NBAA Convention News 11-02-16 by Aviation International News

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We didn’t get here by sheer luck. This was deliberate. An act of craftsmanship and engineering prowess. Decades in the making. Meeting at the intersection of art and technology. Defying conventions. Redefining luxury. So when all is said and done, we’ll know that we achieved something truly extraordinary. businessaircraft.bombardier.com

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11-2-16 • ORLANDO

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DAVID McINTOSH

BIZAV, AS USUAL With the U.S. presidential election just days away, business aviation is preparing for the next step toward economic recovery, regardless of which party’s candidate ends up in the White House.

NBAA 2016 opens to tributes, calls for continuing advocacy of NBAA 2016 in Orlando, Fla. The kickoff proved his point, featuring tributes to recently passed aviation legends Bob Hoover and Arnold Palmer, and addresses from champions of general aviation, including U.S. Congressman Sam Graves; David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of “The Wright

Brothers;” and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. Bolen noted that Hoover and Palmer were strong general aviation advocates, and said the best way to honor them is to “take up that mantle of advocacy and make it our own,” and

Continued on next page u

MARIANO ROSALES

Beyond the massive hall filled with the latest in aviation technology and the scores of aircraft on static display, the NBAA Convention is at its core “a celebration of people, people who are passionate about aviation,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen in welcoming attendees at the opening general session

MARIANO ROSALES

by James Wynbrandt

Doing the ribbon-cutting honors at the NBAA opening session were Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo), left, and David McCullough, author of The Wright Brothers.With touching tributes to aviation giants Arnold Palmer and R.A. “Bob” Hoover, business aviation leaders exhorted attendees to continue to advocate for the industry.

Additive Technologies

Product Support

Safety

New Aircaft

Pilot Report

GE Sees Value in 3-D Printing

Rolls-Royce Grows Network

Report Cites Safety Lapse

Global 7000 Going Full Speed

AIN Flies the Falcon 8X

GE Engines has leveraged additive manufacturing technologies—aka 3-D printing—to cut design time and lower parts counts in new engines, including the ATP for Piper’s Denali turboprop. Page 17

New authorized service centers in the U.S., France and China are part of the engine maker’s ongoing investment in its CorporateCare support program. Page 33

Spurred by a tragic takeoff crash in Massachusetts, an NBAA investigation concluded there is significant “procedural non-compliance” pervading business aviation operations. Page 54

Bombardier reports on its “all hands on deck” policy to accelerate development of the Global 7000. Current plans call for certification and first deliveries to begin in mid-2018. Page 77

AIN senior editor Matt Thurber took some time from preparing for NBAA to travel to France and fly Falcon’s new flagship. He presents some of his first impressions here. Page 94

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FOUNDED IN 1972 JAMES HOLAHAN (1921-2015), FOUNDING EDITOR WILSON S. LEACH, MANAGING DIRECTOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF – Charles Alcock EDITOR - DOMESTIC SHOW EDITIONS – Matt Thurber PRESS ROOM MANAGING EDITOR – Chad Trautvetter

by James Wynbrandt Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ; Booth 2234) introduced at NBAA a new cabin concept for its ACJ320neo family— called Melody—and announced an order for one of the next-generation narrowbody bizliners, bringing its firm order book to seven. The new cabin, done in white and light tones, features flowing lines “inspired by curves of nature,” and interior elements devoid of edges, providing a soft, cosseted experience for passengers, according to ACJ. In keeping with the concept’s name, the cabin has been acoustically tuned with the help of French audio engineering company Focal, incorporating rectangular-panel speakers blended into the ceiling to provide optimum sound from the entertainment system. The cabin has three

curved, retractable 65-inch monitor screens, larger than any screen in an ACJ today. Sylvain Mariat, ACJ’s head of creative design and concepts, provided AIN with additional interior details. The cabin zones, which include an extended lounge area, are separated by extra-wide openings, and can be closed off for privacy. Additionally, Melody features “a real kitchen more

Satcom Direct takes TrueNorth under wing by Chad Trautvetter Aeronautical communications provider Satcom Direct is making its third acquisition so far this year—Ottawa, Canadabased TrueNorth Avionics— the company announced at NBAA 2016 on Monday. The move, which follows purchases of Comsat and Aircraft Logs earlier this year, expands the Melbourne, Fla.-based company’s ability to provide advanced communications systems for business aircraft. “The acquisition of TrueNorth will broaden our avionics product portfolio and enable us to accelerate our efforts to bring fully integrated communications to our customers,” said Satcom Direct founder and CEO Jim Jensen.

“Our Satcom Direct Router and our SD Pro flight operations platform, combined with TrueNorth’s avionics, will give aircraft operators an unrivaled ability to manage their aircraft communications systems, while giving passengers a user experience that will exceed their expectations.” After the transaction closes in the fourth quarter, TrueNorth will become a business unit within the Satcom Direct family of companies focused on advanced avionics development. TrueNorth designs and manufactures satcom systems for business jets and avionics OEMs. It also manufactures the Satcom Direct Router (SDR) and Wi-Fi Hub.

than a galley, where a chef can cook,” Mariat said. The expansive bathroom incorporates storage monuments and “magic glass” mirrors that can go from opaque to translucent at the push of a button. Attendees can view renderings and take an “inside tour” of the interior via a wearable, 3-D virtual reality viewing device at the company’s display. ACJneos, based on the TrueNorth’s latest product, the Optelity cabin communications system, delivers onboard voice, fax and Wi-Fi. While that appears similar to Satcom Direct’s SDR and Wi-Fi Hub, Optelity offers a platform that can be expanded to a fullfledged cabin management system, controlling aircraft lighting and other cabin systems, in addition to providing flight tracking, cabin entertainment and onboard connectivity. Optelity’s upgradeability dovetails nicely with the SD Live streaming video service that Satcom Direct also announced this week at the NBAA show, as well as its SD Pro flight operations platform that can graphically show aircraft tracking information, among other features. The convergence of this hardware and services forms the backbone of the company’s next venture: SD Cabin. “We want to make the user experience better,” Jensen

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Airbus Corporate Jets has a new interior concept earmarked for the ACJ320neo. Besides looking futuristic, the side panels and ceiling of the Melody interior are designed to optimize the acoustics of its entertainment system.

John Goglia Mark Huber Amy Laboda David A. Lombardo Kerry Lynch Nigel Moll

R. Randall Padfield Mark Phelps Gregory Polek Peter Shaw-Smith Ian Sheppard James Wynbrandt

GROUP PRODUCTION MANAGER – Tom Hurley PRODUCTION EDITOR – Martha Jercinovich THE PRODUCTION TEAM Mona L. Brown John A. Manfredo PHOTOGRAPHERS David McIntosh; Mariano Rosales

Airbus A319/320neo single-aisle airliners, can be powered with CFM International’s LEAP-1A or Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1100G-JM. Neo models also feature sharklet wingtips. Green neo deliveries begin at the end of 2018 for the A320neo, and Q2 of 2019 for the A319neo. Riyadh-based Alpha Star is the ACJ319neo launch customer; other buyers are undisclosed. ACJ can work with a completion center to create the interior, or it can handle the entire completion itself. The neo order announced here at the NBAA show is the first “turnkey” order for the aircraft, turning all completion responsibility onto ACJ. The design is being finalized, and will incorporate elements of the Melody interior. o

Grzegorz Rzekos

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DAVID McINTOSH

ACJ’s Melody interior concept sets the tone for its ACJ320neo

THE EDITORIAL TEAM Jeff Burger Bill Carey Samantha Cartaino Jennifer English Curt Epstein Gordon Gilbert

Satcom Direct CEO Jim Jensen, left, is joining forces with TrueNorth president and CEO Mark van Berkel.

told AIN, adding that the TrueNorth acquisition will put the company further down this path. “My vision also is to synchronize the airplane with flight operations,” perhaps providing a hint about Satcom Direct’s future acquisitions. “And there will be more acquisitions to come in the next year,” he noted, “both on the hardware and software side.” o

EUROPEAN ADVERTISING OFFICE: Daniel Solnica 78, rue de Richelieu, 75002 Paris, France Tel: +33 1 42 46 95 71 dsolnica@solnica.net Italian Representative: Diana Scogna; dscogna@dsmedia.com.fr Tel: +33-6-62-52-25-47 RUSSIAN ADVERTISING OFFICE: Yuri Laskin, Gen. Dir., Laguk Co. Ltd. Russia, 115172, Moscow, Krasnokholmskaya Nab., 11/15 - 132 Tel: +7 05 912 1346, +7 911 2762; Fax: +7 095 912 1260 ylarm-lml@mtu-net.ru THE CONVENTION NEWS COMPANY, INC. – AIN PUBLICATIONS NBAA Convention News is a publication of The Convention News Co., Inc., 214 Franklin Ave., Midland Park, NJ 07432; Tel.: +1 201 444 5075. Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part w ithout permission of The Convention News Co., Inc. is strictly prohibited. The Convention News Co., Inc. also publishes Aviation International News, AINalerts, AIN Defense Perspective, AIN Air Transport Perspective, Business Jet Traveler, ABACE Convention News, EBACE Convention News, HAI Convention News, LABACE Convention News, MEBA Convention News, Dubai Airshow News, Farnborough Airshow News, Paris Airshow News, and Singapore Airshow News. Printed in Orlando by Central Florida Press Computer Services: ABCOMRENTS.com

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Top team drives growth at Jet Aviation St. Louis by Charles Alcock Rockwell Collins this week is honoring Jet Aviation’s St. Louis facility for being the market leader for installing its new Venue cabin management systems (CMS). The Jet Aviation team in St. Louis has now completed more than 25 Venue installations, earning it the avionics and cabin systems manufacturers crystal award as a “superior performing authorized dealer”—as well as lunch served to all 600 staff by a fleet of food trucks. Refitting aircraft with the latest cabin entertainment and communications technology is a growing part of the business plan at Jet Aviation St. Louis, but it’s not all the company does to earn a living these days. With demand for green aircraft completions still somewhat subdued,

the operation has been diversifying into an ever-widening array of refurbishment, maintenance, repair and overhaul work. A classic example of this resourcefulness involved a 120-month inspection for a Bombardier Global 5000. The customer decided to take advantage of the relatively long downtime for this highly invasive process and so opted to have an extensive package of refurbishment installed, including a new CMS. In fact, the job was so extensive that it came to be described as “a recompletion.” The aircraft’s new interior has an Art Deco feel, according to modifications sales and design representative Donna Cruthis. The carpet is made of a custom silk and wool blend and other aspects of

FAA ISSUES STCs FOR NEW TRUE BLUE BATTERIES The FAA has issued supplemental type certificates for True Blue Power’s TB44 lithium-ion batteries on Cessna 208 and 208B Caravans and Bombardier Dash 8-100, -200 and -300 turboprops. According to True Blue (Booth 2050), the TB44 offers operational and performance improvements over nickel-cadmium or lead-acid batteries, including triple the energy per kilogram; double the lifespan; more rapid recharge; cooler and cleaner engine restarts; superior high temperature and cold weather performance; reduced weight maintenance cost and direct operating cost; and zero carbon emissions. “Whether carrying cargo for Federal Express, medical supplies in Africa, fishermen in Alaska or fare-paying passengers in Canada, Caravan and Dash 8 operators around the world require consistent and reliable power,” said True Blue Power director Rick Slater. “The TB44 delivers that and more.” There is controversy surrounding the use of lithium-ion batteries, following the FAA’s grounding of all Boeing 787s in January 2013 due to two cases of fire caused by so-called thermal runaway. The issue forced Boeing to develop modifications to the charging system and install containment and venting systems. Since then, safety improvements have led to growing acceptance of their use among government regulators, aircraft manufacturers and operators. —G.P.

According to True Blue, its TB44 batteries deliver more power and are more reliable.

the top-to-tail refurbishment include the following elements: replating hardware; new inlays for window linings and table tops; new granite countertops with real crystals; fully reveneered, restained cabinetry; new seats with touchpad controls; a new galley; a full insulation package; and a completely new paint job. The cabin also now has the Venue CMS with iPad interfaces and SwiftBroadband connectivity with Satcom Direct’s SDR Router and Global VT service. According to senior vice president and general manager Chuck Krugh, a key differentiator for Jet Aviation in what remains a highly competitive marketplace is that it has all the key skills to complete complex tasks. “We offload very little work [to sub-contractors],” he told AIN. “We can handle every aspect of the interior work. We have a cabinet shop, we can do upholstery in house, we have our own design studio, plus painting capability and our avionics sales team can talk in depth about requirements. Our philosophy has always been to do everything ourselves to control quality and pricing.” Jet Aviation (Booth 259) recently delivered a Global 6000 that underwent an overhaul and refurbishment and it has now booked in a similar job for an Australian operator of the same model. “We’re getting a steady tick of new work on the refurbishment side and we expect to see more contracts signed after the [U.S.] election. This has been a fairly good year, but we expect better in 2017,” said Krugh. “To some extent, the demand on this side reflects

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The interior upgrade on this Global 5000 was so extensive, Jet Aviation described the project as “a recompletion.” It included new carpeting, countertops and upholstery, as well as a fully updated inflight entertainment system with iPad interfaces.

the state of the pre-owned market. Some owners can’t sell, or they want to keep their aircraft for longer, and so want to improve it. In other cases, there are savvy investors who are keen on buying aircraft of a certain size and price and then putting some money into it.” By contrast, core maintenance, repair and overhaul activity is relatively flat. “Aircraft utilization is steady at best and this combined with over-capacity makes it a hard market, including the fact that some smaller facilities are trying to move up, in terms of the level of aircraft they work on,” Krugh stated. Jet Aviation has sought to set itself apart from low-price rivals by placing a strong emphasis on customer relations and having highly trained personnel. It is one of relatively few facilities that has an open hangar policy, allowing customers to see their work being done and talk directly with those doing it. In late May, the facility earned the Diamond Award for Excellence in the FAA’s Aviation Maintenance Technician program. To win the award for the fourth consecutive year, all eligible technicians completed more than 2,700 hours to cover the FAA’s latest training requirements.

In addition to the Global family, Jet Aviation St. Louis also works on all current Gulfstream models; Embraer’s Legacy and Lineage jets; Boeing Business Jets and Hawkers. It holds authorized service center status with Embraer and Gulfstream. As of early October, the facility had handled around 300 maintenance jobs in 2016. With the support of its Switzerland-based parent, the company has also had some success attracting European customers to cross the Atlantic to have their aircraft worked on in the U.S. It recently signed up a new Russian customer, for instance. The Jet Aviation St. Louis partnership with Rockwell Collins also extends to the supplemental type certificate that it developed for the manufacturer’s Future Airspace Navigation System solution for the Bombardier Challenger family of aircraft. It has conducted more than 35 FANS installations to date. The versatile modification specialist also has been stepping up its work in installing Ka-band satellite communications equipment, including Honeywell’s JetWave solution. “We’re looking at several other possible opportunities and should have more to say about this next year,” Krugh concluded. o

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Announced at the 2011 Paris Airshow, Hypermach’s supersonic business jet has gotten larger and faster. Management considers 2016-2017 to be a critical time.

Hypermach at a ‘pivotal stage’ for its Mach 5 HyperStar bizjet by Chad Trautvetter Hypermach Aerospace (Booth 4266) is about halfway through a two-year program to validate crucial technologies for both its newly renamed HyperStar supersonic business jet (SSBJ) and the airplane’s hybrid turbofan ramjet engines being developed by sister company SonicBlue Aerospace. Richard Lugg, who heads both companies, told AIN that 2016 and 2017 are “pivotal years” for its SSBJ, which was previously known as the SonicStar. Additionally, Hypermach has once again revised the aircraft’s preliminary performance and specifications upward, to a top speed of Mach 5 at 80,000 feet and 7,000-nm range. In late 2012, it boosted the SSBJ’s top speed estimate to Mach 4.5 and range to 6,500 nm from its original Mach 3.6 and 6,000 nm, when it announced the project

at the 2011 Paris Airshow. It also increased the size of the airplane in late 2012 to seat up to 36 passengers from the initial 20; it has not made any further changes to the basic configuration since then. The updated and now-current HyperStar design has a larger swooped delta wing,

redesigned V tail and a pair of more powerful engines, compared with the original design. Both the larger fuselage, which will now carry center tanks, and wing allow for more onboard fuel that in turn helps to stretch the airplane’s range. Hypermach plans to announce

Initially planned to carry 20 passengers at Mach 3.6, the HyperStar is now expected to carry 32 pax at Mach 5 . Range has also increased to 7,000 nm from 6,000 nm.

FLYING COLOURS EXPANDS INAIRVATION CABIN OFFERINGS Cabin refurbishment specialist Flying Colours Corp. has extended the range of airframes available for Inairvation retrofit packages in North America. Here at the NBAA show, the Canada-based company (Booth 1208) will be promoting new options available for the Bombardier Challenger 300s and 605s as well as for the Gulfstream G450 and G550 models. Meanwhile, at its facility in Peterborough, Ontario, Flying Colours began working on an interior fit for a Bombardier Global Express. This is scheduled to be delivered to the customer in March 2017. The aircraft is undergoing a complete overhaul and will be outfitted with B/E Aerospace seat frames upholstered

Through its Inairvation retrofit packages, Flying Colours can give a completely new look to the cabins of business aircraft.

in leather. A variety of mood-lighting choices, which will be operated by high definition cabin management system (CMS), will be installed. The aircraft will receive a connectivity upgrade with a Gogo ATG 5000 high-speed data system. The Inairvation package will incorporate these upgrades along with the HD CMS and inflight entertainment system (IFE) from Lufthansa Technik. Flying Colours will also add new exterior paintwork featuring a honeycomb design. “Our team is working really well with Inairvation’s as our mutual experience on the Global airframe plays to our advantage,” said Flying Colours executive vice president Sean Gillespie. “Future completions on the Global will be even quicker as the complete concept will have already been tried and tested. For aircraft owners downtime is money so this combined option of using our own designs, and the pre-engineered items creates significant financial and time savings for them.” Flying Colours is in discussion with several Global Express and Challenger 605 clients interested in the Inairvation installation for their aircraft. The next Global project is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2017. The company also specializes in green completions, interior refurbishment and modifications, heavy maintenance, exterior pain, special mission modifications and avionics installations. —S.C.

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its airframe partner in the second quarter of next year. “The company has worked with the airframe manufacturer for all of 2016 in determining and laying out a successful development plan and examining in close detail the risks and benefit of detail design, schedule and airframe team, as well as the plan for the first flying prototype,” said Lugg. The SSBJ hopeful is now preparing to begin wind-tunnel testing of the HyperStar next year, with plans to begin hypersonic testing in May at a windtunnel facility in Europe. It is also slated to begin low-speed wind-tunnel tests in the U.S. in June and high-speed trials in Europe in April. The low- and high-speed analyses are slated to conclude later next year, while the hypersonic assessments are expected to take 30 months. The high-speed wind-tunnel tests will also allow the company to further experiment with the electromagnetic drag reduction technology (EDRT) that it intends to use to mitigate, and possibly even eliminate, the sonic boom. With this core technology, a generated plasma ion field is pulsed around strategic fuselage, wing and tail surfaces to create active laminar flow control at the boundary layer interface. This changes the double pressure N-shaped shockwave shape that emanates to the ground, dramatically reducing the over-pressure and mitigating the sonic boom. In addition, this plasma field will help reduce the heat on the HyperStar’s ceramic composite skin. Lugg said that Hypermach engineers have demonstrated the EDRT flow control in a laboratory and found it be 90-percent effective at Mach 3.0 and above. The EDRT system, electrically powered by the additional overboard electricity from the H-Magjet engines, is a pulsed phased system, making it safe for aircraft occupants and certifiable under government regulation, according to the company. To minimize cost and risk, Hypermach is taking an unusual step—planning to fly an unmanned scale model of the HyperStar in late 2018. This flight vehicle will be flown in supersonic corridors so it can be tested at speeds up to Mach 5, the company said. Not surprisingly, the U.S. military has expressed interest in this unmanned scale vehicle, though Lugg insisted that this program is sufficiently walled off to prevent the military from prohibiting development of the civil HyperStar. Meanwhile, Portland, Mainebased SonicBlue is busy

developing and testing the critical technology built into the SSBJ’s 76,000-pound-thrust H-Magjet 5500-X hybrid turbofan ramjet engines. Lugg said the company holds “major patents” for its “revolutionary propulsion technology,” which includes a superconducting turbo power core ring to generate the aircraft’s high electrical power requirements. “The first engine stage produces more than 10 megawatts of power, driving the electromagnetic compressor and bypass fans,” he noted. “There are five turbine stages in H-Magjet, all producing multi-megawatts of power.” As with other companies working to certify a supersonic civil aircraft, engine emissions and Stage 4 noise requirements remain a concern. Lugg said that initial testing indicated that the H-Magjet engine is exceeding both limits, but the SonicBlue team is working to minimize emissions and noise as it finalizes the engine design. It is developing an ion plasma injection combustor to provide the “highest efficiency and performance in combustion for significant thrust gains,” Lugg told AIN. “By electrically atomizing and controlling the ionization to the point of fuel combustion and a controlled flame front powered by an electric arc field with electricity directly from the engine, thrust improvement along with significant emissions reduction is gained.” He added, “We have completed final detail design of the first stage turbine core for testing. Manufacturing of this first stage has begun and is expected to be finished next month, with testing on the rig as early as February. All five stages will be completed through 2018, with a complete turbine core test in the fourth quarter of 2018.” A full engine run is scheduled for 2019, and Lugg said that his company has spent the last year working with new industry partners and hiring team members for the superconducting turbine core. First flight of the HyperStar is now expected in 2025, with certification and entry into service slated to follow in 2028, he said. Both estimates are three years later than what was announced previously. HyperMach has begun to take orders for its SSBJ, and Lugg said he soon expects to close the company’s “first multi-aircraft unit order with a leading global private charter firm.” Current price of the HyperStar is $180 million, though that will escalate to $220 million sometime before the Paris Airshow in June 2017. o

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CMC debuts new EFB, GPS sensor by Kerry Lynch Esterline CMC Electronics (Booth 3619) is launching several new products here at NBAA, including its next-generation electronic flight bag (EFB). It has the look of a

tablet but is aviation grade and has an aviation information server (AIS) that enables connectivity with increased security. In addition, the Canadian manufacturer is debuting a new GPS

sensor that ties together multiple capabilities to meet varied navigational requirements around the world, as well allow lower approach minimums. The new PilotView CMA-1310

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EFB looks and operates as a tablet, but with improved functionality that can tie into the cockpit. Claude Chidiac, CMC v-p products, strategy and customer support, said, “When tablets arrived, the aviation industry was quick to adopt them. But within a year or two after that, everyone realized that tablets are not aviation products, they are

not avionics grade equipment, and they are not connected into the aircraft.” The new CMC line is “aviation grade, but now smaller, lighter, with high-definition touchscreen,” he said. The products “look more like commercial tablets but with the pedigree of quality and certification credentials.” The CMA-1310 tablet, with a high-resolution 10.1-inch display unit, has a dimmable, multitouch screen. Based on the Intel multi-core technology for improved processing, the EFB provides a range of communications interfaces. The CMA-1525 AIS, provides the communications bridge, connecting the tablet and the aircraft as well as the aircraft to the ground. The AIS connects the EFB to cockpit systems, facilitating the transfer of data and providing a firewall to build in another layer of security, said Jean-Marie Bégis, product line director, EFB and aircraft wireless systems at CMC Electronics. The AIS also provides air-to-ground connectivity, enabling either Wi-Fi, cellular applications, or both. Chidiac called the products the “first manifestation of a new line of connectivity products,” and said they are designed for forward fit or retrofit. The technology already has been incorporated on recent Bombardier C Series aircraft delivered to Swiss International Airlines, but is scaled for the business jet market. Esterline also is rolling out the CMA-6024 GPS sensor, which will facilitate Satellite Based Augmentation System and Ground Based Augmentation System (SBAS/GBAS) capabilities and Category I/II/III precision approaches, once available. Alain Beaulieu, CMC’s GPS product manager, said the GPS/ SBAS/GBAS sensor is embedded with a VHF Data Broadcast (VDB) receiver to provide complete precision approach and navigation capabilities compliant with ADS-B and RNP. Beaulieu noted changing requirements with the decommissioning of ILS equipment and increased use in various regions of SBAS Localizer Performance/ Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance (LP/LPV) and GBAS Global Navigation Satellite System Landing System (GLS) GAST-C/D precision approaches. In development for nearly a year and a half, the GPS sensor will be available next summer, according to CMC. o

You’ve got a business aircraft. We’ve got your ADS-B solution. Done and done. As an FAA-approved pairing, our GTX 3000 and GDL 88 each install in a remote location, out of sight and out of the way, to provide a fully certified ADS-B solution that works seamlessly with your existing avionics system – with or without a WAAS-capable FMS. Plus, with built-in Garmin Connext® you can wirelessly access ADS-B weather and traffic on a tablet running Garmin Pilot™ and ForeFlight Mobile. Approved STC installations are currently available for Gulfstream G150 and G200, Learjet 60, and 2002 and newer Hawker 750, 800XP, 850XP and 900XP aircraft. Certifications are expected soon for additional Hawker, Beechjet and Beechcraft Premier series jets. Learn more at Garmin.com/ADS-B or Visit us at NBAA Exhibit 1900. Or contact our ADS-B HelpLine at 1-844-GET-ADSB or aviation.sales@garmin.com

Bombardier expanding customer support effort by Kerry Lynch Bombardier is building a new service center, hiring across its support network and adding Customer Response Team trucks (CRTs) as the manufacturer continues a multi-year effort to grow customer support to accommodate its expanding fleet. Bombardier is planning a new 300,000-sq-ft service center that will nearly triple its space at Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. To open in 2018, the center will enable the manufacturer to support the entire Bombardier product line. The Fort Lauderdale base, established in 1995, is a key location for Bombardier, said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, who recently took on the role of v-p and general manager, customer experience. The location supports customers not only within the southeast U.S. but also Latin American and even Canadian operators who prefer the warmer weather in the winter. “It services many different regions,” he said. The expansion in Fort Lauderdale is part of an ongoing evolution of Bombardier’s service network that is taking place as the fleet has grown to 4,500 business jets worldwide, Gallagher said.

In the U.S., which is home to more than 2,000 of its jets, Bombardier also is providing additional capabilities in Tucson, Ariz. With these capabilities, which involve additional interior modifications work, the location will be equipped to provide a complete array of services. The support network expansion also has focused on destinations outside the U.S., as the company has become more global over the years. Bombardier added a facility in Singapore a few years ago, is opening a new linemaintenance facility at London Biggin Hill this year and plans to open its first Chinese joint venture in Tianjin in the first half of 2017. “Our focus over the past five or six years was really about going into places where fleets were expanding,” said Andy Nureddin, v-p of customer support and training, noting that many sales have gone into developing markets such as India, Russia and China. “The past several years were about expanding our presence around the world.” This was important not only for customers based throughout the world, but also to provide services to the traditional customer base in North America that travels to

Bombardier’s service centers are growing in number, with a new 30,000-sq-ft facility scheduled to come on line in 2018. The Canadian airframer is focusing on adding support capability in places where the fleet is expanding.

those locations. “We really had to step up our game, getting to places where global businesses go and where our customers go,” Nureddin said. With its additions, the number of Bombardier-owned facilities is growing to 10 locations. Coupled with authorized service centers, Bombardier’s network now spans 60 facilities. He added that the evolution is expected to continue, saying the number of destinations will change “as the density increases.” “We’re delivering 150 airplanes a year,” Gallagher added. “We are delivering way more airplanes than there are retirements.” That requires constant evaluation, the Bombardier executives agreed, saying the network “is a journey not a destination.” More CRT Trucks, Too

They also emphasized that the changes are not limited to the facilities themselves. “Over the years, not only have we grown

ALTO AVIATION INTRODUCES HIGH-TECH CSS SWITCH PANELS Audio and entertainment supplier Alto Aviation (Booth 2250) is introducing a new series of compatible modular switch panels that function without software. Named the Cadence Switch System (CSS), the Alto system provides flexible and customizable switches specifically designed to minimize installation costs. CSS is an expansion of Alto Aviation’s DECU keypad product offerings. Kevin Hayes, Alto Aviation’s v-p of sales and marketing, explained, “The fundamental ability for Alto to design custom switches without changing its preengineered switch modules provides a tremendous competitive advantage. Alto can easily adapt a cover bezel for a fit-compatible solution to match any cutout without having to define a completely new switch design. The result is quicker lead times and a lower installation-cost alternative, since existing woodwork can be preserved.” The CSS features pre-defined harness configurations and universal overlay options. Vertical and horizontal orientations within the same assembly are available, and a final configured switch panel can consist of several modules placed together in the same bezel. The switch modules are available in sizes from one to six positions, as well as pre-defined headphone and other accessory modules. The Cadence Switch System can fit compatibly with former CMS/IFE switch offerings, which may

mean the new system can be installed without changing the woodwork. Alto Aviation’s panels also consist of a variety of controllers that manage load and temperature. A programmable eight-channel relay controller allows users to configure a system to meet requirements, while the temperature controller manages the cabin. Separately, Alto is also announcing it now has a plug-and-play replacement digital audio upgrade for Embraer Executive Jets Legacy 600s that have the Alto’s entertainment equipment installed. Upgrading to digital amplifiers brings “amazing sound” according to Alto, and the new digital amplifiers slide right into the analog amps’ racks, making installation simple. Hayes said, “Our digital amplifiers with DSP technology provided an infinite band equalizer that allows us to customize the sound profile specific to the interior arrangement. An Alto audio engineer will tune the system to ensure maximum performance.” Further, Alto recently completed a custom audio installation in a Bombardier Challenger 604 based in West Palm Beach, Fla. The system includes a half dozen mid-high speakers, a pair of subwoofers and the new Acapella Series DZ-290 amplifier, all optimized to deliver “an outstanding and powerful listening experience to all eight seats in the aircraft,” according to Alto. —S.C.

12 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

the services centers we had… we’ve added additional capabilities,” Gallagher said, citing as an example its CRT trucks. The company recently added two more CRT trucks in the U.S., bringing its fleet in the region to 15. The newest trucks were stationed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and in Southern California. The company has two CRT trucks in Europe. The trucks, Gallagher said, have “been a huge addition to our overall support.” They reach customers at secondary airports and are deployed for both scheduled and unscheduled events. The company augments this with its CRT aircraft, a Learjet 45, which it dedicated to customer support in 2014. “It is an important part of customer satisfaction,” he said. The aircraft already has flown more than 200 missions, and the team typically has two hours from the word “go” to become airborne. The jet is based in Chicago, near one of Bombardier’s two major parts hubs. A second is in Frankfurt, Germany. These hubs feed a network of satellite depots that continue to grow, based on customer location. The company rounds out this support with 15 regional support offices. Gallagher said the offices are “a concept that is new in the past couple of years.” They house customer account managers, field service specialists and other support personnel. Bombardier’s goal was to have such an office in every time zone to ensure direct support is always available. Along with these services and facilities, the company is adding people. The support organization now employs more than 2,500 workers. Bombardier is hiring across its network, with plans to grow its service capacity by up to 20 percent. The company said it is looking for both technical and professional roles. But Bombardier is particularly increasing its maintenance technician workforce, saying it will provide type training for mechanic and avionics certification. Gallagher said part of this is the need to staff new sites,

but part of this is expanding capacity at existing sites. In addition to increasing accessibility to services, Bombardier also has focused on maintainability of the fleets. “Span time on maintenance is very important for our customers,” Nureddin said. Over the past several years the company has worked to lengthen the maintenance intervals, to lower direct maintenance costs and “squeeze costs out” of the fleets. Lengthening Mx Intervals

The Learjet 45 originally had 300-hour intervals, but now with the Learjet 45/75 that time has doubled to 600 hours, he said, representing about a year-anda-half for the average operator flying time. Similarly, the intervals for the Challenger 300 and 605 were 400 hours. That has evolved to 600 hours for the Challenger 350 and 650, while the Global 5000 and 6000 intervals have lengthened to 750 from 500 hours, Nureddin said. “On the [Global] 7000, we’re going to outdo that as well.” The intervals have become increasingly important, as utilization has increased, he added. Customers are more focused on the intervals, and they have become a sales tool. “It’s become key,” he said. Other changes ahead include a revamp of the customer information portal to improve its use as a “working tool.” The redesign, to roll out at the end of the year, will include easing functions such as online ordering, any process involving an aircraft-on-ground event and document searches. The changes also are designed to make the portal more accessible across multiple platforms, including tablets or other mobile devices. Nureddin stressed this is important to keep up with how industry now does business. “Not everyone travels with their laptop in their back pocket. Today’s director of maintenance is not sitting in a back office,” he said. “The expectations of industry are such that everything is becoming automated, simpler and quicker.” o

The changing face of predictive and preventive aircraft engine maintenance How P&WC is innovating in the market to reduce maintenance costs, enhance service to customers and increase aircraft availability. Pratt & Whitney Canada’s engines cover the spectrum, from the

hour (PPH) programs such as the Eagle Service Plan to provide

hugely popular PT6A turboprop and turboshafts for helicopters

maintenance schedules with predictable pricing, as well as

to larger turboprops for regional airliners and turbofans for

guaranteed repairs and parts replacement. These are becoming

business jets. The worldwide fleet of engines has achieved

increasingly popular as operators seek stable, predictable

700 million flight hours and clocks over 30 million more annually.

maintenance environments while increasing the long-term value

The company has also taken on the parent corporation’s auxiliary-

of their engines and aircraft.

power-unit business.

Cost reduction and maximizing aircraft availability for customers

In maintaining its position as a world leader in aircraft

lie at the heart of all of P&WC’s service and support initiatives. The

propulsion, P&WC not only designs its products for high

company’s heavy investment in data-driven turnkey diagnostic/

performance and reliability—“Dependable Engines” is the

prognostic solutions, such as FAST (Flight, Acquisition, Storage and

company’s motto—but also dedicates itself to providing and

Transmission), which delivers full-flight engine and aircraft data

continually developing integrated solutions that service and

analysis to customers in near real time, and its new Oil Analysis

support those engines throughout their lifetimes.

Technology (currently in customer trials), increase engine on-

Those solutions not only address regular maintenance and

wing time and performance, reduce life-cycle costs and maximize

repair issues through ever more sophisticated diagnostics but

the overall asset value to the customer. At the same time, the

increasingly focus on prognostics that allow potential issues to be

company strives to make the day-to-day tasks of overseeing engine

identified, planned for and rectified with minimum impact on day-

maintenance as trouble-free and satisfying as possible through 24-

to-day operations. The company has devised innovative pay-per-

hour call centers and the new MyP&WC Power web portal.

PHOTO: At the heart of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s customer support network are two 24/7 Customer First—or CFirst—call centers, in Montreal (pictured) and Singapore.

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING INSERT PREPARED FOR P&WC BY AIN PUBLICATIONS • NBAA CONVENTION 2016

Right for you P&WC’s wide product range powers many types of aircraft, from small bush planes to regional airliners to ultra-long-range business jets. That means the company serves diverse customer populations, each of which has different requirements. Some of those customers operate in harsh conditions or in developing regions. For example, in the low-cost airline and offshore helicopter sectors a “one size fits all” approach is simply not appropriate. To answer these wildly varying needs, the company offers a portfolio of service plans, from simple solutions—under which, say, a single-aircraft

“The people at P&WC talk to each other. Communication is a major failing in a lot of other companies, but P&WC continues to do things right. P&WC listens, it hears and it adjusts the way it does business based on the needs of the customer.” –Jerry Fussell, P&WC-powered aircraft owner and operator

owner-operator buys servicing and parts on an ad-hoc basis—to integrated pay-per-hour programs and fleet-management solutions, each tailored to the particular demands of operators and how they use their aircraft. Having never retired a product line, and with its revolutionary PT6A engine continuing to push the boundaries of innovation, P&WC is proud to fully support operators with older engines and offers solutions under which they can enjoy the benefits of newer maintenance initiatives, such as the P&WCSMART program. Wherever possible, technology and servicing advancements that have been devised for the latest engines are cascaded back to the older products.

The future of engine support In 2018 the PurePower PW800 turbofan engine enters service on the Gulfstream G500 business jet, and with it P&WC is introducing its most advanced and all-encompassing service plan yet, ESP PurePower PW800. Based on an evolution of current ESP offerings, the new plan will provide a concierge “white glove” approach to engine support that brings a step change in the large-bizjet market. P&WC’s ESP PurePower PW800 plan reflects the increasing importance that life-cycle management plays in engine design. Working closely with Gulfstream, P&WC has crafted a high-performance engine that has a number of interesting integrated accessibility features. The cowl door has been designed with built-in ledges for technicians, and maintenance requires no dedicated tools. Even the core section access-door has been made large enough for a technician to gain entry. For those working on the engine there is even more assistance available. Manuals are being produced in 3D, and through greater connectivity with P&WC’s specialists, the opportunity for “live chat” is possible, allowing remote analysis of complex issues. Increasing use of online technology at a “tactical” maintenance level means that any time spent on the telephone is high value. Such innovations are already being cascaded to legacy engine types. P&WC’s main focus is now on driving further proactive maintenance through the increasing use of sophisticated prognostics, as exemplified by the FAST solution, and investment in its oil analysis technology currently in the final development stages. These innovations are delivering deep insight into the engine and aircraft, enabling proactive and predictive maintenance—leading to greater aircraft availability, reduced costs and ultimately increased customer satisfaction.

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING INSERT PREPARED FOR P&WC BY AIN PUBLICATIONS • NBAA CONVENTION 2016

The “connected” engine P&WC’s leadership position in engine diagnostics and prognostics technologies goes back more than 15 years to when it introduced its first advanced technical diagnostics systems. With the launch of its turnkey FAST solution in 2011, P&WC continues to enhance engine and aircraft “connectivity” through its ability to provide near-real-time situational

“When it comes to our relationship with P&WC, it’s almost like a family. We don’t expect special treatment, only to be treated fairly, and we get well above that. It’s good to know when you email or call you actually talk to a person. You don’t have to wait a day or two for someone to get back to you. There’s always a willingness to help; the best word for it is teamwork.”

awareness about engine health, usage and trends. Weighing just over two pounds, the FAST box

–David Eastwood, Director of Maintenance, UNC Air Operations

is installed in the aircraft either by the OEM or as an aftermarket solution. The system automates the capture and analysis of hundreds of full-flight engine and aircraft performance parameters including speed, temperature, fuel burn, diagnostics and more, and can provide wireless access to encrypted and secure FDR data. The data captured in FAST is automatically transmitted via cellular technology to a ground station the moment the aircraft lands. The data is analyzed and the results are sent electronically to the customer within 15 minutes, allowing rapid and informed decisions, the ability to identify potential

Pay-per-hour plans

issues early and a means to optimize performance,

P&WC’s pay-per-hour maintenance plans

health and usage analytics enabling on-board

include its Eagle Service Plan (ESP) and Fleet

event detection and crew alerts. It also includes

Management Program (FMP), which cover all

power assurance checks currently in use by

planned and unplanned maintenance/repair

the AW139 helicopter and turbine blade creep

events through a simple per-flying-hour cost.

counting in use on PT6A-140-powered aircraft.

