NBAAConvention News

Vol. 43 No. 23

10•12•2011

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Is China riding to the rescue of aviation?

User fees, depreciation schedules and insta-bility in world financial markets have called for some tough talking at NBAA 2011. One country, however, seems to be promising great rewards for those who dare enter. China seems to be the golden land, the new Wild East set to save the industry from oblivion.

Several consultants held press conferences during the show, highlighting incredible oppor-tunities in China. Jason Liao, CEO of China Business Aviation Group, said he foresees a

Olympics Preparations Bizav grows in Japan CMC hooks up EFBs, iPads Another Kind of NextGen Today on AINonline

Plan ahead for 2012 GamesBusiness aviation airports in the UK are preparing for a traffic onslaught during next year’s Olympics, and Signature will have a dedicated customer service team. Page 19, 24

Narita embraces bizavThe efforts of Japan’s business aviation group are starting to bear fruit, and Narita International Airport will get its first dedicated executive aviation terminal next year. Page 20

Tandem boosts EFB utility The software lets pilots do their planning off-airport, then transfer the data from the iPad to electronic flight bags mounted in the airplane. Page 38

Pilot inspires studentsBarrington Irving, the youngest pilot to fly around the world, returned to the NBAA show with MHIA to get young people interested in flying and aviation. Page 45

> Pre-owned market is stronger than it seems

> Gulfstream Elite cabin has beauty and brains

> Video news headlines from AINtv

China Business Aviation CEO Jason Liao predicts that 1,000 bizjets will grace Chinese skies in 10 years.

Design has begun on Dassault’s new SMSby Liz Moscrop

Dassault Falcon kicked off its traditional Fal-con Family breakfast at NBAA ’11 with a mes-sage from chairman Charles Edelstenne that the industry must unite to combat threats to its development. He stressed that business avia-tion is not a luxury, rather, it buys time, which he described as an essential competitive advantage in today’s world.

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As evidenced by the lines of people waiting to self-register for the 64th annual NBAA Convention, Las Vegas drew 25,861 attendees by day two of the world’s biggest business aviation show.

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this is EFFiciEntrEliablEinsPirEDstYlishhEaD-turningJaW-DroPPingthis is lEarJEt.This is one of the most efficient business jets in the sky. This is head-turning style and inspired vision.This is brilliant engineering that takes you farther, faster, and does it for less.

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this is EFFiciEntrEliablEinsPirEDstYlishhEaD-turningJaW-DroPPingthis is lEarJEt.This is one of the most efficient business jets in the sky. This is head-turning style and inspired vision.This is brilliant engineering that takes you farther, faster, and does it for less.

lEarJEt 45 Xr

Arinc demos flight planning app for iPadby James Wynbrandt

Having introduced it a week before NBAA, Arinc Direct is demonstrating its Flight Exe-cution App for the iPad here at the convention. The app pro-vides access to flight plans, weather information, charts and other flight planning data directly through the Arinc Direct portal. Flight informa-tion is updated automatically when the user logs on, includ-ing D-Atis, Metars, Tafs, Notams and winds aloft. Chart data such as airport diagrams, takeoff minimums, approach plates, departure procedures and Stars are stored locally on the iPad. “The iPad is increas-ingly becoming the standard, and we’ve had an overwhelm-ing number of requests for this application,” said Arinc Direct senior director Robert Richard. The app has already been downloaded more than 2,000 times.

Arinc is on a fast track to add enhancements to the app. Version 2.0 should be available through Apple’s App Store in about two weeks, Richard said. “We’ve got a dedicated devel-opment team for the iPad,” he added. “We’re looking to

release often and early. The only thing that gets in our way is getting Apple’s approval to get them into the Apple Store.”

Arinc (Booth No. N4421) has also unveiled a new high-speed Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service for business aircraft using Inmarsat SwiftBroadband connectivity,

The VoIP service carries both accelerated data and VoIP traf-fic concurrently without con-flict, according to Arinc. The service is available immediately to Arinc Direct customers with properly equipped aircraft. “This is the VoIP service most of today’s corporate jet oper-ators have been waiting for,” Richard said.

Arinc also announced the addition of a new Hot Spot Tracking capability for its SwiftBroadband Internet ser-vice for business jets, making it easier to bill passengers for Internet use. Almost 10 percent of today’s corporate aircraft

are equipped with Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcoms, according to the company, but flight departments and char-ter operators have been chal-lenged in allocating costs for onboard Internet use. The solu-tion is expected to simplify cost allocation among corporate departments and multiple users of in-cabin “hot spot” connec-tivity. Implemented by software on the ground, no additional onboard equipment is needed. Onboard Internet users can also buy service in block time using a credit card and can view their usage rate during the flight via onscreen display. o

4 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

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nbaa convention news is a publication of The Convention News Co., Inc., 214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432; Tel.: (201) 444-5075. Copyright © 2011. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of The Convention News Co., Inc. is strictly prohibited. The Convention News Co., Inc. publishes aviation international news, ainalerts, ain air transport Per-spective, ain defense Perspective, ainmxreports, business Jet traveler, bJtwaypoints, abace convention news, dubai airshow news, ebace convention news, Farnborough airshow news, Hai convention news, meba convention news, nbaa convention news, Paris airshow news, singapore airshow news.Printed in Las Vegas by Creel Printing Computer Services: Rentfusion

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Cessna’s new boss takes the NBAA spotlight by Kirby J. Harrison

Cessna Aircraft’s new pres-ident and CEO Scott Ernest took the stage at NBAA to introduce his new leadership team and reaffirm the Wich-ita-based OEM’s dedication to the light-to-midsize jet and sin-gle-engine piston markets and remaining atop the customer support standings among air-craft manufacturers.

Ernest took over the helm at Cessna four months ago and took advantage of a packed press conference to intro-duce the team; Brad Thress, senior v-p of business jets; Jodi Noah, v-p of single-engine/prop aircraft; and Mark Paolucci, senior v-p of sales and marketing. It is a team that Ernest expects to carry Cessna forward.

Part of that movement is Cessna’s new Latitude midsize jet, introduced, on Monday, as well as the Citation M2 light business jet, which made its public debut this week in the form of a cabin mock-up on display at the Cessna exhibit (Booth No. C9044).

Operator feedback and owner insight has indicated interest in an airplane like this, said Ernest. He added that Cessna expects to see the M2 draw customers new to the Citation family, as well as from the ranks of existing Citation Mustang owners and from CJ1+ owners who want a new, more advanced Citation.

Officially launched in Sep-tember, the $4.194-million, six-passenger twinjet is positioned

between the Mustang and the Citation CJ family. The pre-liminary specs call for a max speed of 400 knots and a range of 1,300 nautical miles. Thress noted that it will fly 40 knots faster than its Phenom 100 com-petitor from Embraer and have a 37-percent better rate of climb. The prototype is on track for a first flight later this year.

In terms of marketing, Ernest suggested a futility in attempting to chase low-cost labor markets all over the world. “The reason for a presence in China,” he said, “is primarily to open that market.”

In response to a question regarding the possibility of the sale of Cessna’s single-engine/prop business, Ernest said there is no such inten-tion, and added, “We need to continue to be in that busi-ness.” He also repeated Cess-na’s intention not to revive the super-midsize Columbus program and suggested that at this time, Cessna has no

interest in that particular mar-ket. Meanwhile, said Ernest, Cessna must continue to invest in the future, and added that he expects “a slight uptick” this year over last.

It was a response echoed by Paolucci, who noted, “We can’t wait for the market to improve.” o

New Cessna boss Scott Ernest reaffirmed the company’s dedication to light-to- midsize jets and single-engine pistons.

typed at lastKen Ricci (left), Nextant CEO, shakes hands with FAA program manager

Jonathan Oxman after he awarded the TC for the

company’s 400XT. Look-ing on is Nextant president

James Miller.

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Category Killer.

Introducing the 400XT by Nextant Aerospace The only remanufactured light jet that clearly out performs the competition in

virtually every category at a price under $4 million. Building on the renowned

value, ruggedness and technological sophistication of the Beechjet 400A/XP,

Nextant has created a whole new category of business jet with more range,

more speed, more fuel efficiency and most importantly more value. The 400XT

clearly trumps the high acquisition and operating costs a new jet purchase demands.

FAA certification now complete,Visit us at NBAA booth #C13113 Demonstration flights also available at NBAA.

The New 400XT from Nextant Aerospace, It’s What’s Next.w w w. n e x t a n t a e r o s p a c e . c o m8 8 8 . 8 9 3 . 9 0 01s a l e s @ n e x t a n t a e r o s p a c e . c o m

NEXTANT Category Killer_Day 3.indd 1 9/28/11 11:32 AM

GA safety is on NTSB’s radarby Curt Epstein

Amid changes to the format of its annual “most wanted” list, the NTSB has included improve-ment in general aviation safety as one of its hot-button topics.

In the past, the Safety Board had used the list as a sort of score-card, keeping track of the prog-ress of its specific outstanding safety recommendations, which would remain on the list until they were resolved. That began to prove unwieldy as the number of open recommendations piled up.

“Often those recommen-dations on an item stayed on the most wanted list for a long time,” said NTSB board member Earl Weener. “As you can well imagine, you can’t really have much in terms of priorities if you have almost 60 priorities.” As a result, the Board this year decided to streamline its list to the top 10 of what it identified as the most glaring needs in trans-portation safety.

By statute, the NTSB must investigate each of the approx-imately 1,500 GA accidents that occur each year, a number that, according to Weener, has remained virtually unchanged over the last 10 years. “If we look at GA statistics, there’s been no real improvement in the last decade in terms of accident rates, and if anything, it’s gone up slightly,” he told AIN.

“In the face of declining hours flown, the number of accidents may have gone down slightly but the rate of accidents per 100,000 hours unfortunately has gone up, so it’s time to put some focus on GA safety,” Weener said. In fact, the preliminary numbers of accidents for 2010 showed that despite nearly seven million fewer GA flight hours compared to 2000, the rate of nonfatal acci-dents per 100,000 flight hours as well as the rate of fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours experi-enced a modest increase.

The Board’s definition of general aviation is admittedly broad and includes all aviation other than Part 121 and Part 135, ranging from banner-tow-ing piston-engine aircraft to intercontinental corporate jets, and Weener acknowledges that not all the segments are a prob-lem. “There is a big difference between airplanes flown by a professional flight crew and the average general aviation flying,”

he said. “The corporate and executive [aviation] rivals the airlines, and those are profes-sional pilots. Most of general aviation is what we call personal flying and that accident rate is about double the whole general aviation rate.”

While airplanes used for business but not flown by a professional pilot account for approximately 25 percent of the total number of GA accidents, corporate and executive aircraft accidents comprise about 3 per-cent of the overall total. “One

could take a lot of com-fort in that, but on the other hand, where do you get your corporate and executive pilots?” Weener asked rhetori-cally. “If you get them from the GA ranks, it would sure be nice to have those pilots start their discipline, profi-ciency and ability to manage risk early rather

than wait until they become pro-fessional pilots.”

Pilot ErrorWeener, who has a decades-

long background in flight train-ing, notes that many of the GA accidents share the common fac-tor of pilot error. “We’ve got lots of examples in the accidents that we investigate of poor pro-ficiency, poor decision making and a lack of discipline in terms of when and under what con-ditions people decide to fly.” While the Board takes all fac-tors into account when deter-mining the cause of an accident, in the end most cases come back to the human element. That, said Weener, is where it makes the most sense to devote the agen-cy’s limited resources. “By and large, if you want to pick a start-ing point where you can make the most improvement and have the most potential, it’s the pilot side.”

Like the improvements in commercial aviation made over the past 15 years through the efforts of the Commercial Avia-tion Safety Team (CAST), a joint industry-government initiative created to identify and address the causes of airline accidents, the NTSB is hoping for a similar response in general aviation.

The Board this year has met with the leaders of the alphabet organizations such as NBAA, AOPA, NATA, EAA, HAI and GAMA, and accord-ing to Weener, who spoke on

Sunday at the NBAA/Cessna Single Pilot Safety Standdown here in Las Vegas, the industry’s response to the Board’s con-cerns has been positive.

Joint Safety CommitteeIn a statement released

soon after the NTSB’s Top 10 announcement, GAMA noted that the industry had relaunched its General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) in partner-ship with the FAA, and that its members are continuing to bring the latest safety technology to even the lightest of GA aircraft. “We look forward to strengthening our already close relationship with the NTSB in these areas as we work together to further improve the safety of general aviation opera-tions,” the organization said.

The NTSB is considering sponsoring a GA safety forum next year that will bring all the industry leaders together to pro-vide feedback. “We’re not trying to run into the industry and tell them what to do,” said Weener. “We’re trying to work with the industry to try to understand how everybody sees the prob-lem, and we’ve got the advan-tage of having a lot of accident data that we can use to help the industry narrow the focus down to the major issues.”

Weener does not believe it will take much in the way of official oversight to make very large safety improvements, but he is willing to offer the agency’s expertise in order to help. “We don’t have any regulatory authority at the NTSB, but we do have considerable ana-lytic and data-gathering capabil-ity,” he said. “Our initial push is to help those in the industry who want to help themselves. My focus really is to turn some of that infor-mation back into finding ways to improve general aviation safety based on what we understand from those accidents.” o

6 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Earl Weener, NTSB board member

United Technologies reached an agreement to purchase Goodrich for $18.4 billion. The deal is subject to “custom-ary closing conditions,” includ-ing regulatory and Goodrich shareholder approvals.

“The combined company’s increased scale, financial strength and complementary products will strengthen United Technologies’ position in the aerospace and defense indus-try,” the companies said in a joint statement. n

News Note

z Iridium: Global ADS-B Coverage PossibleSatellite communications provider Iridium is in discussions

with other aerospace companies and air navigation service providers to equip its next generation of 66 low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites with automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) payloads, making possible global surveillance of aircraft to include oceanic and polar regions.

At a conference in Williamsburg, Va., sponsored by satcom equipment provider ICG in August, Iridium CEO Matthew Desch described the discussions. The plan “is to put a NextGen ADS-B receiver on every one of our satellites,” Desch said, referring to the FAA’s NextGen ATC system. “We can basically provide real-time surveillance of every NextGen-equipped aircraft anywhere on the planet.” He also said the plan complements deployment of ADS-B systems in domestic airspace and supports mandates in Europe to equip for ADS-B by 2015 and in the U.S. by 2020.

z Precision Aviation Group Acquires Aero TechnologyAtlanta-based Precision Aviation Group (PAG) has acquired

Aero Technology of Long Beach, Calif. ATI provides accessories, avionics and instruments to the commercial transport, military and regional airline markets.

Located on Long Beach International Airport, ATI operates out of a 25,000-sq-ft facility, employs 38 people including 18 technicians and holds FAA, EASA and airline certifications.

Ketan Desai, PAG’s vice president of sales and marketing, told AIN, “The acquisition gives us an established relationship with the commercial, military and regional sectors. It allows PAG to expand its operations into one of the largest aviation markets and provides us with an additional platform for future growth.”

PAG (Booth No. C8140) provides MRO and supply chain services for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Desai said a significant capital investment in inventory and capability expansion is slated to bring PAG’s suite of MRO services to ATI, including wheels, brakes, hydraulics and electro-mechanical accessories.

z Conklin & de Decker To Host Acquisition Seminar Conklin & de Decker (Booth No. N2317) announced the

location of its 12th Annual Aircraft Acquisition and Planning Seminar, planned for December 6 and 7 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The seminar is designed to help aircraft owners, managers and aviation professionals who are planning to buy an aircraft or are facing fleet changes. Subjects covered will include finding the best aircraft for a mission, federal and state tax issues, depreciation-like exchanges, financing alternatives, ownership structures, valuation and appraisals, insurance and the importance of a competitive acquisition process, according to Conklin & de Decker.

“We are excited to offer this seminar again this year and we have a great group of experts in their respective fields lined up for this event,” said Nel Stubbs, Conklin & de Decker co-owner and seminar chairwoman. “Attendees will learn about all aspects of purchasing and operating an aircraft in one exceptional program.”

Cost of the seminar is $795 per person until November 4, then the price climbs to $995.

z JetNet Stats: Bizjet Prices, Transactions Climbing“For the first time this year, some long-anticipated good

news came for pre-owned business jet retail sale transactions,” JetNet said in describing statistics in its August pre-owned market report. “In the first eight months of 2011, the year-to-date average asking price increased 3.5 percent while the industry maintained double-digit growth at 11.4 percent.” While turboprop asking prices declined by 1.5 percent over the same period, transactions still climbed by 11.7 percent.

Further good news is that pre-owned inventories of business jets and turboprops continue to shrink. Business jet inventory now sits at 13.8 percent of the in-service fleet, versus 14.9 percent a year ago; turboprop inventory is at 10.2 percent, down from 10.7 percent last year. Average days on the market remain at very high levels, however, noted JetNet. Business jets sit unsold for an average of 385 days, down from 413 days a year ago, and turboprops 325 days, an increase of 11 days.

news clips

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Boeing bizjets are bigger and backlog is growingby Mark Huber

Boeing has sold 205 Boeing Business Jets based on all of its aircraft models, including its two newest: the widebody 787VIP twinjet and 747-8VIP Intercon-tinental, the latest iteration of its iconic jumbo quad jet.

Twin-aisle jets now repre-sent the majority of the Boeing Business Jet backlog. VVIP cus-tomers have ordered nine of the $318 million (green) 747VIPs and 12 of the $185 million 787VIPs. “Right now our back-log of twin-aisle airplanes is larger than our backlog of 737-based airplanes,” said Boeing Business Jets president Steve Taylor. “I don’t think any of us saw that coming.”

The original 737-based BBJ remains the company’s best seller by unit volume, with 154 sold by Boeing through mid-year; 15 were BBJ2s and about nine BBJ3s. The BBJ was cre-ated in 1996 in partnership with General Electric, joint maker with Snecma of the CFM56 series engines for newer 737s.

The BBJ matches compo-nents from two 737 models–the main fuselage of the 737-700 and the larger wing and the center fuselage section and the landing gear of the 737-800. The belly of the airplane can be outfitted with from three to 10 auxiliary fuel tanks, giving it a maximum range of nearly 6,200 nm or 14 hours in the air with eight passengers.

BBJ2 IntroducedWith all those extra fuel

tanks there isn’t much room in the baggage hold, so in 2005 Boeing began offering the

BBJ2, with 25 percent more cabin volume, and an even big-ger BBJ3, based on the 737-900ER, with 1,120 sq ft of cabin floor space. Compared to the original BBJ, the BBJ3 is 28 feet longer, has 35 percent more cabin volume and weighs nearly 17,000 pounds more.

Changes made to the origi-nal BBJ aircraft include avion-ics upgrades, winglets and an upgraded pressurization sys-tem that lowers cabin altitude to 6,500 feet at the maximum cruis-ing altitude of 41,000 feet.

Leap-X EnginesWhile the backlog for twin-

aisle Boeing Business Jets is larger, demand remains for the 737-based BBJs and could even increase, depending on when the aircraft becomes eligible for the new, more efficient Leap-X engines that Boeing will soon be fitting on the airliner versions, called the 737 Max.

The Leap-X builds on CFM56-5B/7B engines with new technologies developed under the Leap56 program. The new engines are expected to feature advanced technolo-gies including a single-forged blisk fan, a twin annular pre-swirl combuster and increased used of composites. Variants are expected to product thrust in the 18,000- to 35,000-pound range and to be 16 percent more fuel efficient than the cur-rent CFM engines.

If there is a correspond-ing “BBJ Max” program, Tay-lor sees deliveries happening somewhere around 2017. Leap-X engines could increase a BBJ’s range by 6 to 10 percent, he says. Meanwhile, customers continue to gravitate to the BBJ for its large cabin; 11 feet, seven inches wide and seven feet, one inch tall. The space enables the installation of staterooms, full bathrooms with showers and large gourmet galleys.

While BBJ completions pro-ceed fairly smoothly now, it wasn’t always so. Early ones were plagued with huge delays and cost overruns that flipped several completion centers financially upside down and frustrated aircraft owners. Over the years Boeing has worked the kinks out of the process via closer cooperation with the cen-ters and better data sharing,

and the centers developed con-siderable data and expertise in finishing the aircraft. Most completion centers now use dig-ital design programs.

