| Volume 3,
Number 15 — September 14, 2005 |
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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded
Business News Coverage At AVweb's
Business NewsWire.
NBAA
MOVES 2005 ANNUAL MEETING TO ORLANDO
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced earlier
this month its 58th Annual Meeting & Convention will move from New
Orleans, La., to Orlando, Fla. The announcement came in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, the dates for this year's
convention have changed; it will take place from Wednesday, Nov. 9
through Friday, Nov. 11, a week earlier than originally planned and on
different days than the normal Tuesday-through-Thursday. The Orlando
Orange County Convention Center and nearby Orlando Executive Airport
in Orlando, Fla., are the new venues. Importantly, the Orlando
location is the correct one, not Las Vegas, as USA Today
recently printed. According to NBAA, neither the location nor the date
cited in the newspaper's article is correct. More...
HONDA
VIDEO FEATURES EXPERIMENTAL JET
The experimental HondaJet created a great deal of interest and
speculation when it made its first public appearance this summer at
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, as we've reported. Now, with release of a video
designed to enhance the company's branding throughout the world,
speculation on whether the company will build, certify and market the
innovative bizjet can really take off. The new video, one of the
company's so-called "global ads," depicts two blue-jumpsuited men
arriving at a hangar aboard a classic small-bore Honda motorcycle and
checking out the jet before taking it for a spin. More...
|
JA
AIR CENTER, YOUR GARMIN GPSMAP 396 SOURCE, IS LOOKING
TO PURCHASE
USED GPS UNITS, AVIONICS, AND AIRCRAFT
Current inventory
levels allow JA to offer top dollar for used GPS, avionics, and
aircraft. Call (800) 323-5966 for your current value with no purchase
required. JA Air Center, one of Garmin's largest dealers, is
accepting orders for the new color GPSMap 396 with terrain, XM
Weather, and music on a first-come, first-served basis. Demand is
extremely high on the new Garmin GPSMap 396, so get your order in
today! JA Air Center [Dupage Airport (KDPA) in West Chicago, IL]
provides the finest avionics installations, turbine/piston
maintenance, avionics/instrument service, mail order, and aircraft
sales. Also, they offer FBO services and fuel at Dekalb Taylor
Municipal Airport (KDKB) in Dekalb, IL. Please call (800) 323-5966 and
mention this Business AVflash, or order online at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/ja/biz. |
SINO
SWEARINGEN SJ30 COMPLETES ANOTHER CERTIFICATION MILESTONE
Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. (SSAC) last week announced reaching
another milestone en route to FAA certification of its SJ30
medium-size business jet as Flight Test Aircraft serial number 0003
completed all of its required flight testing. Serial number 0003 is
the youngest in the company's fleet of three flight-test aircraft, and
has accumulated more than 725 actual flight-test hours. Test cards
accomplished by s/n 0003 include high-Mach lateral directional tests,
engine-fire suppression tests, unusable fuel tests, engine operating
characteristics and engine-out conditions, air-starts, noise
compliance, extreme cold and severe hot weather operations,
engine-airframe natural icing tests and more. More...
BOMBARDIER
DELIVERS 150TH GLOBAL
Bombardier late last month placed into service its 150th Global
long-range business jet with the delivery of a Global 5000 on Aug. 26
to Dwight Management of St Paul, Minn. The airframe was the third
Bombardier Global 5000 aircraft placed in service. "The aircraft's
spacious, wide and comfortable cabin combined with its outstanding
speed and impressive range made it the right choice to meet our
corporate travel requirements," said Dwight Opperman, chairman, Dwight
Management, a longstanding Bombardier customer. Bombardier's Global
program, launched in February 2002, presently includes the Global 5000
business and will soon be followed with the Global Express XRS, which
is scheduled to enter service in January. More...
CESSNA
FLIES FIRST PRODUCTION CITATION MUSTANG AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Cessna earlier this month announced its first production Citation
Mustang (s/n 0001) took off for its first flight Monday, Aug. 29. The
flight occurred a month ahead of a schedule Cessna established some
time ago; the Mustang prototype made its maiden flight on April 23.
The first production Mustang flew exactly two hours, performing basic
systems and avionics checks, including engaging the autopilot, testing
the airplane’s handling characteristics, performing operative
gear and flap tests, activating the de-ice system and evaluating
engine response and performance. “We have a strong team working
on the Mustang program, and they’ve achieved a major milestone by
getting production unit one off the ground a month early,” said
Russ Meyer III, Mustang program manager. More...
BOMBARDIER
INAUGURATES NEW WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Bombardier Aerospace earlier this month marked the grand opening of
its high-volume 238,000-square-foot aircraft parts distribution
warehouse in Chicago, Ill. The company said the new facility offers
operators of both Bombardier business jets and regional airliners
worldwide greater speed, accuracy and quality of service than ever
before. "The inauguration of our Chicago parts distribution hub is the
result of a significant investment in systems and infrastructure over
the past 18 months designed to provide our customers with an
industry-leading level of service," said Desmond Bell, vice-president,
parts logistics, Bombardier Aerospace. The facility is strategically
located at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, operates around the
clock and features an inventory of over 120,000 unique parts. "This is
a major step in our drive to improve parts availability, quality and
delivery speed, and, rather than an end point, it's just the
beginning," Bell added. More...