Increasingly, operators and airlines are turning

maintenance planning and operations. Additionally, FAST has proprietary engine

Through its ability to deliver alerts and trend

Oil analysis redefined

to this form of service plan, and P&WC already

monitoring, P&WC is more closely engaged with

has close to 10,000 engines enrolled in its pay-

the customer, not only providing early detection

per-hour programs.

of possible events, but also helping the operator

A key technology in the diagnosis and

to extract maximum benefit from its engines with

prognosis of engine issues is the analysis

guaranteed service and parts from P&WC to

the greatest cost-efficiency. The system can also

of engine oil. P&WC is investing heavily in

P&WC-designated service centers; carefully

automate much of the onerous task of compiling

this area, which—in conjunction with other

managed and planned schedules that minimize

carbon burn and other regulatory reports. Among

initiatives such as FAST—is advancing the

downtime; life-cycle cost reductions; rapid

other advantages, FAST feeds highly precise data

capabilities of diagnostic/prognostic health

access to maintenance; and, above all, predict-

back into P&WC’s engine-development cycle.

monitoring (DPHM).

The benefits to the operator are many:

able maintenance costs. Moreover, enrolling in

FAST not only represents a large step in engine

P&WC’s new oil analysis technology, in the

an ESP or FMP maintenance plan significantly

health monitoring and proactive and preventive

final stages of development, has demonstrated

enhances the residual value of the asset, and the

maintenance, but also enables its use with other

in tests its potential to be hundreds of times

plan is transferrable if the aircraft is sold.

technologies and hardware to provide additional

more precise than oil analysis methods

functionality, such as automatic propeller

currently in use. Operators are being invited to

balancing for turboprop aircraft.

participate in an 18-month trial to calibrate the

P&WC continues to evolve these programs as it looks for new ways to deliver value. For example, the company recently launched the

More than 600 FAST units are already in use;

technology across all P&WC engine models.

ESPECIALLY for Your PT6 initiative, which pro-

they have been selected for the Dassault Falcon 7X

vides up to the first 400 hours of coverage under

and 8X, and nearly half of the Bombardier Q400

few hundred hours. The technology detects

the maintenance plan free to customers of new

fleet has been fitted with FAST boxes. Other types

minute metal traces within the oil enabling

PT6A engines. The new offering represents up

include the ATR regional airliners and AW139

P&WC to identify deterioration of specific

to $50,000 of coverage toward future engine

helicopters, with further STCs being planned. New

components hundreds of hours before a

maintenance events.

aircraft are generally wired for its inclusion.

potential event occurs.

Oil samples are taken for inspection every

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING INSERT PREPARED FOR P&WC BY AIN PUBLICATIONS • NBAA CONVENTION 2016

Largest global network Pratt & Whitney Canada has built a worldwide support network with 30 locations— some P&WC-owned, some designated service facilities, and all offering a high level of service. Moreover, the network is expanding to meet market growth and emerging requirements. At the heart of the customer support network are the two Customer First—or CFirst—call centers in Montreal and Singapore. Operating around the clock, these centers integrate the control of all elements of the support network, including logistics, responders and engineers. From the first minute of a call for assistance, the CFirst team can quickly arrive at a decision and implement an action plan with the aim of achieving a 24-hour-or-less turnaround time. To back up the call centers, which offer detailed assistance in a growing number of languages, P&WC has over 100 field service representatives and 100 mobile repair teams stationed at strategic locations around the world. The company also holds a stock of approximately 850 rental engines that can replace a customer’s engine while

“Today, Pratt & Whitney Canada engines power 91 of the 250 aircraft managed by Luxaviation. Our relationship with P&WC is based on a mutual commitment to delivering outstanding service and catering to the individual needs of customers. It is P&WC’s winning combination of superior services, coverage and support—all tailored to our needs—and high-performance, reliable engines that sets the company apart. P&WC demonstrates time and time again they are listening to us, understand the intricacies of our business and are ready to do whatever it takes to support our success over the long term.”

it is away for scheduled or unscheduled work.

–David Van Den Langenbergh, CTO, Luxaviation

Planning smart P&WC has introduced more than 25 P&WCSMART

Powerful online service

maintenance solutions across its product lines,

MyP&WC Power is Pratt & Whitney Canada’s

subsequently the PW100 series and turboshaft

new customer portal, which recently finished

engines, P&WCSMART solutions provide a

a progressive rollout to all customers. With full

competitive, guaranteed fixed cost for major

e-commerce capability on desktop, mobile and

engine maintenance, helping to eliminate price

tablet devices, MyP&WC Power aims to improve the

variables and uncertainty.

models. Initially launched for the PT6A and

customer experience by reducing the “touch-point,”

Under the P&WCSMART program customers

but not the “touch-time” and bringing the customer

pay a flat rate and either receive another freshly

closer to the product, services and support.

overhauled engine or get their original engine

Through the portal customers can search

back after its 40- to 45-day refurbishment. There

and purchase parts across multiple trade

is no additional charge for any remedial work

publications, access their Eagle Service Plan

resulting from the use of non-OEM parts, or from

pay-per-hour maintenance entitlements,

the effects of erosion, corrosion and sulphidation.

pay invoices online, request rental engines,

P&WC Customer First Centre USA & Canada: 1 (800) 268-8000 International: +8000-268-8000 Web: pwc.ca Email: CFirst@pwc.ca

aimed primarily at operators with older engine

Already attracting repeat business from

customers, P&WCSMART offerings include

its design is about creating a seamless online

engine exchanges, upgrade programs, flat-rate

customer experience.

overhauls, extended warranties and more.

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING INSERT PREPARED FOR P&WC BY AIN PUBLICATIONS • NBAA CONVENTION 2016

Teledyne sees a future in sealed-battery tech by Matt Thurber Teledyne Battery Products is debuting a new interactive kiosk filled with battery training material and product presentations at its NBAA 2016 exhibit (Booth 1217). The Redlands, Calif.based battery manufacturer still makes traditional Gill drycharged batteries used mostly in smaller aircraft, but is focusing increasingly on its line of Gill LT low-maintenance valveregulated sealed batteries. “That’s the direction the business is going; it’s a better performing battery,” said Teledyne Battery general manager Armando Chacon. While Teledyne Battery doesn’t sell to end-users, Chacon finds that exhibiting at trade shows such as the NBAA Convention helps the company receive feedback from aircraft operators. “We want to know how to get better and what we can improve upon,” he said. “We want them to approach us and give us some honest feedback.” The company has been making Gill lead-acid batteries since 1920, and Chacon said

Teledyne Battery will continue making its dry-charged batteries as long as there is demand. These batteries are shipped unactivated. The customer then has to add electrolyte to the battery and charge it properly. Dry-charged batteries require frequent maintenance, primarily checking electrolyte and charging levels. Sealed lead-acid batteries are already charged at Teledyne Battery is charged up about its low-maintenance line.

the factory and ready for installation in the aircraft without further charging or servicing. Not only are sealed batteries easier to put into service, but Teledyne’s Gill LT 7000-series batteries do not require any maintenance until a capacity check at 1,800 hours or 18 months, whichever comes first. This helps reduce downtime, Chacon explained. “When the aircraft is on the ground, it’s not generating revenue.” The 7000 series batteries feature high IPP and IPR ratings, which are measurements

of starting power and capacity after engine starting, according to Chacon. “The 7000 series rates much higher than the competition for a similar footprint [battery],” he said. This is especially useful for short flight durations, where the battery needs to be recharged in a short period of time. “Our batteries have that higher IPR so you will be able to restart and do short hops.” The Gill LT sealed batteries have a two-year, 1,200-hour warranty. While sealed batteries cost more than dry-charged batteries, the lower maintenance costs can offset that higher price. “When you factor in the lack of maintenance required for the 7000,” he said, “I believe you’re getting a better value.” Teledyne Battery has been shifting many of its business jet, helicopter and military batteries over to the 7000 series, and continually adding more aircraft models to the STC approvals for the sealed batteries. The company works with OEMs such as Embraer, Bell, Cessna and others, both for forward-fit and retrofit applications. In some cases, the Gill LT replaces a NiCad battery, which not only saves money in the cost of the battery but also greatly reduces maintenance effort and expense. “A NiCad battery is very expensive and requires a lot of difficult maintenance, and it’s somewhat of a messy operation,” he said. “You

SABRELINER REFURBS ANOTHER G200; COMPLETES 45TH PC-12 PAINT PROJECT Sabreliner Aviation’s Perryville Mo., facility completed its eighth paint and interior renovation of a Gulfstream G200 last month, with a ninth one now undergoing the same process. The G200 was completed in a forward club-four configuration with an aft divan, forward galley and aft lavatory, all in a neutral color palette. It was delivered to its U.S.-based customer in early October. According to Sabreliner, its designers can create interior designs and color schemes and design elements per a customer’s “spirit and style.” Clients can choose from a “comprehensive” selection of colors and advise artists on producing personalized logos. Meanwhile, Sabreliner’s aircraft completions center

in Perryville, recently finished its 45th paint refurbishment of a Pilatus PC-12. The milestone aircraft was handed over by the Innova Aerospace (Booth 2282) subsidiary to its Australia-based owner early last month. Because of its experienced aircraft paint team, Sabreliner is able to offer a four-year paint warranty, which is significantly longer than the standard oneyear warranty offered by most other aircraft paint facilities. Further, the company can design and paint both traditional and more exotic color schemes, as well as accommodate business aircraft up to the size of a Dassault Falcon 7X, it said. The cost of painting an aircraft varies with the size of the aircraft and the complexity of the paint scheme, Sabreliner noted. —C.T.

have to have a NiCad shop to work on those.” A recent addition to the Gill LT line is the TSO’d 763844T for retrofit into a variety of Citation jets. The battery includes an internal heatmeasurement thermistor, and it is eligible for installation on the Citation models 500, 501, 550, 551, S550, 560/560XL, 650, 680 and 750. “We’re working on a daily basis to expand the product line with more STCs for retrofits,” said Chacon.

Teledyne Battery also offers chargers for all of its batteries, both for battery maintenance (trickle charging when not flying) and for recovering a battery from a deep discharge. “That’s a unique feature of the 7000 series,” he said. “If it’s deeply discharged, we have the equipment and we provide the training to maintain our batteries to properly bring them back to life. We want our customers to get the full life of the battery.” o

NATA debuts a CSR certification program by Curt Epstein For an FBO, providing good customer service is second only to safety when it comes to forging a successful business with return clients, and to that end, the National Air Transport Association (NATA) recently unveiled its NATA Certified CSR Program, which welcomed its first members at its first training course in September. This program, held at the Airflite FBO in Long Beach, Calif., marked the first time the organization has held a live customer service training course. NATA has offered an online customer service, safety and security course, similar in format to its industry-standard NATA Safety 1st Professional Line Service Training course for the past five years. “We believe there was a void in the industry for CSR training and it’s a natural place for NATA to expand and continue to evolve our product,” said NATA president Martin Hiller. “NATA members have requested to have in-house, in-person workshops.” The sold-out event attracted representatives from 23 different companies, including some from as far away as the Bahamas and Jamaica. Among the presenters were industry consultants John Enticknap and Ron Jackson from the Aviation Business Strategies Group, as well as NATA’s Elizabeth Nicholson and Rebecca Mulholland. “There’s value for customers to hear from industry experts on customer service skills and best practices and it’s all wrapped up in the envelope of safe operations,” Hiller told AIN. “Everyone benefits when airplanes are taken care of safely and in a good environment.” During the session, interactive exercises such as role play

scenarios helped engage the audience. “There was a time when you would go to workshops, either NATA or otherwise, and you would sit there for two days and it would be all lecture,” said Michael France, NATA’s managing director for safety and training. “People tend to learn best when they are doing things, not just listening.” He noted the organization has radically changed the way it provides workshops these days, with interactivity and discussion group work integral components. As a prerequisite to the twoday course, all 40 candidates of the certified customer service representative program had to successfully complete an online module, said France. The live program consisted of four additional modules, each with its own practical exam, covering topics such as interpersonal skills, operational familiarity and logistics, and customer relations. At the completion, attendees were awarded certificates and the designation of CCSR. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for folks who invested the time and effort in completing both the online course and then this in-person workshop to show off the fact that they have received extra training and gone above and beyond, and are now Safety 1st certified customer service representatives,” France explained. NATA plans to schedule at least another two of the courses next year. o

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 13

WingX Pro7 speeds up your data downloads by Matt Thurber The latest version of Hilton Software’s WingX Pro7 electronic flight bag (EFB) app has added

new features that make downloading updates faster, improve search-and-rescue functions and

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add VFR Flyway planning charts to the moving map. Hilton Software has pioneered many aviation app developments, including the release of the first synthetic vision display in 2011, for the iPad version of WingX. What was unique about that release was not only that it brought low-cost synthetic vision to the iPad, but it added the ability to

connect to an external AHRS sensor package that drives an attitude indicator on the synthetic vision display. Hilton Software was also one of the first developers to offer Android versions of its app. Another WingX first was the ability to add an approach, arrival or departure procedure to flight plans as well as depicted on the moving map.

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14 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Although synthetic vision originally was a premium feature available for $99 per year, now it is included in WingX Pro7’s Advanced IFR annual subscription, which is $149.98. Hilton Software offers that subscription for free to flight instructors and military pilots. The new VFR Flyway planning charts make looking up information on flying near and through Class B airspace easier to find, and pilots can see their aircraft depicted on the moving map alongside the Flyway ground references. This also eliminates the need to download Flyway charts separately and then switch from the moving map to the charts. WingX Pro7 has added more aircraft images for own-ship depictions, with more popular types now available, and these can be pinch-zoomed larger or smaller on the moving map. For faster database downloading and space saving, the U.S. has been split into three regions—Western, Central and Eastern—for Sectional and IFR enroute charts. Search-and-rescue patterns and grid colors have also been improved. The parallel search now allows the user to enter the search track, according to Hilton Software, “and WingX Pro7 does all the match to search along that search track.” The documents section of WingX Pro7 includes the latest FAA Airman Certification Standards, currently for the private pilot, and others will be added as the FAA updates these from the original Practical Test Standards. Users can also store their own documents in this section of WingX Pro7. Pilots can view weather images and information, and choose to see decoded (plain English) Metars and TAFs right next to the coded weather data for a quick comparison. Notams are split into categories to make viewing applicable bulletins easier. When planning a flight, an optimization feature shows temperature (for avoiding icing conditions), speed and time en route for various altitudes. A feature unique to WingX Pro7 is the “traca” drawing function, where the user can draw a new route on the map in freehand. Drawing with traca is available from airport-to-airport, location-to-airport or asdrawn, where the new route is just where the pilot’s finger draws on the map. This is a handy way to change a route quickly around a thunderstorm, terrain or pop-up TFR, without having to create user waypoints. o

It’s time to evolve UAS flightevolution™ will change the way you plan your missions. With an intuitive interface and high definition graphics, you will be amazed at how the complex is made simple, elegant, and refined. UAS flightevolution™ provides:

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SALVATORE FRENI JR.

For business jet operators, the Cayman Islands offer more than warm sun and sandy beaches. Its aircraft registry program has some unique advantages.

Cayman registry here promoting its benefits by Charles Alcock The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI) is back at the NBAA show looking to promote the growing popularity of the offshore aircraft registry. Joining officials at the authority’s exhibit this week in Orlando (Booth 3612) will be financial and legal experts from Cayman-based

law firm Maples & Calder, as well as Aviation Management Services (Cayman). Aircraft owners registering their assets in the Cayman Islands can benefit from the Caribbean nation’s tax-neutral environment. This can include operational savings such as access to tax-free fuel under

an initiative developed in November 2015. Apart from a favorable tax regime, the UK overseas territory promises a combination of a straightforward, streamlined approach to bureaucracy (including its VP-C online electronic document management system) with a solid legal foundation based on English common law and a commitment to privacy. The declared average timeline for an aircraft registration is six to eight weeks, and CAACI will send its aircraft inspectors to an owner’s home base. Aircraft mortgage registration can be processed within 24 hours. Operators of Caymanregistered aircraft are exempt from some waiver authorization requirements of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. This gives greater operational flexibility, as the process normally requires applications for flights to the U.S. to be made five to seven business days in advance. Business aircraft have to be registered purely for private use and carry tail numbers beginning VP-C. o

EASA SEEKS EFB ‘LEVEL PLAYING FIELD’ A Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) aims to establish a “level playing field” for both commercial and non-commercial operators applying for approval to use electronic flight bags (EFBs). EASA said, “This level playing field issue is linked with the following current conditions: there are currently no provisions for the use of EFBs in non-commercial aircraft operations and the current ICAO provisions for EFBs, applicable since November 2014, have not yet been codified into the European regulatory framework.” The specific objectives of this proposal are to ensure compliance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices; provide specific requirements on the use of EFBs in the air operations regulations for commercial air transport operations; provide requirements proportionate to the complexity of the operations and/or propose safety promotion actions related to the use of EFBs for noncommercial operations and specialized operations; and conduct a first review of AMC 20-25 25 based on the experience gained so far by authorities since its publication. Published in 2014, AMC-20-25 provides an acceptable means of compliance to obtain airworthiness approval for use of EFBs. Included in the NPA is the introduction of a new implementing regulation (IR) related to the use of EFBs. This IR is mostly focused on the hardware part of the EFB, but also specifies that an approval in accordance with specific operations is mandated. The introduction of new AMC to go with the new IR is also proposed. According to EASA, the new AMC is a “transposition with only minor changes to the related content of AMC 20-25.” Other changes proposed deal with airport moving map displays, the proper mounting placement for the EFB, power source, data connectivity, external connecting cables, EMI negativity demonstrations, batteries, viewable stowage, crashworthiness, software applications, user application process, display characteristics, environmental testing, database updating and operational testing. Comments on the NPA are due by Jan. 6, 2017. A regulatory opinion is scheduled to be rendered by the second quarter of 2018 and a final rule published by the second quarter of 2019. —G.G.

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16 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

GE Additive v-p Mohammad Ehteshami, left, is convinced additive manufacturing can dramatically improve aircraft engine manufacture. Brad Mottier, a GE Aviation v-p, agrees it will cut cost and save weight.

GE says ‘additive value’ a boon in aircraft engines GE Aviation (Booth 2270) revealed more plans on Monday at NBAA 2016 to incorporate a higher amount of additive manufacturing, more widely known as 3-D printing, into its future engines, including the new Advanced Turboprop (ATP) slated to power the Cessna Denali. Brad Mottier, GE Aviation’s vice president for business aviation and integrated systems, said the push into more additive content would reduce costs and weight, while increasing reliability. It also will dramatically reduce the time it takes to design and manufacture engine components and significantly reduce overall parts counts. GE is already using a limited number of printed parts on production airliner engines, including the fuel nozzles on the CFM LEAP and the T25 sensor housing on the GE90. A research team reduced 900 parts on a GE CT7 turboshaft engine to 16 printed parts, achieving a 35-percent weight reduction and making the engine more efficient. The exercise took 18 months. Mottier said it would be conservative to assume that the cost of manufacturing a legacy engine could be reduced by approximately 20 percent using additive methods.

“For us, the goal is to create whatever we can imagine,” said Mohammad Ehteshami, vice president of GE Additive. Ehteshami said printing technology had not been applied to rotating parts—yet—but this is definitely in future plans. “It’s not too far off,” he said. Parts printed to date had mainly been composed of aircraft aluminum, titanium and cobalt chrome. To date, Mottier said GE has spent $1 billion on its additive manufacturing initiatives and is focusing on obtaining faster and better machines. However, even with current technology, the time saving over traditional manufacturing techniques is dramatic. Ehteshami said parts that typically take six to eight months to design and fabricate take only a month using additive techniques. On the ATP, GE plans to replace 855 parts with 12 manufactured additively. Mottier said the unique modifications GE makes to its machines combined with the proprietary nature of its materials composition and parts coding would make unauthorized parts manufacture difficult. In addition to the ATP, GE’s other engine programs continue to make progress. Its Passport 20 engine for the Bombardier Global

MARIANO ROSALES

by Mark Huber

7000 has achieved 2,800 test hours, and 3,900 cycles and test articles have been delivered. GE estimates the engine will have logged 4,000 hours and 8,000 hours by entry into service. An example of the engine is on display this week at NBAA 2016. It features advanced designs including a single-piece, 52-inch titanium blisk. GE also reports that fully half of its CF34 turbofan engines are now enrolled in its OnPoint hourly maintenance program, marking a 200-percent increase since 2010. All of GE’s business aircraft engines can now be supported through its online app available at the Apple App Store or Google Play. Finally, GE reported that its single-lever electronic engine power controller developed for the Nextant G90XT’s GE H75 engines is nearing certification. o

JetSuite secures growth funding from JetBlue MARIANO ROSALES

of corporate affairs. “JetBlue’s investment provides capital for JetSuite to grow fast. We believe the two companies share a focus on a high-quality customer experience and disrupting traditional airlines,” Wilcox said. “We are now holding a square on the JetBlue website, and as a result our sales have more than doubled in a week. We expect to sell JetSuiteX flights on the airline’s website by January,” he continued. In addition, JetSuiteX passengers will soon earn trueBlue points on flights throughout the west. The companies are also cooperating on network connectivity programs. JetSuite is using some of the capital from the investment to expand its fleet of Phenom

Innova Aerospace (Booth 2282) is now taking deposits on its newly launched Cessna Citation V/Ultra refurbishment program, the international aerospace conglomerate announced this week at NBAA 2016. “The package reengineers the Citation V and Ultra with the Williams FJ44-4 engine, which marries nicely with the [Honeywell] AeroVue avionics replacement package we put in the cockpit,” said Greg Fedele, executive v-p of corporate development for Innova. “Fuel burn savings are pretty significant with the new engines.” The company’s other aircraft tip-to-tail refurbishment programs include the Beechcraft King Air 90, CitationJet/CJ1 and Hawker 400XPR. Avionics retrofits will extend to the Citation 560 Ultra/Encore and Excel XLS next year. Innova is a relatively new company that is a compilation of Flight Time, Sierra Industries, Skyway, Skyway Aero, Sabreliner Aviation, Sky Place and Innova Composite Helicopters, which is building the monocoque carbonkevlar C630 turbine helicopter in New Zealand. “We’ve got full OEM support from Textron Aviation for our modifications on these aircraft,” said Fedele. “In fact, our location in Texas did the work for the Textron Hawker 400XPR STCs, so we can do the whole thing—we are the manufacturer of the winglets that are part of the retrofit,” he said. All sales for that retrofit are handled through Textron, Fedele noted. —A.L.

SHELTAIR BUILDING BIG NEW HANGARS

by Amy Laboda A minority equity investment from JetBlue, announced Monday at NBAA 2016, makes JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox excited about where his company is going. In just seven years the business aviation charter company has expanded from whole airplane charters—with a fleet of Embraer Phenom 100s and Cessna Citation CJ3s—to offering public charters sold by the seat online to a half-dozen destinations and expanding through its JetSuiteX product. JetSuiteX passengers ride on converted airliners, departing from JetSuite hangars, not airline terminals. JetBlue’s investment comes with a seat on the JetSuite board of directors, which will be held by Jim Hnat, Jetblue’s executive v-p

INNOVA STARTS SALES FOR CITATION V/ULTRA RE-ENGINE PROGRAM

JetSuite CEO Alex Wilcox

100s, EMB-135s and CJ3s. It also plans to push the JetSuiteX charters to the East Coast in the next year. The company is also creating a portfolio of managed jets, something Wilcox said they already do, but are now formalizing under the banner of JetSuite Managed, a new product. In other company news, Wilcox expects the complete refurbishment of the JetSuite Phenom 100 fleet by early next year. o

With several hundred thousand square feet of hangar projects coming online soon at several of its locations, FBO operator Sheltair (Booth 2207) is offering customers “early bird” priority reservations this week at NBAA 2016. “We have said all along that while the industry forecast might call for new aircraft production to continue, no one is creating new airport property, and the new large-sized hangar supply is in demand,” said Todd Anderson, the Florida-based service provider’s vice president for real estate and development. “Sheltair has secured the approvals to expand and build on that most precious of real estate—airport property. That allows us to offer preferred customers new facilities that meet their needs today and far into the future.” Indeed, those flying into Orlando Executive Airport for the NBAA show can see one of the construction projects adjacent to the service provider’s terminal. “A strong general aviation industry is critical to the continued success of Central Florida’s economic growth,” stated Phil Brown, executive director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “Sheltair’s long-term commitment to Orlando Executive, along with our $3 billion investment into Orlando International Airport, builds a strong foundation for Central Florida’s aviation future.” Other locations set to receive new hangars include Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, also in Florida, along with Savannah, Ga., and New York’s Republic and Westhampton airports. The company’s message is direct: “Those with operational/ management responsibilities have the opportunity to secure priority positions now before Sheltair officially opens its hangar doors.” —C.E.

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 17

NEWS CLIPS z Drake Gains Defense Audit Acceptance The Drake Group (Booth 747) has acquired Defense Contractor Audit Agency (DCAA) acceptance, allowing it to support government and military programs by having approved financial controls and procedures, including accrual GAAP accounting standards, the company announced. Drake also announced that it has acquired the STC that allows parachuting from Gulfstream GVs and G550s, including human single and tandem, as well as cargo delivery, humanitarian supplies and life rafts. Drake managed the original FAA certification, which included significant flight testing of the unique system allowing safe exit. Meanwhile, the company recently moved into a new 5,000-sq-ft office facility at Las Vegas Henderson Executive Airport. Formed in 1990, Drake provides FAA DER services, certification planning and training for applicants involved in TC/STC/PMA/TSO activities via a network of 50 independent associates.

z Macaer Delivers Bell 429 Interior Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG, Booth 1919) has delivered its first VIP interior for the Bell 429 light twin helicopter to a U.S. customer. The refurbishment includes interior, paint, four-axis autopilot, maintenance activities and other modifications. This work was completed at MAG’s Part 145 maintenance and modification facility at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The client requested a changeable interior convertible from four, five and six-seat configurations. The interior also includes a center console and electrochromic window dimming. Interiors can be installed on the factory production line at Bell, in addition to being available as an aftermarket option.

Lumatech’s star aglow amid upgrade demand by Ian Sheppard Aircraft lighting specialist Luma Technologies (aka Lumatech) is embarking on a marketing push, starting with NBAA 2016, according to Bruce Maxwell, founder/owner of the Seattle, Wash.-based company. Lumatech has grown steadily over the past 10 years and is increasingly benefiting from business aircraft owners wanting to upgrade their cockpit avionics. It designs and manufactures LED lighted displays and master caution systems, low-profile LED switches and annunciators, gear levers, cockpit controls and other systems related products for fixed and rotarywinged aircraft.

“The mainstay of our business has been the King Air,” Maxwell said. “And it still is.” But he admitted that the company almost went out of business when the downturn came in 2008. Getting into retrofits proved to be the secret to survival, and now it is starting to branch out into new aircraft types, including helicopters. He said, “75 to 85 percent of older corporate aircraft are still equipped with legacy lighting, but the market is responding,” having realized the benefits of upgrading. Sales are going well in the U.S., Canada and Africa, Maxwell said, but in Europe and other parts of the world

Premium leather provider Moore & Giles (Booth 5042) is launching a new water-resistant article, Tidal, the latest addition to the company’s Satin Suede collection, the company announced this week at NBAA 2016. To create Tidal, polymers are added in a drum and adhere to the Moccasin point pattern on the leather, creating its resistance to water damage. Tidal is available in four colors: stormy, super white, smoke and blue moon. The Moore & Giles team will be displaying this and other leathers for aircraft interiors from its vintage Airstream trailer mobile showroom parked on the show floor. Chad Evans, the Virginia-based company’s director of aviation, noted that the NBAA gathering “has been an integral part of the Moore & Giles story, as it has been the event that many of our aviation-specific leathers have been launched.”

z Laselec Celebrates 15th Anniversary Laselec (Booth 3832), a multinational manufacturer of electrical wiring processing and marking equipment, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this week at NBAA 2016. It has brought its automated solutions for creating aircraft, engine and avionics wiring to the show to demonstrate on-site. At its booth, NBAA attendees can see Rapidshare, an automated production line complete with a robotic arm designed for laser wire marking, cutting, sorting and bundling that is currently used by Laselec customer GE Aviation. In addition, conventioneers can view the latest automated version of the company’s Sylade 7 patented laser wire stripper and its EasyWiring digital harness layout board. Its MRO 200 and ULYS laser wire markers are used by major aircraft manufacturers and their subcontractors, including Airbus, Air France Industries, Honeywell, Bombardier, Celltron and Diversified Industries, among others. The company also announced the launch of its new overbraiding machine, Braido, which simplifies and speeds up the process of braiding complex wiring for aerospace applications.

MARIANO ROSALES

z Moore & Giles Intros New Suede Material

The advantages of Lumatech’s new-tech lighting have operators lusting after upgrades.

GDC inks mega-deal for B787 completions by Kerry Lynch While conceding that the business aviation market is heading for “interesting times,” GDC Technics (Booth 3115) is capping off a month in which the company has received multiple awards, including a nine-aircraft contract for Boeing 787 completions. The award, through Boeing and a customer of the aircraft, calls for engineering work on the 787s to begin in 2018 and stretches the GDC backlog to 2022. While not disclosing the customer, GDC CEO Charles Celli said the aircraft would be fitted for partial VIP and partial commercial use. The contract comes in addition to the two Dreamliners at GDC facilities currently undergoing work that are slated for completion in the second and third quarter of next year.

18 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

These latest contracts, said Mohammed Alzeer, general partner of GDC Technics, come as GDC has spent the past two years preparing for the next five years. “It is no secret that these are tough times at the end of completions business,” Alzeer said. “While new aircraft sales have slipped, the number of VIP completion centers has mushroomed, and that combination creates risk for the customer.” He noted that GDC has spent more than $20 million to develop new technologies in the past two years to be prepared for the customer base. Along with investing in technologies, the company has improved its processes to increase efficiency and reduce operations costs over the past 18 months, Alzeer said. This is

operators are struggling with the strong dollar. Lumatech (Booth 3178) has added the Beech 1900D to its AML STC and moved into providing replacement plug-andplay panels for the Cessna 208 Caravan. It has expanded into helicopters and will soon add the Bell 206 Jet Ranger. “So that’s where we’re going at the moment—we’re in an STC project as we speak. And we’re also doing the [Bell] 214/412,” after receiving many requests. According to Maxwell, “Our panels sell for half the price of a new one. We haven’t raised our prices in four years and we don’t have [different] AOG pricing or anything, and it’s working for us.” Another project is to develop landing gear status lights (“three greens”) for King Airs. “This is an MEL item,” he said, “but nobody has taken the trouble yet to do an STC on an LED replacement.” The company also specializes in Beechjet 400 panels and is on the Nextant 400XTi as standard equipment. Its LED master caution system is certified for use alongside the Garmin G5000 upgrade. There is a U.S. Air Force mandate to upgrade the cockpits in some 173 Beech 400s, with bids due next week. “It will be a very aggressive schedule, with five aircraft by the end of next year and then 40 aircraft a year.” He hopes Lumatech will provide the master caution system. o paying dividends in a backlog that he said is among the healthiest in the industry. Even with the recent contracts, which include work on a 777, the company said it has capacity for additional work, with more than one million square feet split between its facilities in Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas. Another area of concentration for GDC Technics is Honeywell Ka-Band Jetwave satcom installations, he said. In anticipation of a growing market, the company has been working on multiple STCs for various platforms for the new high-speed satcom system. This work is being accomplished ahead of the customer flow, but Alzeer believes it will position GDC to be ready for the market and will facilitate a smoother, quicker installation process. The first customer aircraft, an A319, is expected to arrive for a JetWave installation in the spring. GDC, however, anticipates having an STC in hand early next year. o

Welcome home.

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Lufthansa Technikâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A350 VIP design enables you to set personal standards in the way you fly. A masterpiece from front to back, the cabin provides luxuriant space for you to enjoy quality time with family and friends. Expect to arrive more relaxed than when you started your trip. And just as you embrace every moment on board of your A350, we welcome your precious plane in our world of uncompromising and meticulous support. Lufthansa Technik AG, marketing.sales@lht.dlh.de Call us: +49-40-5070-5553

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MARLOW APPOINTMENT ENHANCES CASTLE & COOKE TEAM Castle & Cooke Aviation (Booth 3700), an FBO network with locations in California, Hawaii and Washington, has enhanced its management team. Tony Marlow, who has been with the company since 2008, has been appointed vice president of aviation operations and business development. Marlow will oversee and direct all activities of the division, including operations, business development, expansion and future growth. Vik Dhaliwal, former controller of the organization, has been promoted to general manager of Castle & Cooke’s headquarters in Van Nuys, Calif., its largest FBO. Additionally, Candace Schroeder has been newly hired as business development and marketing manager for the organization. Schroeder brings 10 years of experience in the aviation industry, having previously served as a customer service manager at several other California-based FBOs. —J.L.E.

Among its many recently signed partners, World Fuel Services Network welcomes Emery Air, Rockford, Illinois.

World Fuel takes some big steps ENGINEERING THE IMPOSSIBLE

by Amy Laboda SM

GDC Group is a global aircraft modification and technology leader offering Total Solutions for our customers in the form of aircraft financing, interior design, engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, modifications, certification and aircraft management.

It’s been a busy week at NBAA 2016 for World Fuel Services Network (WFSN, Booth 4600). In the U.S., the company welcomed Flightways Columbus in Columbus, Ga.; Emery Air in Rockford, Ill.; and Guardian Jet Center in Ontario, Calif., to its network. Internationally, its Air Elite Network of top-notch FBOs welcomed eight Deer Jet facilities across China into its family. The company also announced the general release of its flight operation system integration program, which connects World Fuel/Colt’s Trip Support platform with Professional Flight Management’s system, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry for customers. WFSN is a Miami, Fla.-based global provider of fuel services, trip support

and aviation insurance to more than 8,200 flight departments, selling fuel in 200 countries across the globe. “Our customer-focused team works closely with each FBO to ensure that a personalized solution is tailored to its location to best facilitate growth and success there,” said Steve Drzymalla, senior v-p of general aviation for World Fuel Services. According to Deer Jet executive v-p Li Zheng, “Deer Jet, operating Asia’s largest private jet fleet, is dedicated to enhancing its FBO ground-handling services capabilities across China, which we feel we can do by joining the Air Elite Diamond Service Network as its first Asian member.” This year the Air Elite Network has grown by 12 locations, now encompassing 62 FBOs worldwide. o

WE ARE GDC “GDC has emerged as an industry leader in aircraft modiﬁcations on a global scale utilizing the latest technology to exceed our customer’s expectations in all areas of aircraft ownership”. GDC through strategic partnerships oﬀers the latest KA Band solutions and connectivity options available in the market today while providing light weight cabin solutions that support our customer’s expectations for aircraft performance”

Guardian Jet Center, Ontario, Calif., also has joined the World Fuel Services family.

New Signature mobile app monitors TailWins accounts by Curt Epstein

Mohammed Alzeer General Partner

For more information: www.gdctechnics.com

20 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Signature Flight Support (Booth 2619) has launched a new mobile application that will allow its customers to easily monitor their TailWins loyalty program account. Signature iFBO allows the aircraft service provider’s pilot customers to manage their TailWins profile, optin to promotions, as well as track and redeem their points in real time for gift cards that can be immediately spent on goods and services. Redemption options include a virtual Visa card, as well as cards for more than 30 retailers, restaurants and service providers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Home Depot. Members can also choose to use

the app to donate their earned points to business aviation charities, including Corporate Angel Network and Veterans Airlift Command. The new app includes a directory of the more than 200 Signature and Signature Select FBO locations worldwide, complete with contact details and Google Maps, and allows users to make reservations at any of them. An upgrade scheduled for January will add the ability to book discounted hotel rooms, along with car rentals through National Car Rental, to the app, which is now available for download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. o

MyGoFlight has all the sweet gadgets by Matt Thurber Charles Schneider, an active pilot and fan of in-flight gadgets, has developed MyGoFlight into a resource for everything pilots need to mount and safely use devices such as Apple and

Android smartphones and tablets in many different types of cockpits. The MyGoFlight booth (1774) is a candy store for gadgetlovers, with everything from robust and finely crafted flight

STOP

Safer

bags to mobile device accessories and products from other manufacturers such as action cameras, XM weather receivers and more. Some of the MyGoFlight’s useful products for pilots include:

STOP

Rapid Charger Dual Micro

SAVE

Shorter Money

MGF Tracker ($12.99). A baggage tag (not pictured) with a unique ID code that can help recover a lost bag. The tag must be registered with MyGoFlight, then if the bag is found and reported, it can be recovered. Rapid Charger Dual Micro ($29.99). This standard cigarettelighter-style charger works with 14- or 28-volt electrical systems and includes dual 2.4-amp USB ports. The charger is shielded to prevent interference with avionics. Solar Assist Battery ($79.99). A 10,000 mAh backup battery

And see us at NBAA Booth 1231

Solar Assist Battery

with solar-assist panel that speeds up charging and helps the battery maintain its charge longer. Includes a built-in LED flashlight, dual USB charging ports (2 amp and 1 amp), battery life indicator and solar charging indicator. 90-degree Lightning Cable ($24.99). This 3-foot cable, made

90-degree Lightning Cable

Effective, Affordable Anti-Skid Braking for Your Aircraft

by Bad Elf, solves the tight-space problem with a 90-degree charger cable fitting, which moves the cable to the back of the device. A thicker wire gauge helps make the cable last longer. Mount kits for iPads ($198 and up). A variety of iPad mounting systems use a Universal Sport Cradle that attaches to a Sport Adapter for 360-degree rotation. A rail-mount attaches to sunshare monorail systems. o

CERTIFIED | LIGHTWEIGHT | EASY TO INSTALL Eclipse 500/550 | King Air B200/B300 | Pilatus PC-12/12NG

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22 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Mount kits for iPads

NBAA Booth 1864

Entertainment & control at your fingertips. Integrated. Intuitive. Simply high-end. For more information about IDAIR, please visit www.idair.aero A joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and Panasonic Avionics Corporation

Traxxall now interfaces with FOS by Matt Thurber Traxxall’s maintenance-tracking system now integrates with Rockwell Collins’s Flight Operations System (FOS). Earlier this year, Traxxall announced integration with

RocketRoute’s flight-planning and trip-support service. Traxxall (Booth 1450) was established in 2013 to provide an alternative maintenance-tracking system with peer-to-peer

service and support for the business aviation market. According to Traxxall, its services are about 20 to 30 percent less expensive than competing maintenancetracking services. Traxxall

operates on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, and thus customers can access Traxxall online from any computing device. Users can customize dashboards and reports to suit their operation, and commercial operators can easily allow regulators to access applicable sections of their Traxxall accounts to verify regulatory compliance.

