheels Down story,” he said.

(NetJets, which operated the aircraft that Marquis customers flew on, acquired the company in November 2010.)

Dichter believes Wheels Up will “broaden the pyramid” of business aviation users rather than cannibalize fliers from other programs and predicts that within seven years the company will have a membership base of 10,000 to 15,000 individuals and corporations logging at least 200,000 flight hours and spending an average of $100,000 to $125,000 each per year. That adds up to annual revenues of between $1 billion and $2 billion, according to the company. o

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16 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Shown in flight above Edwards AFB, with the test side visible, is Aerion’s phase-two test article mounted under a NASA F-15B.

Aerion plotting course for SSBJ service entry in 2020

by Chad Trautvetter Reno, Nev.-based Aerion is releasing results from recent flight tests of a natural laminar flow (NLF) wing test article this week here in Las Vegas, while the company continues to work to have its supersonic business jet enter service in 2020. The goal of these tests was to measure “real-world robustness” of supersonic NLF, which is a key technology for the Aerion SSBJ, in regards to surface Close-up image shows view from rear of Aerion’s quality and manufacturing tolerances. phase-two natural laminar flow wing test article Conducted from January 31 to June 20 mounted under a NASA F-15B. at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, the 11 test flights recorded data from us more growth options for follow-on a 40- by 80-inch phase-two test article models. We’ve always said we are planmounted on the belly of a NASA F-15B ning a family of aircraft. We see this as research jet that was flown at speeds up to a step forward that builds on everything Mach 2.0. According to Aerion, the tests we’ve done to date.”

He noted that discussions with engine confirmed that formulas for “predicting surface imperfection effects on laminar- manufacturers, which started in May, turbulent transition, previously validated are still ongoing. “There’s really no offfor subsonic flows, now can be extended the-shelf engine available for the Aerion SSBJ, so we’re looking at several existto transonic and supersonic regimes.”

In less technical terms, “The robust- ing cores and then will have one of them ness that we had hoped for and expected customized for our airplane,” Tracy on the wing test article was there,” Aerion said. “There are several good choices for chief technology officer and director engines, and right now our big focus is on Richard Tracy told AIN. “Flow over a the powerplant.”

An engine swap also allows NLF wing can indeed withstand the company to reconsider the a lot when it comes to wing suraircraft’s specifications, with the face roughness. The height to most likely changes being more trip the boundary layer was range than the originally specihigher than we expected.” fied 4,000 nm and a wider cross Aerion used various methods section. But a cruise speed higher to create roughness over the wing, than the planned Mach 1.6 isn’t including putting one-sixteenthhappening, Tracy said, since inch dots of tape at varying dishigher speeds would translate tances from the leading edge. The into higher skin temperatures that company also applied patches of car-wrap film in some tests to Richard Tracy, Aerion require use of exotic materials.

Aerion CEO Doug Nichachieve a rough surface with dif- chief technology officer and director ols said the plan is to select an ferent thicknesses, Tracy said. engine core and manufacturer Despite the roughness, the flow over the wing test article in the tran- by the end of next year, as well as choose sonic region (Mach 0.9 to Mach 1.0) was an OEM partner by mid-2015. The OEM “pristine,” company test manager Jason partner would then build an SSBJ protoMatisheck said. “As you go faster into type, which Aerion expects to fly in 2018, the supersonic region, laminar flow gets he said. A planned two-year flight-test program would then pave the way for certificaeven better.” tion in 2020, Nichols added.

SSBJ Engine Revisited Because the range and size of Aerion’s At the EBACE show earlier this year, SSBJ could increase under the “refreshed Tracy told AIN that Aerion was “revis- configuration,” Nichols said, “then the iting” the powerplant for its SSBJ, citing value and price point will likely rise” the previously selected Pratt & Whitney above the previous estimate of $80 milJT8D-219’s inability to meet upcoming lion (2007 $). Aerion won’t have any new Stage 5 noise requirements. “The timing price estimate available until after an is right in the development schedule to do engine is selected and the updated configo this,” he said. “And a new engine will give uration is frozen, he noted.

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Comlux America’s services division provides cabin refurbishment work on in-service aircraft, as well as having a wide portfolio of maintenance capabilities.

The Comlux America facility in Indianapolis is to start competing for contracts to complete widebody VIP aircraft in response to the declining backlog of new Airbus Corporate Jetliners and Boeing Business Jets.

Comlux America jumps into widebody completions market

by Charles Alcock Business aviation services group Comlux is expanding its aircraft completions activity to include widebody VIP aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Airbus A330. The strategic move was confirmed by the company’s board last month and comes at a time when its Indianapolis, Ind.-based Comlux America maintenance and interiors division is seeing a declining backlog of new green Boeing Business Jets and Airbus Corporate Jetliners.

Ten-year-old Comlux, which has just relocated its corporate headquarters to Malta (see below), has reorganized its U.S. operations under a single company structure encompassing both green completions activities and aircraft maintenance, overhaul and refurbishment services. The two U.S. operations now share a common sales team and single reporting line to the main group.

In September 2012, Comlux opened a

129,000-sq-ft hangar complex for narrowbody green completions work at Indianapolis International Airport. Expansion into widebody completions is expected to trigger further investments.

Meanwhile, Comlux America has continued to expand its services division, having recently added Airbus and Boeing aircraft to its maintenance portfolio. It already has established a track record in supporting Bombardier’s Global, Challenger and Learjet families, as well as having capabilities to maintain Gulfstream jets.

Comlux America CEO David Edinger said he has separated the green completions work from the cabin interior refurbishment work because they require different approaches. “Most completions centers prefer green completions because each project is fresh and outlined on a clean piece of paper, making it easier to bid,” he told AIN. “Refurbishments are

Bell Spreads Influence in Russia, UK, China, Switzerland Bell Helicopter (Booth No. C9343) continued to expand its global presence last month with purchase agreements covering seven aircraft signed during the Jet Expo 2013 show in Moscow and a deal with Heli-Charter involving the first Bell 429 configured for air ambulance operations in the UK. The seven helicopters sold during the Moscow show included five Bell 429s and two 407GXs in corporate configuration. Bell has delivered nine helicopters into Russia in recent months, including the first Bell 407GX ever operated in the country.

In collaboration with Bell Helicopter’s Moscow-based independent representative, Jet Transfer, the Textron subsidiary displayed the Bell 429 in corporate configuration at the show.

In the UK, the deal with Heli-Charter came two days after the recently appointed Bell customer support facility and independent representative held a ceremony marking the grand opening of its new facility Bell Helicopter signed purchase agreements for seven aircraft, including five Bell 429s (above) and two 407GXs adjacent to Manston International during last month’s Jet Expo show in Moscow.

Airport in Kent on September 21. At the ceremony, Heli-Charter signed a purchase agreement with Bell Helicopter for the first air ambulance-configured Bell 429 in the UK. Heli-Charter holds EASA maintenance approval for Bell 206 field maintenance and component overhaul. It is the only facility in the UK approved by EASA to perform Bell 429 field maintenance.

In further company news, in late September at the Helitech International show Bell announced that China-based Reignwood Investment signed a purchase agreement for 10 Bell 407s and two 429s. Avincis and Bell also signed an agreement for up to 20 Bell 429, 412 and 412EPI models. Also in late September, the OEM delivered the first 407GX in Switzerland to Alpinlift Helikopter and the first VIP-configured 429 in the UK to TJ Morris. –G.P.

20 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

much harder to bid because a 12-year-old aircraft can need a lot done to it, and you probably don’t have the STCs [supplemental type certificates] and you didn’t do the original work so you don’t have all the reports and data that you need. It’s better to let each division focus on its strengths.”

Widebody Projects

The company’s new completions hangar is already working to capacity but the throughput of BBJs and ACJs appears to be slowing. Edinger wants to see his team bidding for major new programs like the 747-8, and this expansion into more complex widebody projects likely will require a further $5 million investment in modifying the building and buying new equipment. He claimed that the Indianapolis facility is the only completions center in the world to have been designed specifically for this function, with a configuration intended to make for an efficient flow of materials to the various shops.

At the same time, the services division of Comlux America is seeing more ACJ and BBJ maintenance work as the existing fleets start clocking up more hours and require more support, including C checks. Edinger said that he has been attracting more of both types from around the world, with clients bringing their aircraft to the U.S. from as far afield as the Far East and the Middle East.

Within a couple of years he wants to see Comlux involved in maintenance partnerships in Asia, but he sees no case for locating completions activity there.

Move to Malta

In August, Comlux completed the relocation of its main holding company from Switzerland to Malta with the formal opening on September 5 of its new headquarters on the Mediterranean island. Malta, which unlike Switzerland is a member state of the European Union (EU), is also now the headquarters for the Fly Comlux charter/management division, and most of the group’s fleet will now be registered in Malta and operating under the auspices of EASA. The new Malta operation will include activities such as aircraft engineering, maintenance, training and flight dispatch. The company, which has a fleet of just over 20 aircraft, will keep its offices

in Zurich, Switzerland, and the company’s senior management team will largely operate from there.

Comlux president and CEO Richard Gaona said Switzerland’s position outside the EU has resulted in excessive legal complications, relating to issues such as cabotage rights for flights within the EU. Fly Comlux will still have four aircraft registered in Kazakhstan and one in Aruba. It also has three other sales offices–in Bahrain, Hong Kong and Moscow–as well as its Comlux America engineering and maintenance division in Indianapolis.

Market Access

Gaona indicated that tax considerations were not the main issues in Comlux’s decision to move “onshore” into the EU. The main goal was to be established within the EU for the purposes of air transport regulations and market access.

It chose Malta from among the 27 EU member states because the small country’s regulators are not too busy dealing with airlines and so can be more attentive to the needs of private aircraft operators.

Government officials are comfortable conducting business in the English language and the country’s legal system is considered user-friendly.

At least six or seven business aircraft operators have established air operators’ certificates in Malta, including VistaJet. ExecuJet Aviation has also been relocating aircraft operations personnel from Switzerland, in its case by boosting its presence in the UK. “In general, private aviation is doing better than it was two or three years ago and there is more business, but we have to compete harder for everything,” commented Gaona. “We are doing quite well and we’re seeing [management] customers coming back to us.”

The increasing numbers of ACJs in charter and management fleets has resulted in stiffer competition for Fly Comlux, which started life as something of an ACJ specialist. o

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Reimagined, Regenerated Still the Global Leader We’ve been engine experts for eight decades, and turbine engine experts from the start – responding to our customers, leading the way with innovative repairs. Today we’re still on the move. With new and better solutions. And a new image that reflects our transformation into a global technology-driven rapid-response operation. Delivering precision engine repair and overhaul – with a personal touch. Always being there when you need us. Bringing AOG response directly to you. Getting it right and keeping you airborne. And never, ever resting on our accomplishments. We constantly regenerate with innovations such as our high-tech F1RST SUPPORT™ nerve center providing worldwide field support, and our new MyTurbine™ app that puts you one touch away from immediate support. Stop by our booth, N3505, to hear the full story of our renewal. Or check out our new website, optimized for any device: DallasAirmotive.com.

Right from the start. There when you need us.

* To win, you must be age 18 or older and must have used the MyTurbine app to register your aircraft with Dallas Airmotive. The drawing will be held at the close of NBAA 2013. You need not be present to win. No purchase necessary. The winner will be contacted by a representative of Dallas Airmotive.

*

z Williams Expands Total Assurance Support Program Williams International (Booth No. C8118) is offering an expanded version of its Total Assurance Program (Tap) for engine maintenance called “Tap Blue.” Under the new program, Williams will cover “virtually every natural and unnatural event” that might befall its FJ33 and FJ44 engines including damage from lightning, hail or ingestion of birds or foreign object debris. Another new coverage item is all service bulletins, not just those that are mandatory.

The program also offers expanded services including express overhauls and free online maintenance manuals.

Williams is offering incentives through the end of the year for existing customers to upgrade to Tap Blue or for new customers to enroll directly in the program.

z Shell Aviation Offers Motorcycle Prize One lucky visitor to Shell Aviation’s booth here (No. C8532) could leave this year’s show on a BMW F800R motorcycle. To enter Shell’s flightplan competition, obtain an entry card from the company’s booth and then visit at least 12 of the 18 FBOs here that offer Shell fuel to obtain stamps. The drawing will be held here at NBAA 2013, at Shell’s booth, on Thursday.

If the winner doesn’t want the motorbike, they can receive the equivalent $10,000 in MasterCard gift cards. Visitors will also be eligible to win one of four GoPro video cameras that will be given away today.

Appearing at the Shell booth on those days will be legendary aviators Bob Hoover and Sean Tucker who will be signing prints by aviation artist Sam Lyons.

z AEA Providing Free Pilot’s Guide at NBAA ’13 For the eleventh year running the Aircraft Electronics Association (Booth No. C8020) is providing NBAA convention attendees with free copies of its encyclopaedic softcover publication, Pilot’s Guide to Avionics. The book covers new products for 2013, backup instrumentation innovations, glass cockpits, antennas, autopilot upgrades, ADS-B, GPS and NextGen progress. It also includes a listing of AEA member manufacturers, as well as repair and installation stations worldwide. For those who abhor the weight of paper, the book is also available on iTunes as a downloadable app or readable directly on your computer at www.nxtbook.com/allen/pilotsguide/2012-2013.

GE sets bar at $1 billion in bizav revenue by 2020

million flight hours. The new service centers are in China; Staeco in Jinan and Metrojet in Hong Kong. They join GE’s authorized worldwide network of 50 service centers for the engine.

GE has finished certification

by Mark Huber testing on its HF120 GE Honda GE Aviation (Booth No. choice of propeller governors for Aero engine that will power the HondaJet and expects FAA N5500) is aiming to grow its flexible propeller selection.

A single power lever feature approval by the end of the year.

Business and General Aviation (and Integrated Systems) busi- will allow the pilot to adjust During testing the HF120 comness to $1 billion in revenues by both engine power and propel- pleted 12,000 engine cycles and 2020 from the $300 million level ler speed. GE is developing the 8,400 engine test hours.

Work continues on it is at in 2013. This is the Passport engine already significantly up GE is developing for from the $150 million it the Bombardier Global turned over in 2008.

7000 and 8000. The Brad Mottier, vice engine has completed president and general 131 test hours and 220 manager of the unit, said starts and has been run that has been the goal up to 19,200 pounds he has headed for since of thrust, considerably 2008. The challenge, he higher than the 16,500 believes, is to right-size pounds required for the products from the larger aircraft. The engine will GE Aviation into engine technology for business GE Aviation v-p and general manager Brad Mottier said business begin flying on GE’s aircraft “that the mar- has improved since 2008, but he wants to see even bigger gains. Boeing 747 test bed next year and is expected to ket can afford.” To that end, Mottier announced key electronic engine control for the be certified in 2015.

GE has also further developed progress and milestones in four engine with Unison Industries GE engine programs aimed at and is making its H80 supple- its aircraft trend monitoring and the business aviation market: the mental type certificate for the power distribution businesses, H75/85 series turboprop and the C90 engine upgrade available to providing both capabilities on HF120 turbofan; the CF34 tur- Nextant, which expects certifi- the new Gulfstream G650, for bofan; and the new Passport cation and first deliveries of the example. GE’s integrated vehi$2.2 million aircraft by the end cle health management (IVHM) engine for large-cabin jets. powers Gulfstream’s PlaneConAt NBAA 2013 yesterday, GE of next year.

GE turboprops have been nect health and trend monitorannounced that its H80 engine had been selected to power selected for the Caiga Primus 150, ing system and automatically the new Nextant Aerospace Aircraft Industries L410, Airtec reports high-level anomalies G90XT, a remanufactured C90 L410, Thrush 510G crop duster while the aircraft is in flight or on the ground back to Gulfstream Beechcraft King Air. The engine and Smyrna Power 90 King Air. Meanwhile GE is expanding in real time. The GE power dishas a service life of 3,600 flighthours or 6,600 cycles between its service centers for the CF34 tribution system on the G650 overhauls, has a standard auto- engines. More than 1,800 CF34s eliminates miles of wiring and start and limiting unit to sim- are currently flying on Bombardier 400 mechanical circuit breakers, o plify engine start-up, and has a Challengers and have amassed 8 according to GE. MARK WAGNER

news clips

Wichita-based systems integrator Global Aviation Technologies (GAT) has named Canadian aviation services provider Skyservice as a certified dealer for its LED Caution Warning Panel. The unit is a form-fit replacement for the Honeywell-Grimes panel on the Bombardier Dash 8 -100, -200 and -300 versions.

According to GAT (Booth No. N513), its P/N 150831503-003 unit has several advantages over the Honeywell-Grimes P/N 80-0535-XXX, such as reduced inventory and overhead costs due to its use on several aircraft models. It also features a long life and high reliability from its use of LEDs and other solid-state circuitry, assisted by low-temperature operation, while reduced maintenance costs also result from the elimination of expensive replacement lamps and other items.

FAA certification is expected imminently, said GAT. The panel is only available through the company’s certified dealer network.

Skyservice Business Aviation provides maintenance at its full-service FBOs at Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.

The Mississauga-based company is also a distributor for Universal Avionics, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and Guardian Mobility.

22 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

PHOTOS: MARIANO ROSALES

z Skyservice Selected as GAT dealer

‘thank you for your service’ Yesterday at the NBAA convention, business aviation service provider Jet Aviation presented this Harley Davidson motorcycle, highly customized

by Jet Aviation employees, to U.S. military veteran Chad Hembree.

Beechcraft updates sales stats, delivers first Wheels Up 350i

The one that started it all, Beechcraft’s latest Bonanza is the Garmin G1000-equipped variant.

It’s on display at the NBAA static display, along with seven of its propeller-driven stablemates.

The first Bonanza entered service in 1947.

Beechcraft provided an update on the company’s fortunes and handed over the keys to the first King Air 350i ordered by membership aircraft access provider Wheels Up on Monday at its static display at Henderson Executive Airport.

The Wheels Up order, together with aftermarket support, is worth up to $1.4 billion, according to the parties.

Beechcraft, which emerged from bankruptcy in February, has eight propeller-driven aircraft on display at Henderson Executive Airport, representing its full line of piston-engine, turboprop, special-mission and military aircraft, as well as a classic 1943 Staggerwing. In addition to the 350i in Wheels Up livery, the display includes three additional King Air variants: the 350ER special-mission demonstrator, plus a King Air 250 and a C90GTX, both civilian aircraft. A twin-engine Baron G58 and single engine G36 Bonanza represent its piston line, while the single-engine turboprop AT-6 light attack aircraft and T-6 trainer are showcasing Beechcraft’s military offerings.

Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture reported a 47 percent increase in aircraft deliveries year to date, with 48 deliveries recorded in the third quarter, including 15 King Air 350i/ER turboprops, 10 T-6A/B/C military trainers and eight Bonanza G36 single-engine pistons. “Beechcraft’s strong third quarter continues the positive momentum we have experienced throughout the year,” he said, adding that King Airs enjoy a 94-percent market share in the twin-turboprop category. He also said that the company has increased its product-development spending on the model by a factor of three from the 2010/2011 timeframe.

The company hosted its inaugural King Air operators conference in September, drawing almost 200 King Air owners, operators and maintenance experts to its headquarters in Wichita, Kan. Among future plans, Boisture said the company remains committed to developing a single-engine civilian turboprop, if it makes market sense.

Beechcraft ended its Hawker business jet production as part of its bankruptcy

MARK WAGNER

by James Wynbrandt

reorganization, and Boisture said the company has been in the process of selling some Hawker assets, including the Hawker 4000 and Premier jet lines, and that the company is “dangerously close to being finished” with the sale; he now expects it will close this quarter, but declined to name the prospective purchaser.

The Hawker Beechcraft service centers continue to provide customer support for all of the jets previously manufactured by Hawker Beechcraft, but Boisture noted “whether the new

owner will continue to employ us in that role is yet to be determined.”

Bloomberg, the financial news and data provider, has reported that Beechcraft itself, controlled by former creditors, is for sale, with Credit Suisse Group approaching potential buyers. Asked about the report, Boisture said, “We’ve got a very valuable company here, and it wouldn’t be unusual for rumors to be occurring [that investors are] looking for that value.” But he categorized the reports as “rumors and speculation…we have no comment.” o

Safe in Flight Safe on Landing Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG) is a leading international provider of fully-integrated aircraft flight control and landing gear systems for the helicopter, business and general aviation sectors.

MAG’s flight control and landing gear systems, including struts, rolling stock, retract actuation, braking system and cockpit controls, have been selected by major OEMs worldwide.

Visit Us at Booth C8937

www.mecaer.com • +1-972-717-2900 • info@mecaer.com www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 23

TrainingPort taps experts for online teaching roles

by Curt Epstein Skandia can now refurbish 16-g seats, complete with engineering and TSO tags, in 21 days.

Skandia offers refurbs on 16-g aircraft seats

by Amy Laboda Rockford, Ill.-based Skandia (Booth No. N4925) may be known for its testing labs, signature Dax fire-resistant foam and engineering prowess, but these days it is taking on complete seat and interior sound-proof paneling projects, from engineering to recertification, according to vice president Jared Triplett.

Triplett announced at NBAA 2013 that in the past four months the company has begun partnering with a provider with designated engineering representative-approval for the complete refurbishment of 16-g seats within 21 days, including oil burn testing and TSO-tagging. “Historically the process of refurbishing a 16-g seat has taken five to eight weeks, so cutting that time by as much as half is a real value to our customers,” he said.

The company also introduced a viscoelastic version of its Dax foam seat material, known as Dax VXS. This new foam product exhibits all of the physical and flammability properties of the traditional Dax foam, with a softer, body-conforming layer on top.

“Today’s business jets are

traveling further than ever before, so the comfort of the aircraft’s seats is more important,” said Triplett. “The highlyresilient, viscoelastic structure found in this new Dax VXS foam is a truly revolutionary product. Passengers will get up from a long flight feeling less fatigued and more rested.”

Triplett said that the company currently serves 3,200 customers, with aircraft ranging from light aircraft to regional jets, Boeings and Airbuses. One of its largest projects to date is underway in a VVIP Airbus A330 with Associated Air Center of Dallas (Booth No. N6116).

“Associated is not just submitting samples for testing– we’ve become their certification department on this project,” said Triplett. Skandia is one of just two flammability labs in the U.S. that have obtained Airbus flammability certification, which greatly reduces the time it takes ACJ completion centers in North America to get their flammability testing approvals completed. The company is also a Boeing-approved flammability testing lab. o

Continuing its practice of using aviation industry experts to help create focused online instructional programs, global business aviation safety training provider TrainingPort.net (Booth No. C10836) yesterday announced it has reached several agreements to expand its flight department management training offerings.

Founded in 2005, the company is a source for customized industry training on more than 60 topics, developed in conjunction with subject matter experts and delivered via 15-minute lessons focusing on regulatory and currency requirements. According to TrainingPort.net founder and president Scott Macpherson, finding initial training is easy but locating comprehensive and up-to-date recurrent training is not. So he developed the company to address that issue, which he discovered while a member of a corporate flight department.

The company has joined forces with ServiceElements International to produce comprehensive online lessons on organizational resource management (ORM), which is closely related to crew resource management and maintenance resource management.

It is designed to help optimize a flight operation’s existing resources and improve the

value of services for aircraft operations. Starting in January, ORM training will be available as part of the company’s subscription program or as a standalone training module.

The company has also announced the results of a partnership with Crew Resource Management LLC, which has resulted in the debut of two programs. A maintenance resource management program was developed in anticipation of industry needs and the increasing focus by government regulators on human factors training. The program includes hot-button topics recommended by agencies such as the FAA, Transport Canada and EASA, including workload management, professionalism and communication. A single pilot resource management (SRM) course, which was created for fixed- and rotarywing business aviation pilots, includes sections on risk and workload management as well as automation. It was developed by Robert Wright, a CRM team member and president of Wright Aviation Solutions. “In my years with the FAA, and as an aviation consultant, it is clear that scores of light business aircraft accidents could have been prevented had adequate risk management

assessment and mitigation been exercised,” said Wright.

“We have created a thorough and extensive risk-management curriculum with the light business aircraft pilot in mind.

In response to the dearth of in-depth radar training available to the business aviation community, TrainingPort.net has released a stand-alone online airborne weather radar program in cooperation with Radar Training International (RTI).

The program’s features make the experience as close to hands-on as possible and, as part of a subscription package, the training provider offers an introductory program that reviews the basics of airborne weather radar.

Finally, the company has formed a strategic alliance with Swiss-based aviation consulting company AeroEx, which will act as TrainingPort.net’s European sales representative. AeroEx will also support business aircraft operators with EASA regulation compliance, particularly with regard to the upcoming rules on Part 135 third-country operators (TCO), which are expected to be published early next year, starting a six-month application window for TCO authorizations. “The purpose of working together is to support European business aircraft operators, providing a complete, customized service,” said TrainingPort.net’s Macpherson, “This alliance links AeroEx’s regional EASA rulemaking and technical expertise with TrainingPort.net’s up-to-date online training content and system and business aviation experience.” o

Just a year old, the Jet Professionals (Booth No. N2129) professional employer organization (PEO) service is making a difference for its clients, the company said here at the NBAA show.

The PEO service is targeted for small and medium-size aviation businesses, one example being Short Hills Aviation Services, a jet charter and management services company (Booth No. C12240). Short Hills reported at NBAA 2013 that it has increased employee retention and modernized its benefits communication program, all while reducing benefits and payroll costs by 20 percent.

“PEO was designed to enable small to mid-size businesses the opportunity to recruit and retain valuable employees by centralizing the power of a pool of employers. This stabilizes costs and even allows companies to add employee benefits,” said Joe Clifton, Jet Professionals PEO director. PEO is also designed to assist companies with transitioning to the Affordable Care Act. “Employers can focus on running their business effectively, knowing their employee benefits and payroll services are robust and cost-effective,” he said.

MARIANO ROSALES

NEWS NOTE

Miles of Aisles Experienced NBAA convention veterans know to wear stylish, but comfortable, shoes. There is so much to see and never enough time to get to all the booths and displays on your dance card. Savvy attendees also know to plan their routing through the display halls, maximizing their time by focusing their efforts. On the other hand, what could be more pleasant than wandering at random, soaking up the excitement?

24 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

UPSET RECOGNITION & RECOVERY TRAINING – IN FLIGHT

THEY’RE CALLED SIMULATORS FOR A REASON. NBAA BOOTH # N 5 1 5 Don’t get us wrong. We have the highest respect for simulator-based training, as far as it goes.

But while simulators play a vital role in the training process, they simply can’t take you to the edge of the envelope or fully replicate the emotions of the actual experience. And at the edge is where you need to be – while flying an actual airplane – to learn how to recognize and recover from a deep stall or upset condition.

Loss of Control has now surpassed Controlled Flight Into Terrain as the leading cause of aviation-related fatalities. And the need for better training is clear. But it’s also clear there is a serious gap between simulation and actual conditions.

EXPANDING THE ENVELOPE.

And we can help you close that gap. Utilizing our fleet of jets and a highly trained cadre of instructors, we conduct Upset Recognition & Recovery Training in flight specifically designed for corporate and airline pilots. Training that can be custom-tailored to meet the needs of any operation.

Look into our two- and four-day programs here in legendary Mojave, California. Because when confronting an inflight upset or fully developed stall, it really helps to have been there before.

661.824.4136 x 115 . flightresearch.com

Bizav: The next 10 years Business Jet Traveler–AIN’s sister publication for business aviation consumers–has just celebrated its 10th anniversary with the publication of its October/November edition, and you can find copies of this here at the NBAA show in Las Vegas. To mark the anniversary the BJT team asked leading industry figures to reflect on what they hope or expect to happen in the sector over the next decade. Here are some of the thoughts of the crystalball gazers; you can see their full set of predictions and comments at bjtonline.com.

The next 10 years will see the air-taxi business move beyond the overblown 2000s into a realistic growth phase driven by the steady march of technology and dissatisfaction with airline service…With advances like the Cirrus Vision Jet on the horizon, an ever-expanding percentage of the public will be able to afford private aviation service using air taxis. Customerfacing technology in the form of Internet search will enable these travelers to connect with operators–think Expedia and Sabre for air taxi.

Good young people remain the key to our industry’s future. Studying to become a professional pilot, and then building the flight hours needed to be eligible for employment, takes years and can be financially prohibitive. Even those who realize the goal can face relatively low starting wages. The number choosing aviation careers will continue to decline until, and unless, we solve this problem.

Business aviation will enter a new paradigm. Gone are the days of the market being dominated by smaller independent operations. Increasingly competitive and legislated environments will drive a more commoditized market demand.

–Niall Olver CEO ExecuJet Aviation Group

–Bill Herp President and CEO Linear Air

Seven thousand nautical miles will be the new minimum definition for ultra-long range…Because of this the industry focus will shift toward cabin size and features that address the passenger experience on 12- to 14-hour missions. Amenities currently seen as extraordinary, such as full galleys and onboard chefs, will become de rigueur.

My guess is that we’ll be seeing trips to space for an afternoon, trips to the space station for the weekend and supersonic and hypersonic travel. As for business jets, aircraft manufacturers have been historically conservative about introducing game-changer innovations. However, we should see big advancement in alternative fuel usage; a hybrid helicopter/short-takeoff-andlanding aircraft, which will replace smaller, short-range jets; and nonstop aircraft to anywhere in the world narrowly brushing the Mach 1 line.

–Steve Taylor President Boeing Business Jets

–Bruce Whitman President and CEO FlightSafety International

I believe within 10 years business jets will be available for booking in online reservation channels where only airlines currently exist. Regulations that effectively prevent small jets from operating in scheduled service will disappear, allowing “micro-commuter” markets to emerge.

–Alex Wilcox CEO JetSuite

–­Steve Varsano CEO The Jet Business

Given the ever-present focus on corporate profitability, companies are likely to pursue aircraft that offer superior value. As such, we believe that demand for fuel-efficient turboprop models will continue to grow.

–Simon Caldecott President and CEO Piper

The number of business aircraft will more than double over the next decade and bizav will take place worldwide, with the BRIC states developing the most. New airplane platforms will allow nonstop flights to every spot on Earth. More advanced airports will facilitate traffic that is much more intense than today’s.

–Christoph Meyerrose Managing Director and CEO Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services

The challenge facing business aviation in the next 10 years is to demonstrate that the model is sustainable. Carbon offsets and increased fuel efficiency are nice, but in the long run, business aviation’s days are numbered if reliance on fossil fuels cannot be dramatically reduced and eventually eliminated.

Asia represents an outstanding opportunity for the private aviation industry. China, in particular, offers phenomenal potential, with wealth that can support substantially more business aircraft than the approximately 170 that are there now.

There are more than one million potential customers in China who have high net worths.

–Jordan Hansell Chairman and CEO NetJets

26 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

–Jeff Wieand Senior Vice President Boston JetSearch

Continued on page 28 u

AlwAys More

Putting you first means always doing more for you.

Now, Challenger 300 operators can benefit from greater situational awareness and operational efficiencies with the Pro line 21 Advanced avionics suite upgrade.

Featuring fully-integrated functions and technologies, this leading flight deck delivers the advancements made on the new Challenger 350 aircraft to ensure you always get more from your aircraft.

Contact your Bombardier Service Center Regional Manager to discover how this upgrade can elevate your aircraft’s performance.

Bombardier, Challenger, Challenger 300, Challenger 350 and You. First. are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries. Pro Line 21 is a trademark or Rockwell Collins. Š2013 Bombardier inc. All rights reserved.

customerservices.aero.bombardier.com

Bizav: The next 10 years

uContinued from page 26

I firmly believe that the next 10 years will be…the best years business aviation has ever experienced. We are witnessing the beginning of a large-scale globalization of demand for the industry’s products and services. We forecast that the business jet fleet will grow 36 percent worldwide over the next decade.

–Rolland Vincent Creator and Director Jetnet IQ

Unless companies can produce a regulation miracle and pull off per-seat charter, which would be far less expensive than chartering an entire aircraft, I don’t think business aviation will become less expensive over the next decade; rather, it will be more cost-effective and efficient in comparison with the rising prices and increasingly unpredictable nature of scheduled flights.

–Bettina Gentile Product Director Air Charter Guide

Many aviation executives have become overwhelmed with the mere thought of developing and implementing a safety management system. Fortunately, the concept is beginning to gain traction within general aviation as the benefits are slowly becoming obvious…A decade from now, no one will have an excuse not to have a plan in place.

The air charter industry will remain dedicated to improving performance and to enhancing the experience for passengers and crewmembers. Like the airlines, air charter operators will continue to develop and improve proactive safety cultures–to identify hazards and incidents early in the safety chain and focus on root causes, to reduce or eliminate risks.

–Bryan Burns President Air Charter Safety Foundation

Business aviation will continue its worldwide growth, increasing its penetration and acceptance, especially in high-growth economies. With wealth creation, global trade and replacement demand all trending positive, we forecast deliveries of business aircraft worth $269 billion worldwide in the next decade.

