Hill Aircraft—an FBO at Fulton County Executive Airport (KFTY) near Atlanta—announced it will receive a load of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), marking it as the first retail location in Georgia to offer the renewable fuel. (Gulfstream Aerospace has stocked SAF for its test and demonstration flights for the past decade at its Savannah headquarters.) The shipment to Hill will come ahead of the Peach Bowl, which will be played on New Year’s Eve at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium.
World Fuel Services is supplying 3,700 gallons of blended SAF to the Phillips 66-branded location for its customers flying in for the game. Due to its limited availability, Hill advises customers to call ahead to reserve SAF. As the closest airport to the game venue, the FBO will also hold a viewing party for pilots and crew during the event.
“We’re committed to making every Hill experience exceptional, and providing SAF to customers is a part of that for this event,” explained Andrew Ash, the FBO’s v-p and general manager, adding the company wants to set an industry example by introducing SAF to its clientele. “As a leading independent FBO with a rich history in Georgia, we are always future focused on what and how we deliver our services.”
Viasat has received FAA approval for the installation of its Ka-band in-flight connectivity on the Gulfstream G450. This builds on its supplemental type certificates for the installation of the system on more than 20 super-midsize and large-cabin, long-range business jets.
With more than 300 G450s in service, Viasat said there is “considerable demand” for its Wi-Fi solution that can support video conferencing, corporate virtual private networks, and other business applications. The Ka-band kit includes Viasat’s Global Aero Terminal 5510 and a custom radome installed by one of its MRO dealers.
Unlimited service plans, including global and regional options, start at $9,995 a month and feature uncapped data along with Viasat’s “No Speed Limit” Ka-band connectivity.
“Viasat’s high speed and high-quality Ka connectivity is at long last available to Gulfstream G450 operators,” said Claudio D'Amico, Viasat’s business area director for business aviation. “With more than 90 percent of business aviation routes covered by our Ka network, our solution is a great fit for operators that want fast, reliable connectivity that matches the long-range profile of this aircraft.”
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX conducting flight testing for Raisbeck Engineering that crashed on November 18 near Snohomish, Washington, broke apart in-flight, according to the NTSB’s preliminary report. All four crewmembers on board died in the crash of the turboprop single, which was registered as N2069B.
Raisbeck was conducting flight testing to expand its aerodynamic drag reduction system supplemental type certificate for the Cessna 208B to include the 208B EX. The accident flight was performing baseline testing of the airplane’s aft center of gravity stall characteristics.
“Witnesses reported that they observed the airplane break up in flight and watched pieces floating down,” the report said. “The airplane then descended in a nose-low near-vertical corkscrew maneuver toward the ground. Several witnesses reported seeing a white plume of smoke when they observed the airplane break into pieces.”
During the last 12 seconds, the radar track indicated that the airplane’s descent rate exceeded 14,000 fpm and gradually lessened to 8,700 fpm. After reviewing the radar track, the right-seat pilot who flew the airplane the day prior to the accident believed that they were on the second-to-last maneuver of the test card, which specified 96 knots indicated airspeed; flaps in landing configuration; 930 foot-pounds of torque; propeller RPM fully forward; and accelerated 30-degree bank to the left.
Mike Hirschberg, the long-time executive director of the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), announced on December 15 that he will be stepping down after 12 years of service sometime next year. Hirschberg said he was making the announcement now to enable the VFS board to find a successor.
In a message to VFS membership, Hirschberg wrote, “As all things must eventually come to an end, I have decided that it is time to pass the baton. I am inspired daily by the passion, knowledge, technical expertise, and kindness of our members. I will continue to work as hard as ever to keep VFS running at full speed over the next six months, through our 79th Annual Forum in May. I hope to continue serving VFS after the June 1 transition.”
Under Hirschberg’s leadership, VFS rebranded from The American Helicopter Society and transitioned to the nation’s foremost organization dealing with the technical and public policy aspects of advanced air mobility (AAM) and substantially increased the technical society’s membership and program offerings. While acting as an advocate for the fast-emerging AAM sector, he has often provided a sober and realistic perspective on some of the hype surrounding eVTOLs.
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Aviation sustainability company 4Air has launched a regulatory monitoring and compliance program to help operators monitor potential national or transnational aircraft emissions reporting requirements and then automatically fulfill them.
“As governments fight climate change, they are establishing and expanding emissions trading schemes and other regulatory programs that require operators to report and address their aircraft emissions,” 4Air said. “A reporting obligation could be triggered by something as simple as flying to, from, or within a participating country. The 4Air Regulatory Compliance Program automatically monitors operators’ flight activity to check and forecast any potential compliance obligations and then helps them meet reporting requirements.”