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The new capability is available with FOS Version 3.11.3. “FOS users can send aircraft schedules and CASS [Continuous Analysis and Surveillance System] items to and from Traxxall,” according to the Montreal-based company. Traxxall can automatically download scheduled and completed flight information. This also will update the FOS flight log as well as total aircraft and major assembly times. Users can set up their Traxxall account to push due items to FOS and these can “appear against FOS’s maintenance schedule,” according to Traxxall. “Items will populate against the Aircraft Maint tab and accordingly impact the Aircraft Status list in FOS’s Operations tab.” “Our integration with the latest version of FOS is another example of Traxxall’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technology and making it easier for our clients to manage their aircraft,” said Aviv Ohayon, director of systems and product development. “We look forward to working with many of our clients as they link Traxxall and FOS.” o

NEWS NOTE

PILOT

AV8R I WAS BORN TO FLY

My child is on the Honor Roll in FLIGHT SCHOOL

FJ44-4A

FJ44-3AP

FJ44-3A

24 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

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Constant Aviation said it will be one of the first Gogo dealers to develop STCs for the new air-to-ground Gogo Business Aviation 4G service that will be available in the first half of next year for the continental U.S. and “large portions” of Alaska and Canada. The MRO plans to develop STCs for the Embraer ERJ145 Shuttle, Legacy 600/650 and Phenom 300, as well as the Gulfstream GV, and will participate as a partner for hardware sales and installations on other business aircraft. Created specifically for the business aviation market, Gogo’s 4G system leverages the company’s existing ground network of more than 250 towers and onboard technology. The in-aircraft 4G equipment package is a single, lightweight box that provides on-board, dualband 802.11ac Wi-Fi. The existing Gogo Biz air-to-ground service offers peak speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps, while the 4G service reportedly runs at up to peak speeds of 9.8 Mbps. The new service will include features such as Gogo Vision, which encompasses movies, TV, flight tracker and weather reports; Gogo Text & Talk, allowing passengers to call and text with their personal smartphones and mobile numbers; streaming video and audio; video calls; email; and web browsing. n

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London Biggin Hill stretching its duty day by Ian Sheppard Having recently received final approval to move to longer operating hours, London Biggin Hill Airport (Booth 1850) is taking on 15 to 20 more employees and hopes to welcome more visitors from the U.S. The new hours are particularly advantageous for incoming transatlantic flights (local time 06:30-23:00 weekdays and 08:00-22:00 weekends). Business development director Robert Walters told AIN that the longer hours will suit U.S. operators. “Some of London’s airports are turning business aviation away, especially from 06:30 to 09:00 in the morning, so we have the flexibility for U.S. customers to land early, and on a day trip they can stay until 23:00. [So] for the NBAA audience, that’s fantastic.” He added, “But most importantly, we have the support of the local community. We received 75 percent support [from local residents] for our longer operating hours and [stricter] environmental requirements.” The agreement is subject to the installation

FBO operation and terminal is available for non-Signature customers, who tend to be operators that patronize the extensive Signature chain. Meanwhile the airport broke ground on a new hangar on October 12. This 60,000-sq-ft hangar is on the other side of the terminal from a similar hangar, which is now at capacity. The new one will have 10,000 sq ft of office space on three levels. Hangar Party

Walters said, “We feel that a private, secure hangar is key for many customers. It has capacity for up to six G650s or Global 7000s, and we’re building another five G650/Global Express-size parking slots. The hangar will be finished by late summer 2017.” He noted that some tenants at Biggin Hill have built their own hangars. “The wonderful thing about Biggin Hill is that you can rent the land and build your own hangar,” said Walters. He added that the other side of the main Runway 03-21 from the terminal

Pulling shiny-shovel duty during the hangar groundbreaking at London Biggin Hill Airport are (left to right): Will Curtis, managing director; Andrew Walters, chairman; and Robert Walters, director. The hangar will accommodate up to six Gulfstream G650s.

a fundamental shortage of people wanting to train in aviation,” said Walters, who suggested this dropoff was linked to security and lack of easy access to aircraft and airports. The aim is to “train around 75 to100 engineers [British term for “technicians”] a year, and we will train to the B2 standard.” The Biggin Beguine

According to the airport’s marketing director Andy Patsalides, “WingX data shows we are

Last month, construction began on a new 60,000-sq-ft hangar at London Biggin Hill Airport. In addition to aircraft storage, the new building will include 10,000 sq ft of office space, arranged in three levels.

of a noise- and track-monitoring system. “We should see this signed off in the autumn, and it will come in during spring/summer 2017,” airport managing director Will Curtis told AIN during the annual Air Charter Expo (ACE) exhibition at Biggin Hill on September 13. “We have for 22 years now been setting out our long-range vision and strategy, and piece by piece the puzzle is being put together,” said Walters. “Slowly but surely we’ve put the Biggin Hill name in the right place.” Among other developments at the airport, Bombardier has set up a European maintenance base in the former Rizonjet hangar. Signature now runs the FBO side. Biggin Hill’s own bespoke

building has a large amount of land, and building more hangars is “in the Local Plan,” which is a government requirement for development. The new hangar is being built by Civils, the company that also built the former Rizonjet facility. “We also hope to break ground on a four-star hotel for aircrew next year,” said Walters. “It is to be located next to the Bombardier service center and will open in 2018.” And in addition, to provide local manpower, a training college is to be established next year. The London Aerospace & Technology College, will tap London South East Colleges as its curriculum provider. “To safeguard our future we’ve got to help our tenants bring the resources, and there is

outpacing the competition,” with Biggin Hill traffic “up 7 percent year-on-year.” For example, he said, in June the airport saw 42 Gulfstreams, and in July this hit 80. “Some were at the Gulfstream operators’ conference,” he admitted, “But numbers are particularly good on all large-cabin airplanes.” Walters said that the airport had experienced “14 percent growth in transatlantic visitors, and a continuing trend to more large-cabin aircraft. Now more than 50 percent of landing fees come from aircraft over 20 [metric] tons [44,000 pounds]. The BBJ is the largest we can take, and we have several regular BBJ customers.” Patsalides pointed out the “price advantage” offered by

26 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Biggin Hill, and that Castle Air’s Helishuttle can whisk people from the airport to the London Heliport in six minutes. They can also go to the heliport near Canary Wharf in the London Docklands. At the time of the ACE event, he said operator Castle Helicopters was “about to celebrate the one-thousandth [shuttle service],” and this had been surpassed by early October with Walters saying, “It’s over one thousand now and going really well. To central London, it’s quicker to fly to Biggin Hill than to London City Airport [to reach central London].” Walters said having no restrictions on runway slots and being a port of entry are advantages too, and customers appreciate the shuttle taking just six minutes at a fixed price, with availability at short notice. No Airline Competition

Patsalides said that business aviation operators can rely on the airport’s commitment to the local community that there would be no scheduled or airline charter services. In addition, he added, “The airport is now open longer than anywhere else, if you ignore those with 24-hour operations.” Reflecting on increased industry interest, Curtis told AIN, “We’re in discussion with a number of other companies. Business aviation is really feeling the squeeze at other airports. We have the desire and the space to accommodate them, and you’re not going to be squeezed out by scheduled operators.” “We are talking to a mix of OEMs and MROs,” said Walters. “There is significant interest because of the formula we have created. Bombardier has been the first, which we are thrilled

about. They are hoping to have the doors open in November for the first business.” Another operational development at Biggin Hill will be GPS approaches at both ends of the main (03-21) runway, to complement Runway 21’s ILS approach. This will help better manage movements. Walters said two different approaches had been designed for 03, one for better visibility conditions, which will keep aircraft farther away from the airspace of London Gatwick Airport. Asked about the agreement signed in August 2013 between Biggin Hill and Teterboro Airport to become “sister” airports, Walters said Biggin Hill had started to emulate Teterboro’s political role as a “reliever” to other airports around the city, which are increasingly congested with scheduled traffic. He noted the Airports Commission report on new runways in London, in which the author Sir Howard Davies noted the importance of business aviation to London’s and the UK’s economies. “Biggin Hill, Farnborough and Oxford are critical to that, and we work as a community to make sure we’re all getting the [message across].” Finally, recent months have seen the fleet of business aircraft based at Biggin Hill growing. Walters told AIN this had just reached 60 with more than 20 available for charter. “The market is waking up to Biggin after many years of being seen as the poor cousin,” he said. Examples of based operators added recently include Sovereign Business Jets (recently acquired by Castle Air), which announced at ACE that it had added a Challenger 300, with a Phenom 100 also due to be added soon. Sovereign also operates two Hawker 800s. o

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Murrieta, Calif.-based Ikhana Aircraft Services (Booth 3630) continues its work on a high-gross-weight, Part 23 commuter category STC for Twin Otter Series 300 and 400 turboprops, most recently starting FAA flight tests just ahead of this year’s convention. The mods, known as the DHC-6-300HG and DHC-6-400HG, raise the maximum takeoff weight for each model to 14,000 from 12,500 pounds. In the 300 series, the increased weight capability comes primarily via a switch from 620-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27s to fully-rated 750-shp PT6A34s. Although Canada’s Viking Air already uses -34s in the new-build 400 series airplanes it markets, those engines are de-rated to 620 hp. The Ikhana mod essentially restores them to their maximum horsepower rating. Other changes include a switch to new Raisbeck Hartzell swept four-blade propellers for reduced noise, along with some aerodynamic, systems and structural modifications, including those to accommodate more robust landing gear for the added weight. Ikhana president and CEO John Zublin told AIN that he hoped to gain the certification by the end of the year, or possibly in the first part of next year. Zublin explained that the company has developed the new flight test program with a considerable amount of information gleaned from a restricted STC it earned in 2009, and that he expected the standard STC to require roughly 100 flight hours. While the restricted STC raises mtow to 14,000 pounds for special missions such as search-and-rescue, forestry, mining and scientific operations, the Part 23 STC allows for passenger transport and involves a far more complex process. “It’s a huge, huge undertaking,” he said. “That’s why it’s taken us as long as it has.” In fact, just before last year’s NBAA Convention, Zublin told AIN that he expected to gain the STC during the first half of the year. “Some of the delays had to do with negotiations with the FAA over some of the complexities of how to do this,” added Zublin. “This is not done routinely. To my knowledge there is only one other aircraft that has gone from a normal category to a commuter category. That

was the King Air, and it was definitely not as large a project, mainly because you’re [now] talking about a 19-passenger aircraft, which is what we have. So this is a different kettle of fish.” Floats Add Versatility

Zublin sees a strong demand for commuter airline uses for the more powerful Twin Otter due to its ability to carry more passengers and/or full fuel on a given route. And operators choosing to install standard floats, which add about 1,000 pounds to the empty weight of the airplane, or amphibious floats, which add roughly 1,500 pounds, will pay no weight penalty. “The advantage of this STC would be to allow you to put on floats, still get your full passenger load and adjust your fuel as you need it for normal operations,” he explained. “What we’re finding, worldwide, is in countries that don’t have developed landing infrastructure, [operators] are resorting to their waterways.” Meanwhile, for private operations, the extra weight allowance can also accommodate various sorts of interior extras normally associated with VIP applications. “These VIP configurations are used for people who have resort islands and special needs to get into remote areas, and they want to do it in as luxurious a manner as possible,” said Zublin. “We’ve had several VIP-type operators who have called us routinely asking the status of this.” Asked about customer numbers, the Ikhana chief executive explained that he has not yet solicited orders. He prefers, he said, to eliminate all uncertainties associated with the flight testing and pursue sales following the completion of that process. Zublin believes he has an accurate idea of the market potential, however, based on a global pool of Series 300 candidates that numbers between 250 and 300 and on a survey Ikhana conducted of several operators accounting for 124 airplanes. “We had one operator who indicated they weren’t sure they were interested at the time, and everyone else was extremely interested in the program and signing non-binding letters of intent,” he reported. Although the study did not address Series 400 operators, Zublin said several have expressed interest as well. o

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Florida training expert speaks on upset training by Jeff Burger Veteran flight instructor Lee Lauderback will speak here at the convention on “Getting It Right When Things Go Wrong— Upset Prevention and Recovery Training.” The session, set for 3 to 4:30 p.m. on November 2, will also address the importance of training in aircraft that directly correlate to the types used for business aviation. Lauderback, an EAA Warbirds of America 2013 Hall of Fame inductee, serves as president and CEO of Kissimmee, Fla.-based Stallion 51. Since 1987, the company has instructed thousands of pilots on safe methods of flying the legendary P-51 Mustang and the historic T-6 Texan. Unusual Attitude Training (UAT)—a division of Stallion 51 that is exhibiting at Booth 4683—offers an FAA-approved

program that educates pilots in the P-51 and the specially modified and equipped Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros single-engine jet. Arnie's Chief Pilot

Lauderback, an Embry-Riddle graduate who started flying sailplanes at age 14, spent 17 years as chief pilot and director of flight operations for golf legend Arnold Palmer. He has been Stallion 51’s chief flight instructor since the company’s inception and has amassed more than 21,000 flight hours in all types of aircraft. He is a certified single- and multi-engine flight and ground instructor, holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is also a helicopter and glider pilot. Lauderback, a member of the Society of Experimental

Lee Lauderback's Stallion 51 training facility in Kissimmee, Fla., is best known for warbird instruction. But its Unusual Attitude Training (UAT) program, using the Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros, helps corporate pilots acclimate to flight at the edges of their aircraft's performance envelope.

Test Pilots, performs his Signature Solo Mustang Routine at air shows around the country. He was among the first civilian pilots for the USAF Heritage Flight program, which

Baldwin Aviation introducing automated safety risk profile by Kerry Lynch Baldwin Aviation is continuing to add new features to its safety management system (SMS) programs, including an automated safety risk profile that is rolling out here at NBAA 2016, as the company also expands its reach into voluntary reporting, safety-information sharing and other safety areas. These efforts come as Baldwin Aviation strives to become a “one-stop” safety shop for business aviation, said v-p and COO Sonnie Bates. The vision is all safety missions inside the Baldwin portal. “Every week, our in-house programmers, developers and analysts are working to develop new code and test new code to make our tools even better for customers,” he said. The initiatives often come from customer suggestions or requests, he added. Once such effort, Bates explained, is to “take the complexity out of safety management and integrate it completely into our tools.” When a customer logs into the Baldwin portal, the program is embedded with the customer’s SMS philosophies and principles, providing the information they need to help them find out what safety performance indicators they need or better assist them in setting their safety targets. “These are the questions customers have right now— safety performance indicators and targets,” he said, adding, “These are some

of the things we are working on so this information is at their fingertips.“ The new QuickRisk Safety Profile tool is another of those efforts. To be demonstrated at the Baldwin booth (2639) during NBAA 2016, the feature develops an automated risk profile based on a variety of safety and risk data from the client. “This is a giant step to help the operators see graphically what the risk looks like,” Bates said. The risk profiles will be a value-added function that is automatically folded into a customer’s portal. “This is the first iteration. As customers use it and give us feedback, we’ll continue to evolve it,” Bates said. Baldwin also has placed an emphasis on manual updating. The company has staff dedicated to the continual review of all the manuals, as well as regulatory changes, to ensure the manuals are as up to date as possible, he said. This includes the scope of documents, from operations manuals to emergency response plans. EMS a Top Market Sector

This effort is particularly critical as Baldwin has experienced growth from the commercial sector. One of the company’s largest growth areas is from the emergency medical services operations sector. These operators are required to have safety risk processes in place that are up to date, as well as strict protection of safety data, Bates noted.

30 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

showcases World War II and current military aircraft in unique formation flight. He has also taught at the Navy Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. o

Another of the biggest growth areas for the company is in Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAPs). Baldwin customers can add ASAP features or have the program totally integrated into the safety management efforts, Bates said. ASAPs, which require a memorandum of understanding between the operator and the FAA, are designed to encourage voluntary reporting to enable companies to identify and address potential unintentional compliance issues and safety trends. Baldwin’s ASAP customers further have the option of sharing their data through the FAA’s Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) program. The company recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitre and the FAA to enable this participation. “The objective of this initiative is to make aviation safety and reporting FDM [flight data monitoring] data sharing easy and seamless through our clients’ Baldwin software application,” Baldwin Aviation president Don Baldwin said in announcing the MOU. “The process is simple. Based on Baldwin’s Master MOU, our clients will execute a simple one-page agreement with Baldwin that will allow access to ASIAS as well as receive output through Baldwin.” Mitre will continually aggregate and sort the safety information, and Baldwin will be able to “pull that information on a period basis and share that with our customers in a way that makes sense [for their operations]. Even small operations will… get the benefit of being part of a bigger system,” Bates said. He noted that participation in programs like ASAP and ASIAS represents a cultural

shift for private operators, but he added, “We are seeing more and more operators willing to participate” in such programs. Many operators believed they did not generate enough information to see trend lines, he said. But these programs enable the operation to see larger industry trends, as well as look at their own practices. Bates Takes the Lure

These efforts to provide comprehensive safety packages tailored to the individual organization helped lure Bates to his new role of managing operations at Baldwin. He joined the company in August after directing the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) for the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) for the past five years. In announcing his appointment, Don Baldwin said Bates will “oversee all safety programs and technology development and will be providing leadership for the company’s aggressive growth plans in an ever-changing industry.” Bates said the move to Baldwin enables him to work directly with industry “on more of a grass roots level and get involved with specific issues” for individual companies. He called the move a good fit, noting IBAC’s mission to promote safety on a global level. “Baldwin takes the next step and says here’s how you do it and here it is based on your operational requirements.” o

Genesys S-Tec 5000 initiative closing in on Part 25 approvals by Matt Thurber Genesys Aerosystems is nearing the home stretch on a program it announced two years ago to develop the S-Tec 5000 autopilot system for Part 25 airplanes. The first TSO for the system is expected in the first half of 2017, according to Jamie Luster, director of sales and marketing. One program is a forward-fit autopilot for Ruag’s Dornier 228 NG twin turboprop; and another is a retrofit program for the military Airbus CASA C-212 Aviocar. Genesys is targeting older business jets and regional airliners for retrofit applications of the new S-Tec 5000 autopilot, and these include the Bombardier Dash 8, Fokkers, Hawker 800 series and older Falcon 900s, Gulfstreams, Citations and Learjets. “We’re hoping to target older aircraft in situations where the autopilot is costing significant dollars to repair,” Luster said. Genesys also offers LCD upgrades for old CRT-based avionics displays, and could offer combined LCD and autopilot upgrades. For airplanes where the autopilot is getting more costly to repair and upgrades aren’t available, switching to a new Genesys digital autopilot makes sense, Luster said.

Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars to repair an old autopilot, she said, “we’ll sell a new one for $150,000, a threeaxis full digital system with envelope protection, straight-and-level button and software upgradeable.” Genesys plans to add more features later such as automatic descent as a software upgrade. The price includes servos and pitch trim, and options will include roll and yaw trim. Here at NBAA 2016, Genesys (Booth 1012) is highlighting the new S-Tec 5000 autopilot as well as cockpit upgrades. “Our next step is to identify the primary markets for autopilot STCs,” Luster said. Certification flight testing of the new autopilot system begins this month in the C-212, followed by flights in the Dornier 228 in February. Genesys Aerosystems purchased S-Tec and Chelton Flight Systems, which were operating as Cobham Avionics, from Cobham in April 2014. S-Tec has shipped more than 40,000 autopilot systems since its founding in 1978, and Chelton certified the first synthetic vision system and GPSWAAS navigator as well developing the first highway-in-the-sky display. o

BRAZIL CERTIFIES FUSION-EQUIPPED KING AIRS Beechcraft has received approval from Brazil’s Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) for new King Airs equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion cockpit and other cabin upgrades. The Fusion cockpit is standard on all production King Airs: the C90GTx, 250 and 350i/ER. Beech expects to hand over the first of the Fusion-equipped Kings Airs, a 250, to a customer in the region soon. “We’ve had both the King Air 350i and the 250 with Pro Line Fusion in Latin America for trade shows and demo flights, and customers have been enthusiastic about the investments we’ve made,” said Lannie O’Bannion, v-p of sales for Latin America and the Caribbean. The new cockpit has three touchscreen 14-inch displays in landscape orientation, and it was the first business aviation application of touchscreen on primary and multifunction displays. The Pro Line Fusion flight deck is equipped with dual multi-sensor FMSs and is fully compliant with NextGen mandates, including ADS-B out, WAAS/LPV and TCAS 7.1. The primary flight displays also offer synthetic vision, and the avionics include the TAWS+ Mode 5 update, RF legs, built-in caution advisory system messages on the displays and wireless database updates. Wi-Fi is now available on King Airs, and electronically dimmable window shades are among the other upgrades. Brazilian approval for the upgrades follows similar approvals by both the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency for all production King Airs. —K.L.

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Rolls-Royce service network expands with five new locations by Charles Alcock Rolls-Royce is further expanding its network of authorized service centers with announcements this week covering three maintenance providers at five different locations. The number of service centers is set to grow to 76 with the appointment of Duncan Aviation (with facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; and Provo, Utah), Embraer Executive Jets in Paris and ExecuJet Aviation Services China in Tianjin. The expansion is in response to growing numbers of business aircraft operators signing up for coverage under the enginemaker’s CorporateCare fixed-cost engine maintenance management program. More than 100 additional aircraft have joined the program this year, taking the total to more than 2,000. Since 2005, the number of aircraft supported has almost quadrupled. CorporateCare provides support for the following Rolls-Royce turbofans: BR725 (Gulfstream G650); BR710 (GV/ GV-SP and Bombardier Global Express

and Global 5000 and 6000); Tay (GIV/ GIV-SP, plus G350 and G450); and AE3007 (Embraer Legacy 600 and 650, plus Cessna Citation X). For some aircraft types, Rolls-Royce said that as many as 95 percent of jets in operation are covered by the program, and across the board, at least 70 percent of Rolls-powered aircraft are now included. “This is designed to be a truly comprehensive program that transfers risk [away from the operator],” said Rolls-Royce sales and marketing vice president Stephen Friedrich. “We want to be sure that your support program covers factors such as corrosion. This enhances asset value and liquidity, covering both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance visits, loaner engines and spares-onwing during line maintenance.” For all turbofans apart from the AE3007 family, Rolls-Royce now has the ability to automatically download data from engines. This has significantly enhanced the manufacturer’s ability to trend their performance through engine

BROKERS HAVE PLENTY OF PRE-OWNED STOCK ON STATIC DISPLAY Selling pre-owned business aircraft in today’s strained market conditions is not for the faint-hearted. It takes knowledge, connections and tenacity—all qualities that are much in evidence at the 2016 NBAA static display, where the cream of the world’s expert aircraft sales brokers have their clients’ assets on display. Connecticut-based Guardian Jet has one of the largest clusters of aircraft on show, with five models, including a 2013 Gulfstream G650 and a 2005 G550, as well as a 2012 Cessna Citation CJ4, 2010 Hawker 900XP and 1999 Falcon 2000. Managing partner Don Dwyer told AIN that deals for both buyers and sellers are flowing more readily than some commentators would suggest. In particular, he refuted suggestions that the outcome of next week’s U.S. presidential election has brought the market to a halt. Other leading pre-owned aircraft brokers present on the static display this week include Avpro, International Jet Traders, JetAviva, Jetcraft, Jeteffect, Leading Edge Aviation Solutions and The Jet Business. —C.A.

CAYMAN-BASED GROUP GOES GLOBAL Aviation Management Services (Cayman) is expanding its operational support business worldwide, starting November 1, with new offices in the UK, China and the U.S. The group, which began trading from its Grand Cayman headquarters in August, supports operators with a variety of services including assistance with registering aircraft around the world. It also handles all aspects of aircraft management, acquisition, delivery and acceptance, safety, quality and security audits, as well as financial due diligence and crew resourcing. AMS (Booth 3612) works with all major aircraft registries, but specifically with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI). The company was formed by business aviation veterans William Mermerlstein and Marcus Cumber. “William and I formed AMS to round out my desire to provide the best customer support and services in all areas of aviation operations,” said Cumber. “Grand Cayman is ideal for many reasons.” The new company offices around the world are located in Guildford, near London, Shanghai, China, and Chandler, Arizona. —S.C.

Through its CorporateCare fixed-cost engine maintenance program, Rolls-Royce is looking to reduce corporate aircraft operators’ exposure to risk, while providing a comprehensive customer support network.

health monitoring, with data compared to fleet averages and specific operating parameters. “We contact operators if trending flags up problems,” Friedrich explained. “We don’t want to have engines that have to be removed unexpectedly from the wing; we want to do it conveniently for the operator.” Among the key focus points for RollsRoyce customer services vice president Andy Robinson and his team have been improving performance in averting situations where engine problems result

in missed trips and keeping aircrafton-ground response times to less than 24 hours. For Rolls-Royce operators, CorporateCare support is now averting missed trips in 97 percent of cases. Rolls-Royce (Booth 3300) achieved top ranking for AOG responsiveness in the latest AIN engine product support survey published in October. Part of the reason for improved AOG performance is the manufacturer’s investment in parts distribution centers in Dubai, Frankfurt and Singapore. o

Mitsubishi’s MU-2 product support develops more safety enhancements by James Wynbrandt Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA; Booth 3826) of Addison, Texas, announced several safety enhancements for its MU-2 twin turboprop this week at NBAA 2016, including a new angle-of-attack (AOA) indicator and an updated icing awareness video. The FAA-approved AOA indicator system, developed by Alpha Systems, has been adapted to incorporate all MU-2 flap settings and provides “visual and audio indications of angle of attack for all approach and departure phases of flight,” said Mark Korin, CEO of Minnesotabased Alpha Systems. The AOA display is set above the glareshield, so “it is always in the pilot’s vision, and the audio warning when AOA is too high will provide an additional safety tool for the pilot even when concentrating outside the airplane during, for instance, a circling approach,” noted Ron Renz, flight-test engineer for the project. AOA kits for both long- and shortbody models of the MU-2 series are available from the MU-2 Parts Center.

Mitsubishi MU-2 operators now have an FAA-approved angle-of-attack indicator.

MHIA’s MU-2 Product Support Division also announced the next version of the MU-2 icing awareness video will be available in early 2017. The FAA mandates MU-2 pilots watch the video at least once every two years, and since the first was produced in 1997, no MU-2 accidents have resulted from icing. The new video is just over one hour in length and contains more current information on airframe icing than the original. Meanwhile, the FAA has introduced a new regulation governing training, experience and operating requirements for MU-2 pilots. The new rule, Part 91 Subpart N, replaces and updates the old standard, Special

FAR 108. Operators in compliance with SFAR 108 remain in compliance with the new rule, but meeting the standards in the future might be affected as qualifications for MU-2 trainers have been changed under the revised regulations. Additionally, the new rule moves mandates on training elements from the code of federal regulations to an Advisory Circular. “This will benefit the MU-2 community since modifications to the training program (such as changes to the stall recovery procedure) will be more easily corrected with AC updates in the future,” said Pat Cannon, manger of MHIA’s Part 91 Subpart N program. o

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 33

Elliott’s 400E program puts top mods on menu by Mark Huber In late September, Elliott Aviation took in its second 400E, the à la carte refurbishment program for Beechjet 400As/Hawker 400XPs. Owners can choose from menu selections including Garmin G5000 avionics with a Luma Technologies LED master warning panel; Gogo Wi-Fi with Gogo Vision (on-demand movies); a new exterior paint design; and a completely redesigned, weight-saving interior. The 400E features the firstever field installation of a Garmin G5000 in a Beechjet 400A or Hawker 400XP. Prices and downtimes for the program range from $400,000 and 15 days for the G5000 retrofit to $700,000 and 50 days if the customer adds new paint, interior and Gogo Wi-Fi and Vision systems, according to Elliott. The first installation was completed on an aircraft purchased on spec by the company’s aircraft sales division Elliott Jets and was sold in September. In addition to the complete 400E package, this second aircraft is also receiving a two-tone paint scheme finished in pearl paints and a full landing gear overhaul.

The redesigned 400E interior includes a new shell kit with a recessed headliner that yields more headroom. Elliott also redesigned the forward baggage cabinet to create more usable space for storage and amenities while adding a prep/serving area. Newly fabricated cabinetry also saves weight. The interior features USB charging ports, redesigned cabinetry and variable-color LED upwash and downwash cabin lighting that can be controlled through a mobile app. A 21st Century Cabin

Customers can also select à la carte options for RGB lighting, toe-kick accent lighting, electronically dimmable window shades and floor plan changes. The lower cabin sidewall features a redesigned arm ledge with LED accent lighting in the drink holders, window reveals and electric window shades. Paint is to customer specifications. In addition to Garmin and Gogo, the retrofit project is supported by vendors including Air Source One, AWR, Belt Makers, Booth Veneers, Dallas Airmotive, High-Tech Finishing,

Satcom Direct to deliver Panasonic connectivity by Curt Epstein At last year’s NBAA Convention, Panasonic (Booth 3432) launched its business aviation connectivity efforts with the announcement that it had selected Astronics Aerosat as its hardware manufacturer. At this year’s show, the company announced that it has named Satcom Direct (SD) as its first business aviation value-added reseller. “With our proven leadership in connectivity, renowned customer focus and understanding

of the market, we have the ability to deliver high-throughput connectivity to our customers across the world with Panasonic’s worldwide footprint,” said Scott Hamilton, Satcom Direct’s chief strategy officer. Panasonic’s Global Ku-band network includes 19 satellites, and is approved to operate in more than 200 countries. It provides 99.6-percent global air route coverage, with the only gaps coming

The Beechjet/Hawker 400 series represents an ideal size and configuration for many operators, which is why there are multiple modification programs available. Elliott Aviation’s 400E upgrade offers a menu-based selection of avionics, paint and interior mods that could appeal to large numbers of operators of the popular twinjet.

JBRND, Luma Technologies, Scott Group Studio, Tapis and Townsend Leather. “Listening to Beechjet 400A and Hawker 400XP operators, Elliott Aviation’s vision of the 400E was to take modern technologies in avionics, interior, cabin entertainment and paint design to provide additional capabilities into a proven airframe while maintaining the cost effectiveness of this aircraft,” said Greg Sahr, president of Elliott Aviation. “With a sound airframe that has no life limit, available overhaul or replacement of the Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D engines and now a fully updated cockpit and interior, we have a great program to extend the useful life and useful load capacity of the 400 model aircraft. All of these upgrades can be done at a very affordable upgrade cost, which blows away a comparableperforming new aircraft.” When paired with the Garmin G5000 retrofit, the new interior increases the useful load of the aircraft 350 pounds or more, according to Elliott. In addition to the 400E interior package, Elliott was the

first dealer to retrofit a Garmin G5000 and currently is working on three more G5000 installations. The company currently has 15 Garmin G5000 installations sold. The trio of 12-inch LCD screens that make up the Garmin G5000 touchscreen-controlled avionics layout include Garmin’s digital autopilot, engine condition

at the poles. “For business aviation customers, staying connected is more than just email,” said David Bruner, Panasonic’s vice president for global communications. “With SD, we are changing the game in business aviation communications.” Intended primarily for in-flight entertainment, the Panasonic system provides Internet connectivity, wireless content streaming from an onboard server to portable devices, global cellphone functionality and live television. “Our live television is a unique service in that you don’t have to add additional equipment to the aircraft,” said David Bruner, Panasonic’s vice president for global communications. “The

same hardware that provides you with this highest bandwidth available in the marketplace also delivers live television.” A proprietary sports broadcast channel holds licensing for all major events. The company is already deploying high-throughput satellite service and is also designing extreme-throughput satellite capacity to ensure the best possible experience for this market. Panasonic’s open architecture network means it can easily scale its satellite network to meet growing bandwidth needs of business aviation. “One of the concepts we’ve introduced for this particular business segment is what we call prioritized traffic,” said

34 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

indications and options for synthetic vision, electronic charts, XM weather, WAAS/LPV and ADS-B compliance that meets all 2020 mandates. Meghan Welch, the company’s paint and interiors sales manager, said of the 400E program, “After we did the research, we were able to give operators what they asked for.” o

PPG EXPANDS WINDSHIELD WARRANTY ON BEECHCRAFTS Transparency specialist PPG Aerospace (Booth 1219) has extended its warranty on rebuilt windshields for Beech 1900 and King Air turboprops to three years. This warranty applies to PPG-rebuilt windshields purchased on or after June 1, 2016. “PPG is pleased to offer operators an extended warranty on these rebuilt windshields as a result of their exceptional reliability that is comparable to the new parts,” said PPG global director of general aviation transparencies Mark Hood. “As the manufacturer of the certified original-equipment windshields for the King Air and spares for both the King Air and 1900 airplanes, PPG rebuilds parts to the latest Beechcraft-approved design configuration. Aircraft operators have lower cost alternatives to buying new spares without compromising performance or quality, and now PPG supports that with an even longer warranty.” Here at the NBAA show, PPG Aerospace will be displaying a rebuilt King Air windshield. PPG supplies FAA-certified rebuilt windshields with Surface Seal hydrophobic coating. The windshields are manufactured and rebuilt at the company’s Huntsville, Ala. factory. —S.C.

Bruner. “For this customer group they want a consistent service wherever they fly. Essentially they get first shot at every piece of bandwidth that’s available.” According to Marshal Perlman, Panasonic’s general manager for business aviation, its satcom system has received FAA DO-160 authorization and the first example is currently being installed on a Gulfstream IV. The company expects to receive an STC for the installation by yearend. Since it is a Ku-based system, from a retrofit perspective it can utilize the same radome as existing Ku systems, saving thousands of dollars on installation costs, as well as speeding the upgrade process. o

Wheels Up has 3,000 members, expects to triple in three years by James Wynbrandt Wheels Up (Booth 1076), the membershipbased aircraft access program launched three years ago, has just exceeded 3,000 members and plans to triple membership over the next three years, company founder and CEO Kenny Dichter said on

Monday at NBAA 2016. The Wheels Up fleet now stands at 70 aircraft—55 King Air 350i twin turboprops and 15 factory refurbished Cessna Citation XLSs—operated by Gama Aviation. Membership provides access to the

ENGINEERING THE IMPOSSIBLE SM

fleet at fixed hourly costs ($3,950 per hour for King Airs), with corporate members paying $29,500 for the first year and $14,500 per year thereafter, while individual memberships cost $17,500 initially and $8,500 for renewal. Dichter also reported its entry-level, restricted-benefits “8760” membership program, introduced this year and priced at $5,950 annually, now has 750 members. Corporate customers represent about 20 percent of membership and use the aircraft about twice as much as individual members. The two groups’ usage is complementary, Dichter noted—corporate demand is heaviest Monday through Thursday, while individuals use the aircraft primarily on Fridays and Sundays. Total revenues at Wheels Up are now about $250 million annually, and member retention rates are “better than 85 percent,” Dichter said. He believes retention will cross 90 percent with the addition of recent program benefits.

In the past year, Wheels Up introduced Flight Desk, a charter brokerage service for members, and member shuttle flights. The Flight Desk brokerage arranges charter for members whose travel needs fall outside of the fleet’s capabilities, using lift from 80 vetted operators. Shuttle flights, meanwhile, aim to use the fleet during otherwise slack times. Wheels Up now has shuttle flights to college football games on Saturdays, when there is lower demand for lift. Additionally, the company has made it possible to share flights among members traveling the same route, which helps balance fleet demand. Looking overseas, Wheels Up plans expansion into Europe in “late 2017 or early 2018,” with a fleet of 10 to 12 King Airs, Dichter said. He noted King Airs are the greenest aircraft in their class and, given Europe’s size, can reach 48 of the 60 most popular city pairs for business aviation flights. o

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36 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Daher (Booth 4882) is launching a new program to pair TBM turboprop owners with commercial charter operators. Called Fly and Charter your TBM (Fact), the program—announced this week at NBAA 2016—brings owners and operators together, as well as provides initial documentation, insurance guidance and technical advice. It also includes a “TBM charter pack,” a Daher-fashioned solution designed to propagate higher aircraft utilization rates. The charter pack includes an extended OEM maintenance plan, the TBM Care Program (TCP), to cover commercial operations and provide continuing airworthiness monitoring through CAMP Systems while also offering a dedicated maintenance hotline, and TBM professional training courses. Daher maintains that the aircraft is a more attractive charter platform now that it is offered with a lavatory option, which will be available on new-production aircraft next year. Currently, 40 TBM family aircraft are

used in commercial charter and corporate service, according to Daher. Separately, Daher announced that a TBM 930 cockpit has been delivered to Simcom Aviation Training for use in a new flight training device (FTD) being built by Frasca International. The FTD will be installed at Simcom’s Lee Vista Training Center in Orlando, Fla. It features an actual Garmin G3000 avionics suite, including weather radar and synthetic vision, along with XT4 image-generation and display and a 220-degree field-of-view. The FTD will join other training devices at Simcom for legacy TBMs. Daher is also bundling Jeppesen NavData and digital charts with the delivery of new TBM 900/930 models. Jeppesen subscriptions will be activated with new aircraft deliveries beginning in 2017. Year-to-date, the French aircraft manufacturer has delivered 37 TBMs this year, and more than 806 TBMs have been delivered overall, with the fleet accumulating 1.38 million flight hours. o

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GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE

Looking back at the last 12 months | Compiled by Samatha Cartaino

June 2016 • Gulfstream completed ultimate load testing for the G500. The ultimate load trials were carried out over five months, testing the fuselage, wing, vertical and horizontal stabilizers and control surfaces.

