Russ Meyer Unveils Refurb Program for Citation Excel
Led by a threesome of former Cessna executives, including longtime CEO and chairman emeritus Russ Meyer Jr., CitationPartners is breathing new life into one of the Wichita airframer’s most popular jets—the Excel—in a new nose-to-tail refurbishment program called Citation Excel Eagle. Engaging the help of Textron Aviation’s Wichita service center and Yingling Aviation, CitationPartners' plan is to turn out one Excel Eagle a month with new parts, interior, paint, and Garmin G5000 avionics. “Our goal is to do something that really nobody else has done,” Meyer told AIN.
With more than 1,000 Excels, XLSs, and XLS+s in service, it made sense to select the popular midsize airframe for the program developed by CitationPartners, whose other principals include former Cessna CEO Gary Hay and former Citation Mustang and CJ3 program manager Russ Meyer III.
Under the program, CitationPartners will take in Excels that fractional provider NetJets has traded to Textron Aviation. At the Citation service center, each twinjet will undergo numerous inspections and repairs. Once that work is complete, the airplane will be moved across the runway at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport to Yingling, where the airframe will be stripped, the interior replaced, and the G5000 avionics installed.
“So when the airplane is finished, it will look exactly like an airplane that’s come out of [Textron Aviation’s] production facility,” Meyer said.
On February 9, the NTSB held a public meeting on the crash of a Sikorsky S-76B that killed the pilot and eight occupants. In a scenario that has been played out many times before, this flight included scud running, inadvertent flight into IMC, spatial disorientation, loss of control, and a tragic loss of life.
The obvious question here, as the late Matt Zuccaro said many times before, why don’t they just “land the damn helicopter?” Pilots need to take advantage of the most unique and valuable characteristics of vertical flight and just “land and live” rather than continually flying into bad weather.
As demonstrated in this crash investigation, there were several opportunities to “break the chain” of events that led to tragedy. To be fair—it is not all on the pilot. The operator lacked a comprehensive SMS and flight data monitoring, and did not use flight simulators.
From the reports, there was little operational control of the flight other than some rudimentary flight-tracking tools. So, the pilot, left on his own, made several poor choices (weather briefing and flight risk assessment) and created this self-induced pressure of flying a high-profile client to an event. In the end, the pilot just kept pressing; not once, did he consider aborting the trip or just landing, somewhere. If he did, the outcome would have been much different.
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen exuded much optimism for the business aviation industry in 2021 at a town hall forum yesterday afternoon during the association’s virtual Flight Operations conference. He noted that the business aviation sector has recovered at a much faster pace than the airlines since the pandemic lockdown period in March and April last year, though he conceded that international travel still remains difficult.
According to Bolen, this recovery will gain more steam midyear as “we reach Covid-19 herd immunity” thanks to higher vaccination rates. He urged NBAA members to “reduce risk by following the science”—much like they would for any other aviation safety issue—and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
While business aviation typically lags in economic recoveries, Bolen believes that this time the industry “might be a leading indicator of the U.S. recovery” since business aircraft have emerged as a safer way to travel during the pandemic. Because of this, he expects company aircraft usage to increase exponentially as international travel restrictions ease, while aircraft could also be made available to more employees. In addition, he said it is likely the industry will retain many of the new charter customers gained during the pandemic.
Bolen was also equally bullish about holding an in-person NBAA BACE in October. “I’ll see all of you in Las Vegas for the show,” he stated.
Two More California FBOs To Offer Permanent SAF Supply
Two more FBOs in California—Monterey Jet Center and Signature Flight Support Oakland—will soon offer permanent supplies of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Neste, company v-p for North America Chris Cooper said at the virtual NBAA Flight Operations conference on Wednesday. This will effectively double the U.S. locations where business jet operators can reliably uplift SAF, a drop-in fuel that can reduce aircraft greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent.
SAF is currently available full-time at Signature Flight Support San Francisco International (SFO) and London Luton (LTN), as well as Signature Select FBO Sun Air Jets at Southern California’s Camarillo Airport (CMA) and Jet Aviation Van Nuys. Since the same Neste supply pipeline feeds SFO and Oakland (OAK), Signature can easily integrate SAF into its FBO there. Brian Batty, Signature’s director of fuel operations, said permanent SAF supplies will soon be at OAK, with more Signature locations to follow in the U.S. and Europe this year.
Meanwhile, Neste and Avfuel have partnered to provide FBOs in the latter’s network with consistent SAF supplies. Monterey Jet Center will be the first Avfuel-branded FBO to do so under this collaboration, with the first SAF load expected later next month. Avfuel manager of alternative fuels Keith Sawyer said this will then be expanded to other FBOs in its network.
