On December 13, the UK’s aviation minister, Baroness Liz Sugg, formally opened the digital air traffic control center at Cranfield University airfield in Bedfordshire. In the early afternoon, the center handled its first live air traffic, marking the first time in the UK that an aircraft had been controlled from an all-digital “tower.”
The system installed at Cranfield comprises two elements: a sensor “tower” and the control center. The former mounts 14 cameras that are arranged to provide 360-degree surveillance of the entire airfield and surrounding airspace. The cameras are fitted with compressed air blowers to clean moisture from the lenses. The tower also has cameras that can be panned, zoomed (up to 30 times), and elevated to the vertical to provide controllers with the ability to examine targets of interest in detail, effectively replacing the binoculars in a traditional tower.
Security and safety are of paramount concern, and the system features high levels of redundancy, with digital data handled through two independent networks and powered by three independent sources. A spare TV screen is available in the control center should there be any issues with the “live” screens. All imagery is automatically recorded, along with ATC voice communications, making it readily available for investigation in the case of an incident.
Dale Klapmeier, who co-founded Cirrus Aircraft with his brother Alan Klapmeier in 1984, is stepping down as CEO of the Duluth, Minnesota aircraft manufacturer in the first half of 2019, the company announced today. A search is under way for a successor. Klapmeier will transition to a senior advisory role for Cirrus.
“Re-imagining personal transportation has been our lifelong mission at Cirrus Aircraft,” Klapmeier said. “We’ve changed the face of aviation over the past 30 years: from delivering more than 7,000 of the world’s best-selling high-performance piston aircraft, to fundamentally rethinking how we travel, with the introduction of the world’s first single-engine personal jet—the Vision Jet—to transforming our business into a lifestyle company that defines our path ahead.”
With its origins in homebuilt aircraft, Cirrus brought its first certified aircraft, the SR20, to market in 1999. Since that time, the company became one of the most prolific producers of piston-engine aircraft in the past couple of decades, delivering more than 700 of its SR20 and SR22 models in some years. The company made the leap into turbine market with the delivery of the Vision Jet single in 2016.
Klapmeier has long held leadership responsibilities at Cirrus but stepped into the CEO role in 2011. China Aviation Industry General Aircraft acquired the company that year.
Bevan-Rabell, a 64-year-old aircraft maintenance and avionics repair and installation shop in Wichita, Kansas, will officially change its name to Bevan Aviation on January 1, reflecting its growing turbine airplane work. “For years everybody just said, ‘Call Bevan,’” Bevan owner Kent McIntyre said. “We’ve changed direction. We’re working on more jets and turbines than we used to, and we thought [changing the name to] Bevan Aviation reflected it.”
Bevan, which employs 21 people and occupies 22,000 square feet of hangars at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport (ICT), has completed 11 Garmin G5000 installations on small twinjets, including nine Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400s, beginning in late 2016. The last three of those installations, added Bevan marketing director Sarah Johnson, were delivered squawk free.
“We have some Citations we’re going to do in the coming year,” McIntyre said.
Bevan has won Garmin’s Platinum award for sales three consecutive years beginning in 2015, and according to a Garmin Aviation spokeswoman is its top G5000 installer west of the Mississippi River.
Bevan continues to perform maintenance and bench repair on piston airplanes as well as ADS-B installations, McIntyre said. The ADS-B installations have led owners to include other avionics upgrades on their piston airplanes, such as replacing older navigation equipment and legacy autopilots, he added.
Swiss Air-Rescue Rega took delivery of its third Bombardier Challenger 650 on December 17, Bombardier Business Aircraft said. The acceptance of the large business jet completes an update of Rega’s fleet this year from Challenger 604s.
Rega is a non-profit foundation specializing in aeromedical evacuation. Each of its Challenger 650s is equipped with two intensive care units and the aircraft are used to repatriate patients from abroad. Rega also operates a fleet of 17 helicopters.
“It is with the utmost confidence and pride that we deliver a third Challenger 650 to our partners at Rega,” said David Coleal, Bombardier Business Aircraft president. “Confidence because we know these aircraft have the reliability that is so important when lives are on the line, and pride to see the Challenger platform configured into the world’s most advanced air ambulance.”
Bombardier said Rega acquired its first Challenger in 1982 and has been a customer ever since.
Stevens Expands To Macon
Greenville, South Carolina-based Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems is adding a fourth location with the opening of a facility in Macon, Georgia, that will be used to handle its rapidly growing large-cabin aircraft business.
The MRO is shifting its large-cabin maintenance, avionics, and interiors business from Donaldson Center Airport in Greenville to Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Macon. The relocation is providing additional room to accommodate that end of the business, as well as space for other potential business plans in Greenville, Stevens said. The new location is set to begin operations in January.