April 2016

October 2015 • Parent company General Dynamics reported Gulfstream Aerospace’s highest-ever quarterly revenue and the fifth consecutive quarterly profit exceeding $400 million in 3Q 2015. Gulfstream delivered 43 jets (31 large-cabin, 12 midsize) versus 31 aircraft (25 large, six midsize) in the same period last year. It also shipped 116 jets in the first nine months (89 large, 27 midsize), compared with 108 (84 large, 24 midsize) a year ago.

February 2016 • Gulfstream Aerospace announced it is sponsoring active-duty Army soldiers for a four-week internship program. The initiative is part of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Veterans Education Training and Transition (VET2) program. The purpose of VET2 is to teach veterans how to transition from a military environment to a civilian organization and its own unique culture.

December 2015 • Qatar Airways took delivery of the airline’s first Gulfstream, a G650ER (above) that was part of an order for up to 30 G650ERs, G500s and G600s. Qatar Airways group CEO Akbar Al Baker accepted the aircraft during a ceremony at Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Ga.

2015

• Gulfstream Aerospace’s Greater China fleet has grown to 166 airplanes, with more than 100 in mainland China, up from 30 in 2010.

• Gulfstream’s new 405,868-sqft/37,706-sq-m Product Support Distribution Center (PSDC) in Savannah, Ga., has started to ship and receive parts. The LEED Silvercertified building has more than 300 employees and houses more than $1.6 billion in spare parts for Gulfstreams. Gulfstream’s parts distribution team manages approximately 500,000 unique part numbers for 18 aircraft models at 11 warehouses and service centers worldwide, with the PSDC as the centerpiece of this network.

• Gulfstream received FAA approval for a synthetic vision upgrade to GIV-SPs equipped with the PlaneDeck avionics suite. The upgrade integrates synthetic vision with charts and maps, video capability and XM ground-based weather on flight displays to increase situational awareness.

• As the first G600 continues to come together, Gulfstream took a full-scale cabin mockup (above) on tour around the U.S. The road show allowed customers to look at some of the design concepts incorporated in both the G600 and its sister G500, and provided the company with feedback on the cabin and cockpit design.

• Gulfstream deliveries dropped 15.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. Gulfstream delivered 27 completed aircraft (19 large-cabin jets, eight midsize jets) in the first quarter, compared with 32 (25 large-cabin, seven midsize) in the same period last year.

August 2016 • Gulfstream announced that the first fully outfitted G500 took flight. The aircraft took off from Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, climbed to 48,000 feet, reached Mach 0.84 and flew for four hours, five minutes. • Gulfstream Aerospace appointed Jeannine Haas to the newly created position of chief marketing officer. Haas reports directly to Gulfstream president Mark Burns and is part of the company’s leadership team. She is responsible for developing, managing and leading Gulfstream’s worldwide marketing efforts, including advertising, branding, media relations and direct marketing. • Gulfstream’s company-owned service center in Brunswick, Ga., received approved maintenance organization (AMO) designations from Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Additionally, the company’s Las Vegas service center earned AMO status from Aruba.

2016

January 2016

March 2016

May 2016

July 2016

• The flight-test Gulfstream G500– dubbed T1–made its first crosscountry trip to Las Vegas for NBAA 2015. With test pilots Scott Martin and Scott Evans at the controls, the new twinjet flew from Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport into 75-knot headwinds, accomplishing the 1,630-nm trip in 4 hours 36 minutes. It averaged a speed of Mach 0.85 and altitude of 45,000 feet.

• Gulfstream announced it would reduce its workforce by about 3 percent and its contractor workforce by 600 people. The company had previously expanded its employee and contractor workforce to more than 16,500 people.

• Gulfstream Aerospace delivered a G650ER to Minsheng Financial Leasing. This marked the first factory-direct delivery of the ultra-long-range jet in mainland China. Minsheng Financial Leasing originally took delivery of its first Gulfstream, a G450, in June 2010.

• Gulfstream received EASA approval for private operations for its G650ER. The aircraft received U.S. FAA certification in October 2014 and customer deliveries of the jet began a month later.

• Gulfstream’s new G500 business jet made its European debut at the Farnborough International Airshow. The long-range aircraft arrived after a 3,732-nm nonstop flight from the company’s Savannah, Ga., headquarters in six hours, 55 minutes.

• Gulfstream opened a regional parts distribution center near Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport. The facility, located in Dubai South (formerly Dubai World Central), houses highusage items and provides rapidresponse support to Gulfstream’s factory-authorized service center and customers throughout the Middle East, India and Africa.

• Officials announced Gulfstream would lower production rate of the G450 during the first quarter of 2016, while G280 and G650 production would be increased slightly. This came after the company reduced the G550 production rate in the fourth quarter of last year. Shipments of green Gulfstreams were expected to decrease by about 6 percent this year.

MARK WAGNER

November 2015

• Gulfstream deliveries dropped by seven units to 34 in the second quarter. This includes 27 large-cabin and seven midsize jets, compared with 33 largecabin and eight midsize in the same quarter last year. Gulfstream Aerospace quarterly profits fell by $25 million from a year ago, to $845 million. • Qatar Airways president Akbar Al Baker announced at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow that the airline’s Qatar Executive division has placed an order for three more ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650ERs. They will join the three already in service, starting with the first delivery early next year. • Gulfstream’s completions center at its Savannah, Ga., headquarters has incorporated 3-D projection technology into the process of designing and executing aircraft paint schemes, for more flexibility and better quality. Gulfstream engineers helped design the software, which projects a three-dimensional paint scheme onto the aircraft while accounting for how the curved surface might distort the image.

38 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

September 2016 • Gulfstream released an iOS app that enables Gulfstream G650/G650ER pilots to calculate takeoff and landing performance data quickly. The app uses a verified weight-and-balance program that allows operators to determine takeoff and landing weights for their specific airplane after inputting the number of passengers, cargo and fuel loads. • Gulfstream’s long-range, largecabin G500 (bottom) continues to advance toward anticipated FAA certification next year. As first reported in AIN, the new twinjet is also getting more cabin windows: the prototype aircraft had 12, but Gulfstream is increasing this to 14 on production aircraft. • Gulfstream will cease production of the midsize G150 (left) next year so it can “focus on the supermidsize and large-cabin jet markets,” Mark Burns, president of the Savannah, Georgia-based aircraft manufacturer, announced. The company’s line-up will thus consist of the G280 in the super-midsize category and the G450, G500, G550, G600 and G650/650ER in the large-jet segment.

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Big benefits on tap with Honeywell apps by Matt Thurber Honeywell has turned loose its software developers and tasked them with speeding up delivery of useful mobile apps to the aviation community. Part of Honeywell’s GoDirect one-stop services shop, this effort enables Honeywell (Booth 2200) to deliver safety innovations much faster because these apps don’t require certification. Updating the apps can also go much faster because no regulatory approval is required.

One of the first GoDirect products is the Flight Preview app, which allows pilots to “pre-fly” an instrument approach depicted on the Apple iPad to help them become familiar with the procedure and the runway environment before flying the actual approach. Another app is the Weather Information Service app, which went live earlier this year. The Fuel Efficiency app, which was developed with technology the

company gained through its acquisition last year of Bulgarian company Aviaso, helps airlines track fuel tankering, potable water loads, flaps use, etc., to see how the flight could be flown more efficiently. For maintenance operations, the MyMaintainer app taps into data from the aircraft and tracks crew-alerting-system messages. The app can point to the origin of the fault, track the history of similar

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The Flight Preview function allows crews to “fly” an instrument approach ahead of time. The tablet’s left pane displays a “movie” of the approach, while the right plane displays the approach plate.

faults and send messages to a central office for corrective action. The Flight Preview app: The app “has the same FMS logic in our FMS products,” said Kiah Erlich, general manager of Honeywell’s Flight Support Services business. It allows pilots to select an airport and any of its instrument procedures, choose the transition, then preview the entire approach. The iPad’s left pane shows a 2-D Google Maps-based “movie” of the approach, and the right side shows the approach plate. “Push ‘play’ and you’re watching a movie about that approach,” Erlich said, “with terrain, the street view, minimums, each transition and the missed approach.” Honeywell sees the Flight Preview app as a tool for instrument students as well as experienced pilots. “We’re working with a couple of airlines on getting Flight Preview into their ops specs to count toward their airport training,” she said. Pilots might want to preview approaches while planning a flight, or the app can also run standalone without Internet access, as a briefing tool during low-workload phases of flight or when given a reroute with a different approach procedure. The Weather Information Service app: This app is designed to help pilots assess weather conditions both during preflight and while in flight. Users can input a flight plan, including waypoints, and view the current and forecast weather over the route. Radar, cumulonimbus tops, winds, clear air turbulence, icing and Sigmets can be displayed. A vertical situation display (VSD) shows a profile view of the forecast conditions based on the selected cruise altitude. For example, a purple area on the weather map shows widespread clear air turbulence, but viewing the same condition on the VSD shows the location and altitude of medium and high forecast conditions along on the planned route. A forecast slider button allows the user to project ahead up to 24 hours to see how conditions are expected to change. Another slider moves the weather observation backward as much as three hours. A super handy feature in the app is Digital-ATIS, which eliminates having to dial up a frequency to listen to the ATIS information, if on-board connectivity is available, or to pull up the D-ATIS from the FMS. Weather Information Service is available on the iPad and also on Microsoft Windows and Surface 3 tablets. o

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ATP tech pubs going mobile, with new cloud-based platform by Gregory Polek Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP, Booth 825) has introduced a new mobile app in its latest move to transform itself from purely a distributor of technical publications to more of a services-oriented company. Scheduled for introduction in January, the new mobile app extends the reach of the company’s ATP Aviation Hub by providing users with more options to access cloud platform tools and services. It allows users to run the application on mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets and laptops that run on Windows, iOS or Android. It also allows customers to download and store content to their devices locally, ensuring access to content even when not connected to the Internet. The initial release of the mobile application will focus on providing access to ATP maintenance libraries and compliance tracking of airworthiness directives

and service bulletins. Acquired last November by CEO Charles Picasso and Chicago-based ParkerGale Capital, ATP has evolved to focus on what Picasso called the general and business aviation ecosystem through the use of certain tools that connect with the content in question. “That means to make the content smarter and, secondly, to be integrated in the customer workflow,” he explained. “For the MROs, it’s to integrate that with maintenance tracking. It means to have them to be able to track, first of all, the technical publication related to the relevant element of the aircraft, to look at the inspection, to be sure they are in compliance with the regulatory standards...and the parts information. That means today, with the mobile app, we have complete integration between the workflow or the

Astronautics selects SEA, Aerotec as RoadRunner dealers by Kerry lynch Astronautics Corporation of America named Southeast Aerospace (SEA) in the U.S. and Aerotec in France as the beginnings of what will become a network of dealers that will bring the Astronautics 4700 RoadRunner electronic flight instrument (EFI) to market for both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The dealers will sell, install and service the RoadRunner EFI. In addition, the facilities also may work with Astronautics (Booth 4790) on securing supplemental type certificates for new applications. Both companies bring a background in avionics and instrument services. Based in

Graulhet, France, Aerotec specializes in “aeronautics maintenance and manufacturing,” and is certified to maintain avionics equipment and flight instruments on both fixed-wing and rotorcraft. The facility provides a gateway for the RoadRunner in Europe. Melbourne, Fla.-based SEA (Booth 4657) provides an anchor for Astronautics in the Southeast U.S. The facility integrates, sells and services avionics and instruments for general aviation, corporate and regional aircraft and helicopters. While a number of manufacturers have used dealer networks to bring their products

The Astronautics RoadRunner series of electronic fight instruments is designed as a simple replacement for legacy mechanical gyros in fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircaft. The company recently assigned Southeast Aerospace in the U.S. and Aerotec in France as regional sales and service representatives.

42 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

ATP management has invested time working with maintenance organizations to better understand their needs. The latest mobile app is part of the result.

work process and the different elements related to the documentation.” Picasso added that he and his staff have spent a lot of time with MROs to understand their work processes and their needs beyond simply accessing technical information. With the OEMs, 54 of which ATP counts as clients, Picasso’s team worked to determine where they needed to improve in to market, this marks a first for Astronautics, said Dan Barks, the company’s product marketing manager. Astronautics has typically worked directly with other manufacturers, their suppliers and governments with its other displays and equipment. But the RoadRunner is designed to replace aging displays on legacy aircraft. Operators of these aircraft may only have one or two models and can be spread out around the globe, requiring a dealer network for sales and installation, Barks explained. Announced during this year’s HeliExpo in Louisville, Ky., the RoadRunner is designed to replace older electromechanical attitude and heading indicators. The RoadRunner can use existing wiring, interface with legacy radios and other instruments and can fit in the cockpit where older five-inch attitude and directional indicators and horizontal situation indicators are located, making for a much simpler installation. Barks noted that in some applications the RoadRunner connects to aircraft wiring via an adapter harness, meaning no wiring modifications are required for a simple plug-n-play installation. As the RoadRunner updates the displays, it also accommodates newer safety features such as helicopter terrain awareness and warning system and synthetic vision. “This is about adding capability and adding safety,” Barks said, noting many of these aircraft have few simple replacement options. Astronautics has introduced the unit in most of the major markets around the globe, Barks said. “We’ve had discussions about this product in virtually every region. There’s strong interest really everywhere there’s fleets,” he said. The first application will be the Agusta A109. Astronautics hopes to complete the supplemental type certificate on that model in spring 2017. “There’s a real need for a replacement solution on this one,”

terms of customer service and parts supply. “That’s why we have approached the market with the mobile app, because the more the customers are satisfied by the information they get, the more they are satisfied with the OEMs,” he said. Of course, Picasso hopes it will also generate more business for ATP, which, he said, realized double-digit gains in revenues over the past year through both organic growth and with the help of a new partnership it announced in May with Swedish operating manual provider Web Manuals (also at Booth 825). Now, ATP has turned its sights toward acquisitions of companies that could help aid its efforts in the areas of maintenance and parts workflow, troubleshooting, diagnosis, fault detection and record keeping. “Troubleshooting and fault detection are very specific applications,” explained Picasso. “They call for some artificial intelligence or algorithms and also historical data, so this is something a little bit new for ATP. That’s why we believe acquiring something in that space would be very complementary to our customer base and would significantly enhance the value proposition.” o Barks said. The company is looking at a number of other applications as well, including both fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. “We’re working on the order. We’ll see where the most demand is for the ones that follow.” The dealership network can assist in those future applications. It also can provide a foundation for the future, Barks said. “It gives us an opportunity to introduce other new products into the market.” o

JET AVIATION BASEL TO PROVIDE P&WC BAFFLE REPLACEMENTS As a manufacturer-appointed service provider in Europe for PW300 engines, Jet Aviation’s maintenance center in Basel, Switzerland, worked closely with Pratt & Whitney Canada to acquire the tools and training to comply with the manufacturer’s Service Bulletin 72-47178 for baffle replacements. The SB calls for replacement of the left and right bevel gear oil shield on PW307A engines and is classified as a “heavy maintenance” input. “Demand for this service is strong, and we invested in the required tooling and training under this service bulletin to ensure we can continue to support our customers as needed,” said Hans-Peter Amacher, manager of the engine shop at Jet Aviation Basel. “Our acquired expertise extends to P&WC’s improved number four bearing carbon seal and seal runner [under SB 72-47217], which can also be incorporated with the baffle replacement.” Earlier this year, the Basel maintenance center received approval from EASA to operate its new Honeywell auxiliary power unit overhaul facility for the GTCP36100/150 series. Jet Aviation is exhibiting at Booth 265. —M.T.

Revealing the

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EMBRAER EXECUTIVE JETS

Looking back at the last 12 months | Compiled by Samatha Cartaino August 2016 • Embraer introduced the Phenom Ace (left), an auto-racing-inspired enhancement package of interior refurbishment options and exterior paint schemes for current Phenom 100 owners. Representatives stated that lightened interior components will yield higher airspeed as well as greater payload and range.

MARK WAGNER

April 2016

October 2015 • Embraer Executive Jets handed over the 300th Phenom 300 to an undisclosed U.S. customer. The commemorative Phenom 300 was assembled at and delivered from Embraer’s facility in Melbourne, Fla. This came just one year after achieving the same milestone for the smaller Phenom 100/100E.

December 2015

• By delivering 44 aircraft during the first three months of 2016, Embraer’s business jet deliveries were strong in Q1. The company’s executive jet line accounted for 23 of the deliveries, which was almost twice the 12 business jets delivered in the first quarter last year. The executive jet deliveries made in the first quarter of this year consisted of 12 light jets and 11 large jets.

• Embraer’s 10-year demand forecast for business jets predicted sales of 9,100 aircraft worldwide worth $259 billion. This represented an annual growth rate of 3 percent, as well as a gain in deliveries compared with the previous decade, at 8,190 business jet shipments worth $198 billion.

2015

June 2016 • Embraer and Avic subsidiaries Harbin Aviation Industry and Harbin Hafei Aviation Industry announced they will “phase out” their Chinese joint-venture company Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry (HEAI) after 13 years of manufacturing and delivering commercial and executive jets in China. • Legacy 450/500 production began in Embraer’s Melbourne, Fla., facility. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other elected officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony on June 2. The company also announced that Phenom 100 and 300 assembly at the Melbourne facility, which operated at a rate of five per month, would expand to six per month.

• Embraer announced a plan to cut its workforce in Brazil through a so-called Voluntary Dismissal Program (VDP) in an effort to save some $200 million. An Embraer spokesman told AIN that the program will apply to all its divisions, including commercial and military. • Flexjet added another aircraft model to its portfolio with the acceptance of its first Embraer Legacy 450. The 450 is part of an order that Flexjet announced in May 2015 for an unspecified number of 450s and 500s. Flexjet first accepted the slightly larger 500 in September 2015 and now has four in its fleet. The fractional provider anticipates that it will have five Legacy 450s in its fleet by year-end.

2016

November 2015

January 2016

March 2016

May 2016

July 2016

• Embraer Executive Jets announced at the NBAA convention in Las Vegas that its Legacy 450 and 500 received Brazilian ANAC certification for steep approaches. The company had been conducting steep approach testing at London City Airport.

• The first Phenom 100E arrived in China (below). The light jet is being operated by Wanfeng Aviation, a subsidiary of the Wanfeng Auto Holding Group, for business travel.

• Embraer announced that deliveries of commercial jets (25 light and 20 large jets–101 deliveries for all of 2015) surpassed its overall annual guidance for 2015. Embraer Executive Jets delivered 82 light jets and 38 large jets throughout 2015, meeting its projections from this time last year.

• Air Hamburg announced it has signed an agreement with Embraer for another Legacy 650 business jet (below). The aircraft is the ninth Embraer in Air Hamburg’s fleet, which includes seven Legacy 600/650s and one Phenom 300.

• The Legacy 450 received certification for an extended range of 2,904 nm/5,378 km from Brazil’s ANAC, the FAA and the EASA. This ensures that the midsize jet now has 329 nm/609 km more range than the previous certified figure. The aircraft received certification after “minor modifications” were made to the wing to accommodate more fuel.

• Embraer delivered 120 business jets last year—the most since 2010, when it shipped 144. Last year’s deliveries were up by four aircraft over the 116 delivered in 2014. The 2015 shipments included 82 Phenoms and 38 larger jets. Revenues were expected to increase to about $8.9 billion versus 2015’s $8.85 billion.

DAVID McINTOSH

• Embraer announced its partnership with DHL to create a new global logistics model designed specifically for business aviation. Officials confirmed the logistics service will provide overnight deliveries even when an order comes in late in the day. Additionally, an integrated IT solution will offer real-time visibility and improved tracking.

DAVID McINTOSH

• Flexjet received Embraer’s 1,000th business jet delivery (left). The milestone aircraft, which was the fourth Legacy 500 to join Flexjet’s fleet, was part of the fractional provider’s firm order for the Legacy 400 and 500.

• Embraer delivered 26 business jets in 2Q, down from 33 a year ago. Although the mix in the most recent quarter changed to 15 Phenom 300s and eight Phenom 100Es, Phenom deliveries declined by three aircraft to 23 overall. However, the company’s business jet deliveries were still up in the first half of this year since it delivered 49 business jets in the first six months compared to last year’s 45 in the same period.

44 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

• Embraer announced an updated version of its Phenom 100E light jet with new avionics, slightly faster top cruise speed, substantially faster climb to altitude times, 43 pounds of more full fuel payload and better high/hot performance. The latter includes substantially shorter takeoff distances that shrink by nearly 1,000 feet. The $4.495 million Phenom 100EV will feature Prodigy Touch (touchscreencontrolled) avionics built on the Garmin G3000 system and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW617F1-E engines that each deliver 1,730 pounds of thrust, 35 pounds more per side more than the PW617-Es on the 100E. • Expectations of a protracted downturn in the business jet market have prompted Embraer to lower its delivery projections for this year by some 8 percent. Having so far delivered 49 business jets during the first six months of the year, the company now expects to ship between 70 and 80 light jets by the end of 2016, compared with its previous projection of between 75 and 85, and some 35 to 45 large jets, compared with its earlier estimates of between 40 and 50. Consequently, the company now expects revenues generated by its Executive Jets division to total $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, compared with its previous projection of $1.75 to $1.9 billion.

September 2016 • Embraer confirmed that it is cutting 1,463 employees, or about 8 percent of its workforce, through a voluntary buyout program as part of an effort to save $200 million. In addition, Embraer revised down its business delivery forecast for the year and reported a 25 percent drop in revenues from its executive jet unit in the second quarter. • Embraer opened its new 50,000-sq-ft aircraft seatmanufacturing plant in Titusville, Fla. The Embraer Aero Seating Technologies facility will focus on manufacturing all seating for Embraer’s Phenom light jets and first-class seating for the new E-190E2 airliner. The facility is expected to create 150 new jobs by 2020.

APS joins with CAE on Army upset training by Curt Epstein Advanced flight training provider Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) has partnered with CAE to provide upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) as part of the U.S. Army’s new fixed-wing flight training program in Dothan, Ala. Aimed at helping reduce the risk of loss of control, inflight, (LOC-I), APS’s UPRT will be part of a training program that includes academics, simulator and live flight training, all of which will be conducted at CAE’s new training center, currently under construction at Dothan Regional Airport. The program will support the transition of rotarywing aviators to fixed-wing aircraft as well as training abinitio fixed-wing students. “Upset prevention and recovery training is a critical part of pilot training, so we are pleased to select APS as our UPRT

training partner and look forward to working closely with APS to deliver a world-class UPRT program as part of Army fixed-wing flight training,” said Ray Duquette, president and general manager, CAE USA. APS will base two senior instructors at the Dothan facility, where they will train and certify to company standards CAE instructor pilots to deliver UPRT on six new, aerobatic Grob G120TP trainers as well as on four CAE-built 7000XR series Beech King Air C-12 full flight simulators, which will feature FAA-approved UPRT instructor stations. To date more than 100 CAE instructors have taken the APS course. “It is a great honor to expand APS’s longstanding U.S. Army UPRT program into the new Army Fixed-Wing Flight Training program,” said APS president Paul Ransbury,

The U.S. Army’s fixed-wing training command in Dothan, Alabama, has added upset prevention and recovery training to its curriculum. A joint venture between APS and CAE will administer the training, using six aerobatic Grob G120TP trainers.

“Together with CAE, we will take progressive steps to maximize air safety by providing Army pilots proven and effective upset prevention and recovery training that provides the knowledge and skills necessary to overcome aviation’s primary cause of aircraft fatalities, which is loss of control in flight.” Arizona-based APS (Booth 4663) and its partner Top Aces recently added the Dornier

Alpha Jet to APS’s UPRT training program, where it joins a fleet that includes Top Aces TA-4J Skyhawks and APS SIAI-Marchetti S211s, giving it “the widest array of jet training aircraft” to implement its training programs. “Top Aces is a leader in highperformance air combat training for the U.S., NATO and allies worldwide, and is well suited to support APS’s leadership in jet upset training with our Alpha

Jet and TA-4J aircraft,” noted Top Aces vice president David Philman. “The use of highperformance all-attitude jet aircraft provides the most robust training in upset prevention and recovery training for business and commercial aircraft today. Our Alpha Jets and Skyhawks allow pilots to safely train with confidence and investigate a wide variety of stall and upset recovery scenarios to help prevent loss of control in flight.” o

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www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 45

Lightspeed’s Tango interface now charges batteries in flight by Bill Carey Lightspeed Aviation (Booth 3307) has enhanced the LEMO version of its noisecanceling Tango wireless aviation headset to eliminate worry over its battery life. The new feature of the Tango panel interface unit allows it to charge a spare battery from the airplane’s power, making available a ready power supply if the headset or panel interface unit battery becomes depleted. The panel interface unit routes communications between the headset, the intercom and auxiliary devices as well as storing the lower The panel interface for Lightspeed’s Tango headset can now recharge batteries in flight using the ship’s power.

cable. The battery typically lasts about 12 hours. A backup cable stored in the panel interface can be used if the batteries are both depleted. Current owners of the Tango wireless headset with a LEMO connection can have their unit retrofitted for $40, according to Lightspeed Aviation. That includes a spare lithium-ion battery and return shipping for the LEMO panel interface, which must be returned to Lightspeed’s Lake Oswego, Ore., facility for the upgrade. “Pilots have expressed their appreciation for the freedom from cables while using the Tango wireless headset. It is a breakthrough experience pilots have been waiting for,” said Teresa De Mers, Lightspeed Aviation executive v-p of sales and marketing. “Pilots are also enthusiastic about the convenience and value of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries,” De Mers added. “Now, not only are the batteries rechargeable, but with the LEMO version, they will recharge from the ship’s power in flight, eliminating the need to ever worry about battery status again.” o

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TRUENORTH INTRODUCES SIMPHONE PRO AND UPGRADE PROGRAM TrueNorth Avionics (Booth 664) has introduced its new Simphon¯e Pro cabin communications system as well as an upgrade incentive good through Q2 2017. The Simphon¯e Pro is a direct replacement for legacy Simphon¯e systems, with no need for wiring or other changes. Buyers can purchase Simphon¯e Pro in two versions, with or without dual Iridium voice and data channels. The system consists of a 4 MCU box and includes aviation-certified Wi-Fi, highfidelity telephone with full-featured VoIP PBX, enterprise email and connectivity with mobile devices, according to TrueNorth. The Wi-Fi capability is upgraded, too, with dual-band (2.4 and 5.0 GHz), simultaneous 802.11ac and standard 801.11b/g/n. Under TrueNorth’s “Pro-motion” plan, buyers can upgrade to the Simphon¯e Pro with Iridium for $49,600 (retail price is $65,200). The non-Iridium system retails for $45,200, and the discount price is $34,000. TrueNorth’s bandwidth-maximizing service connected.aero is included in the purchase. Buyers can also sign up for TrueNorth’s Optelity Care coverage, which “offers no-questions-asked returns, and covers

TrueNorth’s newest cabin communications system is an easy “plug and play”upgrade, with no need for additional racks or wiring.

all software and hardware upgrades,” according to the company. “Our Simphon¯e Pro communications system makes good on our promise to streamline equipment upgrades,” said Mark van Berkel, TrueNorth CEO. “All that most owners will have to do is pull out the old system and plug in the new one—no additional wiring or configuration required.” —M.T.

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46 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

KEY STEP TAKEN TOWARD SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY ATC

JetNet to reveal prices of elusive aircraft sales by Curt Epstein Industry data provider JetNet is about to unveil a new product that it believes will revolutionize the sometimes mysterious and shadowy world of aircraft sale prices. Launched here at NBAA’s annual convention in Orlando, JetNet Values will offer subscribers greater insight into aircraft values by presenting actual reported sold prices on aircraft transactions, as well as a suite of tools for better analysis of pricing data. “Our primary mission at JetNet has always been providing our clients with the tools they need to prosper in the aircraft— and now luxury marine—markets, as well as contributing to the health of the markets themselves,” said JetNet vice president Tony Esposito. “After careful planning and input from clients and industry experts, we have launched our groundbreaking new service, JetNet Values. We hope it has a positive impact on the way our clients do business.” The new service, which is available as an add-on to either the company’s Evolution or Marketplace Manager products, will provide reported sale and asking prices by aircraft serial number and sale price summaries to enhance market sales trends intelligence, as well as tools for editing, storing and summarizing data within the Marketplace Manager function. According to JetNet (Booth 3043), it has already confidentially gathered reported sale prices from more than 150 different sources. “Everyone needs to understand that the JetNet service is not sold to the general public,” said Paul Cardarelli, the Utica, N.Y.-based company’s vice president for sales. “The JetNet service is offered to an exclusive group. By and large, it’s the dealers and brokers, but it’s certainly financiers and the management companies as well. It’s all the people who have a stake in the sale of an aircraft.” Some have argued that, while each aircraft transaction is based on its own specific set of factors, and the reporting of an unusually low market price would simply set a new lower benchmark for aircraft pricing. Cardarelli responded, “Sometimes there are a lot of particulars that are not necessarily revealed by just looking at a price, so that’s why we are linking it to the serial number. You have to go in there, do

the due diligence and understand what the circumstances were about that aircraft.” o

Eurocontrol has received the final approval from its member states to lead the development and deployment of the European air/ground data communication service (EAGDCS). The Brussels-based agency said it will collaborate with the ATC providers of its member states and with aircraft operators within the context of the single European sky air traffic management research (SESAR) project. As an initial step, Eurocontrol is organizing a workshop next month to kick off setting up the framework to start delivering the EAGDCS service in February 2018 to ATC providers, with the goal of initial trajectory information sharing by January 2025. Air/ground datalink communication allows controllers and pilots to communicate with each other safely by reducing the chance of miscommunication and freeing up radio channels for more urgent messages. It is also an important step toward the SESAR concept of 4D trajectories, allowing exchange of data from an aircraft’s FMS to ATC, giving the controller real-time information on the pilot’s intentions. “This will be a major safety and efficiency improvement,” Eurocontrol said. —G.G.

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 47

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With 25 years of TBMs, Daher rolls out its 800th by Nigel Moll Twenty-five years after production of the TBM turboprop single began, Daher recently rolled out the 800th example—a TBM 930 that, after posing for the camera with employees at the manufacturer’s headquarters in Tarbes, France, crossed the Atlantic for delivery to regional distributor Elliott Aviation in Des Moines, Iowa. A quarter century is long enough that a recap of how this popular and capable airplane got to S/N 800 is in order. Perhaps not everyone remembers what the letters TBM signified 25 years ago. TB stands for Tarbes; and the M stands for Mooney. The idea of a pressurized single, pioneered by the Mooney M22 Mustang (1964) and more firmly established by the Cessna P210 (1978), was shooting out broader roots in the early 1980s with the Piper Malibu, Beech Lightning and Smith PropJet. Mooney returned to the fray with the M30/301, which first flew in April 1983, powered by a 360-hp Lycoming piston engine. The airplane logged 70 hours before Mooney parent Republic Steel was acquired by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), which had no interest in piston aircraft manufacturing. A Minnesota-based investment company held Mooney briefly, but then a French-based

consortium led by Paris-based Mooney dealer Alec Couvelaire bought the company. Big-time Personality

Couvelaire, small in stature but a giant in personality, brought fierce passion to the table; someone once observed that, no matter what he was saying, Couvelaire sounded as though he were announcing World War III. He and his team concluded that the 301 was too heavy, too slow (300 knots should be the target, not 301 mph) and needed a turboprop in the nose. Mooney and Aerospatiale (Socata) formed a joint venture, TBM International, in 1987 with plans for two production lines to build the TBM 700: in Kerrville, Texas, to supply U.S. demand; and in Tarbes, France, for the rest of the world. The TBM 700, much heavier than the 301 but with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A in the nose providing almost twice the power, first flew in July 1988. French and FAA certification followed in 1990 but in 1991, suffering from a shortage of money that has long dogged the plucky enterprise, Mooney pulled out. The M in the airplane’s name remains to this day, and the program passed through the parental hands of Airbus/EADS before ending up with current owner Daher in 2008.

UNIVERSAL APP NOW FEATURES SMS SUPPORT Global trip support specialist Universal Weather and Aviation (Booth 2611) has selected AviationManuals as the preferred Safety Management System (SMS) provider for its clients. AviationManuals, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, supports more than half of all operators registered under the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operators (IS-BAO). The AviationManuals SMS software, known as ARC, is now available, along with SMS manual development services, via uvGO, Universal’s scheduling application and online tool that allows aircraft operators to plan, build and manage missions worldwide. ARC is an iPad-friendly solution for submitting, storing and analyzing SMS data. It serves as a central location to store files, complete risk assessments and post company news as well as read, manage and initial logs. Through the integration, Universal can directly access ARC flight risk and hazard incident forms from the uvGO app. “We developed a new relationship with AviationManuals to help further drive down our clients’ operating risk by incorporating ARC seamlessly into uvGo,” said Denio Alvarado, Universal’s executive vice president of operations. “We chose AviationManuals because it is 100 percent dedicated to offering the latest in SMS technology and tools.” “The integration between our ARC software and Universal’s uvGO app will greatly increase access to quality SMS for operators worldwide,” added AviationManuals president Mark Baier. —C.E.

Bon Voyage! The production crew at Daher’s factory in Tarbes, France, form a “figure 800” to celebrate the 800th TBM to emerge from the factory. The TBM 930, Daher’s latest iteration of the 25-year-old design, produces 850 shp and scoots along at 330 knots with a range of 1,730 nm.

Comparing the first TBM 700 with today’s TBM 930 reveals that while the airplane’s performance and the sophistication of its cockpit have made undeniably major strides, so has the price. A 1991 model carried a price of $1.3 million when new. According to the U.S. government CPI inflation calculator, $1.3 million in 1990 dollars had the buying power of $2.3 million in 2016; the price of the TBM 930 in 2016 dollars is 1.8 times that amount. Milestone Aircraft

The 500th TBM was a TBM 850 that rolled out of the factory in 2009, followed by the 600th at the end of 2011 (also a TBM 850). The 700th TBM was a TBM 900 completed in 2014. Daher has taken orders for some 150 TBM 900s and TBM 930s, and as of September 15 this year 132 had been delivered. The TBM 900 introduced winglets, a vertical fin strake and new tail cone; a Hartzell five-blade composite propeller and redesigned spinner; and a restyled panel in the cockpit for better visibility and interaction with secondary system controls. The TBM 900 uses Garmin’s G1000 avionics suite, with a pair of 10-inch screens and a 15-inch multifunction display, along with a physical keyboard for navigation and communication functions. With the TBM 930, Daher retained the TBM 900’s airframe enhancements while integrating the Garmin G3000 avionics

50 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

1991 TBM 700

2016 TBM 930

$1.3 million ($2.3M in 2016 $)

$3.9 - $4.1 million

700 shp

850 shp

Max ramp

6,613 lbs

7,430 lbs

Max takeoff

6,580 lbs

7,394 lbs

Standard empty

3,946 lbs

4,629 lbs

1,863 lbs

1,949 lbs

300 ktas at 26,000 ft

330 ktas at 28,000 ft

1,672 nm

1,730 nm

BendixKing EFIS 40, KFC 275

Garmin G3000

Price Flat-rated power Weights

Max usable fuel Max cruise speed Max range, full tanks Avionics

suite, with three wide-format WXGA displays and touchscreen controllers. The interior of the TBM 930 has redesigned seating and headrests, along with a new choice of wood or carbon-fiber finishes. Polished metal is used for handles, door sills and steps. To date, TBMs have logged 1.37 million flight hours, equivalent to 8,500 flights around the world. The fleet is flown by 730 customers in 35 countries on six continents. On September 15, the first TBM 930 to be based in the UK was delivered to Attila Balogh, CEO of Partner in Pet Food, which operates nine pet food factories in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and

the Netherlands. He expects to fly the airplane 250 hours a year, primarily for business but also for pleasure with his family. Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s airplane business, said that Balogh “personifies the new generation of entrepreneur in Europe, who considers a business aircraft such as the TBM—with its excellent cost-to-speed ratio— an essential instrument for a company’s growth.” In France, regulations have enabled the TBM to be used for public passenger transport since 2013. Drawing on the French experience, the EASA plans to allow such operations across Europe beginning next year. o

The rapidly declining residual values in many segments of the pre-owned business jet market remain one of the major industry concerns, and that topic was the primary focus of the 6th Annual JetNet iQ Summit, held in mid-September in New York. According to data from Uticabased JetNet (Booth 3043), the pace of depreciation, particularly among young, large-cabin aircraft, has accelerated over the past two years. “It used to be that the typical airplane at the end of five years was at 75 percent of value based on constant dollars,” said panelist Robert Zuskin, president and owner of Virginia-based aircraft appraisal firm Jet Perspectives. “Today the norm is 50 to 60 percent at the end of five years, and the best airplanes I think right now are probably at 75 percent at five years, but those are few and far between. In terms of the big airplanes, the residual value depreciation is significant.” Brian Proctor, president and CEO of Dallas-based aircraft brokerage and advisory firm Mente Group, crunched the numbers using the G550 as an example. In his scenario the $50 million airplane flies 400 hours a year for five years. “The market depreciation on that airplane [is] roughly $5,600 an hour, at a 5 percent depreciation rate,” he noted, adding that such rates

will cause downstream changes in the market. “What’s going to end up happening over time is that the operators are going to get smarter, and they are going to realize that the aircraft are losing value faster than they can fly them. So charter rates are going to have to go up.” “There’s been a change in behavior,” noted Paul Cardarelli, JetNet’s vice president of sales. Before the recession, he explained, usage cycles outpaced the growth in gross domestic product (GDP). After the trough in 2009, cycles began to rebound, but this time steadily underperforming GDP growth. While the usage levels in the U.S. continue to slowly improve, this year they are expected to approximate the number of cycles recorded in 2003. Back then, there were approximately 9,500 business jets in the U.S.; today there are 12,500, according to JetNet statistics. “There’s just such an unbalanced supply-and-demand curve the likes of which, maybe, no industry in the history of the world has ever seen,” said industry veteran David Labrozzi. “It’s a problem that is not going to get any better until we somehow address the supply-demand curve.” The prospects of an industry resurgence are clearly tied to an increase in utilization, as JetNet’s

DAVID McINTOSH

by Curt Epstein

Lenders Remain Cautious

This uncertainty in the market, aside from causing jitters in owners and uncertainty in buyers, is also creating turmoil among the appraisal and lending communities. In one particular example, David Crick, a partner and senior appraiser with Lloyd’s Asset Services, noted one model with more than a dozen units on the market, all of them listed as “make offer.” “There’s no real clarity about what the take price might be, there is so much mud in the air that to actually put a value on that aircraft from evidence is nigh impossible,” he told the audience. “How can you do a forecast of residual value if we can’t even work out what the current value is?” “What is going to have to happen is that the market is going to have to recognize the new realities, and I think once the manufacturers start to play the game properly in terms of their deliveries, their production and, most important, their pricing, then I think the market will stabilize,” said Zuskin, adding that the current U.S. aircraft prices are being influenced somewhat by continuing softness in the

Depreciation has always been an element in aircraft owners’ budgets. Dassault has historically considered its buyers’ residual value when strategizing production rates, such as for its Falcon 2000, above. Experts predict that hourly depreciation rates on jets such as the Gulfstream G550, below, auger an increase in charter rates.

