Business aviation groups embraced a series of recommendations released last week by the Mental Health & Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), calling them a good step forward in tackling the barriers for pilots and other aviation professionals in need of help.

The ARC on April 1 released two dozen recommendations on the issue, just four months after the panel was established. “If fully implemented, these recommendations would help ensure those in the aviation community seek out appropriate resources and treatment to address mental health concerns,” said Mark Larsen, NBAA’s director for safety and flight operations and an ARC member, adding that the recommendations show “a deep understanding and broad desire from the aviation community to reduce the barriers that keep pilots, air traffic controllers and others from seeking mental health care.”

Also on the ARC was Suz Viljoen, education success manager for NATA. “NATA appreciates this collaborative effort to unite the aviation industry across all segments to address this vital issue. Many industry leaders’ voices and views were heard from across the globe in developing this comprehensive set of recommendations,” Viljoen said. The committee included medical professionals as well as representatives from industry trade associations, pilot and air traffic controller organizations, and academia.

“This is just the beginning of a critical conversation, but a meaningful and welcomed start,” said NATA president and CEO Curt Castagna.

On Tuesday at the Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, Daher unveiled the model year 2024 Daher TBM 960, which features enhanced pilot awareness and lower workload. The TBM 960 on display this week at the show sports a new Sirocco paint scheme with silver, matte blue, and black highlights.

Among the updated model’s enhancements is a pilot inactivity detection function for the HomeSafe emergency autoland system, which automatically activates after 30 minutes if there is no pilot interaction with the aircraft’s systems. According to Daher, the system provides several prompts and warnings before automatically activating autoland.

Other new features include a graphical weight and balance presentation on the multifunction display, 3D SafeTaxi, a runway occupancy awareness function, and added alerts messages to increase pilot awareness. The latter includes “yaw damper” engagement and “check gear” notification, as well as “propeller abort” if the propeller is not in the correct configuration. Additionally, the primary flight display now shows visual effects that enhance stabilized approach monitoring.

Based on customer feedback, Daher also added an LED nose gear landing light to the 2024 model.

“The TBM 960 is the fastest-selling version of all the members in our TBM aircraft family,” said Daher’s aircraft division senior v-p, Nicolas Chabbert. “This is underscored by our backlog that exceeds two years of production, with some 120 TBM 960s delivered to date.”

The FAA has extended the comment period to May 1 for proposed amendments to maintenance inspection rules for small, corporate-sized, and uncrewed aircraft. Proposed changes include additional inspection program options for owners of single-engine turbine-powered airplanes and uncrewed aircraft; relaxed mechanical reliability reporting requirements for Part 91 Subpart K aircraft; and several changes to clarify and simplify various maintenance-related regulations.

According to the FAA, these proposed amendments would “relieve aircraft owners, operators, maintenance providers, and the FAA” of certain regulatory burdens. They would also provide “greater flexibility for aircraft maintenance [and] standardized reporting requirements, and clarify several maintenance-related regulations.”

After publishing the original NPRM (notice of proposed rulemaking) on January 31, the FAA became aware that certain information in the preamble was incorrect and that the preliminary regulatory impact analysis that supports the proposal had not been placed in the docket (FAA–2024–0025). Based on the time required to correct those errors and integrate them into the docket, the agency determined it was appropriate to extend the comment period by one month.

The FAA has issued a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) of nearly $270 million in supplemental discretionary grants under the Airport Improvement Program, which includes provisions for the promotion of sustainable aviation fuel growth among its priority project categories.

Along with the usual submission categories involving “airfield operational resiliency” such as runway, taxiway, and ramp pavement; airfield drainage; lighting; and safety markings, this latest offering includes the possibility of grants for the onfield processing, storage, and distribution of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that provides at least a 50 percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, as determined by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Applications under this category must clearly describe how the project will support the implementation of SAF for distribution into aircraft at the airport. According to the agency, prospective projects may include “on-airport construction or expansion of pipelines, rail lines and spurs, loading and off-loading facilities, blending facilities, and storage tanks.”

Another category of grant submissions deals with the reduction of lead emissions from aviation fuel, with funding available for planning for unleaded aviation fuel infrastructure and to plan for and construct run-up locations to reduce community exposure to emissions from leaded aviation fuel.

The deadline for airport grant submissions is May 2.

Gogo Business Aviation is making significant progress with two key initiatives set to hit the market in 2024: Gogo Galileo and Gogo 5G. Testing is underway for both systems. Gogo Galileo, the company’s new global broadband service, reached a major milestone in late March completing an end-to-end connection using its small HDX antenna. Gogo also announced in March that it had initiated testing of its 5G software using a virtual flight simulator that it created.

Owners of the more than 200 Cessna Citation CJ2s built through 2006 will be able to have their jets’ avionics upgraded with a Garmin suite at Textron Aviation service centers once Garmin receives the FAA supplemental type certificate by July.

