Dassault Falcon deliveries more than doubled to 14 aircraft in the first half of this year, while order intake surged by more than 50 percent to 41—net of canceled aircraft from Russia—the French airframer announced today. That was up from the six Falcon deliveries and net orders for 25 recorded in the first half of 2021. Combined with contracts brought in for 86 Rafael fighters, Dassault's order backlog in the first six months reached a company record of €16.3 billion.
Eric Trappier, Dassault Aviation's chairman and CEO, noted a buoyant business but also pointed to concerns stemming from supply chain and workforce constraints, and exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis. Trappier remarked that sales actually were higher than reported but the tally reflected the cancelation of deals with Russian customers.
Other concerns for the company include potential risks for electronic components due to tensions between China and Taiwan. Trappier also expressed concerns that difficulties remain with the pandemic. “We thought Covid was behind us,” he said, noting it was resurgent in several markets.
Trappier credited the strength of the market in the U.S. and Europe for the increased business with business jet traffic that exceeded 2019 levels and strong preowned business jet sales. Dassault is maintaining its guidance for 35 Falcon deliveries in 2022, he said, despite pressures it is facing with the supply chain.
Pilatus Aircraft yesterday opened a new $15 million paint facility at its U.S. completions center in Broomfield, Colorado, to keep pace with rising demand for PC-24s and PC-12 NGXs. The 28,445-sq-ft facility features three separate booths to prep and paint PC-24s and PC-12 NGXs from base to finish.
A preparation and detail booth will be used to prepare aircraft for paint, while also facilitating detailing, touch-ups, and silkscreen printing of placards. The crossdraft booth will serve as the primary booth for base-to-finish aircraft painting. Finally, the downdraft booth is for green-to-finish painting, as well as intricate base-to-finish paint schemes.
Each booth is also equipped with a 3D laser projector, along with an advanced environmental control system, air-sealed doors, and filtration system. “Efficiency, innovation, and environmental impact were the guiding principles during the design phase,” said Thomas Bosshard, the president and CEO of Pilatus U.S. subsidiary Pilatus Business Aircraft.
With production and personnel at capacity, Pilatus said the paint facility will be able to complete up to 100 aircraft annually, with the first aircraft painted at the facility scheduled to be delivered as early as this month.
French medevac and cargo operator Oyonnair ordered a Piaggio P.180 Avanti Evo in medevac configuration this week at the Farnborough International Airshow, with the purchase arranged through its Investairs financial arm. The Evo will be outfitted with an enlarged 29-inch wide door and an additional fuel tank for improved performance and mission flexibility, with delivery expected in the second quarter of next year.
Oyonnair CEO Daniel Vovk called the new Avanti Evo “the perfect-fit aircraft for medevac operations. With this new configuration, we can offer our clients even better performance. For this reason, and according to our growth strategy, we are now aiming at ordering three more aircraft by the end of this year.” The Lyon-based firm began operating its first Piaggio P.180 in 2015, and the new purchase will bring its P.180 fleet count to eight aircraft.
“Now that we are definitely close to identifying a new owner [for Piaggio Aerospace],” said Vincenzo Nicastro, Piaggio Aerospace’s extraordinary commissioner. “Such an announcement confirms that the company is healthy and ‘on the market,’ ready to further unleash its potential.” Italy’s Piaggio Aerospace went into extraordinary administration in 2019 and is in the process of identifying a qualified buyer for the company.
Teesside International Airport, located in Northeastern England, recently announced that Florida-based Willis Lease Finance Corp. (WLFC) has begun the planning process for an up to £25 million investment in a new aircraft maintenance facility and FBO, potentially creating 200 new jobs. WLFC has had a base at Teesside since 2020.
WLFC has taken over the operations of the airport’s existing FBO, now known as Jet Centre by Willis, and intends to build maintenance hangars on 13 acres of land. Jet Centre by Willis provides a full range of ground handling services for business, private aviation, military, and cargo flights.
In December 2021, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen flew to the U.S. to negotiate the investment face-to-face with WLFC. A planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks.
"Our routes and summer holiday flights are obviously hugely important to the success of our airport, but for any airport to really thrive it has to be about more than just holiday flights," Houchen said. "Willis's multimillion-pound private sector investments will truly secure our airport’s future, and this is potentially the largest we’ve seen in years."
Embraer and Collins Aerospace are partnering on the development of a carbon nanotube electrothermal heating technology (CNT) for ice protection systems that aim to improve efficiency and sustainability. The system, including Collins’ CNT heater and ice protection controller, was installed on the vertical stabilizer of Embraer’s Phenom 300E prototype and has completed more than 10 hours of ground and “dry air” flight tests.
“We are very encouraged by the recent test results, and we are convinced that this innovative technology will meet our ambitious technological and sustainability roadmap,” said Luís Carlos Affonso, the senior v-p of engineering, technology development, and corporate strategy at Embraer.
Part of a larger more electric aircraft technology development initiative, the CNT does not require the chemical etching process typically used for heaters, lowers the energy requirement by 25 percent, is significantly lighter than a conventional metallic heater, has enhanced damage tolerance, and is anticipated to result in a longer product life cycle.
“This electrothermal CNT technology is more energy efficient, lighter, and uses greener manufacturing processes than current systems, and we believe it will become the future standard for ice protection—including those in more electric aircraft designs,” said Mauro Atalla, the senior v-p of engineering, and technology for Collins Aerospace. “Collaborations such as the one between Collins and Embraer are helping innovations like this come to market more quickly.”