MARIANO ROSALES

Plunging values have experts shaking heads

current forecast calls for approximately 7,400 new-jet deliveries worldwide over the next decade, with approximately 2,900 retirements. Yet, owners of older borderline-obsolete airplanes are loath to recognize that they are likely the last owners of their particular aircraft, which are destined to make their final flights to the boneyard, even though they could continue to fly operationally, but not economically feasibly.

international market. According to Dassault Falcon Jet president and CEO John Rosanvallon, in 2011 fully one half of his company’s new aircraft sales were to BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Today that number has dwindled to 10 percent. “I have been with Dassault for 41 years, and I don’t think I have ever seen a market where the pre-owned market has influenced new aircraft sales this much,” he said.

IRAN HAS HUGE POTENTIAL FOR BIZAV, BUT HURDLES REMAIN The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran earlier this year won’t have immediate benefits for business aviation, because air transport is being opened up first, speakers said at the recent Aeropodium’s Iran Aviation Conference in London. However, private charter flights could possibly be permitted at the same time as airline flights from Western countries. Axon Aviation partner and CEO Kurosh Tehranchian said at the conference that the country has “lots of high-net-worth individuals. Although there is no reliable number, it is clearly in the thousands. There is a large base of millionaires and billionaires, and you can see this from the types of cars and houses there. You can see the wealth, and the way to travel this way [by business aviation] will certainly be there.” He added that there are a few business jets in Iran—mainly old Dassault Falcons—that are regulated by the country’s civil aviation organization. “The main regulations are there, and they are not dissimilar to FAA regulations,” Tehranchian said. He compared the country to Brazil, which has “poor road and rail infrastructure and, as a result, has become the number-one fleet of business jets outside the U.S.” He described Iran as “the biggest aviation market opportunity in the world and a virtually virgin territory for many aviation services.” Tehranchian said most airports are in the major population centers in northwest Iran, but industry is spread throughout the country. The west has oil, the center petrochemical, the east iron and copper mines and the south fisheries, cotton mills and steel manufacturing. “So there is a need

for corporate aviation. Business is everywhere,” said Tehranchian, meaning not necessarily where the airlines fly, with most international traffic using Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. He added, “There is charter business in Iran, and some people are using it a lot. And the opportunity for building FBOs/MROs around Iran is tremendous.” As for opening up to international operators, Tom Whalen of Whalen Law Associates said, “My understanding is that business aircraft can’t be sold [into Iran].” José Eduardo Costas, v-p of marketing and sales for Embraer Executive Jets, said the forecast GDP growth for Iran is 4.1 percent and added that the country has only around 21 business jets “for a country of over 80 million people, and with all those resources and wealth.” He added that the oldest business jet in the country is a 47-year-old Lockheed JetStar, and the youngest is a 12-year-old Dassault Falcon 2000. “So clearly there’s a big potential.” He said Embraer is forecasting this fleet could grow to more than 50 aircraft by 2035, and the opening up to international traffic could significantly boost the country’s business aviation traffic. For now, he said, “The formal answer from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control is that corporate aviation is out. But it is not clear whether a charter aircraft can be considered to be commercial passenger transport. It needs to be more clear. Nobody is yet flying in Iran, apart from local aircraft.” —I.S.

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“I think it’s really simple,” said Robert Spingarn, Credit Suisse’s director of equity research for aerospace and defense. “The used market is too large, and until we clear the used market, I don’t think the new-build aircraft market is going to recover.” Such oversupply, as evidenced by the lowering delivery rates, has caused OEMs to make the hard decisions to curtail production. “In 2015 as we started looking at all the factors associated with demand profiles, we made a conscious choice and the tough decision to reduce our production rates in 2015 to make sure that they would be aligned going into 2016,” said David Coleal, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, speaking in response to a question on what steps the OEMs are taking to address the oversupply issue. “The way that’s manifested itself right now is we have a book-to-bill of one in the first six months of 2016. We have to be disciplined about that and make sure that we are protecting our residual values, and make sure that we are aligned for the demand that’s out there.” For those with a need for a business jet, there likely has never been a better time to buy one, panelists agreed, as low capital costs, inexpensive fuel and the tremendous bargains currently available create opportunities for buyers to get more airplane for their money. o

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NBAA Report: Business aviation compliance with manufacturer-required flight control checks before takeoff.

NBAA report calls out ‘disturbing’ safety lapse by Kerry Lynch The fatal 2014 crash of a Gulfstream GIV at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., and a subsequent NBAA report finding a 17.66-percent non-compliance rate with manufacturer-required pre-takeoff flight-control checks are warnings that the business aviation industry needs to focus on leadership and professionalism, industry experts say. “The tragic Gulfstream GIV accident at Bedford, Mass., on May 31, 2014, provided ample stimulus to probe deeper into business aviation procedural non-compliance,” NBAA said in the safety report released in September. “It is equally disturbing that the data highlights a lack of professional discipline among some crews in not accomplishing manufacturer-directed checklists—particularly safetyof-flight critical items.” In the accident, the NTSB found that the crew did not perform a flight-control check before takeoff, leaving the pilots unaware that the gust lock was engaged. The aircraft crashed on takeoff and all seven aboard died. The NTSB investigation further revealed that the flight crew failed to complete flight control checks on 98 percent of the previous 175 takeoffs in the aircraft involved in the accident. As a result of the findings, the NTSB recommended that NBAA work with industry on a study of the extent of non-compliance with pre-takeoff flight checks. NBAA subsequently assembled a team comprising business aviation Flight Operational Quality

Assurance (FOQA) groups and associated vendors, NBAA staff, NBAA Safety Committee members and other safety experts to study compliance within the business aviation industry. The team gathered and analyzed de-identified data from business aviation FOQA programs, releasing its findings in a report titled ‘Business Aviation Compliance with ManufacturerRequired Flight Control Checks Before Takeoff.’ The team looked at 143,756 business aviation flights between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2015. ‘Stop-to-Stop’ Standards

The report revealed that 15.62 percent of those flights took off with only a partial check of flight controls, meaning that not all control surfaces were found to be checked. Further, there was no flight control check at all conducted on 2,923 flights, or 2.03 percent. A valid flight-control check was defined in the report as the “full deflection control surface movement in each direction (i.e. stop-to-stop).” The team chose “stop-tostop” in its measure of full deflection “to eliminate any judgment by the industry in determining what a full check is/was,” noted Mark Larsen, senior manager, safety and flight operations for NBAA. “For example, does 75 percent of a full deflection count as a completed check, or is 65 percent okay? Rather than try to artificially set a limit, we elected to use the full deflection as we could not know if a movement

JSFIRM AND UAA SIGN PARTNERSHIP DEAL Aviation employment service JSfirm.com (Booth 4837) recently announced its partnership with the University Aviation Association (UAA), which has more than 525 members, including 105 accredited colleges and universities. Job seekers can now view aviation opportunities directly from UAA’s official website. “Here at UAA we encourage individuals to choose aviation-related careers,” said UAA executive director Dawn Vinson. “Adding this resource to our website will help UAA provide and nurture the linkage between aviation education and the aviation industry.” JSfirm.com has been serving the aviation industry for the past 15 years and offers free access for job seekers. The company’s job website offers employment information for all aviation segments such as helicopters, general aviation, airlines, MROs, charter operations, etc., and jobs listings are available for pilots, mechanics, engineers, managers, operations personnel and much more. “UAA’s ability to generate interest in aviation at the college level is so important to our industry,” said JSfirm.com marketing specialist Caitlin West. JSfirm.com is proud to make aviation jobs readily acces—S.C. sible to professionals through associations like UAA.”

NBAA research revealed that close to 18 percent of business aviation flights took off without the crew performing an adequate flight control check. The report further found that close to 3,000 flights (2 percent) departed without any control check at all.

less than a full check was as a result of intentional crew action to move the surface, or was an inadvertent movement.” Further, many OEMs specify that a flight control check is over a full range of motion, he added. The team also reviewed when the noncompliance incidents occurred to see if the initial facts in the NTSB preliminary report or the findings in the NTSB final report had any effect. In fact, the incidence of partial checks dropped noticeably the month before the release of the final report, but gradually increased back to the average rate. The results were similar for cases involving no checks. This level of non-compliance dropped to 0.91 percent for five months after the accident occurred, but returned to the average rate of 2.03 percent by the end of December 2015, or three months after the NTSB released the final accident report. Flight-data Monitoring

The NBAA-assembled team made several recommendations as a result of the report. For operators, the report stresses the need to ensure that a standard operating procedure is in place to address manufacturer-required flight-control checks before takeoff. Also the report recommends that operators establish flight-data monitoring programs. NBAA notes that only one percent of operators currently have such a program in place. The report also is urging operators to participate in safety-data collections such as the FAA’s Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system. The report also recommended that Part 142 training centers emphasize the importance of these pre-flight checks and that

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manufacturers provide clear requirements and procedures. NBAA, meanwhile, is tasked with facilitating a council of data collection/sharing experts to inform and guide the business aviation community. ‘Sounding the Alarm’

“As perplexing as it is that a highly experienced crew could attempt a takeoff with the gust lock engaged, the data also reveals similar challenges across a variety of aircraft and operator,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “This report should further raise awareness within the business aviation community that complacency and lack of procedural discipline have no place in our profession.” “The report is sounding the alarm that we have, and probably have had for a long time, a leadership deficit in our industry,” added Sonnie Bates, who recently joined safety specialist Baldwin Aviation as v-p and COO after directing the IS-BAO program for IBAC for more than five years. Bates said the leadership training must involve the very top levels of the companies—from CEOs to aviation directors to the crews—to build the communications skills and facilitate a culture where professionalism can be emphasized. The leadership must step forward and say, “I am not seeing professionalism,” he said. “That is the other dimension of safety. We have the tools and we have processes and procedures. We need tools, but we need the attitude of safety.” Professionalism, he added, has a “direct connection to complacency. A strong professional code is going to combat

complacency.” Bates added this goes back to pre-takeoff flight control checks. “When you see a lack of flight control checks, that’s screaming, ‘I’m complacent.’ It’s also screaming ‘I’m not professional.’ To be effective in safety, you have to tell the operator, ‘I want professionalism.’” Greg Marshall, v-p of global programs for the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), agreed that the Bedford accident “highlighted the view…that intentional noncompliance is a problem.” While Marshall stressed that it is not a widespread problem; many operators, particularly larger organizations, have mature systems that have strong safety management systems in place and “great demonstrations of safety leadership.” But others struggle with complacency, and that can be found throughout some organizations. “This goes back to safety leadership,” he further agreed. “If you don’t have appropriate safety leadership, disciplines and processes established throughout an organization—and it must come from the top and permeate all levels of an organization—then you will continue to see incidences of complacency. Noncompliance will arise.” Marshall, who noted that this was a topic recently discussed by FSF’s Business Advisory Committee, added that education and training is a way to reinforce leadership and combat complacency. The business aviation community must reach out to emphasize leadership skills, particularly with start-up organizations, he said. “If you don’t have safety leadership in an organization, then it is set up to fail.” o

DOSWELL AWARD

Lou Seno joins lofty roster of the FAA’s ‘Master Pilots’ by Matt Thurber The FAA has presented the Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” award to Louis Seno, chairman emeritus and member of the board of directors of Jet Support Services (JSSI, Booth 2065) and currently vice president of corporate relations and government affairs at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The award ceremony took place on August 28 at the Pentastar Aviation facility in Pontiac, Mich., and it was presented by Patrick Ryan, FAA safety team program manager-operations for the Great Lakes region Flight Standards division. The Master Pilot award “recognizes individuals who have exhibited professionalism, skill and aviation expertise for at least 50 years while actively piloting aircraft.” Seno grew up in an aviation family, helping his father build a Corben Baby Ace open-cockpit, high-wing parasol experimental airplane in 1956 and later several more homebuilt airplanes. He has missed only the first two EAA AirVenture events and attended 62 consecutive shows so far, starting

with his first at age six. Seno soloed at age 16 and has flown more than 6,500 hours and earned an ATP and Citation type rating. He currently owns and flies a Beechcraft F33A and Aviat Husky on amphibious floats. “It is an honor to be recognized by the FAA for this Master Pilot award and I am thrilled to join this outstanding group of aviators that represent the first pilots in the United States, the Wright Brothers,” Seno said. “Aviation and the spirit of flying have always been an important part of my life and always will be. I would like to thank my family, my wife, and all my colleagues and friends in the aviation community that have supported me and my passion for flying all these years.” “All of us at JSSI are so honored to call Lou a colleague, friend and mentor,” said JSSI president and CEO Neil Book. “His influence on this business and the aviation industry at large has been immense, and we congratulate him on receiving this Master Pilot award.” o

Louis Seno selected as Doswell winner NBAA selected Jet Support Services Inc. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in(JSSI) chairman emeritus Louis Seno as cluding as v-p of corporate relations and this year’s recipient of its John P. (Jack) government affairs. Doswell Award. The Doswell Award, one He further is a member of the university’s president’s advisory board and board of the association’s highest honors, of trustees and has served on its develrecognizes individuals for their lifelong achievements and exceptional record of opment, finance, flight safety and student volunteer service in support life committees. of business aviation. Seno’s service also has “Lou Seno’s lifelong conextended into a range of intributions to general avidustry activities, from joining ation are well worthy of our the board of the Experimenrecognition,” said NBAA tal Aircraft Association, to copresident and CEO Ed chairing the National Aircraft Bolen. “His many and diResale Association to serving verse efforts on behalf of as president of the National the industry reflect the legAircraft Finance Association. acy of the prestigious DoHe additionally has been acLouis Seno swell award.” tive with GAMA, was a charSeno was a founding shareholder of ter member of the NBAA Tax Committee and served on NBAA’s Associate Member JSSI, which is a pioneer in the business Advisory Council. of managing hourly maintenance costs for business aviation. He also formerly led Seno also was recently honored with the company as president and CEO. Bethe FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot fore JSSI, he held management roles in the Award (see story this page), amassing business aircraft divisions of Boeing Capi6,500 hours and earning an airline transtal and GE Capital Solutions and served on port pilot rating and a Cessna CitationJet the board of Duncan Aviation. type rating. In addition, Seno has long been acNBAA presented the award during the tive in aviation education, spending more NBAA-BACE Awards Luncheon here at than 25 years in various capacities with noon on November 1. —M.T.

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www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 55

Under IBM, the Weather Company now taps into more forecasting data by Bill Carey IBM’s January acquisition of the former WSI—now known as The Weather Company (Booth 3636)—gives the weather forecasting provider a wider, deeper well from which to draw information. “They deepen and scale our capabilities,” Mark Miller, general manager of The Weather Company’s aviation business solutions group, said of IBM. The parent company’s emphasis on cloud computing and an “Internet of Things” (IoT) that draws from a variety of networkenabled structures and devices will inevitably improve weather forecasting, he explained. “Pretty much any device out there that’s giving you a sense of what the weather is could input into better forecasting,” he said. “With IBM now we are pushing hard into this whole area and leveraging IoT to produce the world’s best forecast.” The Weather Company continues to build out its Fusion flight operations and Pilotbrief weather briefing applications, both legacy WSI products. Fusion integrates data from multiple sources, including surface

radar, FAA Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI), international and oceanic messaging and customer data to provide dispatchers with real-time tracking and decision support for all phases of flight. Pilotbrief delivers graphical weather data, airspace notifications and route planning information directly to an Apple iPad or web browser. ‘Smart’ Advice

Those products can be enriched by the data the IoT adds to numerical weather models, improving upon analytics and cognitive capabilities, Miller said. “As you look forward with The Weather Company, you’re going to see us continue to move well beyond just the weather forecast and into these ‘smart advisors,’ where we’re not only giving you the best weather forecast but we’re going to predict how the weather is going to impact both the terminal airport operations and also en route airspace. That’s going to be a layer of value-add that starts to show up in Fusion and Pilotbrief to inform better decisions by dispatchers

and ground personnel and pilots—really all stakeholders in the flight.” The company continues to add data sources and applications to its forecasting portfolio. In June, The Weather Company and in-flight communications provider Gogo Business Aviation announced a collaboration that will see the weather firm’s TAPS (Turbulence Auto Pirep System) turbulence-detection algorithm hosted on Gogo’s aircraft communications servers. Gogo plans to make the capability available in November—enlarging the universe of turbulence event reporting to benefit all operations. “The neat thing is we’re already deployed on a number of large airline fleets and so getting the business aviation contribution will start covering more of the flight levels,” Miller said. “It creates a denser set of observations for everyone. Better data in is better forecast out, so we’re really excited about the partnership and improving safety throughout both business aviation and commercial flight operations.” The Weather Company is also

The Weather Company’s Turbulence Auto Pirep System (TAPS) generates this display, above. The company’s Pilotbrief graphical weather display can be shown on the Apple iPad, right.

focused on new airborne technology closer to the ground. In August, it announced a partnership with AirMap, of Santa Monica, Calif., the provider of low-altitude airspace management applications for drone operators. The weather firm’s contribution will be to supply real-time “hyperlocal” weather data, including temperature, precipitation, barometric pressure and cloud cover. Moneymaking applications of drones are expected to proliferate now that the FAA has released its long-awaited Part 107 regulation governing the commercial operation of small unmanned aircraft systems weighing less than 55 pounds. “There are so many applications for drones out there in the industry, and all of them rely

on hyperlocal weather,” Miller observed. “There are some critical inputs to a successful drone operation—clearly windspeed, low level turbulence, whether there is going to be fog or cloud cover that may obscure [line-ofsight] operation. We really have a unique ability to deliver these hyperlocal forecasts that can be used to support these types of drone operations.” o

TRONAIR SOLD TO GOLDEN GATE CAPITAL

SIKORSKY S-92 SIGNS UP FOR SAR ROLE IN ALASKA North Slope Borough, Alaska, has taken delivery of a twin-engine Sikorsky S-92 helicopter. Residents of the nearly 100,000-sq-mi borough—which is above the Arctic Circle and experiences some of the world’s most extreme weather—will use the aircraft for medevac, search-and-rescue and other emergency operations. Now a Lockheed-Martin division, Sikorsky (Booth 3278) has delivered an S-92 fleet that consists of more than 275 aircraft that have flown more than a million hours since 2004. Besides emergency operations, the S-92 is also used to transport oil-and-gas workers and airline passengers and for utility missions. In addition, it serves as a head-of-state transport for 11 nations, including the U.S., where the Navy has selected it for the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program—the so called “Marine One” platform. —J.B.

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Private-equity investment firm Golden Gate Capital, recently acquired ground-support equipment manufacturer Tronair from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. Under the deal, Tronair remains headquartered in Holland, Ohio, and continues to be led by its current senior management team, including president and CEO Harley Kaplan. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1971, Tronair (Booth 3100) designs, manufactures and sells ground-support equipment for business, commercial and military aircraft. The company’s array of products is used on more than 300 unique aircraft platforms by OEMs, FBOs, MROs, corporate operators, airlines, defense contractors and military air bases. Its thousands of products include towbars, towbarless tugs, wheel chocks, aircraft jacks, lavatory servicing carts, external air-conditioning systems for aircraft, ground power units and aircraft tools. “Tronair has successfully differentiated itself through best-in-class engineering capabilities and a collaborative customer approach, resulting in solutions that support safe and efficient aircraft ground operations. We are excited to partner with Tronair management as the company continues to execute on its strategy to build the industry’s leading ground support equipment platform,” said Rajeev Amara, managing director at Golden Gate Capital. “Our investment demonstrates our commitment to partnering with high-quality aerospace and capital equipment businesses to turbocharge their growth.” According to Kaplan, “With Golden Gate Capital’s operational expertise and financial support, we will be well positioned to bolster our market-leading position while continuing to deliver high-quality products and leading customer service.” —C.T.

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NBAA backing Bombardier in court battle over IRS levies by Kerry Lynch NBAA is backing a lawsuit filed by Bombardier over federal excise taxes (FETs) that the IRS assessed for management fees charged to customers of its then fractional-share operation, Flexjet. The IRS assessments, which treated the management fees as taxable as commercial air transportation activities, applied to activities in 2006 and 2007, before Congress clarified that fractional operation management fees were not subject to the tax. Bombardier originally filed the lawsuit in 2012. But a U.S. District Court ruled in March last year that the IRS properly assessed tax on the fees because Flexjet had been in possession, command and control of the fractional aircraft, making it a commercial activity. The district court further found that Bombardier’s reliance on FAA regulations was “misplaced.” A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Appeals Court agreed with that determination on July 25, saying the lower court’s determination of possession, command and control was appropriate and in line with the IRS definition of commercial activity. The panel also determined that a previous court ruling involving NetJets does not apply, because the business model is different, and that an IRS 2004 technical advice memorandum gave clear guidance on the IRS stance on the fees. “We…do not find that the IRS has been meaningfully inconsistent,” the appeals court panel said. Bombardier is now seeking a full (en banc) Appeals Court review. Bombardier reiterated that the IRS has been inconsistent in its application, and the courts previously ruled that its competitor NetJets is not liable for the tax. Bombardier further continued to argue that the IRS has been unclear in its guidance on the issue. “The IRS has for many years taken inconsistent positions as to whether these management fees—which are paid by aircraft owners irrespective of whether they are ever transported on their aircraft— are subject to FET,” the company told the court. “The IRS even specifically advised Bombardier a decade ago—twice—that it was not required to collect FET from the owners who pay Bombardier for management services. The IRS then reversed position and now seeks to collect FET from Bombardier retroactively, even though Bombardier cannot realistically collect FET from the owners responsible for it, and even though another federal court has held that identical types of payment to the largest industry participant [NetJets] are not subject to FET, resulting in a severe competitive disadvantage to Bombardier.” Bombardier cited a number of instances where the IRS found that management

fees related to fractional activities were not taxable as commercial air transportation and then others where the IRS had reversed course. This violates a “duty of clarity,” the airframer argues, saying the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that such duty “precludes the IRS from imposing tax—especially retroactively—where collecting agents had not been provided ‘precise and not speculative’ guidance as to whether the tax applied.” The company further argued that the enforcement of the assessments would come “despite the grossly disparate tax treatment afforded to similarly situated industry participants.” Bombardier also disputed the IRS contention that the activity is commercial, saying, “The IRS is attempting to tax an activity—the business of ‘transporting persons for compensation or hire,’ that FAR 91.1005 and FAR 119.337 say Bombardier cannot lawfully conduct.” The regulations, the company adds, do say that Bombardier could “engage in a noncommercial aviation management business. That is exactly the business in which Bombardier engage[d]—a business not properly subject to FET.” NBAA filed an amicus brief supporting Bombardier’s contention. “NBAA got involved in this case because it is an example of the challenges businesses face when the IRS attempts to collect millions of dollars in retroactive taxes without clearly stating how the tax should apply,” said Scott O’Brien, NBAA senior manager of tax and finance policy. “We also continue to work directly with Congress, the IRS and the Treasury Department on common-sense guidance as to how FET applies to various business aviation operations.” “En banc determination is appropriate here because the panel decision conflicts with the Supreme Court’s decision [on duty of clarity],” NBAA told the court in the amicus brief, agreeing with Bombardier. “Moreover, the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance as it could result in disparate collection obligations imposed on similarly situated taxpayers.” NBAA noted that for decades fractional aircraft ownership management companies did not collect federal transportation excise tax on monthly management fees (MMF). “The IRS repeatedly has accepted the fractional managers’ position that MMFs are not subject to FET, but in this case the IRS took the position that Bombardier should have collected FET on MMFs. Because the IRS violated its duties of consistency and clarity, the panel erred in affirming the district court’s holding,” NBAA contended. o

The IRS specifically advised Bombardier a decade ago—twice—that it was not required to collect FETs.

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VanAllen Group claims study fingers ground-hazard issues by Curt Epstein For aircraft insurers, typically the largest single source of customer claims payments stems from ground events, according to a recent study from industry consultancy VanAllen Group. Based on historical industry data, Peter Agur, the study’s author and company chairman, determined operators are 800 times more likely to incur damage to their aircraft during ground handling than in an accident. Since neither the FAA nor the NTSB tracks damage caused by ground incidents, the overall incident rates are hard to calculate, but a confidential, two-year survey of flight departments conducted by the Georgia-based company, found respondents suffered on average, one ground event per 4,000 flight hours. Of those incidents, half were cases of “hangar rash,” while a third of the damage was attributed to towing accidents. The remainder consisted of ground vehicle collisions and taxiing incidents. While Agur noted the rate of such incidents seems to be declining, perhaps a result of recent increased industry awareness and training programs from organizations

such as the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), NBAA, the Flight Safety Foundation and major FBO chains, he added they remain a viable concern due to a variety of potential factors. These include, financial pressure to pack aircraft into hangars, FBO staff turnover, lack of management supervision, improper towing equipment due to lack of capital resources, poor facility lighting, a lackadaisical attitude regarding insurance coverage, and the fact that towing multimillion-dollar aircraft is generally not a highpaying job. Agur told AIN that he believes the eventual answer to the problem will be smart, largely autonomous, robotic tow tugs equipped with a variety of sensors and the ability to know the specifications of whatever aircraft they are towing, but as he pointed out, no such product currently exists on the market. In the meantime, he recommends that flight crew members take personal responsibility for the aircraft under their care as if they own it. He believes it is imperative that

‘Alias’ automation flies aboard Caravan testbed by Kerry Lynch Aurora Flight Sciences recently completed another round of demonstrations of its automation technology using a Cessna Caravan. The Aircraft Labor In-cockpit Automation System (Alias) robotic technology is

designed to add automation to help reduce crew operations by functioning as a second pilot in a two-crew aircraft. The goal of the Alias program is to develop portable technology that could be used in a

While not always possible, a VanAllen Group study recommends that flight crews try to be in place when their aircraft is moved or otherwise exposed to potential damage on the ground. Chance of damage from ground events is 800 times that of the risk of an airborne incident, according to the industry study, though neither the FAA nor NTSB keeps accurate tabs on ground losses.

the crew observe line service operations, rather than simply park the aircraft and walk away, and if they see issues that raise concerns, speak directly to a supervisor. If they cannot witness such activity in person due to duty rest requirements, Agur advises crew members to introduce themselves to a location’s line service manager and consider tipping them for extra care of the aircraft. Flight departments should also make sure the FBOs they frequent carry appropriate insurance coverage. To combat hangar rash, Agur suggests service locations utilize a minimum of three wing walkers equipped with whistles or horns for all hangar movements, brightly colored cones at all four corners of

range of civilian and military aircraft to reduce pilot workload, improve mission performance and increase safety. The system includes use of in-cockpit machine vision, non-invasive robotic components to actuate flight controls, a tablet-based interface, speech recognition and a “knowledge acquisition” process to transition the system to an aircraft within a 30-day time frame. The demonstrations, which

Aurora’s Aircraft Labor In-cockpit Automation System—aka Alias—recently concluded a round of tests aboard the company’s Cessna Caravan turboprop. The system is designed to serve as a transferable virtual copilot that can help pilots fly in multiple aircraft.

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the aircraft while in the hangar and a policy of having no part of the aircraft within five feet of any other aircraft or obstruction, effectively eliminating wing overlap. In towing situations, crew should make sure all such movements are performed with a certified tug and tow bar, monitored by at least two wing walkers. The tow bar should be removed soon after the aircraft has been moved to avoid possible damage to the nose gear. Other recommended safety practices include maintaining a 25-foot taxi buffer for the aircraft, and not permitting any ground service vehicles to come within 15 feet of any part of it, even in the hangar. o

took place in October, are being conducted under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) contract. The demonstrations involved the Alias system conducting basic maneuvers under the supervision of a pilot. The Caravan is among three aircraft that will be used for the Alias trials. Aurora also has demonstrated the technology aboard a Diamond DA-42b and is integrating the Alias into a Bell UH-1 helicopter. Aurora also has begun work on a product based on Alias technology that could be marketed to military and commercial customers. “Demonstrating our automation system on the UH-1 and the Caravan will prove the viability of our system for both military and commercial applications,” said John Wissler, v-p of research and development. “Alias enables the pilot to turn over core flight functions and direct their attention to non-flight related issues such as adverse weather, potential threats or even updating logistical plans.” The technology is among a number of research projects ongoing at the Manassas, Va.-based company. Aurora also recently won a $2.9 million contract from NASA for continued work on the D8 aircraft, a candidate for the agency’s X-plane program that is

designed to demonstrate technologies that could result in well over 50 percent efficiency gains in commercial aircraft. NASA earlier this year announced ambitious plans to resurrect its X-plane program in its quest to research advanced aeronautics. NASA Administrator Dan Bolden estimated the program would involve five X-planes over the next decade that will flight-test new technologies and systems as well as novel aircraft and engine configurations. The D8 design, already selected for the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise Program (CLEEN II) study, incorporates composite manufacturing technologies in a twin-aisle, “double-bubble” wider fuselage, smaller wings and high-bypass engines integrated in the aft fuselage. The test articles built under the CLEEN II program are the same scale as the planned X-plane, providing a “building block” basis for a flight demonstrator, said Aurora. Beyond emerging technologies, Aurora’s reach also extends to aerostructures. The company is the supplier of the horizontal tail for the Gulfstream G500 as well as several composite airframe parts for the Bell 525 Relentless helicopter program. o

TRU expands in Florida adding sims and courses by Mark Huber Textron unit TRU Simulation + Training is nearing completion of a 30,000-sq-foot expansion of its Part 142 OEM-supported East Coast ProFlight training facility in Lutz, Fla. near Tampa, adding to 15,000 sq ft currently dedicated to training there. The expansion is scheduled to be completed this month and will include space for classrooms, flight training devices (FTDs) and full flight simulators for select Textron Aviation products including the Citation CJ3 (which covers the 2+, 1+ and the 2), and newer King Air models 350, 250 and 90 with Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics. Simulators for the Citation M2 and the CJ3+ are expected to be online soon pending certification. “Our relationship with our Textron affiliate allows a seamless customer training experience from initial aircraft purchase, to initial type ratings through a lifetime of recurrency training and online learning,” said TRU president and CEO Ian Walsh. Besides more instructional space, the expansion will provide room for exercise facilities, break areas, lounges and other student amenities. TRU also recently announced FAA approval for its distancelearning program for the King Air 350. TRU’s East Coast ProFlight pilot training center was the first to offer instruction on the new Pro Line Fusion-equipped King Air 350 and the only training provider to offer an online learning option for the King Air’s recurrent training ground school. The new distance-learning option permits customers the flexibility to receive 100 percent of their recurrent aircraft systems training online, allowing them to focus time spent at the training center towards simulator training scenarios. TRU is also offering its proprietary Current 365 training, which provides access to the online training suite throughout the year, as opposed to a typical onetime recurrent training event. Customers who prefer to complete their ground school training on-site in a classroom will still have the option to do so. “TRU’s ProFlight pilot training maximizes learning potential by empowering our customers to take control of their training experience, customize the

program to best fit their learning preferences and fundamentally reduce their time spent in the training center,” said David Smith, TRU’s vice president of training centers. The Carlsbad facility originated the distancelearning recurrency training that is becoming standard at TRU’s ProFlight facilities. Textron purchased ProFlight in July 2014 then expanded the brand to the Lutz location. Combining Training Tools

TRU’s ProFlight pilot training offering for the new-production Beechcraft turboprop includes an initial type-rating course, an introductory course on the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics package and recurrent training as well as a Part 135 training program for commercial operators. ProFlight instruction combines use of the King Air 350i full motion flight simulator and proprietary Level 6 FTDs for enhanced avionics training capability in a modern classroom setting that incorporates interactive animated courseware for all aircraft systems. Smith said the Florida facility is gearing up for substantial new business with the eventual additional of the CJ3+, M2 and Latitude and Longitude programs. Initial training for the latter two, which will come on line next year, will last up to three weeks. The Latitude simulator will be convertible as a Sovereign+ while the Longitude will be a separate simulator. It means taking the training center from the current three classrooms to seven and adding four simulator bays. Smith said the facility plans to add programs in addition to those and plans to announce additional platforms next year. The Florida Center Joins TRU’s ProFlight training facility in Carlsbad, Calif., and together the two train approximately 50 to 60 students per month. Carlsbad currently trains on the CJ3 and the Conquest but plans are under way to add CJ4 training there soon, Smith said. “It’s a very exciting time for the Carlsbad facility as well.” “We spent a lot of time setting up these facilities to take advantage of our next-generation courseware and more interactive and realistic form of

Adding 30,000 sq ft, TRU Simulation + Training launched an expansion program at its Tampa, Fla.-area East Coast ProFlight training facility. It will include space for classrooms, flight simulators and flight training devices (FTDs) representing select Textron Aviation models, including Cessna Citations and Beechcraft King Airs. Right, Ian Walsh, TRU president and CEO, cited synergies with TRU’s Textron affliliates.

instruction,” Smith said. The display screens provide visual representations of how various aircraft states and configurations would actually appear to the pilot in the classroom. The interactive depictions in the ground school course are identical to what the student sees in the online distance learning course. When they come on site, those who complete the distance learning do an FAA validation test and can therefore go right into the FTDs and full motion simulators. “Frankly most people don’t enjoy ground school as much as they do logging time in the devices,” Smith said. “And the realism of our simulators is amazing.” Smith said, “One of the most important parts of that is just spending time doing reps, doing approaches, doing planning and takeoffs, with the avionics operational. The FTDs give them tactile feedback that will stick with them forever. “Going forward, we will have a one-to-one ratio: an hour in this device and a full flight in the simulator for every program that we offer.” He expects the center and its devices to run six to seven days per week, approximately 20 hours per day. “For every hour of device time there will be about two hours of ground time.” Smith said the combination of distance learning and using more FTDs not only provides a more effective way to train, it also has the potential to provide a cost advantage. “In the CJ space we can beat anyone—by that I mean our peerlevel providers who provide highlevel, quality training—out there

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on price,” he said. “We spend a lot of money on high-end electromechanical actuators and modeling, and very-high-end visual systems including laser projectors. There are a lot of CJ owners and operators out there who can afford quality training like this. Our instructors have a lot of experience. My director of standards flew Airbuses. We have a lot of team members who flew high-end charter, who have deep experience with their aircraft.” TRU coordinates in-airplane check rides with local providers in the central Florida area or near the client’s home base when it is required, such as in the case of European clients. Niche Programs

TRU is carving out certain niches, such as developing programs that help piston pilots transition into turbines and building ATC communications into the FTDs to help students familiarize themselves with the increased velocity of radio traffic. The company also delivers a pinch-hitter program for pilots’ spouses, something that ProFlight Carlsbad originated. TRU’s natural synergy is to work with Textron Aviation to develop courses and hardware in support of training for its products and to that end is already involved in Cessna’s new single-engine turboprop program, the Denali. “Products like that are right in our wheelhouse; the challenge is how to make them work economically for us and our clients while giving them a top-notch training experience,” Smith said. TRU builds all its own bizav

simulators and FTDs in Lutz with a local team of engineers and with the help of major subcontractors. The combined engineering, manufacturing and training facility currently employs 150. The major physical assemblies are constructed by TRU North in Montreal, which specializes in the company’s airliner simulators. The Latitude simulator is currently under construction and will weigh 30,000 pounds when completed. TRU builds all its simulators with at least 1080P highdefinition visual resolution and is looking at Ultra HD 4K for new products in the pipeline. “You have to make sure the higher resolution does not create any additional latency,” Smith said, adding that TRU’s control loaders have larger force ranges and displacement values to enable the modeling of higher forces farther out on stick throws, which makes the control feel much more realistic and more like the real aircraft, compared to competitive sims. The electrically actuated stroke legs on the simulators are also longer to create a more realistic “seat feel” for pilots, even though this means TRU has to build its simulator bays taller to accommodate them. “We go that extra step for the realism it adds,” he said. o

Garmin modernizes Excel, XLS with G5000 by Matt Thurber Competition in the market for modern flight deck upgrades in earlier-generation jets is heating up, with Garmin (Booth 1900) announcing an STC upgrade to install a G5000 touchscreencontrolled flight deck in the Citation Excel and XLS. The upgrade will be available from select Garmin dealers and Textron Aviation service centers and will also reduce the basic operating weight by about 200 pounds. FAA approval is planned in late 2018. The G5000 avionics replace the Excel/XLS’s Honeywell Primus 1000 flight deck. The upgrade includes Garmin’s digital automatic flight control system with emergency descent feature, coupled WAAS/ SBAS approaches (PBN/RNP 0.3 with LPV/APV approach capability), vertical navigation and flight level change modes

as well as optional underspeed protection and fully coupled goaround capability. Two touchscreen controllers manage three 14-inch highresolution displays in landscape orientation, and the engine indication array appears on the center MFD. The displays offer Garmin’s multi-pane layout, which can be customized by each pilot to show maps, charts, checklists, TAWS, TCAS, flight plan information, weather and more, according to Garmin. Buyers can opt for Chartview (Jeppesen) terminal charts; Garmin’s FliteCharts and SafeTaxi diagrams are standard. ADS-B out is also standard, as is TAWS-A alerting. Geographical map overlay is available for display within the HSI on the PFD, according to Garmin, and charts are

COLUMBIA AVIONICS CERTIFIES ADS-B out FOR 560XL Garmin dealer Columbia Avionics & Aircraft Services has added STC approval for installing Garmin GTN series GPS/com navigators and ADS-B out in the Citation 560XL. This STC comes in addition to earlier approvals for these products in the Citation 500, 501, 550, 551, S550, 560 and 650, and it can include combinations of the GTNs, Garmin GTX mode-S transponders, GDL-69/A weather datalink and marker beacon receiver. In the installation, the GTN-750 and GTN650 provide “full autopilot-coupled WAAS LPV approaches including vertical guidance,” according to Columbia. Columbia also announced that it received FAA STC approval for an ADS-B out package, using Garmin GTS-8000 TCAS II and GTX3000 mode-S transponders in the Citation S550. This STC features the GTN series navigator as the required position source for ADS-B out. Columbia expects to receive FAA approval for this package in the Citation 500, 550, 560 and 560XL “later this year,” according to the company. —M.T.

