Jet It Signs On with Medical Charity Be The Match

Greensboro, North Carolina-based fractional provider Jet It has partnered with Be The Match to help the medical nonprofit organization's volunteer blood stem cell donors travel via Jet It's HondaJet fleet to locations where blood cancer patients are being treated. While the charity typically provides airline tickets if necessary to transport the urgently needed donors, during the Covid-19 pandemic—which has seen reduced commercial airline schedules, as well as the need to protect the health of donors—it has come to lean more on private aviation to fulfill its needs.

Because its programs are based on a certain number of days of aircraft usage per ownership share, Jet It owners can gift days toward Be The Match donor flights. Jet It CEO Glenn Gonzales said his company will pick up the remaining costs of these flights, including fuel and aircraft repositioning, as part of its philanthropy efforts, which have raised nearly $600,000 since 2018.

"We depend on help from partners who can connect us with private flight solutions in emergent situations when we are unable to use traditional transportation options,” said Be The Match general aviation flight coordinator Alex Zweig. “I am excited, honored, and humbled to have Jet It as a new partner to help fill that need."

FAA Issues Final Remote ID Rule for Unmanned Aircraft

New rules requiring the remote identification (Remote ID) of unmanned aircraft and permitting small drones to be flown over people and at night under specified conditions were issued yesterday by the FAA. They are viewed as a significant precedent for how U.S. regulators might treat autonomous operations by larger aircraft.

The Remote ID rule mainly applies to all operators of drones that require FAA registration and weighing more than 0.55 pounds. There are three ways to comply: broadcast ID and location information of the drone and its control station; use a Remote ID broadcast module; or operate without Remote ID but only in specific FAA-recognized identification areas. Manufacturers will have 18 months to begin producing drones with Remote ID and operators will have an additional year to start using drones with Remote ID.

Meanwhile, the rule allowing operations over people and at night applies to Part 107 operators of drones weighing less than 55 pounds. The newly permitted flights have to meet the requirements of one of four new operational categories—three based on the risk of injury to people on the ground and the fourth conditional on the aircraft having an airworthiness certificate. Flights over open-air assemblies are not allowed unless the operator meets Remote ID requirements.

Both new rules will go into force 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register.

This story is from FutureFlight.aero, a resource developed by AIN to provide objective, independent coverage and analysis of new aviation technology, including electric aircraft developments and advanced air mobility.

Pilot Captures Video of ‘Jetpack’ Flying in LA Airspace

A video posted to YouTube last week by a pilot flying out of Torrance Airport in Southern California appears to show a manned jetpack flying at about 3,000 feet over the ocean southwest of the Palos Verdes peninsula. In a description of the video, the pilot who captured the footage, a Sling Pilot Academy flight instructor, wrote, “The video appears to show a jet pack, but it could also be a drone or some other object.”

In widely reported incidents this year, airline pilots flying into Los Angeles International Airport reported seeing a manned jetpack in close proximity. One such incident was at 6,000 feet northwest of LAX, and this may have been inside Class B airspace, where drone operations are not normally permitted. The Palos Verdes incident location is underneath Class B airspace in an area where there are fewer restrictions on drone flying, although this is also a congested area due to heavy flight training activity. 

The possibility that this could be a real manned jetpack is extremely remote. Currently, flyable jetpacks are made by JetPack Aviation in Chatsworth, California, and they don't have enough endurance to take off, fly to 3,000 or 6,000 feet, loiter, and land. In an interview with JetPack Aviation founder David Mayman about the earlier incidents, he said his company’s five jetpacks are “under lock and key."

Biggin Hill Airport Presses Ahead with Expansion Plans

London Biggin Hill Airport is pressing ahead with long-planned developments in the new year, undeterred by a year of extensive disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.

While overall business aviation traffic has been down across the UK, the privately-owned airport said it has maintained and even expanded market share by offering flexibility for operators through services such as its new on-site Covid test facility for passengers and aircrew. Along with Farnborough Airport, it has accounted for the bulk of the traffic heading in and out of the UK capital.

In March, the airport expects to break ground on a new four-star hotel, as well as a new terminal building and an air traffic control tower. The 54-room hotel will include a restaurant, lounge, and gym.

Meanwhile, construction work is continuing to build Bombardier’s new 250,000-sq-ft service center. When it opens in the first quarter of 2022, it will be able to accommodate up to 14 of the Canadian manufacturer’s large-cabin Global 7500s. According to Biggin Hill Airport head of marketing Andy Patsalides, the building’s core structural steelwork and cantilever roof are now complete.