One BBJ completion house, Associated Air Center in Dal-las, recently purchased a used 737 fuselage to use for fit check-ing interior components before the actual aircraft arrives. Asso-ciated estimates this will cut up to one month off the time required for interior installa-tion. For Associated, this kind of expertise comes with expe-rience. The company has deliv-ered 21 completed 737 BBJs and has three more in work. For completion centers working on the new 787VIPs and 747VIPs,

the stakes are much higher. Boeing has worked hard with them leading up to initial air-craft deliveries that could begin late this year or early next.

The completion tabs for those aircraft, especially those being prepared for heads of state, could easily top $70 million for the 787 and $200 million for the 747-8I. These aircraft offer an

unprecedented amount of cabin space and range: the 747 will have a 4,786-sq-ft cabin, range of 9,260 nm with 100 passengers and top speed of up to 614 mph; the 787 with have a 2,400-sq-ft cabin, carry 24 to 35 passengers and fly 9,590 nm nonstop. The 787-9 follow-on will add 300 sq ft of cabin floor space and fly 400 miles farther. o

Steve Taylor, BBJ president, said if there is a BBJ Max reengining program, he sees deliveries beginning around 2017.

Aussie system monitors flight factsFlight Data Systems (Booth No. C7015) is at

this year’s NBAA show highlighting its line of ground-support equipment, which interfaces with flight-data recorders to download data files for flight analysis and replay. It makes not only data download equipment but also flight replay soft-ware that includes 3-D flight path reconstruction.

The Melbourne, Australia-based company operates from a new facility that incorporates a clean room environment for avionics and instru-ment work and extensive office and training spaces. A warehouse facility provides additional storage and supports expanded manufacturing capacity as required. Flight-data monitoring services for both military and airline customers are performed from a new secure flight-data analysis center, located near Melbourne Airport.

The company specializes in the process known as flight-data monitoring (FDM), a key element of a flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) pro-gram. FDM involves analysis of flight data, which allows safety managers to identify trends and fully investigate the circumstances behind events that have been flagged so that flight operations proce-dures and training can be improved.

Flight Data Systems provides FDM replay

services, operation and support of FDM systems and complete FDM systems, including training and consultancy. For operators not wishing to oper-ate their own FDM systems, the company offers a web-based FDM replay service. This includes secure transfer of data, transcription and analysis, valida-tion of results and formal presentation of results and statistics in accordance with ICAO requirements.

The company also works closely with NeST Aero-space, provider of a wide range of FOQA tools, to analyze and monitor flight data for maintaining flight safety standards, for performance monitor-ing and for accident investigation. It is an authorized facility to repair, maintain and certify flight recorders.

The HR Smith Group, purveyor of airborne antenna systems and emergency location and res-cue equipment, distributes and supports Flight Data Systems products in the European Union region. Airinc, which specializes in air incident prevention and air accident investigation, is a dis-tributor of Flight Data Systems ground-support equipment in the Americas region. Hawker Pacific provides aviation sales and product support in Australasia, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East, while Glendale International distributes Flight Data Systems from Essex, England. o

The original 737-based BBJ remains Boeing’s best seller by unit volume, despite the majority of new orders being for the twin-aisle VIP versions of Boeing Business Jets. At right is an example of a lounge outfitted for a single-aisle BBJ by interior designer Edese Doret.

8 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

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UK’s Gama Group expands into Asia by Liz Moscrop

The UK’s Gama Group (Booth No. N3305) is set to expand into Hong Kong this year. General manager Dave Edwards said that the charter, management and maintenance company is to replicate the suc-cessful model it developed in its

expansion into the U.S. and the Middle East markets. Speaking about the challenges encoun-tered in entering a developing market such as Asia, he said, “We have experienced simi-lar issues going into the Mid-dle East with staff shortages and

educating the market. What we do is take some of our key staff with us, so we bring the Gama model to our new region, and it works well for us.”

Edwards said that the deci-sion to enter Hong Kong came from requests from customers to manage aircraft in Asia, as man-agement companies there are exceptionally busy. He also said that Gama would work with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department toward establish-ing an air operator’s certificate. The company will also look into purchasing an aircraft to provide much-needed charter services in the region. Given the difficul-ties in flying over China–many flights are not given permission to operate at optimum altitudes–the likelihood is that the com-pany will buy a large airliner variant, or a Gulfstream G550, which can do a one-stop hop to London, for example.

Edwards also acknowledged the shortage of hangar space in Hong Kong. “We are work-ing with local partners to resolve these issues,” he said.

Edwards will head the new entity, which will open in the first quarter of 2012, with the operator’s certificate to follow likely by the end of the year. In the lead-up to a full Asian pres-ence, Gama Aviation has also entered into an exclusive part-nership with loyalty program Asia Miles to provide business jet service to its 4.1 million mem-bers. Asia Miles members can earn miles when chartering air-craft from Gama’s global fleet and network in order to con-nect with airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Dragonair. o

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 9

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Piper debuts upscale M-Class singlesby Jeff Burger

Piper Aircraft has intro-duced improved versions of its M-Class single-engine busi-ness aircraft, which include the turboprop Meridian, the pres-surized piston Mirage and the unpressurized piston Matrix.

The biggest design changes, according to the company, result in greater pilot comfort, thanks to such enhancements such as a cockpit assist han-dle to aid access, a fold-down copilot seat that converts to a work surface and more elbow and hip room. In addition, the cockpit side panels have bigger map pockets capable of hold-ing pilots’ iPads.

Top-of-the-line Piper M-Class airplanes now have brighter external LED taxi and landing lights and nav-igation illumination. Cabin reading lights and threshold lights have also been replaced with LEDs, which are more durable and use less power

than traditional lighting.Bose A20 headsets are

now standard in the cockpit and cabin, where you’ll also find Bluetooth phone connec-tivity for pilots and passen-gers. Moreover, the Meridian now has two 110-volt outlets for recharging mobile devices while the Mirage and Matrix each have one.

Finally, the Matrix and Mirage cockpits have newly engineered ducting and adjust-able directional air-flow vents for improved heated air dis-tribution. A shutoff has been added to the modulation valve in the unpressurized Matrix for cockpit control of exter-nal air. The piston Matrix and Mirage have more durable cabin vents.

Piper Aircraft, which is based in Vero Beach, Fla., is exhibiting at Booth No. C6610 and has a fleet at the Conven-tion Center static display. o

AustrAliAn trAining CompAny

Buys EmBrAEr phEnom 100

Embraer has sold one of its Phenom 100 entry-level jets to a flight-training academy in Australia. The jet will be delivered to CAE Global Academy Perth by the end of this year. It is the first Phenom 100 to be purchased by a flight-training academy in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Phenom 100 is ideal for pilot training because it is designed for high utilization and has a pilot-friendly cockpit, claimed Embraer’s Jose Eduardo Costas, v-p of marketing and sales, Asia Pacific.

Brazilian manufacturer Embraer (Booth No. N5132) introduced the Phenom 100 in 2005. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Can-ada PW617F-E engines, it has a range with four occupants of 1,178 nm with NBAA IFR reserves. Maximum cruise speed is 390 knots. According to Embraer, more than 250 Phenom family jets (Phenom 100 and 300) have been delivered to date. –J.B.

it’s A Bird, it’s A...plAnE?High Tech Finishing (Booth No. N1317)

is raffling off a beautifully polished pedal plane at its exhibit. The winner will be

chosen and announced today.

it just suCks things inA Hawker engine nacelle usually is drawing air into an engine. This one was drawing NBAA attendees into the GKN Aerospace exhibit.

Inertial nav keeps Cessna Ten on trackby Harry Weisberger

The Cessna Citation Ten will feature a new hybrid fiber-optic inertial/GPS nav-igation system developed by Northrop Grumman sub-sidiary Litef. An improved version of the former Lit-ton company’s LCR-100, the new hybrid LCR-100N provides aircraft position, heading and attitude even when GPS data is unavail-able. It offers the precise

navigation needed for flying in RNP airspace.

Capable of following highly efficient, exact routes, the LCR-100N is supporting air traffic management sys-tem modernization programs including Single European Sky and its American counterpart, NextGen. “We are pleased that Cessna will be among the first companies to benefit from the launch of our LCR-100N,” said Litef managing director Eckehardt Keip.

The LCR-100N consists of a hybrid navigator unit, which accepts satellite-based GPS position and velocity data and a calibration programmable read-only memory device. o

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12 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

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Elite interiors to mirror those of the G650 by Mark Huber

Gulfstream Aerospace is showing its newly announced “Elite” interiors for the G550 and G450 here at NBAA. The extra-cost package incorporates much of the look, feel and functional-ity of the clean-lines interior the company developed for its new flagship G650 ultra-long-range business jet. “The Elite package is built on the brand DNA of the G650,” said Gulfstream presi-dent Larry Flynn.

The Elite includes the new wireless Gulfstream Cabin Man-agement System (GCMS) with dual media servers and many of the aesthetic touches found in the G650, including metallic accents; LED lighting through-out the cabin with automati-cally activated lighting in useful places such as drawers, cabinets and closets; and high-tech-look-ing galleys with stainless steel-trimmed appliance stacks, simple touch controls, more work sur-face area and high-gloss paint.

The GCMS provides digital cabin control through on-board touchscreens, touch switches and passenger control units, or via the passenger’s own wireless

device loaded with the GCMS app. It can control lighting, tem-perature, speakers, video, the CabinView passenger informa-tion system and attendant calls from anywhere on the aircraft.

The 27-inch-wide single exec-utive club seats are new and fea-ture telescoping headrests with flexible wings, one-touch full-flat berthing, continuous leg rest and electric lumbar controls with optional heat and massage. Full-powered seats are offered in the forward-facing “com-mand” positions and include single-position memory preset and press-and-hold controls for full upright and full-flat recline positions. As in the G650, the divan has been reworked to pro-vide a more comfortable back-rest angle pitched at 104 degrees,

and the seat cushion is closer to the floor. It berths into a 78-inch by 39-inch sleeping area.

The sidewall tables and the cabin monuments also have the look and functionality of their counterparts aboard the G650. The electrically activated side-wall tables in the club seating grouping are larger and have a stiffer support structure. There are spaces on both sides of the credenza opposite the confer-ence group seating area, provid-ing a more open and spacious look or, for passengers who choose, a handy place to stash a briefcase or a carry-on bag.

Initially, Elite interiors will be installed at Gulfstream in Savannah, but the company’s other large-cabin completion centers eventually could share in the work. On the G450, the Elite package is base priced at $1.5 million. While the Elite is an interior “package,” a spokes-man stressed that customers would still be able to choose from a variety of textiles, leath-ers, and finishes to personalize the their airplanes. o

The Elite package includes automatically activated lighting and high-tech-

looking galleys with stainless steel-trimmed

appliance stacks.

IndIana Jones In the temple

of zoom

Harrison Ford speaks during the NBAA

Pilots’ Roundtable discussions yester-

day. Aerobatic pilot Sean Tucker, who was the moderator of the

panel, listens as the actor-aviator talks.

ACSS showcases its surveillance avionics by Matt Thurber

Aviation Communica-tion & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), a joint venture com-pany of L-3 Communications and Thales, is riding a wave of interest in surveillance-type avi-onics products such as TCAS units and transponders. Key ACSS products that the com-pany is highlighting at the L-3 booth (No. C8132) include the TCAS 3000SP (surveillance processor), which runs the lat-est TCAS change 7.1 software and the RCZ-852 transponder, which wascertified on Cess-na’s Citation Mustang. ACSS also announced that Hawker Beechcraft selected TCAS 3000SP for the Hawker 4000.

Change 7.1 is expected to be required under a man-date by EASA, according to Jean-Michel Clairis-Gauth-ier, ACSS vice president of sales, marketing and busi-ness development, although an announcement about that mandate remains pending. When the mandate is final-ized, Clairis-Gauthier expects that change 7.1 will need to be included in newly built air-craft operating in European airspace no later than March 2012 and December 2015 for retrofit installations. The mandate, he said, “should be coming any time.”

The 7.1 upgrade is a soft-ware change for the ACSS TCAS 2000 and 3000SP. “It is a significant safety enhance-ment,” he said. “We have developed the software and it is certified by the FAA and EASA. All ACSS products are compatible.” While the change 7.1 software is approved under an FAA TSO and EASA ETSO, it does need certify-ing on some aircraft platforms in which ACSS equipment is installed. “In some cases we have certification and a service bulletin,” he said, “and in some cases it is imminent.”

“Our message is that the update is available,” said ACSS spokesman Steve Henden, “so contact your service center or authorized dealer.”

The other key activity at ACSS is the upcoming ADS-B mandate, which hits in Europe earlier than the U.S. In Europe, the mandate for transpon-ders equipped for ADS-B out functionality applies to new

aircraft in 2015 and retrofits in 2017. The U.S. mandate is not until 2020. “This is a critical big change for our industry,” said Clairis-Gauthier. And once equipped, all these air-craft with ADS-B will enable some interesting new function-ality, beyond the basics of the non-radar surveillance that is fundamental to ADS-B. “The initial driver is to simplify the ground infrastructure,” he explained, “to get rid of radar and the cost of maintaining

huge radar systems. Once we have that operational, we can do a lot. The sky is the limit, [and capabilities such as] in-trail procedures, merging and spacing, and interval manage-ment will improve efficiency.”

Some advanced capabilities like ACSS’s SafeRoute won’t be able to run on TCAS 2000 units, so those would need to be upgraded.

The bottom line is that ADS-B is coming sooner rather than later, and pilots need to begin learning the technology. One way to do so is by visiting companies like ACSS while attending the NBAA show. o

Using SafeRoute-M&S (top), aircraft line up for arrival. (Bottom), ownship is position and hold on 9L. USA 1234 is on final approach for 9L.

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There is some real aviation ped-igree gathered in Las Vegas for the 2011 NBAA show, but you won’t find a company

with a richer heritage than France’s Daher-Socata, which this year marks its 100th anniversary in aircraft manufac-turing. The company’s ancestor Morane-Saulnier was established in 1911–eight years after the Wright brothers took to the air for the first time.

French family-run industrial group Daher, Socata’s current owner, is 150 years old itself. At the end of 2008, it acquired a 70-percent stake in Socata from the EADS group. The anniversary has been marked with a series of spe-cial events throughout 2011, but most notably by the introduction of a special centenary edition of its TBM 850 single turboprop business and utility aircraft.

Milestone FlightsIt all started in October 1911 when Ray-

mond Saulnier, claimed to be the first aero-nautical engineer to publish a scientific treatise on airplane flight, began to put his research into practice with Léon Morane, already a famous pilot. Together with Léon’s brother, Robert, they developed monoplanes with trapezoidal wings with performance far superior to the biplanes that were more in vogue at the time.

The canvas and wooden structures of Morane-Saulnier’s aircraft offered unri-valed quality of flight for the era. Their logo, superimposing the M of Morane and the S of Saulnier atop each other inside a circle, symbolized their part-nership and the creation of one of the world’s first aerospace brands.

At the time, one of the ways a

company established a reputation and won business was to set prestigious records, which is what many early avia-tion pioneers set about doing. With their achievements, Jules Védrines, Roland Garros, Albert Fronval, Marie-Lou-ise “Maryse” Hilsz and many others contributed to Morane-Saulnier’s suc-cess by using the company’s aircraft in their flights. Roland Garros gave his name to the famous Paris Open ten-nis tournament, but in 1912 he gained fame as one of the pilots who demon-strated the merits of Morane-Saulnier aircraft. After setting a new world alti-tude record of almost 17,000 feet, he made the first successful crossing of the Mediterranean Sea aboard a Morane-Saulnier-built airplane.

MS aircraft subsequently accumulated 1,000 miles of flight during a number of historic maritime crossings, boosting the

idea that aviation could become an effec-tive transportation tool. Among these milestone flights were the first crossing from Key West, Fla., to Havana, Cuba, performed with a MS airplane piloted by Domingo Rosillo in May 1913.

Some manufacturers already had experimented with high-wing mono-planes, and Morane-Saulnier emerged with a state-of-the-art version. Known as “Parasols” because of their unusual configuration, they were designed ini-tially for reconnaissance missions. Dur-ing World War I they were assigned to combat duties in 1915 and became the first fighter aircraft.

After the war, Parasols were designed as trainers that subsequently were used by pilots the world over. Parasols also acquired a reputation as highly capable aerobatic platforms and combat aircraft.

In 1932, the company’s design office conceived the MS 325, its first low-wing metal aircraft, which launched the MS 405, a revolutionary new fighter aircraft designed around the Hispano-Suiza V12 engine The MS 405 featured retract-able landing gear, wing flaps and a vari-able-pitch propeller. It became the first aircraft ever to be equipped with an eject-able sliding canopy, a patent adopted by many manufacturers.

In 1935, the MS 405 prototype, in its maiden flight, reached a speed of almost 260 knots, impressing the mili-tary pilots responsible for assessing the new aircraft. More than 1,000 MS 406 production aircraft were built during its manufacturing run but the aircraft

suffered big losses against the more modern Messerschmitt Bf-109s it faced in 1940. During World War II Morane-Saulnier came under German control and built several German-type aircraft, including the Fieseler Storch, known after the war as the MS 500.

Develops the Paris JetThe company’s initial activity as an

aerospace equipment supplier began in the 1940s with the construction of ele-ments for the Dassault 315, followed by fuselages and wings for the Fouga Magis-ter. In 1954 it developed the MS 760 (the Paris Jet), the first four-seat jet with two engines mounted on either side of a pres-surized cabin. It quickly attained a speed of 340 knots. In the same year, Diomède Catroux, the new French secretary of state for aviation, used the MS 760 for a trip to Germany with the flight from Paris completed in under an hour–con-sidered a revolution in intra-European transportation.

Four years earlier, the group started to provide services with the packaging of replacement parts for Dassault’s Super Mystère SMB2. Over the years this activ-ity expanded to include packaging of complete aircraft for shipment, with the group developing innovative woven glass and polyester resin shuttle packs for the most fragile parts.

The first aircraft sold as a Socata–the French abbreviation for “Société de Construction d’Avions de Tourisme et d’Affaires” (business and leisure aircraft construction company)–was the “Ral-lye,” in 1959. The aircraft’s wing ribs were electrically welded to a skin made of large aluminum panels for a maximum indus-trialization of the assembly process that quickly achieved a production rate of 50 aircraft per month.

The product’s image was supported by an advertising slogan that stressed both the low cost and remarkable safety of this light aircraft, “Le kilomètre-sécurité le moins cher,” (the most effective for cost and safety per kilometer). About 3,300 Rallyes comprising 34 different mod-els were exported to nearly 65 countries. To accompany these developments, the company established after-sales service, laying the foundation for future mainte-nance, repair and overhaul contracts.

In January 1962, Morane-Saulnier

16 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Continued on page 42 u

After its first 100 years, Socata could enter jet ageby Jeff Apter

Socata traces its history back to 1911, when aeronautical engineer Raymond Saulnier and Léon Morane began developing monoplanes, rather than the biplanes that were more popular at the time. At left, centenary Socata TBM 850 wears a paint scheme designed by French studio Happy Design.

Beech Aircraft briefly marketed Morane-Saulnier’s MS 760 in the U.S. The four-place Paris Jet never gained traction in the U.S., with Beech selling only two copies of the $250,000 jet.

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Raisbeck looks beyond Learjets and King Airs by Matt Thurber

Raisbeck Engineering is enjoying surg-ing interest in Learjet and King Air per-formance modifications that continues to outpace the sluggish economy. “In the first six months of 2011, we sold 245 systems, which were installed on 123 different air-craft,” said James Raisbeck, founder and chairman of the Seattle-based company. Information on Raisbeck modifications is available at Booth No. C7827. “Nobody’s buying new airplanes,” he added, “they’re fixing up what they have. We had the best June in the history of our company.”

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have not always been thrilled about third-party modifications, even if these companies offered significant per-formance improvements for aircraft own-ers and operators. But in recent years, those attitudes have mellowed and OEMs are working with companies like Rais-beck Engineering as part of their efforts to keep customers satisfied with the orig-inal product. And hopefully, returning some day to buy new aircraft.