Columbia has a NextGen solution for the Cessna Citation 560XL.

Citation Excel and XLS operators have the option to replace their Primus 1000 flight deck with Garmin’s NextGen-compatible G5000.

georeferenced and can be viewed on all three 14-inch displays. Some of the options that buyers can add to the upgrade include synthetic vision, Connext wireless cockpit connectivity, turbulence detection and ground clutter-suppression

digital weather radar, wind-shear alerting, SiriusXM weather, global weather and text/voice via Iridium satcom, active and passive traffic surveillance using TCAS II/ACAS II technology, SurfaceWatch runway advisories, and Data Comm, including

Link 2000+ and CPDLC. “The G5000 upgrade offers lower cost of operation, exceeds modern airspace initiatives and solves parts obsolescence among the Citation Excel/XLS with zero-time avionics,” Garmin noted. o

FSI’s CPDLC course live on FlightBag by Matt Thurber FlightSafety International has released a new datalink training course for the Gulfstream G450 and G550, and through November 4, the iFlightDeck CPDLC course is free on FlightSafety’s FlightBag app. Demos of the app are available at the FlightSafety booth (2679). Controller pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) is a capability that more pilots are using, as aircraft are equipped with Future Air Navigation System (FANS) equipment. A key feature of CPDLC datalinking is using the airplane’s FMS to send and receive canned and freeform text-style messaging. FANS is required over most North Atlantic airspace, and FANSequipped aircraft can also take advantage of digital clearance (DCL) services at more than 50 airports in the U.S. DCL allows users to obtain and modify IFR clearances via datalink instead of over voice on the radio, significantly speeding up the process and allowing DCL-capable aircraft to depart before non-equipped aircraft. The CPDLC course runs as an iFlightDeck operational-use trainer, replicating the exact steps needed to fly from London to New York. The program covers digital ATIS, logging on in London, takeoff and departure, requesting altitude and speed changes, oceanic clearances, abnormal and emergency situations, weather deviations, free texting, DCL and much more.

Pilots can run through the entire CPDLC course to learn how to use the new technology, or use it as a refresher before a trip. Each subject can be reviewed on its own so it isn’t necessary to start at the beginning. For a refresher on digital clearances, for example, the user just clicks on the CPDLC-DCL section. Within each subject, the training course moves the pilot step-by-step through the CPDLC process. The user has to select each FMS key to advance, and hints help prompt the right response. Using the app is just

like the real thing, and it even includes aural alerts, for example, a two-chime when ATC responds. The only thing missing is tactile feedback from pushing the FMS keys. There are a lot of acronyms involved in CPDLC, and a pop-up box is available for quick lookup of unfamiliar ones. The app keeps track of progress and awards points based on successful completion of each subject. Clicking on the score shows a list of subject areas and how much of each has been done, so the user can quickly see which areas need revisiting. o

SMARTSKY APP SUPPORTS CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK SmartSky Networks (Booth 2626) arrived at NBAA 2016 with an app designed to disrupt: that is, by putting a smile on your face while helping raise money for the Corporate Angel Network (CAN, Booth 3929). CAN provides pro-bono corporate jet transportation for cancer patients in need of specialized treatment across the U.S. when seats are available. It has also earned the nation’s highest honor from the President of the United States–the Volunteer Action Award–for its service that helps as many as 225 cancer patients each month travel to treatment. To help raise money for CAN, SmartSky’s 4 Gives More app, called Skye Pilot, is available for download from both the Apple App Store (skye-pilot) and Google Play (smartskynetworks.skyepilot). “We were overwhelmed with the response last year to our initial 4 Gives More program,” said SmartSky Networks president Ryan Stone. “We want to build on that success, continuing to raise money for Corporate Angel Network. Customers will find our app a fun way to assist the mission of a most-worthy cause.” The SmartSky 4G network, which recently received FCC certification, is scheduled to begin service later this year. Nationwide coverage is planned for 2017. The company’s broadband connectivity system uses an air-to-ground platform that leverages 60 MHz of spectrum and patented 4G beamforming technology to deliver a secure signal that locks onto each aircraft in the network. —A.L.

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AirFinance FlyFunder online marketplace links buyers and lenders by Curt Epstein Incorporating ADS-B receivers in each Iridium Next satellite will enable worldwide aircraft tracking.

FlightAware-Aireon agreement a step toward global aircraft tracking by Ian Sheppard Business aircraft owners and operators are being invited by FlightAware (Booth 4863) to track aircraft free on the company’s website as it moves towards being able to provide position information anywhere on the planet via a data-feed agreement signed in September with Aireon, a unit of satellite communications company Iridium. Initially, the two companies announced that they would use the Iridium Next constellation, which will be deployed by the end of 2017 by SpaceX, to help airlines and large-cabin business jet operators to track their aircraft to meet the new ICAO global tracking mandate. The secret to enabling global tracking is that Aireon is incorporating ADS-B receivers in all 72 Iridium Next satellites. The 66 satellites and six spare satellites will be placed in low-Earth orbit to gradually upgrade the existing constellation, which unlike Inmarsat can offer coverage even over the poles.

FlightAware CEO Daniel Baker invites showgoers to his booth.

Daniel Baker, CEO of Houston, Texas-based FlightAware, said business aviation would benefit by being able to track their aircraft worldwide, with position updates every eight seconds. All the aircraft needs is a top-mounted ADS-B antenna, he said, along with a Mode S transponder with extended squitter, which most business aircraft and airliners already have.

“They can sign up for Aireon free and benefit from increasing coverage as the [Iridium Next] network grows,” said Baker. “SpaceX plans to launch 10 satellites every 60 to 90 days through the end of 2017, so there will be full coverage by 2018,” Baker added. The cost to operators once the network is fully in place will only be $100 per month per aircraft they list, and operators can choose their own privacy settings. This is the case now also, if operators do not wish their aircraft positions to be publicly available through FlightAware, if they subscribe to FlightAware Global, which is $80 per aircraft per month. So the eventual cost of the service, including Aireon, will be only $180 per aircraft a month, said Baker. He described the tie-up with Aireon as “an absolute breakthrough” in being able to track aircraft globally, and he suggested it would be of particular interest outside the U.S. where ADS-B receivers tend not to be widely available. o

AIR CHARTER SAFETY FOUNDATION AND BALDWIN AVIATION TEAM UP ON ASAP Washington D.C.-based Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) has come to an agreement in principle with Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance (Booth 2639) to offer a sophisticated single-point of access digital Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) to ACSF members in the near future. Currently, ACSF members who have a memorandum of understanding with FAA/ACSF to be ASAP participants use a web-based application tool available via secure login from the ACSF website. ACSF promotes and facilitates aviation risk management programs and disseminates safety information to the business aviation charter community. “The goal is to provide end users with one-stop shopping by combining Baldwin Aviation’s overall safety management system with an ACSF-ASAP program that results in reduced operational risk and redundant workload often associated with multiple

databases,” ACSF president Bryan Burns said this week at NBAA 2016. “Both organizations believe that bringing this program to the marketplace as a single data source is a win-win for the charter and business aviation community.” Baldwin Aviation president Don Baldwin agreed with Burns. “This represents a significant decrease in both time and cost for each participating charter and business aviation operator without compromising their respective data and reports,” he said. It is known that rapid error reporting and the quick processing of those reports results in improved system safety within aviation. Baldwin Aviation offers business aviation operators customizable and scalable safety management systems and related business programs to the fixedwing and rotor-wing communities, MROs, airports and FBOs. —A.L.

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San Francisco-based business aircraft financier AirFinance launched a new online general aviation finance marketplace here at NBAA that it believes could revolutionize the industry. Known as FlyFunder (Booth 3293), the new service promises to match buyers of business aircraft and helicopters with aviation financiers based on their borrowing profiles, in essence streamlining the current “shopping” process. According to the company, each participating lender will input a list of specific attributes for deals that they will consider financing, including deal size, age of the aircraft, region of operation, registration of aircraft, and type of deal structure. When a deal matching those criteria enters the system, they will receive notification, and can then contact the potential customer to express interest in financing. The initial process is anonymous, and when a deal inquiry is launched, the information presented to the lender is general and non-specific. Financiers will declare their interest based on the particulars of the deal rather than the identity of the customer. “Eventually, after we match, then the buyer and financier do meet, but only after the buyer approves of releasing his or her identity to the financier,” Kirsten Bartok Touw, FlyFunder co-founder and AirFinance managing partner, told AIN. Once a dialog begins, they can continue to communicate and share documentation through the site’s secure messaging and upload system. More Visibility

“FlyFunder will give financiers greater visibility into a larger number of aircraft financing opportunities than they would typically see through their origination teams,” said Chris Miller, managing partner of Shearwater Aero Capital, one of the first lenders to sign on. “It is a great platform for buyers looking to access financing, and financiers looking for potential deals they might otherwise not have been exposed to.” The site is free for all users to join, and lenders will pay FlyFunder a commission only

upon the closing of a deal sourced through the platform. Its proprietors are looking to encourage the use of the digital marketplace by the aircraft/ broker community as well, and to that end, on any completed financing deal launched by a broker/consultant, FlyFunder will pay them half of the commission paid by the lender. “We see significant growth potential in both mature and emerging markets,” said FlyFunder co-founder and director Paul Sykes. “We believe that a transparent, easy-to-use, online marketplace will provide aircraft buyers globally with greater access to financing and more options to choose from. All industry participants will benefit from greater connectivity and interaction.” Changing Market

Changes to the current aviation finance market include the recent or imminent departure of major names such as GE Capital and CIT, and retrenchment of others such as Element Financial. The brain trust behind FlyFunder believes it is now more difficult for aircraft buyers to find financing solutions. This is particularly true outside the core areas of North America and Western Europe, as well as for older and smaller business aircraft. Likewise, the company noted, OEMs’ marketing teams are often left searching for customer financing options in order to close a sale. “It has been demonstrated that when financing exists, sales of assets increase, when they don’t have to be purchased with 100 percent equity,” said Touw. “It is our hope that FlyFunder can help increase aircraft sales by working to fill the financing void.” According to the company, it has already been approached by non-traditional funding sources such as hedge funds that are interested in seeking aircraft funding opportunities that historically they would not have been able to source, due to their lack of exposure to the sector. The marketplace has already seen more than a dozen funding inquiries launched from the U.S., and as far away as Sri Lanka and South Africa. o

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Blackhawk offers new King Air STC by Curt Epstein

King Air operators ordering Blackhawk’s PT6A-67A engine upgrade will trade in the old engines and get up to $70 per hour in credit for time left until their 3,600-hour TBO.

Texas-based Blackhawk Mod ifications (Booth 1119) is developing a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to upgrade the engines currently installed on the King Air 350 series. Under

the STC, the existing 1,050-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A60A engines will be replaced with the 1,200-shp PT6A-67A. The STC will flat rate the engine to the existing airframe limit of

1,050 shp, providing more than 400 thermodynamic shaft horsepower per engine in climb and cruise settings (1,825 equivalent shp) for improved performance in hot and high conditions. The engines were installed on the company’s King Air 350 testbed, which is being used to validate the results, and according to Blackhawk, initial performance has been promising. In hot conditions, climb rate from sea level to the maximum altitude of FL350 more than doubled, reducing climb time to 18 minutes. Cruise speeds increased by as much as 37 ktas, up to a maximum of 340 ktas. The STC will include a flight manual supplement for flight planning purposes. Twice the Payload

Blackhawk president and CEO Bill Allmon said, “The PTA-67A pushes the King Air above and beyond what can be achieved with many jets.” Allmon explained that with the new engines, the turboprop twin can carry twice the payload while lowering fuel burn and maintenance costs. The company expects the STC to be issued in the second quarter of 2017. The Blackhawk test airplane is currently flying with five-blade composite propellers supplied by MT Propeller. The 102-inchdiameter props allow more ground clearance, with unlimitedlife blades that are field repairable. With nickel alloy leading edges to protect against erosion, the propellers also offer significant reductions in noise and vibration levels. The company expects the Hartzell 105-inchdiameter five-blade composite propeller to be available as an option in the initial certification plan, while Raisbeck Engineering is working to upgrade its Hartzell swept four-blade aluminum propeller to be compatible with the PT6A-67A installation on the King Air 350. Blackhawk expects the initial STC to cover all Rockwell Collins Pro Line II-equipped King Air 350s, and the company is working with Garmin on G1000 compatibility on the initial engine STC. A separate STC is planned for Pro Line 21-equipped models. Blackhawk Modifications is accepting pre-certification orders with a $50,000 refundable deposit to secure an initial delivery position and lock in a pre-certification pricing rebate. o

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Experts make a business case for SMS implementation by Amy Laboda Safety management systems (SMS) may be the buzz phrase of the decade in aviation. Just about every flight department attending NBAA 2016 is working on getting one, maintaining it, being audited for it or is earning IS-BAO certification, which includes the SMS, to prove their continuous safety commitment. These efforts are not inexpensive, and no matter how good the SMS might be for business, any implementation must pass muster with company CFOs and CEOs before its benefits can be realized. “You sweep the stairs from the top,” said Deborah Hersman, former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair and current CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC). “If you don’t start your SMS program from the top you are going to make a big mess. We benchmark employee safety perception at NSC. We’ve found from anonymous surveys that employees know when their bosses are walking the walk, not just ‘talking’ SMS. It shows up in the data.” Safety experts are discovering that unique aspects of the operating environments in narrow segments of aviation cause many accidents. These operating conditions aren’t common to everyone, so researching them requires getting familiar with each individual operator’s situation. Moreover, these accidents and incidents are not caused exclusively by mechanical malfunctions—things don’t just break. The experts say there is a human component that serves as the weak link, perhaps indirectly leading to the mechanical failure that subsequently causes the incident or accident. The SMS is meant as a customized risk management program unique to each operation. It should root out and eliminate the kinds of mistakes that cause incidents and accidents, and that saves companies money—not to mention the responsibility to keep employees and other passengers safe.

Aviation managers know how much it costs to replace an engine, a damaged wing tip or landing gear. What’s not so obvious are the indirect costs, such as higher future insurance premiums; loss of business and income from out-of-service aircraft; workman’s compensation for injured employees; unemployment insurance from any employees laid off during the business downturn after an accident; FAA penalties; and of course, a damaged reputation. SMS works to prevent accidents and their associated cost by providing useable safety guidance for every employee, from the flight deck to the cabin and maintenance crews. It also provides employees with a voice, and a non-punitive method to “confess and comply.” Without an SMS and its integral hazard reporting systems, companies can find it difficult to know where they are going wrong, and subsequently, how to fix the problems before they become expensive accidents. “Hazard reporting engages employees; but people have to follow up about incidents. That is a big part of the employee engagement,” explained Hersman. “If people make reports and the problems don’t get addressed, you are going to dis-incentivize those reports. If you do follow up and address the problem, well, that encourages future reporting,” she continued. “You must have folks on the leadership side who are actually doing something with the data; or at least communicating to people what they are doing with the information. If they are not doing something immediately, they should tell employees why and help them to understand it. “In the end,” she said, “Leaders are responsible for establishing vision first and foremost.” Without a buy-in from the top, the culture of safety is less likely to take hold within a company. o

LIFE CYCLE COST 16.2 UPGRADE IS AVAILABLE Conklin & de Decker’s Life Cycle Cost 16.2 is now available. The upgrade for the financial planning and budgeting software includes information for the Embraer Legacy 450, Piper M600, Daher TBM 930, Airbus Helicopters BK117B2-850, Robinson R44 Cadet and the Diamond DA42-VI. It also features a five-year format from Conklin’s Aircraft Cost Analysis program, which provides a side-by-side analysis of either three different aircraft or the same aircraft in three different acquisition forms. Conklin & de Decker is demonstrating its software at Booth 4219. The Life Cycle Cost program continues to provide aircraft owners, operators, flight department managers and consultants with researched ownership and operating cost information for more than 460 jet, turboprop, helicopter and piston aircraft. The newest version of this program features more than 7,000 updated aircraft costs that cover fuel, crew salaries, aircraft inspections, overhauls and retirement items. The output from Life Cycle Cost helps users by providing the operations department with a 12-month budget analysis or up to 20-year cost projection for variable and fixed costs. Because the program calculates the net present value and after-tax cash flow for corporate and commercial operators, finance departments can compare the net present value of different acquisition or disposition methods for multiple aircraft. —S.C.

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GLOBALAIR LAUNCHES REDESIGNED AIRCRAFT SALES SITE GlobalAir.com (Booth 4936) recently redesigned the “Aircraft for Sale” section of its website. Improvements include simpler navigation options, stronger spam defense and increased advertising opportunities. GlobalAir president Jeffrey Carrithers stated that the “Aircraft for Sale” section was the first of many sections that will be revamped on the website. The service provider’s website has connected aircraft buyers and sellers since its launch in 1995. According to GlobalAir, its website has provided aircraft and purchasing information to more than 180,000 users. GlobalAir offers aircraft and aviation-related data and services to clients in the general and business aviation industries as well as regional airline communities. The company’s website provides information on aircraft exchange, and features an airport resource center with up-to-date FBO fuel prices and regional fuel costs, the Max-Trax fuel-mapping system, current weather information, an aviation directory and upcoming aviation events. —S.C.

Passur, AirMap join forces in drone-alert partnership by Bill Carey Aviation operations support firm Passur Aerospace (Booth 3516) and AirMap, which has developed an airspace management software platform for drones, have entered into a partnership to integrate Passur’s live flight data with AirMap’s real-time traffic-alert system for unmanned aircraft. Passur Aerospace, based in Bohemia, N.Y., owns and operates a passive radar and ground-based surface flight surveillance network that provides aircraft position updates every 1 to 4.6 seconds. The position reports feed into a proprietary database that is accessible in real time and delivers flight tracking data for manned aircraft. The aircraft surveillance data will be integrated with AirMap’s real-time traffic alerts, providing drone operators with live updates on the position and trajectory of manned aircraft in their vicinity. The companies said they will also explore opportunities for drone operators to share real-time digital information about the location of their flights with manned aircraft using Passur’s databases and air traffic management products. “Passur and AirMap collectively bring the leading manned and unmanned

commercial traffic management platforms together, creating a big win for all aviation constituencies,” said James Barry, Passur Aerospace president and CEO. Earlier this year, AirMap, based in Santa Monica, Calif., and the American Association of Airport Executives unveiled the Digital Notice and Awareness System (D-NAS), a notification system that enables drone operators to inform nearby airports of the location of their flights. “AirMap’s partnership with Passur will make the skies safer for both manned and unmanned aircraft,” said AirMap CEO Ben Marcus, an airline transport pilot and flight instructor. “By adding Passur’s real-time information about manned aircraft to AirMap’s existing data about live and hyperlocal flight conditions, we are enhancing situational awareness in low-altitude airspace, and making beyond-line-of-sight flight and deconfliction with manned aircraft possible for drones.” o

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Four avionics firms combine for low-cost ADS-B upgrade by Gregory Polek Southeast Aerospace has teamed with Garmin International, Gables Engineering and Peregrine Avionics to bring what it calls the most cost-effective and flexible ADS-B solution to the business aviation community. It recently earned a Part 25 AML STC for ADS-B out/in for non-TCAS II Beechjets, Citations, Hawkers, Learjets and Falcons. Melbourne, Florida-based Southeast Aerospace (Booth 4657) installed the prototype on a Citation III. Operators have the option to receive ADS-B in on their portable devices and/or existing Garmin displays. Although ADS-B in displays might need additional approvals, Southeast estimates the price of the system installation at less than $50,000 at Garmin dealers. Installing dual Garmin GTX 345R remote transponders and the Gables G7534-100X control head makes the low-cost application possible, according

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operators must buy a separate portable receiver to obtain ADS-B in. Southeast Aerospace technical sales manager Nathan Hernandez explained the benefits operators will realize from the new STC, particularly those that fly primarily in the U.S. and aren’t equipped with TCAS II. “We’ve been trying to find a way to give those operators a more costeffective solution,” he said, referring to the FAA’s ADS-B mandate, scheduled to take effect after midnight Dec. 31, 2019. “To spend eighty or more thousand dollars just to output more information, that’s a tough pill to swallow. “If you look at a Citation, for example, you can upgrade its transponders and its control head so that it has all the capabilities, and maybe you’re sitting at, let’s say, $50,000. Then you’ve got to buy a GPS sensor because you have to have the appropriate WAAS GPS data for the As the 2020 U.S. ADS-B deadline approaches, some business jet operators can comply with this combination from Southeast Aerospace. Installed cost is less than $50,000, according to Southeast.

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to Southeast. The Gables control head can replace the aircraft’s existing transponder control and provide full control of both GTX 345Rs. The STC requires the installation of an ADS-B fail annunciation on the panel. The use of the GTX-345R’s internal GPS or a Garmin WAAS-capable GNS or GTN panel-mounted navigator meets the GPS positioning requirements of AC 20-165B. As the 2020 ADS-B mandate draws closer, operators and modification facilities have seen an increase in options to meet the requirement. Regardless of the aircraft category, virtually every avionics OEM offers its own options. As with any mandate, price is a serious consideration. Unfortunately, inexpensive UATtype ADS-B out systems don’t meet the needs of Part 25 aircraft because they fly at FL180 and above. Therefore, upgrading the existing transponder system stands as the main option. For Part 25 aircraft, available transponder upgrades offer little price relief. Apart from aircraft with a pre-existing WAAS-certified GPS and pre-existing upgradable transponders, the cost of modification to implement ADS-B starts at about $85,000. In most cases, even after the expensive upgrade,

transponder to operate. So now, even if you go cheap, you’re looking at another $15,000 to $20,000, not including labor.” All told, the total price could rise to as high as $150,000 if, as Hernandez explained, one includes a reasonably capable GPS for LPV approaches and the cost of the STC and the other various parts needed to allow the system to operate and comply with the FAA regulation. Because the Garmin transponder has a built-in GPS, a non-TCAS II operator needs only a spot for the transponder control head. “So if you’re not TCAS II, you’re good to go,” he said. Although Hernandez projected that the bulk of the demand for the ADS-B upgrade will come from the U.S. during the first year of its market availability, SEA expects to see more interest from operators in South and Central America and Canada as they need to meet the requirements to fly into the U.S. “There’s been a lot of good interest from avionics shops coast to coast, and we’ve already had some emails come in from avionics shops overseas that have interest in it,” said Hernandez. “It has kind of caught me off guard; I didn’t expect that this early, but I’ll take it.” o

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Mature bizjets get low-cost ADS-B by Matt Thurber For owners of TCAS-equipped business jets with relatively low hull values, the high cost of ADS-B out upgrades makes it hard to swallow the decision to schedule the work in time for the

2020 U.S. and European mandates. But those who have waited are finally being rewarded, as Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems (ACSS), the L-3/Thales joint venture, has just

unveiled a new transponder and self-contained GPS receiver that meet the latest regulatory requirements, at a cost about 40 percent less than some existing offerings. ACSS already makes two

transponders that serve the business jet and air transport markets, the NXT-600 and NXT-800, respectively. “We were lacking a position source,” said ACSS president Terry Flaishans. “We’re launching a new GPS to go with our transponder to have a complete solution.” More significant is that, earlier this year, ACSS also

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announced a new transponder, the NXT-700, which is plugand-play compatible with the Honeywell MST-67A found in a number of business jets, including older ones without another reasonably priced ADS-B solution available. No wiring or rack changes are needed to replace the MST-67A with the NXT-700. It is also compatible with current TCAS II 7.1 systems. For operators that face long lead times for MST-67A upgrades to meet the ADS-B out mandate, the NXT-700 is available now. It also weighs three pounds less than the Honeywell transponder, and thus can save six pounds on a dual-transponder installation. Roughly 4,000 to 5,000 aircraft are equipped with the MST67A, according to Flaishans, of the 14,000 business jets that need ADS-B out upgrades to avoid being grounded after Dec. 31, 2019. Money Saver

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The new NXG-900 GPS meets the latest DO-260B ADS-B standards and eliminates the need to upgrade an old FMS or other installed avionics with a new GPS sensor, which can be very expensive. The ACSS GPS is only there to provide the required position accuracy needed for ADS-B out, however, and it can’t be used for any aircraft navigational or TCAS functions. To make its package even more attractive; the NXG-900 GPS also features an ADS-B in receiver, so buyers can receive free FIS-B weather information (in the U.S. only) wirelessly on mobile devices via Bluetooth. While the new transponder and GPS are available immediately, the ADS-B in feature won’t come online until the first quarter of 2017. ACSS expected to receive TSO approval for the NXT-700 and NXG-900 and an approved model list STC covering a number of business jets before NBAA 2016. Transport Canada and EASA validation is expected in the first quarter of 2017. Jets covered under the AML-STC include Hawker 125 series (400, 600, 700); Beechjet 400/Hawker 400; Gulfstream GIIB, GIII; Westwind 1124; Cessna CitationJet, Ultra, VII, 550; Bombardier Challenger 601-3A/3R and Learjet 35/35A, 36/36A; and Falcon 10, 20, 50, 900/900B. The company is offering discounts on its transponders and the new NXG-900 to encourage aircraft owners and operators to plan for ADS-B installations sooner rather than later. In 2017, Flaishans said, prices will go up. o

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Mayo Clinic’s ProPilot part of USAIG initiative by Chad Trautvetter

AAC CLEARED FOR BOLTED MAJOR REPAIRS ON BOEING 787 DREAMLINER Dallas Love Field-based Associated Air Center (AAC) recently received the aviation industry’s first approval for a Boeing 787 limited airframe rating from the FAA. The approval authorizes AAC to perform composite bolted major repairs and alterations on the aircraft. This approval came just months after AAC delivered the first 787-8 Dreamliner head-of-state interior completion in February. “Owners and operators of Boeing 787s that require maintenance and/or composite bolted major repair and alteration work scopes such as letter checks/inspections and Ku/Ka-band antenna major alterations now have a choice in MRO providers and no longer rely solely upon the airframe manufacturer for these modifications,” said James Colleary, president of AAC. The new limited airframe rating allows AAC to perform repairs at its Dallas facility or any other location deemed necessary by the customer and authorized under AAC’s Part 145 repair station manual and its workaway-from-station procedures. AAC (Booth 2296) is StandardAero’s transport category VIP completion and MRO center and works on Airbus and Boeing narrow- and widebody aircraft. Services include maintenance, refurbs, completions, modifications, upgrades, interior design, engineering and engine and airframe MRO. –D.A.L.

New small-aircraft rule altered FAA’s approach by Kerry Lynch Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington in late September, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta cited the agency’s comprehensive rewrite of small aircraft certification requirements as an example of how the agency is evolving into a more flexible, riskbased organization that works in tandem with industry. At the time, the rule had just moved into the “executive review” phase, marking one of the final steps before it would become a reality. The new certification strategy, essentially a fundamental rewrite of FAR Part 23, is expected to take a dramatic new approach to certification by adopting riskbased consensus standards rather than reliance on the traditional prescriptive requirements. Following DOT approval, the rule went to the Office of Management and Budget last month for a final review before its release. OMB has 90 days to complete its review, but many remain hopeful that the rule will be released by the end of the year. At the Aero Club event, the administrator elaborated on the philosophy behind the rule.

Noting that the agency had made only incremental improvements “around the edges” over the years, Huerta said, “It became obvious that we needed to overhaul our approach to certifying aircraft if we wanted to improve safety and to help products get to market faster.” As for the changes in the Part 23 rule, Huerta said, “There’s a simple idea at the heart of it: the FAA doesn’t want to tell manufacturers how to build things. We’re not in the engineering business, and we can’t assume we have all the answers about the best way to develop an aircraft.” Performance Objectives

Rather than requiring the technologies or designs, the language in the rule enables the agency to define the desired performance objectives. “This is a fundamental shift for our agency,” he said. “We’re not waiting around to find the best way to respond to a specific innovation. We’re creating an organization that can respond nimbly and flexibly to any innovation. Most

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the agency has overhauled its approach.

important, this approach lets the dreamers and innovators do what they do best.” Huerta added that the FAA wants to support progress—a message “I’ve been taking to every office, at every level, of the FAA.” The administrator outlined other initiatives at the FAA that he said reflect this new direction for the agency. “I’ve challenged our teams to think differently, and I’ve seen some promising results,” he said. Huerta cited the release this year of “Got Data,” a campaign to improve public access to aeronautical information and seek out new data resources. The FAA’s Aeronautical Information Services division has roots back to 1926, when charts were drawn by hand, he noted. “Now it would have been very easy for this group to dig in and insist that the core function of their office was to print paper charts,” he said. “But instead, they’ve done something I believe is essential for any organization that wants

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Mayo Clinic’s aeromedical program for pilots, ProPilot, has been added to USAIG’s Performance Vector safety initiative. The program combines Mayo Clinic’s “comprehensive, customized health-care approach with a supportive team of medical professionals who fully understand the FAA medical certification process and the unique stresses pilots face.” When a policyholder selects ProPilot as its Performance Vector option, USAIG (Booth 4306) covers the annual program fee for up to 10 of its pilots. USAIG chairman and CEO Dave McKay said the relationship “will advance wellness and help our policyholders’ pilots sustain long, productive flying careers.” Each participating pilot receives a member card and visits Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for an annual aeromedical physical examination. ProPilot

functions as the flight department’s out-of-house medical director, working supportively and proactively to sustain pilots’ medical certification and fitnessfor-flight duties, USAIG said. If a condition threatening a pilot’s medical certification emerges, the program uses the Mayo Clinic’s “substantial expertise to bear, maximizing the opportunity to resolve the issue favorably.” Other ProPilot benefits include referrals for additional screenings or tests for proactive health management; specialized medical care if a medical condition arises; resources that promote health and wellness and resolve or prevent injuries or chronic conditions; discreet, de-identified reports to managers to sustain pilots’ fitness for duty; and advice and assistance with FAA waivers, special issuance applications and emerging pilot health concerns. o

to evolve. They stepped back and said, ‘Are we asking the right questions about what we do?’” Instead of printing charts, the office focused on delivering aviation data. Huerta conceded there was some initial resistance. But the office put priority on the importance of easing access to information.

transmissions. While seemingly simple, he said, the technology is demonstrating efficiencies in the system. “In fact, we estimate that Data Comm will save operators more than $10 billion over the next 30 years, along with saving the FAA about $1 billion.” The FAA launched initial trials at Newark and Memphis International Airports and worked with United Airlines, FedEx and UPS to measure time and fuel savings. Soon afterward, the government/industrybased NextGen Advisory Board asked the agency to prioritize Data Comm. “We had originally created a plan that would widely deploy Data Comm at airports over the course of three years,” Huerta noted. “Instead, we used the lessons learned in Newark and Memphis to condense it to one.” Data Comm was operational at five airports at the beginning of the year. Now it is operational at 45 ATC towers and is on pace for deployment at 50 by the end of the year— two years ahead of schedule. “In the right circumstances, we can really stretch far and do incredible things,” Huerta said, noting some people have told him that “they can’t wait for certain initiatives to be over so they can get back to their ‘real jobs.’ But this is our ‘real job.’ This is the new normal.” o

Data Innovation Center

The Got Data campaign spurred feedback that has led to the creation of a Data Innovation Center to serve as a central location for aeronautical data, as well as the launch of automated digital product downloads that make it easier for users to take advantage of the most up-todate information. “This is only the beginning for Got Data— and for the transformation of our Aeronautical Information Services division,” he said. He also cited NextGen efforts: “We’re on track to meet our NextGen objectives by 2025. But NextGen is delivering real, measurable benefits today. And it’s happening at an accelerated pace that’s being driven by industry needs.” He noted that this effort includes the use of data communications, or Data Comm, which enables air traffic controllers and pilots to transmit flight plans and communicate other messages by text instead of radio

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With its new $22-million FBO expansion slated to open this month at Florida’s Opa-Locka Executive Airport near Miami, Fontainebleau Aviation is here as part of the Phillips 66 contingent (Booth 4639) to give showgoers a preview. Its original facility was completed in 2007 as the flight department for parent company Turnberry Associates, and it became a full service FBO in 2012. The new project, which took two years to build, includes a 15,000-sq-ft terminal with a 1,000-sq-ft pilots’ lounge and four private crew lounges, gym with shower facility, two a/vequipped conference rooms (one seating eight and the other 16), a 50-person capacity training room, kitchen, package storage room, onsite car rental, crew cars, valet and concierge, along with 30,000 sq ft of office space. An additional pair of 35,000-sq-ft hangars, capable of sheltering aircraft up to a BBJ, was built, bringing the location’s aircraft storage to 235,000 sq ft. Also newly added was a 12,000-sq-ft arrivals canopy with a 150-foot span capable of protecting a BBJsize airplane. In all, the new development brings the complex to more than seven acres, with plenty of room left for any future expansion. According to the company, one of three service providers at the Miami-area airport, it will retain its current 2,000-sq-ft terminal for the exclusive use of its based customers, providing more intimate service and “creating a country club experience” while at the FBO. Fontainebleau also offers maintenance at a Part 145 repair station through sister company Precision Aircraft Maintenance, as well as aircraft detailing. p

Bombardier Global 7000 targets 2018 service date by Kerry Lynch Bombardier is on the cusp of flying its flagship Global 7000 longrange, four-zone business jet with all safety of flight tests completed and ground taxi tests begun. First flight is set to come just a bit after the 20-year anniversary of the Oct. 13, 1996 first flight of the original Global Express. Michel Ouellette, Bombardier senior v-p of the Global 7000/8000 program, called that anniversary “a huge milestone” that reflects on the successful path that the original Global program established. “We’re walking into the next success with the Global 7000 and 8000,” he added. Bombardier is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to getting the Global 7000 not only to first flight, but to market by its target of second half of 2018. The 7000/8000 program is to become the crown jewel of the manufacturer’s business aircraft fleets. Unveiled in 2010, the 7000, the first of the program, has suffered delays as Bombardier struggled to manage cash flow among several research and development programs in recent years. The 8000, meanwhile, is to wait in the wings as Bombardier works to get the 7000 to market. “First flight is a major gate to continue building the program’s momentum, and will also trigger some much needed cash from deposits due from order holders,” said industry analyst Rolland Vincent. But despite those cash flow issues Ouellette said there has been no compromise on the promised performance or airframe. With four distinct living spaces and a 54-foot, seven-inchlong cabin, the fly-by-wire 7000 will be larger than any other

Global, something that Ouellette said makes it “segment defining.” It also is showing that it can meet the 7,400-nm range and a speed of Mach 0.925. The $72.5 million jet also has been a strong seller by all indications. Bombardier officals noted that the 7000/8000 program has been a large contributor to its backlog that at midyear stood at $17 billion. While Bombardier does not disclose orders, Vincent, who is president of Rolland Vincent Associates, estimates that the 7000/8000 program has accumulated about 200 orders with the vast majority for the 7000. “I am sure that they are keeping the 8000 on their long-term radar, but the market has clearly spoken that cabin trumps range when we are out at these numbers,” he said, referring to the 8000’s shorter cabin, but longer range. “The interior of the Global 7000 is pretty spectacular, and Bombardier has been demonstrating tremendous leadership in developing the cabins of the future They have nicely leveraged their early-on experience with widebody Challengers to raise the bar in aircraft interiors.” Although, he cautions that competitors are “fast following.” The Global 7000 customer base has held strong, even with the two-year delay in the program that had been announced in 2015. Bombardier has continually updated the customer base on progress of the program, shoring up their loyalty. Striving for ‘Validation Mode’

The company is now moving forward expeditiously, with FTV 1 completed and near ready for

Bombardier has adopted an “all hands on deck” philosophy in getting the Global 7000 into the sky and onto the market by mid-2018.

flight and FTVs 2-5 in various stages of production. The program is “progressing well,” Ouellette said. “Everything we have to do in terms of testing…. for safety of flight for first flight is done and behind us.” He noted the company has been methodical and ensuring complete ground testing “to make sure that when product enters flight test, it actually is less in discovery mode and more in validation mode.” On FTV 1, switching on of electrical power was achieved some time ago and, following the fuel flow tests, power-on of the engines and APU were conducted more recently. The company checked off a number of functional tests, including a landing gear swing test that was accomplished on the aircraft rather than a typical rig test. Bombardier also completed ground vibration tests in recent weeks, a “big step” toward first flight. The multi-day ground vibration test validates control laws, Ouellette noted. Bombardier has moved FTV 1, which will test basic performance, into a dedicated hangar that focuses strictly on “everything we need to do from an experimental point of view,” Ouellette said, adding “it’s a highly instrumented [aircraft]. It is loaded from tip to tail.” The program took a step forward this past spring when the GE Passport engine, which is

powering the aircraft, received certification. That also facilitated “going from discovery to validation,” he said, and “gives us strong confidence…as we go in to flight tests.” In October, the Wichita-based flight test team had been in Toronto, where the aircraft is being assembled, to ease the handover into flight test. Leading into NBAA, Bombardier was working to finish up low and high-speed taxi tests, along with remaining functional tests. Initial flights will take place in Toronto, before the aircraft moves to Wichita for the full flight test program. The program will include five vehicles. Along with FTV 1, Ouellette stressed that there has been “a lot of focus on subsequent FTVs.” FTV 2, which will be used for engine testing, is nearly complete, with engines and landing gear installed and floorboards beginning to close. It has already had initial power-on. FTV 3, which will be used for avionics/electrical checks, also has the cockpit installed, fuselage and wings joined and landing gear installed. FTV 4, meanwhile, which will primarily test the interior, is also on final assembly with the wing joined and the center fuselage received. FTV 5 “is on its way,” added Ouellette. “It’s a full pipeline.” Beyond the aircraft production, the company is taking special care to ensure progress of the interiors moves along at pace

with the aircraft. With a fourzone cabin, he said, the company has a “very, very strong focus on this program to do things different on interior.” Furniture Delivery

Bombardier has received a complete shipset of furniture, which Ouellette stressed, “is not a mockup. It’s a real one that passed flammability so it can fly.” The shipset will undergo testing in a rig specifically designed to represent the aluminum fuselage of the 7000. “We reinvented the way we do this,” he said. The cabinets will be installed for form, fit and function testing, including for natural movement and deflections of the fuselage. “Once that’s done and we’ve ironed out all the bugs, we can take that shipset and put it into FTV 4 and go fly. The only thing we can’t simulate on the ground is flying.” This testing is particularly important to ensure that the program remains on track for its timeline, he said, noting Bombardier has folded “a lot of innovation into this. To meet second half of 2018.” While assembled in Toronto, the aircraft will be completed at Bombardier’s center in Montreal that completes other Globals and Challengers. Executives hinted that maintenance intervals will be longer than anything they have reached with current in-production airframes. o

HAWTHORNE GLOBAL BUYS BAMA AIR

Global 7000 landing gear functionality swing tests were performed on the actual aircraft, rather than on a test rig, as has been the usual procedure until now.