PILOT
ERROR BLAMED IN ECLIPSE 500 GEAR-UP LANDING
As AVweb reported last week, Eclipse Aviation Corporation's
fourth FAA-conforming flight-test aircraft, N505EA, experienced a
gear-up landing on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the Albuquerque International
Sunport. There were no injuries to the two pilots aboard the aircraft,
which was landing at the conclusion of a test flight. The company said
the incident resulted from pilot error -- Eclipse did not name the
crew -- and that no aircraft mechanical or electrical problems
contributed to it. The flight-test aircraft was attempting to land on
Runway 3. More...
ISN'T IT
ABOUT TIME YOU CHOSE SOMETHING EXTRA?
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averages 220 kts, gets 11 mpg, and costs less than $200/hr to operate.
Find out more about Extra's EA-500 at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/extra/biz. |
SECOND
GULFSTREAM G150 FLIES TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Gulfstream Aerospace last week announced it added a second G150
business jet test aircraft, s/n 202, to its flight-test program two
weeks ahead of schedule. The second production G150 aircraft completed
its first flight Sept. 2 in Tel Aviv, Israel, flying for five hours
and 30 minutes. During the flight, all aircraft systems were cycled
and the test aircraft reached a maximum altitude of FL450 and flew at
a maximum speed of Mach 0.865. Gulfstream will use this second
aircraft for function and reliability testing, which started on Sept.
4. Gulfstream and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are developing the
wide-cabin, high-speed G150 business jet. It is being built through
its Certificate of Airworthiness at IAI’s facility in Tel Aviv
and then flown to Gulfstream’s Dallas completions facility for
its final phase of manufacturing. Gulfstream’s G150, the
company's newest offering, is expected to enter service in the third
quarter of 2006. More...
SIGNATURE
ACQUIRES AGAIN
And the big get bigger. Signature Flight Support earlier this month
said it acquired the PrivatAir FBO facility at Paris' Le Bourget
Airport in August. After renovation this fall, the facility will be
Signature's primary transient terminal at the airport. Additionally,
Signature also said it has acquired Cape Aviation Business Centre at
Cape Town International Airport, in South Africa. National Airways
Corporation (NAC), a South African company operating a fleet of
managed business aircraft, formerly owned that facility. Terms of the
transactions were not disclosed. With these latest two FBO
acquisitions, Signature currently operates at more than 60 locations
in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. "This
acquisition represents an opportunity to increase our capacity at the
busy Le Bourget Airport," Signature President and Chief Executive
Officer Beth Haskins said of the PrivatAir FBO. More...
|
WATCH IT NOW: LIGHTSPEED'S MACH 1 HEADSET VIDEO IS
ONLINE
The Mach 1 in-the-ear (ITE) headset offers up
to 40dB of passive hearing protection and a clean-sheet design that is
loaded with features and style. The magnesium alloy headset weighs in
at around one ounce and is equipped with a feather-weight gooseneck
boom and noise-canceling electret mic. Specially designed ear plugs
comfortably block noise before it has an opportunity to enter the ear
canal, and miniature high-fidelity speakers inside the plug deliver
crisp, clear voice and stereo music. The streamlined magnesium alloy
control box secures with a belt clip and provides cell/satellite phone
and music interface, stereo/mono options, and volume control. The
first units will begin shipping later in September. To check
availability and place an order for LightSPEED's new Mach 1 headset,
visit a LightSPEED dealer or call (800) 332-2421 today. Watch
the video at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/litspeed/video/biz. |
BOEING'S
BBJ PROGRAM INCHES CLOSER TO 100-AIRFRAME MARK
Boeing Business Jets this week announced that the latest order for the
company's VIP-configured 737 airliner brought its total sales of the
ber bizjet to 98 since its inception. The latest BBJ sale was to a
Hong Kong-based operator in the People's Republic of China. Boeing did
not reveal the identity of the operator at the customer's request. Of
the 57 customers who have ordered BBJs, 39 percent are private
individuals, 38 percent are governments, 13 percent are corporate
operators and 10 percent are charter companies. Currently, there are
84 BBJs in service around the world. About 10 percent of BBJs
delivered are based in the Asia Pacific region. "We are absolutely
thrilled and confident that this order will be the first of many in
the growing China market for VIP airplanes," said Steven Hill, BBJ
president. "The order also brings us closer to our 100th sales order,
which we hope to achieve before the end of the year."
More...
NBAA
OFFERS AIRSPACE STATUS BRIEFING
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) this week announced
releasing its National Airspace System Status Briefing (NASSB), which
it bills as a "user-friendly," Web-based product providing "valuable,
real-time information for anyone involved in flight operations." The
NASSB is available only to NBAA members, as an extra-cost service, and
gives operators an instant snapshot of domestic ATC traffic management
initiatives and restrictions. Using the information provided, NBAA
says operators can quickly generate information making U.S. flight
operations more manageable and efficient. More...
WATCH
YOUR INBOX...
...the next issue of AVweb's BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you
on Sept. 28. More...
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LOW-COST DIGITAL REPLACEMENT
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_____________________________________
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