Fractional aircraft ownership provider PlaneSense yesterday welcomed the arrival of the second Pilatus PC-24 to its fleet. The twin-engine light jet, tail number N125AF, is part of the company’s initial order of six and comes little more than a year after PlaneSense accepted its first, which has been flying shareowners since March. In that time, it has visited 250 airports in six countries.
Twelve company pilots have thus far earned PC-24 type ratings, while 11 of PlaneSense's maintenance technicians have completed specialized training to service the airplane. N125AF is expected to enter service by the end of the month.
“Our clients have greatly enjoyed the expansive cabin and the conveniences afforded by jet travel,” said George Antoniadis, president and CEO of the New Hampshire-based company. “This jet, and each consecutive aircraft, will allow us to meet the growing demand for more PC-24 shares.”
The third PC-24 in the order is expected to arrive next month, with the remaining three to be delivered by early next year.
AINsight: Life in a Faster Lane
Aerion’s AS2 supersonic business jet is more than a needle-nose concept whose time has finally arrived. Civil supersonic flight was always a smart idea, especially for executives and high-net-worth individuals and their families and friends. But getting from smart idea to a profitable and durable business model takes time—that most precious of commodities to those who value it most.
Smart people in Savannah, Montréal, Saint-Cloud, and elsewhere won’t be far behind with their own designs for our faster and hyper-competitive future. But only one organization will be first to reach the departure end of the runway.
How fitting is it that an entrepreneur with the time to figure all this out has an investment horizon that transcends quarterly earnings calls and pointed questions from equity analysts? Aerion founding investor Robert Bass and his team—which now includes Boeing, GE, and Honeywell—are on the path to success.
With a recipe of equal parts of rocket science, financial engineering, courage, vision, and a quarter cup of humility—earned over some 20 years of experimentation, small victories, and numerous setbacks—the AS2 design and industrial strategy have first-mover advantage on the supersonic chessboard.
With first flight in 2023, Aerion AS2 customers are poised to participate in a new era in business aviation. As Aerion says, “It really is about time.”
Seeing a growing acceptance and “change in mindset” toward additive manufacturing, Collins Aerospace is exploring possibilities for 3D printing throughout its business lines. The former UTC Aerospace organization had created a centralized team to foster the use of additive manufacturing in its various business units through education, development, and training.
Headed by Paula Hay, executive director of additive design and manufacturing, that effort has now shifted post-merger to coordinate expertise between the combined Collins and UTAS groups under Collins Aerospace. “When we look at additive, we are not [lacking for] opportunities,” she said. “It crosses every single one of our business units…everything from big things to small things, from simple brackets to complicated heat exchangers. We really do run the gamut…Literally, the sky's the limit."
The centralized team is gearing up to bring a number of new products to market this year, she said. By the end of last year, it had the initial few in production. The first to make its way into flight was a plastic cover that surrounds lighted signs in aircraft cabins. “We are looking to accelerate that and get [new additive products] into flight throughout the next year,” Hay said. “Our real goal is to move this from a technology-development arena to a technology-adoption arena."
FAA Receives $17.5 Billion for 2019 in Budget Deal
As part of the compromise agreement on border-wall funding, the House and Senate yesterday approved the remaining Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations bills, including for the Department of Transportation and the FAA. The approvals will avert another shutdown as the latest stopgap government funding measure was set to expire today. President Donald Trump has indicated plans to sign the bill.
In the government funding bill approved yesterday, Congress set aside $17.5 billion for the FAA's FY2019 budget, a $549 million drop from FY2018 but $1.3 billion more than the administration request. The bill provides funding for unmanned research and integration, in addition to numerous other research projects such as advanced materials, additive manufacturing, and environmental sustainability efforts.
Congress continued measures to protect aircraft operator privacy from real-time flight-tracking programs and to retain the weight limitation at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Further, Congress provided money for expansion of remote tower technologies.
Other measures are designed to ensure fuller use of organization delegation authorization and to provide up to $3.5 million for reimbursement of non-gateway airports affected by temporary flight restrictions involving travel to the President’s “residences.” This measure was particularly aimed at the airports shuttered by the ongoing series of TFRs in New Jersey and Florida.
While stressing it would continue to fully support A380 customers that operate a total of about 230 of the four-engine jetliners, Airbus confirmed yesterday that it will end the program launched in 2000 as part of its goal to gain a share of the market Boeing had cornered with the 747. Airbus CEO Tom Enders described the decision as “painful” but inevitable after Emirates Airline, by far the largest A380 customer, reduced its outstanding A380 order by 39 examples.