“We have a great relationship with Hawker Beechcraft,” said Mike McConnell, Raisbeck Engineering pres-ident. And that relationship has devel-oped to the point where if Hawker Beechcraft has a problem that the skilled engineers at a company like Raisbeck can help solve, both companies now work together on a solution that bene-fits the aircraft owner.

“Bombardier is a fabulous part-ner for us,” McConnell added. During Raisbeck’s project to develop aft fuse-lage lockers for the Learjet 60, Bombar-dier was more than helpful. Bombardier provided aft fuselage components so that Raisbeck engineers could see how the newly designed lockers would fit. “We can do fit checks and understand where they put the stringers and where the APU is,” he said. “You rarely get the benefit of the doubt in this industry; you have to prove yourself. And that’s why we think our relationships are extraordinary with those two [companies]. Those are the two OEMs that we are partnering with.”

The fruits of those partnerships are a growing inventory of designs for useful modifications of King Airs and Learjets. The Learjet 60 wing lockers are the most current program–and due for certifica-tion in the first quarter of 2012–but Rais-beck Engineering has been improving Learjets and King Airs for many years.

While Learjet and King Air mods have been the backbone of Raisbeck’s oeuvre, McConnell and Raisbeck would welcome the challenge of solving problems with other airframers’ products. o

18 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Tyrolean Air picks ACJ318 for worldwide charter role by James Wynbrandt

Airbus introduced the latest operator to add an Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) to its charter fleet at NBAA. Tyrolean Air Services (TAS) of Innsbruck, Austria, has taken delivery of an ACJ318.

“This is a significant extension of our fleet,” said Martin Lener, CEO of TAS, which currently operates seven business

jets ranging from light to ultra-long-range aircraft. “This is a new business tool we are very excited to offer to VIP clients, many from the entertainment and business world, and government.”

The 19-passenger aircraft is now avail-able for worldwide booking. Established in 1978, TAS has an Argus Platinum rating,

IS-BAO registration and has a waiver for flights to, from and within the U.S. Cli-ents have included Henry Kissinger, Stevie Wonder and Steven Spielberg.

“This is a state-of-the-art aircraft,” Lener said, regarding the choice of the Airbus versus a Boeing Business Jet. “The interior concept is the best in size and in height of the cabin, and it’s European manufactured. In the short time we have had experience with this OEM [and the relationship] has been very successful.”

Charter cost for the ACJ318 ranges from about $13,700 to $21,000 per hour, Lener said. o

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Signature marshals customer teams for London Olympics by Jeff Burger

In anticipation of the summer 2012 Olympics in the UK, Signature Flight Support has announced a dedicated cus-tomer-support team and a 24-hour hot-line to assist customers with arranging slots, parking, hotels, catering, rental cars and other needs. The company–the world’s largest FBO network with more than 100 locations on five conti-nents–has also issued a reference guide to assist operators and pilots with flight planning. (The guide is available at Sig-nature’s Booth No. 3900 and at www.sig-natureflight.com/2012.)

“With our extensive UK network of FBOs and surrounding reliever airport locations, customers will have the flexi-bility and convenience of working with one flight-support company through-out their stay for the Olympics,” said Joe Gibney, managing director for Signa-ture’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company–which has 17 FBOs in England, Scotland and Ireland–urged customers to contact it as soon as possible regarding slots, which will be assigned beginning in November.

Signature, meanwhile, announced a program it calls Signature Select. According to the company, the program gives independent FBOs access to its sys-tems, service and safety standards and to its marketing and purchasing power. The program covers Signature’s propri-etary training and audit programs–Ser-vice with a Leading Edge and Safety with a Leading Edge–as well as its FBO management technology suite, Signature SigNet. Participating companies will be promoted along with Signature’s net-work by its worldwide sales and mar-keting staff. Participants will display the Signature Select badge but will other-wise maintain their independent brand.

Signature Select FBOs will offer the Signature Status customer loyalty pro-gram, which issues rewards based on the frequency of visits to Signature facili-ties. Signature Status has been enhanced to include services from Ontic Engineer-ing and Manufacturing, a sister com-pany. Free Ontic MRO services available through the program include aircraft com-ponent evaluation, return shipment on

component repair or overhaul and phone technical support. Members who com-mit their components to Ontic Engineer-ing early can also receive 1,000 gallons of jet-A at any of Signature’s U.S. locations.

In other Signature news, the compa-ny’s Montreal location has been named best FBO in Quebec and in Canada over-all in a Wings Magazine industry survey. It was only last year that Starlink Aviation signed a licensing agreement that made the Montreal facility a Signature location. “We have outperformed the local mar-ket every month since joining the Signa-ture family,” said Glen Lynch, president and CEO of Starlink. “Our significant market-share gains and the recognition by Wings are evidence that being part of a customer-centric network was the right choice for our customers.”

Signature president and CEO Michael Scheeringa noted here at the show that the company has added five FBOs in the past year, in Edinburgh, Scotland; Boze-man, Mont., San Juan; Boca Raton, Fla.; and Frankfurt. The Frankfurt location is expected to open in December and will be the second FBO in Germany for Signa-ture, which also operates in Munich. o

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 19

Mitsubishi and siMCoM

sign new deal

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and SimCom Training Centers (Booth No. N3311) have signed a new ten-year deal. Under the agreement, SimCom will con-tinue to provide simulator training for Mitsubishi’s MU-2 twin-engine turboprop for the next decade. Next year SimCom plans to upgrade its second MU-2 simu-lator to a Level 5 training device. SimCom took over MU-2 training from FlightSafety International in 2001. –M.H.

Stan Yokoi (left), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Tracy Brannon, SimCom Training Centers.

Heads Up Technologies lights up Luminby Kirby J. Harrison

Heads Up Technologies of Carrollton, Texas, has unveiled Lumin, a new cabin manage-ment system (CMS) that com-bines both innovative technology and highly flexible design.

Heads Up (Booth No. N4712) has created unique Lumin features such as touch-screens that are customized to blend seamlessly into the cabin interior, preserving the integrity of the cabin design. At the same time, the Lumin technology can be used to create a design that is unique to the OEM brand or the owner’s personal tastes.

“The goal was to create a timeless and elegant design that

was easy to use,” said Heads Up president and CEO Rob Harshaw. “Lumin adopts the current trends in consumer technology [and] abstracts the complexity, allowing the user to simply enjoy the experience.”

Technically, Lumin employs fiber-optic, distributed process-ing, wireless and digital con-tent management technologies. Passengers can enjoy an intui-tive touchscreen user interface that is customized to support the branding of the cabin inte-rior. The system incorporates Blu-ray, digital audio libraries, Internet connectivity, seat-to-seat texting and cabin control

functions. At the same time, said Harshaw, Lumin reduces weight and power consumption. And he added, it is highly scalable “from the smallest to the larg-est aircraft. We wanted to cre-ate a CMS with flexibility, to give OEMs a solution that is uniquely their own,” he explained. “This system lets you define the level of luxury, functionality and control of each cabin.”

Lumin technology, on dis-play at the Heads Up exhibit, powers the Clairity cabin tech-nology that is standard on the new Citation Ten and Latitude and will be optional on the new Citation M2. o

20 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Pratt & Whitney Canada LaunChes China FaCiLity

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has formed a joint venture with China Aviation Engine Holdings, which will operate in Zhuzhou in China’s Hunan province. The joint venture, to be known as Zhuzhou Tonghui Aero Engine Maintenance Company (AEMC), will offer in-country maintenance, repair and overhaul for civil-certi-fied PT6A- and PW100-series engines.

“China is obviously a key emerging market for P&WC, and AEMC will allow us to provide PT6A and PW100 MRO services quickly and efficiently in the country,” said P&WC president John Saabas, who attended a joint-venture signing ceremony in Beijing in September. “AEMC will enable operators of PT6A- and PW100-powered aircraft in China to benefit from in-country engine services–from line maintenance to overhaul–providing them with faster turnaround times and lower costs.”

Pratt & Whitney Canada, which has more than 47,000 engines in service with operators in 198 countries, is here at the NBAA show at Booth No. N5633. –J.B.

news clips

z OVIV Introduces 280 L Security System French aircraft security system maker OVIV Security

Technologies is at Booth No. N2116 to introduce its newest on-ground aircraft security system. Based in Merignac, OVIV says its Sentinel 280 L will enable operators to manage their own security at any business-jet-capable airport in the world. The 280 L’s capabilities include establishing a secure perimeter around an aircraft in less than two minutes, immediately notifying designated persons of any perimeter intrusion, delivering real-time video of an in-progress intrusion to a smart phone and storing video for later retrieval and use for insurance or legal purposes. The Sentinel 280 L system is immediately and easily deployable without aircraft retrofit or modification.

z Fargo Jet Completes 8th Missionized King AirAircraft services provider Fargo Jet Center (FJC) of Fargo,

N.D., announced delivery of its eighth special mission King Air this year at the NBAA Convention. “2011 has been a very busy year for our repair station,” said Darren Hall, Fargo Jet v-p of marketing. “Our special-mission modifications have grown significantly over the past two decades by combining the special-mission aircraft needs of our international clients, sister company Weather Modification and Fargo, N.D.-based Spectrum Aeromed.”

This year’s modification jobs encompassed a combination of cloud seeding, atmospheric research and air medical transport system installations. The most recent completion, for the Armed Forces in the Republic of Senegal, features the latest-technology cloud-seeding equipment, window-mounted air-sampling inlets and wing-mounted atmospheric research probes.

z Financing Deal for P&WC MaintenancePratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) and Bank of America

Merrill Lynch (B-of-A Merrill) have announced a joint marketing agreement that will result in preferred financing terms for customers who finance their aircraft through B-of-A Merrill and enroll in P&WC’s Eagle Service Plan, its pay-by-the-hour engine-maintenance program.

Greg Miller, product manager of that program, said, “By giving preferred financing to ESP program customers, B-of-A Merrill is endorsing P&WC’s belief that an aircraft with engines enrolled in our program…retains its value longer and provides for higher resale valuation.”

Michael Amalfitano, managing director and executive head of B-of-A Merrill Global Corporate Aircraft Finance, said, P&WC’s ESP program “has proven popular with thousands of its clients” and that “its global reach aligns with ours.”

Pratt & Whitney Canada (Booth No. N5633), which was founded in 1928, currently has more than 47,000 engines in service in 200 countries. Its support network includes more than 30 company-owned and -designated service facilities.

z NetJets Opening New Van Nuys FacilityNetJets (Booth No. C8121) has signed an agreement

with Maguire Aviation at Van Nuys (Calif.) Airport to design a private terminal for NetJets customers and operations. One of the existing Maguire facilities will be custom designed by NetJets to accommodate the fractional-share provider’s owner-passengers. Amenities will include modern furnishings, conference rooms, a business center, crew lounge and rest areas and flight-planning facilities. Todd Baumgartner, NetJets senior v-p of aviation infrastructure and services, said, “This facility will be customized for NetJets and will provide our owners with exceptional service and amenities at one of their most popular destinations.” Serving the Los Angeles area, Van Nuys is perennially one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country.

CY

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Tokyo Narita Airport opens first bizav FBOby Liz Moscrop

Japan’s Narita International Airport (Booth No. C12338) is to open its first executive avi-ation terminal next year. The announcement is an endorse-ment of the efforts Narita and the Japan Business Avia-tion Association have put into

developing private aviation in the country. The facility–slated to open in April 2012–will offer customs, immigration and quar-antine and a passenger lounge, plus 18 parking stands.

Narita is the ninth busiest airport in the world in terms of

international departures, with some 56.5 percent of all interna-tional flights in Japan departing from the field. It is about 37 miles away from Tokyo, or about 20 minutes by helicopter. Akiyoshi Watanabe, executive officer and vice president of Narita’s ground operations department, said that the airport has expanded its land-ing slots to 50 per day for busi-ness aviation operations and will look to increase this number in the future.

“Business aviation is com-ing back to Japan now after the problems earlier this year with the Tsunami,” said Kazuyuki Tamura, director of the Japan Business Aviation Association. He added that the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau is working on relaxing some of the stricter reg-ulations that hinder the devel-opment of private aviation, such as ease of registration in Japan, which should encourage development of charter oper-ations. At present there is an installed fleet of around 20 air-craft on the J register, including both turboprops and jets. o

Ken Murayama (left) of Narita International Airport Corporation and Akira Takano (right) of Ministry of Land, Transport and Tourism are paving the way for bizav traffic to Narita Airport.

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French airframer preps for economic upswingby Mark Huber

Dassault Falcon (Booth No. N2104) is taking advantage of the current business jet produc-tion lull to implement more effi-cient production procedures, unveil new modularized inte-riors, continue work on its SMS new jet program and per-haps forge alliances with other OEMs as a way to expand its market footprint into new air-craft categories.

For Dassault, as for most other business jet OEMs, the delivery numbers for year-to-date have been less than robust. Mea-sured in dollars for the first six months of 2011 they were down 44 percent from the same period in 2010, representing an aggre-gate value of $846.5 million this year versus $1.854 billion a year ago. The scorecard: 19 aircraft delivered through June versus 45 for the first six months of 2010. On a positive note, for the first half of the year the com-pany booked 22 net new (minus cancellation) Falcon orders.

Across all of Dassault, oper-ating income declined by 62 per-cent for the first half of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. However, the OEM still has plenty of cash to fund new programs, almost €3 bil-lion at the end of June, even as the company finds itself being hit by both the impact of the weakened global economy and the U.S. dollar’s continued slide against the euro.

In his mid-year financial report, Dassault Aviation chair-man Charles Edelstenne noted this “dollar weakness” that “penalizes our production costs in France” and said that across America and Europe “too many uncertainties remain before growth earnings” translate into new investments. He also noted a global market shift. “China is becoming our first market since the beginning of the year.”

However, overall, he said, the global business jet market is “recovering slowly.” But that is not stopping some customers from deferring deliveries, which were also negatively affected by the temporary grounding of the Falcon 7X fleet following a runaway pitch trim incident on an aircraft approaching Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 25. Dassault identified the 7X

problem with a certain lot of horizontal stabilizer electronic control units and got replace-ment parts to the affected aircraft. While EASA reautho-rized flight for the entire 7X fleet on July 7, its flight envelope was limited to Mach 0.85 Mmo instead of 0.9 until a software

modification was imple-mented in September.

Celebrates Falcon 2000S

That bit of turbu-lence aside, Dassault has reason to cele-brate some positive

developments, includ-ing EASA and FAA cer-tification of the new Falcon 900EX EASy

II cockpit and the launch of the Falcon 2000S program this year at the EBACE show.

The EASy II cockpit is built around the Honeywell Primus Epic system and includes Smart-View synthetic vision, RNP-AR and satellite-based augmentation system LPV approach capability, SmartRunway, automatic descent mode, ADS-B out, XM WX and dual Jeppesen charts display.

Slated for deliveries begin-ning in 2013, the Falcon 2000S is Dassault’s value-added entry into the super-midsize mar-ket, with a $25 million aircraft that has shorter range (3,350 nm) and standardized interi-ors compared to the $32.1 mil-lion, 4,000-nm Falcon 2000LX. Dassault claims the 2000S “is a large-cabin aircraft with fuel economy and operating costs that are much less than smaller aircraft in the mid-sized busi-ness jet category.”

However, the 2000S is more than just a shorter- legged 2000LX. The aircraft can access airports heretofore not available to 2000s thanks to its lighter weight and the addition of new inboard wing slats that allow it to fly steeper approaches into shorter runways. The slats, combined with standard auto-brake, cut the approach speed

to 108 knots. High/hot and time-to-climb performance also improves. The updated Pratt & Whitney Canada PW308C engines (7,000 pounds of thrust each), equipped with new Talon II combustors, cut emissions by up to 40 percent. Combined with winglets, this helps the 2000S burn “10 percent less fuel than aircraft that are 20 percent smaller,” according to Dassault.

BMW/Designworks InteriorWhile the 2000S’s 10-passen-

ger interior was standardized into three distinct color/fab-ric/material “harmonies” and one seating configuration, Das-sault took care not to scrimp on functionality. The Falcon Cabin HD cabin management system, based on the Rockwell Collins Venue, delivers all the bells and whistles including Blu-ray, wide-screen monitors and links to Iridium satcom. The Cabin HD system can be commanded via wireless mobile devices. The cockpit gets new trim and paint and the EASy II avionics system.

Dassault worked with BMW Group DesignworksUSA to develop the harmonies. The two companies previously worked together to develop award-win-ning optional interiors for the 7X, which became available this

year. The schemes developed for the 2000S use the same “design language” while “keeping the same elevated, premium look and feel of a Falcon,” accord-ing to Designworks executives. But there are differences they said, including the use of differ-ent veneer styles and textile and leather combinations that empha-size “lightness and spatial defini-tion” and create “a more open, room-like feel.” A 2000S interior has been installed in a 2000LX and that aircraft is on display at this year’s NBAA show.

Standardizing the 2000S is just one way Dassault is tak-ing costs out of the interior. The company is implement-ing new design, manufacturing and assembly processes at its Little Rock completion center, with the goal of reducing the amount of time it takes to fin-ish new aircraft flown over from France. New lean processes include establishing an assem-bly line for interior components and bringing new digital design tools on line. These methods eventually will be applied to all Dassault aircraft, including those under development.

This includes the SMS twin-jet that is expected to be pow-ered by the new Snecma Silvercrest engine and employ fly-by-wire controls. Relatively little is known about the pro-gram so far, but approximately 1,000 Dassault and contrac-tor employees are working on the project, which is expected to fall into a size category between super-midsize and large jets and come to market near 2016.

Piaggio Aero, now jointly owned by Ferrari family mem-bers–Mubadala and India’s Tata Group–also is thought to be in discussions with several OEMs, including Dassault, on a co-development deal for the Piaggio 1XX jet. Co-develop-ment deals could make sense for Dassault as a way to expand into nontraditional business jet market segments. o

22aaNBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY > Dassault Falcon

Earlier in the year, the 7X fleet was grounded briefly after a runaway pitch

trim incident, but a software fix has eliminated the problem.

Charles Edelstenne

The Falcon 2000S is a lower-cost deriviative of the Falcon 2000. The 2000S has less range and a less customizable cabin than the Falcon 2000, but Dassault is betting that those are trades customers will make to keep the price under $25 million.

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London Airports get set for next year’s Olympicsby Charles Alcock

Business aircraft opera-tors heading to the UK next summer for the 2012 Lon-don Olympics face an array of headache-inducing complica-tions. But several airports and FBOs from around the British capital have arrived here at the NBAA show to offer solutions that should smooth your pas-sages to the games.

Here in Las Vegas you’ll find the following facilities vying for your Olympic handling busi-ness, all with experts on hand to explain the maze of restric-tions put in place for the event: Farnborough Airport (owned by TAG Aviation–Booth No. C7626); Biggin Hill Airport (Booth No. C9613), also repre-sented by Jet Aviation (Booth No. C11411); Cambridge (Booth No. N1622); Luton (rep-resented by Harrods Aviation at Booth No. N4412 and Signature Flight Support at Booth N3900); Oxford (Booth No. N616); and Stansted (represented by Har-rods and Universal Aviation at Booth No. C8926).

Arrangements for the London Olympics are about to change again, but it could be a change for the better. The UK’s National Air Traffic Services is propos-ing to establish a new airspace structure specifically to accom-modate business aviation during the period around the 2012 Lon-don Olympic Games. The Civil Aviation Authority and other agencies overseeing aviation arrangements for the Olympics are considering the proposal and further details are expected to be confirmed during November.

Airspace across a wide area around the UK capital is to be segregated between a restricted area and a prohibited area over central London. This will apply for the period from July 14 to August 15.

Book Slots NowAt a special seminar on

arrangements for the London Olympics held as part of the Busi-ness and General Aviation Day (BGAD) event on September 20 at Cambridge Airport, operators

also heard that they must soon start applying for slots that will be required for arrivals and depar-tures at airports across south-ern and eastern England between July 21 and August 15. The UK government also has granted approval for some general avi-ation airports to open around the clock, including Cambridge, Northolt, Lydd and Southend.

