CIRRUS FINALIZES CHINA DEAL
Cirrus Aircraft and China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd. (CAIGA) announced on Tuesday that the two companies have completed their merger. "This partnership will benefit our business and our customers," said Brent Wouters, Cirrus CEO. "We share with CAIGA a vision of worldwide growth. CAIGA has the resources that will allow us to expedite our aircraft development programs and accelerate our global expansion." He said he expects the merger will make it possible for Cirrus to expand its facilities and staff in Minnesota and North Dakota. Dale Klapmeier, Cirrus co-founder, said the completion of the merger was an important milestone in the company's history, and will make it possible for the company to "continue to lead the industry in bringing increased safety, performance, and comfort to the general aviation community." More...

BOMBARDIER EXECS DISPEL LEARJET CHINA RUMOR
Top executives with Bombardier are actively dispelling predictions the company will hive off its struggling Learjet division to Chinese interests and concentrate on its highly profitable line of large-cabin business jets. In an interview with the Montreal Gazette, the newspaper says Bombardier Aerospace President Guy Hachey and Steve Ridolfi, president of the business jet division, both "swatted away" what it called the "recurring rumor" that the Wichita operations were on the block. In fact, Ridolfi said he expected expansion at the Wichita plant as the composite Learjet 85 goes into production. "The 85 is the largest and most capable Learjet ever built and it will change the face of Learjet just on that basis," Ridolfi said. There are about 2,000 employees in Wichita. Meanwhile, fresh from more than $1 billion in bizjet orders from the Paris Air Show, Bombardier remains bullish on the future of its most expensive products. More...

LIGHTSQUARED LINING UP CUSTOMERS, COALITION ATTRACTING SUPPORT
Although the issue of interference with GPS seems to be far from resolved, LightSquared is busy lining up customers for its new broadband network. The company issued a news release Tuesday saying that voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) firm netTALK has entered into a "multi-year wholesale agreement" to buy bandwidth from LightSquared. "We are extremely excited to provide netTALK with access to the wireless broadband capabilities of the LightSquared network," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. "This agreement reaffirms LightSquared's commitment to enable new and innovative companies such as netTALK to compete in the U.S. wireless market." Of course, the availability of that signal is the subject of an increasingly contentious battle with the GPS industry, which claims LightSquared's network of 40,000 towers blasting high-powered signals in a frequency band close to the minute satellite signals used by GPS receivers will effectively destroy GPS. The lobby group formed to fight LightSquared's plans, the Coalition to Save Our GPS, announced more members as it gears for a fight that will be kicked off Friday with the release of a report on the interference issues. More...

NARCO BANKRUPTCY WRAPS UP
Bankruptcy proceedings involving Narco Avionics appear to be complete but those hoping to get their radios and nav equipment back are being advised to get those arrangements made sooner rather than later. It appears the landlord of the building that housed Narco in Fort Washington, Penn., and secured creditors who now control what's left of the company will try to reunite customers with their equipment but the owners, whose gear was in for repair or servicing, will have to ensure the process moves along. "We are fearful that if you do not act quickly, your property could be erroneously disposed of by the landlord or secured creditors of Narco," a notice posted on the company website says. More...

SJ30 OWNER NOW SYBERJET
The convoluted journey of the SJ30 business jet continues, with the design's latest owners, MT LLC, now announcing they will operate as SyberJet Aircraft. In a brief news release issued earlier this month, the company said it has moved the assembly line that was operated by Emivest Aerospace, the SJ30's previous owner, from Martinsburg, W.Va., to Cedar City, Utah. "SyberJet has a solid operating plan to deliver new SJ30s to the world marketplace," said Mark Fairchild, SyberJet's general manager, in San Antonio, Texas. "As a pilot, the SJ30 is an exhilarating jet to fly. I look forward to providing more people the unique opportunity to experience the high-performance capability that SJ30 affords its owners and operators." More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THE POWER OF PARIS
Even in Paris, the most romantic city on Earth, romance seems scarce in this harsh and angry age — and yet, the wildly impractical Solar Impulse gave our editor Mary Grady a little hope that passion (and yes, even romance) can be rekindled in the aviation world. Mary explains in her latest post to the AVweb Insider blog. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: LOOSE LIPS RUIN TRIPS
That's the best way to describe that Southwest Airlines pilot's adolescent rant with a stuck mic catching every embarrassing word. Hey, it happens. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli observes that the lesson to be drawn is that what's said in the cockpit doesn't necessarily stay in the cockpit. Read more and join the conversation. More...

LU TO HONG KONG FOR GULFSTREAM

Paul Lu

Paul Lu has been appointed Gulfstream's director of product support for Asia, based in Hong Kong. He was previously on-site program manager in California for the G650 development program.
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WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

VIDEO: AVIATION CONSUMER'S TIEDOWN SHOOTOUT
If that tornado at Sun 'n Fun in April didn't get your attention, it should have. With EAA AirVenture looming and storms hammering the midwest, it's time to think about portable tiedown systems for the show. In this brief video, AVweb and Aviation Consumer wring out three systems, and the walkaway winner is a product you've never heard of. More...

SURVEY: AIRCRAFT BATTERIES
How's that aircraft battery holding up for you? Aviation Consumer wants to hear how well your battery has served you season after season. Please take a moment to rave -- or rant -- about it in Aviation Consumer's battery survey. The results will be part of an upcoming article in the magazine that might be just what you need to know before your next battery purchase. Click here to take the survey. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

The AVwebBiz team is:

Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West

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