Quiet Technology Aerospace (QTA) has delivered its 300th carbon graphite engine inlet cowl to Jet Edge International, a Columbus, Ohio-based operator of Bombardier Challenger 300s. This represents the sixth installation of a pair of the upgraded inlets to be installed on Jet Edge’s fleet.
Hollywood, Florida-based QTA said the upgrade “permanently solves” recurring inlet cowl inner-barrel corrosion on the super-midsize jet's Honeywell HTF7000 engines. QTA’s carbon graphite engine inlet cowl and carbon fiber inner barrel come with a transferrable guarantee against corrosion that is good for the life of the aircraft, the company added.
“Our replacement inlets cure a major headache for operators that have been continuously troubled by expensive and time-consuming inner-barrel corrosion ‘fixes’ that never last,” said QTA CEO Barry Fine. “The resulting AOG situations caused by the OEM inlet cowls, as well as the already documented danger of engines ingesting corroded aluminum, compounds the problem. Our carbon graphite engine inlet cowl program ensures QTA customers convenient and quick turn-times when upgrading that is most of all cost efficient and final.”
The company’s carbon-fiber inlets are also STC’d for the Bombardier Challenger 350 and Learjet 60/60XR; Dassault Falcon 2000LX/EX; Gulfstream G200/280 and G450; Hawker 1000; and Embraer Legacy 450/500 and Praetor 500/600.
London’s Air Ambulance Charity (LAAC)—the helicopter emergency medical service for the UK’s capital—has ordered two new Airbus H135 helicopters as part of its fleet renewal contract signed today at the Farnborough International Airshow. The two aircraft will be delivered in 2024 and will operate primarily from LAAC’s helipad base at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. They are replacing a pair of MD 902 Explorers. LAAC’s advanced trauma team treated 1,713 patients in 2021.
“We are very impressed with the medical capability that we can pack into the H135,” said LACC deputy CEO Charles Newitt. “The issue of ground safety is very important to us as we frequently have to operate into physically constrained emergency locations with a constant risk of the public being present. The compact size of the H135 plus its Fenestron tail rotor and high ground clearance are attractive features for us.”
LACC began operations in 1989 with a single Airbus SA365N and has since transported more than 43,000 patients. It began as a partnership between Express Newspapers, the Royal London Hospital, and the National Health Service. LACC operates on an annual budget of $12 million and is supported largely through charitable activities including fundraising events, a lottery, and direct contributions.
Mexico's Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) has validated Butler Avionics’ FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) for the Garmin GTS 8000 TCAS II Change 7.1 for Learjet 35 and 36-series aircraft. The Olathe, Kansas-based aircraft special mission integrator and avionics modifier received the STC approval as a new installation or as a replacement for a previously installed system.
The STC'd system features the GTS 8000 TCAS II processor that interfaces with existing compatible or newly installed TCAS II/transponder controllers and the resolution advisory/vertical speed indicator displays. It also is compatible with the Garmin GTN 750 Xi upgrade, for which Butler also holds an STC.
“The cost-effective Garmin TCAS II Change 7.1 solution in Mexico is ideal for Learjets,” said Butler Avionics director Gary Morris. “We are receiving many inquiries about the TCAS II installation and are extremely pleased to offer Learjet operators a quality alternative.”
Airbus A350 Soars at Farnborough Airshow
Airbus's A350-900 has been wowing crowds this week during the daily afternoon aerial display at the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow. Powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, the A350 is the first Airbus aircraft to feature carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer fuselage and wing structures.
Model(s): Global Express, XRS, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500
Published: July 13, 2022
Effective: July 27, 2022
Prohibits installation of any overheat detection sensing element that may have insufficient salt fill and requires operators to operate their aircraft in a manner that will prevent dispatching with an active bleed air leak. Prompted by Bombardier receiving disclosure letters from the supplier of overheat detection sensing elements that reported a manufacturing quality escape in which some sensing elements were manufactured with insufficient salt fill. Since these sensing elements are used by the bleed air leak detection system for temperature detection in the event of a hot bleed air leak, the insufficient salt fill can result in an inability to detect hot bleed air leaks that can cause damage to surrounding structures and systems.
Requires a one-time inspection of the drive shaft of certain starter-generators and, depending on findings, replacement of the affected part with a serviceable part. Prompted by a reported occurrence of an electrical failure of the starter-generator caused by the rupture of the drive shaft. This failure was not detected by the generator control unit, causing a partial loss of battery power.
Model(s): Global Express, XRS, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500
Published: July 15, 2022
Effective: August 19, 2022
Requires a one-time inspection of each passenger oxygen box dual manifold assembly to find and replace affected parts. This AD also prohibits installing affected parts. Prompted by reports that some oxygen box assemblies had their piston ejected during the mask deployment test.
Requires an inspection of the pre-cooler clampassemblies securing the ducting connection on the environmental control system (ECS) pre-cooler inletassembly and replacement of non-conforming pre-cooler clamps. Prompted by Bombardier receiving a disclosure letter from the supplier advising that certain pre-cooler clamps may not conform to drawing. If left uncorrected, the clamp may fail and cause excessiveleakage at that connection, which could lead to increased operating temperatures in climate-controlledzones, or, in combination with other failures, a complete loss of the ECS.
Requires one-time visual inspections of the main rotor hub (MRH) sleeve and, depending on the results, accomplishing additional inspections, repairing the MRH sleeve in accordance with a certain approval, or removing the MRH sleeve from service and installing an airworthy part. This AD also prohibits installing an MRH sleeve unless certain inspections have been accomplished.
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