Dassault Adds Smarts to Falcon Autothrottles

Dassault has completed flight tests of a single-throttle lever integrated with the three-engine Falcon 7X’s fly-by-wire digital flight control system. AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber had the opportunity to test-fly the new SmartThrottle in the 7X flight-test aircraft and experience another new feature that Dassault has also been trialing—a full recovery mode function that can help pilots recover from a loss-of-control situation.

The flight testing that Dassault conducted on the experimental 7X revealed significant safety and operational benefits. However, the company hasn’t yet decided on when the SmartThrottle might be integrated into a new airplane. Its next Falcon model is the so-called “Falcon Next,” but Dassault has not yet officially launched this program and it isn’t known yet whether this aircraft might feature the SmartThrottle and the recovery mode features that are enabled by the SmartThrottle’s integration with the fly-by-wire digital flight control system.

According to Dassault, the 7X SmartThrottle test program got underway more than two years ago. To put it simply, the SmartThrottle is like an enhanced autothrottle, incorporating all the normal autothrottle capabilities but taking advantage of digital technology to add safety features such as upset recovery, more comprehensive emergency descent modes, and engine failure mitigation, along with single-power-lever operation.

Wheels Up To Go Public in $2.1B Deal

Wheels Up soon will be a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) thanks to a definitive agreement announced this morning with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter, values the private aviation firm at $2.1 billion.

When completed, the transaction will provide Wheels Up with $750 million in cash to fund operations and support new and existing business initiatives. Wheels Up will trade as “UP” on the NYSE.

“We believe this will allow us to realize our founding goal of democratizing private aviation, through our membership model, suite of products and benefits, and by bringing the shared economy to private aviation through our app,” said Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter.

He said the deal will help bring more capital for further growth at Wheels Up, which has already acquired four private aviation operators and services, including charter operator Mountain Aviation, over the past 18 months. Hinting at more to come, Dichter told AIN, “We’re just getting started.”

Aspirational was formed and is led by experienced consumer investors, including chairman and CEO Ravi Thakran, a private-equity veteran and former group chairman of LVMH Asia. In addition, L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm, will be a minority shareholder of Wheels Up.

Rolls-Royce Runs 100% SAF on Pearl 700 Bizjet Engine

Rolls-Royce has successfully conducted its first tests on a business jet engine using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), it announced today. The demonstration, conducted at the manufacturer’s facility in Dahlewitz, Germany, comes on the heels of a similar test using a Trent 1000 engine in the UK.

This latest experiment used a Pearl 700 engine that's under development for the new Gulfstream G700 and confirmed that the company’s current commercial and business jet powerplants “can operate with 100 percent SAF as a full 'drop-in' option, laying the groundwork for moving this type of fuel towards certification.”

SAF certification is currently limited to blends of up to 50 percent with conventional jet fuel, depending on which of the several approved production pathways was used. The SAF used in this test was produced by California-based World Energy, sourced by Shell Aviation, and delivered by SkyNRG.

Unblended SAF has the potential to reduce CO2 lifecycle emissions by more than 75 percent compared to conventional jet fuel, but its adoption may be some time in the future due to a variety of factors including production levels and the inability of some legacy engines to use the unblended fuel, resulting in a need for additional fuel infrastructure.

Filing Suggests Bell 525 Nearing FAA Certification

An FAA special condition published on Friday suggests Bell's 525 super-medium twin could be certified later this year, even though the company has officially remained non-committal. “Bell applied for multiple extensions, with the most recent occurring on November 12, 2020. The date of the updated type certification basis is December 31, 2016, based upon the applicant's proposed type certificate issuance date of December 31, 2021,” the FAA noted in the filing.

This special condition addresses the current requirement that the pilot is able to determine that full control authority is available before flight. The FAA said this has traditionally been done via manipulating the mechanically linked flight controls before flight, but since the 525 four-axis fly-by-wire (FBW) has no such linkages, that type of verification is not possible. An “FBW system may have the ability to verify full control authority without having to move the primary flight controls,” the FAA added.

The proposed special condition would require Bell to demonstrate that “the rotorcraft must be shown by analysis, tests, or both, to be capable of continued safe flight and landing after” failures or jamming of the flight controls within the normal flight envelope “without requiring exceptional piloting skill or strength. Probable failures must have only minor effects.”

Bell launched the 19-passenger 525—the first civil helicopter to feature FBW flight controls—in 2012.

Larsen, Estes Reintroduce Bill To Protect Aviation Jobs

Two House lawmakers reintroduced legislation that would provide federal relief to help preserve aerospace manufacturing jobs. Introduced late last week by House aviation subcommittee chairman Rick Larsen (D-Washington) and Ron Estes (R-Kansas), the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Act of 2021 would establish a temporary 50 percent cost-share program to cover compensation for workers at risk of being furloughed. Similar legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate last year but was not acted upon.