–Thomas L. Hendricks President and CEO National Air Transportation Association

Signs are pointing to continued growth and prosperity for the aviation industry. We face challenges, however. The biggest is what I believe to be a mounting and misguided effort to commoditize the service side of our business. I also believe the looming pilot shortage will represent a hurdle.

–Dan Drohan CEO Solairus Aviation

–Steve Ridolfi President Bombardier Business Aircraft

Pressures from tax authorities and regulators will make owning [business] aircraft more difficult. To maintain access to them, we’ll have to do a better job of championing their value. The effort will need to come from those who benefit from these aircraft–our business leaders.

more appealing. Meanwhile, the weaker players in private aviation are struggling, and we will see a continued shakeout of companies without the resources to invest in new airplanes and technology.

We’ll have fewer, but bigger, firms providing even better service.

–Mike Silvestro CEO Flight Options

Ten years ago, the Wide Area Augmentation System (Waas) was launched to bring greater accuracy and reliability to a GPS system that was somewhat unpredictable…As we enter the next decade, let’s hope our leaders in Washington...understand that [Waas] represents money well spent… because of its contributions to safety, reducing congestion, lowering costs and emissions, saving time and enhancing reliability.

–Ernest Edwards President Embraer Executive Jets

We’re entering the golden age of private jet travel...We believe private jet ownership will continue to trend down and the resulting demand will be divided among a smaller number of branded charter solutions from operators that put customers’ needs at the center of everything they do. For business jet fliers, this will mean more choices, stronger partners, better service and a more sophisticated, boutique experience.

–Bradley Stewart President and CEO XOjet

–David Wyndham President Conklin & de Decker

In the next 10 years, bizav will become even more attractive to those who choose to use it. Lighter airframe construction, more efficient powerplants and more modular, reliable avionics will all help reduce costs. The long-haul segment will continue to grow, fueled by expansion of the Far East markets. Specialized operators will successfully offer solutions to and within Africa and Russia. In North America and Europe, “closed fleet” providers will continue to grow.

In the airline world, the number of people flying doubles every 15 years, driven mainly by economic growth.

Similar expansion can be anticipated in business aviation…So there is a great future for business aviation, and we can expect future bizjets to have even better cabins and range than today’s.

–David Velupillai Marketing Director Airbus Corporate Jets

I think the next 10 years will see the small to midsize business jet market reborn. Travelers now can get to major destinations throughout the world, but traveling in-country still presents challenges in places where the infrastructure is inadequate or inefficient for the larger aircraft.

–George Antoniadis President and CEO PlaneSense

The specialists that ensure your aircraft is flight-ready cannot be suborned by protectionist legislation or thinking, as is the case now with the ban on FAA certification of new international repair stations. Over the next 10 years, bilateral agreements among nations will expand to ensure the steady growth of the business aviation industry and worldwide availability of flight-ready aircraft.

–Sarah MacLeod Executive Director Aeronautical Repair Station Association

A decade from now, business aviation operators will be taking a much more proactive role in areas that were once considered the FAA’s responsibility. The successful flight departments and charter operators will be those that have embraced safety management systems, ensured the availability of resources that help minimize operational risk and implemented a safetyoriented culture throughout the organization.

–Art Dawley Managing Director Wyvern

Today’s savvy customers care about the totality of the experience and seek enhancements, such as celebrity-chefcurated menus, exclusive behind-the-scenes access and opportunities to interact with world-renowned experts. In the next 10 years, we’ll continue to see an intersection in our business between aviation and hospitality.

–Deanna White President Flexjet

–Susan Aselage President and Vice Chairman Sabreliner

I foresee steady but measured growth, combined with continued retrenchment and consolidation, for the business jet industry.

Airlines are cutting service and destinations, making private travel

28 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Continued on page 30 u

The Internet Flies Over

Yonder速 is the fastest in-flight Internet service with the largest global coverage area. Tiered fixed rate plans for business and VIP aircraft let you use your Wi-Fi devices for email, file transfers, VPN access, VoIP, streaming video and more. With Yonder, you stay productive and entertained whenever you are on board.

To email us, scan this QR code or send to yonder@viasat.com. Also visit us at www.viasat.com/yonder.

Bizav: The next 10 years Emerging markets that previously seemed hesitant about business aviation have begun to accept, even embrace, it…There’s plenty of room for these regions to grow: the U.S. still has the lion’s share of business aircraft, with more than 11,000, compared with the 8,000 business aircraft in the rest of the world. Those figures alone demonstrate the tremendous potential of this industry.

uContinued from page 28

As demand for business jets grows in China, we see a rapid improvement in infrastructure and fierce competition in every segment of this industry…We predict that in the coming 10 years, the general aviation industry in China will get closer to the maturity level of the European and American markets.

–Jenny Lau President and CEO SinoJet

–Larry Flynn President Gulfstream Aerospace

Personal jets make it possible for executives to visit key customers in multiple cities in a single day. As companies seek to leverage time-saving efficiencies in order to accommodate hectic schedules and visit these key customers, they will continue to turn to business aviation for their travel needs. While the absolute cost of flying privately will keep rising, companies are finding ways to utilize business jets more efficiently.

–Mason Holland CEO and Chairman Eclipse Aerospace

Aging of the fleet…will impact costs of operation, costs of regulatory compliancy and obsolescence. Many banks won’t lend money for aircraft more than 10 years old and many emerging markets won’t import them. I believe this will cause enormous shrinkage to our fleet. There may continue to be a paring down of manufacturers as well.

–Jay Mesinger CEO and President Mesinger Jet Sales

NBAA 2013

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I think that the number of people flying privately will double worldwide in the next 10 to 15 years. There is an ever-growing base of customers who want the benefits of closed-fleet flying through an understandable and flexible product, with limited commitment and no asset exposure.

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Already, light-jet users are migrating to very light or super light, and communities once reliant on commercial transport are focusing on the value and economic contribution of business aviation. We’re also witnessing the advent of business models that bridge the operational and economic commitments between fractional and charter and a blurring of business propositions between FBOs, handling agents, international trip planners and fuel resellers.

9/26/13 2:56 PM

30 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

I expect to see manufacturers continue to offer new clean-sheet models to meet future demands, and boundaries of performance and value will continue to be pushed…Our industry advocates like to say “No Plane No Gain.” I like to say, “The best is yet to come.”

–John Rosanvallon President and CEO Dassault Falcon Jet

UAS unveils software for trip management

by Charles Alcock

Flight support group United Aviation Services is investing in new technology such as its Trip Management System, which is being unveiled here at the NBAA show. The software allows users to track every aspect of a trip in real-time.

tablet device or smart phone. It provides live updates on events in much the same way as Apple does on the iPhone.

“We are redefining the concept of customer service [in flight support],” Husary told AIN. “I know that many companies make such a claim. For us it means that UAS is not just a service provider, we are an extension of the customer’s own flight department and we get to know their most critical needs. We

believe customer service is possible only if you are prepared and know your customer ahead of time. It’s about being proactive, not reactive.”

A prime example of this approach involved a flight for a customer into an African airport that had no airstair. UAS informed the client that no stairs were available, and after he opted instead to use a betterequipped airport further away, it

Continued on next page u

MIFFLIN-SCHMID DESIGN

The new U.S. headquar- its 350 personnel, and between ters of international trip sup- them they speak 40 languages.

According to Jay Husary, port group United Aviation Services (UAS) in Houston is UAS’s senior director of opernow fully operational and has ations and sales, the Houston handled several hundred trip office gives its service a more requests since its soft-launch local feel for its established cliopening on August 26. The ent base in North America, and office has a staff of 40 peo- also gives UAS closer access to ple, more than 20 of whom are clients in Latin America. The in the operations department, new office is managed by expewhich operates on a 24/7 basis rienced international flight like the UAS global head- planning executive Ryan Frankquarters in Dubai, arrang- houser, who was formerly with ing services such as fuel, flight Arinc Direct and will report directly to Husary. permits and ground handling.

Over the past year or so, UAS Trip Management System has embarked on a fast-track expansion, which is likely to Here at the NBAA show, result in the opening of more new UAS (Booth No. C8518) is dembases in the next 12 months. The onstrating its new Trip Manprivately owned company, which agement System (TMS), which was founded in 2000, has made now serves as a portal for cussignificant investments in recruit- tomers as well as for the compaing and training staff based in 37 ny’s own operations team. The locations around the world. It has software, which was developed 37 different nationalities among in-house, allows users (mainly 105.1897_AIN_NBAA_254x165_Maitenance_254x165 09.10.13 15:41 Seite 1

pilots and flight schedulers) to track every aspect of a trip in real-time. When another new version is rolled out in March 2014 it will have a billing function that allows clients to make payments and check invoices, as well as serving as a tool for UAS to provide service quotes.

To develop TMS, UAS approached almost 40 customers and asked them to specify the features they would like to see in it.

This resulted in a Beta version of the software, which was then given to a separate group of pilots and flight department personnel for evaluation. According to Husary, the feedback has been very positive. “They said it is comprehensive, simple and user friendly,” he told AIN. “It’s like having an operations department in your smart phone.” He said that UAS will be rolling out more new technology in the coming year.

All aspects of a trip are updated immediately in TMS and the users can manage aspects of their current trip or go back as far as 10 years to check details from previous trips. Every user has a unique ID and password to ensure secure access to the system, which can be used on a

Swiss Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance Renowned for Swiss excellence in business aviation, AMAC Aerospace is now the largest privately owned facility in the world offering a full spectrum of maintenance services. Scheduled and unscheduled line and heavy base maintenance services on power plant and airframe, major inspections, repairs and modifications, original equipment manufacturer (OEM), airworthiness directives (AD), customer bulletins (CB), services bulletins (SB), avionic repairs, installations and upgrades – all are simultaneously performed in a single downtime period for Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream and select Bombardier products.

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 31

ASIG grows Panama footprint ASIG Panamá expanded its services in Panamá at the beginning of this month, launching and expansion of the airport’s fueling facility and storage area. aircraft fueling services at Albrook “Marcos A. Gelbert” International Airport on October 1. As In addition, ASIG sister division Signature Flight Support has plans to open an FBO at operator of the airport’s sole fuel facility, the company provides fueling service for all general avi- Tocumen late next year. The new facility will feature 7,000 sq ft of lobby, pilot’s lounge, indo not delete rule border. It is part of the ad design. ation and domestic commercial flights Please at the airport. house customs and immigration facilities and dedicated customer parking. The new FBO ASIG Panamá began operations in that country in 2011, with page the launch of fuel will be the first at the airport, which is one of the busiest in the region.

Junior tabloid 7 13/16” x ser10 3/8” vice at Tocumen International Airport. “We are excited to strengthen our operations “Tocumen represents an important gateway for Latin America. Panamanian customers with new partnerships in the country and are committed to strategic investment in the will enjoy the nicest general aviation facility in all of Central America and fitting for the future economic growth of the aviation community in this region,” said Tony Lefebvre, international gateway to and center of commerce in the region,” noted Michael ScheeASIG president and CEO. ringa, president and CEO of BBA Aviation’s flight support division, which includes both At Tocumen the company is adding new fueling equipment and has begun an upgrade ASIG and Signature Flight Support (Booth No. N3505).

–A.Y.

UAS unveils trip management aid uContinued from preceding page

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32 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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trucked a set of stairs from 100 miles away to accommodate the flight. “We have seen it quite often in the industry where clients are left to deal with issues like this on their own on arrival,” said Husary. “We believe that it is our responsibility to handle problems for the client because we want to be known for service that goes beyond the ordinary.”

In places where there is a lack of infrastructure the company’s goal is to at least ensure that there is a trained ground-handling agent on site to make the best of the limited resources.

“Turkmenistan is a good example of this,” said Husary.

“There is very little infrastructure there but we have ensured that our people on the ground know what to do to compensate for this. We invest in training people to deliver the maximum level of service. We believe in proactive readiness. This means analyzing trends from previous trips to the same places and making preventive plans so that we are wellpositioned to handle even the most unique challenges.”

UAS’s approach to recruiting staff is to find people with aviation experience, but who also demonstrate a willingness to adopt its “customer-first attitude.” Husary said the company spends as much time training recruits in its customer service philosophy as it does in training for operational procedures and technical aspects of the job.

One recent addition to its network is at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.

It took more than a year of preparation to establish this operation, but Husary said, “We won’t start a project with a UAS tag on it without ensuring that we can do things to the same standard.

“With the U.S. economy recovering and sustained economic growth across Latin America, especially Brazil and Mexico, customers are flying more and we are seeing an increased demand for our services,” said Husary. o

Skandia expands fire and smoke test expertise

by Kirby J. Harrison Skandia, one of a small number of single-source flammability and smoke and heat-release testing facilities worldwide, recently announced it will be completing its array of flammability tests with the addition of heat-release and smoke-density equipment for heat, smoke and toxicity test capabilities.

“Adding the new heatrelease, smoke-emissions and smoke-density heat-release tests is the direct response to requests by our global customers,” said Jarod Triplett, v-p of the Davis Junction, Ill. company (Booth No. N4925).

“This now makes Skandia one of the few single-source testing facilities that can offer the full complement of services.” That full array of services includes tests required for any commercial or regional aircraft certified to carry 20 or more passengers.

Currently, Skandia is also installing new testing equipment and is completing smoke and heat-release testing cerSkandia is installing new testing equipment, tification for its team such as this smoke density chamber, to conduct of FAA-approved desflammability, smoke and heat-release tests. ignated engineering

representatives (DERs).

“Once everything is in place, we will be able to write a test plan and do all of the required testing,” said Skandia flammability manager Judy Johnson. She added that, at this point, “the vast majority of testing facilities do not offer both planning and testing services. Soon we will be one of the very few in the world that can offer customers a totally one-stop solution. That will save our customers time and money. Instead of having to deal with two companies for planning and testing, they can just simplify the process by coming directly to us.”

In addition to the new smoke and heat-release testing, Skandia offers its customers a full range of planning and testing capabilities, including radiant panel testing with DER certification; conformity inspection; total fire-blocking program; requalifying existing foam cushions with new dress covers; vertical and horizontal flammability testing; 45-degree-panel and 60-degree-wire testing; and 12- and 60-second composite panel testing. o

Airworthy GIV grounded as parts plane Pollard Spares has acquired an operating Gulfstream GIV to offer parts for Gulfstream operators. The airworthy GIV, S/N 1018, was flown into Dallas Executive Airport for disassembly and Fort Worth, Texasbased Pollard is offering serviceable and overhauled parts from the jet.

It is rare but not unheard-of for relatively late-model jets to be disassembled and parted out, but low used aircraft prices have made this a growing option for owners who are having a hard time selling their jets at a reasonable price. For operators of these jets, parted out aircraft offer serviceable parts at prices much lower than new, many with plenty of remaining life.

“We understand the difficulty in maintaining high-end aircraft and finding quality parts at reasonable prices,” said CEO Tim Pollard.

“We are transforming the traditional parts business by offering OEM parts from a serviceable, flying aircraft. The current pre-owned aircraft market allowed us to seize this GIV opportunity.” Pollard’s inventory includes engines, flight control surfaces, landing gear and avionics.

Pollard (Booth No. N707), which specializes in parting out business jets, also sells used parts for Dassault Falcons, Bombardier Challengers, Hawkers and Cessna Citations.

–D.A.L.

Pollard Spares will be offering serviceable and overhauled parts from a Gulfstream IV that it recently acquired.

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 33

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Learjet 25

Learjet 23, October 1964

Learjet 60XR

Bill Lear Learjet 70

Learjet 23, 1963

The Learjet turns

by Mark Huber This month Bombardier commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Learjet’s first flight even as the company prepares to launch a larger new flagship, the Model 85, and switch to composite airframe construction. Since 1963, Learjet has become one of the world’s most iconic brands, often generically misused to describe any make/ model of private jet, and a conspicuous sign of affluence. Early Learjet owners included crooner Frank Sinatra and industrialist Louise Timken, and their aircraft were a far cry from the comfortable cabins of today.

From 1965 to 1967, Sinatra’s Learjet 23, tail number N175FS, racked up 1,500 hours transporting him, his famous Rat Pack and a host of other showbiz friends, including Elvis, to movie locales, wild times in Las Vegas and the sanctuary of Palm Springs, Calif. The Lear was

not Sinatra’s first airplane, nor would it be his last, but it was his most notorious. This was the airplane the then 51-year-old Sinatra used to squire actress Mia Farrow on their globetrotting, whirlwind romance. It doubled as the designated escape vehicle to get out of town fast after a night of overindulgence and fisticuffs. Sinatra was just the type of customer Bill Lear loved.

When Lear created the Learjet in the early 1960s, he envisioned a small, fast and simple airplane, a concept the marketplace embraced. His 20-series and the slightly elongated 30-series that followed sold briskly for more than 20 years, until long after he had left the company. Riding in the back of a Learjet once meant trips to the chiropractor and exercising bladder control, suffering and even trading a certain amount

50

Learjet 31A

of dignity for the ultimate in aviation cool: speed. In those days you didn’t fly in a Learjet, you wore it.

Lear never made it past the seventh grade and blissfully led his life–both personal and professional–unconstrained by convention. He invented the car radio, stereo 8-track tape system, the automatic aircraft direction finder, autopilot, aircraft automatic landing system, and many other innovations, including the design that became the Canadair Challenger, a large corporate jet that gave birth to the regional jet industry.

All told, Lear held nearly 200 patents for everything from radio coils to steam-powered buses. He made and lost several fortunes along the way, was a notorious philanderer who married four times and had seven children. His mercurial personality sometimes made him hard

to work with, but on the flip side he was a master showman who cultivated the rich and famous.

Author Richard Rashke penned the definitive biography of Lear, aptly titled Stormy Genius, and recently re-released it as an e-book. Rashke spoke to AIN about Lear earlier this year.

“The simple fact is that Bill Lear never grew up,” Rashke said.

“He was like a kid with dreams and that made him so endearing and so charming. He would just dream of new stuff all the time. He was an entrepreneur, not a businessman. Had he been a businessman he would have developed one product and stayed with it, but Bill wasn’t that kind of person. He would develop one thing, get bored with it, then find a new challenge and move on.”

No Compromise on Performance Lear first came to the idea of the Learjet while living in Switzerland in the late 1950s, his son told AIN in 2007. The aircraft, contrary to popular belief, was not based on the cancelled Swiss P-16 fighter, although Lear took some inspiration from it

including using a similar airfoil design. The aircraft was originally designed as the Swiss American Aircraft Co. Model 23, but Lear quickly changed the name to Lear Jet and moved the company to Wichita, where it remains today.

He took big risks during the development of the Model 23, including skipping construction of a production prototype on soft tooling. He fed his perpetually struggling company with investor money and funds from the stereo 8-track tape player he had developed for automobiles.

Lear did not compromise when it came to the 23’s performance, and for some pilots the airplane was simply too hot to handle. “The takeoff and landing speeds were like [those of] fighters,” recalls aerodynamicist James Raisbeck, whose company offers Learjet modifications. “The stall speed was 120 knots and when it stalled [the airplane] would roll suddenly.”

Several design changes tamed some of these tendencies in the follow-on Models 24 and 25, but 20-series Lears retain a deserved reputation for demanding much Continued on page 36 u

It was a different world in September 1963 when the engineers and crew in Wichita gently rolled out the Learjet 23 without any fanfare at all and with no indication of the revolution it would inspire.

34 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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The Learjet turns uContinued from page 34

of their pilots.

Lear sold his 60-percent share of Learjet in 1967 for $27 million to the Gates Rubber Co. Under Gates, Learjet would launch one of its most popular models, the 35, and one of its most criticized, the 55.

The 35 was basically a reworked Model 25 refitted with new Garrett TFE731-2 turbofans that gave the aircraft more range and much better fuel consumption than the fuel-ravenous straight-pipe GE CJ610 turbojets on previous models. When introduced in 1974 it was an instant hit and during its nearly 20-year production run 737 were built.

Maximum range increased to 2,150 nm. By 1975 more than 500 Learjets were in service and by 1976 the company was producing more than 120 a year from plants in Wichita and Tucson.

Space Shuttle Parts Learjet dominated the light jet space and in 1977 would begin work on a medium jet that would become the Learjet 55. By then, Gates had begun branching into other aerospace endeavors and would eventually become a parts supplier to the Space Shuttle engine program. The company was seriously stretched and by the time the Model 55 hit the market in 1983, it had devolved into a series of compromises that did not play well together.

The 55 mated the wing of the short-lived Learjet Model 28/29 Longhorn with an expanded Model 35 fuselage.

50

The conglomeration yielded a 70-inch-tall “stand-up” cabin, but it was basically a parts airplane as opposed to a cleansheet-of-paper design. The brakes and tires were too small and the engines needed more puff. As a result, the 55 could be a runway hog, especially in hot temperatures, and stopping on short pavement without thrust reversers was an adventure.

Over the course of seven years, only 147 were sold.

Gates Learjet shuttered production between 1984 and 1986 to sell down inventories and devote more resources to its aerospace division. By the time production was restarted in 1987, it was clear the company was in serious trouble and it was sold later that year to a venture called Integrated Acquisition, itself an underfunded venture, and rebranded as Learjet Corp.

Learjet Corp. did manage to launch one new design, the Model 31, in 1988. Like the 55, the 31 was basically a parts airplane, cobbling together the fuselage of the Model 35/36 with the Longhorn wing. Unlike the 55, this combination seemed to work.

The 31 honored the pocket-rocket and Procrustean cabin legacy of the 1960s 20-series Lears. Great performance, but Spartan passenger amenities: No galley, no lav and not much luggage space.

Over the course of its 14-year production run, 262 were built.

But early serial-number 31s had antique features including analog avionics and alcohol windshield de-ice, a testament to what was

happening at Learjet Corp.: it was running out of cash.

Bombardier Rebuilds Brand In 1990 Canada’s Bombardier swooped in to pick up the parts and pieces. For Bombardier, it seemed a natural fit. The company was already familiar with Bill Lear’s work through its previous acquisition of stateowned Canadair, then maker of the Challenger line of business jets, a design initially developed

by Lear himself as the LearStar 600 before his death in 1978.

The first order of business was to fix the 31 and the 55, before Learjet lost any more market share to Cessna and, to a lesser extent, Raytheon. In 1991 it launched revised versions of both, the Models 31A and 60.

The 31A remained in production until 2002 and featured improvements, including electric windshield de-ice and a digital Bendix/King avionics suite that has stood the test of time.

A year 2000 block change further improved the aircraft by adding Fadec controls to the engines, two-zone climate controls and increased takeoff and landing weights.

Also introduced in 1991, the Model 60 gave the 55 a 43-inch fuselage stretch, better brakes, engines, aerodynamic refinements and Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics. It climbed like a rocket

When the still-developing Learjet 85 joins its forebears, its designers expect it will continue Bill Lear’s vision of creating a beautiful aircraft that outperforms the competition.

36 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Bill Lear’s iconic Model 23 took to the air on Oct. 7, 1963. Its takeoff and landing speeds were compared to those of fighters, and for some pilots, it was said to be too hot to handle.

and was sure-footed on the runway. The aircraft proved popular in the market and sold 427 copies during a production run that spanned from 1993 to last year through several block changes, including the SE and XR.

Category Killer While shoring up the existing product line, Bombardier realized it needed to go on the attack if it were to successfully rebuild the Learjet brand by offering a “category killer” aimed straight at Cessna. The Learjet 45 was that vehicle.

Announced in 1992, the 45 featured midsize performance and cabin comfort mated to light-jet operating economics.

However, Bombardier stumbled badly in bringing the airplane to market, missing program milestone deadlines and promised delivery dates.

The first airplanes did not reach customers until 1998, and when they did there were problems beyond the usual teething pains associated with low serial numbers. The nadir came in 2003, when the FAA grounded the entire Learjet 45 fleet for a month while Bombardier fashioned a solution to a defective screw-and-nut assembly in the horizontal stabilizer that could lead to loss of aircraft control.

Since then, things have been on the upswing for the brand, with Bombardier certifying the shorter Model 40, in 2004, and both models undergoing several block changes and improvements including those associated with rebranding both as the Models 70 and 75, deliveries of which are slated to begin in earnest next year. The 70 and 75 feature new Garmin G5000 avionics, tweaked engines, revised winglets and restyled interiors and sell for $11.1 million and $13.55 million, respectively. Problems with the

Garmin G5000 avionics have delayed these airplanes’ entry into service.

While that difficulty is not insubstantial, it pales to the learning curve Learjet faces on the all-composite Model 85, the aircraft poised to become the brand’s new flagship in a new niche between midsize and super-midsize. It also likely will provide the foundation for follow-on aircraft for decades to come. Transitioning from a metal airplane company to a composite one is never an easy journey, and Learjet does not seem immune to the pitfalls that others have encountered on this route. Not surprisingly, the program is behind schedule.

Originally, Learjet envisioned completing the 85’s flight-test program this year; however, as of early October the aircraft had yet to fly. Even Bombardier’s revised prediction in February that customer deliveries will begin in next year’s third quarter now seems overly optimistic.

However, when the 85 does enter service, it will continue Learjet’s tradition of breaking down market barriers, just as the first Learjet 23 did when it took to the skies on Oct. 7, 1963. William Powell Lear’s vision of designing beautiful aircraft that outperform the competition lives on. “There is always a need in every age for people who tinker and dream, who see things the rest of us don’t, and take risks,” said Lear biographer Rashke. “Lear had an eye for excellence, and when it came to airplanes he had an eye for beauty.” o

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Passport 20 engines on track for certification

by Curt Epstein Development is progressing on schedule for GE’s Passport 20 engine, which is scheduled for certification in 2015 and is expected to enter service in 2016 on Bombardier’s Global 7000 and a year later on its Global 8000 ultralong-range twinjets.

While GE has earned renown for its military and commercial engines, until recently its experience in the business aviation arena had been limited to the CF34, which has powered Bombardier’s large-cabin Challengers for the past 30 years (as well as the airframer’s CRJs and Embraer’s ERJ regional jets).

The Passport program, which will cost GE and its joint-venture partners Japan’s IHI and Safran subsidiary Techspace Aero, more than $1 billion in development costs, represents a bit of a departure for Cincinnatibased GE Aviation (Booth No. N5500). “We’ve had derivative engines in that market space for a long time,” said Judd Tressler, Passport engine program manager, during a pre-show media tour at the company’s Cincinnati manufacturing plant. “This is the first time we actually went after business- and general-aviation in a large-cabin bizjet independent of whether we’re going to do something on the commercial side or not.”

its larger commercial Leap sibling, derived from GE’s eCore program, which was started nearly a decade ago. “Those are really the basis for both the Leap and the Passport,” said Tressler, who also serves as the powerplant maker’s director of Bombardier programs and small commercial engines. “The Passport is scaled down a little bit and the Leap is scaled up a little bit and the eCore demonstrators that we have are in the middle.”

Both engines share an overall high-pressure ratio of more than 40, which GE says will give the Passport 20 an 8-percent better specific fuel consumption (SFC) than its closest competitor, the Rolls-Royce BR725, which powers the Gulfstream G650.

Company engineers predicted the exact date of the first engine to test (Fett) more than a year in advance (in fact it was ready a day earlier). That first test at the end of June was a success, running for more than 130 hours, including 220 starts without a problem, and accomplishing all of its objectives by the time the initial test ended on August 12.

While Bombardier has specified an installed thrust of 16,500 pounds (slightly less than the BR725’s 16,900), a maximum net thrust of 19,200 pounds was achieved during testing.

Derived from GE’s eCore

Lack of Vibration

The new engine (formerly known as the Tech-X until its rebranding two years ago) is, like

One immediate result of the test was a notable lack of vibration, attributable largely to the

GE’s Passport engine marks the commercial debut of ceramic-matrix composite (CMC) material usage for harsh environment parts such as the mixer and center body assemblies. In total it uses 15 CMC parts for a weight savings of more than 40 pounds per engine.

use of a single piece 51.9-inch fan blisk rather than a traditional separate blade-and-hub system.

“This is a new technology,” noted Tressler, who recalled addressing initial customer concerns about the possibility of foreign object damage to the blisk. “It’s line replaceable, so you are going to be able to replace it on-wing if you have to,” he said, adding that the engine maker installed the blisk on the Fett using the same tool that would be used in that rare situation.

The titanium blisk starts out as a separate hub with stubs to which the blades are frictionwelded, resulting in a bond stronger than the actual metal itself, minimizing the threat of blade-out situations. At the size of the Passport, Tressler said, the all-metal unit will still be lighter than if constructed using composites and it will retain the aerodynamic efficiencies from the use of a metal blade as well.

The company makes a compelling argument over the use of traditional fan blades, which

Heaven’s Landing retires debt “We have fun owners!” laughed airpark community developer Mike Ciochetti, when asked what best described the kind of people who live in the exclusive Heaven’s Landing located just outside Clayton, Ga., surrounded by the Chattahoochee National Forest. The airport community, which is known at NBAA’s convention each year for its “angels” in the company’s exhibit (tastefully attired, right down to their downy wings) has seen excellent sales stats in the past couple of years. “We recently were able to retire our developer debt,” Ciochetti told AIN. “This allowed us to begin offering our “Hassle-free Owner Financing” on the purchase of lots and hangars, which

we announced last month.”

Ciochetti said that 169 lots out of 300 in phase 1 of the development are sold. Phase 2 and phase 3 of the community are plotted. The lots, which average 1.5 acres, surround a 5,069foot paved and lighted concrete runway that sports its own GPS approach, hangars with indoor plumbing and onsite avgas and jet fuel. Some lots have taxiway access, while others are located higher up into the hills of the airpark and offer valley views.

The community is an active one, with a three-story clubhouse that features a private lounge, dining room, veranda, fitness center with racquetball, billiards and steam and dry

saunas in the locker rooms. A concierge service is available for assisting owners with catering and use of the facility for large private events. Equestrian, biking and hiking trails wind their way through the community, as well. A large community swimming pool and Jacuzzi are currently planned to overlook the runway. Community events included a once-a-year wannaGoFast auto-racing weekend.

Ciochetti participates in NBAA’s Convention & Exhibition each year, insisting that it brings in significant sales leads.

“We are here trying to get people to come visit,” he said, “once they arrive at Heaven’s Landing, the place really sells itself.” –A.L.

36B NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

dovetail into slots on the hub.

“No matter what you do, if you put two pieces together, you are going to have a gap, and that gap is going to cause air leakage, which causes performance loss,” explained Tressler. He added that another benefit was realized by removing the dovetail architecture and associated weight and size of the hub.

“On a blisk, I can pull the diameter of my hub in so I can get more airflow through the same annulus area,” he said. Without separate blades, the process of lubricating the friction joints between the blades and the hub is eliminated on the engine.

As a new engine, the Passport, not surprisingly, is host to a variety of recently developed processes and technology.

The airfoils in its compressor are the first to receive an ultrasmooth proprietary finish developed by GE. Whereas normal airfoils might have a 20-micron finish and appear smooth to the eye, on the Passport they receive a surface finish on the 4to 5-micron range, after being placed in media and vibrated at a certain frequency. As a result, “the little inconsistencies on the surface are so small that they are below the normal laminar boundary layer of the part and therefore the part looks smooth to the air,” Tressler said. In addition to improving airflow, with a smoother part there are fewer microscopic ridges for grime to collect in, which helps maintain the efficiency of the compressor.

To increase fan flow, the company has created an integrallyfinned surface cooler system composed of metal parts that form a band circling the interior of the fan case. The fins are attached to blocks through which channels of oil flow, all of which serves to cool the air flowing through the engine. “It turns out to be a much more efficient

way to do it, so you don’t get the fan pressure loss,” noted Tressler, comparing the system to traditional air-cooled oil coolers.

Composite Parts

Perhaps the biggest introduction in the engine is the use of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) parts in key areas for the first time in a commercial engine. Since 2011, the divergent seals at the exhaust end of the F414 engine, which powers the F/A-18 Hornet, have used the material. “It’s an afterburning environment, very harsh with a lot of acoustic energy, a lot of temperature and a lot of hot-streaking,” said principal engineer Bernie Renggli, “a very challenging environment, and that’s where we really got to know this material system well.”

The Passport incorporates 15 of the oxide-oxide composite parts on three assemblies, which, combined, account for a weight savings of approximately 45 pounds per engine. “It’s very similar to typical polymeric matrix composite processing,” said Renggli. A specialized cloth is run through a slurry bath to form a pre-impregnated spool of material that requires refrigeration until use. The material has a cumulative room temperature life of seven days, therefore, its time out of the freezer is carefully clocked. Once rolled out, it is cut into patterns and applied to a form, much like papiermâché. The entire mold is then placed into a vacuum bag and undergoes a lamination cycle in an autoclave. The part is then removed from the mold and undergoes the additional step of heating in a sintering furnace, which oxidizes it, removing all organic components. “From there you can machine it with conventional tools,” said Renggli. “Due to the way it’s manufactured, it’s a much lower cost

system, and we’ve got some repair techniques as well.”

