Daher today at EAA AirVenture introduced the Kodiak 900 as the latest entry in its stable of turboprop singles. The $3.487 million Kodiak 900, which received FAA certification last week, is a variant of the company’s Kodiak 100 utility turboprop, with a 3.9-foot fuselage stretch, 210-ktas maximum cruise speed, higher useful load, and 1,129-nm maximum range. Deliveries are planned to start in January, according to Daher. The 100 Series III will remain in production.
“Today’s official unveiling of the Kodiak 900 underscores parent company Daher’s firm commitment to the constant improvement of its aircraft product line,” said Daher CEO Didier Kayat. “It follows our launch of the latest TBM family member—the TBM 960—just three months ago.”
Powered by a 900-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140A engine, the airplane has been in development in secret since 2016, with three test aircraft already built—a static test airframe, flying prototype, and production-conforming airplane. The prototype has been flying since Feb. 28, 2020, and the fleet has accumulated more than 600 hours of flight testing and 800 hours of ground runtime.
An all-new interior includes multi-directional Summit+ passenger seats with quick releases that allow for multiple configurations—from a double club layout to an all-forward-facing arrangement. Seats can also be removed to accommodate more cargo or baggage, the company said. Aerodynamic improvements include flap track fairings, inlet mods, and heavy-duty wheel fairings.
Embraer’s business jet deliveries were mixed in the second quarter and first half of 2022. The Brazilian airframer delivered 21 business jets in the latest three-month period, up from 20 in the year-ago second quarter.
Deliveries for the quarter were led, once again, by the Phenom 300, at 10 shipments, followed by the Praetor 500 at five. The company delivered two Phenom 100s in the quarter and four Praetor 600s. That compares with second-quarter 2021 deliveries of 11 Phenom 300s, five Praetor 600s, three Praetor 500s, and one Phenom 100.
For the first half of the year, Embraer handed over 29 executive jets—three Phenom 100s, 15 Phenom 300s, five Praetor 500s, and six Praetor 600s. In that same six-month period a year ago, total deliveries of business jets were 33, including two Phenom 100s, 20 Phenom 300s, four Praetor 500s, and seven Praetor 600s.
Available inventory of preowned business jets this month inched upward from June but is still down by 39 percent from a year ago, to 660 aircraft. Availability is up 5 percent from the 628 preowned business jets for sale in June, but dramatically down from the 1,089 business jets that were on the market in July 2021, according to market analyst Jefferies.
Citing Amstat data, Jefferies noted the currently available market represents 2.6 percent of the total fleet. Looking at younger jets—those less than seven years—inventories dropped 37 percent year-over-year, while prices jumped by 23 percent.
Midsize jets have led the decline in available inventory, down 43 percent year-over-year, followed by heavy jets at 40 percent, and light jets at 37 percent.
The number of Bombardier preowned jets for sale has dropped by 47 percent year-over-year to 46, with available Globals down 64 percent, Learjets by 33 percent, and Challengers by 26 percent. No Global 7500s are currently on the market.
Gulfstream inventories, meanwhile, shrunk 43 percent to 35 units, representing just 1.8 percent of the overall fleet produced by the Savannah, Georgia airframer, with declines in G550s, G280s, and G450s available for sale. The company has produced 12 of what will be its new flagship, the G700, which Jefferies said implies six are customer aircraft with the six test articles in inventory.
Honda Aircraft announced today the appointment of four authorized service centers (ASCs), bringing the company’s network to 12 such centers. The news also comes as the HondaJet fleet tops 219 operating aircraft and 120,000 flight hours.
Two of the four new ASCs—Hillsboro Aviation based at Portland-Hillsboro Airport in Oregon and Mather Aviation at Mather Airport in Sacramento, California—increase Honda Aircraft’s number of ASCs and factory service centers in North America to 12. The other two are Dviation Technics in Selangor, Malaysia—the exclusive ASC for southeast Asia—and Signature TechnicAir at Bournemouth Airport in the UK, which doubles the OEM’s ASCs in Europe.
“As the HondaJet fleet continues to grow, we are committed to ensuring that each of our customers around the globe receives the highest quality of service and support, with the supply of parts and factory-trained and certified service technicians available at each of the 21 locations,” said Honda Aircraft head of commercial business unit and v-p of customer service Amod Kelkar.