At the seminar, London-area airport and FBO managers said they will require nonrefundable deposits to take slot bookings to prevent operators making block bookings to guarantee arrival and departure times. Operators who are unable to book early may find they can’t get slots at their usual London-area airport and so they are urged to consider a wide range of alternatives.

Airport OptionsSlot bookings are already

being taken for the following airports and airfields: Biggin Hill, Blackbushe, Cambridge, Chalgrove, Coventry, Cran-field, Damyns Hall, Denham, Duxford, Elstree, Fairoaks, Farnborough, Goodwood, Lee-on-Solent, Leicester, Lydd, Oxford, Manston, Northamp-ton, Northolt, North Weald, Old Sarum, Peterborough, Red-hill, Rochester, Shoreham, Sou-thend, Stapleford, Truxton, White Waltham and Wycombe.

From November 30, slot bookings will open at Stansted, Birmingham, Luton and Bour-nemouth. Reservations won’t open until Feb. 1, 2012, for Southampton and for London City Airport. In fact, it remains unclear whether business air-craft will be able to operate to and from London City.

So far there have been few details as to how landing fees and handling rates will be bundled.

Operators will need to think

carefully before deciding at which airport they will book slots for the Olympic period. Demand for hotels closer to London will force prices up, and with aircraft parking at a pre-mium it may make sense to land farther away from the main sites.

Of the airports exhibiting here, Oxford and Cambridge have the advantage of being outside the restricted zone. This means trans-atlantic operators can approach from the northwest without hav-ing to get clearance for the zone.

Oxford has invested heav-ily in improving infrastructure over the last year or so, and will have new primary and second-ary radar in service by the time of the London Olympics.

According to data from Eurocontrol, Oxford is now the fifth busiest business avia-tion gateway in the UK, with an average of 7.8 daily departures. Ahead of it are Luton with 34.2, Farnborough with 27.5, Biggin Hill with 14.5 and London City with 8.9. Stansted has slipped to eighth place with a 5.5 average, behind the airports of both East Midlands and Bournemouth.

With the exception of Lon-don City, Biggin Hill is probably about the shortest distance to the Olympic stadium in east Lon-don. It is a 20-minute drive from Ebbsfleet rail station, which will offer direct connections to Strat-ford International station, which is a short walk to the stadium. o

24 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Operators planning to fly in to London for next year’s Olympic Games should secure slots early, according to London-area airport managers. Many airports, such as Farnborough, are taking slot bookings now and others will begin doing so in the coming months.

A wide area over central London will be restricted (above) during next year’s Olympics, while a smaller portion of airspace will be prohibited (below).

London Biggin Adds Hangar and More Parking

London Biggin Hill Airport has opened a new 52,000-sq-ft hangar alongside its main executive terminal, with several offices available for rent on a short- or long-term basis.

Aircraft parking capacity has been further expanded with the addi-tion of about the same area of new ramp space adjacent to the termi-nal. The hangar can comfortably accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing Business Jet.

Unusually for a London-area airport, Biggin Hill (Booth No. C9613) has plenty of scope for expanding business aircraft traffic since it is well within its annual movements limit of 125,000. There is also plenty of space for developing other new buildings, including a planned new 75-room hotel. The privately owned airport’s management has local gov-ernment approval to build the hotel next to the new Rizon Jet FBO and is now seeking a partner with which to start the development. –C.A.

London’s Biggin Hill Airport has opened a new hangar with ample ramp parking space immediately adjoining the main terminal building.

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SAFE FLYING AWARDS > Support Services

26 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Safe

Just two weeks before Frank Macartney talked to AIN for this article, he had sold his interest in Aerodynamics, Inc. (ADI), a company he founded, he said, “20,952 days before.” (ADI has been acquired by Scott Beale, former president, founder and co-owner of FlightWorks.)

Macartney said he has spent 59 years in aviation. Aerodynamics is a full-ser-vice FBO, based at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford, Mich., and was

a Beechcraft distributor for 34 years. It has an interior shop and avionics facility, and pro-vides fuel and maintenance, repair and overhaul services. ADI runs a shuttle operation on the West Coast, with seven turbine-powered aircraft mov-ing 194,000 passengers a year. Over the years, ADI has oper-ated “Pipers, Beechcrafts, Gulfstreams and everything in between,” Macartney said.

On the subject of safety, he said, “We believed from day one that we would provide excellence in service and we took every pre-caution to be safe in everything we did in the pursuit of excel-lence.” Many people provided top-notch help over the years,

and Macartney cited ADI vice president Robert LeMay (recip-ient of an NBAA Top Main-tenance/Avionics Technician Award this year), who has been with the company for 42 years, and ADI president Cheryl Bush, with ADI for 32 years.

A pilot with more than 10,000 hours logged, Macartney said his favorite corporate airplane is a Gulfstream III. He was an Air Force jet pilot in Korea and became interested in aviation, he said, at the age of four when he saw an airplane up in the sky and thought, “Wow! That’s nice!” Macartney turns 80 in Decem-ber, and one has to talk to him a only short while to think that he’s still saying, “Wow!”

\

Tommy Walker has been general manager of Scottsdale AirCenter since it

was formed 10 years ago. The FBO is owned by Ross Avia-tion, which owns a number of FBOs and operates a corpo-rate Cessna Citation I and a Hawker 800.

Walker said he became interested in flying “many moons ago.” He worked at

Frank MacartneyChairmanAerodynamics, Inc.Waterford, Mich.51 years

Tommy WalkerGeneral managerScottsdale AirCenterScottsdale, Ariz.46 Years

The people on the ground form the backbone of safe flights Opsby Mary F. Silitch

The NBAA Aviation Support Services Safety Award is presented to aviation personnel employed for three or more consecutive years by NBAA member companies primarily for support of corporate/business flight opera-tions and whose company has had no aircraft accidents during their employment period. AIN spoke with three of the recipients receiving the award for 2010.

2010 NBAA Top Support Services AwardsPresented to avionics and technical support service technicians

at NBAA member companies engaged in the support of the business aviation industry.

Name Company YearsFrank Macartney Aerodynamics, Inc. 51

Tommy Walker Scottsdale AirCenter 46

James Grove Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. 43

Dexter Bourland Emerson Flight Operations 41

George Paupst Million Air 38

Robert Murtha IBM Flight Operations 35

George Kokinakis JM Family Enterprises 33

Jim Such ExxonMobil 33

Verna Blount Chevron Corporation Aviation Services 30

Diane Magruder International Jet Aviation Services 30

Kevin Roberts Indefensible/DJMD 30

Mitchell Trahan The Coca-Cola Co. 30

Daniel Mansfield Citigroup Corporate Aviation 29

Tim Cattell The Cleveland Jet Center 28

Kimberly Hopple Leading Edge Operations 28

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the airport in Andrews, Texas, and when Vietnam came along he joined the U.S. Air Force and became a pilot. After his military service, he worked for LTV Jet Fleet, based at Dallas Love Field. The company was one of the first large-aircraft Part 135 operations, Walker said. He subsequently worked for several Part 91 compa-

nies, then moved to Orange County in Santa Ana, Calif., and formed an FBO, which ended up as a Signature Flight Support facility. He was gen-eral manager of Toyota’s Air-Flite FBO in Long Beach for 15 years.

Walker said his long safety record is due to safety always having been paramount.

Dexter Bourland has been line service and facility manager for Emerson Electric Co. for 17 years. He told AIN, “I manage aircraft ground support per-sonnel, including training and related facility, passenger han-dling and aircraft ground sup-port operations.”

Emerson Electric, he said, is “a major multinational corporation that manufac-tures products and provides

engineering services for a wide range of industrial, commer-cial and consumer markets.” He was not at liberty to say what kind of aircraft the flight department operates now or what he operated since its beginnings in 1973.

Bourland said he became interested in aviation when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1965

and was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. He served three tours in Vietnam. He was an aircraft director, which, he said, “molded me for aviation.”

After leaving the Navy in 1969, Bourland worked as a line manager for the Remmert Wer-ner FBO at Lambert Field in St. Louis, then in 1974, he was

customer service manager for Midcoast Aviation at Lambert. He became line manager for Avtec at St. Louis Downtown Airport in 1990, and in 1995, he moved to Emerson.

Bourland attributes his long safety record to “a hands-on safety program that involves all employees; that is we are IS-BAO certified.” o

Dexter Bourland,Line service/facility managerEmerson Electric St. Louis, Mo17 years.

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 27

NBAA announced the 2012 schedule for its Business Avi-ation Regional Forums. The events are miniature versions of its annual convention held in venues throughout the conti-nental U.S. Dates and locations for forums in 2012 are: February 2, Landmark Aviation at New Orleans Lakefront Airport; April 12, TWC Aviation and Magu-ire Aviation at Van Nuys (Calif.) Airport; June 7, First Aviation at Teterboro (N.J.) Airport; Sep-tember 20, Clay Lacy Aviation at Seattle Boeing Field/King County International Airport. n

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Illinois economic council boasts white-glove service

The Rockford Area Aerospace Net-work (RAAN), a committee of the Rock-ford (Ill.) area economic development council (RAEDC), is here at the NBAA show highlighting its “white-glove ser-vice” to the aerospace industry.

The more than 60-member RAAN (Booth No. N3129) includes tier-one and -two aerospace companies in the greater

Rockford area as well as in Chicago’s sub-urbs, DeKalb, Ill., and Milwaukee. It was formed in 2010 to increase job growth in the regional aerospace cluster. Host-ing the Midwest’s largest concentration of aerospace manufacturers, the region is positioned to help customers enjoy extremely short and reliable lead times from what the development council calls

the “white-glove supply chain,” which it says “gives aviation business customers one-stop shopping.”

In order to grow market share and jobs, RAAN members share best practices, network about business opportunities,

advance workforce development and address future legislation. The group offers a one-stop resource for informa-tion on manufacturing, assembly, main-tenance, repair and overhaul services, warehousing and distribution opportuni-ties in the Rockford region.

RAEDC promotes the Rockford region as promising cost-effective avail-ability of technical talent, a diverse indus-trial market, a development-friendly airport–Chicago Rockford Interna-tional–and a supply chain of more than 150 companies that support all aspects of the aerospace industry. Here, this week, RAAN is featuring two examples of suc-cess in gaining and expanding business: Ardekin Precision and Energy Dynamics.

Ardekin Precision in Rockford pro-vides its customers the cell phone num-ber of its prototype assembly technician, who is available on a 24/7 basis. “We are an extension of our customers’ pro-totype development department,” said Ardekin president Bruce Larsen. Techni-cians work with customers’ engineers to develop products and set up the produc-tion processes, including tooling, to opti-mize ease of manufacturing.

Larsen said a trust relationship estab-lished over 20 years in the aerospace business lets Ardekin routinely  begin prototype work before a purchase order is issued. The company often pro-vides same-day or 24-hour turnarounds. Ardekin can handle all aspects of a proj-ect including outside processes, produc-tion, assembly, inspection and logistics to achieve true one-stop contracting.

Energy Dynamics in Machesney Park, Ill., recently won its first major Depart-ment of Defense contract to repair, over-haul and upgrade U.S. Navy aircraft parts with very short lead times. Under the $50 million, five-year contract, the com-pany provides precision machining, test-ing, plating and heat treating with precise recordkeeping and on-time delivery.

Company president Pat Bye said, the white-glove service helped Energy Dynamics win the DOD’s confidence and the contract. –H.W.

30 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

The Rockford Area Aerospace Network was formed in 2010 to increase job growth in the Chicago and Milwaukee area. Its members include airplane and helicopter manufacturers as well as local businesses. NBAA president Ed Bolen, below (right), recently met with RAAN chairman Jeff Kaney to discuss job opportunities in the region.

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Development projects stretch Canadian OEMby Mark Huber

The demands of four new jet aircraft development programs, coupled with anemic sales of its Learjet business jet brand and regional jets, fueled a cash burn pyre that persuaded analysts to issue a fresh round of stock downgrades for Bombardier in September.

In the last quarter, the OEM drew down $1 billion of cash reserves against $211 mil-lion of net profit, dou-ble for the same period a year ago. Its market capitalization is $7 billion and the cash burn rate set off cau-tion lights for stock analysts. The news is not cataclysmic; most now rate the company as “market perform,” but from early July through the end of September, Bombardier stock lost 43 percent of its value.

Hopes that the company’s new CSeries single-aisle “super-regional” 110- to 149-seat jet would take big market share away from Airbus and Boeing appear to be fading, at least for now, as both of those compa-nies announced re-engining pro-grams and big orders for their

legacy narrowbodies. New com-petition from the Russian Suk-hoi Superjet and aircraft under development in Japan and China could also crimp its CSeries ambitions.

There are also hints that the CSeries may not make it to mar-ket by 2013 as scheduled, and they are being dropped by Bom-

bardier Aerospace president Guy Hachey. Big chunks

of the $3.5 billion devel-opment program have been outsourced as part of a compli-cated global supply chain. This includes fuselage manufacture

to China’s Shenyang Aircraft, part of state-

owned AVIC. Over the summer Hachey conceded that “areas” of the CSeries

were “off our schedule” but said that the company was not ready to issue a revised pro-gram timetable–yet.

While no one envisions prob-lems for the CSeries of the same magnitude that Boeing suffered on its recently certified 787, the CSeries does pose considerable manufacturing and technical risk because of both the degree

of outsourcing and the large amount of new technology being incorporated into the aircraft. That includes composite wings, a high-tech metal alloy fuselage with aluminum-lithium skins, the new Pratt & Whitney PW1521G geared turbofan engine and fly-by-wire controls. It is this tech-nology that Hachey believes will deliver a large enough operating efficiency advantage to differenti-ate the CSeries from competitors.

Learjet 85 Still on ScheduleThe all-composite Bombar-

dier Learjet 85 similarly repre-sents above-average technical risk and creates a new niche between midsize and super-mid-size business jets. It is sched-uled for certification in 2013. That program for the 3,000-nm jet (four passengers) remains on schedule for now, but over the summer Bombardier admitted that certain capital expenditures related to the program have been “moved to the right.”

Like the CSeries, the $17.2 million (2008 $) Learjet 85 relies on a global supply chain, but this one is more within Bombar-dier-owned companies. Plans to outsource fuselage development and early production to Germa-ny’s Grob Aircraft faded when that company filed for insol-vency in 2008.

Throughout Bombardier, approximately 1,250 employees are dedicated to the Learjet 85 pro-gram and it is using the company’s engineering and manufacturing assets in Canada, Europe, Mexico and the U.S. The Belfast, North-ern Ireland, facility will make wing planks, spars and other parts using resin transfer infusion tech-nology (RTI), the same composite technology tapped for the CSeries airliner. Bombardier’s Queretaro,

Mexico plant will assemble the wings and the fuselage before they are trucked to Wichita for final aircraft assembly.

Bombardier has tried to take as much variability as possi-ble out of the Learjet 85’s com-posite manufacturing process by making it repeatable using a pro-cess whereby digital engineering drawings of the composite plies are projected onto the mold. This allows precise placement of each ply and layer of composite mate-rial and should aid in weight con-trol. Bombardier is now focusing on getting the process down to where it is repeatable at the cor-rect production volume.

While drawing heavily on company resources for the Learjet 85, Bombardier still is relying on 41 “major” suppli-ers for the aircraft and is using a collection of 63 test rigs at these companies to ensure that all of the aircraft’s components work properly when installed. Major vendors on the 85 include Pratt & Whitney Canada (engines), Rockwell Collins (avionics), Lufthansa Technik (cabin man-agement system) and C&D Zodiac (interior).

Flexjet Launch CustomerFor some time Bombardier

has said it has approximately 60 orders for the aircraft. This summer it announced that its fractional shares arm, Flexjet, would be the launch customer with an order for seven air-craft. The 85 could help reju-venate the languishing Learjet brand that delivered only 28 aircraft in all of 2010, but is slowly recovering with 19 deliv-eries in the first six months of 2011. Still, the Learjet produc-tion backlog currently is just six months.

There is good news from the Globals. Bombardier’s large- cabin jets, the XRS/6000 and 5000, continue to be popular sell-ers and have a healthy backlog that extends out 36 months. The Global line was further buoyed by a $2.8 billion order in March from fractional provider NetJets for 30 current production Glo-bals and 20 new-generation Global 7000 and 8000 aircraft expected to come on line begin-ning in 2016. NetJets also took options for an additional 70 Glo-bals that could boost the deal’s total value to $6.7 billion. Deliv-eries of the in-production air-craft begin late next year.

Bombardier also has received orders for its 7000/8000 Globals from fleet operators, including VistaJet and AVWest.

The new Globals will use the same fuselage cross section as the current production Global aircraft but it will be longer; the 7000 by 11 feet, three inches and the 8000 by two feet, three inches, and feature larger cabin windows. Not all details for the aircraft have been announced, but Bombardier has said that the aircraft will feature a new thin high-speed wing, fuel-efficient GE TechX engines (16,500 pounds of thrust each) and a Global Vision avionics suite (likely based on the Rock-well Collins Pro Line Fusion system, but that has not yet been confirmed).

Bombardier said that both air-craft, at Mach 0.90, will beat the new Gulfstream G650’s range. At Mach 0.85 the Global 8000 has a range of 7,900 nm and the 7000 has a range of 7,300 nm. Both aircraft are expected to sell in the $65 million (2010 $) range and have a maximum takeoff weight near 105,000 pounds. o

32aaNBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY > Bombardier

Guy Hachey, Bombardier Aerospace

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The CSeries “super regional” jet aims to lower operating costs with fly-by-wire composite wings and geared turbofans.

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34 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Avinode app delivers charter info to phonesby Charles Alcock

Online charter portal Avinode (Booth No. C7818) is introducing a new suite of mobile applications for iPhones and iPads to put real-time aircraft availability data in the palm of the user’s hand.

The Sweden-based group developed the apps so that char-ter operators and brokers can make them available to their cli-ents, sparing them the chore of doing the complex development work themselves. They include charter search and request tools that the brokers and operators can use, with or without empty-leg search capability, as well as a stand-alone empty-leg sales tool.

“We believe that finding a private jet should be as simple and flexible as traveling in one,” explained Per Marthinsson, manag-ing director for Avinode Americas. “So we designed a suite of apps that would allow our marketplace members to give their clients easy access to available char-ter aircraft with real-time price and availability information pulled straight from the Avinode marketplace.”

International charter broker-ing group Air Partner Interna-tional has been one of the first Avinode clients to use the app. It has taken advantage of the white-label design to brand it as its own application.

Avinode keeps tabs on the

state of the market by generating forward-looking indices show-ing projected demand and prices over the coming 30-day period, calculated from between 80,000 and 150,000 flight requests for up to 3,000 aircraft processed through its online portal each month. This includes 1,700 logged on a real-time availabil-ity feed, while operators manu-ally log the remaining 1,300.

Some Bright SpotsFigures produced in Sep-

tember showed the demand index averaging 15 to 25 points higher than the equivalent peri-ods in 2010. Meanwhile, flight-hour prices are still below levels

charged prior to the 2008 financial cri-sis and, while they have generally recov-ered over the past 12 months, those gains are being undermined by rising operating costs– most notably fuel.

Avinode business intelligence manager Magnus Henriksson

pointed to some bright spots in the 2011 charter recovery, par-ticularly the Russian market. “We’ve seen the Russian Bear waking up during the spring, driving a strong demand for executive charter to and from the Moscow region,” he com-mented. The company also has continued to see growth in

Eastern Europe and in new mar-kets such as Turkey.

Other demand spikes seen this year were clearly prompted by the so-called Arab Spring political upheaval in the North African states of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The Avinode system has revealed charter bookings clearly related to movements of people out of the country at times of heightened tensions.

The Avinode database has also highlighted tangibly differ-ent trends in charter markets around the world. For instance, as the U.S. economy softened a few years ago there was a move from chartering heavier jets to the super-midsize and midsize cate-gories. “The market [for business aircraft use] has been far more established in the U.S. since the 1970s, so consumers there try to avoid the need to stop flying,” said Henriksson. “Instead, they just try to fly cheaper, and so while they still need a certain amount of range, they have been downgrad-ing from the heavy iron.”

In the U.S., according to Avinode, the most popular jets for charter so far this year have been Bombardier’s Learjet 60 and 35, as well as the Gulfstream GIV. Henriksson maintained that the U.S. market has been “bouncing back slowly but surely,” with sup-ply of aircraft once again tight-ening around peak periods.

