| Volume 3,
Number 16 — September 28, 2005 |
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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded
Business News Coverage At AVweb's
Business NewsWire.
ECLIPSE
UPDATE I: CERTIFICATION STATIC TESTING COMPLETE
Eclipse Aviation's entry into the coming very light jet (VLJ)
sweepstakes cleared another major hurdle on its rush toward
certification earlier this month when the company completed
FAA-required static testing of the Eclipse 500 airframe. According to
the company, the FAA approved the airframe for an initial 10,000-hour
lifetime, which Eclipse says "is significantly higher than typically
approved by the FAA." By contrast, initial type certification of the
Adam 500, an all-composite piston twin forming the foundation for the
Adam Aircraft Industries A700 AdamJet, was FAA type-certificated with
a 250-hour airframe life limit. The Eclipse 500 is a metal design.
Predictably, Eclipse executives were enthusiastic. "We are also
pleased that, based on our extensive work with the FAA, the Eclipse
500 has been approved for an initial 10,000 hour lifetime at type
certification. The designed fatigue life for the Eclipse 500 is 20,000
hours, which will be demonstrated through testing over the next two
years," said Eclipse Aviation Vice President of Engineering Ken
Harness. More...
|
NEW
GARMIN GPSMAP 396 WITH TERRAIN,
XM WEATHER, AND MUSIC — IN
STOCK!
JA Air Center, one of Garmin's largest
dealers, would like to thank all customers who pre-ordered the
new Garmin GPSMap 396, and we are pleased to announce
limited quantities are IN STOCK and ready for immediate
delivery. Also, current inventory levels allow JA to offer top dollar
for used GPS, avionics, and aircraft. 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 [after hours, (630) 306-7117] and
mention this issue of Business AVflash, or order online at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/ja/biz. |
ECLIPSE
UPDATE II: TEST FLEET RACKS UP 500 HOURS
Following closely on the heels of the end of static airframe testing,
Eclipse Aviation this week announced its fleet of five
certification-research aircraft has flown a combined 500 hours of test
flights. Eclipse said flight tests completed thus far in its
certification program included lightweight foreign object debris (FOD)
testing at power settings up to takeoff thrust and at speeds up to 70
knots, water-ingestion testing at speeds up to 100 knots, 20 landings
in one day on one aircraft to test tire wear, and endurance testing
with single flights of more than three hours. Given the high-cycle
nature of the various air taxi operations with pending orders for
copies of the Eclipse 500, the company stressed the test fleet's
ability to conduct multiple flights per day with high dispatch
reliability and while successfully completing significant test points.
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. |
CESSNA
PICKS FLIGHTSAFETY FOR CITATION MUSTANG TRAINING
If Eclipse Aviation is the upstart contender in the VLJ sweepstakes,
Cessna Aircraft is the grizzled veteran. While Cessna's
FAA-certification target of late 2006 for its Citation Mustang likely
will not win the race to be first to certify what many in the industry
are labeling a VLJ, the company is selling enough of its other
Citations for it not to matter very much. Most recently, Cessna said
it had selected FlightSafety International to provide initial type
training for what it calls its "new generation entry-level jet."
Training will be available to customers prior to delivery of the first
Citation Mustang late next year and will be conducted at the
FlightSafety Cessna Learning Centers in Wichita, Kan., and
Farnborough, England. According to Roger Whyte, Cessna’s senior
vice president of sales and marketing, “The selection of
FlightSafety is the extension of a mutually beneficial relationship
that has existed for more than three decades. Due to the large number
of overseas orders, it was determined that the location for training
close to the customer was an absolute must,” Whyte said.
FlightSafety will design and build two motion-based Level
“D” flight simulators and two avionics flight training
devices (FTD). More...
THIRD
EXAMPLE JOINS FALCON 7X TEST PROGRAM
Moving away from the VLJ market, Dassault Aviation last week announced
the third copy of its to-be-certificated Falcon 7X trijet took off for
its maiden flight on Sept. 20. The 01:43 flight -- from a company
facility in Bordeaux-Merignac, France, to the Dassault Aviation Flight
Test Center in Istres, France -- was crewed by Dominique Chenevier and
Etienne Faurdessus. The airplane reached FL410 and flew at speeds up
to Mach 0.82. The newest addition to Dassault's 7X flight-test program
will be used for avionics, systems, and function and reliability
testing. With this initial flight, Dassault said its 7X flight-test
program reached 171 hours after a total of 60 flights. Ten pilots have
flown the 7X, including one from the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA). The FAA and EASA have allotted approximately 1200 test hours
before final certification in late 2006. More...
JET
AVIATION BASEL ADDS TO HANGAR CAPACITY
Swiss-based Jet Aviation announced it will take over a former Crossair
hangar at the Basel airport on Oct. 1, under a recently executed lease
agreement with Swiss International Air Lines and the airport
authorities. According to the company, the additional hangar space of
5,000 square meters brings to 20,000 square meters the facility's
hangar capacity, an expansion of roughly 30 percent. Jet Aviation
Basel provides aircraft maintenance and repair services to a wide
variety of business jets, including approvals as a factory service
center by Gulfstream, Bombardier and Dassault, and performs contract
maintenance service on Boeing products. “We are very happy that
we found a solution with Swiss and the airport authority to be able to
handle the growing number of aircraft at our facility,” said
Rainer Albecker, senior vice president and general manager at Jet
Aviation Basel. More...
