The business aviation industry is “between a rock and a hard place” in Europe because environmental pressures are increasing and yet regulatory roadblocks are preventing progress, according to GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.
“A lot of the news has not been good as far as the approach of business aviation over there,” Bunce said during his association’s annual State of the Industry press conference on Wednesday, referring to environmental activism activities such as the recent interruption of the start of EBAA’s AIROPS23 Conference earlier this month in Brussels. He stressed that the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is becoming critically important.
“But unfortunately, the deployment strategy that is coming forward in Europe does not allow us access at business aviation airports to SAF,” he said, “and what is happening is a large amount of taxes are going to be levied on our industry because we aren't using SAF.”
However, Bunce added, “We’re working those issues,” and further noted, “book-and-claim for us still becomes a very important tool in Europe.”
As for handling the activism targeting the industry, “There’s specific action that people can take,” said GAMA chair and Simcom International president and CEO Eric Hinson. “But the reality is we're probably never, ever going to convince climate activists of that and that's probably not the people that we should focus on.”
Operating an aircraft in conditions where there is either frost or freezing or frozen precipitation present creates several hazards and challenges. On the ground, pilots must have a plan to ensure that all lifting and control surfaces are free from any form of contamination before takeoff.
A contaminated wing and/or empennage on an aircraft will decrease lift, increase drag, and can lead to a disastrous outcome. Accident reports suggest that pilots do not fully use ground deicing and anti-icing procedures or understand the intent of the FAA’s “clean aircraft concept,” which prohibits takeoff with frost, ice, or snow adhering to any critical surface of an airplane.
As an example, in November 2004 a Bombardier Challenger 601 was destroyed during an attempted takeoff at Colorado’s Montrose Regional Airport (KMTJ). The aircraft stalled shortly after takeoff due to ice and snow on its wings. Of the six occupants, the pilot, flight attendant, and one passenger were killed. The first officer and two passengers were seriously injured.
In its final report, the NTSB determined the probable cause as “the flight crews’ failure to ensure that the airplane's wings were free of ice or snow contamination that accumulated while the airplane was on the ground, which resulted in an attempted takeoff with upper-wing contamination that induced the subsequent stall and collision with the ground.”
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) is celebrating the 60th year of PT6 engine production and the accumulation of one billion hours of flying on its various engine models since the company was formed nearly 100 years ago. More than 64,000 PT6s have been produced since 1963, accumulating more than half the hours flown by all the P&WC engines. The total number of P&WC engines made over the past 100 years is 110,000, of which 66,000 remain in service.
More than 155 aviation applications are powered by PT6 engines, according to P&WC.
“Today's PT6 is up to four times more powerful, has a 50 percent better power-to-weight ratio, and up to 20 percent better specific fuel consumption compared to the original engine,” said P&WC president Maria Della Posta. “Aviation has the power to change the world. Our engines power aircraft that benefit millions of people every day. Every second, a P&WC-powered aircraft takes off or lands somewhere on the planet, whether they’re driving commerce, reuniting families, or powering humanitarian missions, emergency medical services, or search and rescue missions.
Stellar Aviation—which operates a trio of FBOs in Florida, Illinois, and Nevada—has broken ground on a facility at Reno/Tahoe International Airport (KRNO). The $25 million project on the northeast corner of the airfield, adjacent to the Dassault Aircraft Services facility, will include a 5,000-sq-ft terminal and a pair of 30,000-sq-ft heated hangars that can shelter ultra-long-range jets. It will also have 10,000 sq ft of combined attached office space, five acres of ramp area, covered car parking, and electric vehicle chargers.
When the first phase of construction is completed by mid-2024, it will replace the two terminals on either side of the field, which Stellar said are unable to meet its growing transient business aircraft demand at KRNO. Those structures will be retained and repurposed as general aviation and semi-private terminals. It currently has 25,000 sq ft of hangar space, which is nearing full capacity.
The Epic Fuels-branded FBO is also about to complete the installation of a 40,000-gallon tank farm. By May, it plans to become the first location in Nevada to introduce sustainable aviation fuel, which it will stock on an ongoing basis.
“Stellar Aviation Group is very excited to be a part of the growing Reno economic engine,” COO Brad Kost told AIN. “The Reno airport and community desperately need additional aviation infrastructure to support its rapidly growing business and GA aircraft clients.”
Robinson Helicopter is now offering an FAA-approved pressure refueling system as an $18,000 option on its R66 turbine single. The 13-pound system, located on the helicopter’s right side, provides a connection at waist level and allows for rapid refueling without the need for a ladder or opening the cowl door to access the main fuel cap.
