Bombardier Marks Global 7500 Entry into Service

Bombardier Aerospace marked entry-into-service of its flagship Global 7500 in a ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Dorval, Quebec, on December 20. David Coleal, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, told the more than 1,000 employees and well-wishers on hand that the aircraft—the largest and longest-range purpose-built business jet, according to Bombardier—is “the gateway to transforming the business aviation landscape.”

The first production 7500, C-FXAI, on display at the ceremony, was purchased by Jetcraft and Stonebriar Commercial Finance and will be leased by Bombardier for a demonstration tour to commence in early 2019. Bombardier plans to deliver 15 to 20 Global 7500s in 2019, with three to five built in the first half of the year. Bombardier Aerospace president and CEO Alain Bellemare said that rate would double in 2020 “to 35 to 40.” Bombardier does not disclose order numbers, but Coleal said the aircraft is now selling into 2022.

Announced in 2010 as the Global 7000 (along with a planned Global 8000), the aircraft was rebranded as the Global 7500 to reflect the increased range (7,700 nm) at EBACE in 2018, in conjunction with the introduction of the Global 5500 and 6500. Asked about the Global 8000, Coleal called it “a program of record” and said the company would “look to see what the market wants with the aircraft” once Bombardier catches up with the Global 7500 backlog.

AINsight: Year Set to End on a High Note

With December days slipping by, aviation professionals are moving to finalize last-minute details and ensure that customers are in the final on-boarding process on the way to ownership of their new or preowned business aircraft. Evidence is mounting that a measurable proportion of U.S. sales in the last weeks and months of 2018 have been brought forward by customers who have found themselves in a position to take advantage of the tax and accelerated depreciation benefits afforded by the December 2017 federal tax law changes.

Forecasters are busy trying to make sense of the various forces that drive demand in what has become a much less predictable business aviation marketplace. On the new aircraft sales front, 2018 ended with most OEMs recording book-to-bills near or in most cases just above 1.0, the best such performance at an industry-wide level in 10 years. 

But is book-to-bill performance at the business aircraft manufacturers an indicator that all is well? There are numerous other performance indicators that need to be monitored and managed. 

A bevy of highly anticipated new business aircraft in all shapes and sizes is a surefire way to bring excitement—and eager shoppers—to the market. Today’s airplane marketers have become adept at slicing market segments into finer and finer wedges. With more than 40 new and countless preowned business jet models for sale, are there too many models from too many manufacturers chasing too few customers to make the math work and all our businesses profitable? The answer is: yes, almost certainly. 

And what’s ahead? Most economic forecasters are predicting broadly slower economic growth across business aviation’s key country markets in 2019 and 2020. 

Florida TFR Compounds Holiday Traffic

The FAA has issued a TFR for the Palm Beach, Florida area, beginning today, due to upcoming VIP movements in the holiday season. It will start at 2315 UTC and extend until 0100 UTC on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.

Area A of the TFR will center on the Palm Beach VORTAC with a radius of 30 miles, while Area B will extend in a radius of 10 miles from the center. All aircraft operations within Area B, known as the inner core, will be prohibited with the exception of approved law enforcement, approved air ambulance flights, regularly scheduled commercial flights, all-cargo flights operating under TSA-approved standard security programs, and military aircraft directly supporting the U.S. Secret Service and the office of the President of the U.S. All private aircraft operating to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) must register with the TSA for screening at a gateway-approved airport no less than 24 hours before departure. The same holds for all flights originating from PBI.

Between 10 nm and 30 nm, operations are limited to aircraft arriving and/or departing from local airfields, and workload permitting, ATC may authorize transit operations. All aircraft must be on an active IFR or filed VFR flight path with a discrete transponder code assigned by an ATC facility. Aircraft must squawk that code before departure and at all times while in the TFR area.

Vision Jet Spurs Proposed Change in ATP Training Regs

An FAA notice of proposed rulemaking would remove what is considered an unnecessary training requirement in FAR Part 61 for pilots seeking to obtain an initial airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate concurrently with a single-engine airplane type rating. Current regulations require a pilot seeking an ATP certificate concurrently with an airplane type rating to complete training in a simulator that represents a multiengine airplane. However, because of the way the regulations are written, the requirement for training in a multiengine airplane has the unintended effect of applying to a pilot seeking a type rating for a single-engine airplane concurrently with an ATP certificate.

When this training requirement became effective in 2014, there were no single-engine airplanes that required the pilot to obtain a type rating. Now, however, the single-engine Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet requires a type rating. Under the current regulations, if a pilot seeks to obtain the type rating in the Cirrus Vision Jet concurrently with the initial issuance of the ATP certificate that pilot would be required to complete the multiengine training.

