Avflight Breaks Ground on New Michigan Hangars

Avflight has broken ground on a new expansion to its FBO at the Detroit-area Willow Run Airport (YIP). The company had leased space in a massive WWII-vintage hangar, which the airport has decided to close. As a result, Avflight’s new complex will include a pair of 15,000-sq-ft heated hangars that will be able to accommodate the latest big business jets, more than 7,000 sq ft of office space, and a 14-space indoor parking garage.

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of the third quarter of next year and will allow for a seamless transition for the FBO’s dozen based aircraft, which will relocate to the new hangars at that time. AvFlight has enough land to build another 30,000 sq ft of hangars if and when required, it added.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to invest in the industry and the communities in which we operate,” said AvFlight v-p of finance Garrett Hain. “This new complex at [YIP] will allow the Avflight team to better accommodate a growing customer base of corporate jet traffic looking for an ideal location centralized in southeast Michigan between Ann Arbor and Detroit.”

Covid Relief Bill Includes Carrier Aid, Cert Reform

Congress late last night approved the sweeping coronavirus relief and government funding package, renewing support for air carriers and airports, providing nearly $18 billion for the FAA’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget, and calling for reforms of the agency’s aircraft certification processes. 

On the coronavirus relief front, the final bill sets aside $15 billion for renewal of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) for air carriers and $1 billion for their contractors. Further, the bill provides $2 billion for airports and concessionaires, allotting $45 million for general aviation and nonprimary commercial service airports. Along with the aviation-specific measures, the bill also renews the more generally focused Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. 

However, also tucked into the massive 5,000-plus-page package is the Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act, the congressional response to the myriad reviews, reports, and investigations surrounding the Boeing Max crashes. The act includes many of the elements included in bills introduced in both the House and Senate this year to reform the FAA’s certification processes and systems, boost training, expand the FAA's inspector workforce and expertise, and require safety management systems.

As for the FAA budget, the bill provides more than $11 billion for the agency’s operations, $3 billion for facilities and equipment, $198 million for research and development, and $3.35 billion for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP).

Guide Aims To Prevent Illegal Charters from Dry Leases

As a means to prevent illegal charters, six U.S. general/business aviation alphabet groups have joined to produce the General Aviation Dry Leasing Guide, which presents key regulatory information related to charters at a time when the FAA is increasing its scrutiny over illegal charter flights.

“The vast majority of general aviation flights—including those conducted under dry leasing arrangements—are done in complete compliance with FAA regulations,” said AOPA general counsel Justine Harrison. “We helped develop this guide to provide clarity in the wake of federal concerns over some running afoul of the law.”

Joining AOPA in the development of the free, 17-page guide are NBAA, Experimental Aircraft Association, National Air Transportation Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and Helicopter Association International. The guide offers best practices for proper use of dry leases—in which the lessor supplies an aircraft for charter but leaves it to the lessee to provide the flight crew and have operational control of the aircraft—and clarifies how aircraft owners can benefit from such arrangements while enhancing the industry’s vigilance of preventing illegal charters.

The FAA has stepped up its efforts against illegal charters through its Safe Air Charter initiative, prompting aircraft owners and lessors to seek more clarity on dry leases.

Moog Buys Genesys Aerosystems

Flight control systems manufacturer Moog has purchased Genesys Aerosystems, which makes autopilots, displays, radios, ADAHRS, GPS receivers, and data acquisition units. Details of the December 18 transaction were not released. 

Genesys Aerosystems was formed with the purchase of Chelton Flight Systems and S-Tec in 2014 from Cobham in a management buyout. The buyout team included Roger Smith, president and general manager of Chelton Flight Systems and S-Tec, as well as Chelton Flight Systems co-founders Rick Price and Gordon Pratt and director of finance Tammy Crawford. The Cobham division was known for its pioneering work in developing the first FAA-certified synthetic vision system display and GPS Waas navigator. 

“It has been exciting to be part-owner of Genesys Aerosystems as we have seen the company grow over the last few years,” said Genesys CEO Smith. “We know that to optimize the growth potential of the company and product lines, Genesys needs to have a long-term parent company that can support both organic and inorganic growth, and Moog is just that company.”

Daher’s Nicolas Chabbert To Serve as GAMA 2021 Chair

GAMA has elected its Executive Committee leadership for 2021, naming Nicolas Chabbert, senior v-p of Daher’s Aircraft division and CEO of Daher Aircraft and Kodiak Aircraft, as chairman of the board. Chabbert served as the 2020 vice-chair. The 2021 vice-chair is Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano. He has been chairman of GAMA’s Communications Committee.

Stepping up to chair the Communications Committee is Maria Della Posta, president at Pratt & Whitney Canada. Della Posta, who has served on the board of directors since 2015, is serving in her first post on the Executive Committee. Signature Flight Support COO Tony Lefebvre will serve as chair of the Environment Committee. While his first time on the Executive Committee, Lefebvre previously was chairman of GAMA’s Electric Propulsion and Innovation Committee (EPIC) Infrastructure Subcommittee.