Europe Bucks the TrendThough buffeted by the same

economic storm, charter trends in Europe have been moving in the opposite direction. Europe-ans have displayed no such prag-matism in altering their charter habits to avoid having to go back to airline service. This has

seen the light-jet sector hit badly as those who can no longer jus-tify the cost simply drop out of the market. At the same time, presumably because the super-rich have tended to stay at least rich, demand at the top end of the market has accounted for a growing proportion of charter activity (rising from 23 percent in 2008 to 29 percent this year).

Among the most popular mod-els in Europe in 2011 so far have been the Embraer Legacy 600 and the Bombardier Challenger 604, 605 and 300. The Cessna Citation XLS has also been in demand and, bucking the anti-light-jet trend, also the Citation Mustang. “So, even though 60 percent of charter flights booked

in Europe through Avinode are of only one to two hours duration and carry one to three passengers, Europe has tended toward larger and newer aircraft, while the U.S. has gone for smaller, older aircraft,” said Henriksson.

Generally, the Avinode data-base is full of paradoxes. In Europe, the average distance flown per trip has reduced, resulting in more price-conscious charter buyers. “Even though prices have increased, by doing shorter trips the overall revenue [for operators] is reduced,” said Henriksson. “On the U.S. side there is a trend toward charter buyers doing both longer trips in smaller aircraft and shorter trips in larger aircraft.” o

Per Marthinsson,Avinode Americas

SchedAero Lightens Load for Smaller Operators

Avinode is stepping up the development of the SchedAe-ro online flight-scheduling system that it acquired when it merged with Charter X last year. The latest new feature al-lows operators to check the names of an aircraft’s crew and passengers automatically against the TSA No-Fly List, as they are now legally required to do by the Transportation Se-curity Administration.

SchedAero has been developed specifically with small-er aircraft operators and charter brokers in mind. “We real-ized that many smaller companies are still using things like whiteboards and Word and Excel software for their flight scheduling,” said SchedAero managing director Niklas Berg, explaining that its system is intended as an affordable but ful-ly functioning alternative to the much more elaborate sys-tems used by larger operators.

In fact, SchedAero has been developed to handle more than just the basic flight-scheduling functions. With increas-ingly complex regulations requiring operators to account for factors such as pilot hours and airframe and engine utilization, the system also offers a single collection point for all this data. It also can be interfaced directly with both the Avinode online charter availability and flight quoting database, as well as with

the operator audit function of its sister company Wyvern, sav-ing the need for users to re-enter data.

With SchedAero operating online, the operators can ac-cess it anywhere and they don’t have to deal with the trou-ble and expense of hosting it within their own IT setups. The scheduling module uses a web-based calendar to keep track of crew rosters and aircraft availability in real time.

The system also features a document management sys-tem that can attach specific data such as trip information or Wyvern audit data to a specific project or client file. It can also attach documents such as insurance, operator licens-ing and crew training details. Berg said more features will be introduced incrementally.

SchedAero has attracted more than 100 customers since it was launched last year. The company, which is run as a stand-alone profit center separate from Avinode, provides training and support for operators so that they maximize their use of the system. “Operators need to make this the heart of their op-eration,” said Berg. “It’s not just about swiping a credit card [to sell the software], it’s about changing habits so that small-er operators aren’t buried in manual double-entry data collec-tion and spending hours to quote for trips.” –C.A.

Avinode’s iPad and iPhone apps offer clients access to its charter search and request tools.

Wyvern Adds to Wingmen Ranks

The ranks of the Wyvern Wingmen are set to increase with 26 new and re-turning charter operators taking safety audits during the months of September and October. It is now 20 years since the Trenton, N.J.-based safety consul-tancy established the Wyvern Standard and not one of the operators approved under this has suffered a fatal accident in this time.

For charter buyers needing a de-pendable vendor management tool, Wyvern has always been about more than knowing that an op-erator passed an audit on a one-off basis, according to managing director Brent Moldowan. “Post-audit an operator is required to keep up with particular re-porting requirements,” he explained. “Operator, air-craft and crew background checks happen 24/7 in the Wyvern da-tabase. This ensures that The Wyvern Audit is more than just a snapshot of what the audit team saw while they were on site with the charter operator.”

Technology is continuing to take the application of Wyvern methods to new levels, with proactive data mining used to obtain accurate, real-time data, including training documents, the cur-rency of crew qualifications, insurance levels, maintenance standards and

aircraft and engine hours.“After the audit we have a reliable

way to check on the operation after each mission,” Moldowan told AIN. “It pushes the reporting system back to the charter buyer and they can run the data against the Wyvern Standard or any industry average. Brokers can use it to ensure that an operator is legal.” The system can check whether a spe-cific aircraft (filtered by tail number) is still registered under a particular air operator’s certificate or whether it has

moved to another opera-tor’s certificate.

Improving paperless efficiency for operators as they seek to remain com-pliant is the fact that train-ing and maintenance data can be collected direct-ly and automatically from the providers of these ser-

vices. Now Wyvern, a subsidiary of Avinode following its acquisition of Charter X last year, is repackaging its various services and databases to de-liver a more complete service to op-erators and buyers. These include its Pilot and Aircraft Safety Survey (PASS), which builds around 3,200 mission-specific safety intelligence re-ports each month, with an alert given to Wyvern staff if an anomaly is dis-covered. –C.A.

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36 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Cambridge Airport beckons U.S. travelersby Charles Alcock

Traffic is growing at the UK’s Cambridge Airport following a rebranding and change of man-agement at the start of 2011. The privately owned facility has come to the NBAA show (Booth No. N1622) to encour-age more North American oper-ators to try out the convenient access it gives to large parts of southern and eastern England.

According to new airport director Archie Garden, the number of business aircraft movements is up by 15 per-cent compared with the same period in 2010. Fuel sales have increased by 37 percent and rev-enues from aircraft parking fees climbed by 90 percent.

The upsurge in corporate, pri-vate and charter flights has been supplemented by growing vol-umes of air ambulance services, taking passengers to leading hospitals nearby. Also increasing has been flight-training activity. The airport is investing in a GPS system that will allow its preci-sion approach path indicators to be adjusted to allow training for

steep approach landings (such as those required for the 5.5-deg approach at London City Air-port). ILS, NDB and DME pro-cedures are also available.

Cambridge’s 6,447-foot run-way is capable of receiving inter-continental business jet arrivals, including aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757. It has Category 7 fire and air traffic control sta-tus (under UK Civil Aviation Authority codes) and approach radar coverage up to 13 nm.

The airport is situated about 60 miles north of London, and is close to the many high-tech businesses that have sprung up around one of the world’s top universities in Cambridge. The airport can be open around the clock and has been approved to exercise this option during the 2012 London Olympic games, for which it is well placed just to the north of the prohibited air-space area that will be in place for this event. Operators arriv-ing from the north will be able to completely avoid the inconve-nience of the prohibited area.

Two years ago, Cambridge Airport’s private owners, the Marshall Group, invested just over $7 million in the develop-ment of a new business avia-tion terminal, including meeting rooms, passenger and crew rooms, as well as bedrooms and showers. Adjoining this is a new 21,500-sq-ft hangar that now houses the factory-authorized Cessna Citation service cen-ter that Marshall has operated at Cambridge since 1974. The facility is used as a maintenance hub for fractional ownership provider NetJets Europe. The airport’s sister company, Mar-shall Executive Aviation, bases its charter fleet in Cambridge. It operates a Citation Bravo and an XLS, as well as a Bombardier Challenger 300. o

Representatives from privately owned London-area Cambridge Airport are here at NBAA to promote the airport’s merits, particularly for North American operators.

The recent facility improvement project at Marshall Business Aviation Centre included the construction of a 21,500-sq-ft hangar that houses the company’s Cessna Citation service center. NetJets Europe also uses the facility as a maintenance hub.

Iacobucci HF launches seat division, new designby Kirby J. Harrison

Iacobucci HF, the Ital-ian maker of galley appliance inserts, is continuing its venture into the aircraft seating business with the introduction at NBAA of a new business unit–Iaco-bucci Seat Division–to manage that endeavor.

Iacobucci (Booth No. N2526) made its first foray into the seat arena at the 2010 NBAA con-vention with the introduc-tion of a model created in collaboration with BMW Group DesignworksUSA of Newbury Park, Calif. The theme, accord-ing to Iacobucci, was the “right mix of technology, innovation and design [offering] favorable conditions to conceive a pre-mium seat design.”

The seat features a sin-gle 45- to 46-inch upright and 21-inch wide backrest struc-ture and a seven-inch deploy-able and extendable leg rest. A “cradle” recline design employs a seat-pan tilt that prevents the

passenger from sliding out of the seat when it is the recline position. Coordinated with the recline feature is an armrest that retracts fully to allow for a full-flat sleeping berth. Finally, the headrest movement includes vertical, horizontal and tilt fea-tures. The seat also has a floor-tracking mechanism and comes

standard as a manual articu-lation variant. An electrically articulated seat is optional.

A second seat in the line is being introduced at this year’s convention. It features a 45-inch backrest and is 23 inches wide. The three-way headrest has a wide range of adjustments, including vertical, horizontal and tilting features as well as headrest flaps. It has a fixed track-fitting installation, 360-degree swivel, multiple-lock drop-down armrest and extend-able leg rest, as well as a folding manual footrest.

“The project team developed a seat ergonomically responding to the form of the human body,” said Iacobucci HF Group mar-keting director Riccardo Palm-eri. “The mechanical swivel enhances the useful space while the light structure and smooth movements make it easy to install and maintain.”

Both seats meet 16-g certifi-cation requirements as well as FAA and EASA build-up and burn tests. According to Palm-eri, they have been created with extreme care to all details includ-ing extensive pressure-mapping tests, minimal weight and metic-ulous attention to detail. o

Iacobucci’s newest seat, being introduced here at the NBAA convention, offers a 360-degree swivel feature.

Caymans promoting offshore registry

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) is in Las Vegas this week (Booth No. C11231) to promote its off-shore aircraft registry, which currently has around 175 air-craft registered in the private air-craft category. This comprises jets from all the major manufacturers, including Gulfstream, Embraer, Dassault, Cessna, Airbus and Boeing, according to the Registry.

The CAA’s Air Safety Regis-tration (ASR) personnel manage the registration process, which includes airworthiness inspec-tions as part of the safety and technical oversight role, and flight operations assessments, includ-ing the validation of personnel licenses. Senior CAACI person-nel are on hand at the NBAA show to answer questions on any-thing from registering mortgages to finding adequate legal and financial solutions for its “diverse, globally based clientele.”

CAACI is led by Richard Smith, the Cayman Islands’ director of civil aviation, who

qualified as a Boeing 737 pilot with Cayman Airways in 1993.

Potential clients have to pass a financial and legal due diligence process, but if successful they can look forward to receiving a registration (VP-XXX) and a few documents, such as certif-icate of registration, certificate of airworthiness, noise certifi-cate, acceptance of maintenance arrangements, maintenance sche-dule acceptance, radio station installation approval, designated airspace approval and mainte-nance authorization(s). o

The butt sketcher is back at the Jet Works Air Center booth (No. N6313). NBAA attendees are invited to stop by for a free butt sketch by the Original Butt Sketch company. And while at the booth, Denton, Texas-based Jet Works will highlight its main-tenance, completions, avionics upgrades and paint services.

News Note

CIVIL DEFENCE FUTURESSPACE UAS SECURITY

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CMC updates SmartDeck avionics, hooks iPad to EFBby Harry Weisberger

Esterline CMC Electronics (Booth No. N5507) is featuring the latest ver-sion of its SmartDeck avionics suite as well as an array of its PilotView electronic flight bag (EFB) products. CMC’s atten-tion to EFBs also includes Tandem, a new software app that helps integrate mobile devices such as the iPad with CMC’s cer-tified EFBs.

CMC says its Tandem software will let operators make optimal use of tablets computers on the ground and Class 2/3 PilotView EFBs installed in their aircraft. Pilots will be able to use their iPads away from the airport to acquire weather infor-mation, compose and file flight plans, review aircraft documents, calculate

weight and balance data, determine fuel requirements and other preflight activity. Upon arriving at the aircraft, the crew can use their iPads to interface with the aircraft-mounted EFBs, transferring data to the air-craft, taking advantage of the iPad’s and the EFB’s capabilities. For many aircraft opera-tors, the robust nature and extensive testing of the Class 2 certified EFB is a require-ment. But with Tandem, crews can plan flights well ahead of time and wirelessly connect to the cockpit system.

CMC has announced STC approvals for its 10.4-inch Class 2 PilotView EFB on the Boeing BBJ as well as the -600, -700C, -800, -900 and -900ER models of the 737. The cockpit information system

has also gained EASA certification for installation on the Embraer EMB-135BJ regional airliner. A recent PilotView EFB enhancement is introduction of the new Intel Dual Core i7 processor into all versions to deliver high-end graphics capabilities.

The Quebec, Canada-based firm is also showcasing its SmartDeck integrated avionics suite, which now features a new, second-generation highway-in-the-sky display symbology and a new three-dis-play, dual-pilot configuration. The new symbology is geared to meet the needs of pilots of Class II and Class III air-craft. Greg Plantz, director of marketing and sales for SmartDeck, said, “Our pri-mary goal will be to provide clear, under-standable information that pilots can use, while eliminating much of the clutter that adds no measureable benefits.” Plantz said the SmartDeck’s advanced architec-ture supports scalability to various types

of aircraft, including growth capability for future advances in air traffic manage-ment associated with the development of the next-generation air traffic control sys-tem (NextGen).

CMC president Greg Yelden told AIN the company is coming off a second con-secutive record fiscal year this month. “It’s been a very active and successful period of time, especially over the last couple of years,” he said. CMC’s busi-ness profile is roughly 50/50 commercial/military, with the commercial side split roughly 60/40 between retrofit and OEM business, respectively. o

38 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Esterline CMC Electronics is showing its EFB system with a wireless interface with an iPad. Information can be transferred between devices to further simplify data gathering and transfers.

Prominent at Esterline CMC’s Booth 5507 is this futuristic flight display being used to demonstrate how evolving synthetic vision “highway in the sky” and presentation technologies can simplify and expand information presented to pilots.

API displaying trio of blended winglets hereby Mark Huber

Aviation Partners is showing three new blended winglet designs at this year’s NBAA show, all on display in the compa-ny’s booth (No. C8110).

The new Scimitar design features a new tip-cap and provides a 10-percent performance improvement over exist-ing blended-winglet technology. Drag is reduced by an additional 0.5 percent at long range cruise over the 7.3-percent improvement provided by the previous Scimitar design.

The new design is certified on the Hawker 800 and the first customer instal-lation currently is taking place. Aviation Partners is contemplating offering the modified tip cap design as a retrofit for its existing Hawker 800 winglet customers.

The Spiroid winglet first demonstrated on the Falcon 50 in 2010 has been shown to provide a drag reduction of more than 11 percent and the company continues to study possible applications.

Meanwhile, Aviation Partners is ready-ing its new blended split-tip Scimitar winglet for flight test. The new design adds a blended verntral fin and Scimitar tips. o

Aviation Partners is preparing to flight test this dramatic-looking split-tip Scimitar winglet.

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Duncan doles advice on NextGen, Fans, Wi Fiby Harry Weisberger

Duncan Aviation is at Booth No. C8127 to share with oper-ators innovative programs for economizing costs and cutting downtime for interior refur-bishments, explaining the FAA NextGen initiative and Future Air Navigation System (Fans) and answering common issues about Wi Fi installations for business aircraft.

Duncan is demonstrating a video series and a field guide explaining how phasing inte-rior maintenance with regularly

scheduled maintenance events benefits passengers, prevents damage and controls long-term costs. Duncan’s Phased Inte-rior Maintenance program can improve an aircraft interior and help refurbishments last longer, by timing portions of interior upgrades to coincide with main-tenance events. The program provides operators with plans unique to their specific aircraft, said Nate Darlington, Duncan interior modification sales. “We work with you to review your

interior’s current condition, tak-ing a look at how the aircraft is used and create a plan that you can take with you, all at no cost or obligation.”

Duncan avionics specialists give operators a quick overview of the FAA NextGen initiative in an e-book titled, Straight Talk About NextGen. There is much to understand on the topic, said Steve Elofson, Duncan instal-lation sales rep, who hopes the release of the NextGen e-book will address many operators’ con-cerns. According to the company, “We believe our efforts in find-ing and condensing this informa-tion will clarify the subject.” A companion Straight Talk e-book offers information to give opera-tors a closer look at Fans and its relationship to NextGen. o

40 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

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news clipsz Roundtable To Unravel DCA Acess

Learn how you can fly a corporate aircraft into Reagan Washington National Airport today at the “Demystifying DASSP DCA Access Program Roundtable.” The meeting will be held in Room N253 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and features representatives from the TSA and DCA FBO Signature Flight Support and others, including moderator Bill Garvey, editor-in-chief of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. For more information or to RSVP, contact Patrick Sniffen at (321) 276 7232 or patrick.sniffen@signatureflight.com.

z Amsterdam Software To Demo FBO One SystemExhibiting for the first time at an NBAA show this year,

Amsterdam Software (Booth No. C10847) will demonstrate its FBO One system to American audiences. The Web-based FBO One software–tested at facilities outside the U.S. for the past four years–organizes almost every element of FBO operations, from tracking fuel sales and inventory control, to aircraft parking needs, catering requests and a variety of crew demands. Its developers view FBO One as a service designed to automate excruciating amounts of paperwork that used to take hours to track.

The system offers operators the opportunity to link multiple locations as well as regularly evaluate all operations with reports sent through secured networks to mobile devices, including iPads. This new-to-the Americas software also supports a number of local FBO details such as workflow, taxes, currencies, airport fees and customs obligations.

Amsterdam’s software evolved from a partnership between founder and CEO Ries Vriend and KLM. “With a proven track record in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and with clients such as KLM, Jet Aviation and Swissport, we are now coming to the American continent,” said Vriend. As a private company, Amsterdam Software began testing the FBO One service with KLM Jet Center’s two facilities in the Netherlands, which eventually grew to serving a network of 40 FBOs all across Europe. FBO One also easily integrates with EuroControl CFMU and FlightAware flight-tracking as well as handling orders for NetJets Europe and Universal Weather and Aviation.

z AJW Aviation Adds Preferred-Spares ServiceA J Walter Aviation (AJW) has introduced a preferred-

spares support service for corporate and private clients. The service, which is being offered in conjunction with

Washington, D.C.-based Loudoun Aviation, has already signed several clients. UK-based Acropolis Aviation, a charter and aircraft management firm, has chosen AJW (Booth No. N612) to provide leasing pool access support for its ACJ319 and Comlux Aviation Group is using AJW for its Boeing 767 and Airbus fleet. In addition, Global Jet Luxembourg will be working with AJW for exchange, loan and repair management on its Boeing and Airbus fleet.

In other news from AJW, the company has begun building a new headquarters near London’s Gatwick Airport. The facility, which is scheduled to open by summer 2012, will initially provide 240,000 sq ft for office and storage facilities.

z JetFlite Sets Up New Russian EntityCharter and management firm JetFlite International (JFI)

has signed a partnership agreement with Moscow’s Best-Jets to help JFI penetrate the Russian market. Named JFI Russia, the new entity comes partly as a result of Best-Jets acting as JFI’s handling agent in the country for the past five years. JetFlite CEO Bill Cripe said, “With JFI located in California and New York, trying to get a foothold in Russia is nearly impossible without having staff there.” JetFlite (Booth No. N3136) expanded its presence in Moscow last month with the addition of a Bombardier Challenger 601 based at Vnukovo Airport. This joins a Gulfstream G200 already in place there. According to Cripe, there is a great deal of opportunity for the charter/management sector in Russia.

Jeppesen joins Lindbergh Aviation Green Alliance by Jeff Burger

Jeppesen (Booth No. C8810) announced here at the NBAA show that it will serve as a found-ing member of the Lindbergh Foundation’s nonprofit Aviation Green Alliance. The alliance was established earlier this year to encourage aviation-related com-panies to seek solutions, com-municate ideas and acknowledge progress with regard to envi-ronmental problems. The alli-ance offers multiple platforms for members to share findings, strategies and ideas. It also pro-vides environmental news and information and grant funding

to promote the discovery and development of technologies.