Among the CMC parts is the center body, a cone-shaped structure that protrudes from the back of the engine. Approximately 30 inches high with a more than 20-inch diameter on the front end, the part is surprisingly light, weighing around nine pounds.

Surrounding it is the mixer, a highly complex pleated structure that takes three days to lay out on its form. It combines the engine’s core flow with the fan flow to minimize pressure loss.

“When we started thinking about mixers, a lot of people said, ‘You can’t make that out of CMC; you guys are nuts,’” said Renggli. “Well, we did it anyway.” The CMC material is suitable for temperatures up to 1,800 degrees F, while the maximum temperature on the Passport is 1,250 degrees F, leaving a comfortable margin.

The other CMC parts are large panels that are part of the fixed fan duct. The fivefoot long panels can be easily removed, allowing access to the core beneath. The fan cowl itself is designed as a clamshell, allowing easy access to components for maintenance.

design form,” said Tressler, noting the nacelle is being designed with accessibility in mind.

Once in service, GE expects benefits from its next-generation full-authority digital engine control system (Fadec), the same system used on the commercial Leap engine. The system is pre-flagged with many proactive maintenance

actions. “On our previous engines we could detect what’s happening,” said Tressler. “This is going to [have] prognostic capabilities. Based on the number of increased sensors, the Fadec will be able to forecast what components are in danger of failing, due to the trends that it is monitoring.”

As of the beginning of the

month, the company scheduled crosswind testing at its Peebles, Ohio engine test facility, followed by ingestion testing in two engines currently undergoing completion. Another bladeout test is slated for next month.

By the end of the year, GE expects to have five engines in testing. With the pylon definition already completed, flight

testing is expected to commence next year, as the Passport will be the first engine tested on GE’s newest Boeing 747 flying testbed. “We are going to have over 32 tests, eight full engines with 20-plus builds,” said Tressler. “Before we ever fly with Bombardier, we will have over 4,000 hours and 8,000 cycles on the engines.” o

Booth C10610

Nexcelle Nacelle

The Passport will come wrapped in a long-duct mixedflow nacelle, which is being developed integrally with the engine by Nexcelle, a joint-venture between GE’s Middle River Aircraft Systems and Safran’s Aircelle. While such architecture may be uncommon for GE’s civilian aircraft, the company is able to leverage technology from its military applications such as the F110 engine that powers the F-16. “If you look at all longrange large-cabin bizjets, not only aesthetically is it the way to go because looks are very important, it’s also a more efficient

Streaming Television Over land. Over water. Always on.

Experience IDAIR‘s solutions with our team at booth C10610 For more information about IDAIR, please visit www.idair.aero A joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and Panasonic Avionics Corporation

The Passport entered testing at GE’s Peebles, Ohio engine test facility in late June. It achieved a maximum thrust of more than 19,000 lbs and during the 130 hours of testing it accomplished all the initial testing objectives and proved to be especially smooth running.

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 36C

Thales 2020 cockpit is here now

by Thierry Dubois Thales is here at the NBAA show (Booth No. N216) exhibiting its Avionics 2020 flight deck demonstrator, a human-machine interface designed to preserve pilots’ cognitive resources, thus enabling them to focus on what they are good at: making decisions. In other words, according to its promoters, this is a cockpit designed for airmanship. The development schedule of Avionics 2020 should suit a business jet program aiming at an entry into

service date in 2020.

During a visit to the Thales research-and-development center in Le Haillan, France, AIN met two of the Avionics 2020 designers. They believe Avionics 2020 is especially well suited to business aviation. “The idea of carrying out a mission is key to business aviation; therefore, business jet pilots often have to deal with changing requirements, sometimes in flight,” said Denis Bonnet, head of

New MedAire app offers travel and medical info MedAire now offers an iPad app, MedAire Trip Ready, that provides up-to-date information about medical and travel risks. The Phoenix-based company, which is part of the International SOS organization, is demonstrating the app at its booth (No. N3513) here during NBAA 2013.

The app is free for anyone to download, but requires an iPad that runs on iOS 6.0 or higher. Users with MedAire memberships have access to additional information. The content displayed by the app is based on a user’s membership level, which the app determines by checking the username.

Non-MedAire members receive access to the dashboard, medical and travel risk ratings, weather, local time and Notams by destination. They also receive access to conversion calculators (currency, weights/ measures and more) and lodging and dining options.

MedAire members receive the above, plus The dashboard of MedAire’s new Trip Ready app medical, security and allows users to save up to 15 destinations. travel information relating to each destination, a calendar of holidays and events that may affect a trip, and proactive alerts to events that may affect their itinerary or personal well-being at the selected destinations. Based on MedAire membership level, users may access Aviation Travel Security Briefs.

The individual app pages provide the following functions and information: • The app’s dashboard allows the user to save up to 15 destinations, for which it provides ratings of medical and travel risks, local time, current weather and Notams.

• Each destination has its own folder, which has two views, ICAO and country. In addition to the information on the dashboard, the ICAO view has a search function for lodging and dining, access to conversion calculators and a notes feature. The country view has access to medical, security and travel guides, alert notifications, a calendar of events for the country, entry and exit requirements and other information.

• A briefs page provides access to MedAire’s Aviation Travel Security Briefs for destinations in the dashboard, while the alerts page shows medical and travel alerts for the countries of the destination cities in the dashboard. A separate world calendar gives all holidays and scheduled events associated with the same destinations.

• A page with medical information serves as a quick reference checklist to aid users who need to respond to a medical event in flight. The checklist is meant as a supplement to MedAire’s Management of Inflight Illness and Injury course and the advice of a MedLink doctor, not as a replacement for these.

• Finally, the app has a page that describes the contents of MedAire’s standard medical kit and what is in each pouch in the kit. Another page gives contact information for the company’s global offices, MedLink and Global Response Center.

–R.R.P.

cockpit innovation. This makes the priorities, which hinge on completing the mission, different from those of an airline pilot, which are arriving on time and saving fuel.

From a designer’s perspective, it is easier to create a technology breakthrough in business aviation. “Without a need for crosscrew qualification, we don’t have to keep consistent with an existing flight deck,” Bonnet pointed out. Hence there is greater freedom for designers when it comes to a new human-machine interface. For example, thanks to extensive use of touch screens, Avionics 2020 makes planning a flight or changing a destination after departure more straightforward, he explained.

Sylvain Hourlier is Thales’s human factors senior expert and design authority. He and his team are endeavoring to preserve pilot resources, by giving the pilot better situational awareness while reducing the cognitive workload. Hourlier sees four design drivers.

“We help the pilot anticipate,” he began. This can be done via the “timeline,” a depiction of the flight’s successive events. On the timeline, the pilot can zoom in and see any upcoming changes, such as waypoints, altitude, aircraft configuration and so on.

Second, Hourlier explained, “We help the pilot have a clear image of the actions he chooses to delegate.” When assigning the autopilot to capture a heading, for example, the pursued heading will be shown in blue on the main display. This also helps answer the question, “What is the system doing and what is it going to do next?”–a question crews too often ask themselves.

The third design driver is schematization or systems depictions. “Let’s first avoid too complex views of the systems,” Hourlier said. When a problem arises, the pilot will first be given a broad picture to show where the issue is on the aircraft. Then,

Thales is designing its Avionics 2020 cockpit to enhance decision-making by the flight crew.

if desired, the pilot can–by a single touch input–enter a more detailed level of representation.

The fourth design driver has been to make learning as swift as possible. A new interaction must quickly become a routine, thus freeing up the pilot’s mind. Thales engineers have mimicked everyday life protocols, such as the pinch-to-zoom gesture that is familiar for smartphone owners. An easy protocol is preferable in a stress situation, Hourlier emphasized. This also translates into straightforward actions and views. When selecting an airport on the moving map, the pilot can drop the radio frequency into the list on the communications display. The pilot can see the radio frequency sliding through the displays, from the map to its position on the list. “This looks just nice,” he said, “but using cognitive continuity is also very powerful to save mental resources.”

“Intuitivity” can also be aided using depictions of power lever positions. The “eco climb” position is displayed above the

Compatible with Sesar/NextGen The Avionics 2020 flight deck is ready for NextGen and Sesar’s advanced ATM requirements, according to Thales. For example, head of cockpit innovation Denis Bonnet pointed out that taxi route guidance is available.

Avionics 2020 also has capability for the airborne separation assurance system (ASAS), which enables an aircraft to stay behind the preceding one in a sequence, using a given time interval. “We are knowledgeable in air traffic management thanks to Thales’s ATM business,” Bonnet said. ­ –T.D.

36D NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

horizon line and the “climb” position even higher, while the “idle” position is displayed below the horizon. This gives an immediate illustration of the consequence of moving the power levers. Moreover, as an input, these power lever positions can be seen on the left side of the display. Meanwhile, the output–vertical speed–is shown on the right.

This layout makes the relationship between the input and the output obvious, Hourlier said.

From a technology standpoint, Thales claims to have brought cockpit touch screens to an “iPhone-like” user experience. For instance, the pilot can drag and drop an object continuously over flush displays.

Installing touch screens so close to one another is challenging, as they tend to electromagnetically interfere, Bonnet said.

The Avionics 2020 flight deck is the outcome of extensive work by specialists; nevertheless, it is only a concept that airframers may feel free to customize. Some issues remain open. For instance, Thales engineers are still discussing whether it may be better to dramatically change the display’s layout to specifically address degraded conditions. Ultimately, a business jet flight deck featuring Avionics 2020 may look relatively different from the demonstrator, while adhering to the philosophical human factors underpinnings of the concept. o

HondaJet still targeting late 2014 for certification

by R. Randall Padfield

MARK WAGNER

MARK WAGNER

Engine development drives aircraft not happen. The situation now is differdevelopment, so it should not be sur- ent, however. In addition to the aforeprising that Honda Aircraft is forecast- mentioned milestones, the lead test ing certification of its HondaJet based on engine has accumulated 3,000 cycles, the the date of the certification of its engine, design of the production engine is frothe GE Honda Aero Engines HF120. It’s zen, the parts kit for the first engine is more complicated than that, of course, due on site at the end of this month and the supply chain is ramping up. In basebut that’s the Cliff Notes version. ball terms, the HF120 has In early May AIN quoted rounded third base and is a Honda spokesperson as halfway to home plate. saying, “We are targeting Meanwhile Fujino said, HondaJet certification by “The HondaJet program the end of 2014, based on continues its steady progress the engine testing and certoward certification, and we tification schedule.” This anticipate receiving FAA type was confirmed with considinspection authorization in erable vigor at two NBAA the next few months. Enter2013 press conferences yesing this phase of flight testing terday here at NBAA. Michimasa Fujino, president will be a significant milestone At the earlier Honda and CEO of Honda Aircraft toward certification.”

Aircraft press conference, Among Honda Aircraft’s company president and recent accomplishments CEO Michimasa Fujino are the first flight of the said that the HondaJet fifth FAA-conforming airwould be certified by the craft on May 16, the comend of 2014, as long as the pletion of “wet runway” HF120 engine was certified water-ingestion tests in July by the end of this year. and cold-weather testing in Just two hours later, International Falls, Minn.

Terry Sharp, president of and at the McKinley CliGE Honda Aero Engines, matic Laboratory at Eglin said definitively, “We have Terry Sharp, president GE Air Force Base. To date, completed all the certifica- Honda Aero Engines HondaJet test pilots have tion testing on the engine and last week we submitted the final two flown more than 4,000 test points.

Fujino also announced at NBAA reports to the FAA. Our confidence is high that we will have the type certificate 2013 that Honda Aircraft (Booth No. C11524) and American Honda Finance by the end of this year.”

For perspective, GE Honda Aero Corporation (AHFC) intend to offer Engines had said at NBAA 2012 that term-loan financing for customers in the it expected all certification testing to be U.S. AHFC is a subsidiary of American o completed by the end of 2012, which did Honda Motor Co.

n Thrives Here o i t a i , Av

So CanY

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JSSI touts new programs, global reach

Greensboro, North Carolina’s thriving aviation sector

JSSI, Chicago-based provider of hourly cost maintenance programs for engines, airframes and APUs, announced here at NBAA 2013 new programs aimed at expanding its service offerings while also positioning the company as “a thought leader in the business aviation industry,” according to JSSI president and CEO Neil Book.

Here in Las Vegas JSSI (Booth No. C7321) introduced tip-to-tail support programs for the Gulfstream G650 and the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F-A engine, which powers the new Eclipse 550 twin-engine light jet. Book noted the G650 program represents “the quickest turnaround time in our 24-year history” for creating a tip-to-tail maintenance plan for a new aircraft. Though G650s and the engines on new Eclipses are under manufacturers’ warranties, JSSI’s programs cover items not included in OEM aftermarket support, Book said.

JSSI has also announced it has become the first charter member of the Central European Private Aviation (CEPA) Association’s annual CEPA Expo. The fourth Expo is scheduled to take place next month in Prague. Attendance has been growing 40 percent annually, the same percentage Book said JSSI’s business is growing year over year in the region. “It’s a very lucrative market for us,” he said.

Also next month, JSSI will host an invitation-only Management and Maintenance Business Aircraft Conference in Lijiang, China in association with the China Business Aviation Group, Book said. Some 60 aviation professionals are expected to attend the three-day event, which will include a presentation from JSSI providing a detailed analysis of its support programs. JSSI’s customers are charged for support by the flight hour, which gives the company a wealth of data about business aircraft utilization across the globe, information the company is now leveraging in a variety of ways.

–J.W.

is supported by strong education and training programs, a growing base of aviation and aerospace-related companies, and available sites at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

That is why HondaJet, Timco and BE Aerospace has chosen the Piedmont Triad as their home.

(336) 387-8312 • (888) 693-6939 www.greensboroeda.com

(336) 665-5600 www.flyfrompti.com

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 37

Quintessentially in play at Ireland’s Shannon

by Curt Epstein A new player in the FBO arena has made its debut here at NBAA 2013. Earlier this month, Quintessentially Aviation (QA) Handling announced it began ground-handling operations at Ireland’s Shannon Airport.

A division of global concierge and luxury lifestyle group Quintessentially, the location’s first customer was a Bombardier Global Express. “This is exactly the type of aircraft that we expect will regularly use our facilities,” said managing director Brendan McQuaid. “We

anticipate that, with originating [locations] most likely to be Russia, the Middle East and the U.S., heavy jets from multinational corporations will be regulars on our ramp. We intend to provide them with a service that ensures they return to us.”

Shannon, with its nearly 10,500-foot runway (the second longest in Europe), is the only location outside of the Americas that can provide U.S. customs and immigration preclearance for business aviation and turnarounds of less than

an hour, making it a good starting point for passengers needing to enter the U.S. quickly. “We anticipate that 90 percent of our clientele will be transatlantic clients wishing to maximize the ease of clearance opportunities at the airport,” said McQuaid.

While the company is currently providing only ground services, a 1,750-sq-ft terminal expected to be completed by the end of the year is to include a passenger lounge, crew rest area with showers and flight-planning capabilities, Wi-Fi, satellite TV and crew transport. QA is a member of World Fuel’s Air Elite network of independent FBOs, and crews are eligible for quadruple FlyBuy loyalty points on fuel purchases.

The company suggests that this location could be but the

Quintessentially Aviation Handling provides quick turnarounds for business aviation flights as well as U.S. customs and immigration pre-clearance at Shannon Airport.

first in a branded chain of QA FBOs that can provide customers with the full range of services before, during and after flights provided from 60 international Quintessentially concierge offices. “Obviously we have to prove that we can provide this

Exec Jet Mobile’s BizjetMobile celebrates its first year in service

Sandel celebrates 15th annniversary

by Matt Thurber & Kirby J. Harrison After 12 months of flight testing in 2010 and 2011 and a soft launch in 2012, Exec Jet Mobile’s BizjetMobile systems division has completed its first successful year of commercial operation on a range of corporate jets. Here at the NBAA show (Booth No. C11338), Exec Jet Mobile is displaying its full BizjetMobile product line. “There is finally an affordable wireless in-flight connectivity solution for private aircraft owners and operators,” said Exec Jet Mobile CEO Thomas Linn.

The Iridium-based BizjetMobile 4.0 system was released at the LABACE show in Brazil earlier this year. Now the company is releasing package pricing, which includes the cost of setup as well as its new GetMail

Exec Jet Giving Away $70,000 In Prizes At NBAA To celebrate its first 12 months of BizjetMobile operation and release of the nextgeneration communication platforms, Exec Jet Mobile (Booth No. C11338) is giving away $70,000 in prizes at NBAA 2013.

To enter the drawing and win one of three major prizes, jet or turboprop owners and operators must visit the exhibit, adjacent to the NBAA café, and register their aircraft. The prizes include: • MagnaStar users may win a BizjetMobile Premium System valued at $35,000.

• Iridium users may win a BizjetMobile Executive System, valued at $25,000.

• Wi-Fi users may win a BizjetMobile Broadband System, plus 12 months of free connectivity, valued at $10,000.

Winners will be chosen at random at a drawing scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 24. Those selected need not be present to win. n

feature, allowing full e-mail inbox access.

BizjetMobile 4.0 requires that one Apple iPad mini be set up to run the 4.0 app, which creates its own Bluetooth/ Wi-Fi network that then allows access by other Apple devices. This permits anyone on the aircraft to tap into the network to send text messages of up to 600 characters and e-mails of up to 1,500 characters (without attachments).

No hardware installation is required, but for BizjetMobile systems without an Iridium receiver, the aircraft must be equipped with an airborne telecom system such as Aircell’s Gogo Biz or Iridium, Ku-band or SwiftBroadband satcom. In addition, the telecom system must be hooked up to an onboard Wi-Fi network.

BizjetMobile 4.0 allows up to 16 users to text and e-mail simultaneously. The advantage over direct messaging via satcom is that version 4.0 uses much less bandwidth and thus the messaging costs are much lower. “It uses only about 2 percent of the bandwidth,” said Linn.

Passengers can still access most of the bandwidth they might need for other data-hungry telecom applications, while the crew can send unlimited texts and e-mails via BizjetMobile as necessary.

BizjetMobile can also help prevent costly satcom usage should a passenger inadvertently leave an iPhone on, pinging the network and using up satcom bandwidth.

For version 4.0, the only service charge is a monthly fee, depending on where the aircraft flies. And each user pays $20 for the BizjetMobile app on their device, while the iPad mini-app for version 4.0 is free.

The monthly fee for all BizjetMobile devices is $399 for the U.S., or $799 for global use. This includes no limit on the number of messages.

When using BizjetMobile, each user

38 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

unique service,” McQuaid said, “but our strategy is to explore the options for a fully independent network of FBOs at strategic points around the globe.”

Show attendees are invited to visit QA at the World Fuel Services booth (No. C8509). o

Exec Jet Mobile is introducing its next generation of BizjetMobile wireless in-flight connectivity solutions at NBAA 2013.

installing the app on their device is given a unique phone number. This number is used to send and receive text messages. If the user isn’t flying and someone sends a text message or e-mail, Exec Jet Mobile’s servers will automatically route the message to the user’s normal messaging application or e-mail inbox.

Exec Jet Mobile’s earlier Version 2.0 and 3.0 products are still available and help passengers and crew stay in contact on aircraft with certain telecom equipment or even no equipment.

Version 2.0, released a year ago, is a portable box that is connected to an existing Iridium system, allowing the same text messaging and emailing as all Bizjet Mobile devices and services. Version 2.0 costs $35,000.

Bizjet Mobile 3.0 is also a portable system, but it comes in two versions, one for U.S.-registered aircraft that fly within the U.S. ($35,000) and a worldwide version ($45,000). Version 3.0 includes the 2.0 hardware but adds an Iridium Extreme transceiver, so no existing airborne telecom system is needed.

Exec Jet Mobile is offering Bizjet Mobile Version 3.0 as a replacement for Airfone systems, such as the MagnaStar system, because Airfone owner Aircell is shutting that service down at the end of the year. While Version 3.0 offers the same text messaging and emailing capability, because it has its own transceiver, it can be used to make voice calls, too.

There is no extra charge for voice calls, just the same $399 U.S. and $799 worldwide per month amounts. o

Gerry Block founded Sandel Avionics in 1998 to bring high-performance color graphics avionics to unserved general aviation customers by exploiting the emerging technology of rear projection to produce compact panel-mounted electronic cockpit displays. Today at NBAA 2013 Sandel Avionics is celebrating its 15-year anniversary from 3 to 5 p.m. at Booth No. C9340 with a hosted bar, refreshments and prize drawings.

After the market accepted its groundbreaking SN3308 electronic HSI, Sandel turned its attention to terrain awareness and warning systems (Taws). Its ST3400 redefined the fixed-wing Taws market with a full-color terrain warning display using advanced algorithms first developed for the air transport market. The ST3400 enabled large safety improvements at a low installed cost.

Sandel’s best-selling HeliTaws version, customized for rotary-wing operations, has been enhanced with redefined technology to eliminate nuisance alerts in low-level flight. Sandel products are being delivered for Sikorsky’s new generation S-70i Blackhawk, Korea Aerospace Industries helicopters and are offered by Eurocopter for the EC135 and EC145. Sandel’s HeliTaws software is embedded in Rockwell Collins’s newly launched HeliSure system.

Sandel products also include primary attitude displays and an attitude/ heading reference system. During its 15-year history, Sandel has won the AgustaWestland safety award, been named Aircraft Electronics Association Associate Member of the Year, and most recently received the SDBJ Innovation Award in Technology. Sandel holds more than 30 U.S. and international patents, and its products are included in approximately 50 FAA supplemental type certificates.

–H.W.

A LONG HISTORY OF

EXPERTISE

YOU CAN

TRUST

At Pratt & Whitney Canada our success depends on yours. Whether you’re looking for engine repair or overhaul, a Mobile Repair Team, a component repair, rental engines, a guaranteed hourly maintenance cost or a planned environment through our advanced diagnostics, our Customer Service Network offers more than a one-stop-shop for all your needs. It offers the peace of mind that comes with 85 years of experience you can trust.

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news clips

Satcom Direct announces 3G router

z Atlantic’s Houston FBOs Set for Makeovers

by Bill Carey

z Shadin Avionics Qualifies New Data Converter Shadin Avionics has released a new digital discrete switch (DDS) data converter with a purchase order from an undisclosed business jet manufacturer. The DDS is derived from Shadin’s AIS-360 digital platform; requirements were defined by an urgent customer need to keep an aircraft introduction schedule on track.

Shadin (Booth No. N629) said the flexibility and modularity of the AIS platform enabled it to develop and qualify the customer-defined DDS box in less than one month.

The Minneapolis-based company developed the AIS family of data converters to quickly respond to “an ever present demand” for unique, flight-worthy data conversion applications on aircraft. The AIS-360 DDS joins the AIS-380 analog, AIS-360 digital, AIS-450 synchro and AIS-460 military in Shadin’s family of FAA-certified data converters.

Satellite communications solution provider Satcom Direct (Booth No. N4107) announced Monday that its avionics-grade Satcom Direct Router (SDR) will have 3G cellular data connectivity built in, enabling pilots to update onboard systems on the ground as well as allowing other new functions.

The SDR, built under license

by True North Avionics and announced earlier this year at a Satcom Direct customers conference in San Antonio, Texas, will “seamlessly” switch between satellite data and 3G service, according to the company.

Ken Bantoft, vice president for satcom technologies and development, said the company has an agreement with telecommunications provider AT&T to provide a “private network” with global

roaming across AT&T’s 3G network that channels traffic into the Satcom Direct satellite data network. The service will support electronic flight bag and Jeppesen chart updates as well as “pushing” data off the aircraft for analysis.

Satcom Direct will provide the hardware and also the billing for the 3G data service as part of its consolidated billing, so that customers will continue to receive a single bill for aircraft data and voice services. The 3G data service functionality will be available upon certification of the SDR, which is expected by the end of the year, the company said. The router is on display at the Satcom Direct booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center and also in space 170 at the static display at Henderson Executive Airport.

At the NBAA show Satcom

Direct also announced that its customers will have access to Aircraft Performance Group data, including aircraft performance calculations, runway analysis and aircraft weight and balance calculations using data link messages or through Satcom Direct’s FlightDeck Freedom and FlightDeck 360 services.

The company revealed a new offering called “MYflight,” a subscription-based service that allows passengers using an iPad or iPad mini to view real-time flight data and aircraft information. Future releases will be available on other mobile platforms. The service requires the aircraft to be Internet-enabled but does not require any special onboard hardware. Passengers can download the MYflight app from the Apple App Store. o

MARIANO ROSALES

Atlantic Aviation (Booth No. N4500) has announced it will embark on a $15 million development plan for its two Houston-area FBOs. At its flagship Houston Hobby Airport location, the company will build a new 16,000-sq-ft terminal, which will replace its current 1972 vintage structure, one of the original Atlantic FBOs. In addition, the services provider will level one of its current hangars to add 60,000-sq-ft of ramp space. The storage space will be replaced with a pair of new 32,000-sq-ft hangars, bringing available hangar space up to 100,000-sqft. The project, which is expected to last 18 months, is set to kick off by the middle of next year.

The facility at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, which dates back to the late 1970s, is slated to receive a $1.5 million makeover that will bring it line with Atlantic’s current design theme, using more wood and stone as well as improving functionality and customer flow. That renovation is due to be completed by the third quarter of 2014.

z Gulfstream Service: There’s An App for That Gulfstream Aerospace (Booth No. N3932) has launched a new free iPhone- and iPad-compatible service application called 24-Hour Support, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

The app gives customers access to the contact information they need anywhere in the world and will be regularly updated. The OEM said it is a comprehensive source for direct access to Gulfstream Technical Operations, including 19 company-owned and authorized service centers, 13 company-authorized warranty facilities, 43 field service representatives, spare parts sales and other key contacts and includes all pertinent phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, locations and operating hours.

z West Star Aviation Plans STC for Conquest II West Star Aviation, of East Alton, Ill. is expecting to obtain an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) in the first quarter of 2014 for its RVSM solution for the Cessna Conquest II. The solution includes a dual-side Garmin G600 avionics display system and S-Tec 2100 digital autopilot.

West Star (Booth No. N4421) said the STC will specifically benefit Conquest operators with the Meggitt Magic EFIS who are looking for options to replace their current system.

Operators using the Magic system already have the S-Tec 2100 autopilot installed. The S-Tec 2100 is also available as a retrofit for aircraft with Cessna ARC1000 or Sperry autopilots.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to repair and replace parts for the Magic EFIS,” said Jerry Autrey, West Star avionics program manager. “The STC will be a great option for Conquest II operators to upgrade their system and take advantage of an RVSM solution.” Once the STC is complete, installation will be available at West Star’s East Alton or Grand Junction, Colo., locations.

raising expectations No one would call the economic recovery "robust," but good fortune does seem to be coming back, one small step at a time. Perhaps that makes a hot-air balloon the ideal symbol of the rising tide of business aviation.

The market isn't exactly zooming, but it is on the rise. And following along with the worldwide financial community’s prevailing economic winds is probably a good strategy about now.

ITT Cannon’s innovations boost bandwidth, cut cost At this year’s NBAA convention, ITT Cannon (Booth No. N314) is featuring its range of interconnect technologies, which are designed to reduce total cost of ownership and to increase bandwidth capacity for aviation applications.

ITT Cannon’s newest generation of fiber-optic and copper multi-gigabit interconnect systems allow for the seamless flow of high-bandwidth data, supporting functions from pilots’ enhanced visibility in extreme weather conditions to providing passengers with

40 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

high-definition programming.

Cannon’s Quadrax gigabit copper termini, used as an interconnect choice in many in-flight entertainment systems, support multiple form factors, including Arinc rectangular connectors and MIL-DTL-38999 circular connectors among others.

The ITT Cannon group has also developed technologies resulting in smaller, lighter and lower-cost field-terminated circular connectors that perform similarly to the traditional MILDTL-38999 series. The latest innovations in the “MKJ Trinity”

series of miniature D38999 connectors bring together the benefits of field-terminated contacts with higher density contact layouts. This provides the marketplace with a flexible product line that is up to 50 percent smaller and 70 percent lighter than its 38999 counterparts, according to ITT Cannon.

“Our latest advances in connector technologies lead the market in performance, quality and affordability,” declared Wes Morgan, director of product management for ITT’s Interconnect Solutions business.

“Our current product portfolio includes new, lightweight, pressure-sealed connectors that cut installation and maintenance time up to 50 percent, saving fuel and time.” –B.C.

Our legacy shapes the future.

Icons for this generation and the next.

From the very first Staggerwing to the newest-generation King Airs, the aircraft from Beechcraft have always represented the industry’s best. Rooted in a legacy that set the standards for quality, performance and craftsmanship—today’s Beechcraft continues to forge ahead, inspired by their iconic lineage and resolute in the mission to build an even stronger company.

For more info, please contact: U.S. and the Americas +1.316.676.0800 EMEA +44(0) 1244.523.803 | Asia-Pacific +65.6423.0321 Visit us at Beechcraft.com. ©2013 Beechcraft Corporation. All rights reserved. Beechcraft is a registered trademark of Beechcraft Corporation.

Build A Plane organizes Teachers’ Day at NBAA’13 “NBAA wants future workforce leaders to become engaged in the many career opportunities the aviation industry offers,” said Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO, explaining why the organization offers a youth outreach on the third day of its convention each year. “We are delighted to include Build A Plane Teachers’ Day on October 24 as part of our Careers in Aviation day in Las Vegas this year,” he said.

Build A Plane has overseen Teachers’ Days at EAA AirVenture for several years.

The organization gathers donated aircraft and aircraft projects and provides them

to youth groups and schools around the world as educational building and sometimes flying projects.

Teachers’ Day, sponsored by Honeywell Aerospace (Booth No. N4100), is just one part of a three-prong effort by NBAA on the final day of its convention to reach out to tomorrow’s aviators and engineers. While participating educators are introduced to programs using aviation to aid them in teaching science, math, engineering and technology (STEM) subjects by keynote speaker Bonnie Dunbar, a former NASA astronaut, high school students will

be in a general session addressing business aviation careers.

This is followed by a scavenger hunt and guided tour through the exhibit hall and static display.

Meanwhile, college students are invited to roundtable discussions with industry professionals on the many career paths available in business aviation.

Full admission to NBAA 2013 is free for Careers in Aviation participants on October 24.

Free educational materials from Honeywell, the FAA, the National Air and Space Museum, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, the Experimental Aircraft Association, Fly to Learn, Aviation Explorers and more are available during the day to both teachers and students. To make the one-day event more attractive to working teachers, attendees participating in Teachers’ Day are provided with both lunch and the ability to earn one graduate credit from Viterbo University at a special tuition rate. –A.L. Build A Plane, which is participating in NBAA’s Career Aviation Day on Thursday, uses donated aircraft and aircraft projects as educational tools for students.

42 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Winners of Ross Aviation’s fuel card giveaway at the show can use the cards at the company’s locations, including Denver AirCenter.

Fuel up your car, airplane Ross Aviation, a growing network of 10 individual FBO brands at 15 locations, is raffling off up to $5,000 in fuel cards for both jets and automobiles here at the NBAA convention. In addition, the Ross booth (No. N3017) has smartphone charging and docking stations available for attendees whose devices could also use a little fueling up. Some of the Ross FBOs include Laredo Aero Center, Miami Executive Aviation, the Bradley Pacific chain in Hawaii and the Santa Fe, Scottsdale and Denver AirCenters.

The company is holding daily drawings for a $1,000 jet-A card that can be used at any Ross Aviation facility. It is also drawing one other name each day for a $500 automobile fuel card for either Chevron, Shell or BP. To sign up for the fuel card drawings, attendees must fill out an entry card and have it stamped at Ross’s stands for each of the 10 FBO brands.

Ross Aviation, which plans to acquire more FBOs by year-end, is also a partner for the 2014 Special Olympics airlift in June. While the games will take place in Princeton, N.J., the airlift will take place at Trenton Mercer Airport, where Ross Aviation’s Ronson Aviation has a facility. –C.T.

Pentagon 2000 software streamlines business ops

by Curt Epstein Pentagon 2000 Software is on hand here in Las Vegas (Booth No. C9426) to demonstrate its enterprise resource planning software for the aerospace industry.

“At this year’s exhibits, we are fully staffed to meet with both existing customers and new prospects,” company president Gabriel Mofaz, told AIN. “We are showing the full set of Pentagon 2000SQL system capabilities, and we have some new e-commerce and mobile applications that will be attractive to attendees.”

The company’s 2000SQL software solution runs in the Microsoft SQL server environment and facilitates user compliance with the regulations of the FAA, EASA, DOD and other

budgeting with automatic notifications for budget overruns.

The New York City-based

company recently released its Pentagon 2000 SQL PDA software, a mobile application that runs on handheld devices, smartphones and tablet computers running Apple’s iOS operating system or industry standard browser technology. The PDA software provides a capability to enter transactions and access real-time information for sales,

purchasing, inventory management and operations tasks.

