Bizav's Quandary over Eco-protests

Two pictures taken on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza tell you everything you need to know about business aviation’s vulnerability to direct-action protests by environmental groups.

The first, taken on July 14 at Ibiza Airport, shows a pair of activists from the Spain-based Futuro Vegetal (Vegetable Future) group proudly showing off the extensive damage they have just done to a Germany-registered Embraer Phenom 300E by covering it in yellow and black paint before gluing themselves to the fuselage.

BJT: Breathing New Life into Older Citations

Textron Aviation’s Citations are the most popular business jets, having been in production since 1972 with more than 8,000 aircraft produced so far. Many of these aircraft have plenty of life left, mainly because business jets fly relatively little compared with airliners, and some owners aren’t motivated to buy a new airplane but would like to bring their jet up to modern standards.

CitationPartners is doing just that, offering to breathe new life into existing Citation Excels in a nose-to-tail refurbishment program. The Citation Excel Eagle program involves an extensive refurbishment and upgrade and includes Garmin G5000 avionics, fresh paint, and a completely new custom interior.

From the Archives: Tilton Out at MD Helicopters

The colorful and controversial reign of Lynn Tilton at MD Helicopters is over. Tilton appears to have relinquished control of MD Helicopters and other portfolio companies of Patriarch Partners following rulings by a Delaware bankruptcy court. MD is continuing normal operations. Tilton served as CEO of both Patriarch and MD.

Patriarch bought “distressed” companies via funding from a series of collateralized loan obligations marketed through Patriarch via its $2.5 billion “Zohar” funds. Tilton placed the funds into bankruptcy in 2018 in what now appears an unsuccessful attempt to keep Patriarch’s portfolio from being liquidated by Zohar creditors including bond insurer MBIA, which insured $1 billion worth of Zohar notes.

Many Projects Give Promise of More SAF

The amount of unblended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced worldwide last year tripled the output of 2021, totaling some 80 million gallons of fuel, according to statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Yet that amount equated to just 0.1 percent of all jet fuel consumed.

Despite the fact that the petroleum-based jet fuel industry has a 70-year head start on the SAF refiners, the renewable fuel producers continue to make steady progress, and the industry expects another exponential jump in SAF volumes this year as more facilities come online and existing producers modify and expand their existing facilities.

BJT: Readers' Choice Survey—Lift Providers

In Business Jet Traveler's latest Readers' Choice Survey, the publication asked subscribers to rate charter, jet card, and fractional-share companies and business jet membership clubs. Nearly 1,300 of them responded.

Here's what they had to say about charter, jet card, and fractional-share companies, as well as business jet membership clubs.

Dyami: GPS Spoofing Raising Flags about Vulnerabilities

Recent GPS spoofing incidents along the Iranian border underscore the importance of training for “dead reckoning” capabilities, particularly at night and particularly if an aircraft’s navigation systems are more vulnerable to interference, warns Jan-Peter Van Viegen, the head of aviation for security firm Dyami. The incidents also underscore that GPS-reliant navigation systems can be vulnerable, he added.

At least a dozen aircraft flying along the Iraq/Iranian board on Airway UM688 had encountered the fake GPS signals. In most cases, the signals were of such integrity and strength that they caused a complete failure of navigation systems. This occurred without warning, and some operators found themselves 60 nm to 80 nm off course. The occurrence involved aircraft ranging from an Embraer Praetor 600 to a Boeing 777.

FutureFlight: Beta Opens Net-zero Aircraft Factory

Beta Technologies on Monday opened its manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vermont, where it will build its electric aircraft. The company expects to have the capacity to assemble 300 aircraft annually in a 188,500-sq-ft facility designed to operate with net-zero carbon emissions.

The factory is part of a 40-acre site at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, with space already allocated to expand production capacity at a later date. Beta is developing both the Alia 250 eVTOL model and the conventional takeoff and landing CX300 version, with target dates for type certification of 2026 and 2025, respectively.

BACE Recall: AAM Set to 'Change the World'

“How quickly the world has changed,” said moderator Cyrus Sigari, executive chairman and co-founder of jetAviva and co-founder and managing partner of AAM venture capital investment firm UP.Partners, before introducing the six panelists on Wednesday at the NBAA-BACE 2021 Day 2 Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) keynote session. The six—Eric Allison, head of product at Joby Aviation; Kyle Clark, CEO of Beta Technologies; Martin Peryea, CEO of Jaunt Air Mobility; Sebastian Thrun, CEO of Kitty Hawk Corp.; Melissa Tomkiel, president of Blade Urban Air Mobility; and Benjamin Tigner, CEO of Overair—lead companies that are bringing new technologies and solutions to AAM.

They explained what is happening and what’s coming in an inspiring session that evoked events from the debut of the Jetsons on television 60 years ago to William Shatner’s journey to space aboard Blue Origin on the day of the forum.

BACE Recall: Honeywell Sees Growth Ahead for Bizav

The business aviation market could see as many as 8,500 new jet deliveries worth $274 billion over the next decade, according to the results from Honeywell Aerospace’s 31st annual Global Business Aviation Outlook. It also calls for 700 business jet deliveries this year, and a 17 percent increase next year, along with a 20 percent boost over 2021 billings.

Based on the results of a survey and airframer backlogs, that trend will continue through the next decade. “I would say the most surprising thing was the 15 percent jump in the 10-year forecast, not just in terms of units, but also in terms of expenditures,” said Javier Jimenez Serrano, strategy and market research manager at Honeywell Aerospace.