|
TELEDYNE-CONTINENTAL MOTORS IS BUSY BECOMING
THE
WORLD'S LARGEST OVERHAULER OF LYCOMING ENGINES
Yes, you
read that right! TCM is overhauling Lycoming engines in a big way on
an exchange basis. With TCM's efficiency, trouble-free success rate,
and a selling price at $300 over factory invoice, they can offer
overhauls for thousands less than Lycoming. These overhauls are built
to new limits using brand-new camshafts and cylinders, without core
chargebacks! Only Air Power, the World's Largest Factory Engine
Distributor, could make you an offer like this! Over 24,000 factory
engines sold! Call Air Power, a totally consumer-oriented company, at
(800) 247-7693, or visit Air Power online at http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/apinc/biz. |
FRAX
INDUSTRY UNAFFECTED BY DAL BANKRUPTCY FILING FOR NOW
Fractional ownership customers -- as well as flight crews and vendors
-- may think the recent filing by Delta Air Lines for protection under
federal bankruptcy laws won't impact them. Hopefully, they'll be
right, but not because Delta isn't involved in the business aviation
industry. Instead, Delta AirElite Business Jets is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, providing aircraft charter, aircraft
management and fractional ownership programs for more than 20 years.
The company operates a diverse fleet of Bombardier Challenger,
Learjet, Gulfstream, Hawker and Cessna aircraft. According to a
statement from Delta AirElite, "There will be no impact on Delta
AirElite's ability to serve its charter, membership or aircraft
management customers." More...
ISN'T IT
ABOUT TIME YOU CHOSE SOMETHING EXTRA?
Pilot-inspired,
German-engineered, and internationally renowned — that's the
difference in Extra Aircraft's EA-500. Extra's certified, Rolls
Royce-powered, 6-seat turboprop EA-500 is in a class all by
itself. The only new-technology cabin-class airplane, the EA-500
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. |
DEE
HOWARD'S AVIATION ART ON EXHIBIT
If you know the name Darrell "Dee" Howard, either you've been around
the business aviation industry a while or, most likely, have read
about the post-WWII conversions of bombers and transports into sleek,
winged corporate chariots on which his namesake's company made its
reputation in the '50s and '60s. Howard, now in his mid-80s, also made
a reputation as an innovator, developing thrust-reverser kits for
early Learjets and providing maintenance, overhaul and modifications
for business jets and heavy airliners. Now, according to the
Galveston, Texas, Daily News, 35 original or first-edition prints from
The Dee and Betty Howard Aviation Art Collection will be on display at
the Lone Star Flight Museum through September of next year.
More...
FRACTIONAL
OWNERSHIP TAKES ROOT IN INDIA
It's no secret that the fractional aircraft ownership concept has
spread worldwide from its humble beginnings with what became the
NetJets concept in 1986. Proving you can't keep a good idea down, a
company billing itself as India's first domestic fractional operator
-- Club One Air -- recently announced starting operations. Club One
Air, whose managing director is Manav Singh, presently offers shares
in its fleet of five Cessna Citation IIs and Excels to "high
net-worth" individuals and India-based corporations.
More...
VNY-BASED
AIR GROUP FLEET EXPANDS
Van Nuys, Calif.-based The Air Group, a large full-service business
and private aircraft management company, said earlier this month it
had added six new jets to its nationwide fleet so far this year. The
aircraft include a Gulfstream GIVSP based at Teterboro, N.J., a
Gulfstream GIV based at both Van Nuys and in Tokyo, a Hawker 800Xpi
based at Van Nuys, a Hawker 800XP in Denver, a Falcon 900C based in
San Jose, and a Cessna Citation SII based in Honolulu.
More...
WATCH
YOUR INBOX...
...the next issue of AVweb's BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you
on Oct. 12. More...
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| SHOPPING DEALS |
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In a joint promotion, Avidyne and Ryan
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when they purchase an Avidyne FlightMax EX500 Multi-Function Display
(MFD) with Ryan's 9900BX Traffic Alerting System (TAS). There are four
combinations of these fantastic avionics savings. This promotion
ends October 31, 2005. For more information (and to order), go
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MOTHER NATURE CAN HIT ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
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A NEW RELEASE OF THE BEST
AVIATION WEATHER SERVICE
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ATTENTION, BARON AND CESSNA 310 OWNERS — NEWS FROM
McCAULEY!
A new STC has been approved to McCauley
Propeller Systems for installation of a new three-bladed
propeller. Replace your old threaded propellers with the new
Blackmac propeller. The Blackmac provides operators with
an average weight savings of 10 pounds, longer TBOs, and fewer ADs
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LOW-COST
DIGITAL REPLACEMENT TRANSPONDERS!
Narco Avionics
announces the availability of their all-new Value Series plug-and-play
line of digital transponders for the cost-conscious owner. Narco's
Value Series line of plug-and-play transponders includes the AT165/VS
(a replacement for the AT50 through AT155), the AT165/KA/VS (a
replacement for the KT76A/78A), and the AT165/K/VS (a replacement for
the KT76/78). Coming Soon:
Narco's AT165/C and AT165/C/VS, plug-and-play replacements for the ARC
(Cessna) RT359A/RT459A. SPECIAL: Purchase an AT165 and get an
AR850 for $99. For more information, go to http://www.avweb.com/sponsors/narco/biz. |
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_____________________________________
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Burnside:
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