The upgrade features two G600 TXi touchscreen displays with features specific to the CJ2, including stabilized approach monitoring and aural V-speed alerting during takeoff, as well as Garmin’s engine indication system. Two GTN Xi navigators enable vertical navigation (VNAV) using the GFC 600 autopilot, including coupled VNAV descents and coupled go-arounds.

Available options include Garmin’s GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar. The optional PlaneSync GDL 60 connected aircraft management system uses 4G LTE cellular or Wi-Fi for remote automatic avionics database updates and aircraft information sharing.

The first customer for the upgrade will be CJ2 owner Rod McDermott. “One of the things I appreciate is how excited Textron Aviation is to offer this upgrade and breathe new life into an amazing aircraft platform that could be flying for another 20, 30 years,” he said. “By working with Garmin, they’re giving the CJ2 a whole new utility level for single-pilot operation. And the fact that Textron Aviation is supportive of upgrades for aircraft no longer in production—that makes me really excited about working with this company.”

StandardAero’s facility in Maryville, Tennessee, has repaired and delivered its 12,000th auxiliary power unit, said the MRO provider Monday. Maryville has hosted APU services for business jets and airliners since 1997.

StandardAero’s 154,000-sq-ft Maryville facility supports a wide range of APUs, including the Honeywell GTCP 36-100/150 (used by a variety of aircraft, including the CRJ200), Honeywell RE220 (CRJ700 family), Pratt & Whitney Canada APS 2300 (Embraer E-Jets), and Safran Power Units SPU300 (Bombardier Global 7500 and 8000).

“The delivery of our 12,000th APU highlights the Maryville team’s enduring commitment to the highest quality and turnaround performance,” said Greg Krekeler, v-p and general manager of StandardAero’s Maryville facility. “Our Maryville team provides one-stop shop capabilities for some of the industry’s most popular APUs, offering a combination of MRO services and line replaceable unit repair support that maximizes customer operational performance.”

StandardAero plans for continued expansion of APU service offerings and expects to deliver its 14,000th APU before the end of this decade.

Along with supporting a range of APUs, StandardAero’s Maryville facility serves as a Rolls-Royce-authorized maintenance center for the AE2100 turboprop, AE3007 turbofan, and AE1107 turboshaft, in addition to supporting the related MT7 marine gas turbine. In October, the Maryville team celebrated the delivery of the facility’s 7,500th Rolls-Royce AE-family engine.

Metrojet Engineering Clark (MEC), Hong Kong aircraft charter and management provider Metrojet’s MRO facility in the Philippines, has introduced a satellite aircraft-on-ground (AOG) response station at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (RPLL) to assist in handling operation-critical aircraft repairs.

The AOG support operation at RPLL includes tools, ground service equipment, and other assets to increase the company’s response time for its customers there.

“We are seeing a growth in flying activities and AOG requests in Manila and would like to equip ourselves to provide swift and quality turnaround AOG services to our current customer base and those in need of support,” said MEC general manager Sarith Vaikuntan. “The station in Manila will ease the response time from Clark to Manila, thus returning the aircraft to service in a much shorter time.”

Based at Clark International Airport in central Luzon, the primary MEC facility opened in 2021 with a nearly 80,000-sq-ft hangar that can accommodate multiple business aircraft. In addition to approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), it holds maintenance authorizations from the U.S. FAA, Cayman Islands CAA, Qatar QCAA, Isle of Man CAA, San Marino CAA, and the South Korea MOLIT for heavy and line maintenance./p>

Aircraft completion and refurbishment company VIP Completions unveiled the interior of a newly refurbished Dassault Falcon 7X this week. The acquisition of the aircraft was brokered by turnkey aircraft dealer-broker and VIP Completions sister company SmartJets.

“We are particularly proud of this project because it shows how quickly and efficiently our companies can work together—in just 16 weeks, we went from a letter of intent to an entirely new bespoke interior,” says Ben Shirazi, president of VIP Completions and SmartJets. “First, we guided our client through a detailed acquisition process in order to ensure that they selected the optimal aircraft under optimal conditions—including closing in time to benefit from 2023 bonus depreciation rules.”

The floorplan includes three principal cabin areas: a forward main lounge with club seating, a mid-cabin conference room/dining room and aft stateroom/office with divan, a large forward galley, a forward crew lavatory, and an aft VIP lavatory.

The refurbishment was completed in 16 weeks—approximately eight weeks for acquisition and eight weeks for refurbishment.

"Completing a refurb of this scope in just eight weeks is exceptionally fast by industry standards," Shirazi added. "We are comfortable committing to such short turn-around times, for comparably sized projects, thanks to the rigorous efficiency of our project management and the excellence of our talented team."

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