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NEWS AT A GLANCE
Gulfstream announced the second fully outfitted Gulfstream G700 production-test aircraft has flown, adding an additional testing platform for the most spacious cabin in business aviation. The aircraft joins the first outfitted G700, which has already set eight international city-pair speed records and was awarded the 2022 International Yacht & Aviation Award in the Private Jet Design category.
“With its combination of cabin size and technological enhancements, the G700 interior presents an abundance of opportunity for customization,” said Mark Burns, President, Gulfstream. “As part of our goal to exceed customer expectations, we are testing even more G700 cabin elements to ensure interior comfort and reliability.”
The second G700 test aircraft will ensure the maturity, durability and comfort of more cabin elements that were introduced with the aircraft’s launch in 2019, including the all-new ultrahigh-definition dynamic circadian lighting system, an optional feature capable of replicating sunlight. The Gulfstream-designed system mixes warm white, cool white and amber LED lights and spans from 0.01 brightness to 100 per cent, allowing it to simulate sunrise to sunset. The lighting can also be programmed individually for each cabin zone, tailored to passenger preferences and specific activities, such as dining or working. The latest G700 outfitted aircraft also includes a grand suite and newly designed spacious lavatory with natural light, full vanity and shower, as well as a six-place dining area with a fully expandable, selfcontained table.
Additional features available on the G700 include configurations of up to five living areas, and the industry’s longest galley with 10 feet/more than 3 meters of counter space. The G700 design excellence is complemented by the Gulfstream Cabin Experience with 100 per cent fresh air, the lowest cabin altitude in the industry, a plasma ionization clean air system, whisper-quiet sound levels and 20 of the largest windows in the industry. BAI
Honda Aircraft Expands Customer Service Capability
Honda Aircraft announced the addition of four new full-service Authorised Service Centers (ASC) in the United States and global regions, expanding the HondaJet service network to 21 locations worldwide.
The new service centers will further strengthen the customer support capabilities for the growing HondaJet fleet, now comprised of more than 219 aircraft in operation, which recently surpassed the 1,20,000-flight-hour mark in operation. The expansion includes two new centers in the US, increasing to 12 the number of Honda Factory and Authorised Service Centers in North America.
“We are pleased to partner with service providers who share Honda’s commitment to customer satisfaction as our highest priority,” said Honda Aircraft Company Head of Commercial Business Unit and VP of Customer Service, Amod Kelkar. “As the HondaJet fleet continues to grow, we are committed to ensuring that each of our customers around the globe receives the highest quality of service and support, with the supply of parts and factory-trained and certified service technicians available at each of the 21 locations.”
In addition, Honda Aircraft Company maintains an outstanding level of service at its Factory Service Center, recently awarded by FAA with the “Diamond level AMT employer award,” the highest level in the William (Bill) O’Brien Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards programme, in recognition of the skill and professionalism of Honda Aircraft’s maintenance technicians. With constant efforts to improve customer satisfaction, the HondaJet sales and service footprint now spans North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, India, and Japan. BAI
Embraer Signs a Service Agreement to Support Avantto’s Executive Jet Fleet
Embraer and Avantto announced the signing of a contract for the Embraer Executive Care Programme to support the company’s executive jet fleet. A leader in the aircraft sharing business in Brazil, Avantto currently has a fleet of seven Phenom jets, four of which are Phenom 100s and three Phenom 300s. Globally, more than 700 aircraft are currently part of the Embraer Executive Care Program.
The Embraer Executive Care Program, which completed 15 years in 2021, is a comprehensive airframe maintenance programme carefully designed and managed by Embraer to provide a simple and predictable way of budgeting aircraft maintenance costs. Planning, budgeting, and support are rolled together under a fixed monthly fee, plus an hourly charge for flight-hours flown, to make support straightforward and simple for customers to manage. Costs for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance items are set and known upon enrollment in the programme. Covering maintenance, parts, freight, labour and even rescue teams, and guided by Embraer’s OEM expertise and support, the programme can be tailored according to one of three coverage options: Prime Parts, Standard and Enhanced. Throughout a fiveyear cycle, the benefits of the programme include savings compared to the actual costs of scheduled and unscheduled events in the same term, providing a hedge against price inflation, and ease of doing business with Embraer and their partners. Additionally, Embraer offers preferred pricing for customers enrolled in Executive Care for various services.
Recently, Embraer’s customer support was ranked in 1st place according to the 2022 Product Support Survey by the trade magazine Aviation International News (AIN). The survey is among the most important in the industry, generating statistical assessments by aircraft operators about the quality of customer support provided by manufacturers in the last year. BAI
Dassault Aviation Certifies Dual HUD on Falcon 8X
The FAA and EASA have approved use of Dassault’s advanced dual head-up display known as FalconEye, on the company’s Falcon 8X very long range trijet, adding to the aircraft’s industry-leading low visibility operations capability. The dual HUD configuration will ultimately permit an EFVS-to-land capability in near zero-zero conditions, pending new EASA regulations.
Dassault Aviation has been an undisputed leader in the development of HUD technology. In 2016, Dassault introduced FalconEye, the first head-up display (HUD) system to combine synthetic, database-driven terrain mapping and actual thermal and low-light camera images. Today, single HUD-equipped aircraft with FalconEye can fly non-precision approaches to 100 feet.
A number of 8X operators have already scheduled installation of the new mod, which allows both pilots to share the same synthetic and enhanced vision view, enabling one to act as “pilot flying” while the other monitors flight conditions. Dual HUDs enhance situational awareness while simplifying training at the same level of experience and qualification for approaches.
The dual HUD option will be certified on the Falcon 6X, due to enter service mid-2023, and on the ultra-long range Falcon 10X, planned for certification in late 2025.
The dual HUD on the Falcon 10X will take the dual HUD configuration to an even more advanced level in which it can serve as the “primary means of pilot operation,” freeing pilots to configure the instrument panel’s primary flight display for other uses. Meanwhile, Dassault’s current HUD and FalconEye equipped aircraft can now operate to 200 feet with a 30 per cent runway visual range (RVR) credit without any flight department specific EASA approval required. EASA eased approval requirements after taking into account HUD and EFVS technology improvements through the past 20 years. BAI