Jeppesen said it will bring together stakeholders to address environmental issues facing the

aviation industry, including emis-sions, noise and operational effi-ciency. “We are thrilled that Jeppesen will be among our elite group of founding members,” said Lindbergh Foundation chair-man and CEO Larry Williams. “With its 77-year history of inno-vation, Jeppesen continues to be an excellent model for other com-panies in our industry by leading the way once again–this time for our environment.” o

Larry Williams (left), chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation’s Aviation Green

Alliance, welcomes Jeppesen president and CEO Mark Van Tine.

I Wanna WInMike Wilson, who works

for the FAA in Atlanta,

strikes a pose for an iPad

promotion put on by

Business Jet Center Dal-

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be posted on Facebook.

“I want to win an iPad,”

said Wilson, as Lisa Peter-

son looks on.

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 41

API receives Chinese customs OKAerospace Products Inter-

national (API) announced this summer that its subsidiary in Shanghai, China, received Class-A enterprise certification from China Customs, a status that eases government restric-tions on the facility.

API China is a distributor of original equipment manu-facturer (OEM) aircraft parts and also provides supply chain management services, including vendor-managed inventory and third-party logistics programs. The company has 16,000 sq ft of office and distribution facil-ities and a climate-controlled warehouse. It also has a forward stocking location in Beijing.

Customs CertificationsCompanies that perform

import and export activities in China are categorized into classes by China Customs. Cer-tifications are awarded by class based upon compliance with local laws and customs policies as well as by business perfor-mance. The class of certification awarded to a company deter-mines the level of oversight that China Customs places on the qualifying company.

According to API, the qual-ifying organization must have less than 3 percent of customs clearance errors with no viola-tions of China Customs policies and regulations. It must be in full compliance with China Cus-toms accounting and financial reporting guidelines. Further, it must have no policy violations on record with the Central Bank of China, the Tax Bureau, the Standards Bureau and the For-eign Exchange Bureau.

API (Booth No. N1916), based in Memphis, Tenn., is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Aviation Services of West-port, Conn. The company’s focus on distribution of OEM parts and supply chain functions

allows customers such as manu-facturers, MRO facilities, FBOs, airlines and aircraft owners and operators to concentrate on their core competencies. API distributes products from more than 150 parts and component

manufacturers and suppliers.In late June, Purdue Uni-

versity selected API as logistics management supplier to sup-port the university’s new fleet of Cirrus SR20 training aircraft.

Also earlier this year, API and Oviv Security Technologies of Merignac, France (Booth N2116), entered into a worldwide distribu-tion agreement authorizing API

to distribute Oviv’s Sentinel 100L security system.

The Sentinel 100L uses a combination of high-frequency motion detection and high-resolution CMOS cameras to provide a surveillance perim-eter with 360-degree coverage around a parked aircraft. The system can be deployed by pilots or ground handlers. –B.C.

Banyan Air Service has ex - panded the hours of opera-tion of its maintenance shop at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida. After add-ing a second shift, the shop’s hours now extend from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to mid-night, and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. On-call service is available on Sundays.

Banyan was also recently named an authorized service center for the Quest Kodiak single-engine turboprop. The company also announced that it has rebranded the Hangar63 pilot shop at Executive Air-port as well as its online store, TropicAero.com, to Banyan Pilot Shop and BanyanPilot-Shop.net, respectively. n

News Note

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42 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

was taken over by Potez and became SEEMS and, in 1966, its civilian mod-els were spun off to form Socata. This company was subsequently purchased by Aérospatiale, one of the companies that later became part of EADS, which has retained a 30-percent holding in Socata.

Morane-Saulnier’s industrial activ-ity developed with the production of air-frame elements for other aircraft makers, marking the start of aerostructures man-ufacturing as an important component of its business. The business grew strongly to include, for example, production of Sec-tion 16 for the supersonic Concorde jet-liner in the 1970s. Meanwhile, Daher, which previously had shipped engines for the early Caravelle jetliner, became very much involved with the newly created Airbus consortium, transporting rear sections of Europe’s pioneering A300

medium-haul widebody aircraft, as well the Concorde’s landing gear.

With the market for light business air-planes dominated by U.S. manufacturers, Socata’s single-engine turboprop TBM 700, designed to carry six or seven passen-gers in a pressurized cabin and capable of operating from relatively short runways, became the first European aircraft to penetrate this segment when it achieved certification in 1990. The announcement in 2005 of the introduction of Socata’s TBM 850–as the so-called very fast tur-boprop–built on the success of the TBM 700 to meet the challenge of the very light jet and gave the manufacturer a much-needed boost after a stagnation of its air-craft sales in 2003 and 2004.

The commercial success of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66D-powered TBM 850 has sustained activity in Daher-Socata’s aerostructures programs. It may also have paved the way for Daher-Socata (Booth No. C6521) to enter the jet age, a concept for which the French firm is cur-rently evaluating its options. o

Parabellum from Otonomy offers wireless security

As more business and private jets travel further abroad, often to airports where ground security is nonexistent or minimal at best, Otonomy Aviation (Booth No. N608) has a growing family of solutions for security concerns.

The company, based in Bordeaux, France, has launched Parabellum, a new wireless security system for parked air-craft. The system integrates a new range of 1080i high-definition digital cameras (CamHD) and provides a security perim-eter around an aircraft, triggering an alarm upon any intrusion or impact.

A dedicated camera records video of the area and allows the operator to view the footage from any remote computer, smartphone through the GSM/3G network or via an optional satellite connection.

According to Otonomy, Parabellum

has a battery life of more than 30 days and the video event storage has a 300-hour capacity. The stand-alone Parabellum box weighs slightly more than 11 pounds.

The CamHD 1080i high-definition cameras were introduced earlier this year at EBACE. CamHD provides up to eight HD-SDI 1080 NTSC and Ethernet H264 signals to any in-flight cabin enter-tainment system or cockpit display. At the same time, video can be pushed to a Wi-Fi connected tablet, such as an iPad, thanks to a dedicated wireless link.

The CamHD package is based on four components: the VCCU unit to monitor and duplicate video for the IFE-connected system; the CamHD-1 tail- or belly-mount high-definition camera; the CamHD-4 camera pod to provide a 360-deg view around the air-craft; and the CamHD-Z camera, which can zoom to 120X.

Powered directly by the aircraft’s 28-volt DC power source and connected to the in-flight entertainment system, each camera can be used as a stand-alone unit as a means of simplifying installation and reducing embedded weight. –K.J.H.

After first 100 years, Socata considers jetuContinued from page 16

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44 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Global Jet Services personalizes mx trainingby Robert P. Mark

When aircraft manufacturers sell a new business aircraft, it’s typically delivered with a couple

of slots at a major training pro-vider for pilots and the mainte-nance technicians who are going

to keep that specific airplane humming smoothly. Mention pilot and maintenance training and big brands like CAE Simu-Flite and FlightSafety Interna-tional usually come quickly to mind. But there’s another player in the maintenance training game, Weatogue, Conn.-based Global Jet Services.

Small in size when compared

to the more well-known brands, Global Jet employs a dozen sea-soned maintenance classroom instructors and 17 more support folks behind the scenes tasked with keeping the company’s cur-riculum up-to-date and stimu-lating. Company spokesperson Darla Fricker calls Global Jet Services “a small, flexible com-pany that’s expanded with the

marketplace.” She said one of Global’s key features is “our more personal teaching style. Our instructors don’t lecture to customers.” She added, “We’re also very cost-effective for medium-sized operators who can’t afford the competition.”

While Global Jet offers an alternative training opportunity, it also has a shared resources partnership with FlightSafety to cover topics the latter does not, or to step in when clients can’t make it to a FlightSafety loca-tion. Unlike FlightSafety and SimuFlite, Global Jet customers don’t train in specific locations, the company sends its instruc-tors on the road to teach at the customer’s site.

Global Jet offers an initial or recurrent maintenance course for just about every manufacturer of turbine equipment, including Bombardier, Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft, Embraer, Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream. The company is also a training pro-vider for Eclipse and CASA, as well as the former Swearingen/Emivest (now SyberJet) SJ30. Global Jet Services classes are certified by EASA, CASA (Aus-tralia) and Transport Canada. In the past year-and-a-half, Global Jet Services instructors have trained U.S. Air Force crews on the Hawker Beechcraft King Air, as well as members of the Iraqi air force and military personnel in Mexico, Spain, Afghanistan and Ecuador.

The company offers a broad curriculum in addition to cus-tomary maintenance subjects, such as avionics, and profes-sional development courses like leadership, which also happen to be NBAA PDP-approved.

Fricker said Global Jet evolved its unique teaching style by appre-ciating the fact that technicians are hands-on kinds of people. For instance, before the first class begins the company offers each maintenance student a stress-ball. “We learned early on that these students simply learn better when they’re doing something with their hands,” she said.

The Global Jet Services infor-mation technology team works closely with instructors to keep the curriculum up-to-date. For example, during a slow period when others might be downsiz-ing they take advantage of the time to develop new programs. Global Jet controls the quality of its programming by using its own people from the beginning of the course development idea through video and graphic cre-ation, as well as writing, edit-ing and printing all company coursework. o

You fl y. We plan. International travel, simplifi ed.

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B A I L E Y L A U E R M A N Jeppesen Planning AdJeppes112213Pub: AIN Color: 4-color Size: Trim 7.8125" x 10.375"

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travel. Our dispatchers and planners work as an extension of your fl ight department to ensure that each trip is fl awless.

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ICG, Overlook team on polar routesInternational Communica-

tions Group (ICG) is teaming with Overlook Consulting to bring operational approval ser-vices for Future Air Naviga-tion System (FANS1/A) and polar routing to pilots and flight

departments using ICG’s Nxt-Link Iridium transceivers.

“With the FAA, Eurocontrol and others moving from flight deck voice to datalink com-munications,” said ICG CEO Scott Trainum, “operators are

compelled to decide how they will address the situation. Over-look Consulting has a back-ground in developing the major elements for FANS operational approval, including the asso-ciated manuals, training and documentation.”

ICG (Booth No. C9830) has also collaborated with Talon Air Maintenance Services to com-plete the first installation of an ICG SB-200 Sora Lite Inmarsat high-speed data and voice satcom system on a Cessna Citation III. The announcement coincided with news that the first production units of ICG’s new ePhone cordless cabin tele-phone system will become avail-able in December. Initial units will be used in testing for supple-mental type certificate approval for installation of the handset on various aircraft models.

The ICG ePhone handset has screen quality equivalent to that of handheld personal devices and incorporates active cabin noise reduction, Bluetooth com-patibility and power control to extend battery life with an auto-shutoff feature. –H.W.

Students captivated by globe-girdling tales by Kirby J. Harrison

Some 50 students from a Las Vegas magnet school crowded the Mitsubishi MU-2 exhibit (Booth No. C6920) to hear Barrington Irving describe his around-the-world flight in a Columbia 400, in his own words.

The event was sponsored by Mitsubishi Heavy Indus-tries America, and NBAA provided tickets for the stu-dents from Rancho High

School to attend the NBAA convention and meet Irving, who was the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world and the first African Ameri-can to do so. He now leads the Mitsubishi MU-2 Dream & Soar Program.

Recalling the flight, Irving said the best part was the return home, landing in Miami. The worst? Flying from Japan across

the frigid Bering Sea and search-ing for his next stop, remote She-mya Island. Home to a U.S. Air Force base, and not much else, Shemya is a bit of rock at the end of the Aleutian chain, just two miles long by one mile wide. “It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from there,” Irving remembered.

Irving’s smile lit up the exhibit as the students crowded close, many of them from the kind of challenged neighbor-hood where Irving was born.

“NBAA supports efforts to inspire the next generation of visionaries to consider careers in aviation,” said NBAA pres-ident and CEO Ed Bolen. “We salute Mitsubishi Heavy Indus-tries America and Barrington Irving for their outstanding work to ensure that our nation’s youth have access to the exciting and rewarding opportunities the [aviation] industry has to offer.”

Irving also heads Experience Aviation, a non-profit program to encourage students to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Looking around at the Las Vegas trappings surrounding him as he spoke, Irving empha-sized the importance of an edu-cation in these fields, adding, “This is the gamble they should be taking.” o

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 45

Most Meritorious

Ed Bolen (left), president and CEO of NBAA, presents Clay Lacy with the 2011 NBAA Meritorious Service to Aviation Award yesterday.

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news clipsz XJet Expands in Denver, Plans Paris Campus

XJet announced at the NBAA show that it plans to add 50,000 sq ft of ramp to its campus on the south side of Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo., and that it will build a new facility in Paris. The Centennial facility includes a terminal with espresso and cocktail bar, two climate-controlled hangars, auto storage and auto spa facilities, a conference room and a pilots’ lounge. XJet, which began operations in 2007, plans to continue its Denver expansion next year with construction of a third hangar and what it describes as a “lavish” terminal.

Meanwhile, the company is moving ahead with the project on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. XJet (Booth No. N5121) has won approval from Aeroports de Paris for a campus at Paris Le Bourget Airport. The facility will occupy 18 acres along the northeast side of the airport and will include a private club, transient terminal and 80,000 sq ft of hangar space.

z Win a Ride in B-25 ‘Grumpy’The Ninety-Nines is encouraging NBAA attendees to drop

by its booth (No. C11846) to learn more about the organization. Drop off a business card to participate in the daily drawings for classic posters, T-shirts, patches and bags. This afternoon at 4 p.m., the women pilots group is choosing the winner for its grand prize: two seats on a flight of the World War II-era B-25 Mitchell “Grumpy.” Participants need not be present to win.

z Bahrain Airshow 2012 Could Be a SelloutBahrain International Airshow (Booth No. N308) is on track to

be a sellout, according to organizer Farnborough International. Manufacturers already committed to the Jan. 19-21, 2012 event at the Sakhir Airbase include Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, GE, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky, and exhibitor space is filling up quickly. Amanda Stainer, Farnborough International events and exhibitions director, is in Las Vegas this week to promote the event. She said, “We now have only one chalet left. The demand from industry for opportunities to participate in the show has been very high, [which was] expected following such a successful launch event in 2010.” Some $1 billion in orders were announced at the inaugural show in 2010.

z Westair and JetEx Will Run Shannon FBOJetEx, a worldwide flight-support business, has entered

into a joint venture with Westair to operate its Shannon, Ireland FBO. The facility–which features more than 40,000 sq ft of hangar space plus terminal buildings, a pilots’ lounge, flight-planning room and offices–provides ground-support equipment, weather data access via computer and EASA-approved line and base maintenance support for several aircraft types. Shannon is notable as the first airport outside the Americas to offer full preclearance facilities for passengers traveling to the continental U.S. It is strategically located for technical stops for flights crossing the Atlantic from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. JetEx Flight Support, which is based in Dubai, is exhibiting at Booth No. N2534.

z Jet-Care iPad App Monitors Engines In-flight Jet-Care has introduced an iPad application called iEcho

GPA. The software allows operators of turbine engines to gather and send information about the engines to the company for processing and evaluation. The data can be entered via the iPad (in airplane mode) during a flight and then saved until a network connection is available, at which point it can be submitted to Jet-Care.

The app automatically records aircraft speed and air temperature along with engine parameter data such as shaft speeds, turbine temperature and fuel flow. Jet-Care’s engineers compare recorded trends against a model for the particular engine/airframe combination. The company promptly alerts operators about any significant changes in trends and reports monthly on normal trends. Jet-Care, which has customers in more than 140 companies, is exhibiting at Booth No. N4916.

Barrington Irving speaks with a group of students attending the NBAA convention.

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Flying Colours, Metrojet join on Asian refurb center

Flying Colours, which spe-cializes in interior comple-tions and refurbishments, has partnered with Hong Kong-based Metrojet, a charter, management, maintenance, acquisition and sales com-pany. Under terms of a mem-orandum of understanding signed here at the show, Fly-ing Colours will open an oper-ations base in Asia that will focus on interior refurbish-ment for mid- to large-size

business jets, including mod-els from Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream and Hawker Beechcraft. Specifics of the deal are still being final-ized, and ratification is expected by mid-2012. “This is the first time that Flying Colours has partnered with an international company, so we are excited by the opportunity it offers,” said John Gillespie, CEO of the company, which is exhibiting at Booth No. N5500. –J.B.

46 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Flying Colours furthers its Asian ambitions through its first international alliance with Hong Kong-based Metrojet. John Gillespie (left), CEO of Flying Colours, and Bjorn Naf, CEO Metrojet, sign the memorandum of understanding here at the show.

They’ve goT an app for ThaT

Ryan Frankhouser of Arinc poses with an iPad announcing Arincs’s latest app. In business for 80 years, the Annapolis, Md. company has been providing worldwide communications and flight support, including flight planning, fuel, weather services and international trip planning.

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WSI recreates Fusion with new wx software

Weather Services Interna-tional (WSI) has released a new version (4.0) of its Fusion soft-ware, which it bills as a “work-flow-based aviation-planning/decision-support tool.” The latest version adds more meteorologi-cal features, including an easy-to-understand graphic presentation of weather events and conditions.

Among the new features are the North American Radar Mosaic, which provides a com-prehensive view of radar across the continent without the need to overlay multiple radar types; a Hot Storm Index, which deter-mines the potential impact of severe weather events; and High Definition Convective Weather Layers, which among other things features a new EchoTop mosaic that offers better spatial resolution and clearly shows the highest tops of greatest concern.

WSI touts Fusion as a way for operations management to gain early insight into chang-ing flight, airfield and airspace conditions and to streamline

the decision-making workflow. It combines global, public and proprietary weather information with data on airspace constraints, flight tracks and navigation.

The company has also just debuted an iPad app for its WSI Pilotbrief Optima service. With it, a pilot can retrieve the information needed for a flight directly from the device. Among the data available on the app: high-definition weather lay-ers; route-specific weather and Notam briefings; recently FAA-cleared flight routes; tropical storm tracks; textual aviation weather reports and forecasts; and 10-day forecasts.

WSI (Booth No. C9213) is a Weather Channel company head-quartered in Andover, Mass. –J.B.

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AINonline iPhone App NOW AVAILABLE

LHT makes ‘nice HD’ even nicerby Kirby J. Harrison

Lufthansa Technik is present-ing its new “Innovation Corner” at the NBAA show (Booth No. C9919), featuring prominently its next-generation “nice HD” cabin management and in-flight enter-tainment system.

According to the German MRO, completion and refurbishment spe-cialist, the open architecture of nice HD is “highly configurable and flexible, allowing Lufthansa Technik to offer a wide number of cabin equipment packages.”

“Customers can experience innovative ways to control cabin communications and entertain-ment functions with our third-generation user interface,” said

director of the innovation business unit Andrew Muirhead.

The system incorporates an animated graphical user inter-face (GUI) with an integrated scroll wheel and touchscreen.” The scroll wheel allows the pas-senger, using a thumb or fin-ger, to simply roll a small barrel, which corresponds to the ani-mated GUI. Once the selection is chosen, the user can simply push to select the function.

Rounding out the user inter-face, the system also offers nice wireless remote for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The app is available for download from the Apple App Store.

One of the more important additions to the original nice sys-tem is a Hollywood-approved encryption/decryption package that allows streaming of high-definition video to each seat location without breaking digi-tal rights management protection requirements.

Other new upgrades include:• Consolidation of numer-

ous nice system components into fewer, smaller and lighter LRUs with more functionality.

• Increased network bandwidth and capacity with gigabit Eth-ernet to each seat.

• Remote system access for main-tenence and product support. o

Smyrna BeginS flighT TeSTing h80 engineS

Smyrna Air Center has begun flight testing its Power90 Conversion for the King Air 90 with the 800-shp GE H80 engines. The H80s are expected to deliver enhanced per-formance and are capable of full power up to 107 degrees F at sea level. Performance will be measured up to the aircraft’s 30,000 foot ceiling. The company calls the H80 engines “the next step up in performance for the Power90 conversion.” A Power90 King Air is on display at the Con-vention Center static area.