“Stevens is pleased to have additional and dedicated space for our large-cabin customers and be less dependent on our Greenville facility for meeting customer requirements in the southeastern U.S.,” said company CFO Neal McGrail.
In addition to Macon and Greenville, Stevens has bases in Dayton, Ohio; and Nashville, Tennessee. The company provides services for a range of aircraft from Beechcraft, Piaggio, and Pilatus up to large-cabins such as Gulfstreams, Bombardier Globals, and Dassault Falcons. Along with the four locations, Stevens has a 24/7 AOG-mobile repair team unit.
ExecuJet Partners on New Swiss FBO
ExecuJet parent company Luxaviation Group and Swiss finance company Colombo Wealth Management have partnered with Switzerland’s Lugano Airport to launch a co-branded FBO, providing joint marketing in return for the airport’s FBO and aircraft handling services.
“Joining Luxaviation Group’s global network opens up our network to an extensive FBO, operations, and marketing support base,” said airport CEO Maurizio Merlo. “These resources will boost our customer-service capabilities for existing clients, as well as help us welcome those travelling to Lugano for the first time.”
Lugano is the third-largest financial market in Switzerland, situated in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, bordering Italy. The new ExecuJet Lugano FBO, located in the airport’s main passenger terminal, offers fueling (jet-A and avgas), catering, deicing, potable water, and lav servicing, VIP and crew lounges, crew transport, and nearby parking. Luxaviation believes the location will be of interest to those attending the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos.
“With 40-minute helicopter transfers available directly from the airfield and no slot restrictions, Luxaviation’s new Lugano Airport gives customers an excellent alternative route into Davos,” explained Ettore Poggi, the company’s group FBO director. “Lugano offers a very low chance of snowfall during the winter season, making it a safe option for those traveling to the January event.”
Bell VP, Former Dealer Head Indicted On Fraud Charges
Bell’s vice president for Latin America, Javier Ortiz Torres, better known as Jay Ortiz, was arrested on December 11 after being indicted in Texas Northern Federal District Court on conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges related to the sale of four helicopters to the Puerto Rican government. On December 18, a Bell spokesman confirmed to AIN that the company is aware of the case, that Ortiz remains employed by the helicopter maker, and declined further comment aside from an email stating, “As a matter of Textron policy, we cannot comment on matters in the court.”
The indictment charges Ortiz with conspiring with Ernesto Godoy, then president of Bell’s authorized dealer and service center in Puerto Rico, Ecolift, to devise a scheme to artificially inflate the acquisition costs of three Bell 429s and a 407 to the Puerto Rican government between February 2013 and September 2014. The indictment charges Godoy with agreeing to acquire the helicopters from Bell for $21.6 million but representing the purchase price to a financial institution of $31.9 million. Godoy then signed an agreement to deliver the completed helicopters with police packages to the Puerto Rican government for $32.2 million.
Most of the 15-count indictment centers on the actions of Godoy, who the U.S. alleges made a total of $2.2 million fraudulently from the transaction.
TAG Aviation is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its maintenance operation at the UK’s Farnborough Airport, with the completion of its first 48-month check on a Bombardier Challenger 350. The procedure at the Bombardier authorized service facility (ASF) involved a cabin removal and refit. Over the last few years, TAG Aviation Farnborough Maintenance Services, part of the TAG Aviation Maintenance Services brand (the company’s Pan-European network), has performed more than 60 heavy maintenance checks, ranging from 48-month to 120-month on Bombardier Challengers and Globals.
This past year the location, which is also a Dassault-approved service center, delivered more than 100,000 hours of maintenance work. It has a dedicated line operation facility, which provides maintenance support to more than 1,600 aircraft each year.
“Our aim is to be the most flexible and customer-focused European line and base station support services center, not necessarily the biggest,” noted Cyrille Pillet, the facility’s managing director and vice president of maintenance operations for TAG Aviation Europe. “We pride ourselves on developing lasting relationships based on mutual trust and flexibility and [on making] maintenance program deliveries on time for each one of our valued customers.”
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Requires updated actions that Safran incorporated into applicable maintenance and overhaul manuals. Safran recently updated the manuals with new and/or more restrictive airworthiness limitations and maintenance tasks.
Requires a one-time general visual inspection of the wiring bundle for damage, measurement of the clearance between the metallic plate and the wiring bundle, and corrective actions if necessary. The AD was prompted by a report of chafing of a wire bundle located at the bottom of the right-hand electrical cabinet
Revises AD 2014-05-06, which required repetitive inspections of the flight-control bearings, replacing any loose bearings with airworthy flight-control bearings, and installing bushings and washers. This new AD retains the requirements of AD 2014-05- 06 but removes the repetitive inspections.
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