In the warehouse, staff can use the mobile handheld app in conjunction with barcode features to perform inventory physical counts, receiving operations and stock bin updates, while the sales department can check a customer’s line of credit, product availability and order status

while on the road or in a customer’s office.

Maintenance and repair operations team members can document quality defects and manage service contracts. Purchasing and receiving employees can check on the status of incoming stock, receive inventory and close manifests while at a stocking location. o

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Pentagon 2000’s mobile applications for Apple iOS runs on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

entities, for a variety of aviation businesses such as parts distribution and brokerage; equipment MRO; aerospace and defense logistics support and supplychain management; heavy aircraft maintenance; commercial air fleet operations; and fixedbase operations.

In its parts management functionality, the software features fully integrated barcode capability with warranty tracking and shelf-life tracking. It has preformatted forms for regulatory agencies and can consolidate invoices and shipping documents.

In the MRO arena, 2000SQL can support single- and multilevel work orders with integrated teardown, inspection, discrepancy and bill-of-material forms, as well as labor and cost

Make Your Reservations Now

Tel. +1 201 462 4000 Tel. + 1 800 538 0832 jtebevents@jetaviation.com | jetaviation.com/thebiggame

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 43

Dubai-based Palm expanding to provide trip planning in U.S.

some of the most common causes of trip headaches are language barriers, bureaucracy associated with the issuing of permits and security arrangements.

To overcome language difficulties Palm has recruited a team of support personnel who, collectively, are fluent in 16 languages.

But cultural understanding is also an important factor. For instance, explained Saideh, in some major new

business aviation destinations, such as India and China, officials have yet to fundamentally grasp the point and special requirements of the business aviation mode of transby Charles Alcock portation. In this context Flight support group Palm Avia- Asia and Russia and the Commonwealth it is not effective to simply tion (Booth No. C10816) is laying plans of Independent States. demand the sort of access to open an office in the U.S., perhaps in Palm’s pledge to aircraft operators is that would be readily availpartnership with a local company. The that it can make international trips headable elsewhere, so Palm’s move will be the latest expansion for ache-free, even in places where headaches Dubai-based Palm Aviation intends to specialists work their dipDubai-based Palm, which is already rep- all too easily happen. According to chief provide flight plannng support from a lomatic skills to the max U.S. office it plans to open soon. resented across the Middle East, Africa, commercial officer Mohammad Saideh, to expedite what could be very cumbersome arrangements for the issuing of permits. “We speak to officials very plainly and explain the significance of a particular trip, which THE NEW STANDARD might involve a decision maker who could FOR INTEGRATED LED MASTER CAUTION SYSTEMS AND DISPLAYS have a big influence on the local economy,” he told AIN. Palm has experience supporting multiple trips by 14 different heads-of-states, which have been great tests of the comWith the Lumatech™ Line of LED Annunciator Panels for King Air 200, 300, 350, 1900D, and now C90 Aircraft. pany’s ability to deliver efficient support with a high degree of security and discretion. It can provide armed guards • LED Reliability and Low Temperature operation and armored cars, handling security at all stages of a trip. Saideh said the degree of • Superior Lighting Performance with true security risk is defined more by the cirSunlight Readability cumstances of individual travelers than by their destinations.

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00 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 44 22, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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The company also has experience in organizing humanitarian flights, which can involve transporting vital but awkward cargo to difficult locations. It has also made elaborate arrangements for private hunting trips in places such as Algeria and Kazakhstan. Complex plans for catering and hotel accommodation, as well as fuel purchases, are all standard services for the Palm team.

“What makes the difference with us is that we have worked very hard to learn the necessary processes for delivering the [flight support] product,” said Saideh, who has previous experience with several Amiri royal flight departments in the Arabian Gulf. “We have created a flawless and smooth communications system within our company and with customers that is direct and to the point so there is never any ambiguity.”

Given the widening geographical spread of business aviation’s operations around the globe, Palm has taken a pragmatic approach to providing services to rival flight support groups, and accepting help itself where and when this makes sense.

With non-compete clauses in contracts to establish clear ground rules for this business-to-business support, Palm has found this to be an effective way to support clients in parts of the world where it wouldn’t otherwise have much traffic volume.

Palm is projecting annual revenue growth as high as 35 percent over the next four years. It has a strong focus on supporting flights in Africa and the CIS, which it believes remain underserved in terms of infrastructure and expertise. It also plans to boost its presence in India and China, but the more immediate goal is getting closer to U.S. operators. o

Aircare upgrades arm crews with critical-training skills On September 26, Aircare Solutions Group (Booth No. N1736) held a grand opening for its new emergency procedures training facility in Long Beach, Calif. The facility is equipped with Aircare’s Facts VIII full-motion cabin simulator, the company’s largest, as well as hypoxia awareness trainers, a walk-in fire trainer and BBJ slide and exits.

To help flight crews and passengers deal with lithium battery fires in portable devices, the Facts VIII trainer features a simulated laptop battery fire. To help deal with these types of fires, the Aircare Access Assistance division offers products such as the FireSock lithium battery risk-management system, as well as smoke hoods and filter hoods for all types of smoke and fire incidents.

Aircare Access Assistance also provides tele-medical and tele-assistance services for flight operations traveling around the world. Services include medical support, flight tracking, security reporting, concierge services, lost luggage and documentation support and remote prescription.

Aircare Solutions conducted its first JA_global_ads_AIN_ConvNews2013.qxd peer-support class last month at the Long

Beach training facility. The session–which covered critical-incident stress management, listening skills, communication techniques and debriefing and defusing skills–was part of the Critical Incident Response Plan (CIRP) that the company unveiled earlier this year. The program provides flight departments with mental health professionals and an aviation peersupport network. Flight departments can add CIRP to their existing emergency response plans whether or not they do business with Aircare, which will bill only for costs associated with providing a mental health professional and for peer-support expenses.

“We recognize the incredible importance that critical incident stress management plays in helping get individuals and departments to the other side of the critical incident with good mental health,” said Jeffrey Roberts, CEO of Aircare Solutions Group.

“Many flight departments haven’t considered critical incident stress management as part of their plan or don’t have access to these kinds of resources. Making this available to all of the business aviation commu10/10/13 2:17 nity is simply thePM rightPage thing3 to do.” –J.B.

Aircare Solutions Group’s full-motion cabin simulators, walk-in fire trainers and hypoxia chambers help train pilots and flight attendants for in-flight fires and other emergencies. The company also provides fire protection equipment, medical support, flight tracking, security and concierge services.

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Jet Aviation Houston

Enjoy our local hospitality; experience our global FBO network Meet the team who understands the needs of business travelers. As the newest member of the Jet Aviation family, our FBO facility is one of the finest at Hobby Airport, located just seven miles from downtown Houston. Our award-winning, friendly and experienced staff makes your visit as enjoyable and personal as possible, providing you an effortless travel experience, whether you are here for just a brief visit or a longer stay. Our Houston team delivers the best in local service; our global network serves you everywhere else. Personalized to Perfection.

Jet Aviation Houston Tel. +1 713 358 9100 jhou@jetaviation.com | www.jetaviation.com/houston

Visit our global FBO locations: Berlin

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 45

by Bill Carey ICG (Booth No. N2329) is developing a new mobile application AeroChat for Apple and

Android smartphones, managed by its eRouter data management system, that will allow customers

functions; and an ERT-140 with enhanced features such as VoIP calling, analog and digital telephony and data transfer enhancements such as acceleration and compression.

The company said it is accepting orders and is on schedule to begin deliveries of the ICG

ICG eRouter enables airborne voice, texting

to use electronic devices to place calls and send text messages from an aircraft in flight.

International Communications Group (ICG), based in Newport News, Va., unveiled the new eRouter in October 2012.

It is developing three versions, based on customer requirements: the baseline ERT-100 and ERT-120 for data routing

ICG is accepting orders and said it is on schedule to begin deliveries of the ERT-120 eRouter this year.

ERT-120 eRouter this year.

Managed by the eRouter, AeroChat will work over Inmarsat and Ku/Ka-band satcom systems to connect to an active voice account provided by either the Satcom Direct, Satcom1 or Arinc Direct communications services. When the application is turned on, it will register with the ground-based session initiation protocol (SIP) service provider. Once registered, a number will be provided that will enable the caller to use a mobile device with pre-stored contacts and passcodes to dial and receive calls from groundbased phones, ICG said.

The text-based instant messaging capability will also work with Facebook, Google and other services that use extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP) to provide chat service while airborne.

The eRouter features multitiered PCB board technology that combines several competitors’ systems and applications into one box. It serves both as a solution for new installations and as a replacement for systems that are obsolete or reaching the end of production life. The data and telephony routing functions are independent of other systems and communication networks installed on the aircraft.

Wi-Fi Connectivity

The flange-mount eRouter can be configured as a wireless access point for devices requiring dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) services. Alternatively, it can be configured as a Wi-Fi client to provide connectivity to ground-based wireless networks while on the tarmac.

In addition to Wi-Fi, the eRouter offers 4G GSM cellular service that can be used for data connectivity and file transfers when the aircraft is on the ground.

The eRouter manages connectivity for all cabin crew, flight deck and aircraft system data communication requirements.

“The eRouter is also designed with a modular architecture to provide easy expandability and reduce product costs by offering an operator only those services they might currently require, yet providing a forward upgrade path for future and emerging requirements,” said Brad Smith, ICG executive vice president. “It is the lightest, smallest and most flexible aeronautical routing solution on the market today.” o

46 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

by Kim Rosenlof Business jet and turboprop frequency of loss. If the frequency operators insured by Swiss Re of loss is reduced, that’s good for Corporate Solutions (Booth No. the pilots, the traveling public N1121) can receive premium and also for the insurance comcredits toward upset safety pany. That’s why we want to offer training through a new program an incentive to our customers to announced here at NBAA 2013. complete this advanced training.”

The APS/CAE UPRT proThe program offers premium credits to qualifying jet and tur- gram is designed to help pilots boprop operators whose pilots avoid, recognize and recover from complete the Upset Prevention loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) and Recovery Training (UPRT) situations in which flight occurs program offered jointly by avi- outside of the normal flight enveation training companies CAE lope with an inability of the pilot (Booth No. N3533) and Avi- to control the aircraft.

“Our program offers a ation Performance Solutions credit toward specialized train(APS, Booth No. N527).

“When you work with two ing that mitigates the threat of leading-edge training companies, loss of control in-flight,” said from an insurance perspective Dlugosch. “Swiss Re Corpothe equation is relatively simple,” rate Solutions is investing in the said Oliver Dlugosch, head of advancement of aviation safety global markets at Swiss Re Cor- with those insured and we will porate Solutions. “If there’s better offer the credit to qualifying training offered to customers and customers each year that they customers go through the train- take the UPRT course with our JA_global_ads_AIN_ConvNews2013.qxd 10/10/13 2:18 PM Page in the program.” ing, it reduces the overall risk and partners

AVIATION PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS

Upset-training program earns insurance credits

The UPRT course includes a web-based Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid, 4.5 in-flight upset training missions (flights four and five are combined into a longer mission) in an Extra 300 (U.S.) or a Slingsby T67M200 Firefly (Europe), 7.5 hours of specialized ground instruction, a one-hour jet-specific high-performance briefing, and a two-hour CAE multi-engine jet glass cockpit full flight simulator upset-specific session with an expert APS upset instructor. Upset training in an A4 Skyhawk military jet is also available at APS for an additional fee.

The entire UPRT course costs $6,850 per pilot. Upon completion of the three-day course, qualified operators insured by Swiss Re can apply for up to 10 percent credit of their gross premium to a maximum discount of $25,000.

“This program represents a triple win,” said Dlugosch.

“Pilots get better training, training program providers get more participants and the insurance company lowers risk of losses.”

All training is done by APS instructors. Students may opt to complete the course at one of 4three locations where APS and

Pilots who undergo upset prevention and recovery training at CAE and APS can receive insurance premium credits from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. The training is conducted in the U.S. in an Extra 300.

CAE have facilities in close proximity: Mesa, Ariz.; Dallas, Texas; and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

“CAE has been championing advanced training courses for years as a way to increase safety,” said Nick Leontidis, CAE group president of Civil Simulation Products. “Pilots who have taken our upset prevention and recovery training have said it is one of the most valuable flying training programs they have ever received.

We are pleased to participate with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and APS in a program that endorses innovative training.”

The Swiss Re Corporate

Solutions credit program may be timely as the FAA recently finalized its new rulemaking for airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate requirements that require candidates to complete upset recognition and recovery training in a full flight simulator.

The new FAA rule, effective Aug. 1, 2013, also requires a second-in-command (SIC) pilot (first officer) on FAR Part 121 air carriers to hold an ATP certificate with the appropriate aircraft type rating. Previously, first officers could hold a commercial certificate with instrument rating. o

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Jet Aviation Dallas

Enjoy our local hospitality; experience our global FBO network Meet the team who understands the needs of business travelers. Just seven miles northwest of downtown Dallas, the passage through our FBO is simple and pleasant. Our facility, which can support aircraft as large as a 757, is conveniently located near major sports arenas and allows visitors easy access to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Jet Aviation Dallas accommodates every need of the passengers and crews who enter our doors. Whether you are here for just a brief visit or a longer stay, we make your travel needs effortless. Our Dallas team delivers the best in local service; our global network serves you everywhere else.

Personalized to Perfection.

Jet Aviation Dallas Tel. +1 800 966 2378 | Tel. +1 214 350 8523 jdal@jetaviation.com | www.jetaviation.com/dallas

Visit our global FBO locations: Berlin

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Boston/Bedford

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 47

*Gulfstream was voted No. 1 in Aviation International News’ annual product support survey for the 11th consecutive year, and received the top ranking from Professional Pilot for the 13th time in the last 16 years.

where you go... who goes with you.

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Tactair aims to supply complete control systems

by Kim Rosenlof Have any questions about your landing gear, brakes or other hydraulic systems on

your aircraft? Stop by Tactair Fluid Controls at Booth No. N3217 to view a complete

landing gear extension/retraction system, nosewheel steering system and helicopter wheel and brake system. A subsidiary of Young & Franklin of Liverpool, N.Y., Tactair designs and manufactures fluid power and motion control products for brake, landing gear, nosewheel steering, flight control, engine/ nacelle control and utility

control systems for a variety of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Since its founding more than 50 years ago, Tactair has been known for supplying individual hydraulic components, such as landing gear actuators and brake master cylinders, to OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. According to Michael Yates, a 24-year veteran of the company who ascended to

Experience the Progress. s at visit u Please nvention Co NBAA as, NV, USA g Las Ve – 24, 2013 2 2 . t 07 c O # C114 Booth

Liebherr-Aerospace is a leading supplier of systems for the aviation industry and has more than five decades of experience in this field.

The range of aviation equipment produced by Liebherr for the civil and military sectors includes flight control/actuation systems, landing gear and air management systems. These systems are deployed in wide-bodied aircraft, single aisle and regional aircraft, business jets, combat aircraft, military transporters, military training aircraft, civil helicopters and combat helicopters. Liebherr’s aerospace and

transportation systems division employs over 4,400 people. It has four aviation equipment production plants at Lindenberg (Germany), Toulouse (France), Guaratinguetá (Brazil) and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia). These production sites offer a worldwide service with additional customer service centers in Saline (Michigan/USA), Seattle (Washington/USA), Wichita (Kansas/USA), Montreal (Canada), São José dos Campos (Brazil), Hamburg (Germany), Moscow (Russia), Dubai (UAE), Singapore and Shanghai (People’s Republic of China).

Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS 408 avenue des Etats-Unis 31016 Toulouse Cedex 2, France Phone: +33 5 61 35 28 28 E-Mail: info.aer@liebherr.com www.liebherr.com

AER Sammel Service_AIN CN_MH_NBAA 2.indd 1 50 2017-503_024 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

The Group 23.08.13 15:24

Tactair’s variety of landing gear, braking and steering systems are designed for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Among the products on display at the company’s booth is a brake master cylinder system.

his role as president in January 2012, Tactair’s goal is to become known more for delivering complete solutions than merely individual components.

Depending on the component and the program, Tactair supplies parts and systems directly to the OEM or Tier 1 supplier.

Tactair works with landing gear manufacturer Héroux-Devtek to supply main and nose landing gear uplocks and downlock release actuators on the Embraer Legacy 450 and 500, but works directly with Embraer to supply various wheel and brake, secondary flight control and door control applications on the Phenom 100 and 300. Other recent contract awards include supplying the master brake cylinders on the Pilatus PC-24 twinjet and the brake control system for the Bell 525 Relentless helicopter.

Rather than resting on the laurels of its successes, however, Tactair continues to develop new ideas. Yates says the company is working on a new landing gear extension/retraction system that replaces some hydraulics with electromechanical components to increase safety and reliability.

“There are some definite advantages to bringing electromechanical systems into the [landing gear system],” he said, “so we’re working on an electromechanical free-fall system where the gear is normally raised and lowered hydraulically, but in an emergency the gear would be released electromechanically. It simplifies the rigging of the aircraft and should make the aircraft lighter.”

According to Yates, about 50 percent of Tactair’s revenue is tied to supplying components for business and regional aircraft, while the other 50 percent comes from military contracts.

In addition to a recent award to supply emergency parking brake valves on the Embraer A-20 Super Tucano light air support aircraft, Tactair hardware can be found on the M1-A1 Abrams tank, KC-135R Stratotanker and Beechcraft T-6 Texan II trainer. o

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The flight deck you see in your future could be the one you’re flying right now. All it needs is a little assistance from our G600 flight displays and GTN™ 750/650 series touchscreen avionics. Drawing on thousands of Garmin glass installations, backed by millions of flight hours, this versatile suite offers full WAAS LPV approach capability down to 200’ minimums in more airports, as well as standard SVT™ 3-D synthetic vision that lets you see clearly even in solid IFR or nighttime conditions. Options include Doppler-enhanced onboard radar; advanced autopilot interfaces; worldwide weather links, voice calling, text messaging, and more. There’s even a GTN Trainer app that lets you simulate a GTN on your iPad®1.

To learn more, stop by our NBAA Booth (#C9843). Or visit our website: Garmin.com/aviation

©2013 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries 1

GTN Trainer app available through the Apple App Store.

GTN/G600

LABACE show scores a home run Organizers of the Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (Booth No. N423) are here on the heels of a successful 2013 show in São Paulo, Brazil, and

promoting LABACE 2014 as “the biggest and best yet.”

This year’s sold-out event gathered 180 exhibitors, which might have been more if a large number of participants from LABACE

2012 had not chosen to expand the size of their exhibits this year.

The static display was crowded nose-to-tail with 68 aircraft, from piston-engine singles to the ultra-large-cabin Lineage 1000

KIRBY J. HARRISON

by Kirby J. Harrison

Packed to capacity, the static display at Congonhas Airport boasted 68 aircraft, ranging from piston singles to Embraer’s ultra-large-cabin Lineage 1000 business jet.

business jet from Embraer. Like the interior exhibits, the number of aircraft was slightly reduced to accommodate the greater number of larger business jets.

LABACE organizer ABAG (Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral or General Aviation Association of Brazil) had expected to exceed last year’s record 16,722 attendees, but two straight days of rain and cold weather reduced the first two days’ attendance numbers to 2,766 and 4,147, respectively. With sunshine and warmer weather on the last day, 6,910 visitors came through the gates, leaving the total 2,899 short of a record attendance.

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52 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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ABAG took advantage of the opening general session of this year’s show to focus on business aviation’s growing need for greater access to the nation’s airports and to praise the government for growing recognition of the economic contributions of the industry.

Chairman Eduardo Marson lauded civil aviation minister Moeira Franco for championing the association in the face of recent moves to usurp the long-standing occupancy of key airport locations by charter operators, maintenance providers and other general aviation users. “He received us in his office with his team and accepted a joint statement signed

by ABAG and air-taxi syndicate SNETA,” said Marson.

LABACE is, for the most part, a business-to-business show, and the real economic impact does not reveal itself in the number of aircraft sales reported during the event, but rather in business it generates throughout the following year.

According to ABAG, business resulting from the 2013 show will likely exceed $500 million.

Despite limited space at the current venue, ABAG expects LABACE 2014–August 12-14– will again be held at São Paulo’s Congonhas Airport. At its NBAA booth, the association is offering free copies of its 3rd Annual Yearbook of Brazilian General Aviation in both English and Portuguese. o

We’re not just innovating in-flight connectivity.

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raced boldly ahead. See how Aircell has once again enhanced and expanded what’s possible in the air.

Explore what’s new at booth C11243.

5 new ways to kick your connectivity into high gear. aircell.com | connect@aircell.com

© 2013 Aircell

uContinued from page 6

necessary to these new conditions, our overall strategy hasn’t changed much since the market collapse,” Frigge said. “Hartzell strives to win every new OEM program. We made the decision

to continue investment in those programs, even when there weren’t many new OEM programs out there, as well as serve the existing customer base. We still stock blades and parts for most legacy props, and we’ve made inroads with our Top Prop conversion program as well.

“We’re at the beginning stages of recovery,” he added.

“Any improvement we’ve seen so far has been pretty modest, though we have more projects in the works now than we’ve ever had before. Our R&D and engineering staff is jammed with project work, so it’s evident that OEMs are becoming more bullish in bringing new designs to market.”

Frigge is quick to add that

does not mean the company has not felt some impact from the economic downturn. “We’ve experienced similar headwinds that OEMs have seen, thanks in part to a huge inflow of used aircraft on the market,” he noted.

“Owners looking to maintain their older planes are replacing a blade or two in order to squeeze one more inspection cycle, rather

Hartzell Propeller

Hartzell new opportunities

An increased international presence has created strong sales for Hartzell Aerospace this year.

The Antidote to Rush Hour in L.A.

than investing in a complete blade replacement. We’ve also seen a softening in the aftermarket, since dollars are tight.”

When asked to look towards the next significant advancement in propeller technology, Frigge readily admits he does not know what the next wave will look like, though continued development will be key.

“I definitely believe we will continue to optimize performance,” he added. “The materials in our stable now are better than anyone else’s in the industry, and that allows us to cater each propeller specifically for the most important aspects for each application.”

The NBAA show offers Hartzell an important opportunity for the company to meet with its customers from across the globe. “Here in Las Vegas, we may connect with our OEMs and make sure we’re showcasing our latest and greatest technologies,” Frigge added. “Having everyone in one central location for the week allows us to conduct working meetings with our OEMs, as just one more step to ensure our shared projects continue moving forward.

“When it comes to our newest offerings on the latest in certified aircraft, we don’t want to be the one holding up the process,” Frigge concluded. o

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54 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

5/9/12 10:06 AM

Dassault Falcon announced two new appointments within its customer service organization. Geoff Chick has been appointed to the position of vice president of customer service, where he will oversee the customer experience in the western hemisphere. Chick previously was senior director of customer service. Bob Sundin, formerly senior vice president and COO at Dassault Aircraft Services, has been appointed president of the DAS company-owned service center network. Both Sundin and Chick will report to Carlos Brana, senior vice president of Teterboro operations. n

by Curt Epstein Fuel management software provider FuelerLinx is here at the NBAA show to announce the debut of sister company FBOlinx, which now allows FBOs to broadcast their fuel prices to their flight department customer base. As opposed to posting a uniform price online and waiting for customers to contact them, using the new system, FBOs can send confidential quotes directly to their customers. Prices can be exclusively tailored to meet a flight department’s fuel-use profile for a more streamlined and personalized process.

“This is targeted at FBOs that aren’t necessarily represented by contract fuel,” said FuelerLinx vice president Suzanne Moller.

“They are not showing up in the FuelerLinx system, which works with all the major contract fuel vendors. This is a chance for individuals to quote our customer base directly.”

Using a secure web link, FBOs that subscribe to the service (at a monthly cost of $89) can update direct volume pricing in FuelerLinx, manage their contract fuel pricing relationships, track dispatches and mass broadcast unique pricing to base tenants as well as transient customers with a click of a button.

“The real value and what’s different from putting posted retail pricing on a webpage, is FBOs are very protective of their pricing structures to flight departments,” Moller told AIN. “They might give a discounted deal to one flight department that does a lot of volume and with another flight department they might have a higher margin of profit, so they really don’t want to reveal their cost values or the retail values that they are quoting individually.” According to Moller, there is no other system that will allow individual FBOs to securely broadcast their specific tailored pricing to individual customers. The communication is not limited just to FuelerLinx subscribers. When an FBO subscribes to FBOlinx, it can access the FuelerLinx subscriber base and categorize those customers according to margin and volume price breaks, which will be available for them to view through the system. The software also allows providers to add and categorize their based and transient clients as well.

As a show promotion, customers who visit the FuelerLinx booth (No. C10535) and commit to an annual subscription will receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 tablet device. o

Six General Electric H80-powered Thrush 510Gs now operate with China’s Beidahuang General Aviation Co., following delivery of the airplanes on September 6.

A subsidiary of state-owned Beidahuang Group, the company placed the largest single order for Thrush aircraft ever when it committed to 20 Thrush 510Gs in 2012. The Thrush 510G agricultural aircraft became the first aircraft to enter service powered by H80 engines in late 2012.

“We’re excited to receive this first batch of Thrush aircraft,” said Guo Qingcai, general manager of Beidahuang General Aviation Co. “These aircraft will become the backbone for our operation and we believe they will make lots of contributions in the future.”

Headquartered in Harbin, Beidahuang Group is the largest state-owned farming concern. In 1985 it established Beidahuang General Aviation Co., which claims to be the world’s largest agricultural and forestry aviation company. It operates a fleet of 54 aircraft.

“GE is proud to see the H80-powered Thrush 510G delivered to our first Chinese customer,” said Jim Stoker, president and managing executive of GE Aviation’s Business and General Aviation Turboprops (Booth No. N5500). “We are confident that the advanced material and technology of H80 engines will improve the productivity of Beidahuang General Aviation Company.”

Designed to operate without recurrent fuel-nozzle and hot-section inspections typical on other turboprops, the H80 family incorporates GE’s 3-D aerodynamic design and advanced materials. The engines offer a life of 3,600 flight hours or 6,600 cycles between overhauls. The H80 engine family also offers a standard auto start, as well as a choice of propeller governors to allow customers flexibility in propeller selection.

–G.P. GE’s H80, which incorporates the enginemaker’s 3-D aerodynamic design techniques and advanced materials, powers the six Thrush 510Gs now flying in China.

MATT THURBER

FBOlinx lets FBOs broadcast customized fuel prices to clients

GE-powered Thrush 510Gs flying in China

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 55

Jet Parts keeps legacy Falcon jets flying

by David A. Lombardo Jet Parts was recently named a Dassault classic authorized dealer, allowing the company to offer parts for legacy Falcon jets. “We’re at NBAA [Booth No. N5909] not only to

maintain existing relationships but also to meet new operators and explain the benefits of using Jet Parts services to help improve operating costs,” said Danny Suber, vice president of

sales and marketing. “Now as a classic Dassault dealer, we are able to offer OEM quality parts at a discount.”

Jet Parts is one of three companies that have been named in As a Dassault classic authorized dealer Jet Parts can offer OEM-quality parts for legacy Falcon jets at a discount.

Dassault Falcon’s classic authorized dealer program. Bob Fantozzi, senior manager of Dassault Falcon Spares, said the OEM is focused on ensuring the satisfaction of operators that fly the legacy Falcon 10, 20 and 50. The program is designed to increase parts availability while decreasing costs.

According to Suber, Boca Raton, Fla.-based Jet Parts not only buys factory new parts from aircraft manufacturers but also purchases excess inventory from corporate flight departments. When a flight department acquires a new aircraft or closes its doors, JPI purchases excess inventory and then invests money to bring the parts back up to OEM specs (overhauled or repaired). JPI’s $35 million inventory includes airframe parts, hydraulic systems, avionics, wheels, brakes and engine components.

Suber sees the parts business at a crossroads. “Many operators focus so much on pricing that they forget the big picture, which is safety and quality. We look to form a relationship with clients who care about those two factors. I wouldn’t get on an airplane knowing that the parts were purchased from the cheapest bidder. That is what differentiates our clientele and us. We are not the cheapest, but in the long run we will help clients not only maintain the value of their aircraft, but also maintain pedigreed parts on that aircraft as well.”

Suber added, “Our core business is dealing in OEM-certified parts that have an FAA 8130 tag so we know it’s been overhauled to OEM specifications. It’s a good investment; our customers find that we can provide them with OEM-quality parts while saving an average of 30 percent or more off the original OEM price.” o

56 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Raisbeck’s new blades improve C90’s efficiency

Winglets from BLR are part of its Ultimate Performance Package for the King Air 90 series. It delivers up to 35 percent better runway performance for Part 91.

by Chad Trautvetter Raisbeck Engineering (Booth No. C7326) is highlighting its new swept-blade propellers for all King Air C90-series turboprop twins here at NBAA 2013. Deliveries of the blades, which sweep on both the leading and trailing edges, will begin in January. Raisbeck has been delivering swept blades for the King Air 200 series since the beginning of this year.

Blade quarter-chord sweep on the King Air 90-series propellers has been increased to 30 degrees at its outer diameter and the diameter has been lengthened by six inches, to 96 inches.

These changes are so stark that Raisbeck said the new blades are the “most visible” of the King Air improvements it has done over the past 31 years.

Besides its visual appeal, the propeller blade sweep allows the increase in diameter while simultaneously reducing noise and improving thrust and efficiency.

According to Raisbeck, cabin noise levels have been reduced on the C90GTx by 1.6 dBA to 74.6 dBA with the new propellers.

Meanwhile, at a mtow of 10,500 pounds, takeoff distance over a 50-foot obstacle is 2,150 feet flaps-up, an 850-foot reduction from the stock C90GTx. Landing distance over a 50-foot obstacle is similarly reduced by 360 feet to 2,120 feet at maximum landing weight without propeller reverse; with reverse, it is only 1,580 feet.

Raisbeck is also showcasing a prototype of its 28-cu-ft aftfuselage locker for the Learjet 60 at its NBAA booth. Currently in development and expected to be certified early next year, the modification adds up to 300 pounds of extra cargo capacity without any performance penalties. The space is large enough to carry full-size golf bags and large luggage outside of the cabin, Raisbeck said o

Approval due on BLR winglet for King Air 90

by R. Randall Padfield BLR Aerospace (Booth No. C7034), announced here at NBAA that it expects supplemental type certificate (STC) approval soon for a King Air 90 Ultimate Performance Package, which will allow operators to realize the full potential benefits that BLR’s winglets can offer in operating efficiency. Approval

was delayed by the U.S. government shutdown and furlough of non-essential FAA employees.

The STC, which would apply to the King Air 90’s flight manual supplement, will permit operators to take advantage of the performance improvements provided by the winglets, said Dave Marone, v-p of sales and marketing at BLR.

These improvements include up to a 35-percent reduction in runway length requirements for Part 91 operations; up to 27-percent reduction in the same for Part 135 operations; and useful load increases of up to 1,500 pounds when operating on short fields.

The Ultimate Performance Package for the King Air 90 “will provide access to more runways, increase the margin of safety, provide practical access to higher flight levels, increase climb rate and improve virtually every aspect of King Air 90 flight,” said BLR. BLR recently delivered its 600th winglet system, which are approved for the Beechcraft King Air 90, 200 and 300 models.

The 600th winglet system, fitted to a King Air 200 GT, was delivered to Bssx Administradora e Participacoes of São Paulo, Brazil. “My client needs to land on short fields and wanted a better margin of safety,” said Alex Fischetti, who brokered the sale.

He is director of aircraft sales for Aircraft Sales of Brazil. o

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 57

ROGER A. MOLA

NBAA president Ed Bolen took the fight for business aviation to the front door of the Capitol. Bolen made the case that business aviation–more strictly regulated than any other GA segment–suffered disproportionately from the shutdown.

Governmental gridlock deeply disrupted GA

by Chad Trautvetter and Roger A. Mola

ROGER A. MOLA

While the U.S. Congress passed legislation on October 16 that put an end to the 16-day government shutdown, getting agencies such as the FAA fully back up to speed will likely take weeks– adding to the adverse impact widely felt within the general aviation community and beyond.

“While the agreement reached does reopen the government, it may be some time before services at the FAA and other agencies are fully restored to pre-shutdown effectiveness,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

Still, NBAA and other aviation alphabet groups were relieved the episode finally came to an end and that FAA services halted during the shutdown, especially those for aircraft registration and title search, have

resumed. While air traffic control functions were deemed essential and thus not affected during the shutdown, manufacturing and modernization efforts were stopped, as were aeromedical case reviews and import/export of aircraft. Overall, about 15,500 of the FAA’s 46,000 employees were furloughed during the shutdown.

