Inside Charles Lindbergh Hall at Dassault Aviation’s Bordeaux-Mérignac final-assembly facility in France today, Dassault faced the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic head-on and rolled out the super-midsize Falcon 6X during an online ceremony broadcast live on YouTube—a first for a business jet program. The event, featuring Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier, was hosted by pilot and broadcasting veteran Miles O’Brien.
“Mérignac is a special, magical place,” O'Brien said. “This is where Falcons come together and first take flight.”
The 6X program remains on track for first flight of hull number three—the one rolled out today—in early 2021, with certification and service entry to follow in 2022. Next steps for the 6X are ground testing and systems checks before first flight.
“Before we go to the next step,” Trappier said, “it’s time to address congratulations to the teams, the engineering teams, the manufacturing teams, for the job they have done to now. I would like to say good luck to them for the future because they still have a lot of work to perform up to the deliveries of the 6X to our customers.”
Addressing the test pilots, who stood near the 6X during the rollout ceremony, Trappier told them, “Now the bird is yours.”
SAF Now Flowing at Signature San Francisco, London Luton
Following up on an announcement made in September about the establishment of permanent supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at two of its FBOs, Signature Flight Support said the fuel is now available at its facilities at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and at London Luton Airport (LTN) in the UK.
“We’re filling aircraft right now—thousands of gallons a day, every day—at SFO and LTN to meet the growing market demand,” said Tony Lefebvre, Signature’s COO. “SAF is the cornerstone of aviation’s answer to environmental responsibility. Creating an affordable alternative to traditional jet-A is vital to ensuring we’re able to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint.” He added that the company, the world’s largest FBO operator, plans to add SAF capacity at other locations over the coming year as it makes a commitment to fuel all private and business aircraft at SFO with blended SAF starting in the first quarter of 2021.
NetJets, part of the original announcement, which also included SAF producer Neste, took on the initial load of more than 1,000 gallons in one of its Bombardier Challenger 350s at SFO. As the primary launch customer, the fractional jet operator has agreed to purchase up to three million gallons of SAF through the Signature Renew program for its flights at SFO and, via a book-and-claim scheme, the company’s Columbus, Ohio headquarters.
Chuck Yeager, Pilot Who Broke Sound Barrier, Flies West
Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier, died yesterday at age 97. His wife, Victoria, tweeted: “It is w/profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9 pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever."
Born Feb. 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia, Yeager reached Mach 1.06 in his Bell X-1—known as “Glamorous Glennis”—over the Mojave Desert on Oct. 14, 1947, breaking the sound barrier in a mission that was kept secret for seven months, according to the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF). Yeager would then become the first man to exceed twice the speed of sound on Dec. 12, 1953. He flew his final supersonic mission at age 74 on Oct. 14, 1997, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the historic flight.
The X-1 mission was one of 10 test programs he was involved with while stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, NAHF noted. He later became the commandant of the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards, training close to half of the astronauts in the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo space programs.
Despite protests from a cross-section of industry organizations and a key lawmaker, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission today kicked off its largest mid-band 5G spectrum auction to date, offering 5,684 flexible-use overlay licenses for 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band near the 4.2-4.4 GHz band used by aviation.
“This is a big day for American consumers and U.S. leadership in 5G,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in today's announcement of the spectrum auction. “By freeing up this wide swath of critical mid-band spectrum, the FCC is paving the way for Americans to receive fast 5G wireless services.”
However, the auction faces strong objections from aviation organizations, 15 of which yesterday wrote to remind the agency that an RTCA study revealed “a major risk that 5G telecommunications systems in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band will cause harmful interference to radar altimeters on all types of civil aircraft.”
The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), bolstered their appeal, calling on the FCC to postpone the auction. “[The RTCA’s] findings are alarming,” DeFazio said in a December 7 letter to Pai. "They not only align with earlier research identifying harmful effects of 5G networks to radio altimeters, but they reflect a clear need for the FCC to return to the drawing board with this premature plan.”
Fort Worth-Alliance Airport Sees 1st Intl VVIP Flight
When a Boeing 777-300ER modified by GDC Technics recently made an 8,000-mile nonstop delivery flight from Fort Worth Alliance Airport (AFW) to Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, it marked the first-ever international VVIP aircraft departure from the Dallas-area field. According to the airport, which is owned by the city and managed by Hillwood Development subsidiary Alliance Air Services, the aircraft was destined for head-of-state service with the Indian government, and AFW could not have hosted such a flight involving a twin-aisle, fully-fueled aircraft before its 2018 expansion project. Runways 16R/34L and 16L/34R, at 8,200 and 9,600 feet, respectively, were lengthened to 11,000 feet, along with Taxiway A, during the construction program.
“The runway extension project was one of the most complex airport improvement projects to ever be undertaken by Hillwood or the FAA,” said Air Alliance president Tom Harris. “The expansion will continue to provide greater flight capability and enable long-haul flights to take off fully-fueled under almost any weather condition.”
