Aviation International News
February 2017
PUBLICATIONS Vol. 49 No. 2 $9.00
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Certification of the Pilatus PC-24 is planned for later this year.
Avionics Crowd-sourced weather radar Honeywell is taking advantage of the data collected by its RDR4000 weather radar to provide pilots with real-time conditions on their route. page 14
Special Report Flight training and simulation Gone are the days when flight sims were exclusively for professional pilots. Today’s inexpensive systems provide high-quality realism for pilots of all levels. page 20
Safety Accidents down worldwide Last year the number of accidents declined among both U.S.- and non-U.S.-registered business jets and turboprops. In most cases, fatalities were down too. page 10
PLANESENSE TAPPED AS PC-24 LAUNCH CUSTOMER Pilatus has revealed that PlaneSense is the launch customer for the PC-24 twinjet. The Portsmouth, N.H.-based fractional provider, which currently operates 35 PC-12 turboprop singles, will take delivery of the first customer PC-24 in the fourth quarter, following certification. PlaneSense has six of the light jets on order. “Offering a comprehensive fractional jet program with choices of aircraft type to ‘match the mission’ is a natural evolution for PlaneSense,” said company president and CEO George Antoniadis. “We are pleased to build upon our longstanding relationship with Pilatus by adding jets to our fleet, and we highly anticipate the honor of acquiring the first PC-24 in the world.” To help the transition from all PC-12s to a mixed fleet of turboprop singles and jets, PlaneSense started to add remanufactured Nextant 400XTis to the fleet in July 2015. It has three 400XTis, which it offers to PC-12 share customers on an ad-hoc basis. —C.T.
FAA’s ‘BasicMed’ offers 3rd class medical alternative by Kerry Lynch Marking a key victory for general aviation advocates in the U.S., the FAA issued a final rule on January 10 that allows certain general aviation pilots to fly without a current third-class medical certificate, effective May 1. The rule codifies a mandate that Congress passed in July as part of the FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016, but crowns a long industry campaign both at the FAA and on Capitol Hill.
The rule, which the FAA has dubbed “BasicMed,” applies to pilots who have a valid driver’s license and have held a valid third-class medical certificate within the past 10 years. Accounting for the validity period of a third-class medical, this would apply to pilots 40 or older who have had their examination since July 15, 2004, and to pilots younger than 40 who have had their examination since July 15, 2003.
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Gama and BBA charter fleets merged in U.S. under new name by Curt Epstein After five months of negotiations, Gama Aviation merged its U.S. aircraft management and charter operation with that of BBA Aviation starting at the beginning of the year. Signature Flight Support parent BBA acquired its aircraft management arm in last year’s purchase of Landmark Aviation, which had been aggressively building the charter/management division, reaching 120 aircraft at the time it was acquired. The combined business brings 200 aircraft under its banner, making it one of the largest such service providers in the world, Gama claims. According to the companies, BBA’s Landmark Aviation fleet is predominantly West Coast-based, while Gama’s U.S. fleet resides primarily on the East Coast. “This agreement marks another milestone for BBA Aviation, creating a leading charter and fleet management company, whose scale will benefit both of us and our customers,”
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We take a day of all-attitude training in a Siai-Marchetti S211 and Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk over the desert. page 30