Smyrna Air Center (Booth No. N1731) was founded 26 years ago as a full-service FBO and later added mainte-nance and modification capabilities for the Beechcraft King Air 90 series twin turboprop. Currently the company offers the Power90 conversion with the GE/Walter M601 engines (705 shp each) and 14 have been done since 1999. The

H80 engine upgrade will be added to Smyrna’s supple-mental type certificate (STC) for that conversion.

GE acquired assets of Czech Walter Engines in 2008. A 2010 analysis of the Power90 conversion with the M601en-gine by Conklin & de Decker found that the $532,000 conversion provided enhanced safety and performance, reduced operating costs and firmed up resale value over the stock Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 engines. The conversion increases maximum cruising speed by nine knots to 256 ktas, increases range by 60 nm to 1,185 nm and boosts the one-engine inoperative ceiling to 18,000 feet from 16,500 feet. Overall, Conklin & de Decker found that the Walter engines burned 14 percent less fuel than the stock Model 90 engines over the course of a typical year and were substantially less expensive to maintain.� n

FlightSafety adding simulators by Jeff Burger

FlightSafety International (FSI) has announced a vari-ety of new offerings aimed at enhancing its ability to train customers in current and forth-coming aircraft. For example, it is designing and manufacturing 14 Level D-qualified simulators that will be installed in its learn-ing centers in 2012 and 2013. Next year, moreover, it will add training locations for Gulf-stream’s G450 and G550 in Dal-las and Hong Kong. It will also increase its number of G650 simulators from one to three by 2013. In 2012, FSI will open a Hong Kong learning center as well as a maintenance training center for Cessna in Wichita. And the company will increase the number of locations where Pratt & Whitney Canada engine training is available.

FSI is expanding its training programs into new areas, includ-ing night-vision-goggle training and helicopter crew resource management, and is introduc-ing a training course material

presentation and electronic dis-tribution system that it says will significantly enhance the train-ing experience of its customers. The system should make life easier for students, by delivering pre-study and course material such as manuals and PDFs via the myFlightSafety customer portal instead of on compact disks or USB drives. Students will be able to access this mate-rial after registering for courses and also during training at FSI learning centers. FSI eventu-ally plans to add 3-D graphics, video and other enhancements to these electronic materials.

Given the growing popu-larity of tablet computers like Apple’s iPad among business aircraft pilots, it’s no surprise that FlightSafety has devel-oped its own iPad app. The app allows students–after reg-istering for a course–to down-load training materials to their iPads. Initially, the materials are for the Gulfstream GIV, GV, G450, G550, G280 and

G650. Other aircraft will be added, as well as apps for other mobile devices, “if customer demand warrants,” according to FSI. FSI plans to make the iPad app able to tap into a revi-sions service for course materi-als. The app also can transfer customer notes and bookmarks to subsequent document ver-sions and seamlessly between

Gulfstream’s new Plane-Book app and FlightSafety publications.

FSI also announced that it has received FAA approval for a corporate cabin atten-dant training program, which it offers at customer locations and also at its facilities in Long Beach, Calif.; Teterboro, N.J.; Savannah, Ga.; and Paris. The approval allows FSI to deliver Part 135 records of training and the training meets Part 135.331, ICAO and IS-BAO requirements. The Long Beach

center now offers full-size fire and evacuation trainers, including Gulfstream, Falcon, Hawker, Challenger and Global over-wing exits and a fully oper-ational Gulfstream door.

FSI has announced train-ing programs in several aircraft models at various locations. Its Dallas/Fort Worth learning cen-ter will offer the first of the com-pany’s aforementioned Level D-qualified simulators and Part 142-approved training for the Falcon 900LX, Gulfstream G280 and Pilatus PC12. o

Jet Av taps TrueNorth for cabin communicationby Kirby J. Harrison

TrueNorth is rapidly becom-ing one of the better-known cabin communications special-ists. Here at the NBAA show, the Canadian firm ran up another flag with the announcement that it has been selected by global cabin completions giant Jet Avia-tion to provide its full cabin tele-communications package for

high-end interior outfitting.TrueNorth’s Simphone

OpenCabin system provides Wi Fi, high-speed data integra-tion, fax, high-definition voice and corded and cordless hand-sets with credit card readers. It also offers worldwide Irid-ium, Inmarsat and high-speed Ku-band satcom, all available

on aircraft types ranging from the Airbus ACJ line and Boe-ing’s BBJ to large-cabin types from Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer and Gulfstream.

A software-centric system, the Simphone (pronounced “symphony”) OpenCabin sys-tem is designed for high reli-ability, ease of operator control and versatile communica-tions capabilities. By compar-ison with other systems that are not software-centric, Sim-phone is lighter, less expensive to install and operate and rela-tively easy to upgrade with soft-ware changes.

“With its experience in serv-ing some of the world’s most demanding aircraft operators, we’re delighted that Jet Aviation has chosen TrueNorth as its air-borne telecom partner,” said TrueNorth president and CEO Mark van Berkel.

Also at NBAA, TrueNorth has unveiled the TrueNorth Sty-lus, which the company said is “business aviation’s first multi-lingual handset.” Stylus incor-porates TrueNorth’s intuitive, one-button interface; high-definition voice quality for near-broadband quality voice communications; wired and wireless configuration options; and personalization options that include custom materials to match the cabin décor.

Stylus can be programmed to operate in any language, including those with dedicated character sets such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian.

“Even though we realize

that English is the international language of aviation, we also understand that business air-craft operators–the actual users of airborne telecommunications systems–may be more comfort-able and more productive using a telecom system with an oper-ating system that works on their own terms,” said van Berkel.

Van Berkel also announced that TrueNorth is now an EASA Part 145 approved orga-nization, complementing its Transport Canada and FAA status as an approved manufac-turer for aeronautical products and an approved maintenance organization.

“As a world company serving the elite operators of large-cabin intercontinental aircraft, we see this as a important step in bring-ing the quality, reliability and performance of our Simphone OpenCabin system and other products to an even broader audience, said van Berkel. o

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 47

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a lot to see for allBoth young and old can be captivated

by the action at an NBAA static display.Just wait until they see what’s in store

for them inside the exhibit halls.

TrueNorth unveiled its Stylus, which can be programmed to operate in any language, including

those with dedicated character sets such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian.

With the TrueNorth full-cabin telecommunications package, passengers can access Wi Fi, high-speed data, fax, high-def voice and corded and cordless handsets.

CAE expanding; plans four new locationsby Kirby J. Harrison

Aircraft training provider and simulator manufacturer CAE is bringing a growing global footprint to this year’s NBAA convention, revealing plans to expand its training network with new locations, joint ventures and a growing fleet of flight simulators and training devices.

Jeff Roberts, president of civil products training and ser-vice for the Canadian com-pany (Booth No. N4633), told AIN recently that uncertainty all over the world had kept CAE in a cautious mode.

Now, CAE is in the pro-cess of doubling the number of locations in its business-aviation training network from four to eight over the next 18 months. The move will add training access “in every major region of the world, including the first business jet training centers for high-growth markets in Latin America and Asia.”

The new CAE business avi-ation training locations are:• Amsterdam, where training

began earlier this year with Level D full-flight simulator programs for the Challenger 300 and Challenger 604.

• Mexico City/Toluca, which will be the first business-jet training center in Mexico, opening in 2012 with simula-tion training for the Learjet 45 and Bell 412 civil helicopter.

• São Paulo, Brazil, where a joint venture of Embraer and CAE will be expanded to include training programs for Embraer Phenom 100 and 300 pilots and maintenance technicians. Training will begin in 2012, and this facil-ity will be the first source of simulation-based business-jet training in South America.

• Asia (city to be determined), which will be the industry’s first full-service business aviation training center in the region. It is expected to open in 2013. Aircraft mod-els for which training will be offered will be determined by market demand.

CAE already operates train-ing programs in Dubai; Biggin Hill, UK (near London); Mor-ristown, N.J.; and Dallas/Fort Worth. Earlier this year, a Fal-con 900EX EASy and Falcon 2000EX EASy full-flight sim-ulator opened for training in

Dubai, in addition to a Falcon 7X simulator already in operation. A Citation Sovereign simulator was added to the CAE Northeast training center in Morristown and was ready for training this summer. CAE has also been cho-sen as the exclusive training pro-vider for the Nextant Aerospace 400XT, a Beechjet 400/Hawker 400XP makeover.

All this activity will increase the total number of CAE

business aviation simulators to 65 or more by the end of next year (not including those planned for Asia). That represents an increase of nearly 40 percent since 2009.

The activity also reflects a company emerging from the recession intact and growing. The company reported its first quar-ter financial results for fiscal year 2012 in August and the numbers showed revenue up 17 percent and net income up 16 percent, compared with the first quarter 2011. Equally encouraging was a $3.5-billion order backlog.

“Like everybody else,” said Roberts, “we took a hard look at the future and emphasized increased efficiency and wise investment. We reacted and responded pretty quickly, and at the same time we didn’t jeop-ardize our core business. We also invested in technology and formulated an execution that allowed us to navigate through a difficult time.”

One of the keys to CAE’s

success, he said, is diversifica-tion in terms of market seg-ments (civil, military, etc.) as well as products, services and geography. Emerging markets have been strong and evenly spread, he added, pointing out that approximately one-third of revenues are from North Amer-ica, one-third from Europe and the remaining one-third from the rest of the world. “We have intentionally set out to be a global company,” said Roberts.

While CAE will be emphasiz-ing global investment in business aviation here at the NBAA con-vention, Roberts added that the company is introducing its Real Case program. Real Case takes incidents and accidents from the

real world and infuses them into a training paradigm that allows students to work through the same event and learn from how they react under the same cir-cumstances. He said, “We’ve identified 12 to 15 case exam-inations from incidents that happened in the real world and documented and analyzed them carefully.” He added that each case will be tailored to the needs of the individual operator.

Also new is what Roberts described as “the very first e-learning-based recurrent training program–CAE Virtual Ground School.” The program allows students to complete all the ground school prepara-tory work online and to spend as much time preparing as the student feels necessary. The program can reduce the time in actual ground school by as much as half, said Roberts.

CAE is looking forward, he said, “to continuing to invest and to grow.” o

48 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

news clips

z Sierra Industries Retrofits Legacy AircraftSierra Industries and sister company Skyway Aerospace

Technologies (Booth No. C9847) are providing retrofits and retrofit engineering support for popular legacy aircraft. Sierra announced that is has received FAA supplemental type certificate approval for a Garmin G1000 retrofit for the Cessna Citation 501SP, which it brands as the G501SP. The first customer aircraft with the retrofit is on display here at the NBAA static display at Henderson Executive Airport. The aircraft also features Sierra’s Stallion modification, which features Williams International FJ44 engines.

The G501SP flight deck is available, installed, for $284,000 and includes two Garmin GDU 10.4-inch primary flight displays and a single centrally mounted multifunction display. Optional add-ons include twin Cobham LCD engine displays, Jeppesen charts, XM Radio, TAWS-A or B, pedestal-mounted alphanumeric keypad and Garmin SVT synthetic vision.

z AmeriCares Benefit Raises $1.4 MillionThe 24th annual AmeriCares Airlift Benefit–which took

place October 1 at the Panorama Flight Service hangar at Westchester County Airport in New York–raised $1.4 million for the organization’s worldwide relief efforts. More than 700 guests attended the event, which was hosted by Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe show. The evening ended with 75 of the guests boarding an airlift flight to the Dominican Republic to observe AmeriCares programs first-hand. Panorama Flight Service is exhibiting here at Booth No. C10235.

z Meridian Earns Argus Platinum RatingMeridian Air Charter, based in Teterboro, N.J., has received

a Platinum rating from Argus International. The rating–assigned to operators that meet Argus’s highest safety standards–was formally presented here at the NBAA show to Meridian Air Charter president Dennis O’Connell and director of sales and client services Andrew Ladouceur. Meridian added a second Hawker 800XP last week, bringing its charter fleet to a total of 18 aircraft. The company is a division of Meridian (Booth No. N5512), which also offers aircraft management and maintenance and operates an FBO at Teterboro Airport.

z JetFlite Sets Up New Russian EntityCharter and management firm JetFlite International (JFI) has

signed a partnership agreement with Moscow’s Best-Jets to help JFI penetrate the Russian market. Named JFI Russia, the new entity comes partly as a result of Best-Jets acting as JFI’s handling agent in the country for the past five years. JetFlite CEO Bill Cripe said, “With JFI located in California and New York, trying to get a foothold in Russia is nearly impossible without having staff there.” JetFlite (Booth No. N3136) expanded its presence in Moscow last month with the addition of a Bombardier Challenger 601 based at Vnukovo Airport. This joins a Gulfstream G200 already in place there. According to Cripe, there is a great deal of opportunity for the charter/management sector in Russia. He said that one of the company’s managed fleet flew 80 charter hours in a month. JFI also announced that it has become launch customer for Honeywell’s Mechanical Protection Plan, an extended warranty program for the OEM’s avionics and cabin control systems.

z Tool Testing Lab Has the Tools To Test TiresPrecise determination of tire pressure is far more critical for

aircraft than for the family auto, which is why Tool Testing Lab is at NBAA’11 with a line of super-accurate, high-resolution tire pressure gauges. The Vandalia, Ohio company is at Booth No. C11046 with a half-dozen digital and analog tire inflator and pressure measurement devices ranging in price from $96.75 to $292.50 and a strut inflation tool with gauge and hose rated at 3,000 psi. The latest Tool Testing Lab model, a digital 0-to-300-psi gauge, features a 0.5-percent tolerance and 0.1-psi resolution and includes a tire-tread depth gauge.

Four CAE 5000 series full-flight simulators line up at the Morristown, N.J. training center; (l-r) Gulfstream G200, Bombardier Challenger 300, Cessna CitationJet and Cessna Sovereign.

In São Paulo, Brazil, CAE plans training programs for the Embraer Phenom 100 and 300, with training scheduled to begin in 2012.

Arinc broadens bizav global appsby Ian Sheppard

Having started life mainly focused on the airline sector, Arinc (Booth No. N4421) has further expanded its horizons into business aviation, espe-cially so since the U.S.-based group opened its interna-tional division in the UK back in 2000. Since the EBACE show in May, Arinc Direct has added more than 50 busi-ness aircraft to the interna-tional fleet it supports. Here at the NBAA convention, the company is launching an iPad application, which will pro-vide access to its Arinc Direct flight-planning tools.

Arinc plans to make its elec-tronic flight bag technology, developed for major carriers such as Cathay Pacific, avail-able in the bizav sector. And

now some of the technology transfer is going back in the other direction, with the com-pany planning to make avail-able for commercial airliners the Wi-Fi services it currently provides for business jets.

The Arinc Direct business unit that serves corporate avia-tion also has enhanced its flight-planning services in other ways. For example, it helps operators to comply with the requirements for safety management systems by incorporating an “SMS Risk Factor Form” that allows users to assign numerical values to risks, resulting in a total risk score for any given flight.

This past summer, Arinc Direct also entered into a part-nership with FlightRisk.com (Booth No. C12434), which

provides automated risk assess-ment and preflight risk aware-ness tools. It also incorporates postflight feedback from pilots to help with planning.

The latest release of Arinc Direct’s flight-planning soft-ware also has enhanced graphi-cal capabilities, with pilots now able to graphically manipulate routes on charts. “With our lat-est release, we have implemented the ability to dynamically modify a flight-plan route using our Sky-Vector mapping application,” explained the company’s director of flight operations, Gary Gam-barani. “The resulting route on the map is then used to compute and file a flight plan.”

Arinc Direct senior busi-ness manager James Hardie described this process as “rubber

banding.” The graphical inter-face also includes overlay fea-tures such as Sigmets, weather radar and turbulence.

According to Randy Pizzi, vice president of Arinc’s inter-national division, the com-pany is stepping up investment in VHF Acars for wider cov-erage, as it is a core datalink

communications service. It is part of what he described as the “e-enabled aircraft” with EFBs, Wi-Fi onboard via satcom links and web-based flight planning.

Andy Hubbard, manag-ing director of Arinc’s interna-tional division, said an initiative in Europe through which the company is working with Euro-control will lead to a new data-link testbed and a “world first that will set the standard for digital messaging.”

Satellite CommunicationsMeanwhile, satellite com-

munication is moving forward as well, with Inmarsat having appointed Arinc as a distribu-tor for its SwiftBroadband ser-vice last year. Services in the higher bandwidth Ka band, which will offer, for exam-ple, live video conferenc-ing on board because of the wider bandwidth possible, are expected in around 2014.

Arinc is seeking to roll out SwiftBroadband connections for airlines, partly thanks to Inmarsat’s new pricing struc-ture, which makes it possible for the company to provide users with flat-rate services that can be offered over in-flight Wi-Fi.

It can obtain supplemen-tal type certificates for aircraft and install the Wi-Fi router equipment to link with the satcom equipment.

Senior business manager Har-die said a bizjet Wi-Fi hotspot has been built and tested and the company is “looking forward to engaging with the customer to launch.” Arinc is “building the infrastructure and connectivity,” he added. o

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Frakes stacks up 50 years in bizav

Frakes Aviation, now in its fifth decade, manufactures exhaust stacks for modification companies and original equip-ment manufacturers (OEMs), but there is a lot more to the company’s history than just exhaust stacks.

Founded by Fred Frakes in 1967 and located in Cleburne, Texas, near Fort Worth, the company’s original main activ-ity through the mid-1980s was converting piston-engine air-planes to turbine power. Its most significant projects were re-engining of the Grumman Ag-Cat and Mallard, in both cases replacing the original radial

engines with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprops.

Eventually Frakes Aviation (Booth No. C10843) saw the need to diversify and ventured into aftermarket exhaust systems for PT6-powered aircraft. As the airframe modification business dwindled, the exhaust business took hold and Frakes now holds supplemental type certificates (STCs) for exhaust systems on several different airframes. It also is the OEM exhaust provider on some new aircraft, including the Quest Kodiak.

The most recent STC in which Frakes Aviation participated is Blackhawk Modification’s

re-engining of the Cessna Cara-van with PT6A-42 turboprops. Those taking Blackhawk’s sched-uled demo flights on the PT6-42-modified Caravan from North Las Vegas Airport during the NBAA convention can get a close-up look at the Frakes stacks.

The company still holds a number of airframe modifica-tion STCs (and even a couple of type certificates for now-classic aircraft), but, said pres-ident Joe Frakes, “We’re not really trying to push those proj-ects nowadays. It’s just not our core business. Maybe if some-one internationally had an older King Air, for instance, we might take a look. But now we refer engine-change business to the companies that specialize in engines, and there are a lot of them out there today.”

Frakes Aviation manufactures

replacement exhaust stacks for all Beechcraft King Air and Piper Cheyenne turboprop mod-els. These polished stainless steel stacks have proven to virtually eliminate exhaust staining on nacelles and wings and come with a seven-year unlimited-hour warranty. The company holds FAA-PMA and EASA approvals for the stacks, which fly on more than 1,000 air-craft worldwide. Installation is available by approved installers around the globe.

Should a problem arise, Frakes will provide a loaner or exchange stack even after warranty expires, normally within 24 hours, and will repair stacks under warranty or replace any covered non-repairable stack at no charge. All repairs must be made or authorized by the company. –H.W.

50 NBAA Convention News • October 10, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

The enhanced graphical capabilities of Arinc Direct’s latest flight-planning software allow the pilot to graphically manipulate routes on charts. The system uses the route on the map to compute and file the user’s flight plan. The system also overlays data such as Sigmets, weather radar and turbulence.

Arinc Direct has been boosting its presence in Europe, and has added 50 aircraft to the international fleet for which it provides support.

YOUR SILENCEMAY BE GOLDEN!

If you missed last night’sNBAA/CAN Charity Benefit,

it’s not too late to bid in the silent auction!

Stop by NBAA’s Booth #N2504, bid on fabulous items,and support cancer patients through Corporate Angel Network.

Silent 1_9_21R1 Full_Pg_CAN NBAA 9/22/11 3:44 PM Page 1

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60-Year Award Recipients

The 3M flight department started 60 years ago flying Douglas DC-3s and Cessna 310s. Based at St. Paul Downtown Airport/Holman Field, it now operates Gulfstream Vs and G550s. Director of avi-ation John Kummer flies both models and told AIN that the G550 is his favorite cor-porate aircraft to fly. He has been with 3M for 16 years, as line pilot for eight years, a training pilot for two years and chief pilot for three years before becoming director of aviation three years ago. He became inter-ested in aviation because his father flew in the U.S. Air Force. Kummer also was an Air Force pilot, flying C-130s, and served with the Minnesota Air National Guard.

