Aircraft checklists are the foundation of pilot standardization and flight deck safety. Following a series of air carrier accidents in the late 1980s, safety professionals began to recognize and have concerns that the improper use, non-use, or poor design of checklists could potentially contribute to an aircraft accident. Until this point, the design of the checklist and the philosophy of its use escaped input or analysis from human factors professionals.
The NTSB first recognized the importance of checklist use and its critical role in flight safety in 1969 following the no-flap takeoff crash of a Pan American Airways Boeing 707-321C from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. The crash of Pan Am’s Clipper Racer—an all-cargo flight destined for South Vietnam—killed all three crewmembers.
Most jet buyers have at least heard of the major taxes that go along with owning and operating a business jet: state sales, use, and property taxes; federal excise taxes on transportation and fuel; and federal income taxes on personal-use flights. But some stealthy taxes related to aircraft lie in wait for unsuspecting victims.
States with a tax-friendly reputation have the greatest potential to snare unsuspecting jet owners with surprise tax bills. Delaware, for example, is a famous tax haven, and not just for jets. The state is known for having no sales or use tax, so you’d think it would be a safe place to close an aircraft purchase tax-free. But there is a little tax that many seasoned aviation professionals don’t know about: a levy of approximately 2 percent on payments of rent by lessees of tangible personal property—like business jets.
When Helicopter Association International (HAI) opened registration this fall for Heli-Expo 2019, it presented a new venue to would-be attendees: Atlanta. The annual event, next scheduled for March 4 to 7, 2019, will be hosted in the Southern city for the first time.
Heli-Expo traditionally rotates among about a little more than a handful of cities, with Anaheim, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Dallas being among the most frequent of locales. The locations have been limited by a series of requirements, including a need for about one million square feet that houses displays from the more than 700 annual exhibitors, nearby hotel rooms that can accommodate an annual attendance of around 18,000 people, and the ability to bring the roughly 60 helicopters to the show floor.
Rolls-Royce has begun testing of the F130 engine that was selected in September 2021 under the Commercial Engine Replacement Program to replace the aging Pratt & Whitney TF33s that currently power the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 76 Boeing B-52H strategic bombers. With each aircraft being equipped with eight of the turbofans, the expected powerplant requirement will be at least 608 units, with perhaps as many as 42 spares also to be procured.
The F130 is based on the commercial BR725, a member of Rolls-Royce’s BR700 family that has achieved more than 30 million flight hours powering various ultra-long-range business jets. Other BR700-series engines are already in service with the U.S. Air Force on various Gulfstream and Bombardier Global variants.
Universal Hydrogen successfully flight tested its hydrogen-powered propulsion system for the first time on Thursday. The company’s De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop testbed—retrofitted with a hydrogen fuel cell in one of its nacelles and nicknamed "Lightning McClean"—took off from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, at 8:41 a.m. local time and flew for 15 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,500 feet.
The historic flight test occurred just six weeks after rival hydrogen propulsion system ZeroAvia achieved the first flight of its hydrogen-powered Dornier 228 aircraft testbed at Cotswold Airport in the UK, making it the first company to fly a regional airliner powered by hydrogen fuels.
For many years, the available choices for airborne connectivity systems were limited. Few products were made for smaller aircraft, and the costs of so-called “Wi-Fi” systems were prohibitive, affordable mostly for larger business jets, although the service costs were equally as expensive.
That is finally changing, with new competitors entering the airborne connectivity market, offering more coverage, new equipment options, technologically advanced antennas, and, finally, lower service prices.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will sell its entire 49 percent stake in Venice, Italy-based SuperJet International (SJI) to the UAE’s Markab Capital Investments as part of an agreement that will result in UAC exiting the Superjet 100 program. The deal will see the Russian conglomerate transfer design and production authority to SJI in Venice while SJI establishes a new production plant in Al Ain in the UAE.
Following receipt of Russian and Italian government authorizations to unfreeze SJI’s shares and assets, Markab Capital will own 49 percent of the company while Studio Guidotti International retains its 41 percent stake and Leonardo its 10 percent share. Western sanctions against Russia following last year’s invasion of Ukraine have severely restricted assets associated with the state-controlled UAC group.
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