Uber Elevate head Eric Allison is chairman of EPIC. Meanwhile, Luxaviation Group aviation services president David Van Den Langenbergh is chairman of the European Leaders Steering Committee; ForeFlight co-founder and CEO Tyson Weihs heads the Flight Operations Policy Committee; Wipaire president and CEO Chuck Wiplinger chairs the Policy and Legal Issues Committee; SimCom CEO Eric Hinson is leading the Safety Affairs and Accident Investigation Committee; Greenwich AeroGroup vice-chairman Jim Ziegler oversees the Security Issues Committee; and Airbus Helicopters v-p of engineering and flight operations Jeff Trang is chair of the Technical Policy Committee.

Ohio Airport To Issue RFP for Lone FBO

Ohio’s Middletown Regional Airport/Hook Field (MWO) has issued a six-month lease for the operation of its lone FBO to Safe Skies, an aviation business located on the airport. The airport had been operating the FBO since January after it allowed former operator Start Aviation’s lease to expire without renewal.

According to interim airport manager Matt Eisenbraun, who also serves as the city of Middletown’s assistant economic development director, it had received customer complaints stating that Start’s line service workers were too involved serving its skydiving business instead of tending to general aviation customers. As a result, the airport said it is looking to attract another, more customer service-oriented provider.

“We expect to publish a request for proposals by no later than March 1, 2021, with an award by May 1 and contract services to commence June 1, 2021,” city manager Jim Palenick told AIN. “We hope to enter into a five-year contract, with possible opportunity for renewal thereafter.”

Meanwhile, Start Aviation has filed a lawsuit against the city, Eisenbraun, and former airport manager Daniel Dickten, arguing that the city failed to live up to its initial lease agreement with the company in providing the specified hangar and office space for its skydiving business.

The FBO terminal, centrally located on the south side of MWO’s 6,100-foot runway, includes a pilot lounge and snooze room, as well as showers.

DOT Watchdog Gives FAA Fresh ‘Doors Off’ Upbraiding

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (IG) criticized the FAA’s supervision of “doors-off” helitour operators in a recently released audit report. That audit was requested by New York’s two U.S. senators following the March 2018 fatal crash of a FlyNYON doors-off tour.

In that accident, all five passengers remained strapped in and drowned after the Airbus AS350B2, operated for FlyNYON by Liberty Helicopters, successfully autorotated into the East River, but then rolled inverted after its emergency pop-out floats failed to fully deploy. Passengers were unable to extricate themselves from the commercial, off-the-shelf supplemental restraints they were wearing. The FAA subsequently placed new restrictions for the restraint systems on doors-off flights.

According to the DOT IG, the FAA “did not maintain effective and consistent oversight of open-door helicopter operations to maintain the safety of air tour passengers; FAA lacks an effective process to review, authorize, and ensure the safe use of supplemental restraints for open-door helicopter operations; and FAA inspectors lack sufficient guidance to oversee operator use of supplemental passenger restraints.” The IG recommended that the FAA issue a final rule on supplemental passenger restraints; require review of those restraints via standardized checklist; define aviation-specific certification load standards for the restraints; revise LOA authorization procedures; and provide inspector guidance with regard to the use of supplemental restraints.

Best Group Introduces New Ground Power Units

The team at Best Tugs has launched two additional product lines: Best Power and Best Scrubbers. With the expansion of its aviation lineup, the company created Best Aviation Products as the umbrella for current offerings and future products.

Best Power's first ground power unit (GPU) product is the 28-VDC, 57-amp BP-57/100, which operates on 120-240 VAC. Producing 57 amps of conditional power with surge capability of 100 amps, the $1,495 GPU can be used to power a variety of ground power needs from aircraft database updates to electric flap operation and testing.

The company's GPUs are up to 91 percent efficient in generating 28-VDC power, and the power is filtered to avoid any spikes or abnormal frequencies, which is important for the growing number of aircraft equipped with modern avionics. The capability for surge protection and up to 100 amps for 10 seconds in the 57-amp version allows operation of electric flaps on an Eclipse 500, for example, without the worry of a short-term need for power that might overtax the electrical system.

A larger unit producing 114 amps—the BP-114/200— is also now available for $1,995. Still larger are the 171-amp BP-171/300 and 300-amp BP-228/400 power supplies, which will be available in the first quarter of 2021. All units, with the exception of the 57-amp GPU, require 220 VAC.

Rolls-Royce's VR Jet Engine Training Is Pandemic-ready

Rolls-Royce began virtual reality training in March with its two-day BR725 familiarization class. Participants join the class remotely, logging in over the internet while wearing VR glasses and handheld VR controllers. The development of the VR training class came at a propitious time when much of the world became inaccessible for travelers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The benefit of VR training is that students can learn about parts of the engine that they might be able to see only if the real engine was fully disassembled. And they can see all the subsystems and components exactly as they relate to each other, either in an as-assembled view or by virtually taking them apart, assembly-by-assembly, piece-by-piece.