Federal agents in California on Wednesday morning seized a HondaJet belonging to high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti as part of a grand jury indictment on a raft of fraud and tax offenses. The light twinjet, registered as N227WP to Newport Beach, California-based Passport 420, was seized at California’s Santa Barbara Municipal Airport under warrant from a federal judge and was then flown to a government contractor's aircraft storage area in Chino, according to a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman.
The indictment states in part that Avenatti defrauded a client who received a $3 million settlement, taking $2.5 million for himself and using it to purchase a portion of the 2016 aircraft, while falsely telling his client that the settlement called for monthly payments over eight years. Avenatti allegedly made several payments in the name of the payer of the settlement, but soon stopped altogether.
“The financial investigation conducted by the IRS details a man who allegedly failed to meet his obligations to the government, stole from his clients, and used his ill-gotten gains to support his racing team, the ownership of Tully’s coffee shops, and a private jet,” said Ryan Korner, acting special agent in charge with IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles.
Avenatti, currently free on $300,000 bond, is scheduled for arraignment on April 29 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
AINsight: Preparing for FAA Medical Exams
Being prepared for an FAA medical exam can often prevent unexpected delays in certification and reduce the associated stress involved. First, schedule for flexibility by securing an appointment as early in the month as possible, which allows corporate pilots who have a pop-up trip that conflicts with their AME appointment to reschedule before their medical expires.
Next, arrive on time and complete MedXpress well in advance of heading to the AME’s office. No electronic system is infallible, so please don’t wait until the morning of the FAA exam to do the MedXpress, just in case it’s “down” that morning.
If you have experienced a new medical condition of interest since the issuance of your last medical certificate, give the AME a heads-up to the situation. The AME can advise as to whether documentation will be required at the time of your next medical exam, potentially saving weeks to months of unanticipated “grounding.”
Once medical conditions have been reported, if ongoing documentation is going to be required, the FAA sends a letter so stating. There is no provision for the AME to issue without having the precise required documentation the FAA has requested. Bring it to your appointment.
There are many other tips, but the point is clear: be proactive, and at times patient, to ensure a smooth aviation medical exam experience.
Daher’s latest iteration of its TBM turboprop single—the Model 940—made its public debut this week at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany. This ninth evolution of the TBM product line brings an increased level of automation, featuring an autothrottle and automatic icing detection system.
“Building on the TBM 940’s first public appearance at Aero Friedrichshafen only one month after its official announcement, we are now awaiting certification by EASA and the U.S. FAA to start initial deliveries,” said Daher airplane business unit senior v-p Nicolas Chabbert. “The aircraft’s new features represent a further evolution of our TBM e-copilot concept, providing assistance in single-pilot operations.”
Chabbert added that customer response to the TBM 940 has been brisk, with orders for 25 already booked and discussions under way for more. In fact, he said, one of the sales was made today at the show by Rheinland Air Service, the TBM-authorized distributor for Austria and Germany, to a German customer for a September delivery.
EASA approval of the TBM 940 is expected this month, followed by an anticipated nod from the FAA next month, Chabbert told AIN.
U.S. Proposes Aircraft, Parts Tariffs over EU Subsidies
A long-simmering feud between the U.S. and the European Union (EU) over the latter’s continued subsidization of Airbus threatens to trigger an all-out trade war. Earlier this week the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) formally began the process to initiate tariffs against select imports from the EU in response to what it charges are illegal subsidies it provides to Airbus fixed-wing aircraft. Total value of goods on the list is estimated at $21 billion.
The proposed tariffs would cover most all civil Airbus aircraft—fixed-wing and helicopters—and parts imported into the U.S. They also have the potential to impact Dassault Falcon models weighing more than 33,000 pounds “unladen,” which would include the 7X and 8X.
“This proposal is unjustified. Airbus has taken all necessary measures to comply with the relatively minor elements highlighted by the WTO in May 2018,” an Airbus spokesman told AIN. “By contrast, Boeing has not shown any willingness to comply with the March 28, 2019, WTO decision regarding the massive subsidies received by Boeing that are clearly in contravention of WTO rules.”
In the coming weeks, the U.S. International Trade Commission, as part of an interagency committee, will be seeking public comment on any new proposed tariff targets. The first public hearing is scheduled for May 15 in Washington, D.C. It will also accept written comments through May 28.
Horten’s Flying Wing Flies to Aero Friedrichshafen
Eight decades after the Horten brothers initially designed a flying wing during World War II, the Horten HX-2, named in honor of Reimar Horten, flew to Aero Friedrichshafen this week. Developed by Horten Aircraft, the two-place prototype flying wing took to the skies this winter and has accrued about 15 flights and six hours, including the trip from Horten headquarters at Kindel Airfield near Eisenach, Germany, to Friedrichshafen.
The tailless, fuselage-less blended wing design features a wingspan of 10 meters (32 feet) with winglets at the tips. A rear-mounted 100-hp Rotax 912 powers the aircraft with a pusher propeller. Made of fiberglass and carbon fiber honeycomb composites, the HX-2 carries two fuel tanks, each capable of holding 120 liters (31.7 gallons). All surfaces generate lift.
