On The Fly

Avidyne and S-TEC announce Alliant system lands in King Air…Cessna eyes India’s economic boom as fertile ground…HondaJet production work wooed in Greensboro, N.C…Raytheon says fractional industry conditions are shifting.

Avidyne and S-Tec say that their Alliant Integrated Flight Deck - a digital autopilot, large primary flight displays, dual-redundant PFDs, dual ADAHRS -- have arrived as a retrofit package installed in a 1979 King Air. The 369-pound increase in useful load (due to replacement of the old avionics) isn't hurting, either. The companies point out that this first customer delivery occurred just 90 days after the STC was received...

Cessna this week signed a contract with Taneja Aerospace & Aviation for two Citations, and the Wichita aircraft manufacturer apparently has its eyes on the growing market and need for training facilities in the region. In a news release, Cessna says it is probing regional partnership possibilities for maintenance and training centers, as well as establishment of a new Cessna authorized service center there...

Seeking the positive effects of a production facility and the jobs it would bring, local city councils will know this week if Honda Aircraft will build a HondaJet manufacturing plant in Greensboro, N.C. The county offered the company incentives that reportedly reach up to $600,000...

During the fourth quarter conference call, Raytheon Company Senior Vice President and CFO Dave Wajsgras said Flight Options, the company's fractional aircraft division, is noticing that the frax industry is changing. "We've seen a shift in industry conditions to jet cards from fractional sales," noting that year-over-year growth for share sales is flat at 2 percent versus the 20- to 30-percent jump seen in Flight Options' jet-card sales.