Cutter Debuts New San Antonio Mx and Sales Facility

Cutter Aviation has opened its new maintenance and aircraft sales facility at San Antonio International Airport. In operation at the airport for more than two decades, the company began to outgrow its existing location and negotiated with the airport to construct the new seven-hangar complex on an unused plot on the northwest side of the field. Construction on the $5 million project lasted 18 months.

The location is a factory-authorized service center for TBM, Piper, Honda Aircraft, Cirrus, and Beechcraft products, with Pilatus to be added soon. The facility also houses Cutter's South Texas dealership representing Pilatus and Piper Aircraft.

“Our company has dramatically increased its presence at the airport with the addition of over 38,000 square feet of hangar and office space with a comfortable lobby and executive conference room,” said Cutter president Will Cutter. “Our new facility at San Antonio International Airport is a great enhancement to Cutter Aviation’s 92-year legacy and we are thankful for the opportunity to share it with customers, colleagues, and friends.”

The company noted it will hold a grand opening ceremony at the facility at a later date.

VisionSafe EVAS STC’d for Embraer Bizjet Models

The FAA has issued supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for installation of VisionSafe’s Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS) on the Embraer Legacy 600 and 650 and as “loose equipment” on the Phenom 100 and 300. In addition, work is under way for approval for the EVAS on Embraer Lineage 1000E and Praetor 500 and 600, VisonSafe said, adding STCs for those aircraft are anticipated shortly.

EVAS is a smoke displacement system for flight decks. The only such system to receive FAA certification, EVAS clears a space through the air to enable the pilot to view flight instruments and through the windshield in the event of a smoke emergency. More than 8,000 EVAS systems have been installed on aircraft worldwide.

The approvals are part of Embraer’s continuous improvement programs for its business jets portfolio, VisionSafe said. “Embraer has always emphasized safety as one of their most important pillars with all of their aircraft,” said Chris Skurat, director of sales for business aviation at VisionSafe. “This partnership with Embraer expands a longstanding relationship that now continues with their business aviation models.”

Kansas Airport To See Change in FBO Operator

Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) in Kansas will see a change in the operation of its lone FBO on August 1, when the ownership behind Iowa-based P&N Flight and Charter begins the transition from incumbent Centerline Aviation, which served notice six months ago that it declined to renew its lease. 

P&N, which won the RFP, operates three FBOs in Iowa and will inherit an approximately 3,000-sq-ft terminal built in 1965 that also houses the airport offices. Additionally, the facility includes a WWII-vintage 19,500-sq-ft hangar with a door height of 17 feet, which allows it to shelter light to midsize business jets, and a smaller maintenance hangar.

With its central location making it a popular transcontinental tech stop, GBD features a 7,851-foot main runway that just underwent a 12-month long, $8 million reconstruction project. The GA-only airport sees 1,900 operations a month, split between turbine and piston traffic, and its FBO pumps approximately 15,000 gallons of fuel each month, 70 percent of which is jet-A. It is home to 50 aircraft, including a pair of Citations and a turboprop.

P&N president Cole Norton told AIN he sees a huge demand for aircraft maintenance in the area and will work toward obtaining FAA Part 145 station repair certification. Other improvements will include a refurbishment of the terminal.

Humanitarian Missions Bumping into Ops Reqs in China

Large aircraft operators engaged in ongoing humanitarian efforts are running into an unexpected constraint in missions to China as they trigger requirements for CCAR-129 foreign operations approvals, UAS International Trip Support is cautioning. The company has received a “huge increase” in requests for help for CCAR-129 certification, which traditionally has been a complex and lengthy process.

Chinese authorities require such certification for foreign operators of 29 seats or more that fly more than 10 missions to the nation within a 12-month period. CCAR-129 requirements apply to both scheduled and nonscheduled passenger and cargo operations.

While the requirements for such approval are not new, many operators that in the past have not needed such approvals have found that they do now as they rack up trips to collect medical and other humanitarian supplies in China during the Covid-19 pandemic, Carlos Schattenkirchner, UAS regional director for China, told AIN.

Many operators with mixed fleets are using their larger VVIP aircraft, such as BBJs, to pick up supplies but have been unaware of the CCAR-129 threshold, Schattenkirchner said. However, Chinese authorities have recognized the issues surrounding these missions and are trying to expedite the process, he added. CCAR-129 approval can take between 60 to 90 working days, but for certain humanitarian missions the process has been streamlined to about 14 days.