Notably, the closure of the FAA aircraft registry in Oklahoma City paralyzed both new and pre-owned aircraft sales transactions. According to GAMA, some 150 new aircraft sales transactions worth $1.9 billion were stalled by the office’s closure. In addition, the National Aircraft Resale Association was unable to estimate how many pre-owned aircraft sales transactions were affected.

The aviation associations pushed to get the FAA to recognize aircraft registrations as an essential service, sending joint letters to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. On October 10, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association assembled a small but boisterous rally on the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol, in an attempt to get their message across to members of Congress.

At the rally, colleagues from NBAA, ALPA, GAMA, NATA, AAAE and the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists called on Congress to end the furlough of thousands of safety inspectors, because operating with a skeleton staff was “eliminating critical layers of redundancy and safety.” NBAA’s Bolen explained that business aviation is subject to more federal regulation than other industries and thus suffered disproportionate harm from the shutdown.

A week later–on October 17–all FAA and other federal employees were back at work, though the shutdown’s effects will linger. In an October 18 internal FAA memo, Aircraft Registration Branch manager Walter Binkley told employees that the “Registry will take a few weeks to fully recover from the effects of the furlough. During this recovery period, our ability to process documents, including priorities such as imports and exports, will be extremely limited.”

NATA also pledged to help the FAA get the aircraft registry back up to speed. “NATA will continue to work with our members, industry colleagues and the FAA to help the agency prioritize its aircraft registry backlog so we can reduce the impact on aviation businesses as much and as soon as possible,” said NATA president and CEO Thomas Hendricks. “By working together we can and will get the general aviation industry moving again.” o

FAA air traffic controllers were not furloughed as part of the 16-day government shutdown, but they showed up on Capitol Hill to protest the congressional gridlock on October 10. In all, some 15,500 FAA employees were idled by the shutdown, including employees at the registration office in Oklahoma City, bringing aircraft transactions to a standstill.

58 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

First-person account of registry shutdown woes

by Amy Laboda Janine Iannarelli, president of Par Avion aircraft consulting, based in Houston, Texas, has weathered the storm, but after 16 days with international deals on hold she wasn’t excited by the solutions the U.S. Congress and executive branch came up with to deal with its debt and budget problems.

The way Iannarelli tells it, when the FAA aircraft registry shut down, sales deals shut down with it. “New aircraft couldn’t be delivered and any transactions that needed the registry basically had to wait,” she explained to AIN. And now that things have restarted? “I saw the circular distributed by the government right after the restart and it said that all the mail, faxes, etc. received during the shutdown will be marked as having been received October 17. They don’t know what else to do. They will treat it in the order in which it was received, it said.”

For Par Avion, which specializes in overseas sales and acquisitions, the shutdown meant aircraft waiting for N-numbers for importation were delayed.

“Now that things are restarting I am noticing some prioritization.

The international transaction I have will close about five days after the restart, according to my escrow agent,” she said. But it’s too late for some of the interior and paint work that was scheduled for the aircraft. It all must be rescheduled, and some might have to be done at other shops, because of scheduling conflicts.

“Those are the unseen costs,” explained Iannarelli. “For those shops, that work was, well, perishable. When the aircraft couldn’t show up, maybe they were able to fill the slot, maybe they weren’t.

And if they weren’t, then that time, and the money, is gone now.” In the case of her deal three vendors were impacted, losing work booked weeks in advance.

And the question remains: what happens in three months?

Will we be back in the same circumstances? And how can aircraft brokers plan for it?

Iannarelli has started by inserting new language into her letters of intent, which typically have stated dates by which deals should be closed and consequences if those dates are missed.

“We basically state that if, in the

event of delays such as a government shutdown, beyond all parties’ control, these delays are not to impact the deal,” she said.

“Our buyers are very willing to say that they are committed to the transaction, even if it goes past the expected cut-off date.”

Beyond contract language Iannarelli is working to get Par Avion’s deals closed before the next deadline, in February. “I’m

Janine Iannarelli, president, Par Avion aircraft consulting

not fear-mongering, but I’m honestly concerned,” she said.

“Communication is key in an unusual situation, beyond your control. You’ve got to keep a dialogue open with everyone who is involved in the transaction. And as far as my business?

We’ve stepped up marketing to help get deals closed before the end of the quarter, for tax reasons, and because aircraft values reset on January 1 every year. It will just be better for everyone if the deals can be transacted by December 31.”

Iannarelli, who is a longtime member of both Women in Aviation, International (Booth No. C10939) and NBAA, will be available at the WAI booth today from 2 to 3 p.m. to share insights into aircraft consulting and guidance for others seeking to advance their business aviation careers. o

AML showcasing its wireless device charger

by Kim Rosenlof Tired of having your smartphone or tablet run out of battery during long flights? Stop in at Booth No. C11948 where Dallas-based Aviation Modification Leaders (AML) is showcasing its new line of wireless personal electronic device (PED) chargers for the aviation market.

Scheduled to be available in first quarter 2014 for STC/ PMA forward fit or retrofit on the Bombardier Global series, AML’s wireless PED chargers use the Leggett & Platt (L&P) Automotive Group’s Helios inductive wireless charging (IWC) ­technology. According to AML president and CEO Mark Lange, L&P’s Helios technology recognizes the device to be charged, adjusts the charge level and rate and adapts for an optimum charging power transfer rate.

“The IWC product talks to the PED and will shut off the charging circuit once the phone

is at full charge,” Lange said.

“This will prevent overcharging the PED battery.”

Initially the AML-L&P PED chargers will natively work with all smartphones except those running Apple’s iOS. Tablets and Apple iOS smartphones must currently use an AML-designed

Aviation Modification Leaders is certifying a wireless charging system for personal electronic devices.

charging sleeve, although Lange says his company is working with Apple on enabling use of the Helios IWC technology.

The AML-L&P devices comply with Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) Qi standards

used by more than 140 global PED manufacturers and use standard 28V DC input voltage. Initially the STC will allow cabin installation only, such as embedded horizontally within a conference table or vertically in a side rail. Lange said the company plans to expand the product line, offering a “cupholder” version for phones and a pocket sleeve for tablets in the near future. AML is discussing cockpit installation with the FAA for versions released in the more distant future.

“We haven’t broached the conversation about wireless charging in the cockpit yet. We’ve been pursuing certification as a cabin solution only,” said Lange. “But with some of the smaller Part 23 airplanes, such as the Cirrus, the cockpit is the cabin. So that’s likely where we’re going to start the [cockpit] conversation.”

Lange said he’s actively searching for customers interested in obtaining STCs for the AMLL&P chargers on their aircraft.

He’s already been approached by customers who want to install the technology on a Boeing Business Jet, Diamond airplanes and the Pilatus PC-12. o

Hartzell alternator selected for Cirrus Jet Hartzell Engine Technologies (Booth No. C7630) has been selected to supply the alternator for the $1.96 million Cirrus Aircraft SF50 Vision single-engine personal jet. Hartzell will provide its 140amp ES-6904 model for the aircraft.

Hartzell Engine president Mike Disbrow said the company worked closely with Cirrus and engine maker Williams International “to meet the electrical power requirements of the SF50’s systems and advanced avionics.” Williams is providing its 1,800-pound thrust FJ33-5A engine for the jet.

Hartzell said the new alternator is approximately eight pounds lighter than a starter-generator with comparable electrical output; has a low-current slip ring and a quick access mounting clamp that reduce maintenance costs; is equipped with an integrated cooling fan; and is designed with an isolated current return path to protect engine bearings.

This past summer, Cirrus revealed more details of the revised SF50 jet including design changes–such as a longer nose and a higher loft compared to the non-conforming prototype that it has been flying since 2008.

A conforming aircraft is expected to make its first flight next year and Cirrus is aiming for certification in 2015. Range is estimated at 1,000 nm at 300 knots; and 1,200 nm at 210 knots. The five-plus-two occupant layout is retained but options such as weather radar, a “relief station” and upgraded leathers have been added.

Cirrus is already beginning to gear up for production by adding factory robotics and a fuselage lay-up mold for the all-composite aircraft.

The company has received deposits for more than 500 SF50s so far.

Hartzell currently provides the alternator for the Cirrus SR22 single engine piston aircraft. Hartzell Engine Technologies is the sister company of Hartzell Propeller and provides cabin heating systems, turbochargers, alternators and fuel pumps.

–M.H.

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 59

MARK WAGNER

Pilatus impressed the crowds at last spring’s EBACE show in Geneva with this mockup of its PC-24 jet. Now, it’s NBAA’s turn.

Pilatus PC-24 mockup makes NBAA debut

by Mark Huber Pilatus Business Aircraft is displaying a mock-up of its twinjet PC-24, announced earlier this year at EBACE, here at its NBAA booth (No. C12216) near the indoor static display.

A prototype is currently under construction and is expected to fly late next year, and certification and first customer deliveries are anticipated in 2017.

Three aircraft will be used in the flight test program.

The PC-24 combines lightjet operating economics with super-midsize jet capabilities and comfort and is aimed at more conventional offerings from Cessna and Embraer.

Like the company’s PC-12 single-engine turboprop, the PC-24 retains an aft cargo door, which

on the jet measures 4.1 feet wide and 4.25 feet tall.

The PC-24 has the capability to operate from unpaved and unimproved fields–as short as 2,690 feet at an mtow of 17,650 pounds. Pilatus aims to have the 10-passenger, $8.9 million allmetal aircraft approved for single-pilot operations.

PC-24 power comes from a pair of Williams International FJ44-4A turbofans rated at 3,435 pounds of thrust each.

The engines have some special features, including automatic thrust reserve, passive thrustvectoring nozzles, quiet power mode in place of an APU to provide ground power, integral pre-cooler to condition bleed air and reduce drag losses

and an anti-ice and noise-suppressing inlet. They have a 5,000-hour TBO and a hot section time of 2,500 hours. The engines help propel the PC-24 to FL450 in less than 30 minutes and achieve a high-speed cruise speed of 425 ktas at FL300. Range with four passengers is 1,950 nm, and at mtow the maximum payload is 2,500 pounds.

Up front, the customized avionics suite dubbed “Pace” (Pilatus Advanced Cockpit Environment) is based on the Honeywell Primus Apex system.

In back, the passenger cabin provides more overall space than either the Cessna XLS+ or the Embraer Phenom 300 and has a flat floor. The aircraft will come with seven different interior options for layouts that include executive, commuter, combi and quick-change configurations as well as options for an externally serviced lavatory, either forward or aft, and galleys. o

Signature a ‘featured business’ on ForeFlight’s iPad directory

by Chad Trautvetter Signature Flight Support (Booth No. N3505) has signed up to be a featured business in the newly announced ForeFlight Directory, the FBO chain announced on Monday here at the NBAA show. The listing service enables airport and aviation businesses to engage users of iOS-based flight-planning app ForeFlight Mobile by including branding, artwork, photos and business and service descriptions in the entries.

Signature Flight Support’s network of FBOs is showcased in the directory with information on services, amenities and affiliations, making FBO selection

easier for customers, according to Signature. “Our customers are tech-savvy and looking for the best sources of flightplanning information and need it at their fingertips, and ForeFlight is one of the leading flight-planning tools,” said Signature president and CEO Maria Sastre.

“For pilots, FBO selection is one of the most important factors when planning a flight–and Signature is dedicated to providing world-class service that will round out that perfectly planned flight.”

Signature has also updated and refreshed its website to be optimized for smartphones, tablets and other mobile

60 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Cessna focuses developmental energies on its citation business jet models Between deliveries, aftermarket upgrades, maintenance expansions and prototypes, Cessna Aircraft Company (Booth No. C8843) has a lot to talk about concerning its current and upcoming Citation products during NBAA 2013.

“We have nearly finished with the Citation Latitude wing,” said Terry Shriner, business leader for the Latitude at Cessna. “The Garmin G5000 avionics will be a big step ahead on this aircraft, but customers are going to really appreciate the aircraft’s high-powered cooling system, stand-up flat floor cabin and electronically-operated door.” Engineers at Cessna are squeezing more from the aircraft, too. At the show Michael Thacker, senior vice president engineering, said that the aircraft’s target range has already increased 500 nm and cabin entertainment options have been upgraded as well. Cessna expects the Latitude prototype to fly in the first quarter of 2014.

The company announced that new Citation models coming off the production line are now being fitted with the Cessna Diagnostic Maintenance System (CDMS), which integrates event-driven and full-time data recording with display to the pilot on the multifunction display.

Citation service centers will offer the Aircraft Recording System II (Ares II), which can record thousands of flight parameters each second and download them wirelessly to Cessna’s internal network for analysis by service technicians, eliminating the need for time-consuming troubleshooting. “This system saves customers time and money and allows technicians to get right to the source of the issue, so we can get the Citation back to the owner quickly,” said Joe Hepburn, senior vice president of customer service for Cessna.

The Citation M2 is nearing its certification, with customer deliveries pending. The six-passenger M2 will be certified for single-pilot operation and its Garmin G3000 avionics include two touch-screen control panels.

On the aftermarket front, Cessna is offering an upgrade program for legacy Citation X aircraft that includes a new paint scheme, new interior, new cabin management system and enhanced connectivity, as well as Honeywell Primus Elite avionics in the cockpit to help make the aircraft compliant with NextGen requirements, including ADS-B out.

Through a supplemental type certificate Citation service centers will also be offering winglets for legacy Sovereigns in 2014 to enhance the aircraft’s range, useful load, fuel economy and hot/high performance in specific flight regimes. The prototype winglet-equipped legacy Sovereign flew last week, according to company sources.

Finally, on the maintenance front, Cessna is expanding its mobile service capabilities. A new service vehicle was stationed in Chicago, Ill., October 1 and an additional full-time mechanic was added to its Houston, Texas, roster. “We know on-site maintenance is far more convenient for the customer. With 6,500 Cessna Citations in the world, we set the bar high and deliver,” said Hepburn. Beyond its mobile options for maintenance, of which there are now 22, there are 39 authorized Cessna service facilities, and Cessna owns and operates a worldwide network of 15 Citation service centers.

–A.L.

devices. It also includes enhanced capabilities and customer-facing features. “Our industry is increasingly looking to digital devices as their primary source of flight planning and support information,” Sastre noted. “With the responsive design of the site, any user with any device will be able to enjoy this new digital experience.”

In other news at the company, Signature has begun offering support services for the UK Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Earlier this year, the UK government extended this tax to include turbine aircraft with an mtow of 5.7 metric tons (12,569 pounds) or more.

The regulations, which require operators to register and account for APD within seven days of the flight, applies to aircraft that take off from the UK carrying passengers. To assist customers with compliance, Signature has developed a dedicated service for the administrative representation of the UK APD. o

ForeFlight Mobile’s new ForeFlight Directory (in ForeFlight’s iPad app) includes featured FBOs such as Signature Flight Support.

The fairness of FAA funding

by Mark Huber The debate rages on.

Should general aviation pay more toward the cost of the nation’s air traffic control system, especially if it would hasten the implementation of the NextGen air traffic control (ATC) system and depoliticize FAA funding? If so, is the current system of fuel and excise taxes the best way to do it?

Historically, the airline lobby has pressed policymakers to implement higher fees on general aviation (GA), claiming the industry does not pay its fair share. The official policy of GA, as espoused by the NBAA and others, has and continues to be that the current aviation fuel tax system is the fairest and most efficient way to collect GA’s contribution to ATC, even if that tax needs to be increased. The tax on jet-A currently amounts to 21.9 cents per gallon.

GA lobby groups have fought vociferously against any attempt to impose user fees, such as the $25 segment charge on turbine aircraft unsuccessfully proposed in 2008 to fund ATC modernization. Since then, the rhetoric from the leaders of some GA groups has hardened in the face of what is perceived as an increasing threat on an industry in a fragile economic recovery.

In August, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, addressing the user fee threat, warned a forum audience at EAA AirVenture: “The ability to tax is the ability to destroy.” In September, the NBAA announced that the House of Representatives General Aviation Caucus had grown to a majority of all members, giving GA added clout in any future user fee fight.

Aviation fuel taxes currently imposed on GA raise $622 million annually, according to the FAA. The FAA also collects a 7.5-percent excise tax on Part 135 passengers and a 6.25-percent excise tax on airfreight. The FAA currently collects $11.44 billion annually for airline passenger ticket, freight and international departure taxes.

Approximately 74 percent of the total $15 billion FAA budget, or about $11.18 billion (people and facilities), is used for ATC. The remainder of the FAA budget is used for regulation, safety oversight, research-and-development and compliance activities.

All fees and taxes due the

FAA are deposited in the Aviation and Airways Trust Fund (AATF). Proceeds from the trust are supposed to fund all FAA activities, including the Airports Improvement Program (AIP). However, in recent years, proceeds from the AATF have been insufficient to fund the entire FAA budget, and a historical annual shortfall of $2 to $3 billion has been appropriated by the Congress, which must approve the entire FAA budget, regardless of the funding source. Recent shortfalls largely have been associated with the cost of developing and deploying NextGen ATC technologies.

GA’s Fair Share

Given these numbers, does GA pay its fair share of the ATC burden? The Department of Transportation Inspector General’s (IG) office attempted to determine that in a 2008 study. (“Use of the National Air Space System,” CR-2008-028) The IG found that GA used approximately 16 percent of all ATC services but contributed only 3 percent of the costs, findings that were roundly criticized by the NBAA and others.

Specifically, the IG found that “non-carrier” operations accounted for 59 percent of tower operations, 49 percent of terminal radar control (Tracon) operations and 17 percent of en route miles flown. The IG found that noncarrier jet operations accounted for 12 percent of tower services, 13 percent of Tracon services and 11 percent of en route operations.

Towers and Tracons account for more than half of all FAA costs.

The IG further found that during peak hour periods non-carriers accounted for 20 to 30 percent of all IFR approaches in the New York Tracon, 28 percent in Atlanta and 18 to 23 percent in Cleveland.

Eliminating all other sources of revenue and using the fuel tax to pay for ATC indiscriminately would level the playing field somewhat, but GA would pay more. According to a statistical sampling performed by the IG, universally applying the fuel tax would result in air carriers paying 96.9 percent of the ATC burden while operating 92.3 percent of the flights, while non-carriers, with 7.7 percent of all flights, would see their share of the burden increase from 1.2 percent to 3.1 percent, or an increase of about 35 cents a gallon in fuel

taxes to 57 cents a gallon. That would be mitigated somewhat by undetermined cost savings associated with the elimination of record keeping now required for compliance with passenger and freight excise taxes.

Canadian System

Another means of leveling the playing field would be to switch to a Canadian-style system that assesses ATC based on aircraft weight and time in the system. This solution is espoused by several leading aviation analysts, including the Reason Foundation’s Robert Poole.

Poole maintains that even with a representative increase in the fuel tax, GA would still be proportionately underfunding the FAA budget because GA fuel tax revenues are used in support of the AIP, and that a large share of that allocation benefits GA-only airports. “Something like a billion dollars a year out of the $3.5 billion annual AIP expenditures are spent on airports that do not have commercial service,” he noted.

Poole has concluded, after studying the Canadian and European systems, that it would be unreasonable to try to collect a proportional share of the ATC system costs from GA. “Nobody actually does that,” he said. “As a practical matter that isn’t going to happen. Even if we did shift to a higher fuel tax or direct fees and charges like Canada uses, they would not provide full cost recovery, but they would be more, certainly. But it wouldn’t be a ‘blip is a blip’ [on the radar] concept that the airlines were fighting for in 2007 in the war they waged against business jets.

The Canadian system uses a terminal charge and an en route charge, and the en route charge is based on miles and gross takeoff weight. Putting weight into the equation scales the system.

Piston airplanes like a small Cessna don’t pay any en route or terminal charges at all, just a small annual fee that is less than they would pay in fuel taxes in the U.S. Canada and most of the rest of the world understand that you don’t want to put anyone out of business and make flying unaffordable.”

Poole said the debate comes down to whether it is better to have direct fees or taxes. “Any tax legally goes into the federal

Aviation fuel taxes imposed on general aviation raise $622 million annually, according to the FAA. General aviation lobby groups believe that the aviation fuel tax is the fairest and most efficient way to collect GA’s contribution to air traffic control system costs.

treasury and the money can be spent only when Congress writes an appropriations bill, or it can be misappropriated. And that is why there is this extended conversation going on in Washington now among the various stakeholder groups in GA and the airlines about fee-for-service structures, where fees are provided directly to the service provider like Nav Canada, and they are not at all part of the government budget or political process.

They are not subject to budget cuts. The aviation trust fund [AATF] was supposed to do that, but the system has really broken down.”

Poole thinks the current methods by which the FAA

gathers revenues–passenger taxes, fuel taxes, excise taxes, waybills, trust fund investments and general appropriations–is “overly convoluted.”

However, he did admit that imposing the Nav Canada structure on U.S. GA would increase flight costs as compared to the fuel tax system currently in place. “It’s definitely an increase.

It’s not more than double, but it is considerable.”

Yet if those increased fees were used to fund a more efficient ATC system, Poole maintains that operators would quickly break even, “if you could reduce flying hours by three to five percent thanks to more efficient routing or fewer holds.” o

American Aero FBO helps support Navy Seals Fort Worth, Texas-based FBO American Aero announced a charity partnership initiative here at the NBAA show that will allow its fuel customers who are eligible for discounts to opt to assign to the Navy Seal Foundation 10 cents (of each gallon price) of their allotted discount rate. The donation is made through American Aero, but in the customer’s name. The program, dubbed “Red, White and Blue,” is in place at American Aero’s Meacham International Airport location. It began at the opening of the NBAA show and continues indefinitely.

The Navy Seal Foundation was formed in 2000 and provides immediate and ongoing support to all U.S. Navy Seals, special warfare combatant-craft crewmen and Naval Special Warfare support personnel along with their spouses and families. The foundation provides services to both active-duty personnel and veterans in three key areas: family services and command support, educational programs and legacy activities.

“American Aero is proud to support the important work of the Navy Seal Foundation and we are delighted to offer our customers an opportunity to do so as well,” said company vice president of operations Bob Agostino.

Earlier this year, American Aero (Booth No. N3505) joined the Signature Select affiliate program, as an extension of the Signature Flight Support network, offering the benefits of its Signature Status and TailWinds customer loyalty programs. Currently operating out of an interim facility at Meacham airport, the first phase of construction on its FBO complex includes a 31,200-sq-ft hangar, in addition to the recently renovated historic Hangar 11N, and is expected to be completed in May. –C.E.

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 60A

In celebration of the MU-2’s 50th anniversary aircraft owner Mike Laver and Mike Collins, an AOPA magazine staffer, flew Laver’s MU-2 around the world from Frederick, Md. Upon arrival in Nagoya, Japan, the pair was greeted by Mitsubishi employees, media and the public.

MU-2 owner completes world trip

by Matt Thurber Fifty years ago, on Sept. 14, 1963, a pair of test pilots for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries pushed the power levers forward and a uniquely designed twinengine turboprop raced down the runway then lifted into the sky. Powered by two Turbomeca Astazou turboshafts, the XMU2, as the prototype was named, spawned the production version Garrett 331-powered MU-2 family, of which about 290 are still successfully flying worldwide.

One of those airplanes is the personal steed of MU-2 expert Mike Laver, founder and owner of Air 1st Aviation, which specializes in MU-2 sales and operations. Air 1st also includes Carolina Turbine Support, an authorized MU-2 service center, and the Aiken Aviation Enterprises FBO. On August 25, Laver, accompanied by AOPA magazine staffer Mike Collins, who shot video and photos during the trip, departed in his 1973 MU-2K (N50ET) from his company’s headquarters in Aiken, S.C. The plan was to land in Nagoya a day ahead of festivities heralding the first flight of the XMU-2 50 years ago.

The round-the-world trip, Laver said, “was a personal desire.” After delivering MU-2s all over the world during the past 30 years, he had never done a circumnavigation. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for several years in the MU-2. The timing came because of the 50th anniversary of the first flight.”

Laver’s MU-2K wasn’t modified to carry additional fuel beyond its standard load.

The airplane has been modified over the years and now is powered by more efficient and

powerful Honeywell TPE33110 engines. The cockpit is equipped with Garmin G600 displays and GTN touchscreen navigators, SiriusXM weather and an HF radio.

World Fuel and its Baseops flight planning and handling provider helped Laver and Collins during the journey.

Laver’s blog about the trip is available at http://www.air1st. com/around-the-word-n50et/ around-the-world-blog.html, and Collins also blogged at http://blog. aopa.org/blog/?page_id=5288.

The Perfect Airplane

The 25-day trip took the two pilots from South Carolina to Goose Bay in Canada, where they crossed the ocean to Narsarsuaq on the southern tip of Greenland then to Reykjavik, Iceland. From Europe, Laver and Collins traveled to Salzburg, Austria, to visit the famed Red Bull museum, then through Turkey, over Iraq into Kuwait.

Other stops included Oman, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia before the MU-2 landed in Laver’s homeland, Australia, where he began flying about 30 years ago.

The trip continued back to Indonesia, then the Philippines where the duo waited for the right weather window to arrive in Nagoya, via Taiwan, on September 13. After the first-flight anniversary celebrations, they flew on to Russia and Alaska then across Canada back to the continental U.S. and home.

Before departing on the trip, long-time MU-2 pilot Pat Cannon, president of MU-2 support provider Turbine Aircraft Services (Booth No. C7028), commented, “This is a tremendous

undertaking for Mike and a very well recognized undertaking in the MU-2 community. The significance is the fiftieth anniversary of this airframe, an aircraft that hasn’t been manufactured since early 1985 when the last one rolled off the assembly line.

And these doggone things are still flying, and not just flying but doing very, very well.”

Proof of that longevity was the MU-2’s performance during the journey. The trip from Frederick, Md., around the world to Frederick, where Laver picked up and dropped off Collins, covered 26,568 nm and took 98.1 flight hours. Average speed was 271 knots and the longest leg 1,232 nm (from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Minot, N.D.).

Laver admits to having some anxiety before departing about some of the long overwater legs planned for the MU-2. “I was always anxious about them,” he recalled. “But,” he added, “the airplane just took it in its stride and did so much better than I thought it would or could. I kind of amazed myself, getting the range out of it, knowing when it’s happy and on the step.

It was the perfect airplane.”

The MU-2 suffered zero breakdowns during the trip, and the only anomaly was a torque gauge that suffered a high reading after torrential rains in Palembang, Indonesia. Laver pulled the circuit breaker for the gauge, reset it, then all was fine. “Apart from that it was just amazing,” he said.

Warm Reception in Nagoya

In Nagoya, Laver wasn’t expecting a special reception, so he and Collins were surprised to see a crowd waving

60B NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Seminole gets 24 Hartzell volts Piper has selected Hartzell Engine Technologies to provide its I-series cabin heater and ES-series 24-volt/100-amp alternators as standard fit on new Garmin G1000-equipped Seminole piston-twin trainers.

“To support the electrical needs of the latest Piper Seminole’s advanced avionics and systems, Piper Aircraft chose to upgrade it to 24-volt capability,” said Hartzell Engine Technologies president Mike Disbrow.

“G1000-equipped Seminoles bring enhanced levels of pilot situational awareness and simplicity to the Seminole cockpit,” added Piper vice president of engineering Jack Mill. “By selecting Hartzell Engine Technologies components as standard equipment, we keep flightschool aviators comfortable and ensure the glass panel has all the electrical power required for traditional proven Seminole performance.”

Disbrow is confident that the alternator’s built-in noise-filtering technology will be especially beneficial to flight schools that operate the all-glass Seminoles: “With all the electronics in the Seminole, that seemingly small feature will make a huge impact on the comfort level for the students and instructors,” he said. “By helping to keep static out of their headsets, the filtering will be especially appreciated on long crosscountry flights.”

The FAA-TSOed I-series cabin heater has an Inconel combustion chamber that delivers better durability in extreme heat than ceramiccoated stainless steel, says Hartzell.

“While the Piper Seminole is the first general aviation OEM application for the new I-series heater, we have been using the Inconel technology for many years in our S-series cabin heaters, used on large military aircraft such as the Boeing Chinook,” Disbrow said. “While cabin comfort in colder climates is critical, another benefit to flight training operations is that the I-Series units feature a replaceable spark plug that has a built-in ground electrode to improve serviceability and reduce maintenance costs.”

Hartzell says that, in addition to the built-in noise filtering, the new ES-series belt-driven alternators deliver 42 percent more electrical power at engine cruise settings and through-flow cooling.

–N.M. Hartzell’s new ES-series alternators deliver 24 volts to G1000 avionics and other onboard systems.

Piper Seminole trainers are now equipped with 24-volt/100-amp Hartzell ES-series alternators, which also feature built-in noise filtering.

as they taxied to the ramp.

“I was doing this trip for my own reasons,” he said. “It was very overwhelming, the number of people waving flags, cheering, waving and bowing. It was wonderful. Once I got out of the airplane, and Mike followed me, there was a warm sincere welcome from all sorts of people. The press was there. A lot of people from Mitsubishi, and they were very interested that we had done that trip in support of their product. It was a very kind, very warm welcome.”

Their new friends gave Laver and Collins a tour of two aviation museums in Nagoya and of the Mitsubishi factory, then

took them to dinner. Laver was impressed to see a 1968 MU-2 in one of the museums. This was Mitsubishi’s corporate airplane, which had been retired just a year-and-half ago. “For an airplane to come from America to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first flight of their airplane meant a lot to them,” he said.

Overall, the MU-2 flight exceeded Laver’s expectations.

“I’ve done a lot of wonderful aviation trips,” he said, “and, boy, this one probably tops most of them.” o

“At Enterprise, business aviation allows us to visit three or four cities in a single day.�

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NBAA’s Top 10 Safety Focus Areas 1. Professionalism

by R. Randall Padfield this as “a good step toward The independent Flight keeping both of our orgaSafety Foundation (FSF) of nizations in tune with each Alexandria, Va., now has a other on the important member on the NBAA Safety safety issues.

Committee and NBAA plans “The relationship to appoint a member to the between NBAA and the FSF’s Business Advisory ComFlight Safety Foundation mittee, which addresses the [Booth No. N1416] has concerns and challenges of corbeen good in the past and porate and business aviation.

Peter Stein, chairman of the having permanent memBusiness Advisory Committee, bers on each others’ comis the foundation’s representamittees is going to move Kevin Hiatt tive on the Safety Committee. this to a higher level,” FSF president and CEO Hiatt told AIN. “In the NBAA has not yet announced who will be its representative on the past it was like working in a siloed environment, with a lot of organizations FSF committee.

While this may not seem like a big working on similar but almost the same deal, Kevin Hiatt, who became FSF pres- things. But now, with a member for ident and CEO in January, said he sees each group on the other’s committee, it Vis Bo it us oth at #N NBA 37 A 29

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will allow both groups to see and have an opinion about what the top issues are. That will allow both groups to concentrate and collaborate to help each other out in achieving the goals that are important to both.”

As an example, he mentioned NBAA’s Top 10 Safety Focus Areas (see box) and explained that the Flight Safety Foundation normally has about three main topics during different times of the year that it emphasizes.

“Actually, there are a lot more similarities than differences among the issues that the two organizations are now targeting,” Hiatt said. Referring to the list, he named only number-four–“Light Business Airplane Safety,” with its focus on small airplane skill sets, and number-seven, “Public Policy,” which has to do with the legislative decisions and policies affecting business aviation–as being the only two that are not of direct concern to many FSF members, who are more concerned about commercial airline operations.

Regarding public policy, Hiatt added, “While it has importance, particularly in the U.S., it is not something that affects the entire membership strata of the Flight Safety Foundation because we are an international organization and so we have to deal with different states all over the world, thinking about their issues, instead of just public policy here in the United States.”

It’s not that any of the items on the NBAA list are not important or that the FSF does not endorse NBAA’s work on all of them, he said, but rather that, “We have an international organization and

2. Safety culture 3. Airmanship skills 4. Light business airplane safety 5. Talent pipeline 6. Impact of technology 7. Public policy 8. Airport safety 9. Fatigue 10. Task saturation

we will look at the ones that we feel have a bit more importance and relevance to our members.” The Flight Safety Foundation, which was established in 1947, has more than 1,000 members (organizations and individuals) in 150 countries.

Go-arounds from unstable approaches, or rather the lack of go-arounds from them, is one of the top subjects on FSF’s current agenda. An FSF study, which was initiated by its European Advisory Committee, found that 97 percent of approaches are stabilized. However, of the 3 percent that were not stabilized, fully 96 percent do not result in go-arounds.

When asked how many of these unstabilized approaches should have resulted in go-arounds, Hiatt replied, “All of them.

They were unstabilized.”

He speaks from 35 years of aviation experience, including 26 years with Delta, and the rest with World Airways and Midwest, and in corporate aviation. At Delta he also served as flight safety coordinator and manager of line operations safety.

Here at NBAA 2013, Hiatt was one of the panelists on a session titled “The Perfect Storm: Continuing to Address the Business Aviation Talent Shortage,” on Tuesday.