Charleston, S.C.-based Hawthorne Global Aviation Services (Booth 4226) has expanded its FBO network with the announcement that it has acquired Bama Air, one of two service providers at Alabama’s Tuscaloosa Regional Airport. The facility, which specializes in quick turns, includes a 5,000-sq-ft terminal with a fireplace, crew cars, concierge, flight planning and briefing rooms, 10-seat conference room, pilots’ lounge with shower facilities, on-site car rental, widescreen televisions and Wi-Fi. Its 75,000 sq ft of hangar space can accommodate midsize jets such as the Citation XLS. The acquisition marks the fifth location for the chain, which also has facilities at New York’s Long Island MacArthur, Chicago Executive, Atlanta Cobb County and Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley Regional airports. “This location is a full-service FBO with a wide range of amenities including aircraft management and aircraft maintenance along with warm hospitality you’d expect from any of the five Hawthorne FBOs nationwide,” said company president and CEO Bryon Burbage. “We are very pleased to be a part of the Tuscaloosa community and look forward to a long and productive relationship with the airport and the city.” According to the company, the location sees a lot of demand from supporters of the nearby University of Alabama. Hawthorne expects to embark on a major renovation of the three-decade old facility in the first quarter of 2017, after the conclusion of this year’s college football championship. —C.E.

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NEWS CLIPS z Wisconsin Aviation Hits Milestone Wisconsin Aviation (Booth 2207) is celebrating its 35th year in operation this year. The company began in 1981 with an FBO at Watertown Municipal Airport, which still serves as its corporate headquarters. It later added two more Wisconsin locations at Dodge County Airport in Juneau and Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. It is the lone service provider at all of its locations. The company offers aircraft maintenance and avionics service; charter/management with a fleet of more than 50 aircraft; and rental, sales and flight instruction up to airline transport certificates. “We want to thank our employees, loyal customers and local communities for their support over the past 35 years,” said company founder and CEO Jeff Baum, who also serves as a charter pilot on many of the company’s aircraft.

MyFlightSolutions and Vessix ink merger deal by Curt Epstein To position themselves as an industry leading aviation operations software provider, MyFlightSolutions (Booth 4686) and Vessix (Booth 4786) have agreed to merge their respective solutions platforms into one package. MyFlightSolutions began five years ago offering a software plat-

is a game-changer for our industry, providing us with an incredibly advanced and integrated software product offering for aviation businesses that have been underserved in today’s market.” The merger, which will take effect at the end of the year, will mean the end for Vessix. The new company will retain the

z Elliott Offers ADS-B Solution for Citations Elliott Aviation (Booth 275) is pursuing an STC for a Garmin ADS-B solution for the Cessna Citation Excel/XLS that will satisfy the ADS-B out mandate and provide ADS-B in information via the Bluetooth-compatible Garmin Flight Stream wireless gateway. The solution will act as a bridge program to Elliott’s recently announced Garmin G5000 retrofit for those aircraft, as well as provide a significant discount for future G5000 installations. The installation includes dual remote mount Garmin GTX3000 smart transponders, GDL 88 datalink, GA-36 antenna and Flight Stream 110 to provide WAAS/GPS to the GTX 3000. The STC is similar to Elliott’s ADS-B solutions for 2002 and newer Pro Line 21 Hawkers and the Premier I and IA. The design does not require additional modifications and provides seamless integration to existing cockpit controls. In addition to certifying Garmin ADS-B solutions, Elliott was the first dealer to do a retrofit installation on a Part 25 aircraft, installing two systems on Beechjet 400A/XPs, with 16 sold.

z Jet Aviation Up and Running at Van Nuys Jet Aviation has begun aircraft servicing operations at Southern California’s Van Nuys Airport. In January, the General Dynamics subsidiary (Booth 265) was awarded a 30-year lease for a 17-acre site at the Los Angeles-area business aviation hub. Operating from the former Pentastar/Basenet facility on the north side of the airport, the company is now providing full line services and 24/7 guarded entry to the airport and ramp. By 2018, that should be replaced by a 20,000-sq-ft environmentally friendly LEED Silver-certified passenger terminal along with a pair of 40,000-sq-ft hangars with accompanying shops and offices. The new-build facility will offer domestic and international handling, executive conference rooms, a crew lounge, flight-planning room and a business center. For Jet Aviation, the location will be its eighth in the U.S. and its first west of Texas. “We are delighted to be moving forward with operations at Van Nuys Airport,” said John Langevin, the service provider’s vice president of North American FBO operations. “We look forward to helping strengthen our role in the local community as we create jobs for the region.”

z Skyservice Adds Ottawa FBO Canadian aviation services provider Skyservice (Booth 3682) has expanded its network to four locations in the Great White North, with the announcement this week at NBAA 2016 that it has taken over operations at the former Esso Avitat facility at Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport. Previously operated by JPD Aviation for more than a quarter century, Skyservice vows to provide the Ottawa location’s customers with the same level of quality support and service at its Toronto Lester Pearson International, Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and Calgary International Airport locations.

With more applications, MyFlightSolutions has joined with payment specialist Vessix.

form for flight training providers. It added a maintenance module two years ago, and at last year’s NBAA show it unveiled products for charter and FBO operators. “It’s pretty seamless because there was very little overlap in the products,” said MyFlightSolutions CEO Jack Garzella. “Vessix had all the payment technology, all of the FBO fuel provider contract technology, and we had all of the operations technology. This strategic merger

MyFlightSolutions name, and Vessix co-founder and COO Tom Perkins will take on the role of president of the combined company. He predicts the system will improve productivity by up to 30 percent for its users by reducing the amount of manual entries required currently. The Vessix system currently features secure point-of-sale credit card processing, transaction tracking, fuel-inventory

management, tax reporting, facility scheduling and client database. It is in use at 32 Shellbranded FBOs. With the announcement of the merger, a version of the combined, subscription-fee platform, known as Atlas, will be available to all 500 Shell-branded providers. It was installed last week at Tidewater Air, the lone FBO at North Carolina’s Coastal Carolina Regional Airport. A similar deal with Avfuel was also announced this week at NBAA 2016, with the MyFlightFBO module. “This addition of MyFlightFBO means more choices for our branded network,” said William Light, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company’s vice president of administration. Here at the NBAA show, MyFlightSolutions unveiled a new all-in-one payment application in conjunction with WEX Virtual Payments. Known as My Copilot, the app will present new technology to pilots, FBOs, tripplanning companies and fuel distributors. “Enabling operators to quickly and automatically reconcile a pilot’s trip expenses is groundbreaking,” said Jim Pratt, senior vice president and general manager of WEX. The app will automate the receipt tracking process so users will no longer need to keep track of receipts for approved expenses. It will also generate a single-use Mastercard payment solution for all fuel and FBO purchases, as well as transportation, commercial airfare and hotel expenses anywhere Mastercard is accepted. “The fuel, the hotel, the ramp fee, the hangar all gets pulled into one transaction, settled at one time and all that data is real time,” Perkins told AIN. o

FLIGHT DATA SYSTEMS REBRANDS AS FDS AVIONICS Flight Display Systems (Booth 1890), provider of the “do” suite of wireless cabin IFE solutions, announced a rechristening this week at NBAA 2016, changing its name to FDS Avionics Corp. This “better describes the broad portfolio of products and services in in-flight entertainment, cabin management and special mission video systems” the Georgia-based company provides, said William Cathcart vice-president of sales and marketing. FDS offers the do Capsule, a wireless server; do 3D, providing 2D and 3D in-flight maps; the Edge series of monitors; and do 360, a subscription service providing access to movies and other entertainment, including DRM-protected content such as the latest Hollywood releases through its partnership with Global Eagle Entertainment. Scaled-down content plans—do 180 and do 90—are also available. The do offerings were introduced a year ago at NBAA 2015. “A year ago I stood here and told you we were making these, and they’re here,” said Cathcart. “These are not concept or theory or vaporware—they’re here, adopted, shipped, deployed and supported.” In the past year, FDS has partnered with Textron Aviation, which will equip King Air 350i twin turboprops and Citation Xs with FDS systems for an undisclosed fleet customer. FDS has also partnered with MRO provider StandardAero (Booth 2296), which is showcasing FDS products at its display area. As a key market for its products, Cathcart singled out the fleet operators, which he characterized as “one of the audiences underserved and desperate for something that fits in the IFE part of the puzzle.” The FDS products answer their needs for commonality, easy installation, predictable service costs and intuitive design, n Cathcart said.

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The Gulfstream G280 has demonstrated its steep approach capabilities at London City Airport, the final step to obtaining approval to operate out of the airport.

FLIGHTSAFETY G500 SIMULATOR ADDS CREWVIEW COLLIMATED DISPLAY, ENHANCING REALISM

Gulfstream G280 midsize goes steep at London City by Amy Laboda The Gulfstream G280 has been certified for steep approaches by both the FAA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI), and has demonstrated this capability at London City Airport, Scott Neal, senior v-p of worldwide sales for Gulfstream (Booth 250), announced on Monday. “Being able to operate at London City gives our Gulfstream G280 operators quick access to one of the world’s great financial centers,” he said, adding that London City approval for the supermidsize jet is forthcoming.

London City requires that each aircraft flying in provide a copy of the steep approach supplement contained within its aircraft flight manual, including aircraft procedures and limitations data and proof of current steep approach flight crew training. When the above requirements are satisfied and all is submitted to the Isle of Man aircraft registry, the registry will provide London City Airport officials with a letter stating its endorsement of the aircraft’s operation for steep 5.5-degree approaches there.

Tourism driving a surge in Japanese bizav traffic by Curt Epstein While Japan is currently struggling to return its economy to growth mode, one sector in the Asian nation is booming: foreign tourism. Over the past three years, the number of foreign visitors to Japan has more than doubled, with an economic impact of $25 billion. Last year saw more than one million visitors from the U.S. alone, an all-time high. While the majority of that influx came via airlines, business aviation has also seen recent spikes. From 2010 through 2015, the average number of business aviation flights grew by approximately 3 percent, and 7.7 percent for international private flights. Last year, business aviation operations in total increased by more than 25 percent. At Tokyo’s major gateways of Narita and Haneda International Airports, business aviation activity saw more than a 20-percent increase between 2014 and 2015, while international business flights were up

more than 35 percent at Narita. Faced with this influx of traffic, authorities at the airports have made several improvements over the past several years. In 2012, a new private aviation terminal, Premier Gate, opened at Narita with dedicated customs, immigration and quarantine services for private aviation customers. Two years later, a new taxi route to the private terminal was established, cutting the travel time from the apron in half. More Large-jet Parking

Since parking has been problematic, the airport has established five new parking spots for business aircraft, which can accommodate largecabin jets. Last year, AGP Co. began business aircraft operations, offering long- and short-term hangar space for up to five aircraft in a former airline hangar. At Haneda, travel time from the private aviation terminal to aircraft

This includes a London City steep approach airspace approval document for the aircraft, following the issue by airport officials of the landing certification approval. “From London City, the G280 can provide nonstop access to all of Europe and Northern Africa,” said Neal. The G280 offers speeds up to Mach 0.85 and the ability to fly four passengers nonstop at Mach 0.80 for 3,600 nm. Other cabin configurations can handle up to 10 passengers. On the flight deck, the aircraft is equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion-based Gulfstream PlaneView 280 avionics suite. Its Link 2000+ option supports future mandate requirements for operating in European airspace. o

parking has been cut from 12 to two minutes, while new customs and immigration facilities at the international private aviation terminal have drastically reduced waiting time. Two preferential parking spots were added at the terminal, and a new passenger lounge was also installed this summer. Additionally, the airport has increased the number of parking spaces for large aircraft from three to nine, and as a result, earlier this year the maximum period of parking was cut from 10 days to five. While slots were a challenge at Haneda, earlier this year they were doubled for business aviation customers, from eight to 16 per day, with the maximum number of arrival slots boosted from four to 15. In further consideration of the growing demands of business aviation, in April the segment was granted a higher priority in the slot-granting priority hierarchy, and airport authorities shortened the period required for flight schedule confirmation. At Kansai International Airport, a new fast lane expediting immigration service for private aviation and VIP passengers was instituted in March, while incremental improvements in infrastructure have been instituted at other major airports. o

FlightSafety International’s Gulfstream G500 fullmotion simulator will be the first business jet trainer equipped with the CrewView collimated glass mirror display, which provides “superior distortionfree optical performance.” The true collimated images are presented free of visible distortions and artifacts out to mirror edge, while the glass technology provides a true spherical shape for exact geometry across the entire viewing area, which eliminates the distortions inherent in soft-film display systems, according to the company. This wide field of view improves situational awareness and cueing during critical maneuvers such as visual and circling approaches, taxiing, turns and final approach. The system also features FlightSafety’s Vital 1100 visual system, which provides highly specific mission imagery and scene content including continuous time of day, physicsbased weather and the latest terrain information with geo-specific satellite images. The G500 simulator is located at the company’s Savannah, Ga., learning center. FlightSafety (Booth 2679) will also add training for the Embraer Legacy 450 and 500 at its Dallas location in a new level-D simulator there, in addition to the training presently offered for these aircraft at its St. Louis center. This new simulator will be equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck and HGS-3500 head-up display and EVS3000 enhanced vision system (Embraer’s E2VS). Advanced technology incorporated into the simulator will include electric motion and electric control loading, a new multi-function instructor operating station and FlightSafety’s Vital 1100 visual system. FlightSafety is also expanding its maintenance course offerings to include composite materials courses. The training will be offered in conjunction with Abaris Training Resources through FlightSafety’s maintenance learning center in Wichita. The five-day courses include Phase 1, 2 and 3 advanced composite structures; fabrication and damage repair; adhesive bonding of composites and metals; mold fabrication for production and repairs; non-destructive inspection techniques for technicians and inspectors; and repair of bonded aluminum structures. Abaris has been providing —M.H. composite repair training since 1983.

The new Gulfstream G500 full-motion simulator from FlightSafety International includes improved graphics that further minimize distortion.

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by Chad Trautvetter In a parody video, C&L Aviation Group CEO Chris Kilgour believes that the company is headed to the NBA (as in the National Basketball Association), not the NBAA show this week, due to an “autocorrect error” in an email sent to him by an

employee. “Before you knew it, the company was busy practicing layup drills and deciding on a team logo,” company marketing director Pat Lemieux said, tongue in cheek. “We thought about telling him [he was wrong], but no one really wanted to see

ENGINEERING THE IMPOSSIBLE SM

GDC Group is a global aircraft modification and technology leader offering Total Solutions for our customers in the form of aircraft financing, interior design, engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, modifications, certification and aircraft management.

WE ARE GDC “GDC has emerged as an industry leader in aircraft modifications on a global scale utilizing the latest technology to exceed our customer’s expectations in all areas of aircraft ownership”. “GDC maintains an industry leading backlog in the VVIP market segment supported by a $20M private investment to ensure market leading solutions in connectivity and engineering capabilities are funded and supported”.

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Which convention did you say that was? Maine MRO C&L Aviation’s “miscue “has led to some NBA-A fun.

newly refurbished interior hangar. The additional hangar space and new storage buildings will allow C&L to simultaneously service more aircraft. o

Round-the-world flight plan seeks out female role models by Ian Sheppard NBAA is supporting an epic round-theworld solo flight by Afghanistan’s first female civilian pilot, Shaesta Waiz, who founded a project called “Dreams Soar” in 2014. Her plan is to make the 25,000-mile trip in a Beech A36 Bonanza starting next spring, making 30 stops in 18 countries, and completing the journey in 90 days. Dreams Soar is a non-profit organization whose goal is to partner with strong female role models along the route of Waiz’s flight, which will begin and end at Daytona Beach Airport in Florida. Other U.S. stops will be made (not necessarily in this order) in Hilo, Hawaii; El Cajon, California; Phoenix; Wichita; Columbus, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Cincinnati, Ohio; Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; and Mobile, Alabama. International stops will be made first in Canada, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. At a launch event at NBAA 2016 on Tuesday morning, other exhibitors and attendees were invited to join NBAA as a Global Partner in the Dreams Soar

Mohammed Alzeer General Partner

For more information: www.gdctechnics.com

DAVID McINTOSH

C&L jumps through hoops due to ‘autocorrect error’

him disappointed,” he continued on with the ruse. “He seems pretty excited about playing basketball.” Keeping with the humorous theme, the Bangor, Me.-based aviation maintenance, parts and completions firm’s “NBA-A” booth (3424) is a basketball court, where attendees can talk about C&L’s capabilities while shooting some hoops. The company will also host a meet and greet with the Orlando Magic Dance Team this morning at 10 a.m. Meanwhile, C&L announced a $3 million expansion at its facility in Bangor two months ago. The project will refurbish a newly leased hangar, add two buildings, increase capabilities and create 100 additional jobs over the next two years. In 2014, C&L completed a $5 million expansion that tripled the company’s space and included a 17,000-sq-ft paint hangar. That expansion allowed it to move into new markets such as interior refurbishments for executive jets. This next phase of growth will add to C&L’s corporate interiors capabilities, a growing market for the company, with a

As part of her “Dreams Soar” nonprofit initiative, Afghan pilot Shaesta Waiz plans to fly around the world.

initiative, which has ambitions that go well beyond Waiz’s flight. “The global solo flight is only one chapter of the Dreams Soar program,” said Lyndse Costabile, who chairs the board of directors. Waiz, who was born in a refugee camp in Afghanistan in 1987—fleeing to the U.S. with her parents to escape the SovietAfghan war—will join Costabile as keynote speakers at the NBAA Careers in Business Aviation Day on Thursday. Dreams Soar has established a “Dream Team” of college students and young professionals who will be helping in areas such as corporate relations, social media, organizing outreach events, and various others. Longtime NBAA member Lou C. Seno, Jr. and his wife Christine have supported Waiz since the beginning and helped her to acquire the aircraft for the trip, while also supporting her flight training. Lou Seno is also on the boards of EAA and GAMA. “Waiz, through our support and others, will no doubt complete her mission in 2017,” he said. o

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Visit us at NBAA booth 4057.

NAA to honor a distinguished quartet by Kerry Lynch Women In Aviation International (WAI) founder Peggy Chabrian and business aviation industry luminaries Randall Greene, Preston Henne and Clay Lacy were selected as this year’s recipients of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) Wesley L. McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation Awards. To be presented at an NAA ceremony on December 8 in Arlington, Va., the awards honor “outstanding Americans who, by their efforts over an extended period of years, have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics and have reflected credit upon America and themselves.” Chabrian launched the first WAI conference in 1990 with 150 attendees and formally established the organization in 1994 with 16 founding board members. The organization now has more than 13,000 members and has awarded nearly $11 million in scholarships.

Greene, chairman, president and CEO of Safe Flight Instrument, has held senior roles with numerous industry companies, including Aeronautical Systems, Commander Aircraft, AirResearch and AlliedSignal, among others. Chairman of the Corporate Angel Network, he holds 15 U.S. patents and is an associate fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He also holds 12 NAA and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale aviation records. Diverse Career

Henne, recognized as “a visionary leader in aircraft development,” has led teams responsible for the certification of the Gulfstream V, G550, G450, G150, G280 and the G650. He also was responsible for the aerodynamic design of the wing on the C-17, chief design engineer for the MD-80 and v-p and general manager of the MD-90 program. He

is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Royal Aeronautical Society. Lacy has been working in aviation since he became a flight instructor at the age of 16, holding roles as an airline captain, military aviator, experimental test pilot, air race champion, world record-setter, aerial cinematographer and business aviation entrepreneur. He has flown more than 300 aircraft types and logged more than 50,000 flight hours and accumulated more hours flying turbine aircraft than any other pilot in the world, according to NAA. His highlights include the first flight of the Pregnant Guppy, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser modified to carry the Saturn rocket booster in support of the U.S. space program; flying the first Learjet into Van Nuys Airport; and founding Clay Lacy Aviation in 1968. o

AMERICAN SPIRIT AWARD

Preston Henne, engineer and team leader on multiple aircraft programs

Dr. Peggy Chabrian, founder, Women in Aviation International

Randall Greene, president and CEO of Safe Flight Instrument

Clay Lacy, military pilot, test pilot and founder of Clay Lacy Aviation

JOHN H. WINANT AWARD

Bruce Whitman Is NBAA’s ‘American Spirit’

NBAA To Honor Whyte for Lifetime of Dedication

NBAA is recognizing FlightSafety Interat FlightSafety he has remained national chairman, president and CEO active with the association, including Bruce Whitman with its NBAA Amerserving on the Associate Member ican Spirit Award. The award, to be Advisory Council. presented here at the NBAA show, will Outside those organizations, Whithonor Whitman for his “commitment man’s volunteer activities have been to helping others throughout the global numerous. He has been chairman aviation community.” emeritus of the Congressional Medal “Everyone in aviaof Honor Foundation, tion knows how rare it is and serves on the founto find someone who’s dation’s executive comsucceeded for more than mittee. He further is a five decades with the member of the execusame company, espetive committees for Orbis cially amidst so many International, which is industry changes,” said dedicated to the prevenNBAA president and CEO tion and treatment of Ed Bolen. “Throughout blinding eye diseases in his te nure, B r uc e’ s developing countries. commitment to fostering Whitman also is diBruce Whitman aviation safety worldrector emeritus of the wide has been equaled Civil Air Patrol and the by his tireless devotion to numerous Smithsonian National Air and Space aviation organizations and philanMuseum. He is on the board of directhropic endeavors.” tors for the Corporate Angel Network Whitman has spent 55 years with and is vice chairman of the developFlightSafety, playing an integral role ment committee of the National World in its growth into a global training War II Museum. provider and simulator manufacturer. “Whether it’s through his support FlightSafety now provides more than for our nation’s armed forces and 1.4 million hours of training annually to military service members, or his pilots, maintenance technicians and efforts in utilizing business aviation to other aviation professionals from more help people around the globe, Bruce than 167 countries. truly believes that our industry is like Whitman had held senior roles a family, and that we are responsible at NBAA for two years before he for helping each other in any way joined FlightSafety in 1961. While we’re able,” Bolen said. —K.L.

Veteran business aviation executive has continued to grow during Whyte’s and industry advocate Roger Whyte tenure as chairman, with more than 160 was selected as the 2016 recipient of delegates attending last year’s edition. NBAA’s John H. Winant Award. Whyte, He also has served as a member who has remained actively involved of the Transportation and Infrastrucwith business aviation advocacy since ture Committee on the U.S. Chamber his retirement from Cessna Aircraft in of Commerce, and as a member of the 2010, is being recognized for his lifeBoard of Governors for the National Avialong dedication to busition Hall of Fame. ness aviation. Whyte spent nearly “Roger’s selfless and three decades with enduring commitment to Cessna, joining the growing business aviation company in 1982 as is exactly what the Winant regional sales manager for award is all about,” said German-speaking Europe. NBAA president and CEO He retired as senior v-p Ed Bolen. of sales and marketing, “Like John Winant, responsible for all of the Roger has worked tirecompany’s product lines. lessly to advance the Whyte did have a Roger Whyte interests of business short stint with then rival aviation—prior to, during Raytheon Aircraft in 1994 and after his service on NBAA’s board as vice president of international sales, of directors.” but returned not too long after that to Whyte is a past chairman of NBAA’s become vice president of worldwide Associate Member Advisory Council Citation sales for Cessna. and an NBAA board member. NBAA Whyte’s career began with automocredited him with helping to lay the biles. He initially held roles with autogroundwork for the annual Asian Busimobile manufacturer Rover in England, ness Aviation Convention and ExhibiDeutsche Rover in Germany and British tion in Shanghai. Leyland Austria in Salzburg. His aviaHe also has spent the past three tion career followed when he became years as chairman of Central Europe general manager of OEFAG Aviation Private Aviation (CEPA), a PragueServices, a fixed-base operator with based organization created to foster three locations in Austria. the growth of business aviation in The Winant Award will be presented Central Europe. CEPA’s annual Expo here at the NBAA show. —K.L.

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FDManager software eases paper recordkeeping burden by Matt Thurber Pat Dunn, director of product development for software developer FDManager and an experienced and current corporate pilot, is familiar with the problems that led to the development of his company’s flight log software. Keeping track of all the variables that need to be correct for a business jet to fly legally is a complicated problem, and when done entirely on paper the process is frequently subject to error. In one instance, Dunn was planning a three-week trip, and he asked the maintenance manager if there were any due items that would occur during the trip. He was told nothing was due, but then halfway through the trip, the manager called and said he would have to make an extra stop for a required maintenance item. Dunn would then have to call the boss and try to explain why the trip would be delayed. “We had a lot to learn,” he recalled. Now Dunn just checks FDManager before a flight, and he can instantly see whether the planned trip can be done without any maintenance-due items causing delays, and without having to launch another program like Camp Systems to check the same information. FDManager (Booth 860) also tracks every other aspect of the operation, including pilot qualifications, training and medical records, radiation exposure, de-icing holdover times, number of approaches and holds, fuel burned, invoices, avionics requirements (30-day VOR and two-year transponder checks), minimum equipment lists, scheduled maintenance, discrepancy status and much more.

“It’s a paperless solution for all factions of the organization except it’s not a scheduling tool,” he said. There are plenty of other scheduling programs available that do a fine job, he added, and in any case, FDManager can integrate with third-party software for scheduling, maintenance management, flight planning, safety management systems, etc. Every night at midnight, FDManager sends updated flight time and other information to customer thirdparty providers, such as Camp Systems, Flightdocs and others. Eliminating Crew Errors

FDManager streamlines the capturing of flight data, but it proves its worth in helping flight crews more accurately input the data. “If we can get all your paperwork into our system,” Dunn said, “then crews are more likely to do it. It’s legible and more accurate when you start talking about additions and subtractions and carry-forwards for record keeping purposes.” FDManager, for example, won’t allow an incorrect date or unapproved pilot to be entered in the system. Once the pilot inputs the time out, the program automatically calculates the flight and block time, and the crew then isn’t allowed to manipulate the information, although administrators can be given permission to make corrections. “We’re trying to make sure crews don’t make mistakes,” he said. Some operations might insist on paper flight logs, but Dunn has found that most operations end up with error rates of 5

FDManager keeps track of relevant pilot data such as qualifications, training and medical records. In addition, the software records avionics requirements, minimum equipment lists, scheduled maintenance and discrepancy status, among other parameters.

to 8 percent in flight logs, based on his examinations of historical records. With such an error rate, Dunn can easily show that it adds up to at least two hours of flight time per year. And the per-hour cost of the maintenance programs to which operators typically subscribe more than pays for the annual subscription fee for FDManager. “If we can save two hours [of flight time mistakes], we pay for the cost of FDManager,” he said. For multiple aircraft operators, the savings can be higher because FDManager offers fleet discounts. The subscription fee is per airplane, and there are no limits to the number of users or limits for the amount of data stored in FDManager’s secure Amazon-based cloud. FDManager also comes in handy when operators are faced with SAFA ramp checks, because the software can store the information needed to satisfy inspectors. “We don’t tell you how to do the SAFA check,” he said, “but we have the form

UNIVERSAL, FAM GIVE CUSTOMERS A RIDE Global flight support provider Universal Weather and Aviation (Booth 2611) along with its long-standing security partner FAM International (Booth 1925) have launched a new global ground transportation joint venture, Universal Private Transport. The independent company will allow users to arrange VIP ground transport anywhere in the world, and since it’s tied to Universal’s trip support services, when a Universal customer makes a change to their

schedule, the ground transport reservation changes as well. “Every change in a trip creates a ripple effect, not just at your current destination but the next,” said FAM CEO Brian Leek, noting the typical chain of events that occurs when a passenger decides to depart earlier. “The scheduler calls the trip support provider, who calls the handler, who calls the transport provider to adjust the schedule at the current location and then the handler at the arrival airport. This introduces multiple points of failure and risk, as each vendor only sees their portion of the mission.” “Schedule changes not communicated, late arrivals, the wrong size vehicle, uninformed drivers and bad information are all common ground transport risks that can adversely impact mission success,” added Greg Evans, Universal’s chairman. “Universal Private Transport was created to fulfill our clients’ request to help give them more control by bullet-proofing those issues and eliminating unnecessary risk and stress to their missions, such as a non-vetted vendor and unknown driver.” According to managing director Chris Kim, the new transport company is operated by people who understand the challenges of business aviation. “We see the total scope of your mission, no matter how many destinations or legs, reducing the number of calls, vendors and risk of error.” Arrangements and changes can be made through a variety of methods including telephone, email, text message or online, ensuring 24-hour access. —C.E.

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that we have used over the years, and it has prevented numerous mistakes. Everybody does things a bit differently, but we give you the flexibility to track the [necessary] documents and keep your system current.” FDManager can also be used to distribute training materials to flight crews, and it tracks whether or not a document has been opened. Documents are automatically delivered to the recipient when they sign into FDManager on whatever device they are using. While FDManager can be used to manually place flight plans into the customer’s web portal, Dunn is working on an automatic flight plan distribution mechanism that would eliminate the manual steps. “This will take more time, because there are so many flight planning organizations,” he said. “We have to figure out how to meet their needs.” Having the flight plan at hand makes it easier for pilots to annotate the map, for example, when marking up waypoint crossings during oceanic trips. If a SAFA inspector suspects that the pilot had a gross navigation error, he explained, “you bring out the flight plan and show them everything you’ve done.” Dunn uses an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil to mark up his flight plans. “All that stays with the flight-of-the-day documents. You know where it is, and it truly makes it readily available.” For operators, the bottom line is that people are less likely to transfer written data to a computer after a flight. “If we put the ability for the crew to put in data at their fingertips, they’ll do it,” Dunn said. “If they have to go to a computer later, that will never happen. We’re trying to put it all in one place.” Subscribers can ask for customization of FDManager. “We can write reports for just about anything you want to get,” he said. FDManager, said Dunn, “meets all regulatory requirements. It’s pretty much compliant around the world,” although some regulators insist that crews continue to use paper flight logs. Dunn is working with operators and regulators to help them understand how FDManager improves regulatory compliance. Nonetheless, all the data can be printed out in various types of reports if necessary. o

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BOOTH 889

1 2- 1 6 NOVEM BER 201 7 D W C, D U B A I A I R S H O W S I T E WWW.DUBAI AIRSHOW.AERO

THE DESTINATION FOR AEROSPACE

More hangar space forAir Service Hawaii There’s more room inside, at Air Service Hawaii’s newly acquired 24,000-sq-ft hangar.

Those flying to the Aloha State can expect to find more hangar space, as FBO operator Air Service Hawaii (Booth 3882) has acquired a 24,000-sq-ft

Change is in the air.

hangar at its flagship location at Honolulu International Airport. The $3 million structure, which can accommodate multiple aircraft up to a Gulfstream G650, features a 28-foot high door, full fire suppression and secure street side parking. Since taking over the hangar last month, the company has also installed a new security system with electronic access control and motion-sensing cameras. The new hangar adds to the 17,000 sq ft of aircraft storage space the company already owns. “Hangar space is always in short supply during our peak seasons, and now for the first time in its 68-year history, Air Service Hawaii can offer secure aircraft storage to clients operating large business jets,” said Mi Kosasa, the company’s vice president of marketing. Lanai Expanding, Too

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86 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

“Having the ability to accommodate our clients’ hangar requests more frequently further cements our position as a premier FBO in Hawaii,” added Air Service Hawaii president and CEO Shaen Tarter. “We are very fortunate to have a client base that values service and personal relationships so highly, which makes this investment possible.” The company also announced that it has significantly expanded its capabilities at Lanai Airport, where it is one of two service providers. It now offers jet fuel, full ground handling, USDAapproved catering and planeside access to ground transportation. “Having jet fuel and USDA catering inspection available at Lanai makes direct departures to the mainland available for large business jets,” Tarter noted. The location accepts all major contract fuel programs, but limited fuel supply necessitates advanced notice to ensure fuel is available for planned departures. Along with Honolulu and Lanai, the company also provides aviation support at Kauai, Maui, Kona and Hilo. —C.E.

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Fountain’s audit tool adds EASA regulations by Matt Thurber The iIS-BAO Audit Protocol software developed by Fountain and Associates has been upgraded to include EASA Organisation Requirements for Air Operations (ORO) and Non-commercial Operations with Complex Motor Aircraft (NCC) regulations. The addition of the EASA material is designed to assist companies that regularly operate in European airspace to address those requirements in their IS-BAO compliance process. Fountain and Associates (Booth 862) released the

iIS-BAO software in 2015, and it is updated each February to reflect changes in the more than 400 International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) requirements, FAA regulations, NASA guidance documents and the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) generic company operations manual (GCOM). The 2017 cycle will include the EASA ORO and NCC regulations. “Adding the EASA regulations to the iIS-BAO software allows flight department personnel and safety auditors to

FSF highlights the need for sharing safety data by Kerry Lynch The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), continuing its effort to expand the practice of developing and sharing safety data globally, is beginning to develop “tool kits” to enable countries to establish such data-sharing programs in a non-punitive environment. The tool kits are part of the foundation’s threeyear Global Safety Information Project (GSIP) that has focused on use of safety data primarily in the Asia-Pacific and PanAmerica regions. FSF is now nearing the end of the second year of GSIP, and FSF president and CEO Jon Beatty said the organization has “a lot of heavy deliverables” heading into the next several months with the year-two report and the beginnings of the tool kits ahead. Beatty, who noted that more than 50 percent of the foundation’s members are involved in business aviation, stressed the importance for business aviation operators to participate in such safety data sharing programs alongside air transport operators. “If you want to continue to see the levels of improvement that we’ve seen over the years in both air transport and business aviation,” Beatty said, then “we’ve got to find a way to learn from each other. We’ve got to find a way to begin sharing data…in a non-punitive [environment].” He added that while GSIP has attracted the attention of more air

transport operators, “this project crosses both air transport and business aviation because they face a lot of the same challenges.” He noted that business aviation faces unique challenges because most of the operators are much smaller than the airlines. “Statistically, when you take airlines, you have enough flights…and have enough locations that you can start to put together a package of data where you can see what has transpired and identify areas of risk.” Business aviation has smaller fleets and more diverse operations. “Unless you are willing to partner and share with other people, you don’t have the statistical population of data that you can learn from.” By participating in larger programs, the population of data becomes more usable, he said. Business aviation also can learn from the air transport programs, Beatty added, noting that more than 80 percent of what is found on the air transport side is “very consistent and relevant to the business aviation community.” The recent NBAA report on non-compliance with pre-takeoff flight control checks underscores how participation in programs such as Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) or voluntary safety reporting can unearth potential problems, added Frank Jackman, v-p of communications for FSF. “You would not be able to

reference pertinent European and American regulations for any given IBAC requirement with just a few mouse clicks,” said Fountain and Associates and iISBAO creator Phil Fountain, a former corporate pilot with more than 30 years and 16,000 hours of flying as well as 10 years as an IS-BAO auditor. Subscribers to the iIS-BAO software can use it not only to manage IS-BAO and SMS programs but also to prepare for safety audits by checking that all requirements are complied with before the audit takes place. Direct Observance

A new iIS-BAO feature is safety performance indicators (SPIs), which allow the operator to add information related to a specific requirement. The operator can use the SPIs to measure the pick that out of any single operation. That’s the value of compiling and analyzing data and sharing.” “The value of data is well known,” added Greg Marshall, v-p of global programs for the FSF. “With every tragedy, there is fundamentally underlying data that could have pointed to the facts that relate to that accident. The more we can draw that out and share it, we can improve safety.” Many business aviation operators must be educated that the technology exists and programs exist for all sizes of operations, whether through FOQA or voluntary reporting, Marshall said. Non-compliance is on the forefront of issues confronting FSF’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which is focused on issues specifically related to the business aviation community. Strong Systems Needed

The BAC, which has been outlining key topics for its next Business Aviation Safety Summit that will be held May 4-5 in Phoenix, Ariz., is focusing on the need for strong safety systems and leadership to ward off intentional noncompliance, Marshall said. “Some of the large and more mature organizations have not only very good safety systems in place, but we see the safety culture fairly well embedded…at all levels of the organizations. In a number of other organizations safety leadership is lacking either at the top or throughout the organization.” The BAC further is focused on leadership to ensure that commercial imperatives do not take over safety imperatives. “In order to do the right things by the clients, you find business aviation

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Fountain and Associates’ most recent upgrade to its iIS-BAO Audit Protocol software now enables adding EASA regulatory requirements and materials to its database.

effectiveness of processes and procedures, although they don’t replace direct observation of safety issues. The iIS-BAO program is sold to auditors or service providers by the seat, but aircraft operators can purchase a subscription, which includes five seats and two devices per seat, and use it activities occur [without] due regard to the threats that exist in the operating environment,” Marshall said. “One of the big challenges to industry is to support and enhance safety leaderships with those organizations.” Another area of focus of the BAC is the increased pressure on corporate flight department management to balance rosters as aircraft become longerrange and more sophisticated, he said. Crews are flying longer, and the larger aircraft typically take extra pilots. This places more pressure to ensure adequate rest periods, Marshall said. “There is a wealth of guidance…in relation to fatigue management, duty periods and rest periods,” he said. “[But] it is still a challenge within the industry. I think there’s more work that can be done.” Some of the foundation’s members have been facing recruitment challenges as they try to manage the roster issues, and they have had to make difficult decisions on whether they can make a trip or send their executives on commercial flights. Marshall noted this balance of rosters and recruitment is common throughout aviation. “No sector of the industry comes away completely unscathed, and business aviation is certainly one of those areas affected.” In addition to its activities with BAC, FSF will be active at NBAA 2016, participating on panels and meeting with the community at its booth (3365). Beatty, emphasizing the importance of the business aviation community to the foundation, said, “We’re looking forward to heading to [the show].” o

to “create as many audit records as they want,” said Fountain. Auditors also pay an additional per-audit fee on top of their iISBAO subscription. “Each customer will have a copy of the entire application,” he said. “This allows them to have total access to their information, and it’s safe and secure. The most important part of the process is that it gives them speed. This is a system that requires participation from people in the flight department. If they have an accountable executive, director of operations, director of maintenance, chief pilot and safety officer, there’s five seats right there. People can put one in the pilot crew room, one in the maintenance shop: and lock it up to be read-only so people don’t get into the auditing process.” When it comes time to prepare for an audit, an operator using iIS-BAO can create an internal audit record, which is watermarked with the word “internal” to ensure it isn’t used as a formal audit compliance document. Each requirement must receive a “yes,” “no” or “not applicable” selection, and this can help operators quickly assess their level of compliance. “It streamlines the process and cuts down on the number of errors that might be in the final report,” Fountain said. For the actual audit, if there is a disagreement on whether or not a requirement is in compliance, the auditor and operator can quickly find the applicable documentation in iIS-BAO to support the requirement. “Here is what it says, and it points to the supporting documents, and they can resolve disputes,” he explained. “This is a real dynamic way of doing audits. Otherwise, I would spend hours tracking documents in hard copy.” The iIS-BAO program is available for Windows 10 and Apple Macintosh and iOS platforms. Data is stored on a securebased server. o

JOIN US FOR THE

NBAA/CAN Soiree An Evening With Angels

Don’t miss one of the best networking events at NBAA-BACE, while also supporting Corporate Angel Network (CAN).