Satcom Direct, Polaris Help Flight Crew Manage Risk
Satcom Direct and Polaris Aero have joined forces to offer what they say will improve the way business aircraft operators handle risk assessments and mitigation processes. The Polaris FlightRisk platform is now integrated with the SD Pro digital operating system in a move the partners say will boost safety, while reducing pilot workload.
By combining the two data tools, SD PreFlight app users can now automatically transfer tail number, trip planning, and duty information to the FlightRisk app. The Polaris system analyzes this data quickly to provide flight crew with a risk assessment of the planned trip, indicating what actions or flight plan modifications might be required. PreFlight users can click to switch straight to the FlightRisk interface to see a more in-depth analysis of hazards and recommendations to reduce risk.
Before the two companies agreed to collaborate, their customers had to manually enter the same data into their safety management systems (SMS). This took significantly more time and also introduced the potential for errors. Polaris is offering SD PreFlight clients a complimentary two-year subscription to use FlightRisk.
Planning, knowledge of potential threats, and heightened awareness are all key to ensuring flight crew safety at home and abroad, according to three experts leading a session on business aviation security best practices on the final day of NBAA’s virtual Flight Operations conference yesterday. “Security is a state of mind and you’ve got to be thinking in a different [way] before you even go to these places,” said Matt Burdette of UHC Global Security.
Crews should be mindful of the transportation they will take to and from the airport and hotel, especially if using a rideshare service. That includes asking the driver to roll down the rear window before entering the vehicle and opening the door from the inside—to ensure child locks aren’t engaged, preventing a quick exit—as well as sitting directly behind the driver if a crewmember is traveling alone.
At the hotel, the experts advised that crews should check in together, keeping their luggage with them at all times to avoid theft, and hold onto their IDs to prevent their information from being stolen by an electronic device. Lastly, “It would be remiss not to mention that some of the rapidly evolving crisis situations and civil unrest have been happening right here in the United States over the last year,” noted Eric Moilanen of Premier Corporate Security.
ADS-B service provider Aireon and Norway’s Avinor Air Navigation Services will deploy space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to monitor helicopter operations in the Bodo Oceanic flight information region and adjacent airspace spanning the Norwegian Basin and Barents Sea. This is the first space-based ADS-B application specifically targeted for helicopter surveillance and will focus on helicopter movements from the ground through 10,000 feet. Helicopters operating in this region are required to be equipped with ADS-B antennas.
Aireon data will be transmitted in real-time to Avinor's facilities and will be integrated into their air traffic automation platform. “Space-based ADS-B will become an important component to our surveillance capabilities in the arctic high north. We are pleased to be working with the Aireon team in this regard and are sure this will become an important tool for our air traffic controllers at the Polaris area control center in Bodo, Norway,” said Avinor CEO Anders Kirsebom.
Avinor is a wholly-owned, state-limited company under the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications and is responsible for 44 state-owned airports and travel support for approximately 50 million passengers annually. Aireon operates the first space-based air traffic surveillance system for ADS-B worldwide.
NASA Calls for Proposals for Electrified Powerplants
NASA is seeking proposals for ground and flight demonstrations of integrated megawatt-class powertrain systems for subsonic aircraft, the agency announced this week. It has set a submission deadline of April 20 at 5 p.m. EST.
NASA expects the demonstrations to help rapidly mature and transition integrated electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) technologies and associated EAP vision systems for introduction into the global fleet by 2035. Integrated EAP has emerged as a means to improve the environmental sustainability of the next generation of subsonic transport vehicles. Researchers are developing EAP electrical systems to replace or boost fuel-burning aircraft propulsion systems, similar to how automatic makers use electric or hybrid motors.
Through partnerships with U.S. industry, NASA intends to accelerate the development of integrated megawatt-class powertrain systems, as well as identify and address gaps in regulations and standards and acquire necessary ground and flight-test data to advance design and modeling tools related to future aircraft products with an EAP system.
Studies from NASA and the industry have shown that EAP concepts can reduce energy use, carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions, and direct operating costs. NASA and its industry partners have identified turboprops, regional jets, and single-aisle aircraft serving the thin-haul (very short flights), regional, and single-aisle markets as targets of opportunity for the technology.
Photo of the Week
Four more years! Honda Aircraft colorfully—and we mean that literally—delivered the message that its HA-420 HondaJet has been the top-selling very light jet for the past four years. Thanks to the Honda Aircraft social media team for sharing this fun photo.
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