He attributes the company’s outstand-ing 60-year safety record to “a safety cul-ture that starts at the top, outstanding employees, and relentless training.”

Idaho Power, the state’s largest util-ity, is receiving the NBAA 60-Year Safe Flying Achievement Award this year, in addition to being in the top five companies receiving Corporate Busi-ness Flying Safety Awards. Idaho Power has actually achieved 64 years of safe operations and has just provided NBAA documentation of its history.

50-Year Award Recipients

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) oper-ates in 70 countries, with annual revenue of $80 billion. The fight department, based at Decatur Airport, where the company is headquartered, started in the 1950s with a Shrike Commander and in the 1960s acquired its first jet, a Sabreliner. ADM

now operates three Dassault Falcons–two 2000LXs and a 7X–a Cessna Citation Mustang and a Citation Excel, and it flies a King Air 350 in São Paulo, Brazil. The flight department has 14 pilots and a total staff of 24.

Roger Gates, who has been with the company for 26 years and as general manager for three, told AIN that the ADM safety record is due to the tremen-dous amount of diligence on the part of

the pilots and the mechanics and what he called the ethics of safety. He said that company leaders always provided the resources needed to operate safely and never asked the pilots to do anything dangerous. He said the culture of safety increased in the last few years under the current CEO, who puts safety on a “high level.” The company as a whole strives for zero accidents.

Gates said his favorite airplane to fly is the Falcon 7X–“it’s a nice airplane.” He said his father was interested in airplanes, but was not a pilot. For Gates’s fifth birth-day, his father arranged a flight for him with a farmer who took other farmers up to see their crops. After that, he said, he always wanted to fly and was able to take lessons while attending the University of Illinois. He didn’t fly in the military but he mentioned that his son will start Army helicopter training in November.

Although the company declined to comment for this article, a trip through AIN’s archives reveals that the Coca-Cola flight department had its origins in a sin-gle DC-3 purchased in 1952 and based at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta. That airplane was replaced five years later with a Howard Super Ven-tura, which was replaced in 1961 with a Convair 440 and shortly joined by a DC-3, creating a multi-plane fleet of two! The DC-3 was replaced by a GI, supple-mented with a second. Through the ’60s the GIs were replaced by a succession of GIIs. Significantly, now, one of the GIIs was the second U.S. corporate aircraft

to fly into Peking, China, which it did in March 1979. In 1966, the department acquired its first jet–a Lockheed JetStar. By the close of the next decade it had ordered two Challengers and was field-ing three GIIIs in a hangar at Hartsfield.

Dot Foods, a large food redistribu-tor, delivers food products from manu-facturers to distributors in all 50 states. Capt. Paul Reynolds Walker told AIN that Dot was a pioneer in the industry, its flight department starting out 50 years ago with a Cessna 140. Over the years, it flew a Cessna 180, a Piper Comanche and a Cherokee Six. Today, there are five air-craft in the fleet, based at Mount Sterling Municipal Airport: a Cessna Citation Bravo, a Citation Mustang, a TBM 700, a Cessna 414 and a single-engine Cessna 206. The company also leases a Citation II. There are two company owners who fly, plus three full-time pilots and seven part-time. A total of 12 people work in the flight department.

Walker said Dot has always put safety at the top of the list, with the company providing training at FlightSafety Inter-national and SimCom. Pilots are not pushed to fly if they are uncomfortable with the weather or have other concerns, he explained.

Walker has been with the company since the early 1990s, having worked for it first in a part-time capacity, transition-ing to full time seven years ago. As for his early flying experience, he said at age 18 he took a $5 airplane ride and afterward wanted to fly, but thought it was beyond reach. He eventually earned all his certif-icates and ratings, training with a retired corporate pilot. Walker’s favorite air-plane to fly is the Bravo, he said.

Dow Chemical is a multinational corporation, providing plastics, chem-icals and agricultural products with a presence in more than 175 countries. The flight department is based at MBS International Airport, Freeland, Mich., and it now operates two Bombardier CRJ700s and a mix of Gulfstreams and Dassault Falcons.

“The Dow Chemical Company’s flight department began in 1946,” said Angela

DiBiase, lead dispatcher and office man-ager. We have grown over the years keep-ing Dow’s values–integrity, respect for people and protecting our environment–in the forefront. We have been in the shut-tle business since the early 1970s. Last year, we moved more than 40,000 people on our corporate shuttle.”

DiBiase has worked for Dow for 12 years, 10 in her current position. She said, “I’ve grown up in a family of aviation enthusiasts. My father is an avionics tech-nician and my uncle a pilot. Growing up, the big trip on summer vacation was to Oshkosh for the EAA fly-in. I feel fortunate to work in such a dynamic and fascinating industry. I absolutely love what I do.”

Ashten Tullier, shuttle dispatcher for Gulf Coast operations, has been with the company six years, three in her current position. “As a child I was always fasci-nated with airplanes,” she said. “Every time my parents would say we were going

on vacation, my first question was, ‘Are we flying there?’ When this job opportu-nity presented itself, I went at it full force. It’s a privilege to be in the role I am in and be able to do something that I love on a daily basis.”

DiBiase told AIN that “safety is our number-one concern.” She added that Dow’s long safety record could be attrib-uted to “disciplined adherence to stan-dard operating practices. We’ve recently adopted IS-BAO certification with a robust safety management system.” And no doubt, part of the success is due to enthusiastic employees such as DiBiase and Tullier. o

3MSt. Paul, Minn. John Kummer, director of aviation

Idaho Power Boise, IdahoRick Johnson, chief pilot

Archer Daniels Midland Decatur, Ill.Roger Gates, general manager of aviation

Coca-ColaAtlanta, Ga.

Dot FoodsMount Sterling, Ill.Paul Reynolds Walker, captain

Dow Chemical Midland, Mich.Angela DiBiase, lead dispatcher, office managerAshten Tullier, shuttle dispatcher, Gulf Coast operations

SAFE FLYING AWARDS > Milestones

Six lauded for half-century-plus of safe ops by Mary F. Silitch

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. In 2010, three companies were honored for having 75 years of safe operation: Lane Aviation, Columbus, Ohio; South Carolina Aeronautics Commission, Columbia, S.C.; and Exxon Mobil, Dallas, Texas.

AIN talked with this year’s honorees to find out about their operations and the secrets of their successes.

2010 Safety Milestones

In 1998, NBAA started honoring member companies that have flown 50 years or more without an accident, and in 2006 the associa-tion added companies that have flown safely for 60 years. Here is the list of companies that achieved these significant milestones in 2010.

60 Years

3M Co.

Idaho Power Co.

50 Years

Archer Daniels Midland

The Coca-Cola Co.

Dot Foods

The Dow Chemical Co.

Dow Chemical operates Bombardier CRJ700s and a mix of Gulfsteams and Dassault Falcons.

The Archer Daniels Midland flight department comprises 14 pilots and 24 support staff.

In 60 years, the 3M flight department has morphed from operating DC-3s to Gulfstream GVs and G550s.

www.ainonline.com • October 12, 2011 • NBAA Convention News 53

market for at least 1,000 jets over the next decade. Francis Chao of the China Civil Aviation Report and Zhao Quijiang, pres-ident of Beijing Capital Group, pointed to the rapid growth of the installed fleet over the last three years. They cited figures of 28 jets in 2008, 46 in 2009 and more than 90 today.

Other experts put the number at something between 130 and 150. Jean-Noel Robert, presi-dent of the Asian Business Avia-tion Association (AsBAA), said that in April there were 130 pri-vate jets on China’s B-register, and he expects that figure to rise to 170 by year-end. There are several new deliveries slated for the next 12 months, with all the major OEMs reporting sales.

The difficulty is in finding people to manage and support the jets. Management firms in Hong Kong are reportedly turn-ing down aircraft as they do not believe they can support them effectively. Zhang Bo, v-p of Minsheng Financial Leas-ing, (which has announced $2.6 billion of orders at the show), said that aircraft support was as important as the product itself when his company was inking finance agreements with buyers. However, firms are reporting

that it is difficult to recruit West-ern pilots and technicians to live and work in the country.

Both Liao and Chao were extremely bullish about the mar-ket potential, not only for aircraft, but also for related services–main-tenance, training, pilots and the like. The truth is that they are right. However, as they pointed out, there are enormous chal-lenges to overcome before the market evolves to anything like the levels we see in North Amer-ica. Problems include lack of available lift to develop a charter market, plus a dearth of FBO and MRO facilities and fuel shortages in some areas.

Finance NeededThe 10-year projections from

Bombardier and Embraer fore-cast around 1,000 bizjets in China by the end of the decade. To get there, however, there must be a huge investment in resources, most particularly in manpower. Fortunately, the cen-tral Chinese government has promulgated an outreach pol-icy to attract Western skills. Part of the 12th five-year plan is to make business aviation one of the country’s economic pillars.

To bring some of the issues to light, NBAA ran a panel discussion on the first day of the show, comprised of 16 experts who have lived and/

or worked in China for many years and know the market well. Put together by NBAA board members Jay Mesinger and Jeff Lee, the panelists pointed to the difficulties of operating in the country.

The FAA’s foreign affairs specialist Robyn Cicero pointed out that municipal governments privately own all but three air-ports in China. Beijing and the two high-altitude fields in Inner Mongolia are still under the government umbrella. (Inner Mongolia is one of the fast-est-growing areas in the world in terms of new wealth thanks to the commodities there). Monopolies are banned in China, so extra services, such as towing vehicles, are consid-ered separate companies and are therefore frequently patchy at best.

The speakers on the panel showed deep knowledge of the subject. However, attendees would have benefitted had more Chinese aviation participants been on the podium and had local operators been available to discuss how they are cop-ing. The session concluded with an invitation from Robert to join AsBAA, which is as good a place as any to stimulate the much-needed dialog between East and West to make things happen for everyone. –L.M.

ChinauContinued from page 1

Edelstenne also pointed out that the most important market for most manufacturers now is China, given financial troubles in the U.S. and Europe and political instability in the Middle East. He pointed to the fact that Dassault has invested heavily in Southeast Asia to add parts inventory and extra manpower, and said that the company is evaluating adding a new facility, which would likely be near Beijing, China.

Perhaps more revealing about current doings at Dassault, however, was the revelation by senior vice president of civil air-craft Olivier Villa that the detail design phase for its mysterious new model has begun and more than 1,500 engineers are working on the program using Dassault Systèmes’s new four-dimen-sional Catia design software.

A Falcon spokesman told AIN that the super-midsize SMS will be in a category above today’s Falcon 2000 series. He confirmed it will be a twinjet with fly-by-wire controls and it will use the latest iteration of the EASy flight deck (EASy II is the most current version). Entry into service of the Falcon SMS is still pegged for 2016.

While the French aircraft manufacturer isn’t releasing specifications or performance details, Dassault Falcon Jet president John Rosanvallon told AIN in no uncertain terms that the SMS program is “100 per-cent go,” meaning it is in fact a green-lighted program. “We’re

just not releasing specific details for competitive reasons,” he said. Villa also noted that 2012 will be a record year for R&D funding at the company.

The highlight of the early morning breakfast was speaker Andre Borschberg, CEO of Solar Impulse, the Swiss project that is developing a solar-powered long-range airplane. Earlier this year, working with balloon pilot Ber-trand Piccard, Borschberg flew 26 hours using only solar energy.

He spoke about the project, which took seven years from con-ception to execution and said that the Solar Impulse team is working on a second prototype. The mis-sion of the second aircraft, regis-tration number HB-SIB, will be to cross the Atlantic next year, and in 2013 fly around the world in five legs, without fuel or polluting emissions. He anticipated it could be up to 50 years before the world would see large passenger aircraft powered only by solar energy.

Borschberg pointed out that 95 percent of Solar Impulse’s backers come from non-aviation fields, because the purpose of the project is to demonstrate that if an aircraft is capable of flying day and night without burning fossil fuel, it is perfectly possible to do the same for motor vehi-cles, heating systems, air condi-tioners or computers.

Dassault has backed the project from the outset, and Rosanvallon concluded the breakfast by joking that guests from Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney Canada should be wor-ried as Falcons of the future may well be solar powered. o

DassaultuContinued from page 1

Can’s–not Charlie’s–angels

Corporate flight departments that volunteer valuable time in their jets to fly cancer patients for treatment are supported by generous donations to the Corporate Angel Network (CAN). On Monday, ConocoPhillips pre-sented a check for $21,000 to CAN, proceeds from an advertising program recognizing the generous donations of empty seats by flight departments. The program is co-sponsored by ConocoPhillips, Safe Flight Instrument and Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. Pictured at the ceremony are (left to right): Ron Huge, chief pilot, Parker; Bryan Faria, manager, GA, ConocoPhillips; Greg Hamilton, president Aviation Week; Peter Fleiss, executive director CAN; Doug Schwartz, manager, corporate aviation ConocoPhillips; and Randall Greene CAN chairman and president/CEO Safe Flight Instrument.� n

Cessna’s Citation M2 to offer L-3 avionicsby Jeff Burger

Cessna Aircraft Company has selected the L-3 Avion-ics Systems Trilogy ESI-1000 Electronic Standby Instrument as standard equipment for the newly introduced Citation M2. Cessna is also offering L-3 Avi-ation Recorders’ FA2100 Solid State Cockpit Voice Recorder as an option on the aircraft.

The Trilogy ESI series standby instruments provide altitude, attitude, airspeed, slip/skid and optional heading data on a 3.7-inch backlit dis-play. Key features, according to L-3, include an integrated air-data computer, solid-state design, standard 3-ATI mount-ing cutout and logically grouped flight data. Grand Rapids,

Mich.-based L-3 is demonstrat-ing the Trilogy ESI-1000 at its booth, No. C8132.

Also on display at the booth is a new electronic-flight-bag (EFB) application from L-3 and Milwaukee-based Astronautics. The EFB incorporates chart-ing and moving-map applica-tions and provides increased situational awareness in relation-ship to air traffic, terrain, weather and airport features. Users can build enhanced chart clip lists by preselecting standard termi-nal procedure charts, arrival and departure charts and airport ori-gin relative to the flight plan. The new charting application can use such databases as Jeppesen, Lido/RouteManual and NavTech. o

54 NBAA Convention News • October 12, 2011 • www.ainonline.com

Blackhawk SignS new Dealer

Blackhawk Modifications (Booth No. C6516) signed another new dealer to its worldwide net-work of authorized installation and service centers for turboprop engine performance upgrades. Flying Colours of Peterborough, Ontario, and Chesterfield, Mo., joins Blackhawk’s roster of 77 authorized dealers for its upgraded engine installation programs. Sean Gillespie, director of marketing for Flying Colours, said the agreement with Blackhawk gives the company an opportunity to “return to our roots” serving the large turbo-prop market in Canada and the U.S. Blackhawk is signing other new dealers here at NBAA including ExecuJet Africa and Premium Jet in Brazil.

Blackhawk also announced it had received EASA certification for its XP42A conversion for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Blackhawk received FAA approval for the conversion in June. The conversion replaces the stock P&WC PT6A-114A engine with the more powerful Dash 42A model and achieves substantial performance improvements in fuel consumption, cruise speed, rate-of-climb and useful load. The conversion also includes a new engine cowling, new Frakes exhaust stacks and a new Hartzell 100-inch four-blade propeller. –M.H.

What’s Happening at NBAA 2011Wednesday, 10/12/2011

7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. FAA Inspection Authorization (IA) Renewal N221

8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Exhibitor, Press & Attendee Registration, Las Vegas Convention Center

8 a.m. - 3 p.m. Exhibitor, Press & Attendee Registration, Henderson Executive Airport

9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Exhibit Halls and Silver Lot Static Display Open

9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Static Display Open

9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Careers in Business Aviation Day, Explore the Possibilities

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Domestic Operations Committee Meeting N260

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 12th Annual Friends & Partners of Aviation Weather N256

11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. UAA Reaching Future Business Aviation Professionals: Career Seminar for College Students

N237

The NBAA 64th Annual Meeting & Convention (NBAA2011) offers an expansive schedule of Education Sessions, Maintenance & Operations Sessions (M&Os) and special events.

EXHIBIT HOURS

Wednesday, October 12 9 a.m. - 4 pm

STATIC DISPLAY HOURS

Wednesday, October 12 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

The NBAA 64th Annual Meeting & Convention offers an expansive schedule of

education sessions, maintenance & operations sessions and special events in addition

to a multitude of exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In addition dozens

of aircraft are on display at Henderson Executive Airport, with a smaller number on

display in the convention center’s parking lot. Shuttle buses are operating between the

convention center and the Henderson Airport static display. For up-to-the-minute

show information, a comprehensive exhibitor list, static display maps and Twitter

feed, download the NBAA iPhone app.

CE

L E B R A T I N

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OR T Y Y E A

R

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Room N112 • (702) 943-3705email: mthurber@ainonline.com

today at

Log onto AINtv.com and AINonline.com for exclusive video

and in-depth Web coverage.

AINtv: Charles Alcock (702) 943-3705

NBAA Convention News

Jet Aviation beefing up global customer services footprint by Liz Moscrop

Jet Aviation is bolstering its global presence with key management appointments and facilities expan-sions worldwide. To cater to the bur-geoning Latin American market, the General Dynamics-owned com-pany has appointed Norbert Ehrich as vice president and general man-ager for Central and South America. Ehrich has been with Jet Aviation for almost 20 years and has had signifi-cant international experience, includ-ing running Jet Aviation’s Singapore maintenance base.

In North America, John Lan-gevin is to take the reins as vice pres-ident and general manager of all the company’s U.S. FBOs. Langevin has also served for almost two decades with Jet Aviation, most recently heading up the firm’s Teterboro and Boston facilities.

Teterboro has just opened a new avionics shop and added a limited instrument and radio ratings to its repair station certificate. The addi-tional approvals apply to Jet Aviation’s foreign certificates as well.

Jet Aviation is also expanding its operations in the Middle East, and its Abu Dhabi facility has just earned approval to provide line maintenance from a new branch at Al Bateen Executive Airport. Ste-phen Jones, general manager at Al Bateen, said, “With its global net-work and extensive experience, Jet Aviation is an important associa-tion for us and we look forward to a long-term business relationship.”

Farther East, Jet Aviation Hong Kong has received approval from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Depart-ment to perform line maintenance on Dassault Falcon 2000EX EASy/LX models. The company also received EASA Part 145 approval for the Bombardier Global Express and Challenger 601 families, as well as Gulfstream’s GV and the Falcon 7X, 900EX EASy and F2000EX EASy.

Asia is an important market for the firm and Jet Aviation Van Nuys has teamed with the firm’s EMEA & Asia charter/management team to offer global maintenance support

for N-registered aircraft based in those regions. The company is also offering owners the opportunity to operate their aircraft under Jet Aviation’s U.S. Part 135 certificate, which means their aircraft can be used to generate charter revenue.

In the Western hemisphere, Lon-don is gearing up for the Olympics, and Jet Aviation is preparing for an onslaught of international visitors to its Biggin Hill facility by signing a lease for an additional executive ter-minal. The freshly refurbished facility will be available in time for the 2012 games.

Meanwhile, because the mar-ket for new aircraft is still fairly flat, many owners are choosing to keep their current airplanes, and Jet Aviation has honed in on the refurbishment market. Customers wanting a cabin refurb can head to the firm’s St. Louis facility, the former Midcoast Aviation, and take advantage of the Jet Aviation design studio for interior upgrades. Jet Aviation St. Louis also offers green completions services.

A new Jet Aviation customer inno-vation comes in the form of a mobile app that pushes FBO pre-arrival forms directly to smartphones or tab-let computers. Pilots can also use the “my concierge” function to make hotel or travel arrangements. o

It’s my handshake in Shanghai.

It’s my deal in Dallas.

It’s a hardworking factory back homecounting on me to make it happen.

THIS IS NOT AN AIRCRAFT.

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