November 2, 2016 | 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Orlando Ballroom | Hilton Orlando Musical entertainment provided by DJ PopRoXxX. To reserve a seat or table, visit the concierge desk in south hall registration.

www.nbaa.org/2016/soiree

Flight Research chose the Northrop F-5 for its HiPer URRT (upset recognition and recovery training) program. The company also has MiG 21s available, and is considering using them as well. Though it’s a Soviet-era fighter, there were tens of thousands of MiG 21s built, making them relatively easy to maintain.

High-mach upset class expands LOC-I training by Mark Phelps Loss of control inflight (LOC-I) is one of the aviation industry’s prime safety targets. That has opened a potentially lucrative market for training providers, and Flight Research Inc. (FRI, Booth 752) recently announced one of the latest programs to address the issue. Based at Mojave, Calif., the company has been providing upset recognition and recovery training (URRT) since 1981, but its latest course directly addresses high-Mach, high-performance jet operations. The new program, HiPer (High Performance) URRT, includes academics and a dynamic flight in one of FRI’s Northrop F-5 jet fighters. The first class is set to meet next month. According to FRI, “Modern commercial jet aircraft operate at very high altitudes and very high speeds. Upsets in such flight conditions are magnified intensely, and hence, very specific piloting skills are required to safely recover.” The HiPer URRT program builds on FRI’s baseline URRT course that has been in place for decades. The new program is designed to address the issues of high-altitude, high-speed upsets, specifically. The course starts with a classroom session that builds on the original URRT training. It explores high-altitude, high-Mach elements of aerodynamics, engine performance and

human physiological factors. It includes a detailed look at the atmospheric environment at the upper flight levels. The course culminates in a dynamic flight demonstration of all those elements in a Northrop F-5 supersonic fighter. The F-5 (FRI operates former Canadian military aircraft) was chosen for its balance of speed, handling, dispatch reliability and parts availability. Participants will experience, first-hand, the effects of high speed and high altitude on aircraft performance and aerodynamics. More important, experienced instructors will demonstrate techniques for effectively maneuvering and recovering from potential upsets at high Mach numbers. Students will also learn about transonic effects and other related conditions. ‘Airplanes Like to Fly’

Program director and in structor Scott Glaser explained the principle behind the practical aspect of actually flying the airplanes under these conditions. “Airplanes like to fly. They’re designed, on purpose, to be capable of maneuvers and performance that most pilots never get even close to. Most spend 99 percent of their time flying within one tiny sliver of the flight envelope their airplane is capable of. Then something

happens that takes them outside of that comfort zone, and they feel like they’re outside the airplane’s envelope, even though they’re actually not even close.” What can happen next is that the pilot responds inappropriately as though the aircraft were in distress, and makes the situation worse. Pilot error can cause the airplane to exceed its performance envelope. The surprise element is a large part of the problem.

“What we do here,” said Glaser, “is to fly into some of those situations with students, so they can experience what it actually feels like to explore outside their comfort zone. They learn that the unexpected is not necessarily bad, and once they’ve been there, you can build a toolbox to help you out of any other unexpected situation.” Glaser said the HiPer URRT program, like the original, is tailored to the individual student. For example, a former fighter pilot who’s been flying nothing but corporate Gulfstreams for the past 25 years will likely see a different mission profile than the university-trained newly type-rated Gulfstream pilot who’s scarcely seen more than 60 degrees of bank. “We can customize the program based on pilot backgrounds, comfort level and mission profile,” said Glaser. For example, FRI has trained Customs, Border Patrol and fire-fighting pilots as well as more typical button-down bizjet jockeys. Interestingly, the HiPer course was driven by customer pilots—in many cases those flying modern business jets such as the Citation X and the G650 with high-speed cruise Mach numbers of 0.93 or greater. “It can be very easy in those

aircraft to get real fast and not recognize it in a timely manner,” said Glaser. Conversely, he said, the greater danger is on the slow end of the performance envelope at high altitude. At the upper flight levels, slow-speed behavior is “a whole new ball of wax,” said Glaser. For example, recovery might chew up thousands of feet of altitude from speeds where it takes hundreds at lower altitudes. “That’s where a pilot might get into trouble, unless he learns that that’s normal.” Walking the student up to that point in a training environment, in an airplane that’s designed for it, can be a confidence builder, he said. The HiPer URRT program enables pilots to “fly themselves into situations” at their own pace, said Glaser, and when the instructor discerns they are comfortable enough, he can introduce unexpected upsets, to help mitigate the danger of the surprise factor. The human factor plays a big role in how the training proceeds, said Glaser. “You can never predict how any individual will respond to new experiences based on previous experience,” he said. That’s why FRI puts pilots in a real-world highperformance jet, at real-world speeds and altitudes. o

MERITORIOUS AWARD NBAA Selects Nelson for Meritorious Service Honor NBAA is presenting its highest honor, the Meritoa separate user-funded air traffic control organirious Service to Aviation Award, to Sen. Bill Nelson zation. At the same time he co-sponsored an FAA (D-Fla.). Nelson, who will receive the award here reauthorization bill that moved forward a number at NBAA 2016, is being recognized for his “unwavof key aviation priorities, NBAA said. ering support for general aviation over the many “Sen. Nelson is a tireless champion for aviyears he has served in both the U.S. Senate and ation and aerospace, especially general aviaHouse,” NBAA said. tion,” said NBAA president and Nelson has served in the SenCEO Ed Bolen. “He understands ate since January 2001 and curand shares our concerns over rently is the ranking Democrat proposals for privatizing ATC on the Senate Commerce Comand funding it with user fees. mittee. He also served in the U.S. We appreciate his leadership on House from 1978-1990 and the these and other matters, and we Florida state legislature from 1972. are honored to recognize him with NBAA credits Nelson for rethis award.” maining an outspoken advoIn addition to his service on cate for business aviation during Capitol Hill, Nelson participated in his time in Congress, including NASA’s Space Shuttle program. continually citing its economic While in Congress, he spent more Sen. Bill Nelson importance to Florida and the than six days in January of 1986 nation. He underscored those sentiments duras a payload specialist on board the space shuting his address to the NBAA convention in 2014 tle Columbia’s STS-61C. With that mission, he in Orlando. “We also have schools here with a long had logged more than 146 hours in space, travand proud tradition of providing students with the eling more than 2.1 million miles in 96 orbits. training and education they need to thrive in the Nelson will be the third sitting senator to be aviation industry,” he told attendees. the recipient of the Meritorious Service to Aviation Nelson in 2007 was instrumental in blocking Award. Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) received a measure to impose new user fees and in the the award in 1983, and it was bestowed upon Sen. past year continued to reject attempts to create Mike Monroney (D-Okla.) in 1962. –K.L.

90 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

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Directing resources to supporting and upgrading its older GIV and GV models, Gulfstream is showing operators it intends to keep them operating safely and productively through at least 2030. Not unexpectedly, much of the refreshment work involves avionics.

Gulfstream is committed to renewing legacy jets by Matt Thurber For Jeff Gayon, the GIV and GV represent boundless opportunity for life-extending upgrades, rather than just being older airplanes that will quietly exit the business aviation stage as their values steadily drop and buyers opt for newer airplanes. As Gulfstream’s director of product support technical sales and development, Gayon sees his job as helping GIV and GV owners keep their steeds operating efficiently and safely for decades. After all, the airframes are designed to last for many years and thousands more hours than any business operator can put on them. “My vision on the GIV and GV is that operators have been concerned that we’re not investing in the airplane and will end up like the GII and GIII,” he said. “In the last few years we’ve done so much, re-creating [the airplane] from the cockpit to the cabin to connectivity to mechanical things to keep it going. With my team I’m constantly thinking 2030. Whatever we’re doing with these airplanes, [we’re thinking] what is five or ten years down the road, and how to keep these updated and flying through at least 2030.” To back up these goals, Gulfstream has invested in its own engineering and certification programs, but also is working with partners such as Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Inmarsat, Gogo Business Aviation and others to bring new products to the legacy Gulfstream platform. Obviously, the value of used GIVs and GVs has dropped, and buyers can find a GIV for as little as $2 million and a GV for $12 million. “That’s a lot of airplane,” Gayon said. “Put a little love into them and spend a little money, and you have such a fantastic machine with all the

latest and greatest technologies that are out there. And you can go anywhere.” A key element in upgrading the older Gulfstreams is replacing CRT cockpit displays with LCDs. “There are a lot of things you can do once you get the CRTs out,” he said. “Adding technology is our mantra.” The PlaneDeck LCD upgrade brings the GIV and GV closer to the flight deck configuration of the G450/G550, and earlier this year, Gulfstream certified synthetic vision on the GIV and GV PlaneDeck cockpit. More than 130 of the 720 GIVs and GVs in the field have been upgraded to PlaneDeck so far, according to Gayon. From there, Gayon’s product development team looks at upgrades that can be added one at a time, instead of developing an expensive all-inclusive package of multiple modifications. “You can add a little every year,” he explained. “This limits downtime and immediate out-ofpocket expense.”

to aircraft so equipped when operating in Europe. Gulfstream’s FANS solution is fully integrated with the flight deck automation of the GIV and GV, unlike some other, less expensive FANS solutions that replace the third FMS with another manufacturer’s unit that doesn’t hook into the autothrottles and facilitate the performance capabilities of the original FMS. “We’re trying to make [our FANS solution] the best that there is,” Gayon said. “Our philosophy has been around maintaining the automation. The next best solution doesn’t include the automation. We felt that for our operators and pilots, from a situational awareness and CRM standpoint, [the other solutions] are not going to be the right solution our pilots want to see. They want to use the automation. The beauty of this, is it’s a Honeywell [FMS], it’s almost identical from a keystroke standpoint to the G450 and G550. It maintains all the autothrottle, autopilot, VNAV and performance functions.” For the 2020 ADS-B out mandate, Gulfstream’s largecabin fleet (GIV through G650 models) is more than 80 percent compliant. The G150 and G200

midsize fleet is less compliant, however “they are slowly but surely coming on,” Gayon said. “As we do these avionics summits, we’re just pounding on operators about planning for this upgrade. If they wait, if they think the regulators are going to push this out, they’re mistaken.” Large-cabin Gulfstreams will have the option of adding an extra ADS-B antenna on top of the fuselage, for transmitting ADS-B signals to Aireon’s spacebased ADS-B receivers mounted on Iridium’s Next satellites. This provides continuous ADS-B coverage over oceanic and remote areas of the planet. Operators can view their upgrade options for NextGen mandates on the MyGulfstream website, including what is needed to comply; applicable Gulfstream aircraft service changes and maintenance and operations letters; and whether a letter of authorization is required. Interior Refurb Upgrades

Gayon’s team also develops cabin interior and management/ entertainment system upgrades for the legacy jets. This includes replacing all incandescent lights with LEDs, inside the cabin and on the airframe exterior, and LEDs should be available for all models in the second quarter of 2017. Refurb options are also available, from carpets to softgoods on cabin seats, upgrading the yoke finishing in the cockpit, fresh paint and more. The area of most concern for the owners of these jets is now airborne connectivity. “This is a huge focus,” he said. Two years ago, Gulfstream set up a connectivity council to study airborne connectivity options across the different Gulfstream models. “We see all these changes in

connectivity that are going to require a lot of different solutions,” he said. The most popular solution for Gulfstream owners is a combination of Gogo’s airto-ground system and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcom. For service faster than the 432 Kbps offered by SwiftBroadband, Gulfstream offers Ku-band ViaSat service (marketed as BBML). Satcom Direct’s SDR router is the preferred choice for Gulfstream operators, although some use Gogo’s UCS 5000. The next big development is Inmarsat’s Ka-band Jet Connex satcom, which was certified first on the G650. This will offer a guaranteed data rate of up to 6 Mbps, although it can go as high as 15 Mbps with the tailmounted antenna that can fit on a large-cabin Gulfstream. Honeywell manufactures the satcom hardware and antenna and is working with five service providers to provide the connectivity. Jet Connex will be available in the first quarter of next year on the G550, followed by the G450 in the second quarter, then the GIV and GV. Gulfstream operators want the ability to watch television when flying over the ocean, and Jet Connex can allow this, so Gulfstream’s connectivity council is working on making this possible. “We want to come up with a solution that’s reasonable [costwise],” Gayon said. “Technologywise, it’s definitely doable.” For midsize Gulfstreams, the upcoming Iridium Next satcom offers a reasonably priced connectivity solution, with an antenna requirement suited to smaller jets. “I feel we are ahead of the rest of the industry in what we’re doing,” Gayon said. o

NextGen Optimization

In late August Gulfstream received STC approval for its FANS 1/A+ upgrade for the GIV and GV, using TrueNorth’s Simphon -e Iridium datalink. The STC is agnostic, Gayon explained, allowing the use of any TSO’d Iridium datalink so that customers aren’t limited to just one satcom provider. Operators have the option of upgrading their FMS CDU to Honeywell’s new touchscreen CD-830, and with this they can elect to add a software upgrade to achieve European Link 2000 capability. While the GIV and GV are exempt from the Link 2000 requirement, “bestequipped, best-served” will apply

From carpets and upholstery options to updating connectivity strategies, Gulfstream’s team of dedicated support personnel have older jets’ operators in mind. One of the more popular technologies for renewing older cabins is creative use of LED lighting.

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BOEING’S NEW BBJ MAX 7 PROMISES MORE RANGE AND SPACE

Skylens HUD getting closer, as Elbit offers system to bizav Elbit Systems has begun flights of its Skylens wearable head-up display in final configuration on board ATR 72/42 series turboprops, keeping the program on pace for certification in the second half of 2017. ATR is the launch customer of the system, which provides head up and enhanced vision (EVS) capabilities on a lightweight, wearable device. The system also is now being offered to the business aviation market for retrofit applications and will be offered in both forward-fit and retrofit on the ATR, said Dror Yahav, the Israeli company’s commercial aviation vice president. Part of its ClearVision line of enhanced vision systems, Skylens will be approved to meet upcoming EFVS II landing permissions. The system, Yahav said, provides the full benefits on EVS and HUD even in small cockpits, which do not accommodate traditional mounted HUD projectors. Elbit (Booth 1653) demonstrated the proof of concept to both EASA and the FAA, Yahav said, adding the aviation authorities welcomed the technology because it opened more possibilities to access EVS. Yahav believes Skylens will be particularly well positioned in the retrofit market because it will provide a lower-cost option for EVS. Elbit’s ClearVision recently was

MARIANO ROSALES

by Kerry Lynch

Elbit’s Skylens head-mounted head-up display opens more possibilities for enhanced vision.

certified as part of the FalconEye system aboard the Dassault Falcon 2000S/ LXS. The EVS combines inputs from six sensors into a single image, to provide higher resolution in poorer weather conditions and also to detect LED airport lighting. For the Falcon application, the system provides a combined view of both enhanced vision and synthetic vision. ClearVision further has been selected for Gulfstream’s new G500 and G600. Gulfstream selected a third-generation EVS design, the EVS-SP, which will provide high-resolution cooled infrared imagery to provide clearer vision in all types of weather. o

NBAA 2016 opens

DAVID McINTOSH

persevered, as had other figures he’s written about, including John Adams, Harry uContinued from page 1 Truman and John Roebling, builder of the he announced that NBAA has launched Brooklyn Bridge. “Be very skeptical of a the hashtag #bizavworks, where attend- leader who’s never experienced failure, ees can highlight their stories of busi- who’s never made a mistake,” McCullough ness aviation’s benefits under the new said, “because failure is a part of life.” hashtag’s banner. Kerlikowske recounted the collaborative With a new administration coming to work between CBP’s general aviation workWashington, D.C. in January, Bolen called ing group and the GA community, as well community involvement vital, singling out as agency plans to expand programs such an anticipated renewed fight over ATC as the Southern Border exemption, afterprivatization, and he urged attendees to hours processing of GA arrivals and the “be advocates in every way possible.” APIS Single Syntax program. “We’re going Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri)— to continue, whatever administration” comes co-chair of the House General Aviation to Washington in January, he vowed. o Caucus, the largest caucus in Congress, and a staunch advocate for business aviation—said in his opening remarks, “I would submit we are stronger as an industry than we have ever been before.” He also recognized aviation luminaries Clay Lacy and Sean Tucker in the audience, and noted two of his flight instructors were also in attendance. Looking ahead, Graves said the new Congress will likely take up FAA reauthorization in “the February to March time frame,” and noted successes of July’s temporary reauthorization that included third-class medical reform and UAV regulations. McCullough recounted the ridicule and failure through which the Wright Brothers

Boeing thinks its 7,000-nm BBJ Max 7 will be a best seller when green deliveries of the new bizliner begin in 2022. With an estimated completed price in the $100 million range, the Max 7, announced at the 2016 NBAA show, features CFM’s more fuel efficient LEAP-1B engines, a 70-sq-ft larger cabin than the BBJ1 and more luggage room in the lower lobe because the Max 7 needs less volume there for auxiliary fuel tanks. Still, the Max 7 will have 800 nm more range than a BBJ1. “We are thrilled to introduce the BBJ Max 7 to the market,” said David Longridge, president, Boeing Business Jets. “We know customers are going to love this airplane. In terms of range, cabin space, cargo volume and operating economics, the BBJ Max cannot be beat.” Boeing launched the BBJ Max family in 2014 with the 6,325-nm Max 8 and the 6,255nm Max 9. The Max 7 inherits all the features of those aircraft including updated flight decks, improved aerodynamics, reduced noise profile and fly-by-wire spoilers. The Max 7 will have the lowest operating cost of any BBJ. Boeing Business Jets has 11 BBJ Max 8s on order and one BBJ Max 9. Longridge says the company is in active discussions with more than ten customers for the Max 7. —M.H.

Web Manuals subscribers on pace to double by year-end by Kerry Lynch Web Manuals, which specializes in providing digital documentation for the aviation industry, is undergoing record sales growth in the Americas, with the customer base set to double by year end, the company announced. The Swedish company opened its U.S. offices two years ago and recently signed on freight operator DHL Aero Expreso in Panama as its 13th customer in the Americas. DHL Aero Expreso will use the Web Manuals cloudbased application to manage its aviation manuals library. Web Manuals customers in the Americas also include helicopter services company PHI; business aviation operators ACI Jet, Altius Aviation, Jet Access Aviation and Hopscotch; the International Business Aviation Council; Elite Flight Training; and Fortune 500 companies, among others. Web Manuals (Booth 825) believes it is on pace to have 20 customers in the region by the end of the year. The company is revising its 2017 expectations as a result, in preparation for more growth. “Although our customer organizations in the region now number 13, our users have actually risen from 200 to more than 1,700, thanks to the scale of some of our latest wins,” said Web Manuals CEO and founder Martin Lidgard. PHI Air Medical is the largest

Argus International president and CEO Joseph Moeggenberg, left, has entered a collaboration agreement with Web Manuals CEO Martin Lidgard.

customer in the region for Web Manuals, with more than 700 office-based and remote users. In addition to the Americas, Web Manuals has clients in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The company recently expanded its product portfolio with the addition of the Argus audit standard as an integrated reference resource. Under a collaboration with Argus, the standard will be offered as a compliance library within the Web Manuals database. The Web Manuals compliance libraries also include the IS-BAO, IS-BAH and IOSA standards, along with FAA and EASA regulations. o

PHILLIPS 66 HANDS CAN $22,000 DONATION Phillips 66 presented a $22,000 donation to Corporate Angel Network yesterday at NBAA 2016. CAN arranges for cancer patients in need of treatment to ride pro bono in open seats on corporate jets. The monies were raised from an advertising campaign recognizing four corporate flight departments for their participation in CAN. This year’s honorees are Eli Lilly, General Dynamics, Nationwide Insurance and The Walsh Group, who flew a combined 170 flights with CAN patients aboard since joining the program. “On behalf of Corporate Angel Network I want to thank our supporters, Phillips 66 Aviation, Safe Flight Instrument Corporation, and Aviation Week/B&CA magazine,” said CAN executive director emeritus Peter Fleiss. Celebrating the occasion were (l-r): Greg Mullett, Eli Lilly; Scott Farrar, Eli Lilly; Elizabeth Zlitni, Aviation Week; William Garvey, B&CA magazine; Gina A. Russo, CAN; R.G. Still, Phillips 66; Diane Bassetti, Nationwide Insurance; Randall Greene, Safe Flight Instrument. —A.L.

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 93

8X flying impressions AIN senior editor Matt Thurber traveled to Istres, France, to fly the 8X just before NBAA 2016. Following are only some impressions of the flight; the full pilot report will appear in AIN’s December issue.

Not radically different to look at from the Falcon 7X, the 8X is, nevertheless, a much different airframe.

Pilot check: Falcon 8X more than just a stretch by Matt Thurber Dassault’s flagship Falcon 8X propels it into the ultra-long range arena, the business jet segment where sales during the past few years have seen the most activity. The fly-by-wire 8X isn’t just a 7X with fuselage plugs, and it isn’t replacing the 7X; the newest Falcon stands on its own. The 8X received EASA and FAA certification in June, and in September the first copy was delivered to Greek operator Amjet. Production is ramping up, and while Dassault doesn’t disclose exact delivery schedules, in mid-October there were eleven 8Xs assembled and 14 in the completion stage, according to sales engineer Frédéric Recher. “We will deliver in 12 countries in the next few months,” he said. Besides boosting range at Mach .80 to 6,450 nm from 5,950 nm, the 8X fuselage is 2.6

feet longer than the 7X, accomplished via two fuselage plugs. The 8X is 3,000 pounds heavier, with a maximum ramp weight of 73,200 pounds, and all of the extra weight plus another 200 pounds goes to fuel, with maximum fuel now 35,140 pounds, up from the 7X’s 31,940 pounds. Although the 8X’s three Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307D engines, which each deliver 6,722 pounds of thrust, are about 5 percent more powerful than the PW307As on the 7X, the direct operating costs for both jets are the same, according to Recher. The 307D is more efficient, with specific fuel consumption lower by 2 percent. Further contributing to the 8X’s efficiency, Dassault engineers were able to carve 600 pounds out of the wing. “It’s the same wing as the 7X,” he said. “ We know the wing perfectly, and we saw it could be

optimized internally without changing anything.” Other changes are more subtle, such as new winglets that add a tiny bit of span, reinforced landing gear for the higher mtow and some avionics updates. The 8X features the Honeywell Epic-based EASy III flight deck, including Dassault’s optional FalconEye head-up display (HUD) and enhanced vision system, which includes multiple sensors and is the first certified application of combined vision, where synthetic vision and enhanced vision imagery is shown simultaneously on the HUD. The 8X’s cabin is now the longest in the Falcon family at 42.6 feet and contains 1,695 cu ft of volume. Like the 7X, the cabin altitude in the 8X is maintained to 1,000 feet to FL270, then holds 3,900 feet at FL410 and 6,000 feet at the FL510 maximum altitude. Interior noise has been cut substantially compared to the 7X, down 2 to 3 dB SIL. “It’s a huge step,” Recher said. “We know the 7X by heart, so we introduced all the evolutions we can today.” o

The 8X features the longest cabin yet, for a Falcon. But the latest from Dassault is much more than just a stretched Falcon 7X.

94 NBAA Convention News • November 2, 2016 • www.ainonline.com

Before climbing into the 8X cockpit, Dassault test pilot Hervé Laverne took me for an introductory flight in FlightSafety’s 8X simulator at the Paris Le Bourget learning center. The simulator is an excellent representation of the fly-by-wire (FBW) 8X and highly accurate in all respects, including the difficult-to-replicate nosewheel steering and taxiing regime. Thanks to the FlightSafety session, I felt immediately comfortable in the actual 8X cockpit when I took off the next day from the Istres military test facility where Dassault’s flight-test operations are located. We were flying S/N 1, the very first 8X to fly, and with Laverne at the controls. This 8X is still equipped with full flight-test instrumentation and no cabin furnishings. Senior chief test pilot Philippe Deleume flew jumpseat, so we were fairly light, with just about 12,000 pounds of fuel onboard. I took off in strong winds, which were blowing at 30 knots gusting to 42. The 8X’s nosewheel steering, operated entirely with the rudder pedals, is surprisingly steady, not at all too sensitive and carefully graduated according to speed. EASy To Get Used To

The three PW307Ds quickly accelerated the 8X to rotation speed, and I pulled the sidestick back smoothly, rotating the nose into the flight director. There is a rotation cue on the PFD, which both pilots said isn’t really necessary to use unless performing a high-performance takeoff. We climbed to FL350 while I replicated some of the moves from the simulator, feeling how the FBW controls felt in turns and varying pitch attitudes. I found getting used to the flightpath stable FBW system easy. Once at altitude, I did some more turns, including steep banks, and we tested the FBW’s slow-speed and high-speed envelope protections. The FBW controls have soft limits that push back to tell the pilot that bank or pitch is reaching certain parameters. For example, up to 35 degrees bank, the 8X remains at that bank angle. But beyond 35, the FBW automatically reverts to 35, or the pilot can hold the controls to fly at a steeper angle. Descending to 15,000 feet,

I flew some more steep banks, then Laverne had me slow the 8X down with gear and flaps extended. I pulled the sidestick all the way back and the 8X slowed to its maximum margin over stall speed and stayed there, even though I banked from side to side. The 8X was flying perfectly smoothly, with no hint of lack of control; I could make it do exactly what I wanted, and it would never stall. Returning to Istres, I flew a steep approach with speed brakes extended, and these operate smoothly with no rumbling,

AIN’s Thurber has a full pilot report on the Falcon 8X in the December issue.

and thanks to FBW there are no limits on how fast they can be activated. Laverne pulled the left engine to idle and I flew a single-engine go-around. The 8X felt like it was flying on three engines, and I needed just a light touch on the right rudder to keep flying straight. I then flew an ILS approach on raw data for a full-stop landing. The gusty winds blew straight down the runway and still at up to 42 knots, but I was easily able to fly the 8X straight down the glideslope. Descending below 50 feet, I flared a little high and had to add a little power, but the Pratts responded promptly and the resulting touchdown was satisfyingly smooth, with little need for reverse thrust thanks to the powerful brakes. Dassault’s Falcon 8X is impressively easy to fly, and the well-designed EASy III flight deck coupled with the FBW controls should present a low learning curve for all pilots, even those new to the Falcon brand. —M.T.

Pilatus: PC-24 numbers ‘better than expected’ Pilatus Aircraft (Booth 4293, static display) remains on track to certify its PC-24 twinjet in the third quarter of next year. Andre Zimmerman, vice president of the PC-24 program, reported Monday morning at NBAA 2016 that the two test aircraft had flown 1,032 hours over the course of 600 flights through the end of October and were approximately halfway through the test program, with items including natural ice testing, extreme temperature testing and flooded runway testing completed. The aircraft’s aerodynamic design has been frozen, and handling and performance numbers are “better than what we expected.” A third test aircraft already has had power-on and will fly in the first quarter, while the first customer aircraft already are on the production line in Stans, Switzerland. “A big bunch of test cards

MARIANO ROSALES

by Mark Huber

Andre Zimmerman, vice president of Pilatus Aircraft’s PC-24 program.

remain,” Zimmerman acknowledged, but teased that the PC-24 would exceed preliminary estimated performance numbers for cruise speed (425 knots), range (1,800 nm) and runway performance. Pilatus promised to release hard numbers at EBACE 2017. Meanwhile, plans are moving ahead to conduct both flight and maintenance training at FlightSafety International’s

Dallas Learning Center, where the initial level-D simulator for the PC-24 will be located. A second level-D device is planned for Europe. The PC-24 order book remains closed through 2019, representing the first block of 84 production aircraft. Most of those have been ordered by existing PC-12 owners. Pilatus is putting the finishing touches on its CrystalCare aircraft maintenance program for the PC-24, and this will incorporate the Williams International TAP Blue engine program, as well as coverage for the Honeywell avionics, airframe, electronic flight bag and service bulletins. There will be several layers of fixed monthly pricing based on aircraft utilization, with a base flight hour rate of $545 per hour. Pilatus is ramping up for PC-24 production, increasing its physical plant in Switzerland and Broomfield, Colorado. CEO Markus Bucher stressed that the PC-24 will have 70 percent U.S. content and that the company is committed to growing its workforce in Switzerland and Colorado, where it has begun an apprenticeship program. o Having built a solid reputation servicing Honeywell’s TFE731 over the years, StandardAero is now changing its focus to the newer HTF7000 turbofan.

StandardAero’s focus shifting to the HTF7000 by Curt Epstein StandardAero Business Aviation has completed more than 19,000 engine core zone and major periodic inspections on the Honeywell TFE731 turbofan engine, the MRO provider said at NBAA 2016. The Arizonabased company has been servicing the popular engine for nearly four decades, and in addition to those heavy maintenance events, it has also responded to more than 5,000 customer requests for mobile services on the engine during that time frame. Yet, while the TFE731 has been a constant revenue source for the company, it can clearly see the writing on the wall. “I

think the biggest challenge with 731s is the age of the fleet,” said Brian Campbell, the company’s vice president of global sales and customer service. “They’re getting old, hull values are down, Bluebook values are down. The question for StandardAero to figure out is what next engine project takes us on another good 40-year run like 731 has, and that’s the HTF7000.” In March, Honeywell authorized StandardAero (Booth 2296) as the only worldwide heavy maintenance provider on the engine, which powers the Challenger 300/350, Gulfstream G280, Embraer Legacy 450/500 and

Cessna Citation Longitude. The company has added 40 OEM-trained inspectors and technicians and five authorized service locations globally. It has also added nine new mobile support teams. It has invested $6 million in tooling and expects to have $9 million in parts inventory by the end of the year. For customers who need heavy maintenance or engine removal, it also has eight rental engines for the Challenger 300 platform split between North America and Europe. This focus has come at a price, according to StandardAero CEO Russell Ford. “Frankly, that was a $50 million investment decision for us, from which we won’t see a single dollar for at least five years.” This year, the company completed its 13th twelve-year BBJ inspection, the most by any in the industry. It plans next year to capitalize on that experience by launching a power-by-the-hour program for the aircraft, which will cover the engines, airframe and interior. “We’re going after some of the larger Gulfstream markets to try putting them in a BBJ,” said James Colleary, president of StandardAero subsidiary Associated Air Center. o

NEWS CLIPS z Cobham Displays Antennas and Test Solutions Cobham (Booth 1953), a UK headquartered multinational company employing nearly 11,000 people on five continents, has brought aviation antennae for avionics, radar and satcom applications, as well as the satcom products themselves, to NBAA 2016. It also has on-hand samples of its integrated, portable avionics and radio test solutions, which are designed to reduce AOG time and increase operational efficiency, at the show. There are 100 countries where one can find Cobham wireless, audio, video and data communications, defense electronics, air-to-air refueling, aviation services, life support and mission equipment. Cobham’s Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satcom systems are available for a variety of aircraft types, from twin turboprops to the largest jets.

z Korry Showcases Cockpit Switches, Displays Korry Electronics (Booth 3619), the cockpit lighting division of Washington-based Esterline Control & Communications Systems, is showcasing its 5/8-inch switches and UCS touchscreen overhead display this week at NBAA 2016. The dimmable, LED-illuminated Korry 5/8-inch switches, introduced 15 years ago, are integrated into the majority of business aircraft flying today, according to Esterline, and offer increased visibility in varying light conditions. New this year, Korry now produces many popular configurations of the switches in just three days at new lower prices. Korry is also touting its UCS touchscreen display, which offers a 75-percent reduction in separate display and switching components and allows control panel functions to be changed via software updates, rather than hardware changes. Built-in triple redundancy minimizes the potential for failure, and an “anti-fingerprint surface” ensures the display remains readable for the life of the aircraft. The touchscreen has been selected by Gulfstream for the overhead panel on its new G500 and G600.

z QTA Gets STC for PW305 Carbon Barrel Quiet Technology Aerospace (QTA, Booth No. 3477) has received STC approval for its third carbon-graphite inlet upgrade program for Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 engines, adding the Hawker 1000 to previous STCs for the Learjet 60 and the Gulfstream G200. The carbon-graphite inlet solves the problem of aluminum inner barrel inlet corrosion and acoustic screen degradation by providing a lighter weight carbon-graphite barrel that appears identical to the original part. The new barrels are on display this week at the company’s NBAA 2016 booth. QTA’s inner barrel comes with a lifetime structural warranty. The solution can be applied to up to 700 aircraft worldwide. The company has implemented a low-cost inlet loaner and exchange program that frees aircraft from extended AOG during the conversion process. QTA’s leadtime for new barrels is one month or less. South Florida QTA is an FAA Part 145 repair station, providing support for composite and structural repairs, including Gulfstream GIV winglet attachment rework and thrust reversers on the GIII and Bombardier Learjet 60.

z Airbus Helicopters Shows a Pair of Singles Airbus Helicopters (indoor static) is displaying its H125 and H130 singles this week at NBAA 2016. “Both the H130 and the H125 are outstanding aircraft for business owners and executives that need swift and versatile transportation that is uniquely capable for managing their companies or getting away for a family weekend,” said Ralph Crosby, director of corporate and VIP sales for Airbus Helicopters. Both the H125 and the H130 are equipped with dual hydraulics, dual-channel Fadec, crash-resistant fuel cells and energy-attenuating seats. The H125 is built in Columbus, Miss., and can carry up to five passengers and one pilot; the H130 was designed with a large cabin and has a very low external noise profile.

www.ainonline.com • November 2, 2016 • NBAA Convention News 95

NBAA Event

Schedule Exhibit Halls & Indoor Static Display Wednesday, Nov. 2 | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Static Display of Aircraft Wednesday, Nov. 2 | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3 | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

BARRY AMBROSE

EXHIBIT HOURS

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Attendee Exhibitor & Press Registration Location: Orange County Convention Center and Orlando Executive Airport Bombardier Business Aircraft Technical Session 1 and 2 Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S210 D Bombardier Customer Services General Session Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S210 D/E

NBAA-BACE Second Day General Session Location: Orange County Convention Center, Exhibit Hall South B

8:00 am - 10:00 am

Digital Transformation through Emerging Technologies Location: Orange County Convention Center, Innovation Zone #295 Education Track: Operations

Part 135 Compliance Hot Topics and Recordkeeping Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 G/H (#4) Education Track: Operations International Operations and Security Hot Topics Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 E/F (#3) Education Track: Operations Managing the Flight Department When a Medical Condition Strikes Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S331 A/B/C (#6) Education Track: Human Resources Getting It Right When Things Go Wrong ‒ UPRT Location: Orange County Convention Center, , Room S331 D (#5) Education Track: Operations FAA’s Meet the Regulators Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 A/B (#2) Education Track: Operations Nuts & Bolts of Implementing a UAS Operation Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 C/D (#1) Education Track: Operations

8:30 am - 10:00 am Business Aviation Management Committee (BAMC) Meeting Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S312 NBAA Tax Committee Meeting Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S310 9:00 am - 10:00 am Advanced Emergency Response Plan (ERP) Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 A/B (#2) Education Track: Operations How To Respond to FAA Enforcement Actions Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 G/H (#4) Education Track: Operations Fly to Cuba? Now Legal and Possible Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S331 D (#5) Education Track: Operations Lead with ENTHUSIASM! Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 E/F (#3) Education Track: Leadership State Tax Considerations for the Seller & Buyer Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S331 A/B/C (#6) Aircraft Maintenance– Is Technology Leaving You Behind? Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 C/D (#1) Education Track: Aircraft Maintenance & Facilities Operations 9:30 am - 10:00 am Cabin Connectivity – Maximizing User Experience While Controlling Cost Location: Orange County Convention Center, S230 C 10:00 am - 11:00 am Daher TBM M&O Session Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S329 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Dassault Falcon M&O Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S230 A/B

Cabin Connectivity – Maximizing User Experience While Controlling Cost Location: Orange County Convention Center, S230 C 12:30 pm - 1:30 am

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Data Privacy & Cybersecurity in Bizav Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S331 D (#5) Education Track: Business Management The Who, What, and When of IS-BAO Training Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 A/B (#2) Education Track: Human Resources A Winning Outcome with Your Aircraft Transactions Team Education Track: Business Management The Whys and Hows of Special Authorizations LOAs and OpSpecs Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 G/H (#4) Education Track: Operations I CAM, CAM You? Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S330 C/D (#1) Education Track: Leadership Strategic and Tactical Threat and Error Management Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S331 A/B/C (#6) Education Track: Operations 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm NBAA Local and Regional Group Networking Session Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S320 A/B Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Location: Orange County Convention Center 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm P&WC Turbofan Location: Orange County Convention Center

3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Leading without Authority Location: Orange County Convention Center, Innovation Zone #295 Education Track: Leadership 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm NBAA/CAN Soiree Location: Hilton Orlando, Orlando Ballroom

MARIANO ROSALES

AOPA Back to Your Roots Location: Orange County Convention Center

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Friends & Partners in Aviation Weather (Day 1 of 2) Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S310 E/F 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Lithium Battery Fires – A Growing Threat, What are We Going to Do? Location: Orange County Convention Center, Innovation Zone # 295 Annual Meeting of Members Location: Orange County Convention Center, Room S210B 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm Cabin Connectivity – Maximizing User Experience While Controlling Cost Location: Orange County Convention Center, S230 C

PUBLICATIONS

Visit us at Booth 3482 or Hall Room N210