Honeywell Gets TSO Approval for RDR-7000 Wx Radar

Honeywell Aerospace has received FAA TSO approval for its IntuVue RDR-7000 weather radar system and is now working to complete STCs for 15 aircraft platforms by year-end, including the Dassault Falcon 900C/EX/LX; Bombardier Learjet 40/45 and Global 5000/Express; Cessna Citation X; and Leonardo AW139.

Flight testing and production of the new radar are currently under way, with initial customer deliveries expected to begin in the third quarter, Honeywell said. The RDR-7000 was announced at NBAA-BACE 2019 as the latest addition to Honeywell’s IntuVue series, but intended for smaller business and regional airplanes, as well as helicopters.

Features of the fully automated, 3D radar include scanning from zero up to 60,000 feet and up to 320 nm in front of the aircraft. Additionally, it can predict windshear up to 5 nm ahead, turbulence up to 60 nm ahead, and the presence of hail and lightning up to 160 nm in front of the aircraft with 93 percent accuracy.

“Larger business and passenger jets have benefitted from IntuVue for years, and soon those same capabilities will be available on many more platforms,” said Honeywell Aerospace avionics v-p Mike Ingram. “Pilots of these smaller aircraft will have the same 3D capabilities, full automation, and predictive weather insights to help them make critical decisions to navigate weather ahead of and around the aircraft.”

AviationManuals Offers Mx Manuals for Part 91 Ops

AviationManuals has developed a customized general maintenance manual (GMM) for Part 91 operations that is available through ARCdocs software and an iPad app. The digital GMM addresses procedures for maintenance leadership and shop floor staff and covers items such as roles and responsibilities, personnel policies, inspection programs, minimum equipment list management, and functional flight checks.

“A GMM is another valuable resource business aviation flight departments should consider having to help reinforce procedures, best practices, and to assure adherence to consistent standards,” said AviationManuals CEO Mark Baier. “It helps flight departments from everything to staying on top of changing and complex operations to helping with employee onboarding.”

The GMM can be tailored to a variety of flight department sizes and their needs, according to AviationManuals. It can also be helpful for contract workers to assimilate in an organization with which they might be unfamiliar, the company added.

Counterfeit Kamov Helicopter Ring Busted

Moldovan police last week shut down a factory in Cruileni allegedly making unauthorized copies of Russian Kamov-26 coaxial rotor utility helicopters. More than 10 helicopters were under assembly in the covert factory when it was raided on June 30.

The Moldovan interior ministry said the bootleg aircraft were destined for customers in other former Soviet-controlled countries. The ministry characterized the defendants, charged with aircraft smuggling, as “well organized.”

Situated between Romania and the Ukraine, Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, as measured by per capita GDP, and has been a hotbed for smuggling, human and drug trafficking, and counterfeiting for decades. A 2019 study in Intellectus, the journal of intellectual property, noted that anti-counterfeiting and anti-smuggling measures in the country have been largely ineffective due to limited law enforcement resources and “more efficient manufacturing, transport, distribution and sales models used by transnational criminals.”

In the case of the counterfeit Kamovs, the interior ministry said the scheme’s principals were from the breakaway region of Transnistria. As early as 2002, the local Moldovan delegation from the European Parliament called Transnistria “a black hole” for a variety of illegal pursuits, including arms trafficking and money laundering.

Electric Aircraft Symposium Set To Go Ahead Online

The 14th annual Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS) will be held online from July 28 to 30. The event, which is jointly hosted by the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency (CAFE) Foundation and the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), was to have been part of EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year’s EAS agenda will feature around three dozen industry experts from 12 countries, with discussions focusing on both eVTOL and electric fixed-wing aircraft. Panelists will address topics including urban air mobility, commuter/regional air services, and community engagement. Participants will include aircraft and propulsion system manufacturers, suppliers, academics, consultants, industry groups, and the U.S. Air Force.

“The Vertical Flight Society joined forces with the CAFE Foundation in 2018 to co-host the Electric Aircraft Symposium because we recognized that the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) communities could learn a lot from each other,” said VFS executive director Michael Hirschberg. “For example, distributed electric propulsion is a common element in most of these revolutionary electric-powered aircraft designs.”

Free Webinar: Value of an Engine Maintenance Program

An engine maintenance program can provide financial and operational benefits to business aircraft operators by enhancing asset value, protecting against unforeseen costs and unscheduled events, and maximizing availability and safety. In this free AIN-hosted webinar, you'll learn how such a maintenance program works and the many benefits it offers to aircraft owners and operators. Join us on July 29 at 1:30 p.m. EDT as AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber moderates this discussion with Andy Robinson, Rolls-Royce's senior v-p of customer services for business aviation, and Asset Insight president and CEO Anthony Kioussis. Sponsored by Rolls-Royce.