And at the same time on Tuesday, Peter Stein, chairman of FSF’s Business Advisory Committee and the foundation’s representative on NBAA’s Safety Committee, participated in the NBAA Safety Town Hall Meeting, titled “Addressing Business Aviation’s Top Safety Challenges” (Room 240). o

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60D NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Jet Aviation Moscow has signed an agreement with Kazan-based Tulpar Interior Group to offer scheduled full interior refurbishment capabilities out of Jet Aviation’s maintenance facility at Moscow Vnukovo Airport. New services include: carpet replacement; minor repair or replacement of interior components; rejuvenation and protective coating of leather surfaces; fabrication of new seat upholstery; repair or replacement of coating or headlining on windows and other panels; and rectification of any decorative varnish defects on veneer and hardwood surfaces. “Our customers can now schedule interior modifications during planned maintenance checks, improving aircraft utilization,” said Vitely Aleksikov, general director of Jet Aviation Moscow. n

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Torn Ranch cures in-flight munchies with gourmet snacks Airline food is the butt of jokes, but the cuisine on business jets is haute. Even snacks need to be several cuts above what your local convenience store has to offer.

That’s where Torn Ranch comes in.

Located in Petaluma, Calif., Torn Ranch (Booth No. C7926) has been creating gourmet food and gifts for almost 40 years. At NBAA 2013, the company

is showing some of its latest offerings for private aircraft. These products include new dark chocolate, sea-salted caramels, milk-chocolate caramels and items in its corporate gifting line.

About 70 percent of Torn Ranch’s aviation customers are companies and private owners, some 15 percent are charter and fractional operators, 10 percent are FBOs

Torn Ranch offers a wide range of high-quality specialty foods.

and 5 percent are caterers, according to a company spokesperson. Regular customers include Beechcraft, Boeing, Bombardier, Cargill, Cessna, Dow Corning, Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream, he said.

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Torn Ranch has numerous popular items among its bizav customers. By category, these include: nuts, either roasted dry or in organic canola oil (jumbo cashews, almonds, pistachios and peanuts); trail mixes (berry blossom mix, spa mix, southwest mix, berry healthy mix); house-made baked goods (chocolate chip cookies, snappy ginger cookies, and double chocolate hand-rolled biscotti); and confections (caramel-almond popcorn, gummy bears, Swedish fish, jelly bellies and construction candy); and dried fruit (Turkish apricots and ruby-red plums).

Also popular for use on business aircraft are the company’s banquet bags.

“About five years ago we offered around 40 different options,” said Rich Shaffer, director of sales and marketing. “Today we have more than 80.”

Asked if Torn Ranch has had any particularly unusual (even wacky) orders from the bizav crowd, Shaffer said there are very few odd requests with snacks. “Customers know what we have and they ask for it,” he said. “But I fully expect a company to request all blue or all red jelly beans or Swedish fish in their bags some day.”

Torn Ranch prides itself in crafting products that are a “quality alternative to mass-produced and pedestrian snacks” and that more than 90 percent of the fruits and nuts it uses in its products are sourced from California. The company says it ships orders within 72 hours of receipt, putting the orders together on the day of shipment and date-coding them. –R.R.P.

Delos Rugs launches aircraft division In business for 11 years, Delos Rugs of Calhoun, Ga., is taking advantage of the NBAA stage to officially launch its U.S. Aircraft Carpet division (Booth No. N736).

The company has been providing custom aircraft carpeting for nearly four years, since its acquisition of U.S. Aircraft Carpet of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “But now it’s time to give this baby a name,” said ­co-owner Leah Phillips.

The launch includes a new, custommade robotic tufting machine capable of producing seamless carpet as large 13.5 feet by 60 feet, with delivery in as little as four weeks. And according to Phillips, patterns and colors are “completely custom,” and feature the Indian-tufted and Tibetanknotted techniques. Yarns available are well known in the apparel industry, such as mohair, “which wears better than silk but at a fraction of the cost.”

Delos’s new division is directed by Anders Moller, former head of U.S. Aircraft Carpet.

–K.J.H.

62 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

AmSafe has safety in the bag

by Harry Weisberger AmSafe is highlighting the advantages of its new side-facing divan airbag restraints, leg-flail-mitigation airbag systems and lightweight conventional three-point lap belts, weighing 20 percent less than those currently installed. The company (Booth No. C12740) is opening a new market for its airbag systems in airliners and larger business jets, following the FAA’s update of technical criteria for side-facing seats.

Current markets for AmSafe include airliners, business jets and general aviation fixed-wing airplanes. The company is exploring the helicopter market, primarily military applications, while continuing to research that environment’s unique injury profiles and restraint requirements.

AmSafe’s new lighter standard seatbelts save about two ounces compared to those currently aboard airliners. This seemingly

negligible reduction, multiplied by 250 seats in a widebody airliner, lightens the aircraft by more than 30 pounds. The company’s passenger seat lapbelts are installed in 95 percent of the world’s airliners and it holds 85 percent of the world market for all types of aerospace restraints.

Bill Gehret, AmSafe’s airbag systems product line manager, said there are currently more than 90,000 lapbelt airbag restraints in use, including more than 60,000 installed on certain airliner seats such as front rows, in service with 80 airlines worldwide, and 30,000 plus in general aviation airplanes, primarily

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Two basic differences between AmSafe’s aircraft airbag restraint systems and the airbags in ground vehicles are that its system deploys outward from the occupant rather than inward as in the automotive system, and the helium gas in the AmSafe airbag is cold rather than hot.

The new AmSafe airbags for side-facing seats and divans are either shoulder belt-mounted to minimize neck injury or located in a small module near the lower legs to restrain forward leg motion and prevent flailing leg injuries. Gehret said AmSafe intends to offer the side-facing systems to airframe OEMs as well as to completions and retrofit providers now that the new FAA criteria have been issued. He said the company is offering airbag systems for forward facing seats, side-facing shoulder harness airbags and leg-flail-mitigation modules for side-facing divans and multi-point airbag restraints for pilot and copilot seats.

The FAA’s 2012 policy statement for side-facing divan seat restraints highlights special conditions for seat certification that cover neck injury and leg flail, added to previous criteria. AmSafe has worked closely with the FAA to research neck and lower body injury dynamics. “We had already developed solutions for the neck injury scenario,” Gehret said, “and years ago began to address the leg-flail problem. So we put ourselves in position to meet the regulations when they were issued. This research has allowed development of a single set of special conditions applicable to all fully side-facing seats.”

The leg-flail case contained challenges not present in the front- and rear-facing seat environment, particularly those of preventing a passenger’s legs from rotating outward beyond the normal limits of human body flexibility. Such movement can cause fracture of the femur (thigh bone) as well as damage to the lower abdomen. AmSafe engineers addressed this problem by designing an airbag module to prevent extreme lateral movement of the limbs. Additional advantages of the legflail airbag module are that it is invisible to the passenger, operates automatically only when needed without passenger interaction and deflates rapidly to facilitate egress.

A video demonstrating deployment of the side-facing shoulder belt-mounted airbag restraint is being shown at the AmSafe booth. o

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64 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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Yukon, Okla.-based repair and refurbishment center Legacy Aviation Services (Booth No. C9432) hired Russ Hampton as a service technician at its Clarence E. Page Municipal Airport facility. Hampton has more than 25 years of maintenance and technical experience on a wide variety of turboprop and jet aircraft, including the Twin Commander series, one airframe in which the company specializes. The company also services all models of the King Air and Cessna Citation 500 series. In welcoming Hampton to the Legacy staff, owner and CEO RJ Gomez commented, “I would consider Russ a ‘first round draft pick,’ and we’re glad to have him.” n

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• Gulfstream delivered its first super-midsize G280.

11

• Announced the establishment of a satellite flight operations department in Hong Kong to support Gulfstream customers throughout the Asia Pacific region.

• Gulfstream announced that performance of its ultra-long-range, ultralarge-cabin G650 is better than originally estimated. The G650’s range at its high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90 is now 6,000 nm, a 1,000-nm increase over the original target of 5,000 nm, while its takeoff balanced field length decreased to 5,858 feet from the original 6,000 feet at the aircraft’s maximum takeoff weight of 99,600 pounds.

• The FAA approved installation of updated flight management system (FMS) software, version 6.1, on GIV series jets. The upgrade adds wide area augmentation system-localizer performance with vertical guidance (Waas-LPV) capability and prepares the GIV, GIV-SP, G400 and G300 to fly required navigation performance special aircraft and aircrew authorization required (RNP-SAAAR) operations.

December 2012

• Gulfstream Beijing officially opened for business after recently being approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) as a Part 145 maintenance facility.

12

• Appointed Allan Stanton as regional vice president for international sales in the Middle East. Prior to joining Gulfstream, Stanton served as a regional sales director for Hawker Beechcraft in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

• Delivered first fully outfitted ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range G650.

January 2013 • Announced plans to increase employment at Gulfstream’s Appleton, Wis. facility, right, by approximately 100 positions in the next year to support growing volume in completions work for Gulfstream large-cabin jets.

2013 1

February 2013 • EASA awarded type certification for the G280.

• Dan Nale, previously vice president of advanced aircraft programs, was promoted to the position of senior vice president of programs, engineering and test, succeeding Pres Henne, who announced his retirement.

• Gulfstream named Steve Cass, formerly director of sales support, as vice president of communications.

• Promoted company veterans Brian Schank and Darwin Stout to head the U.S. East and West coast product support sales teams, respectively.

• Named Danny Wilson director of supplier performance and development.

Previously, Wilson was a senior manager of supply chain surveillance.

• 2012 revenues at General Dynamics’s aerospace division soared to $6.91 billion, up more than $900 million from 2011, thanks in large part to Gulfstream, which saw revenue increase by more than $800 million and earnings up $110 million. Gulfstream March 2013 delivered 121 green aircraft in 2012 • The OEM’s new flagship versus 107 in 2011. General DynamG650 notched its sixth ics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic city-pair speed record forecast that Gulfstream would deliver since the beginning 139 green aircraft this year. of the year, this time • As it completed its 250-hour voluntary between Melbourne and internal reliability demonstration proAbu Dhabi, at an avergram, the G280 super-midsize jet set age speed of Mach 0.87 15 new city-pair speed records. for the 6,329-nm flight.

2

• The G650 earns another city-pair record, flying more than 6,855 nm between Shanghai and Newark, N.J., in 13 hours and 32 minutes.

• En route to Africa as part of the supermidsize business jet’s year-long world tour, the G280 set three city-pair records, including one from Luton, UK, to Lagos, Nigeria, with an average speed for the 2,948-nm flight of Mach 0.81.

June 2013 • Gulfstream opened a 5,500-sq-ft sales and design center in London’s Mayfair district, the company’s first such facility outside the U.S.

• At the ABACE show in Shanghai, the airframer announced that its Asia Pacific fleet has more than tripled in the last six years, from 50 to 169, with the bulk of the growth coming from large-cabin aircraft.

3

4

5

• The G650 and G280 make their first appearance in China.

• Revenues at parent company General Dynamics’s aerospace division, which also includes Jet Aviation, soared to nearly $1.78 billion in the first quarter, a $155 million increase from a year ago. Segment profit in the quarter also climbed by $39 million, or 14.4 percent, to $310 million. Gulfstream’s backlog at the end of the first quarter stood at nearly $15.23 billion, down about $500 million from the end of last year.

July 2013

August 2013

• Gulfstream announced the opening of a 9,300sq-ft sales and design center at the company’s facility in Dallas.

• Gulfstream appointed aviation veteran Luiz Sandler, previously sales director for International Jet ­Traders, its sales representative for Brazil, as regional vice president of sales for South America.

• The Gulfstream Beijing Service Center received authorization to service Gulfstream aircraft registered in Hong Kong and Macau.

6

7

• The G280 received type certificate validation from civil aviation authorities in China and Canada.

• The FAA grants certification for the enhanced vision system (EVS) II and head-up display (HUD) II for the new G280.

• Introduced its new PlaneBalance application, which can provide weight-and-balance information on the fly as well as generate reports about center of gravity, aircraft configurations, payload weight and fuel.

• G650 and G280 make their LABACE debut.

• At LABACE, Gulfstream announced a near quadrupling of the size of its customer-operated aircraft fleet in Latin America over the past five years. There are 176 customer- operated Gulfstream aircraft based in Latin America, including 39 in Brazil.

• Gulfstream celebrated the 55th anniversary of the first Gulfstream I flight. The twin-engine turboprop was the first aircraft specifically designed and built for business travel.

• Gulfstream received FAA approval for its G650 flight operations risk management service (Forms) program, an ever-expanding database that provides valuable feedback to operators to refine operating, training and maintenance procedures and delivers safety-improving data to Gulfstream and its training partners.

• Launched 24-Hour Support, an iPhone- and iPad-compatible application that provides customers with quick access to the manufacturer’s worldwide product support network.

8

66 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

• Gulfstream’s service center in Appleton, Wis., earned approved maintenance organization (AMO) designations from the Cayman Islands and South Korea.

April 2013

May 2013 • Gulfstream opened a 125,000sq-ft hangar at its service center at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Mass., bringing the facility to more than 200,000 sq ft. The addition accommodates the new G650 Gulfstream G650 and nearly doubles the site’s under-roof capacity from a mixture of 12 large-cabin and mid-cabin aircraft to approximately 22.

Dan Nale

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*Exceeding Expectations Stevens is the premier service provider for Beechcraft, Bombardier, Cessna, Embraer, Gulfstream, Learjet, Piaggio and Pilatus aircraft. We offer expertise in the areas of aircraft maintenance, modification and refurbishment, aircraft sales, flight services, and fixed base operations. Stevens Aviation operates facilities in Greenville SC (GYH), Greer SC (GSP), Dayton OH (DAY), Nashville TN (BNA) and Denver CO (BJC). For more information, call Tom Grunbeck, VP Sales and Marketing, at 864-678-6222.

Visit Us at NBAA Booth 7338

www.stevensaviation.com

USAIG offers three steps to cut insurance costs

by Dale Smith Insurance is a necessity that operators hope never to use, but with operating costs, especially for fuel, running so high,

any opportunity to save money is welcome. Insurance underwriter USAIG is helping lower costs with its new Performance

Vector Plus program, which can save flight departments up to 15 percent on insurance premiums.

“We wanted a way to recognize both our current and potential customers’ investments in moving the safety needle forward in a way that is most helpful for them,” explained USAIG president and CEO Dave McKay. Performance Vector

68 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

USAIG president and CEO Dave McKay

Plus is designed to reward flight departments both for avoiding losses and for meeting certain safety standards.

To qualify for the Performance Vector Plus discounts, flight departments must meet any of three safety standards: • Achieve and maintain IS-BAO registration.

• Active pilots must successfully complete twice-yearly simulator training.

• Implement a recognized flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) program for all operated aircraft.

“While all of these efforts will help improve a flight department’s safety, we feel strongly that FOQA is going to be a game-changer,” McKay said.

“It’s been successful in the air transport segment and we believe it will have the same kind of positive impact in business aviation. We wanted to be viewed in the industry as an active participant in moving that initiative forward.”

He added that operators do not have to implement all three programs, but the available return increases with each one up to a total of 15 percent savings off the regular premium.

Participants that qualify by completing all three safety standards will also receive a copy of the Breiling Report on business aviation safety and a package of Performance Vector programs.

“There are some great leaders in the business who don’t need good-experience returns to make safety changes,” McKay said. “But our customers have told us it’s better to have incentives that complement their ongoing efforts. That’s the thinking behind the Performance Vector Plus program.”

While Performance Vector Plus is USAIG’s newest goodexperience initiative, McKay said it’s an expansion of the company’s Performance Vector safety program. “We introduced that program about two-anda-half years ago and it’s built around human factors issues,” he said. “It covers fatigue and alertness management through Alertness Solutions and 100and 200-level pilot and maintenance reliability courses with Dr. Tony Kern.”

USAIG is hosting a Performance Vector Plus reception at its NBAA booth (No. N5425) today at 3 p.m. o

UAS Takes Off in Houston Get on board with the 2,000+ clients worldwide who already use UAS as their trusted partner for international trip support.

Corporate ight departments, VIPs, and commercial operators across the globe have chosen the experts at UAS to help navigate the complexities, risks and multitude of tasks that need to be carried out to ensure their missions go as planned. For more than a decade, these customers have trusted UAS because of our expertise in all matters of international trip planning. Clients in North and South America should expect a provider with local power that provides local, exclusive and personal service.

We are proud to announce the opening of UAS’ Americas Headquarters in Houston, Texas.

2000 West Loop South, Suite 1500 Houston, TX 77027 USA T: +1 (281) 724-5400 F: +1 (281) 724 5410 IATA: HOUWZ7X | AFTN: KHOUXAAX

www.uas.aero

Aerial View tail cameras deliver hi-def imagery Prominently on display at the Aerial View Systems exhibit at NBAA 2013 (Booth No. N5525) is its new AVS820-HD tail camera, which is also featured here

at the show on Gulfstream’s G280 demonstrator.

The camera was fabricated via Catia design software and five-axis CNC machining and is

already being delivered for the Boeing Business Jet and executive 747. “We’ve also done drawings for a Falcon 900,” added Aerial View founder and president Joe Brunner. One of the unique aspects of Aerial View’s AVS820-HD is that it is delivered with a custom conforming enclosure, including heated sapphire window.

The view from this Aerial View Systems AVS820-HD tail camera provides a wideangle and often dramatic view via the cabin entertainment system.

OUR EXPERTISE COMES FROM A VERY RELIABLE PLACE. OUR CUSTOMERS. Join us at booth #N2704 in the North Hall.

Visit our booth and find out how you can influence the next generation of Jeppesen solutions, including International Trip Planning—a comprehensive service for pilots in and over foreign lands.

SEE HOW PARTNERSHIP POWERS OUR SOLUTIONS:

MOBILE FLITEDECK 2.1

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70 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

FLITEPLAN ONLINE

Aerial View also has something old that’s new again: its AVS860-HD dome camera, which is reappearing with some new features. According to Brunner, a former customer who wanted a high-definition version rather than the standard AVS480 prompted the revival.

Aerial View did that and more.

The new same-size AVS860HD offers 1080p high-definition resolution and it pans, tilts and zooms and offers continuous 360-degree scanning. And it fits neatly, if a bit tightly, into the old housing. He added that the company also has plans for a variant that will interface with the onboard in-flight entertainment server.

“The former customer has ordered two and plans to take two more when the new 747s are delivered,” said Brunner. “And there are about two dozen other customers that are likely to want the upgrade.”

Also in the works is a miniature AVS760-IP dome camera.

Video output interfaces directly with the customer’s server; it pans, tilts and zooms and provides 360-degree scan, although the scan is not continuous.

The AVS420-HD and AVS460-SD glareshield cameras can now be upgraded to the AVS800-HD. If the aircraft system is standard definition, the new 800-HD can be down-converted to standard definition, which is still a very high-resolution 700p picture.

Aerial View sees an active market for the AVS800-HD as some 1,000 aircraft with standard definition AVS420/460 cameras are currently in service.

“And if the customer wants to upgrade the old standard system to HD, it can be easily done,” Brunner said. –K.J.H.

Specialists in Interior Products for V VIP Completions

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Bizav faces OSHA mandate for uniform hazmat symbols

by Curt Epstein

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Booth C10040 72 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

In an effort to align its standards with much of the world, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued changes to the requirements for labeling of hazardous materials. These changes will conform to the UN standard or globally harmonized systems of classification and labeling of chemicals (GHS) and will affect all U.S. aircraft operators and service providers. They involve Environmental a series of nine new picHazard tograms on the labels of potentially hazardous chemicals as well as a new format for safety data sheets that must accompany all hazardous chemicals.

While manufacturers have until mid2015 to begin using the new symbols, business consumers of those products face a more imminent deadline. By December 1, employers are required to have trained their workers on the changes.

Historically, there were no firm rules for what a label or material safety data sheet should look like or how information is presented, but according to OSHA, this update to the hazard communication standard “will provide a common and coherent approach to classifying chemicals and communicating hazard information Explosive on labels and safety data sheets,” while simultaneously improving the quality and consistency of hazard information in the workplace.

“The hazard warnings will now be the same regardless of who produces it or where it is produced,” said David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor. “Even more important, the message is the same regardless of who sees it. Workers in the United States...and eventually workers worldwide...will have the same, simple, concise information they need to understand to prevent injuries and illnesses...and save lives. Nothing could be more important than that.”

As an added benefit, OSHA said the update will also help reduce trade barriers and result in productivity improvements for U.S. businesses that regularly handle, store and use hazardous chemicals, while at the same time providing cost savings for companies that periodically update safety data Corrosive sheets and labels for chemicals covered under the hazard communication standard.

Each new symbol represents uniform organization and classification systems for chemicals that spell out their potential hazards and protections.

The looming employee training mandate is not limited to aviation (where the mere handling of aviation fuel is considered hazardous) but to all U.S. businesses,

encompassing approximately 30 million workers nationwide.

“Any aviation business or beyond that has employees who could be exposed to a hazardous chemical or who work with a hazardous chemical have to train their employees on this change so they can begin to recognize these new symbols and label formats,” said Mike France, director of safety and training with the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), noting that the new symbols could start appearing on packaging as early as next year.

Such training, while mandated by OSHA, is certainly necessary. According to the safety agency, even before the adoption of the new standard, hazmat communications have been one of its most cited violation categories among employers.

“Most businesses that handle some type of chemicals have their material safety sheets and employees know where to find them, but often the employer isn’t aware of all the little things they are supposed to have done,” France told AIN. “Like any requirement, Flame government there are some steps you have to make sure you’ve done, and if you don’t have all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed you would still be in violation.”

NATA provides a hazard communication module as part of its popular Safety 1st Online Training program, which has been updated to include the latest OSHA guidelines. “The first thing you have to do as a business if you are handling a hazardous chemical is have a written plan,” said France, adding it should contain an inventory of all the hazardous chemicals companies maintain on their facility.

Health “You have to have a policy Hazard stipulating who is responsible for making sure you are complying with your plan. You’ve got to have things like a container-labeling regime and you’ve got to have a materials safety data sheet process.” Such information is necessary to fulfill workers’ rights to know what chemicals they are working with and how they can get information about them.

“We give them the basics. Here’s what the standard is; here’s what you’ve got to have and then here are the new elements,” said France. “As an association representing aviation businesses, we are here to help.” o

At CAE, we understand flight training can be challenging and demanding.

But we believe the rest of the experience shouldn’t be. That’s why we offer convenient and enjoyable locations, unsurpassed service, and tailored programs and schedules that meet your needs. So work with the people who work with you. CAE. Elevate your training.

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©2013 CAE. All rights reserved.

Visit us at NBAA booth 3533. And enjoy service from our barista coffee bar and fresh-baked cookies.

Wichita-based Winglet Technology performed the first test flight of its retrofit winglets for the Cessna Citation Sovereign. The first flight was last Saturday, October 19, and lasted just less than two hours.

Duncan boosts service menu, opens tenth response center

by Mark Huber

Winglet Technology testing its retrofit package for Sovereign

by R. Randall Padfield Winglet Technology of Wichita, Kan. (Booth No. C12043), the company that supplies its Elliptical Winglets for the Citation X, is collaborating with the Cessna service center network to offer the winglets for retrofit on the Citation Sovereign. Flight testing began last Saturday, October 19, and the companies are targeting entry-into-service in the first quarter of 2015.

“The Elliptical Winglet upgrade will provide Sovereign owners and operators with even greater operational flexibility,” said Bob Kiser, Winglet Technology president and managing director. The winglets “are a great high-altitude complement to the Sovereign’s outstanding short-field performance,” he said.

The company’s winglet modification will increase the Sovereign’s wingspan by five feet to 69 feet 4 inches. It will also add 350 pounds, increasing mtow to 30,650 pounds. (Winglet Technology expects the mtow increase to be approved as part of the STC.) The upgrade will provide higher weight, altitude and temperature limits, allowing for more flexibility during high/ hot airport operations, better climb performance (allowing higher initial cruise altitudes), faster max cruise speeds at high altitudes and increased range for a given payload throughout the operating envelope. Winglet Technology has obtained U.S., European and Canadian approval for its Elliptical Winglet. o

FAA grants STC for ICG’s Fans over Iridium transceiver

MRO provider Duncan Aviation (Booth No. C8543) is expanding its services portfolio when it comes to engines, accessories, landing gear and interior modifications.

Duncan has opened a 10th Rapid Response engine service location, this one at Flightcraft in Portland, Ore. Duncan’s other Rapid Response location in the Pacific Northwest is in Seattle. The company said it opened the facility in Portland based on heavy customer demand throughout the region.

The company has doubled the size of its accessory shop at its main location in Lincoln, Neb., adding 6,300 sq ft, doubling the size of its bench area and adding new tooling and capabilities including a Skydrol hydraulic test bench, which allows for in-house testing of valves, hoses, accumulators, actuators and other landing gear-related components. Duncan has also added a new paint booth and cure room that speeds completion times for landing gear painting.

For Bombardier Challenger and Global Express customers, Duncan has issued a new landing gear field guide entitled, “Explaining Bombardier Challenger and Global Express Landing Gear

Restoration Uncertainties.” The guide contains tables, pricing and explanations about various degrees of gear overhaul and repair. Duncan also has instituted new practices that reduce landing-gear service and overhaul costs including leaving the harness and brake pipes on the gear when removing it from the aircraft. The move saves customers approximately 35 labor hours when removing and installing landing gear, Duncan said.

For Dassault Falcon customers, Duncan now offers a storage closet replacement for the optional forward lavatory in Falcon 900 and 2000 models, but retains the plumbing in the event the current or subsequent owner wants to reinstall the lav.

The space involved is between the galley and the jump seat. Customers can have the new closet space configured to their specifications to include ice drawers, for example.

Duncan continues to make Aviation Partners winglets available for Falcon 900 and 2000 customers from its locations in Lincoln and Battle Creek, Mich. The company recently installed its 56th pair of winglets on Dassault Falcon aircraft.

The company also offers Aviation Partners winglets for Falcon 50, Hawker 800 and Gulfstream II aircraft. o

The first Wipaire-outfitted Viking Twin Otter Series 400 features an aquatic-themed custom airbrushed graphical paint scheme, complete with underwater sea life graphics on the inboard and outboard float hulls.

According to Newport News, Va.based ICG, the FAA has issued the first supplemental type certificate (STC) for an Iridium-based avionics platform on a business jet conforming to the RTCA DO262A data link standard. DO-262A is the standard required for design approval of data link communications systems supporting air traffic services, per FAA advisory circular AC 20-140A. Chicago Jet Group obtained the STC for installation on a Dassault Falcon 50 of ICG’s NxtLink series ICS-220A and a Universal Avionics UniLink UL-801 communications management unit with internal VHF VDL Mode 2 receiver. ICG said the approval meets Fans 1/A (future air navigation system) controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) and automatic dependent surveillance-contract (ADS-C) requirements for flying the North Atlantic Tracks between FL360 and FL390.

“This STC and compliance with the rigorous requirements of DO-262A for ICG’s NxtLink series ICS-220A transceiver marks an important milestone for ICG and the business aviation industry

as a whole,” said Scott Trainum, ICG CEO. “It is the first, and so far only, Fans-over-Iridium solution available to business jet operators that will allow them to comply with both the existing and upcoming regulatory mandates ­regarding transatlantic operations.”

ICG’s NxtLink ICS-220A is a threechannel platform that provides two channels of global voice with a modem dedicated to data link services. It supports communications for both flight deck data link requirements, including Acars, CPDLC and ADS-C messaging, as well as flight deck voice communications via conventional aircraft audio systems.

ICG (Booth No. N2329) also announced that it has obtained a certificate of approval from Anatel, the Brazilian national telecommunications agency to sell the ICS-220A in Brazil. o

74 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

MARIANO ROSALES

by Bill Carey

Owner will have a whale of a time with new Twin Otter Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia, has delivered the first Viking Twin Otter Series 400 equipped with a custom executive interior from Wipaire of South Saint Paul, Minn. to an undisclosed customer. Wipaire is an authorized Viking service center that offers maintenance, repair, VIP cabin completions and painting services.

The Wipaire-outfitted aircraft features an executive club-four seating arrangement with an additional 12 standard seats. The interior also includes a custom headliner, sidewall and passenger service unit panels. Interior options include installation of wallmounted passenger radio jacks, data ports, auxiliary audio inputs for each passenger, custom hard-wall materials and carpeting.

The recently delivered aircraft, on display here at the NBAA static area, is also equipped with Wipline 13000 amphibious floats and features a aquatic-themed custom airbrushed graphical paint scheme, complete with underwater sea life graphics on the inboard and outboard float hulls.

–C.T.

Split Scimitar winglets are BBJ retrofit option Aviation Partners (Booth No. C8114), in cooperation with Boeing, is launching its new Split Scimitar Winglet program for Boeing BBJs. Split Scimitar Winglets are already available for 737 NGs. The Split Scimitar Winglet modifies the existing blended winglet on the BBJ by adding a Scimitar-tipped ventral strake, reinforcing internal winglet structure and replacing the aluminum winglet tip caps with more aerodynamically shaped Scimitar tip caps.

The changes yield a significant drag reduction over the original blended winglet on the BBJ, yielding a range increase of 2.5 to 3 percent or approximately an additional 200 nm. Aviation Partners expects certification of the Split Scimitar Winglet on BBJ, BBJ2 and BBJ3 aircraft next year. Conversion time should be approximately eight days and the modification is expected to cost $500,000 to $550,000.

–M.H.

MARK WAGNER

Already available for the Boeing 737NG, Aviation Partners Split Scimitar winglets are now an option for retrofit on the BBJ.

Resale market still slow, Amstat update reports The business aircraft resale market continues to stall as the sluggish pace of activity seen in Q2 2013 has persisted, according to Amstat’s Business Aviation Market Update Report, released on the eve of NBAA 2013.

“We were disappointed with the Q2 transaction performance and were hoping for a better Q3,” said Andrew Young, general manager of the business aviation market data provider. “In general, transaction activity for business jets and turboprops did pick up in Q3 and inventories were down–both good signs.

However, this performance is not consistent across all fixedwing segments.”

Among the observations presented by the Tinton Falls, N.J.based company (Booth No. C10016) here this week are: • Business jet retail resale transactions were up from 2.3 percent of the active

fleet in Q2 of this year to 2.6 percent in Q3, but still below the 20-year average of 2.9 percent.

• Heavy and light jets performed the best in Q3 as they did the previous quarter. Heavy jets, with 2.2 percent of the active fleet selling in Q3, were close to their 20-year average of 2.3 percent, a substantial improvement from the 1.8 percent and 1.9 percent turnover the category saw in Q2 and Q3 respectively in 2012.

• 3.2 percent of the light jet fleet turned over in Q3 of this year, up from 2.5 percent in the previous quarter, while resales of mid-size jets declined to 2.1 percent of the fleet in Q3 versus 2.4 percent in Q2.

• The inventory of mid-size jets continues to rise, which Amstat called “of particular concern,” given the category’s poor resale performance.

• Turboprop resale activity has

seen little change over the past year, registering 2.2 percent in Q2 and 2.1 percent in Q3. (In Q3 of 2012, 2.2 percent of the turboprop fleet changed hands.)

• Inventory of used turbine helicopters is rising, with 6.5 percent of the fleet for sale in Q3 versus 6.1 percent in Q2. (In Q3 2012, 6 percent of the turbine rotor fleet was on the market.) “We look to see improved transaction activity and lower inventories in the [turbine helicopter] market in the future,” Young said.

Average asking prices for jets and turboprops were either flat or down in Q3 versus Q2, according to Amstat.

However, Young also add that “Q3 is frequently the slowest quarter each year for resale market transaction activity while Q4 is frequently the best quarter for transaction activity. Let’s hope.” –J.W.

3D image: www.3Dviz.com

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 75

Avinode’s ‘positive’ view bodes well for next year annually, said Marthinsson.

Avinode is distributing its 2014 forecast here at the show.

Following a review of the figures, Brent Muldowan of Jeppesen Business Aviation (Booth No. 2704) and president of the Air Charter Association of North America (Acana, at the Avinode booth) moderated a discussion with a quartet of charter operators: Bernhard Wipfler, director of sales, International Jet Management, of Austria; Mike Walsh, CEO of Hong Kongbased Asia Jet (Avinode booth); Scott Wise, president of Travel Management Company (TMC) in Elkhart, Ind.; and Lina Crozco, director of operations at Vesta Jets in Brazil. Representing markets on four different continents and four disparate business models, the four operators discussed how they’ve dealt with the sluggish charter market, though all sounded upbeat about their own company’s fortunes.