The airport is also poised to receive approval for a new instrument approach for Runway 3, which will add this capability at both ends of its main runway. The management team estimates that this step alone could increase traffic by around 10 percent.

EPA’s Aircraft Emissions Rule Signed Into Law

On December 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for large turbine airplanes flown by commercial and business aviation operators. This action does not require aircraft or engine manufacturers to reduce their products’ actual emissions but rather aligns U.S. standards with the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standards set in 2017 by ICAO.

Comments submitted to the EPA when the rule was in its proposed stage last summer were split mainly into two voices: those from the aviation manufacturing industry and its trade associations that were generally satisfied with the proposal, and those from environmental groups that were dismayed that the rule did not require any actual reduction in GHG emissions.

Even independent of the ICAO standards, nearly all airplanes produced by U.S. manufacturers will meet the ICAO in-production standards by the Jan. 1, 2028 compliance date. The regulations apply to subsonic jet airplanes having mtows between 5,701 kg and 60,000 kg (12,568 and 132,277 pounds, respectively) and 19 seats or less with an original FAA type certificate application made on or after Jan. 1, 2023. It also applies to turboprops with an mtow exceeding 8,618 kg (18,999 pounds) and an original FAA type certificate submitted on or after Jan. 1, 2020.

Bell Acquires Fuel Cell Maker

Bell Textron has acquired Rhode Island-based Response Technologies, a manufacturer of fuel cells and polymers. “This acquisition aligns with our strategy to pursue innovative technology and will enable us to accelerate needed developments in our industry,” said Bell CEO Mitch Snyder. “We believe Response Technologies has the right solution for modernizing fuel cell systems and textile composites.”

“We’re excited to make this investment in our home state and establish Bell’s presence here to help us further the development of fuel cell technology,” said Textron CEO Scott Donnelly. 

Founded in 2015, Response Technologies is focused on flexible, 3D, textile-reinforced composite solutions. The company— which has two business areas: fuel cells and components and textile composites—uses additive manufacturing to develop advanced materials such as elastomers, plastics, coatings, foams, textiles, and fibers. It manufactures crashworthy, self-sealing fuel cells, dynamic self-sealing polymers, and explosion suppression foam. Bell said the acquisition aligns closely with its rapid prototyping and manufacturing innovation team.

FAA Provides 12-Month Check Airman Extension

In a departure from its general short-term Covid-related exemptions granted from certain crew training, medical, and other requirements, the FAA has provided a year-long extension for check airman observations. The exemption is one of the latest in a series of extensions the agency has agreed to as the Covid pandemic has dragged on, but also comes as the FAA has warned that it is looking to normalize operations.

With the check airman observation exemption, the agency has extended the timeframe for observations of check airmen from 24 months to 36 months for those due between January 2021 to December 2021. This extension came at the request of NATA with the strong support of NBAA.

“In general, the FAA has granted only short-term relief based on Covid-19 to allow the agency the opportunity to continually assess the changing circumstances associated with the public health emergency and adapt as appropriate,” the agency said. “However, in the course of considering the petition and assessing the safety impact, the FAA finds there is justification to extend the timeframe for check airman observations from 24 to 36 months.”

Check airmen must undergo observation by either FAA inspectors or an operator’s aircraft crew designated examiner, but the FAA noted that the vast majority of Part 135 operators do not have aircrew designated examiners on staff.

Air Methods Takes Aim at HEMS Membership Programs

The largest U.S. helicopter air ambulance company has launched a full-frontal assault on competitors who sell annual “memberships.” Testifying before the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) earlier this month, Air Methods executive v-p Chris Myers attacked these programs, accusing them of preying on the fears of senior citizens, for whom transports are already almost totally covered by federal Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements. 

Myers criticized the AirMed Care Network specifically. The network is comprised of national operators, including Air Evac Lifeteam, Guardian Flight, Med-Trans Corp., and REACH Air Medical Services. These four operators fly from 320 bases in 38 states. It sells one- to five-year memberships at prices ranging from $65 to $395, with seniors receiving a significant discount. AirMed said the memberships provide “peace of mind,” a message that resonates with buyers leery of receiving huge medevac bills.     

Myers thinks those fears are unfounded. “Consumers are scared into thinking they will have a big bill and therefore need to buy a membership to avoid this imminent peril, from the same company that is transporting them. Medicare patients are disproportionately marketed to with tactics like special 'senior pricing.' The prevalence of these products being sold to seniors is cause for question about whether regulation is needed,” he said.