AINalerts will not be published tomorrow in observance of Christmas Day. AINalerts will return on Thursday, December 26.

Focus on SAF To Continue in 2020

Acceptance and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) became a major focus of business aviation in 2019 and that effort is expected to continue in 2020. Industry stakeholders gathered last January in Van Nuys for “Business Jets Fuel Green: A Step Towards Sustainability,” marking the first time SAF was made available for retail sale to aircraft operators. Avfuel and World Fuel Services provided a combined more than 14,000 gallons of blended fuel produced by World Energy and Gevo to the FBOs on the field.

For ABACE 2020 in Shanghai, the Asian Business Aviation Association is looking to have business aircraft fly to the show on SAF, just as they did for last year’s EBACE.

Keith Sawyer, Michigan-based Avfuel’s manager of alternative fuels, expects such events to continue. “No doubt industry-wide, both in Europe and North America there will be more demonstrations, more companies getting familiar with the logistics and trying to do their best to meet the awareness and demand potentially arising from business aviation customers,” he told AIN.

Sawyer sees a possible increase in availability, particularly on the West Coast of the U.S. where several states have enacted low carbon fuel standard credits in an attempt to spur demand. “I’m cautiously optimistic that potentially some FBOs may have it on a more ratable basis on the availability of the product,” he explained.

AOPA ASI: GA Safety Seeing 25-Year Improving Trend

As the number of general aviation fatal accidents continues a 25-year downward trend, the AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) is pushing to “make sure we don’t take our foot off the accelerator.” GA fatal accidents have been cut in half since the mid-1990s, noted ASI executive director Richard McSpadden. “That’s a phenomenal achievement in roughly 25 years,” he said. 

This improvement is multi-faceted, McSpadden said. One driver is the availability of new safety-enhancing technologies that are far more affordable to install. Notably, the latest Joseph T. Nall report found that light fixed-wing, non-commercial weather-related accidents were less than half of what they were a decade ago. “That’s a really substantial drop and the one we’ve been waiting on because of this new cockpit weather technology we have."

Also helping is the more collaborative environment that has evolved between the FAA and industry. “There’s a whole different dynamic of how you see pilots interact with the FAA,” McSpadden said. “It’s not as much as us versus them...You see a lot more collaboration going on.”

While improvements have been made, McSpadden stressed the importance of continuing the concerted effort to address key accident factors. “Our goal is we want that at zero." The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee is continuing its data-driven dive to highlight those factors and is anticipated to release recommendations on CFIT shortly.

Charity Aerobility Raises $132K at Annual Ball

British aviation charity Aerobility, which offers people with disabilities the opportunity to participate in aviation, raised £101,000 ($132,500) through an auction at its recent Aviators’ Ball in London. One of Aerobility's biggest annual fundraising events, the 2019 ball gathered more than 400 people from both civil and military aviation.

Featuring more than 100 items ranging from signed books to biplane flights, the auction drew record donations. NATS, 2Excel, British Airways, and Breitling UK were among the organizations supporting the event. “In light of Brexit, 2019 has been an uncertain time for everybody, within and beyond the aviation industry, so it's wonderful to be able to confound expectations,” said Aerobility CEO Mike Miller Smith. “This is a vital source of income for the charity.”

Aerobility aviator Stuart Miller, who became paralyzed from the waist down at the age of eight, called the organization life-changing. “I came to Aerobility purposeless and disappointed in life. Aerobility has enabled me to become a qualified pilot, increased my confidence, and encouraged me to take on new goals. Now I work for Aerobility."

Aerobility uses specially adapted light aircraft flying from various airfields around the UK every year to support more 600 people with physical disabilities, learning difficulties, mental health conditions, and sensory impairments. The program enables participants to learn to fly, increase independence, and gain employment in aviation.

Flexjet Braces for the Holiday Surge

With more than a third of Americans expected to travel this holiday season, including more than 7 million by air, private aviation providers are expecting a year-end boost. Flexjet noted that the surge started several weeks ago.

“Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Flexjet typically sees more travel than at any other time of the year, and this year was no different,” said COO Megan Wolf, adding this past weekend’s bookings exceeded those totals.

She attributed the rise in private jet travel to the overlapping of Hanukkah with Christmas, heading into the New Year’s celebration. “With the holidays coinciding this year, more people will be traveling at the same time, crowding the skies and making private jet travel more appealing than ever,” Wolf explained.

Also appealing for private aviation is the ability to directly access 5,000 airports in North America, rather than the 500 served by commercial aviation, allowing users to land closer to their destinations and reduce travel time on crowded roadways.

Based on its past three years of travel patterns along with early bookings, Flexjet divided up its most popular destinations into four categories: Sun (Palm Beach, Miami, and Naples, Florida); Ski (Aspen and Vail, Colorado, along with Bozeman, Montana); Islands (Nassau, Bahamas; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Montego Bay, Jamaica); and International (London; Bordeaux, France; and Venice, Italy).