During yesterday's fourth-quarter/full-year earnings presentation, Enders said the European OEM had “invested a lot of effort, a lot of resources, and a lot of sweat” in the A380 program. “But obviously we need to be realistic. With the decision of Emirates to reduce their orders, our order backlog is not sufficient to sustain production beyond 2021, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years.”
Airbus said it will produce just 17 A380s—14 for Emirates and three for All Nippon Airways—before closing the type’s final assembly line. The last two, for Emirates, will roll off the assembly line in 2021, when the Dubai airline will have taken delivery of 123 A380s. At the end of last month, Airbus had received firm orders for 313 A380s, less than half the number it had planned when it launched the program, and delivered 234.
Toronto A-CDM Trial Postponed, but Reinstates GA Slots
Trials of the new airport collaborative decision-making (A-CDM) procedures set to begin on February 18 at Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport have now been postponed indefinitely. The program was targeted for a full rollout on April 23.
A reason for the delay was not given, but the airport is still going ahead with plans for a revised program requiring business and general aviation aircraft to obtain reservations for all arrivals and departures, effective February 18.
Operators must complete the online coordination (OCS) application form as soon as possible to avoid delay in obtaining access to the reservation system. All completed forms must be emailed to the airport reservation office ARO). The airport requires a minimum of seven days to complete the application process and will email confirmation of acceptance. An application must be completed before obtaining a reservation. Any questions regarding the application form must be forwarded by email to the ARO.
Airport-based operators can book up to 30 days in advance. However, transient operators will only be allowed to request slots within 72 hours of their flight. Of all the local handlers contacted by AIN, Skycharter is the only one that said it can arrange slots on behalf of operators, and because it is “home-based” the company can request slots up to 30 days in advance.
Dassault Sets Dates for 2019 Falcon M&O Seminars
Dassault Aviation will kick off its 2019 Falcon Maintenance & Operations (M&O) Seminars on April 9 in Denver, followed back-to-back by another on April 10 and 11 in Paris, the company announced this week. In all, the French airframer will host M&O Seminars in eight cities across Europe, North and South America, and Asia, with the last set for May 21 in Mahwah, New Jersey.
“These seminars provide crucial feedback that allows us to continuously improve the Falcon customer experience,” said Jean Kayanakis, senior v-p of worldwide customer service and service center network. “They provide a unique opportunity for Falcon operators to meet face to face and exchange ideas and information with representatives from our company, partners, and suppliers.”
Topics will include Dassault’s new performance software and app solutions, FalconConnect in-flight connectivity service, and FalconEye EFVS. Dassault also will discuss recent steps taken to expand its Falcon service center network, with a focus on the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
Model-specific and general technical sessions will address troubleshooting, reliability improvements, and STC updates. Dedicated pilot sessions will be led by the Falcon pilot support team.
Other Falcon M&O Seminar dates and locations are April 17 in Shanghai, China; April 23 in Dallas; April 25 in Toluca, Mexico; April 30 in Chicago; and May 15 in São Paulo, Brazil.
Leonardo Opens New RUAS Facility in Italy
Leonardo opened its new facility today in Pisa, Italy, dedicated to the development and production of the AWHERO rotary unmanned air system (RUAS). The latest variant of the 200-kg-class aircraft, the pre-production model, made its first flight in December 2018 at Nettuno outside Rome.
The aircraft—which features a new fuel system, composite tail rotor driveshaft, and liquid-cooled rotary engine—is designed for land and naval operations across a variety of missions including maritime and border surveillance, homeland security, pipeline and powerline monitoring, environmental monitoring, SAR support, disaster relief, and damage assessment. It has a maximum endurance of six hours.
Available payloads include radar, electro-optics, electronic support measures, LiDAR, and advanced communication systems. AWHERO can be equipped with deck sensor and autopilot modes for fully automatic takeoff and landing from vessels. The aircraft will be used for maritime surveillance demonstrations aboard ships during the upcoming European Defence Fund Ocean 2020 initiatives.
The new Pisa facility will initially employ 60. “Unmanned systems are among the pillars of our growth strategy and we plan to become a market leader in this field,” said Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo. “I am very pleased to open this new facility.”
Flying into Tough Airports: Chambéry, France
AIN visited FlightSafety International’s Teterboro learning center to spend some time in a Falcon 900EX level D simulator to learn how to fly into some of the toughest airports in the world. Specifically, Chambéry in France, which is surrounded by the French Alps and situated with Lac du Bourget on the end of the runway.
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