Beyond aviation regulatory programs, the program can also aid corporate flight departments to help their parent company meet decarbonization goals. Under the program, 4Air automatically aggregates necessary data and shares reporting guidelines for environment, social, and governance departments, including emission reductions from the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The company also aggregates and verifies required documentation for claiming reductions from SAF against aviation regulatory obligations and voluntary reporting schemes.
“4Air’s purpose is to make sustainability more accessible and turnkey, and so far that has been focused on aligned-voluntary programs that meet or exceed industry goals,” said 4Air president Kennedy Ricci. “We wanted to add a turnkey tool for compliance with regulatory requirements.”
NBAA has created the Steve Brown Leadership Scholarship in honor of the long-time aviation stalwart and the association's former COO who retired this year. Established in coordination with NBAA Charities, the scholarship will support students enrolled in programs to help them achieve their goals of a business aviation career. Two $1,500 scholarships will be awarded annually.
“The business aviation industry, and aviation as a whole, is better, stronger, safer, and more efficient as a direct result of Steve Brown’s decades of leadership,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “This scholarship will help identify and grow the next generation of leaders who will move our industry forward.”
Brown spent 18 years with NBAA, initially as senior v-p of operations and ultimately COO. Before joining the association in October 2004, he served as associate administrator for air traffic services for the FAA for six years. During that time, he played a pivotal role in the agency’s response to the 9/11 attacks. He also previously served as president of the National Aeronautic Association, senior v-p government affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and as a faculty member at Texas A&M University.
During his career, Brown held a number of key positions on industry boards and organizations, including as chair of RTCA and the Aviation Accreditation Board International. He further led various subcommittees within the NextGen Advisory Committee.
Atlanta-based hypersonic aircraft startup Hermeus has selected the Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan to integrate into its larger hypersonic engine. The company said the off-the-shelf turbine engine will save it “billions of dollars in research and development costs and years of schedule.”
The F100 turbofan—which recently marked 50 years of service and 30 million flight hours on F-15 and F-16 fighters—will act as the turbine portion of Hermeus’s combined cycle engine named Chimera II. This engine will be used to power Darkhorse, a Mach 5 hypersonic UAV being developed for defense and intelligence customers. Engine testing is scheduled for 2024. Darkhorse will provide the foundation for the eventual development of the 20-seat Halcyon Mach 5 passenger aircraft.
Chimera II is a turbine-based combined cycle engine that is a hybrid between a turbine and a ramjet, a design that provides for both low-speed and high-speed operation and will allow Darkhorse to use existing airports, something that rocket-based hypersonic vehicles cannot do. The hybrid design is an extension of the smaller Chimera engine Hermeus built for its Quarterhorse demonstration aircraft, which it expects to fly next year. That engine uses the GE J85 engine for its turbine section.
Once the aircraft reaches Mach 3, the engine will bypass incoming air around the turbojet, enabling the ramjet to take over.
MT-Propeller recently flight-tested what it said is a world’s first: an 11-blade propeller. Mounted to the right-hand Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135A turboprop engine on a Piper PA-31T Cheyenne, the initial flight test this fall showed “very promising results,” according to the Germany-headquartered OEM.
Those results included a 15 percent increase in static thrust over a standard, certified five-blade propeller. “This propeller system combined with a low RPM power supply from a turbine or an electric engine opens new possibilities for performance, efficiency, and noise,” the company said.
It’s not clear if or when MT might pursue a supplemental type certificate for the propeller. In 2019, the company also flight-tested a nine-blade prop on the Cheyenne, which MT said can help a propeller-driven airplane reach speeds of up to 430 knots—depending on design—while reducing fuel consumption.
People in Aviation
West Star Aviation promoted Katie Hazelwonder to Citation project manager at its East Alton, Illinois facility. She joined West Star in 2017 and previously held roles in accounts payable and as billing coordinator.
Columbia Helicopters named executive v-p Michael Tremlett president and CEO, succeeding Steve Bandy who is retiring later this month. Bandy will continue to serve on the board of directors as vice chairman. Tremlett has more than 26 years of military and civilian aviation experience, with nearly 20 years as a strategic business development leader in aviation manufacturing, MRO, and depot sustainment organizations.
Jet Support Services Inc. named Serdar Yorgancigil chief information officer. Yorgancigil has more than 20 years of aviation and technology experience, previously holding senior technology roles at AAR Corp., including senior v-p of digital enablement.
Aero-Dienst promoted André Ebach to CEO after serving at the company for five years as an authorized signatory, head of maintenance, and executive board member. Before joining Aero-Dienst, Ebach held positions with Lufthansa Technik as a key account manager and customer support engineer, and with Ruag Aviation as manager of sales and customer support, as well as other leadership roles.
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