Indiana Adds To Growing List of GA Proclamations

The Alliance for Aviation Across America continues to expand its campaign to help raise awareness of the importance of general aviation around the nation, most recently working with the state of Indiana on a proclamation declaring December general aviation appreciation month. That declaration was among more than 80 proclamations issued and resolutions adopted at the state and local level around the nation over the past year to highlight the importance of the industry.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed the proclamation, stating general aviation and community airports “play a critical role in the lives of our citizens, as well as in the operation of our businesses and farms.” Noting the state is home to 117 public-use airports serving 10,396 pilots and 4,914 based aircraft, the proclamation states Indiana depends heavily on general aviation and community airports for the flow of commerce, tourists, and visitors. “General aviation is vital to many businesses in Indiana…to increase productivity, reach far-off markets, and move personnel, equipment, and products,” it added.

That proclamation followed a similar declaration naming November general aviation appreciation month in Maryland, as well as local proclamations in Idaho, North Carolina, and Indiana, the Alliance said.

HAI To Honor LA County Fire Dept

The Helicopter Association International is awarding its 2020 Salute to Excellence Humanitarian Service Award as a tribute to Los Angeles County Fire Department Air Operations (LACoFD) flight and ground crews who battled the 2018 Woolsey Fire in California. The prestigious award honors those who demonstrate the value of helicopters to communities by providing aid to those in need.

The 2018 Woolsey Fire began November 8, just outside Simi Valley near Ventura and Los Angeles County. Four LACoFD Sikorsky S-70 Firehawks joined numerous other aircraft and ground crews battling the blaze, which burned more than 97,000 acres and destroyed 1,643 homes over four days.

Operating on the leeward side of the flames due to high winds, LACoFD helicopters and crews were often the only aircraft working the lines. The winds kept the smoke low across the terrain and homes, forcing crews to fly and refuel within the smoke because the only way to attack the fire was to become engulfed in it. Flying conditions quickly became almost night-like.

While crews rotated as necessary, the helicopters were shut down only for refueling and inspection.

The four LACoFD helicopters accumulated 119.4 flight hours in the first three days—equivalent to almost a month’s worth of flying and maintenance—and completed more than 350 water drops amid winds ranging from 40 to 70 knots.

Red 6 Delves in Augmented Reality for Pilots

Santa Monica, California-based technology company Red 6 has developed an augmented reality (AR) 3D virtual capability that enables pilots to “see” while wearing a specially equipped helmet. Significantly, Red 6 has created virtual assets that are not just fixed in place but act as though they are physically moving in the real world. A virtual asset, in other words, that flies like a real aircraft, and that pilots flying real aircraft can interact with.

AR differs from VR in that the user can still see the outside world while wearing some sort of glasses or visor that projects the AR images onto the wearer’s eyes. With VR, the user can see only what is projected onto the screens in the glasses, which don’t allow any view outside.

Formed after a meeting in 2015 between Dan Robinson, Nick Bicanic, and Glenn Snyder, Red 6 received a U.S. Air Force research grant and raised a seed round of more than $2.5 million. “That gave us our runway,” Robinson said, and this allowed the company to begin developing its Airborne Tactical Augmented Reality System (A-TARS).

Much of the work to make A-TARS commercially useful and capable of other missions remains to be done, but the Red 6 team believes that A-TARS holds huge promise for improving pilot training at a far lower cost than using real assets. AIN on December 6 flew a short demo that showed how A-TARS can work.

Dreams Soar Names First Scholarship Recipient

Dreams Soar, the non-profit organization founded in 2016 to inspire students to pursue aviation and other STEM paths, named Lauren Abernathy of Ocoee, Florida, its first Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University academic scholarship recipient.

Shaesta Waiz, the founder and president of Dreams Soar and Embry-Riddle alumna, announced the creation of the scholarship earlier this year. Waiz became the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft in 2017 when she circled the globe in a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza at the age of 30. That trip spanned 25,000 nautical miles and 22 countries, providing Waiz the opportunity to highlight aviation and STEM careers to thousands of children. Since that time, Dreams Soar has collaborated with 29 organizations in nine countries and hosted 26 outreach events, collectively reaching more than 11,000 children worldwide.

Dreams Soar will formally present the new $5,000 scholarship to Abernathy during NBAA’s Regional Forum on January 29 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Abernathy, who earned her private pilot certificate in 2018 and is finishing her instrument rating, is pursuing a bachelor's of science in aeronautical science with a minor in aviation safety at Embry-Riddle. She is active in Women in Aviation, works part-time at the university as a flight supervisor, and mentors new students as a volunteer in the flight line assimilation program.