While GDC would not specifically identify the client, it did release information via a press release about the scope of the work that included equipping the aircraft with an extensive security system and a Ku-band satcom antenna for global connectivity and full-range IFE functionality. The cabin interior was completely reconfigured with office space, meeting rooms, medical bay, press briefing area, and VVIP stateroom.
Industry advocates are continuing to push for further legislative aid and regulatory relief as business aviation operations and organizations continue to suffer under the Covid-19 pandemic, senior NBAA officials said during NBAA-VBACE. Covid aid was among a number of issues addressed during a Legislative and Regulatory Hot Topics session held on the first day of NBAA-VBACE.
“We are nowhere near where we were a year ago,” said Christa Luca, NBAA senior v-p of government affairs. As the pandemic has lingered and negotiations have continued on the next round of aid, “We want to make sure we are well-positioned to have any type of relief provided to our memberships as well,” Luca said.
But along with an aid package, NBAA has also continued to work with the FAA on regulatory relief measures, added Doug Carr, v-p of regulatory and international affairs for NBAA. The FAA has worked with industry to provide a series of extensions for various operational requirements but has begun looking at when those extensions could wind down.
Other issues discussed included workforce development, the FAA's electronic Pilot Records Database proposal, and looming safety management system requirements.
Lynx FBO, which acquired the World Jet facility at Florida's Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) last year, announced it will break ground on a new multi-million dollar facility there in the first half of 2021. Since January 2019, the company, which currently has eight FBOs across the country, has been operating from an existing facility on the northeast side of the field and, since its purchase, has invested $1.5 million in upgrades to the location’s hangar complex.
New plans call for the construction of a 6,700-sq-ft terminal on the northwest side, directly off Taxiway F, near the Marriott Courtyard hotel. The project also includes 40,000 sq ft of new adjacent hangar space able to shelter the latest ultra-long-range business jets. That will bring the FBO to approximately 300,000 sq ft of hangar space, along with four new acres of ramp, which would give Lynx one of the largest contiguous ramps at the GA-dedicated airport. The new facility is slated for completion by the second half of 2022.
“We have made significant investments at [FXE], including the addition of a highly-qualified and experienced management team, as well as the training and development of our associates,” said Lynx president Tyson Goetz. “We are excited to be developing a world-class FBO campus that is representative of our service culture for the customers of Fort Lauderdale.”
Bombardier Brings In New CFO, General Counsel
Bombardier, which is in the midst of a transition to a business aviation-focused company, is continuing to shuffle its senior leadership. In addition to bringing back Éric Martel earlier this year to shepherd the transition as president and CEO and the more recent departure of Bombardier Aviation president David Coleal, the company has now named a new CFO, as well as a new general counsel and corporate secretary.
The company last week announced the immediate appointment as executive v-p and CFO of Bart Demosky. He succeeds John Di Bert, who is leaving the company, and comes with a strong pedigree in managing large transportation and energy organizations. He has served as president and CEO of Universal Rail Systems, executive v-p and CFO for Canadian Pacific Railway, and CFO for Suncor Energy.
Also last week, the company named Annie Torkia Lagacé senior v-p, general counsel and corporate secretary. She succeeds Steeve Robitaille, who is taking the position of senior v-p of strategic projects through the completion of the sale of Bombardier Transportation to Alstom. Torkia Lagacé has more than 20 years of commercial and corporate law experience, most recently as executive v-p of Stornoway Diamonds and also as senior legal counsel for the Eastern Canadian Iron Ore division of Cliffs Natural Resources.
Wyvern promoted Andrew Day to COO. Day joined Wyvern about a year ago as senior director of quality and education with more than 30 years of experience, including with regional airlines and Part 135 operators.
FlightAware appointed Dave Diulus as director of sales enablement. Diulus previously was president of UVair Fuel and, before that, COO at Universal Weather and Aviation.
David North, a former U.S. Navy and airline pilot who later became editor-in-chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology, died on November 24. Born in 1934, North graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1957 and subsequently flew 107 missions in A-4 Skyhawks and accumulated 500 carrier landings. According to his obituary information, North had a varied career that had led him to become a member of the NASA astronaut program, a sailor, submariner, and professor. He later flew for Pan Am and ultimately became an aviation journalist, retiring as AvWeek's editor-in-chief in 2004.
Dan Davis joined FlightSafety International as president of FlightSafety Services Corporation. Davis, who previously served in the U.S. Army, held leadership roles with Lockheed Martin and most recently was COO of Cornerstone Consulting.
CB SkyShare named Tommy Aoki president and Jonathan Schaedig director of maintenance. Aoki formerly was senior v-p of operations and digital strategy for Spring Mobile and the company’s Simply Mac division, which was Apple’s largest authorized sales and service partner in North America. Schaedig has more than 15 years of maintenance experience, 10 of which include holding Inspection Authorization.
Lee Applbaum was named to the newly created role of chief marketing officer for Wheels Up. Most recently CMO for Surterra Wellness and before that Patrón, Applbaum joins Wheels Up with more than 25 years of experience working with brands such as Patrón, Grey Goose, Target, and Coca-Cola.
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