The bill calls for the Department of Transportation to enter into six-month renewable, cost-sharing agreements with manufacturers that would ensure salaries are maintained for the at-risk employees. Compensation assistance is limited to 25 percent of the workforce.

The program is eligible for demonstrated risks between April 1, 2020, and April 30, 2023. To be eligible, employers must demonstrate at least a 15 percent decline in revenues between October 2019 and October 2020. The bill would set aside $15 billion for the program.

“This bipartisan bill provides critical relief to help sustain the aerospace supply chain until the nation gets to the other side of the pandemic,” Larsen said.

Estes added that the pandemic has slowed production rates to record lows and put thousands of workers out of jobs. “The Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Act will help keep workers on the payroll and connected with their aviation jobs."

Collins Looks Ahead to New Travel Realities

As the aviation community looks to a post-pandemic return of air travel, Collins Aerospace has been forging ahead with a cross-company initiative, “Redefining Air Travel,” designed to bring new levels of confidence and safety moving forward. Early into the pandemic, the company began to explore ways to address demands for a new environment, said Colin Mahoney, Collins Aerospace's president of customer and account management. The pandemic, he added, “hit home…it was going to change the way we behave in transportation forever.”

This means changes throughout the ecosystem, he said, and added with the breadth of Collins Aerospace's portfolio, “We felt it important that we assemble a task force to focus on what we could do to redefine the air travel experience and increase confidence in flying passengers.”

Mahoney noted the task force brought together experts in the various disciplines throughout the company’s broad portfolios to work together and alongside healthcare professionals to tackle the key concerns. Task force members have shared expertise and lessons-learned and worked to explore potential solutions across the commercial, business aviation, and military portfolios, he explained. 

The company has focused on three basic buckets: expanding on areas where touchless technologies could be used, improving the environment where contact is unavoidable, and exploring how to improve the overall travel environment, Mahoney said.

FAA: Real-time Special Use Airspace Alerts Coming

Over the next few months, the FAA will develop the capability for automated real-time broadcasts in the cockpit of the status of military operations areas (MOAs) and other special-use airspace (SUA), similar to what is now available for temporary flight restriction dissemination. The plan is included in the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act.

Under the requirements of the act, the FAA has 180 days to “initiate a program enabling automated public dissemination of information on the real-time status of the activation or deactivation of MOAs...and restricted areas in a manner that is similar to the manner that temporary flight restrictions are published and disseminated.”

“This really sets the course for FAA and DOD to use existing technology to ensure pilots have the tools readily available to transit this type of airspace safely and efficiently,” said Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) president Mark Baker. “It is a game-changer for many pilots and ensures our warfighters continue to receive the training they need and deserve.”

Further, the goal to improve operational safety and efficiency by transmitting directly into the cockpit the real-time status of military training and other SUAs “will result in enormous savings and environmental benefits for operators of private, commercial, and military aircraft,” AOPA said.

NATA, NBAA Ask IRS To Clarify Broker, Charter Tax Rules

NATA and NBAA are asking the Internal Revenues Service (IRS) to clarify federal excise tax (FET) collection responsibilities of federal charter brokers and operators, saying current regulations remain unclear and are causing confusion.

The IRS recently issued its long-awaited final rule that addressed when the air transportation tax applied in situations involving aircraft management fees. During that rulemaking, NATA and NBAA also had raised questions regarding the FET collection responsibilities of charters and brokers. However, the IRS, noting the broad implications of the issue, suggested a separate rulemaking.

“There is currently little guidance to determine whether charter brokers are responsible for collecting FET,” the associations told the IRS in a joint letter. They expressed concerns about the requirement that the operator providing the initial leg of a trip remains responsible for paying the tax if it is not collected otherwise, saying such a situation “creates confusion and unfair liability exposure for the air carrier."

The associations suggested that an air carrier should not be liable for uncollected tax if it can document that the broker was informed of the FET collection obligation. In addition, they said the operator should have access to information from the IRS on whether the FET was paid by the broker or another party.

Make Your Voice Heard in the 2021 FBO Survey

AIN’s FBO survey is open for year-round feedback, but the deadline to vote in the 2021 survey is this Friday (February 5). The results will be published in the April issue. The survey takes only a minute, and you can do it while waiting for passengers, on the shuttle bus to/from the hotel or any other time that is convenient for you. Participants will be entered to win a $500 Amazon gift card. Log on to www.ainonline.com/fbosurvey to rate your experiences at the FBOs you visit.