A control panel allows the pilot to select full or partial fuel loads. The system incorporates automatic shutoffs to prevent overfill or overpressure and an audio alert warns the pilot if the fuel hose is still connected at takeoff.
The pressure fueling system feeds fuel to the top of the main fuel tank, but cannot be used for de-fueling or to add fuel to the optional auxiliary fuel tank in the baggage compartment. The maximum allowable pressure for ground equipment connected to the fueling port is 50 psi (3.5 bar), providing 50 gallons per minute (gpm). Fuel flow rates at lower pressures are 30 gpm at 20 psi and 20 gpm at 10 psi.
The fueling port is compatible with an Emco Wheaton J71 dry-break coupler (recommended Emco Wheaton part number J71C-AVN1-E004), which fits a fuel hose with a one-inch male NPT threaded fitting.
A field installation kit is not currently available.
GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce believes the aviation industry is facing a new wave of threats of airport closures because local communities are using leaded avgas as an excuse to curtail general aviation activities.
At the annual General Aviation Manufacturers Association State of the Industry event on Wednesday, Bunce summarized the status of the FAA and industry Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions (Eagle) initiative, which was launched at last year’s GAMA meeting. He also talked about a recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) between California’s Santa Clara County and the FAA that addressed issues raised by the county’s ban on leaded 100LL avgas at Reid-Hillview and San Martin airports and what appear to be efforts to close Reid-Hillview.
Although GAMI’s G100UL unleaded avgas has received FAA STC approval, it is awaiting large-scale production and distribution. “We have to be able to produce it and distribute it,” Bunce said, “and make the price acceptable. And the price is not going to be as cheap as avgas right now.”
As for the MoU, he added, “A lot of communities are using this issue to close airports, pure and simple. They’ve been trying to close Reid-Hillview for years and years, and when they couldn’t do it on noise, they tried to starve the airport [of fuel]. And we’ve got other communities around the country that are doing the same."
Duncan Aviation recently completed its first 7,500-landing inspection for a Bombardier Challenger 300. The inspection was done in conjunction with a full interior refurbishment, complete paint job, connectivity installation, 192-month airframe inspection, and landing gear overhaul. According to Duncan, the aircraft was delivered to the undisclosed customer after two test flights with zero airframe squawks.
The 7,500-landing inspection is the most comprehensive inspection for Challenger 300s, requiring every Duncan backshop team to have a hand in the project. Duncan’s nondestructive testing (NDT) team also spent nearly $500,000 to purchase new NDT standards and probes to gain access to inspect areas of the aircraft and complete the inspection.
A second Challenger 300 arrived for its 7,500-landing inspection at Duncan’s MRO in Lincoln, Nebraska, late last month. Six more of the super-midsize twinjets are also scheduled for this intensive inspection through 2023 and into 2024, the company said.
Duncan estimates that many of the 800 in-service Challenger 300s are approaching this major inspection milestone. The company’s three MRO facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln; and Provo, Utah, are Bombardier-authorized service facilities.
Helicopter air ambulance provider Swiss Air Rescue Rega logged a record number of patient transports in 2022. Rega’s fleet of 20 helicopters transported 14,000 patients over the course of 20,992 missions, a 16.5 percent increase from 2021. The brisk tempo translated to 58 missions for each 24-hour period. Missions outran patient transports because Rega also flies a variety of non-patient missions, transporting mountain rescuers and providing assistance to mountain farmers.
Rega operates from 14 bases in Switzerland and its activities are coordinated by its national air rescue center. Helicopter mission growth was driven in part by a 7.1 percent increase in hospital transfers, to 3,057, and an above-average number of VFR days last year, according to the company.
Similarly, Rega said its patient repatriations, either aboard commercial aircraft or Rega’s three jets, increased by 21.8 percent, assisting 1,045 patients. Rega attributed the increase to the reopening of international travel following the Covid pandemic.
Correction
In the story about Constant Aviation in yesterday’s AINalerts, we used comments from a non-approved spokesperson. Constant Aviation intends to stay in the aircraft maintenance retail market space and its branding will remain unchanged.
Photo of the Week
All Shook Up. AIN contributing photographer Barry Ambrose was able to capture YouTube personality Jimmy Webb, of Jimmy’s World, celebrating his acquisition of a 1962-vintage Lockheed JetStar that was once owned by Elvis Presley and sat in the desert for years. Webb this month began disassembly of the aircraft in Roswell, New Mexico for a trek to Florida, where it is to undergo a makeover. Thanks for sharing, Barry!
Keep them coming. If you’d like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.
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