The result is an aircraft anticipated to have a range of up to about 3,500 km (2,175 miles), a cruise speed of 270 km/h (167 mph), and payload of 200 kg (441 pounds), at least in unmanned configuration. The company is hesitant to provide firm or further details, saying they will prove out during the flight-test campaign.
Company executives see the HX-2 prototype as a baseline for multiple possibilities, including battery- or hydrogen-powered and unmanned and VTOL configuration. They have even looked at a twinjet, but that is purely conceptual at this point.
Dresden, Germany-based aeroPS introduced its aerops general aviation mobile payment service this week at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany. Aerops enables pilots to pay landing and parking fees at participating regional and commercial airports from their smartphone in real-time. The app will digitally process the payment for airports.
Pilots using the app select the airport and enter the aircraft identification and number of landings. The aerops app will automatically calculate charges, which then can be paid through credit card or direct debit. Different billing addresses can be stored and coupon codes can be entered. Once payment is complete, airports will directly email the invoices.
AeroPS initially rolled out the app at a few individual airports last year, including at Jena-Schöngleina and Magdeburg, but since has expanded the mobile payment services to 80 airports in Germany, as well as in Austria and Switzerland. The manufacturer expects to add airfields in France next. “The negotiations are in progress and are about to be concluded,” says Daniel Steinhauss, a company founder and managing directors. “To be able to serve the international market, we have strengthened the team accordingly, not only for France but also for the English-speaking and Spanish regions."
Dassault To Divest Belgian Aeronautics Firm SABCA
Weeks after acquiring the near totality of the shareholding of SABCA, Group Dassault announced on Wednesday that it is divesting the Brussels-based OEM that employs some 1,000 staff across three sites in Belgium and one facility in Casablanca, Morocco. SABCA CEO Thibauld Jongen vowed the company will “continue to be involved in several major Dassault programs, including the F6X business jet.”
The company offers a full range of services to the civil, space, and military aviation markets and recently expanded into the commercial drones market as a platform designer and manufacturer. It supplies parts for the Airbus A320, A350, A330, and A380, and is active on almost all Falcon business aircraft models. The company also manufactures the Gulfstream G650's composite horizontal stabilizer structure, which is supplied to Fokker Aerostructures for integration.
Dassault Belgique Aviation, a fully owned subsidiary of France’s Dassault Group, is SABCA’s majority shareholder and in March bought the 43.57 percent stake from Fokker Aerospace for €7.5 million, valuing the company at just €17 million. According to Jongen, Dassault’s decision to sell SABCA “is part of a more global strategy, specific to the group, which also acknowledges the fact that we have made significant progress in recent years to make SABCA robust, profitable and competitive again.” Dassault has enlisted investment bank Rothschild & Co to conduct the sale.
A new European benchmark is bringing cabin lighting standards into the LED age. The DIN EN 4731 European Standard, published last year, covers LED lighting systems used in aircraft equipped with photoluminescent floor path marking, but its adoption is expected to affect LED lighting throughout the cabins of these and other aircraft.
Unlike the fluorescent lighting they often supplant, LEDs have highly individual light spectrums, primarily determined by the specifications of the incorporated LEDs. Next-generation LED cabin lighting systems that include mood lights, for example, have an almost infinitely variable light spectrum. Charging times for the systems can also vary widely.
DIN EN 4731 (Aerospace series—Spectral quality of LED luminaires used with photoluminescent marking systems) creates a tool that can help all individuals involved in designing cabin lighting systems achieve standardized levels of luminosity, according to technicians at Lufthansa Technik, which helped develop the standard. The new standard can also be used to calculate the charging efficiency of LED light sources for photoluminescent products and the charging time for LED cabin lighting systems. Previously, new LED light fittings required elaborate tests before installation to confirm that they could charge the light strips sufficiently.
Honeywell and Volocopter Team To Test UAM Avionics
Honeywell and Volocopter have signed an agreement to jointly test and develop new navigation and automatic landing systems for the latter’s vertical takeoff and landing urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft. Honeywell said it will apply its existing aviation hardware and software products, including navigation technologies and fly-by-wire flight controls, to the test program, as well as the avionics manufacturer's autonomous sensing, inertial measurement units and attitude heading reference solutions, to solve the challenges of UAM flight.
"Alongside Volocopter, we will be building on our fundamental expertise of navigation sensor solutions plus other landing expertise, moving us closer to the reality of urban air mobility,” said Carl Esposito, president of electronic solutions for Honeywell Aerospace. “Our global outlook stems from years of working alongside organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency. This collaboration has allowed us to explore the challenges, opportunities, and safe integration of technologies and aircraft in civil airspace."
Esposito said avionics solutions to be applied to the Volocopter will build on technologies it developed under Europe's Clean Sky 2 and Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) 2020 industry and government collaboration programs. Volocopter's immediate goal is to fly Honeywell’s inertial measurement-based attitude reference system aboard one of its aircraft this year, it said.
Inside Bombardier’s Global 7500: the Largest Purpose-Built Business Jet in the World
Bombardier’s highly anticipated flagship Global 7500 entered into service in December, and the company has sent the new aircraft on a world demo tour to proudly show it off to customers. We caught up with the Global 7500 at Stewart International Airport in New York and took the opportunity to check out the interior, which has a full kitchen and four living zones.
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