AINAlerts will not publish on Monday in observance of Independence Day in the U.S. Publication will resume on Tuesday, July 6.

Third Dassault Falcon 6X Joins Flight-test Fleet

The third flight-test Falcon 6X, registered as F-WAVE, took to the skies late last week, edging Dassault Aviation’s 5,500-nm, large-cabin twinjet one step closer to its planned certification next year. S/N 3, which has a full interior and will be used for cabin design validation, made its inaugural flight on June 24, attaining an altitude of FL400 and speeds up to Mach 0.85, the French aircraft manufacturer announced yesterday.

This follows the first 6X that flew on March 10 and the second on April 30. To date, these two aircraft have accumulated more than 130 flight-test hours at a rate of two to three flights a week, with envelope expansion now nearly complete, according to Dassault.

“This latest flight is yet another sign of the smooth progress we have been making with the 6X test program,” said Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “We have been consistently impressed with the flight performance and handling of the 6X and the reliability of aircraft systems.”

A fourth flight-test 6X, which will also have a full interior, is currently being outfitted at Dassault’s site in Mérignac, France. This aircraft will conduct a two-month global endurance flight campaign to ensure that all 6X systems are fully mature upon entry into service. Meanwhile, S/N 10 is now on the final assembly line in Mérignac.

AINsight: Are Preowned Biz Aircraft Prices Going Up?

In the business aviation industry, the elephant in the room is preowned aircraft pricing. As I spend more time on industry webinars and podcasts, this elephant is always sharing the space.

Are prices of preowned aircraft going up? Is the scarcity of available inventory causing price hikes? Does the preowned market follow suit with other inflationary products that have been spurred by supply chain issues?

Here are a couple of quick facts that often lead to these discussions. Inventory of preowned business aircraft is 6.6 percent of the available fleet—the lowest in 25 years. Next, in the first four months of 2021, there have been 864 preowned transactions, up 36 percent from a year ago.

A couple of counters to those statistics—6.6 percent is still not a bad percentage of choices, even though a bit lower than you might like. And having an increase of 36 percent over the same period last year is a bit misleading since the first four months of 2020 had us all grappling with the early pandemic.

Regardless of pricing, one thing that has changed during this pandemic is that the image of our industry has continued to be strong and in fact might even be better. That is huge for us all.

Gulfstream G550 Production Reaches End of the Line

Nearly two decades after it first entered service, Gulfstream's G550 saw its final commercial delivery this week. The Savannah, Georgia airframer has produced more than 600 of the large-cabin twinjets since receiving its type and production certificates in August 2003. According to a company spokesperson, while some special-missions variants continue to undergo modifications, this week's delivery ended G550 production.

First announced in 1999 as a derivative of the GV, the G550 (formerly GV-SP) was the launch platform for the company’s PlaneView flight deck and was also certified with an enhanced vision system as a standard safety feature, paving the way for its incorporation into future aircraft designs. With a range of 6,750 nm at Mach 0.80, the type earned more than 50 speed records. It served as the top of the Gulfstream line until the certification of the G650 in 2012. According to JetNet, 603 G550s remain in service worldwide.

“The G550 set a new standard for performance and reliability and continues to outperform and impress with its wide-ranging capabilities,” said company president Mark Burns. “Given our vast G550 fleet in service, we look forward to continuing to support all G550 customers around the work with Gulfstream Customer Support’s extensive network.”

Embraer Delivers First Duet Limited-edition Phenom 300E

Embraer Executive Jets has handed over the first limited-edition Phenom 300E aircraft offered as part of a “Duet” pairing with Porsche. Delivered at its global customer center in Melbourne, Florida, the aircraft went to an undisclosed customer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Announced in November, the Duet pairs the limited-edition Phenom with a Porsche 911 Turbo S. Embraer and Porsche are offering 10 of the $10.9 million Duet packages in all.

Embraer and Porsche collaborated on similar exterior and interior design elements for the Duet pairing, such as the sew style on the Phenom 300E seats patterned after the 911 Turbo S. In addition, the seats of both vehicles feature red pull straps, a Speed Blue accent stitch, and carbon fiber shrouds.

Flight-deck seats also are similar to those found in the car and the exteriors share a matching paint palette and scheme with a two-tone finish and hand-painted pinstripes in Brilliant Chrome and Speed Blue.

A collaboration logo is embossed in the headrest of the aircraft to represent lift and debossed on the car headrests representing downforce. The logo further is featured on the aircraft side ledge, speaker grills, and mounted near the main door.