“We’ve invested in our fleet, we have a refurbishment program that put [Aircell Gogo Biz] Wi-Fi in our entire fleet,” said TMC’s Wise. “So I think you have to have a superior product and try to hold the line on pricing. For the most part it’s been a good year for us.” o

MARK WAGNER

Avinode, the online charter marketplace, released its 2014 Business Aviation Market Forecast here at NBAA 2013, followed by a panel discussion by charter operators from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Avinode Business Intelligence forecasts a positive year for business aviation in the U.S. in 2014, with an expected 0.7 percent increase in business jet flights, while Europe is projected to see a 0.9 percent decline in activity, according to Per Marthinsson, Avinode co-founder and managing director for the Americas.

Marthinsson noted that this is Avinode’s second annual forecast; last year’s report predicted a 0.1 percent decline in U.S. business jet flights during 2013 and a 3.2 percent decline in Europe, while the actual declines were 0.2 percent and 2.3 percent, according to the company.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Avinode (Booth No. N3921) gathers the data for its forecasts from monitoring the activity of the 1,500 brokers and operators that subscribe to its services, along with data from the FAA and Eurocontrol and economic forecasts. More than two million requests for charter flights are routed through Avinode

Business End of an evs Jeff Standerski, Rockwell Collins v-p and general manager of business and regional systems, left, and Paulo Roberto Moritz Stolf, senior program manager of Embraer’s Legacy 450/500 series, are holding the front-end camera unit of Rockwell Collins’s EVS-3000 enhanced vision system. The EVS-3000 is an uncooled, “multi-spectral” system that can detect LED runway lights that are not visible to infrared sensors found in other EVS systems. The system is offered with the HGS-3500 compact head-up display as a future option on Embraer’s Legacy 450 and 500.

MARIANO ROSALES

by James Wynbrandt

custom creations When it comes to supplying VVIP interior configurations, it takes a creative mind combined with flawless engineering and efficient execution. The results can be absolutely stunning. Here at NBAA, Greenpoint Technologies of Kirkland, Wash. is on display with its expertise in Boeing widebody completions. Greenpoint has in-house expertise in conceptual development, detailed design, engineering, certification, manufacturing and installation for head-of-state Boeing Business Jets. The company also provides the Aeroloft and Aerolift products for the VIP versions of Boeing's 747-8 jumbo jet. At its booth (No. N2715), Greenpoint has this impressive cutaway model of a Boeing widebody on display, illustrating many of the design features that are available for the type.

AML 200 Wi-Fi router feeds Internet to 10 pax

by Bill Carey and Kirby J. Harrison Aviation Modification Leaders (AML) has completed the first installation of its highspeed AML 200 aircraft cabin router in a Piaggio P-180 turboprop. With the new router, up to 10 passengers can have broadband Internet access and Wi-Fi connectivity on any personal electronic device, according to AML. Introduced as the OOM-200 system at NBAA last year and priced at $20,000, the router is a carry-on, carry-off device that requires no supplemental type certificate (STC) for use on an aircraft. In fact, AML reports that a Fortune 500 company plans to use the device in emergency ground vehicles for connectivity during disaster situations. It can be used with various attached or remote antennas.

The AML 200 has the same footprint as Honeywell CNX100/200 routers, which it can replace in existing installations using an interface plate. AML (Booth No. C11948) is promoting the device to update and replace first-generation CNX

76 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

routers currently installed on business jets. The upgrade, it claims, offers operators two advantages. Since the AML 200 router fits into the existing slot in the avionics rack, it saves on having to rebuild and rewire the rack. Secondly, the AML 200 is software-enabled, whereas older routers are hardware dependent and must be changed out and replaced for repair and upgrades. AML expects certification this quarter to the RTCA DO-160 software standard.

AML is licensed with satcom service provider Satcom1, which provides airtime through Inmarsat, Iridium and other systems. AML executives say the AML 200 can aggregate or “bond” channels to provide wider bandwidth, although the aggregation is transparent to users.

The company is also looking into adding Ku-band connectivity.

Flight Test

The AML 200 was installed on a Piaggio P.180 owned by aircraft dealer The Jet Collection, of Chicago, which had a

compatible Thrane & Thrane (now Cobham) Aviator 200 satcom system. During a flight test in mid-July, the company successfully tested functionalities of the router on multiple electronic devices, including e-mail, Internet access, streaming videos, video conferencing and cell phone calls. “Installation of the AML router on [Piaggio] serial number 1062 yields full Internet connectivity and makes it much more desirable than competitive P.180 offerings,” stated Jason Zilberbrand, managing partner of The Jet Collection.

AML has provided the router to a number of European airlines, which use it as a backup system in the event their main router malfunctions. The company said routers are already installed or under negotiation on Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault aircraft. It said it has multiple orders for future installation on Bombardier CRJ, Learjet and Pilatus aircraft.

AML is also developing a compact, cigarette box-sized version of the router that will provide Wi-Fi connectivity in smaller aircraft. o

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Contractors fly with Paramount Aviation

by R. Randall Padfield Michael Johnson started Paramount Aviation Resources Group (Booth No. C12647) of

Fredericksburg, Va., in 2007 as a crew procurement company after finishing his contract

as chief pilot with Japan Airlines, where he also did contract administration, and realized there was a market for finding and screening flight crews for airlines. He had worked there since 2001 after being furloughed from American Airlines following the 9/11 attacks.

He still holds his seniority number at American.

While airline crew recruiting is still a big part of Paramount’s business, a few years ago the company started offering ferry flights, too. “Ferrying turned out to be a good business for us,” Johnson told AIN, “because it has better margins than the crew procurement.” Setting up a ferry flight, he explained, usually takes no more than a month

and can sometimes be done in just a few weeks. Finding quality pilots, training them how to prepare for interviews with mostly foreign–mostly Asian– carriers and getting them hired on a contract basis can take three to six months.

So Johnson decided to grow Paramount’s ferry-flight business. In August, he took a major step in this direction by buying Global Trip Support of Pagosa Springs, Colo. “I have a good relationship with Rich Wolfer, the owner of Global,” Johnson said.

“We had used other dispatch services before, which were fine, but a few years ago a colleague recommended Global to me and we liked Rich’s work ethic and service. So we’ve been using Global exclusively since then.”

Diversified Customers

Buying Global, which is now Paramount Global Ferry and Flight Support/Division, brought new customers to Paramount, including maintenance companies, leasing companies and private owners, which all sometimes need ferry flights.

Johnson said having dispatch inhouse gives Paramount greater control, which means he can provide better service to customers and do everything involved in moving an airplane domestically and internationally. Wolfer plans to keep his office in Pagosa Springs.

Meanwhile, crew recruiting remains strong for Paramount, particularly for Middle East and Asian airlines. Johnson said he has about 85 flight crews working with his company, most of them from Europe, the Middle East and Australia, with only six from the U.S. Paramount currently lists positions available for crews qualified and experienced in the Airbus A320 and A330/340 and Boeing 737NG, 747-400, 767 and 777, as well as for synthetic (simulator-based) flight instructors for many of these models.

Airlines currently recruiting via Paramount include Air China, Air Japan, Hainan Airlines, Korean Air, Shenzhen Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Viet Jet and Yunnan Lucky Air. Here at its NBAA booth, Paramount is holding a giveaway for two Bose QC3 Quiet Comfort headsets. o

78 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

Hard jobs are Avcon’s specialty When it comes to unzipping the belly of a Beechcraft King Air to install a sophisticated camera system or modifying classic Learjets with modern radios and new hush kits, the team at Avcon Industries in Newton, Kan., knows exactly what it takes to get such a project done.

There is a lot more to Avcon (Booth No. C7819), a subsidiary of Butler National, and a visit to the company’s Newton facilities revealed a plethora of projects that have kept the company’s engineers and technicians busy nonstop for many years.

In the special-mission field alone, Avcon owns 250 supplemental type certificates (STCs).

The latest effort is a hush kit for Learjet 20-series jets powered by GE CJ610 engines. A Learjet 24 with the hush kits and dual Garmin GTN 750 navigators is here at Avcon’s static spot at Henderson Executive Airport.

Inside the main hangar in Newton, a couple of King Airs

were in the midst of Avcon’s belly camera STC treatment, which involves a significant dismantling of the pressurized fuselage’s structure. The camera itself, used for aerial surveying, sits safely behind a $30,000 piece of super-strong BK-7 optical glass mounted into a structural frame installed in the belly.

The camera STC is available on a variety of airplanes, including King Airs, Learjet 20 and 30 series and the Cessna Citation II and Conquest II. For fans of older Learjets, from the 20-series through the popular Learjet 35, Avcon is the go-to solver of challenging problems. Current Learjet 20/30-series upgrades include the dual Garmin GTN 750 panel mod, which adds Waas LPV touch-screen navigators to the older Learjets.

Avcon also offers the R/X range-extension mod for the Learjet 35/36. This STC simply extends the length of the Learjet’s tip tanks by 36

inches, adding 750 pounds of usable fuel (about 40 minutes of flight time at normal cruise speeds). The tanks add other benefits, including increased stability, which eliminates the need for yaw dampers for dispatch, and the opportunity to add weight-increase STCs (which may require installation of a heavier landing gear on some earlier models). On the Learjet 35 and 36, range grows to more than 2,100 and 2,800 nm, respectively.

The weight increase mods can also be installed on the Learjet 35/36 without the extended tip tanks, by incorporating the Avcon Fins delta-shaped fins on the aft lower fuselage. The fins mod also eliminates the need for operable yaw dampers.

The dual Garmin GTN 750 mod for the Learjets is done by Avcon sister company Kings Avionics in New Century, Kan. The Garmins replace the Learjet’s Universal UNS-1N FMS, and the GTN 750s are hooked

MATT THURBER

by Matt Thurber

Kings Avionics, a sister company of Avcon Industries, has modified this Learjet 35’s cockpit with dual Garmin GTN 750 touch-screen navigators, which provide Waas LPV approach capability for the classic business jet.

up to the Learjet’s FC-200 autopilot, allowing roll- and GPSsteering. The jet’s original “iron gyros” are retained.

Avcon’s Newton facility is self-contained when it comes to all the heavy duty sheetmetal and component work that its technicians accomplish.

The company owns three CNC machines, makes its own wire harnesses and even built its own test rig for the tests needed after overhauling Learjet stabilizer actuators, which need to be done every 600 hours.

The new hush kit is designed

to help keep CJ610-powered 20-series Learjets flying after the Dec. 31, 2015, Stage 3 mandate takes effect in the U.S. Avcon expects the hush-kit STC to be issued shortly, and this will cover most of the 350 Learjet 20-series still in service, except for those with the unmodified straight-wing and Dee Howard XR-wing, which will be subject to a later STC. o

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www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 79

Dassault Falcon

September 2012

News highlights from the past year October 2012 • Two new features are unveiled to further enhance the FalconCabin HD+ cabin management system: a wireless cabin media server and an iPad moving-map application.

• The 500th airplane in the Falcon 900 series, a 900LX, is in final assembly in Bordeaux-Merignac. It will serve initially as a demonstration aircraft. Twenty Falcon 900LX models have been delivered since the latest version of the largecabin tri-jet was certified in July 2010.

Dassault 900LX

2012 9

10

11

12

2013

• The launch of the Falcon 2000LXS is announced. It will offer improved airport performance, payload and cabin comfort compared to the 2000LX, which it will replace in 2014.

• Two long-range Falcons—a 7X and a 2000LX—arrive at Jet Expo in Moscow. Half of new Falcon orders in Russia are for the 7X, a business jet that connects Moscow nonstop with New York, Johannesburg or Singapore.

• Expanding its presence in China, Dassault Falcon establishes a customer service regional headquarters in Beijing; extends Falcon support capabilities at Shanghai Hawker Pacific; and expands spares service through logistics services agreements. The company also receives maintenance approval from the CAAC.

November 2012 • Dassault Falcon establishes a wholly owned foreign entity to represent the Falcon brand in the growing Chinese market. The subsidiary is known as Dassault Falcon Business Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd. It is based in Beijing and Jean Michel Jacob has been named general manager.

December 2012 • Poised for growth in the Middle East, Dassault plans to deliver six Falcon Jets to Middle East customers over the following 18 months, thus expanding the fleet in the region by 10 percent.

• Dassault Falcon and Avia Group announce plans to establish an authorized service center at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in 2013.

1

• Dassault Falcon prepares to celebrate the 40th anniversary agreement signed by Pan American Airways and Dassault Aviation on Dec. 1, 1972, forming Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dassault Aviation.

January 2013 • Dassault Falcon announces it is investing heavily in India to serve what it sees as an expanding customer base in the Indian subcontinent and to prepare for future growth in that region.

February 2013 • Following an 18-month test program, Dassault Falcon announced that final performance specifications for the Falcon 2000S will be “substantially better than initially projected.”

2

• At the Dubai Air Show, the company announces the sale of a pre-owned Falcon 900EX EASy II and a new Falcon 900LX to Wallan Aviation, a Middle East general aviation company.

• An in-flight phone and connectivity option for the Falcon 7X is announced.

It operates like any standard international roaming service, allowing passengers to send and receive e-mails, text messages and calls in flight using their own smartphones.

April 2013

3

• The first Mystére 20, ancestor of today’s Falcon business jet line, is unveiled at the third annual Air & Space Museum Airshow at Le Bourget Airport in Paris.

Mystére 20

• At the LABACE show in São Paulo, Brazil, Falcon announces it will continue to expand its Sorocaba service center and plans to deliver “at least six more Falcons into Brazil this year.”

80 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

–

May 2013 5

• The company announces it will invest $60 million in new construction and refurbishment of existing facilities at its Little Rock Completion Center in Arkansas.

• With spare parts service a key to customer support, Dassault Falcon announces it will reduce the prices on 18,500 parts in 2013. The company has reduced spares prices three times in the past decade.

6

September 2013

7

• Present again at Jet Expo 2013 at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Dassault features its 7X and 2000LX. The company claims 60 Falcon Jets in service in Russia and the CIS countries, double the number five years ago.

Seven Falcons have been delivered in the region in the first half of 2013, the equivalent of 15 percent of worldwide sales for that period.

Falcon 7X

August 2013 • Dassault introduces mobile apps for all production models. Each app features: a summary of aircraft characteristics and performance; a 360-degree exterior presentation featuring key technologies; interactive visit of the cabin in 3-D; worldwide city-pair range map; and high-definition photo gallery.

–

• The two newest members of the Falcon family the 2000S and the 2000LXS receive EASA certification, with FAA approval expected shortly.

• Dassault Aircraft Services expands its service and support network with a new satellite service station at Van Nuys, Calif.

July 2013 • Dassault Falcon is upgrading its Falcon Perf takeoff and landing performance tool and extending availability of the software package for Falcons equipped with the EASy cockpit. It allows pilots to easily calculate takeoff and landing performance.

March 2013 • Dassault celebrates the anniversary of the first flight of the Falcon 2000 in 1993. Since the airplane’s certification, the company has delivered nearly 500 Falcon 2000s of various models and the global fleet has accumulated close to two million flight hours.

4

• Dassault Falcon features the Falcon 7X, Falcon 900LX and Falcon 2000LX at the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, China. The company announces China is now the second largest market in the world for the 7X tri-jet and has a 20-aircraft backlog.

• At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Dassault Falcon supports operators attending with a dedicated technical team positioned at nearby Zurich Airport.

• At the Aero India show in Bangalore, Dassault Falcon highlights business aviation ambitions in the form of a pair of Falcon 7Xs, a Falcon 900LX and a Falcon 2000S.

8

9

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Making the case for aircraft title insurance

by Jeff Wieand Unlike real estate lenders, most aircraft lenders don’t require title insurance, so airplane buyers rarely even know about it, let alone purchase it.

That can be a big mistake.

As the name implies, title insurance covers your title to the aircraft, ensuring that you own it free and clear of liens and encumbrances. The list of potential title problems is sobering: forged deregistration notices, bills of sale or releases; invalid documents due to lack of signing authority or incompetence; litigation involving the aircraft; state and federal tax liens; mechanics’ liens… the list goes on. Title insurance guru Frank Polk compiled a list of more than 60 things that can go wrong with an aircraft’s title–most of which have been litigated–that might make you

reconsider the value of this coverage.

Title concerns often arise when a buyer acquires an aircraft based or registered outside the U.S. A leading case illustrating the potential horrors of purchasing a foreign-registered aircraft is Faysound Ltd. v. Walter Fuller Aircraft Sales. Defendant Fuller purchased a Falcon 50 from the Philippine Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGC), an organization supposedly recovering ill-gotten wealth from former cronies of deposed president Ferdinand Marcos. The PCGC had “seized” the Falcon in connection with a court proceeding against one Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr.; the Philippine registration of the aircraft was cancelled; and notice of the cancellation was sent to the FAA,

Embry-Riddle robotic vehicle used to secure airport perimeter A student-faculty team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Booth No. N2926) last month used a Ford Escape hybrid automobile equipped with a GrayMatter autonomous vehicle system, GPS and 64 lasers to successfully guide a robotic vehicle around the perimeter of Daytona Beach International Airport on a predetermined track. This is believed to be the first successful test of a completely autonomous, self-guided airport security vehicle that could be used to guard an airport perimeter.

During the test runs, the truck’s onboard equipment created and compared high-resolution images and scanner data to detect airport incursions, wildlife activity and damage to fences and airport grounds.

The SUV’s systems report any security concerns back to human security patrols who will deal with them.

“The technology being developed by Embry-Riddle and tested here represents the leading edge of airport safety and security advancements,” said Daytona Beach airport director Rick Karl. “We’re pleased to support and partner with Embry-Riddle to encourage such important research.”

According to project co-director Charles Reinholtz, “There are thousands of airports and other facilities where autonomous robotic systems could be used to monitor the perimeter more effectively than humans.”

The robotic security vehicle was a joint endeavor of the university’s mechanical engineering and engineering physics departments and sponsored by Ignite, Embry-Riddle’s undergraduate research initiative.

–R.P.M.

stating that the aircraft was free and clear of lien. Fuller subsequently received a bill of sale from the PCGC (which he duly recorded with the FAA) in consideration of the purchase price, much of which was apparently used to pay off cronies of the new Philippine administration.

Unfortunately for Fuller, Cojuangco didn’t own the aircraft; he was a shareholder of a company that leased it from a Hong Kong corporation called Faysound, which was the Falcon’s true owner. As a result, the PCGC never had any right to seize or sell it. When Faysound sued the hapless Fuller in a U.S. court to recover its aircraft, Fuller lost.

Due Diligence

Title insurance can protect you from such problems, in part because of the due diligence the insurer will perform. If Fuller had purchased title insurance for the Philippines, the insurer would have discovered when checking the Philippine aircraft registry that the registration was merely that of a lessee/operator and was subject to a lease agreement with the real owner.

If the aircraft is based or has significant maintenance performed outside its jurisdiction of registration, you should ask the title insurer what diligence should be conducted and what coverage you can buy to provide the best protection. With the right diligence and coverage, the title insurance process can protect you against improper or forged deregistration notices, fraudulent sales, tax liens and other claims and issues unique to foreign deals (such as the invalidity of documents resulting from the peculiar requirements of a foreign jurisdiction).

Tax Liens

A common misconception is that hiring a reputable title company to search the FAA Registry and International Registry for filings regarding the aircraft is sufficient to identify all potential title problems. Neither the

FAA Registry nor even federal law controls valid title; it’s controlled by applicable state law (or foreign law in the case of many imports), and not all liens are filed with the FAA. Tax liens–a big source of title disputes since the economic downturn of 2008–offer a good example. “People forget to do tax-lien searches because they think all liens are filed with the FAA and that’s simply not the case,” Polk said. Thus, you can be the registered owner for FAA purposes but still end up in a dispute with the prior owner over a tax lien, perhaps requiring you to pay off a lien claimant.

Even checking FAA records and making a timely filing with the FAA may not win the day, as the parties learned in Shacket v. Philko Aviation. In this case, an aircraft dealer sold a Piper Navajo to Mr. and Mrs. Shacket, telling them he’d file the bill of sale for them with the FAA, as was “customary.” Instead of doing so, however, the dealer then purported to sell the same aircraft to Philko, which did file a bill of sale with the FAA. But even though Philko was the registered owner, the court held that the Piper belonged to the Shackets and found that Philko had “actual notice” that the dealer didn’t have good title to the aircraft. (Notoriously, the court said “actual notice” includes “knowledge of facts that would lead a reasonable person to inquire further into the seller’s title.”)

Like Fuller, the folks from

Philko probably wished they’d had title insurance.

Savvy aircraft buyers not only get a bill of sale from the seller at closing; they also get a warranty of title, which is a standard part of nearly all airplane transactions. Instead of paying for title insurance, can’t the buyer simply rely on the warranty? That’s certainly an option, but many aircraft sellers are little more than shell holding companies that may not even exist when title problems surface. Further, a small group of sellers (mostly lenders and leasing companies) refuse to provide a general warranty of title. They may be willing to guarantee that they didn’t muck up the title, but they won’t guarantee that prior owners or other parties haven’t done so. In that case, title insurance is an absolute must, and you should ask the seller to contribute to its cost.

So should you obtain title insurance when buying an aircraft? It depends. The coverage is worth considering in every purchase of a non-U.S.-registered or -based aircraft, although even there, if you’re buying a jet from the queen of England, you can probably live without it. If you’re buying an aircraft based and registered in the U.S., title insurance may be worth having, depending upon the identity and financial condition of the seller, the nature of the seller’s title warranty and the history of the airplane. o

Attorney Jeff Wieand is a senior vice president with Boston JetSearch and a member of NBAA’s Tax Committee.

Business Jet Traveler: Making Sense of Private Aviation This article first appeared in the bimonthly Business Jet Traveler, whose 10th anniversary issue is available here at the show. Published by the same company that produces this magazine, as well as Aviation International News, BJT is edited for business jet owners and passengers. It offers unbiased reviews of new and used aircraft; advice about buying and selling jets; and information about taxes, laws, financing, safety and more. It also features articles about luxury autos, vacation destinations and other leisure pursuits, plus interviews with business jet travelers such as John Travolta and Sir Richard Branson. The current issue includes an exclusive interview with Penn & Teller and results of the o magazine’s comprehensive survey of business aircraft users.

Eurocopter upgrades U.S. production operation

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is testing an unmanned robotic vehicle that could be used to guard airport perimeters. The robotic vehicle is a Ford Escape equipped with an autonomous vehicle system, GPS and 64 lasers.

Eurocopter has announced that its American Eurocopter subsidiary will upgrade its Columbus, Miss. facility, allowing it to serve as a final assembly and test site for the AS350. The AS350 work will offset a reduction in assembly operations on the UH-72A Lakota military helicopter and also help Eurocopter increase AS350 sales in the U.S. The model is the best selling civil helicopter in the U.S. and, according to the manufacturer, represents nearly 40 percent of its worldwide in-service rotorcraft fleet. More than 3,500 AS350s are operating today.

Preparations for the new assembly line will start “almost immediately,” according to Eurocopter (Booth No. C11606B), which expects production to begin in Columbus in the fourth quarter of 2014. The company says the plant will produce up to 60 additional helicopters annually by 2016.

“North America is the largest light-helicopter market in the world for Eurocopter, and this new assembly line supports our industrial strategy by manufacturing the preferred AS350…in close proximity to our customers,” said Joseph Saporito, executive vice president of the global supply chain for Eurocopter.

–J.B.

82 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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Beechcraft

News highlights from the past year

October 2012 2012 10

November 2012 • The company participates in the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China), November 13-18 in Zhuhai, exhibiting on static display a Beechcraft King Air 350i and a King Air C90GTx.

11

• Hawker Beechcraft appoints Horizontal de Aviación at Aeropuerto Internacional el Dorado in Bogota as a newly authorized service center in Colombia, supporting the entire line of Beechcraft King Air products.

December 2012 • At the Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) expo, Hawker Beechcraft announces it continKing Air 350ER ues to see an increase in interest in that region for special-mission aircraft, in particular for surveillance, oil-spill searches, potential acts of piracy and fisheries protection.

2013 1

2

• The company arrives at EBACE with its full lineup of turboprop and piston airplanes, with Beechcraft noting that last year, 94 percent of the global multi-engine turboprop deliveries were King Airs.

• On February 19, Beechcraft announces that it has formally exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the new Beechcraft brand, controlled by four major shareholders, a new board of directors and a balance sheet that has shed $2.5 billion in debt. Production of the Premier and Hawker jet lines has ceased.

April 2013 3

4

• Beechcraft Defense Co. signs a contract with the U.S. Air Force for production of 35 T-6 training aircraft, with an option for two more.

• Flight tests begin for the winglet component of the Hawker 400XPR upgrade program. Beechcraft no longer produces the 400XP but continues to offer the aircraft’s upgrade program, as well as King Air C90GTx service and support.

King Air 350i • The company reveals it will display the King Air 350i, the flagship of the twin turboprop line, at the Aero India biennial aerospace event, February 6-10 at Yelakanka Air Force Base in Bengaluru, India.

More than 20 King Airs are currently registered to state or federal organizations in India.

• The company announces that the disclosure statement filed in connection with its Joint Plan of Reorganization has been approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

• The company reports a strong first quarter with a total of 59 deliveries, along with delivery of Beechcraft’s final six Hawker 4000s. By comparison, the company delivered 37 airplanes during the first quarter of 2012.

May 2013

• The month begins with the announcement that the company, then Hawker Beechcraft, intends to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a stand-alone company and will be rebranded as Beechcraft Corp. with a focus on its turboprop, piston, special-mission and trainer/ attack aircraft, and global support.

January 2013 12

• The company delivers the 800th T-6 single-engine military trainer. The milestone aircraft was one of two Beechcraft T-6Bs delivered to the U.S. Navy Training Air Wing 4 at Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas.

• Beechcraft, displaying a King Air 350i at the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition, notes that Australia represents one of the largest business turboprop markets outside North America.

Hawker 400XPR

• The Wichita-based OEM delivers its 7,000th Beechcraft King Air since the legendary line of twin-turboprops began production in 1964.

March 2013 • Beechcraft announces a formal protest to the U.S. Government Accountability Office for the U.S. Air Force award of the light air support (LAS) contract to the partnership of Embraer and Sierra Nevada Corp.

• At the NBAA convention, the company announces its Hawker 400XPR upgrade as a highlight of the static display, part of a lineup of Hawker Beechcraft’s entire product line.

• The company announces its worldwide fleet of King Air turboprops has topped 60 million flight hours. The King Air line represents 53 percent of the worldwide business turboprop market, said Shawn Vick, executive v-p of sales and marketing.

• Beechcraft receives an order for a King Air 90GTx from Qingdao Jiutian International Flight Academy, one of two Civil Aviation Administration of China-certified domestic flight schools.

June 2013

5

• Beechcraft holds a special ceremony in Wichita to deliver the 4,000th Beechcraft Bonanza G36. Of all three Bonanza models–the 33, 35 and 36–a total of more than 18,000 airplanes have been delivered.

Beechcraft Bonanza G36

• At the Paris Air Show, Beechcraft announces John Gibson has been appointed to lead the company’s growing Global Mission Support (GMS) division. Global Mission Support was launched two years ago.

6

• Beechcraft Defense Co. says it expects growth in international defense budgets to lead to demand for its T-6 trainer and AT-6 light attack aircraft.

July 2013

• At the Paris Air Show, the company announces a 28-month contract extension for contractor logistics support for the Iraq Air Force King Air fleet. The deal includes fixed and portable ground stations, training and logistics support.

• Second quarter 2013 deliveries see a 75-percent increase compared with second quarter 2012–56 versus 32. For the first half of 2013, the company records 115 deliveries, compared with 69 in the first half of 2012.

• A Baron G58 with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities is unveiled at the Paris Air Show. The first delivery with an ISR package goes to Fuerzas Unidas de Rápida Acción, an Puerto Rico Police Department agency.

7

September 2013

August 2013

• Beechcraft continues expanding its global footprint with the appointment of Air Service Basel in Switzerland as an authorized service center, and Arrow Aircraft of New Delhi as an authorized sales distributor for India.

• Beechcraft announces an order for as many as 105 King Air 350i turboprops with a value of $778 million from membership-based charter program Wheels Up.

8

• The AT-6 becomes the first fixed-wing aircraft to successfully use the single-channel ground and airborne radio system situational awareness waveform capability, according to Beechcraft.

• At a new chalet at the LABACE show in São Paulo, Brazil, Beechcraft regional distributor Líder Aviação features King Air models 350i, 250 and a C90GTx, a Bonanza G36 single and a King Air 350ER special–mission variant.

• Beechcraft’s European MRO business is acquired by Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group. Formerly known as Hawker Beechcraft Ltd., the company is now rebranded as Marshall Aviation.

• The inaugural flight of the first production Beechcraft AT-6 light attack aircraft is recorded. Beechcraft has a total of more than 1,600 hours on the test aircraft and is offering the AT-6 to U.S. partner nations.

9

84 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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SAFE FLYING AWARDS NBAA awards recognize safe pilots The National Business Aviation Association presents Pilot Flying Safety Awards each year to member company pilots who have exemplary safety records. To be eligible for an award, a pilot must have flown corporate aircraft 1,500 hours without an accident, but the actual number of safe hours flown by many of the 2012 top pilots are above 20,000 hours.

T. William White | Chief Pilot Keller Companies Manchester, N.H. 32,006 Hours Bill White has been in the top five on NBAA’s Flying Safety Awards list since 1992 and reached the top in 1998. He told AIN that his own good safety record is due not only to himself but also to his fellow crewmembers. “We have a highly experienced crew with lots of time in the Mitsubishi MU-2, an average of 10,000 hours plus for each pilot,” he said. Keller operates two MU-2s, plus a Dassault Falcon 10. White also credits excellent training, equipment and maintenance for the sterling safety record.

White joined Keller in 1969. “I was the only pilot then,” he said, “and the airplane I flew was a Cessna 310 Riley Rocket.” Today, White flies with two full-time and two part-time pilots. The company also recently hired a new chief of maintenance and employs two additional mechanics, including White’s son Michael.

Keller Companies is a group of eight familyowned companies manufacturing energy-efficient construction materials. Most of its flights are domestic.

White said he still loves to fly “Mitsubishi MU2B-26 N40KC.” The twin-turboprop has 20,000 hours on the airframe. He has served on the NBAA MU-2 technical committee and was also a member of the State of New Hampshire Aviation Users Advisory Board. –M.F.S.

Top 25 Pilots Name

Company

Hours

T. William White

Keller Companies

32,006

Dave McElroy

ConocoPhillips Alaska

26,469

Steve Warner

Spectra Energy

26,244

Bruce Gorham

ConocoPhillips Alaska

25,481

James Potter

Jet Edge International

23,375

Marion Maneth

Spectra Energy

23,155

Norman Anderson

Skybird Aviation

22,206

Michael Bowden

Spectra Energy

21,815

Carl Boylan

CMS Energy

21,157

Andrew Durrett

ConocoPhillips Alaska

20,923

Kie Nobra

Friedkin Aviation

20,587

Lloyd Huth

Northern Jet/Northern Air

20,500

Robert Smith

Steelcase

20,179

Gary Stauss

AT&T

19,840

Dave Smith

ConocoPhillips Alaska

19,392

Wayne Carr

Air Trek

19,318

George Fleming

Michelin North America

19,046

Chris Ulrich

Hill Air

18,587

John Larson

Costco Wholesale

18,538

George Kontos

Executive Skyfleet

18,330

Stan Hallin

Twin Disc

18,218

James Sutton

TransCanada PipeLine Ltd.

17,600

Gary Ferdon

Mooreland Promontory LLC

17,577

Thomas Luebs

Steelcase

17,349

Glenn Jones

Steelcase

17,272

Top 25 Commercial Operators

NBAA member companies log superb safety records

Years

Hours

Mayo Aviation

29

161,322

Elite Aviation

20

144,184

Crow Executive Air

64

139,198

Key Air

27

135,576

Meridian Teterboro/ Meridian Air Charter

22

98,507

Aero Charter

36

87,521

Corporate Flight

33

82,906

Northern Jet/Northern Air

19

81,209

Central Flying Service

24

79,109

Company

Each year the National Business Aviation Association recognizes member companies with superb safety records. With 64 accident free years, Crow Executive Air’s Part 135 operation is among the top three honorees in that category for 2012.

Crow Executive Air Eric Barnum, President Millbury, Ohio 64 Years, 139,198 Hours Eric Barnum has been president of Crow Executive Air, an FBO and Part 135 air carrier, since 1982. “Our company is a family business and I grew up doing nothing but airplanes,” he told AIN. Barnum’s father, now retired, headed the company before he took over.

Crow has operated Piper Cubs; Grumman Widgeons and Mallards; Beechcraft Staggerwings, 18s and King Airs; Lockheed 10s; Aero Commanders; Piper twins; Fairchild Metroliners; the Cessna Conquest II; Learjets from the 24 through the 35A; Hawkers “and a few dozen others!” said Barnum.

Today, Crow operates two Learjet 35As and a King Air B100, with 14 crewmembers and a dozen or so support personnel. In addition to FBO and charter operations, the company offers maintenance and aircraft management services. Based at Toledo Executive Airport, Crow also has bases in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Omaha, Neb. “Although we offer charter services to a wide range of clientele and services such as corporate, leisure travel, air freight, airline crew and maintenance support,” Barnum said, “we are currently heavily involved in the air ambulance and organ procurement business.”

