Wheels Up is opening a new maintenance facility at Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) later this year and is immediately ceasing operations at its maintenance facilities in Cincinnati and Broomfield, Colorado. Similar operations in Fort Lauderdale will be relocated following the opening of the Palm Beach location.

Additionally, the company is relocating its mobile service operations in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and certain service units in Burbank, California, to the eastern U.S. This follows Wheels Up's decision late last year to focus more on providing air charter services east of the Mississippi.

“We at Wheels Up are continuously evaluating and acting upon opportunities that will drive efficiencies and control costs, all in service of strengthening our business model and improving our member experience,” said Wheels Up CEO George Mattson. “The opening of our maintenance facility at PBI is a key strategic step, leveraging our resources and locating our facilities in areas of high flight frequency. As a result of these measures, we are improving reliability and efficiency while reducing costs.”

Wheels Up announced the purchase of Mountain Aviation in January 2021, which included the company's seven maintenance hangars at Broomfield and a managed fleet of 59 aircraft. The company has coordinated with MRO providers FEAM Aero and Avex Aviation in Cincinnati and Broomfield, respectively, to provide placement opportunities for affected staff.

Takeoff decision speed (V1) defines a pilot’s go/no-go decision during takeoff, and it is a critical part of any discussion on takeoff safety. When compared to its more sedentary cousins—rotation speed (Vr) and takeoff safety speed (V2)—V1 is a bit fickle. Depending on conditions and other factors, its value can move up or down.

As a hypothetical example, at a given takeoff weight, configuration, runway condition (slope and wet or dry), and environment, an ATC-directed runway change to a shorter runway can result in a lower V1. Conversely, a longer runway using the same criteria may yield a higher V1 that may reduce the minimum runway required for takeoff. Likewise, a dry or wet runway condition will move the value of V1 to the right or left, respectively.

Inclusion of a stopway or clearway in a takeoff performance calculation is easily forgotten when pilots use automated takeoff performance calculators. These tools provide an output to solve a complex takeoff performance problem without providing the details built into the equation. It’s easy to forget about some of these basic principles that are important when discussing aircraft performance and takeoff safety.

Bell delivered 18 commercial helicopters in the first quarter, down from 22 in the same period last year. The breakdown included twelve 505s, four 407s, one 429, and one 412. This represents a slight shift from the first three months of last year, when four 429 helicopters were handed over to customers.

On the defense side, Bell shipped two H-1 helicopters in the quarter but did no V-22 tiltrotors. This contrasts with two V-22s and no H-1s in the same period a year ago.

Despite a slight decline in some commercial and military programs, Bell had revenues of $727 million in the quarter, a $106 million year-over-year increase. Bell's earnings in the first three months were up $20 million from a year ago, to $80 million.

During an earnings call yesterday, parent company Textron chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly provided further insights into the rotorcraft division's financial dynamics. He highlighted an expansion in Bell's margins, crediting a blend of cost management initiatives and the resolution of a lawsuit that temporarily boosted profits.

Meanwhile, Donnelly said the Bell 525 is on track for certification by year-end, progressing through critical flight tests and nearing the completion of required durability and reliability evaluations. “We should wrap up flight testing as we get to mid-year,” he said, adding that deliveries of the 525 are expected to start in late 2025.

Saul Arceo, CEO, ARC Aviation, Niko Arceo, Director, Sales and Research, ARC Aviation and Kiril Jakimovski, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Million Air Dallas are celebrating the start of a collaboration between the two companies during the delivery of a new Gulfstream G600 business jet. 

While sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) remains the critical bridge, particularly for turbine-powered business aviation in the near- and mid-term, general aviation industry officials attending Aero Friedrichshafen last week in Germany see roadblocks to getting there.

Kyle Martin, v-p of European affairs for GAMA, called attention to recent legislation passed that draws the problem to a head in terms of the availability of SAF. “We face some challenges getting access to that fuel,” he said. “Europe has passed the Refuel EU Aviation Regulation, which mandates SAF at large airports. That’s all fine for the airlines. But roughly 2,000 airfields are used daily by business aviation.”

Airlines have commanded the bulk of the fuel available on the continent to reach their milestones of SAF implementation, squeezing supply for charter and private aircraft operators.

With the centralized sourcing and uptake in volume, prices could foreseeably come down closer to U.S. levels from the current going rates for SAF in Europe—between 300% and 600% higher than jet-A, according to operators at Aero Friedrichshafen.

To ease the strain on the system, the European Commission could adopt a book-and-claim model similar to that used in the U.S. But the political will to make this happen is failing to materialize. According to GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce, “We cannot convince the commission that this is the smartest way to go.”

A Martin JRM Mars, the largest flying boat ever produced for the U.S. Navy, will be returning to the U.S. as a museum piece later this year. The massive, four-engine “Philippine Mars”—one of only five JRMs produced—was acquired from its operator Coulson Aviation and will become part of the collection of the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona.

The Mars entered service at the tail end of World War II and were used to ferry cargo to distant U.S. bases in the Pacific. During the Korean War, they served as medical transports as well.

Decommissioned in 1956, Philippine Mars and her three surviving sisters were to be sold for scrap, but in 1958 a consortium of Canadian timber companies purchased them and their spare parts inventory and converted them into fire bombers based in British Columbia.

One of the “Big Four” crashed in 1961 during firefighting operations, while another was wrecked the following year by a Pacific typhoon that severely damaged its fuselage. In 2007, the remaining two were bought by Coulson Aviation.

Last month, it was announced that Hawaii Mars would be donated to the British Columbia Aviation Museum in recognition of its decades of firefighting duty and fulfilling a clause in its 2007 purchase calling for it to remain in the province after its retirement.

Tell us about the product support you receive from business aviation OEMs. The 2024 AIN Product Support Survey is now open, ready for selected readers to rate aircraft, engine, and avionics support. AIN readers who have been picked to participate in this year’s Product Support Survey should have received their password and link to the online survey by e-mail. The survey needs to be completed by midnight on June 3.