Tom Poberezny, 75, the long-time president of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) who later became chairman emeritus, died early today as the association’s famed AirVenture kicked off in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Born Oct. 3, 1946, Poberezny was a little more than six years old when his father, Paul Poberezny, founded EAA in 1953.
While Paul Poberezny led the organization as president from its founding until his retirement in 1989, Tom became an accomplished aviator, serving on the U.S. National Unlimited Aerobatic Team that won the World Championship and flying for 25 years as part of the Eagles Aerobatic Team.
He stepped in as EAA’s second president following the retirement of his father and held that position until 2010. Tom Poberezny added the role of chairman in February 2009 and then chairman emeritus in 2011. While at the helm of EAA, he led the creation of the Young Eagles program that mentors and provides flights to kids between the ages of eight and 17. This program now counts more than two million Young Eagles flights.
While memorial service plans are pending, EAA is planning different commemorations of Poberezny on the airshow grounds this week during AirVenture 2022 to feature his contributions, including a prominent placement for Red 3, the modified Volkswagen Bug that he was frequently spotted driving during the airshow over the years.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pioneer Gevo has closed on the purchase of property in South Dakota that will become Net-Zero 1, its first commercial fuel production facility. The 245-acre site near Lake Preston, which was chosen specifically for factors pertaining to SAF production, was first optioned by the Colorado-based company in 2020.
Gevo expects to break ground on construction in September along with a wind energy project that will provide electricity to the facility. Initial production of SAF is anticipated by 2025 and once at peak operation, the location is expected to deliver 55 million gallons per year.
“After just over 18 months of due diligence at the site, we are excited to commit and move forward,” said Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber. “We are working to bring sustainable agriculture into the solution to capture carbon and catalyze the build-out of wind, renewable hydrogen, and biogas, combined with new paradigms for managing energy.”
Gruber added that the process will enable the transformation of renewable energy and carbon in the form of liquids to anywhere it is needed and can be done on a net-zero greenhouse gas lifecycle basis when all of the parts of the business system are accounted for.
The Saudi Red Crescent Authority and The Helicopter Company, fully owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), have signed an agreement for inauguration of the Saudi Air Ambulance Service in the kingdom. Service has been launched in Riyadh and will expand throughout the kingdom in several phases.
Signed by SRCA president Dr. Jalal bin Mohammed Al Owaisi and The Helicopter Company CEO Arnaud Martinez, the agreement is geared to provide 24/7 air ambulance service covering both site work and hospital transfers. Expanding access to emergency medical care, particularly reducing mortality from traffic injuries, is a key component of Saudi Arabia’s “Kingdom 2030 Vision” initiative.
The Helicopter Company was established by Public Investment Funds in 2019 as the kingdom’s first commercial helicopter operator. The company owns 17 Helicopters to provide air ambulance services, aerial works, tourism, and private transportation. Recently, it signed a purchase agreement for 42 helicopters, the largest purchase in the company’s history. Those orders include 10 Airbus H125 singles signed in 2020 and 20 five-blade H145D3 light twins and six ACH160 medium twins placed in 2021.
Leonardo has inked sales contracts with Xiangjiang General Aviation Development Co. (Xiangjiang GA) and CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co. (COHC) for future helicopter deliveries into China.
Xiangjiang GA will take delivery of an AW139 medium twin and an AW109 Trekker light twin in 2023 and 2024 for air ambulance and aerial firefighting missions in the Hunan province. Hunan, with a population of 66 million, is the first province in China to reform its low-altitude airspace and pioneer public air ambulance service through the establishment of Xiangjiang GA.
COHC's order for four AW139 helicopters will be used for offshore oil and gas production operations. The delivery is expected by the first half of 2023 and will expand the Leonardo fleet operated by the company to 10 helicopters—eight AW139s, one AW169, and one AW109 Power. COHC currently operates more than 80 helicopters for missions including offshore transport, emergency medical service, and utility roles. COHC is also the exclusive helicopter operator for China’s Polar Exploratory Missions.
To date, Leonardo has delivered 40 AW139s and 13 AW109 Trekkers into China and more than 200 helicopters into the country overall.
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