The package also includes a special three-piece baggage set and an exclusive Swiss titanium wristwatch that matches the clocks found on the panels of the limited-edition Phenom 300Es and Porsche 911s.

Vulcan Looks To Ease Biz Aircraft ‘Ownership Journey’

Vulcan Aviation launched Wednesday to exploit a rise in demand for private aircraft as Covid-related travel restrictions are gradually lifted across the globe. The new business aviation services company was created by industry veterans Trevor Esling, until recently regional senior vice-president of sales for Gulfstream Aerospace; Roger Whyte, former senior v-p of worldwide sales and marketing at Cessna Aircraft; and Barry Johnson, chief executive of UK-based aircraft management company Executive Jet Charter.

From its headquarters at Farnborough Airport, Vulcan will provide what Esling described as “a bespoke service to select international corporate and private clients at each stage of the aircraft ownership journey, from acquisitions and sales to management, operations, and maintenance.” He said the demand for preowned aircraft is “very strong at the moment” with the availability of used models less than five years old “in particularly short supply.”

In addition to the U.S., Vulcan will focus on potential customers in Europe, the Middle East, and South America. “These are traditionally very strong markets for business aviation and our team has built some great relationships across these regions over the years,” Esling said.

Rolls-Royce, Shell Team on Decarbonization Goals

Two of the oldest names in aviation—Rolls-Royce and Shell—have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that outlines their support for decarbonization of the industry, as well as working towards their own corporate goals of net-zero emissions by 2050. Citing more than a century of cooperation between the engine maker and the fuel provider, the two noted that collaboration across the aviation value chain is necessary to achieve decarbonization milestones.

“Being from different parts of the aviation value chain means Rolls-Royce and Shell bring complementary expertise, experiences, and ideas to the table,” said Shell Aviation president Anna Mascolo. “Wide-ranging cooperation can drive new solutions that will help the aviation industry and our customers navigate a pathway to net-zero.”

The MoU will increase their partnership in advancing the acceptance of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through services such as Rolls-Royce’s SAFinity service for which Shell is the exclusive SAF supplier, as well as demonstrating the use of 100 percent SAF as a full “drop-in” solution with an eye towards future certification of the unblended fuel.

“We believe that working together on these aims can deliver benefits for both the development of new innovations, as well as collaborating to find ways to unlock the net carbon emissions reduction potential of technology that is already in use today,” explained Rolls-Royce chief technology officer Paul Stein.

Paraguayan Air Force Takes Delivery of Grand Caravans

Textron Aviation has delivered two special-missions Cessna Grand Caravan EXs to Fuerza Aérea Paraguaya (FAP), the Paraguayan air force, joining three other Grand Caravans in operation there. The new turboprop singles are expected to enter service in the second half of this year.

FAP uses the Grand Caravan for humanitarian, transport, and medical evacuation operations in Paraguay, according to Textron Aviation v-p of special missions sales Bob Gibbs. “The aircraft is engineered for challenging missions, high payloads, and short, rough runways while delivering single-engine economy and simplicity,” he said. “It is a perfect match for this mission throughout South America.”

The acquisition was financed by ITAIPU Binacional and managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services to increase the FAP’s ability to respond to humanitarian needs during emergencies.

IADA Opens Scholarship Applications

The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) is accepting applications for scholarships from undergraduate and graduate students who plan to seek careers in business aviation. The scholarships—totaling between $1,000 and $5,000—are funded by the IADA Foundation and are available to students attending 20 participating universities and colleges that offer course work in corporate aviation management, aerodynamics, aircraft systems, aviation safety, finance, business marketing, economics, and/or studies that relate to aviation business/management.

Applications are available online and require a keycode available through the financial aid officers of participating schools. Undergraduate and graduate applicants must be full-time students (a minimum of 12 credit hours a semester for undergraduate students) and have a 3.0 minimum cumulative grade point average. Preference is given to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

The deadline for applications is September 1. Notification of scholarship awards will be made through a school’s financial aid office no later than November 30.

Photo of the Week

Freedom flies. Seeking independence from ordinary paint schemes, Washington, Pennsylvania-based Skyward Aviation recently had its Bombardier Learjet 31A repainted in a patriotic red, white, and blue theme. The scheme celebrates not only the U.S. but also company owner Ron Corrado, who served in the U.S. Army for more than 21 years as a maintenance officer and pilot before founding Skyward 27 years ago. His daughter and company v-p, Brianna Elliott, created the design. The Learjet has since earned several nicknames from customers and employees, including “Freedom Fighter,” “Red White and Blue,” and “America Jet.” Thanks to Eric Tabor, v-p of sales at Skyward, for sharing this photo!

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.