The NPRM would change the regulations to reflect that the multiengine ground and simulator-training requirements apply only to pilots seeking an ATP certificate with a multiengine airplane rating or an ATP certificate obtained concurrently with a multiengine airplane type rating.

Comments on the NPRM are due Feb. 19, 2019.

Atlanta Citation Accident Under Investigation

Four people are dead after a Cessna Citation crashed on takeoff from Atlanta Fulton County Airport (FTY) Thursday, among them the first Chinese aviator to circumnavigate the globe.

There was no indication of trouble in communications between the Citation 560 and the tower before the accident, which occurred just seconds after takeoff. The aircraft was destined for Millington-Memphis Airport in Tennessee, according to the FAA.

The Citation, N188WC, took off at approximately 12:15 pm EST. Seconds later, it crashed at a corner of English Park, approximately 1.5 miles from the departure end of Runway 8.

“I heard a boom, boom, boom,” said Leonard Staples, 78. The wreckage came to rest against his backyard fence. “I thought a tree fell on my house.”

Among the victims was Wei Chen, 47, a popular businessman in Memphis as well as an aviation pioneer of sorts. Flying a Daher TBM 700, he completed an around-the-world trip that began and ended in Memphis in 2011. In the course of his journey, he became the first pilot ever to land a single-engine, privately owned airplane at Beijing Capital World Airport (PEK), according to his website.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Airbus Makes First Unmanned Flight in VSR700 Helicopter

Airbus Helicopters has completed the first unmanned, autonomous flight of its VSR700 demonstrator “tactical vehicle.” The highly modified Helicopteres Guimbal Cabri G2 took off from the military airbase in Istres in the south of France. The VSR700’s 30-minute flight consisted of a variety of flight patterns before landing autonomously. The helicopter was piloted and monitored from the ground station located at the base. The helicopter had been flying autonomously since May 2017 with a safety pilot aboard.

The aircraft is fitted with a diesel engine to meet military requirements and has an automatic flight control system designed to meet regulatory standards. The VSR700 is a light military tactical unmanned aerial system able to carry multiple payloads, with an endurance of around eight hours. The system will initially offer extended surveillance capabilities for navies, allowing them to preserve manned helicopter flights for critical missions. The VSR700 is designed to land on navy ships as small as corvettes, and successful sea trials have already taken place. 

Jet It Taking Delivery of First HondaJet Elite

Fractional startup Jet It is taking delivery today of its first HondaJet Elite that will begin operations on the U.S. East Coast. The delivery occurs four months after former Honda Aircraft sales executives Glenn Gonzales and Vishal Hiremath launched the North Carolina-based company in September.

Gonzales told AIN he expects Jet It to fulfill its order of three Elites by mid-2019. He said the sales campaign for the first Elite has been successful but wouldn’t disclose the number of shareowners in its first light twinjet. The company’s business model provides for between two and 10 owners for each of its aircraft, Gonzales said. 

“Things are moving pretty quickly,” he said. “I think people are recognizing the value of what we offer.” Jet It’s model includes what it calls an industry-leading $1,600 hourly rate for use of the Elite. 

The company also plans to expand its business internationally through JetClub, which has the same ownership as Jet It but with a name Gonzales said will have greater appeal overseas. JetClub will be led by Jet It president Hiremath, whose experience as director of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa for Honda Aircraft equips him to lead that effort, Gonzales said. “What we’re trying to do is create an ecosystem of HondaJet Elites for wherever our owners are,” he said.

AirMap Provides Real-time Geofencing UAS Mobile App

AirMap is now providing real-time geofencing alerts in its drones mobile app for iOS and Android. The free feature alerts pilots of their DJI drone's in-flight positioning and offers a visual and/or verbal alert when their aircraft approaches unsafe airspace.

The app offers digital services for drone operators that cover airspace and regulations and provide awareness of nearby aircraft worldwide, while its real-time geofencing alerts inform pilots when they are approaching, on the edge of, or intersecting airspace areas in which drone flight is regulated (orange), restricted or prohibited (red). If the drone’s position is less than 30 seconds from entering a new airspace boundary, AirMap displays a warning message onscreen and verbally announces the warning with the appropriate message.

In releasing the new feature, the company noted a recent Embry-Riddle study that found that more than 20 percent of drone flights posed a risk to manned flight. “[UAS] pilots need easy-to-use and smart flight conformance monitoring tools that are configurable to their unique airspace environment, aircraft, and operations. Authorities need to be able to monitor conformance of all flights, and ensure that drones and other aircraft steer clear of airspace advisories, TFRs, and restricted airspace,” AirMap said. 

The alerts are also available to developer partners and OEMs via a mobile software development kit for iOS and Android. 

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