Barnum attributes the company’s long record of safety to an attitude of safe operations, regardless of regulatory requirement–going beyond what is required.

He said Crow itself must have an attitude of safety regardless of the demands of customers or of the bottom line. –M.F.S.

Yum! Brands

31

58,460

Craig Air Center

28

47,678

Mountain Aviation

20

43,295

Associated Aircraft Group,

17

42,665

ExecuJet Charter Service

19

32,550

Air Services

19

31,842

Skybird Aviation

37

31,481

Aviation Resource Management

24

31,314

Corporate Flight Alternatives

21

18,993

Allstate Insurance

18

16,357

Executive Airlines Pty

20

14,375

Cutter Aviation

15

14,193

Polygon Air

21

11,331

Turbine Aircraft Services

16

9,361

Methode Electronics

17

7,750

Raymond Limited, Aviation

18

6,325

50- and 60-year Safe companies honored by NBAA In 1998, the National Business Aviation Association started honoring member companies that have flown 50 years or more without an accident, and in 2006, the association added companies that have 60-year records. AIN interviewed some of this year’s honorees to find out about their operations and the secrets of their successes.

Bissell • 50 years Clint Fereday, Director of Aviation Tom Sanders, Chief Pilot Grand Rapids, Mich.

Bissell manufactures floor-care products: vacuums, deep cleaners for carpets, spot cleaners and hard-surface cleaners.

The flight department started with a Cessna 172 in 1956, then upgraded to a Cessna 310 before joining the turbine world with a Beech King Air 90. The company’s jet experience began in a Cessna Citation 500, followed by Beechjets, a Learjet 45, then a Bombardier Challenger 300, according to director of aviation Clint Fereday. The six-member flight department now operates the Learjet 45 and Challenger 300.

Fereday has been with the company, as director of aviation,

50- and 60-Year Award 60 years Company

City

State

Years

Citigroup Corporate Aviation

White Plains

NY

60

Duke Energy Co.

Raleigh

NC

60

The Kroger Co.

Cincinnati

OH

60

NCR Aviation Department

Kennesaw

GA

60

PPG Industries, Inc.

West Mifflin

PA

60

SC Aviation, Inc.

Janesville

WI

60

Spectra Energy Corporation

Houston

TX

60

Twin Disc, Inc.

Racine

WI

60

Bissell, Inc.

Grand Rapids

MI

50

The Gorman-Rupp Co.

Mansfield

OH

50

Nestle Purina Pet Care Co.

St. Louis

MO

50

Pfizer, Inc.

West Trenton

NJ

50

Sportman’s Market, Inc.

Batavia

OH

50

50 years

for three years. When it comes to flying, his favorite corporate jet is the Dassault Falcon 900. Fereday said he’s been interested in aviation since he was a child. “I got my private license at 17 and never looked back!”

Before joining Bissell, Fereday worked in other corporate flight departments in Kansas City; San Jose, Calif.; and Scottsdale, Ariz.

He attributes his company’s long safety record to “embracing a solid safety culture long before the SMS had been thought of.”

Citigroup Corporate Aviation • 60 years James Moore, Senior Vice President and Director of Flight Operations White Plains, N.Y.

The flight department of Citigroup, the worldwide finance and banking company, is based at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. The flight department started 60 years ago with a Douglas DC-3, and other early aircraft included the Convair 440 and Gulfstream I. Citigroup now operates a Bombardier Global Express, a Dassault Falcon 900EX and a Sikorsky S-76. The department transports Citi executives to more than 100 different countries for business purposes 365 days year.

There are 12 pilots in the 30-member flight department. James Moore, senior vice president and director of flight operations, joined the company 20 years ago, in his current position.

Moore’s favorite jet was the classic Lockheed JetStar, but he currently enjoys flying the Global Express. He became interested in aviation, he said, because “my oldest brother had his own personal aircraft.” Moore flew Cessna L-19 Bird Dogs and Huey helicopters in the U.S. Army, then before joining Citigroup, he flew for United Technologies. A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Moore is a member of the Business Aviation Management Group and the National Aviation Directors’ Roundtable.

The Citigroup flight department’s long safety record is due, he said, “to constant training and retraining, superb maintenance performance, hiring exceptionally talented people and making safety the paramount concern for all operations.” –M.F.S.

86 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

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10/9/13 3:27 PM

King Aero celebrates 20 good years

by Kirby J. Harrison “I started this business to of the military employed at the feed my family,” recalled King company. “They’re well-trained, Aerospace chairman and disciplined and they have a firstfounder Jerry King. Twenty class work ethic,” said King.

But at NBAA 2013 the King years later, the company is successfully feeding an extended Aerospace Commercial divifamily of some 200 employees at sion (Booth No. C13049), based facilities in Ardmore, Okla., and in Ardmore, is highlighting its Addison, Texas, and that family business aviation capabilities, from interior components and is still growing.

King Aerospace, with corpo- installation to exterior paint and rate headquarters in Addison, minor maintenance. And the consists of two major divisions. company is seeing that business The Addison operation special- segment “recovering nicely,” izes in military and government according to King.

The involvement in business aviation services, from worldwide support of surveillance aircraft to aviation began in 1993 and has work as a Northrop Grumman grown steadily with exterior subcontractor for unmanned aer- paint and interior completion and refurbishment as the cenial vehicle subassemblies.

“I started in 1992 at Tyndall terpiece. “Midsize to large-cabin Air Force Base in Florida, sup- airplanes–Citations, Challengporting [Northrop Grumman’s] ers, Gulfstreams,” said King. information-gathering aircraft “We’ve even done some Boeing for the missile-test program,” airliner conversions to VIP.” said King. “And during the The company plans to recent recession, government increase its focus on green comASG-NBAA-ad-outlines.pdf 1 9/30/2013 10:55:12 AMpletion of both single-aisle and contracts were a key to our continued success.” In fact, there is twin-aisle bizliners as part of no shortage of former members the long-range strategy. King

said maintenance work is just beginning on a green BBJ in the hangar at Ardmore and the company expects an additional contract to do the interior outfitting. King also expects a number of additional contracts to be signed before the end of the year, including one for a VVIP major reconfiguration of a much larger airplane.

These moves are all part of

a long-range plan that includes expanding the facilities onto 75 acres of land at Ardmore Municipal Airport that King Aerospace has been acquiring over the past 20 years. The project includes several hangars capable of accommodating twin-aisle airliner reconfigurations and green completions to executive bizliners, one of which will even hold an Airbus A380.

The paint shop at Ardmore is already capable of accommodating aircraft as large as the BBJ. Currently, work is proceeding on a new 25,000-sq-ft

King Aerospace’s long-range plan includes expanding the facilities to 75 acres at Ardmore Municipal Airport and the addition of several hangars and an interior shop.

interior shop and a smaller 5,000-sq-ft shop at Ardmore.

Plans also include King’s son, Jarid, who graduated this year from Oklahoma State University with a degree in business.

His résumé at age 24 is short, but impressive: Eagle Scout, pilot, four years as a defensive tackle at Oklahoma State and completion of an introductory Navy SEAL training course. His father recalls watching Jarid in an interview; when the son was asked what he liked about playing football, he said, “It’s about being part of something bigger than yourself.”

“That was the point at which I truly knew I wanted him in the business,” said Jerry King.

And to that end, he has ensured that his son has done everything from sweeping hangar floors to pumping gas to helping run the company’s FBO. Jarid’s answer in that interview fits what King describes as a company philosophy, and it appears to be working. He said revenue at this point in 2013 is up about 30 percent over last year, and he added, “I think if the projects we’re working on now come through, 2013 and 2014 are going to be fantastic.” o

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 87

PT6s get “green” engine wash

by R. Randall Padfield If you already fly or maintain some regional airliners and larger business jets, including the Bombardier CRJ200 and Global Express; Gulfstream IV and V/550; Dassault Falcon 2000EX and 7X; Embraer ERJ 145, 170 and 190; IAI Westwinds and Beechcraft King Air turboprops, you may already be familiar with an innovative, on-wing enginecleansing system called EcoPower Wash.

If you’ve been waiting for EcoPower Wash for smaller turbine engines, particularly the Pratt & Whiney Canada PT6 turboprop and turboshaft engines, your wait is over. EcoPower for the PT6 became available on September 1. The first example of the PT6 EcoPower Wash System is on display here at NBAA 2013 at Booth No. C12039.

The EcoPower Wash System itself is fairly easy to understand, but like a casual fan at a baseball game, you may find the players on the field a bit confusing without a program. So here’s a quick rundown.

At the top of the lineup is Pratt & Whitney of Hartford, Conn., whose Line Maintenance Services unit developed the technology for EcoPower and began using it in 2005. The Pratt unit has performed some 40,000 engine washes with EcoPower. Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies.

To sell and market EcoPower, Pratt & Whitney entered into a joint venture in December 2011 with Vision Technologies (VT) Aerospace, the aerospace arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering, to form a company called EcoServices, located in Wethersfield, Conn. In May 2012, VT Aerospace acquired the controlling interest (50.1 percent) in EcoServices.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., VT Aerospace owns three aerospace companies in Mobile, Ala., and San Antonio.

About a year and a half ago, EcoServices and Vector-Hawk Aerospace joined forces to develop and market EcoPower for the popular PT6 family of engines.

EcoServices designed the manifold and nozzles to fit the PT6 engine inlet along with a smaller version of the EcoPower large turbofan-engine wash unit.

Vector-Hawk, which is based in Daleville, Ala., and has “footprints” in Huntsville, Ala., and Tel Aviv, Israel, began demonstrating the system to potential customers, primarily military PT6 users. Vector-Hawk is a joint venture of Blackhawk Modification (Booth No. C7032) of Waco, Texas, and Vector Aerospace (Booth No. C8107), a global company with facilities in Canada, the U.S., the UK, France, Malaysia, Africa and Australia. Vector Aerospace is headquartered in Toronto.

Circling back to the EcoPower system, Mike Nowicki, president of Vector-Hawk, told AIN that the version of EcoPower for the PT6 primarily involves changes to the nozzle and manifold so that the system works with the engine’s 180-degree, reverse-flow design, which makes the compressor and power turbines behind the combustion chamber harder to reach for cleaning.

Environmentally Friendly

As mentioned, the Pratt folks designed the original EcoPower system for big turbofans. For the most part it’s relatively easy to spray water and cleaning solutions all the way through a turbofan while it is spinning with the igniters turned off.

Vector-Hawk has teamed with EcoServices to offer a version of the Pratt & Whitney-designed EcoPower Wash system for P&WC PT6 engines, shown here in the process of “cleansing” a PT6 on a Beechcraft King Air.

But this is messy and environmentally unfriendly. So the engineers designed EcoPower so that it not only collects 95 percent of the water sprayed through the engine, but also recycles it.

Also important is the fact that EcoPower does not use any detergent or other chemicals to clean the engine, but rather hot (about 140-degrees F), deionized water that is atomized into extremely tiny particles. This combination apparently does an extremely effective job cleaning the compressor, hot section and power turbine inside the engine.

Nowicki explained that EcoPower handles both types of engine washes normally found in engine maintenance manuals: the compressor wash and the turbine/hotsection (or power-recovery) wash. Other engine cleaning systems do the compressor wash by spraying water and detergent through the inlet. The turbine/hot-section wash is accomplished by spraying water and stronger solvents through a nozzle inserted in an igniter-plug hole, after which the solvents must be washed out with water.

During both types of washes, the engine starter is motored with the ignition turned off so that the turbines rotate.

EcoPower can also be used in this same manner, though without the

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88 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

detergents and solvents. However, after proving the effectiveness of EcoPower cleansing of turbofan engines by use of borescope inspections and JetCal analyses of engine temperatures and pressures, Pratt & Whitney approved the use of a 20- to 30-minute EcoPower engine cleansing through the engine inlet as satisfying the maintenance requirement for a power-recovery wash as well.

Pratt & Whitney Canada (Booth No. C6518) has approved EcoPower for both types of washes for the PT6 engine, but wants to see more empirical data showing that a single wash via the inlet is sufficient for both types of washes before granting approval. The reverse-flow design of the PT6 makes it particularly difficult to move cleansing fluid through the engine effectively, although Nowicki claimed EcoPower has shown it is up to the task of cleansing both the compressor and hot section in one wash. P&WC just wants more proof.

Fuel Cost Savings

Talking about EcoPower’s effectiveness in turbofans, Nowicki mentioned Southwest Airlines, which he said has been using EcoPower cleansings at boarding gates for seven years.

The EcoPower system has other uses, too, including washing the aircraft. Combined with glycol, it can be used for deicing. When used for engine washing, the pressure of the ionized water as it goes through the manifold is 950 psi, which is needed to create the extremely small droplet size. When the water exits the manifold nozzles and enters the engine, its pressure drop’s to only about 3 to 5 psi.

The EcoPower system for the PT6 includes a small wash unit, which contains the controls; a direct-drive, dieselpowered water pump; an electric heater; an exhaust-to-water heat exchanger; a 160-gallon water tank; an effluent collector, which rolls under the engine; a PT6 manifold, which installs on the engine’s inlet screen; high-pressure hoses; and a hand lance for cleaning aircraft surfaces.

The diesel engine runs on diesel and jet fuel. It all fits on the bed of a pickup truck. Dry weight of the system is 850 pounds; when the water tank is full, the unit weighs 1,245 pounds.

The price of a EcoPower unit for a PT6 is about $100,000, said Nowicki.

The first unit built is the one on display here at the convention and Vector-Hawk plans to demonstrate it on actual airplanes after NBAA at an airport in the Las Vegas area. o

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Trade-A-Plane keeps flying dreams alive

by Harry Weisberger This week in Las Vegas, Trade-A-Plane–the “shoestring operation” that Cosby Harrison

and his wife, Margaret, began in Crossville, Tenn., 76 years ago– continues as general aviation’s

popular shopping guide. Born on the Harrison kitchen table, Trade-A-Plane is now a multimedia operation employing 150 people. The fourth-generation family business has expanded beyond the three-issues-amonth yellow newspaper full of aircraft, parts and equipment listings to an online resource serving a variety of industries.

Visitors to Trade-A-Plane’s Booth (No. C10230) can examine its website and pick up a complimentary issue of the paper, currently listing nearly 1,000 turbine aircraft for sale plus thousands of products and services. Also offered is a commemorative book with a collection of front cover cartoons from earlier issues.

“For decades, Trade-A-Plane’s

®

www.trade-a-plane.com Volume 75

Number 35

•

800-337-5263

Third October Issue, 2012

$3.00

Soar above the weather at 45,000 ft. in this meticulously-maintained Cessna Citation Ultra 560 with a star-studded ownership history. This pristine aircraft is ready for immediate service and one of many fine aircraft currently offered

by O’Gara Aviation Company of Atlanta, GA. The photograph was taken under beautiful October evening skies by Barry Gray, President of Biz Jet Photos.

Table of Contents Abbreviations (aviation terminology) Classified Advertising Advertising Information Classified Headings Directory

47 46 112 45

Display Advertisers’ Index

110

Subscription Information

112

Telephone Area Codes “Chicken Wings“ Comic Strip

47

“I’m also certified to fly at night.”

122 Published three times monthly by TAP Publishing Company MAILED 10/23/12

P.O. Box 509 Crossville, TN 38557

Trade-A-Plane’s cover is a familiar sight to aviators the world over.

A

Different

Agency ExpEriEncE Most marketing firms do the work, send the invoice and get paid no matter what.

For a different agency experience, talk to BDN. We are accountable for showing results that link marketing spend to business outcomes.

Say hello at NBAA — we’ll be wearing our Alfa-Zulu ties — or call and we’ll come see you.

1.800. BDN .5311 w w w.bdnaerospace.com/alfa

S t r a t e g y D e s i g n Multimedia PR/Writing

90 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com BDN AIN JT.indd 2

10/1/13 10:02 AM

symbol, a turbine aircraft circling the globe, has been a steadfast representation of our mission,” said associate publisher Rachel Hill. Of the 650,000 online visits in August, more than 150,000 were from outside the U.S. “We offer the best of both worlds– print and online–to reach the most qualified active buyers all over the world,” she added. A recent Readex Research survey showed that 90 percent of TradeA-Plane readers are aircraft owners and that 67 percent of those with business aviation connections call it their primary shopping tool.

The first Trade-A-Plane issue, mailed to 9,000 transport pilots on Oct. 5, 1937, contained 76 ads. It was tough times in 1937 to be starting anything. Nevertheless, Cosby Harrison pursued his unique concept of making the publication an editorial-free list of shopping opportunities.

Originally a single 11- by 14-inch broadsheet, Trade-APlane, almost from the beginning, has included amusing cartoons on the publication’s cover. Still published three times a month, the publication circulates approximately 1.7 million copies annually in the U.S. and in 130 other countries.

Besides Trade-A-Plane, the staff also produces similar papers for heavy construction (in English and Spanish), oil and gas, as well as trucking. It has continued to expand into electronic publishing with WeatherTAP.com, a subscription weather service, and other Internet products. A commercial printing division serves other clients throughout the U.S. Trade-A-Plane employed 13 people in 1945. Today, its employees handle all company operations internally, including sales, customer service, graphics, composition, printing, binding and mailing. An end-to-end operation, the publication is produced in TAP Publishing’s own Crossville printing plant. o

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Big Ass Fans do more than cool

by Kirby J. Harrison The firm started in 1999 as the HVLS Fan Co., an acronym for high-volume low-speed fans.

That name accurately described the design and efficiency of the company’s products, but after three years in business, according to the Lexington, Ky.-based manufacturer, “we finally had to bow to the sentiments of our customers and concede that we do, in fact, design and manufacture some Big Ass Fans.” Hence, the current brand name.

At the NBAA show (Booth No. C13016), Big Ass Fans has proof, indeed, that its fans are both large and efficient. Overhead and working is an 18-foot ceiling fan, and as proof that not everything is “big-ass,” there are also several samples of smaller floor models.

According to government and aviation sales manager Cederic Johnson, these fans are not to be confused with your typical residential ceiling fan. In addition to a 100,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility in Lexington,

the company operates 44,000 sq ft of research space where engineers have developed everything from winglets to composites. In fact, he added, Big Ass Fans’s largest product is a 24-foot fan with winglets. The design, he said, allows a single fan to cover an area from 20,000 to 30,000 sq ft. The smallest Big Ass Fans product is a four-foot floor model and the smallest ceiling fan is six feet in diameter.

Prices range from about $2,000 for a floor model up to $7,500 for the 24-foot Powerfoil Plus. They can be customized to meet clients’ needs, with additions such as winglets, fire-suppression equipment, cameras and LED lights. The fans are also available in a broad range of blade shapes and a multitude of colors.

“Green” Certification

Installation of Big Ass Fans products can also contribute to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the nonprofit U.S.

Green Building Council. LEED certification is a rating system used to evaluate the design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. One instance of such certification is LEED Platinum-certified Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. The structure employs seven 24-foot Powerfoil Plus fans.

According to Johnson, the overhead fans help cool the hangar in warmer months and provide heat de-stratification in the colder months, allowing comfortable working temperatures for employees. “The aerodynamic design of Big Ass Fans allows them to move vast amounts of air very efficiently at slow speeds, using very little energy,” he said.

This air distribution also inhibits heat loss through the roof in colder months and delivers gentle, cooling breezes in the summertime.

Because the steady mixing of air creates a uniform temperature throughout a structure, it

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Big Ass Fans has found a niche in the aviation market, where its fans are used to circulate and cool air in hangars. Some of the models can be equipped with security cameras, firesuppression equipment and LED lights. The company’s booth at the show is being cooled by an 18-foot ceiling fan.

assists a heater or air conditioner to maintain the same thermostat setpoint with less effort. Big Ass Fans claims that can result in a reduction of operating costs of more than 30 percent in some cases, with a one- to two-year return on investment.

The growth of the company has most recently brought its employee level to nearly 500 in its three Lexington facilities, and expansion has added a 10,000sq-ft facility in Tingalpa, Australia, with administrative, sales and marketing offices as well as applications engineering and warehousing facilities.

Johnson said the business has been growing and the company has more than doubled in size since the recession began in

2008. And no small part of that growth has come from the aviation sector, including general aviation facilities. Among its customers are NASA’s Langley Research Center and Alcoa Fujikara, the latter having installed Big Ass Fans in its 10,000-sq-ft corporate hangar at San Antonio International Airport.

Johnson admits that the name of the company continues to garner chuckles, something that the company does not object to and even encourages. In fact, its mascot is a stuffed donkey.

But Johnson points out that, humor aside, Big Ass Fans devotes a lot of time to engineering, design and technology. “It may be a silly name,” he said, “but it’s a very serious product.” o

FAA clears first P.180 after Avantair debacle

by James Wynbrandt Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio has told AIN that the first of 56 Avanti P.180 twin-turboprop aircraft from the former fleet of bankrupt Avantair has had its airworthiness certificate revalidated by the FAA. Avantair was grounded, and the airworthiness certificates of all its aircraft were

revoked by the FAA, after lax maintenance at the failing fractional program operator came to light earlier this year.

“Over the past 60 days we have working out a process to return [former] Avantair aircraft to service,” John Bingham, president and CEO of Piaggio America,

told AIN. Under the process, developed with the FAA, a team from Piaggio Aero performs an inspection that requires about five days for each aircraft. First, a list of needed repairs is compiled and then Piaggio America coordinates the repairs through a Piaggio factory authorized

service center. Once completed, Piaggio America informs the FAA, which may either inspect the aircraft or simply re-issue the aircraft’s airworthiness certificate.

The first Avanti to undergo the process and to be re-issued its airworthiness certificate was serial number 1214, owned by

Bolen recalls ’08, praises survival the U.S. but around the globe.

The organization, as part of its continuing No Plane, No Gain information campaign, has also released a new “Top Ten” publication, in which the leaders of 10 leading businesses and organizations describe why business aviation is a critical tool.

While keynote speaker FAA administrator Michael Huerta was forced to cancel his attendance, apparently due to ongoing fallout resulting from the recent government shutdown, the impact was lessened by the panel of high-powered speakers. Representative Sam Graves (R-Mo.) is the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee and has used that position to convey the statistic that an overwhelming 85 percent of the companies that utilize aviation in the U.S. are small and midsize.

Graves, a pilot himself, is also the co-chair of the House general aviation caucus, which currently has 229 members and represents a majority in the House of Representatives. “The fact of the matter is general aviation is one of the most important industries out there because it affects everybody,” he said. “The way we look at it on the small business committee is it’s 1.2 million jobs and has about $150 billion worth of impact in terms of the GDP.” He cited the recent government shutdown, which paralyzed many aircraft sales and registration transactions, as a political pressure-play, aimed at getting people outraged enough to complain to their congressional representatives.

While Graves described the efforts of the House caucus as being on the offensive in spreading understanding of the necessity of business aviation, he called on everybody in the industry to step up as well. “When the FAA lost advocacy out of its mission statement, that’s when

MARIANO ROSALES

uContinued from page 1

Registration counters were busy on the opening day of NBAA’s 2013 convention and exhibition. With all static display space sold out and strong sales of booth space, this year’s edition of the show promises to deliver good numbers–and good news for the industry.

it was time for us to step in and make sure that we were advocating for ourselves because nobody else is going to go do it.”

TSA Update

TSA administrator John Pistole, who last attended NBAA’s annual convention three years ago, took the opportunity to update the audience on the efforts that the agency has made in providing a balance between national security and efficient general aviation operations. Pistole boiled down his agency’s purpose to one simple tenet: to promote the free movement of people and goods with the best security. “The question is how can we do that in the best partnership,” said Pistole.

“What we have been working on particularly in these last [few] years is [working out] how we can move away from that one-size-fitsall construct that TSA was given the mandate to do.”

In response, he said, the agency has utilized more pre-screening, based on voluntarily submitted information. Rather than viewing everyone as a potential threat, the TSA now operates under the riskbased security concept that virtually everybody who travels is not a

terrorist and simply wants to get from point A to point B safely.

The agency has developed a “known crew” list, which encompasses 95 percent of all pilots and flight attendants, allowing their identity and status as an active crewmember to be verified in real time, managing risk while facilitating those who have lawful access. “Everybody agrees the last thing we need is to have somebody be able to exploit some vulnerability associated with GA to have a terrorist attack.”

Pistole noted there are some particular business aviationrelated issues that the TSA is continuing to address, such as temporary flight restrictions, citing the incident at last year’s NBAA show in Orlando when operations were impacted by the arrival in the area of President Obama.

John Snow, U.S Treasury Secretary from 2003 to 2006, was also on the panel. He began his talk with a play on the “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” theme. A strong proponent of business aviation, Snow said “I hope that with respect to this convention and with respect to your industry, the story doesn’t stay here and is propelled across

the country and across the world because business aviation is a force for productivity, for competitiveness and for innovation in the American economy.”

Snow, who served as a policy-maker in the Department of Transportation during the early 1970s, recalled the first mentions of general aviation user fees, an idea that has kicked around the dark recesses of Washington ever

Eclipse shining, delivers first 550 uContinued from page 1

Bruce Dickinson–the lead singer from rock band Iron Maiden and a former airline pilot, as well as the non-executive chairman of Eclipse’s UK distributor Aeris Aviation– spoke highly of the Eclipse 550 at the ceremony. “This airplane is the only true very light jet in the market,” he said, gesturing to the Eclipse 550 on the show floor. “The other manufacturers just took big-aircraft designs and made them into small jets.

Eclipse didn’t do that.” Dickinson earned his Eclipse 550 type rating, training over a two-week

a company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The aircraft was flown on a ferry permit to Stevens Aviation in Greenville, N.C., where the necessary work was carried out.

“What this means is, there’s a proven way for all former Avantair owners to get their airworthiness certificates back and have all these aircraft return to the sky,” said Bingham. Piaggio maintenance personnel are now inspecting more former Avantair aircraft, he said. o since. He warned the audience that while recent attempts to enact user fees have been rebuffed, the industry should keep its guard up. “People in Washington are going to be looking for ways to deal with the budget mess. Every single source of additional revenue is going to be examined, and you’ll be a target.”

While the recent government shutdown proved unpopular, to put it mildly, Snow said it served to highlight deep issues that will have to be addressed with the growing cost of entitlement programs such as social security and Medicare. Left unchecked, those programs will absorb all current U.S. government revenues within 10 to 15 years, according to Snow, “meaning there’s nothing left for the rest of the government, the agricultural program, the FAA, the DOT [or] the DOD. “While I really disagree with the tactics that some from my party followed, I have to say on the fundamental issues they are right,” said Snow, noting that while he expects meaningful budget compromises to come, they will likely be under the administration of a future president. He closed with a quote from Winston Churchill: “America always gets it right… after it has exhausted every other possibility.” o period last month while on tour with Iron Maiden in the U.S. According to Holland, Eclipse plans to deliver five or six more Eclipse 550s by year-end. Eclipse plans to produce about two aircraft per month and, while the factory eventually could be ramped up to as much as 10 per month, Holland said he wants the company “to grow at a pace slightly slower than the market.”

The company took four orders yesterday morning here at NBAA 2013, helping it to build the backlog for the $2.895 million Eclipse 550. Holland said there are still delivery positions available for 2014, though he is hopeful that these slots can largely be filled by the end of the show. o

www.ainonline.com • October 23, 2013 • NBAA Convention News 93

Million Air adds an FBO, upgrades two more this year

by Curt Epstein

An EC145 helicopter owned by Ron Pratte of Chandler, Ariz. is on display at American Eurocopter’s booth at NBAA 2013 in Las Vegas.

MARK WAGNER

American Eurocopter shows off custom EC145 ‘time machine’

Put your name in the hat for a chance to win this customized Harley Davidson motorcycle at Million Air’s booth (No. C7307). Drawing is today at 2 p.m.

game day. Million Air White Plains at Westchester County Airport will offer a special private VIP lounge as well as a crew party and high end NFL souvenir store in the hangar. The location will have ample room for aircraft parking on its 25-acre ramp. While the airport might be further from the stadium, it will be outside of the congested New York airspace, allowing for quicker departures after the game, according to company president Roger Woolsey.

Visitors to Million Air’s booth (No. C7307) have a chance to win a customized Harley Davidson motorcycle, with the drawing to be held today at 2 p.m. o

MARIANO ROSALES

At its press conference here at NBAA 2013 yesterday, Million Air announced the newest additions to its network and its first base in Florida, following the recent purchase of Avion Jet Center at Orlando Sanford International Airport. The Houston-based company is set to embark on a $3.5 million renovation of the facility, with work starting on the 10,000-sq-ft hangar at the beginning of the year. The location also features a 7,000-sq-ft terminal, which will soon include all the usual Million Air amenities including a theater room and the popular soda bar.

In Calgary, the Million Air FBO’s newly-built $19 million facility is expected to open on November 1, with the first of its 40,000-sq-ft hangars to be dedicated to based customers. A second, transient aircraft hangar is slated to open mid-December. The location, Million Air’s third in Canada, will serve as a gateway to the Great White North’s oil and gas region and includes a 7,500-sq-ft terminal.

Million Air’s new flagship FBO at Houston Hobby airport is on track to open at the beginning of next year. The $15 million 21,000-sq-ft facility sits on a more than 20-acre site, the largest at the airport, and will have more than 15,000 sq ft devoted to customer use with features such as five conference rooms and commercial kitchens. The company also acquired another 60,000 sq ft of hangar space, in essence giving it control of the entire west side of the airport.

With next year’s Super Bowl being held for the first time in the New York City area, Million Air will continue with its series of host city parties on

CAN Do, for Corporate Angel network Delivering $21,000 raised by Phillips 66 for the Corporate Angel Network are (l to r): Randall Green, CAN chairman; Rosemary Leone, Phillips 66; James Griffeth, Lincoln Financial Group; Peter Fleiss, CAN executive director; Greg Hamilton; Aviation Week; Eric Brossard, BASF; Penton’s Warren Bimblick and Frank Craven; and Mike Perry, Phillips 66.

94 NBAA Convention News • October 23, 2013 • www.ainonline.com

American Eurocopter (Booth No. C11606B) selected a unique EC145 to show off at its booth during NBAA 2013. The twin-engine helicopter was outfitted to customer specifications for Chandler, Ariz.-based businessman Ron Pratte. Interior features include a spacious passenger cabin, ideal for carrying business partners and family.

“It’s a time machine,” said Scott Urschel, president of Chandler-based Pylon Aviation. Urschel has advised Pratte on several helicopter purchases.

“He uses it to travel between business sites and to transport family and friends.”

In other news the company delivered a customized EC155 equipped for corporate and VIP transport missions to Corporate Helicopters of San Diego, a provider of helicopter transportation services. The twin-engine helicopter can seat up to eight with interior options that include club seats and a cabin entertainment system.

“At the end of the day the EC155 fit the missions we wanted and there was great value for the money,” said Ivor Shier, founder of Corporate Helicopters.

“The lines look sleek. The quality of the interior is just superb.” –A.L.

FAA eases operators’ burden from Twin Commander AD

by David A. Lombardo Twin Commander Aircraft and its authorized service centers are responding to accommodate owners and operators affected by a recent airworthiness directive calling for inspection and modification of the aft pressure-bulkhead area.

Twin Commander (Booth No C9432 ) proposed, and the FAA recently approved, a procedure that provides some operators relief from the strict compliance requirements in AD 2013-09-05, which is based on Service Bulletin 241.

The revision to SB 241 allows operators to perform an inspection of the aft pressure-bulkhead area, and if the inspection does not reveal cracking, the operator will be able to resume flying for another 100 flights or 110 flight hours, whichever comes first. This procedure may be repeated two more times before implementation of the AD is required.

The procedure does require that a modified thicker-gauge upper window channel be installed first.

Matt Isley, Twin Commander Aircraft’s president, said installation of the thicker upper window channel takes about six days, costs approximately $10,000 and can be performed by a qualified technician. The inspection itself takes about a week and can be done

concurrent with the replacement of the upper window channel.

“The determination of the allowable flight hours and number of flights is based upon crack-growth analysis.

If you check it today and tomorrow a crack begins, the question is how long it will take that crack to grow to the point it becomes a problem. The analysis indicates it would take five times longer than [the time period] we’ve recommended, so there is a significant safety buffer. However, the engineering analysis is based upon installation of the thicker upper window channel to brace the section above and below the picture window. The upper window channel distributes the load that would otherwise be concentrated in the aft pressure bulkhead,” Isley told AIN. “This procedure is of particular value to those operators who can’t afford to wait to get a slot in maintenance for the fix. For instance, seasonal operators for whom the bulk of their work is occurring now need to be able to keep that airplane in the air,” Isley said.

To date about 110 aircraft have been modified; approximately 440 active aircraft are affected by the AD, and about half of them are based in the U.S. o

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