NBAA Initiative Strives To Put ‘BizAv Back to Work’
NBAA is rolling out an initiative called “BizAv Back to Work” to provide resources to help business aviation reopen and facilitate the return of the workforce that has been shaken during the Covid-19 pandemic.
BizAv Back to Work will expand on the association’s existing employment services by providing members with free 30- or 60-day postings on its jobs board, Business Aviation Jobs, through August 31. In addition, NBAA will provide a regularly updated listing of positions available in the NBAA Insider Daily news service and in biweekly Job Flash reports. Further, job seekers can submit their resumes to the jobs board for review and inclusion in the searchable bank for free.
The BizAv Back to Work initiative also will involve the development of tips and tools for those seeking employment that will appear in various NBAA outlets, including NBAA News Hour, NBAA Flight Plan, and Business Aviation Insider. Along with this, NBAA is planning a Virtual Career Fair on August 12, and it said details will be released in upcoming weeks.
The association noted that recent surveys have highlighted that job security is now among the top concerns of its members and said BizAv Back to Work was packaged to help address that.
Garmin’s G1000 NXi upgrade is now available for the Embraer Phenom 300. The upgrade to the aircraft’s Prodigy flight deck adds faster processors to the system’s displays, enabling many new features such as split-screens on the multifunction display and faster map panning.
Among other new features are wireless connectivity for database updates and two-way flight plan transfer, as well as sharing GPS and backup attitude information with mobile devices running apps such as Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go, and ForeFlight.
G1000 NXi also adds the HSI map with overlay options, including weather, traffic, and terrain; SurfaceWatch runway monitoring to help pilots avoid using the wrong runway or one that is too short; and visual approach guidance, which gives a stabilized glidepath to the runway end. Sectional and IFR low/high en route charts are now available on the flight displays along with Smart Airspace, which “highlights the airspace nearest the aircraft’s current altitude and de-emphasizes non-pertinent airspace,” according to Garmin.
Customers upgrading their Phenom 300s to the G1000 NXi can also add the optional GWX 75 solid-state Doppler weather radar, which offers long-range capability and a high-definition color palette.
VistaJet Equips Fleet with Telemedicine
To better safeguard customers and staff, charter provider VistaJet is now including RDT's Tempus IC2 health monitors aboard its entire private jet fleet. The telemedicine devices allow flight crew to measure and transmit vital clinical data and images, along with real-time voice and video, to medical assessment provider MedAire’s 24/7 ground center.
“The parameters available when taking a Tempus call are essentially the same as those one would have in most emergency rooms,” explained Dr. Paulo Alves, MedAire’s global medical director. “Tempus IC2 is invaluable when remotely managing a medical situation because it gives MedAire’s MedLink doctors the clinical-quality data needed to make a better diagnostic impression.”
In addition to diagnosing in-air medical situations, MedAire can also assist the ill person with obtaining further medical care or prescription medication at the aircraft’s final destination. Should the person require urgent treatment not available onboard, VistaJet’s operations team can also be informed to change the flight path or final destination.
“VistaJet crew now have even more resources to give them and passengers complete peace of mind with every flight,” said company founder and chairman Thomas Flohr. “The information from the monitor is seamlessly and confidentially shared with the ground-based medical experts,” adding it is the next best thing to having a doctor by their side.
ASTM Approves New Sustainable Jet Fuel Process
ASTM International, the standards body that assures the testing and safety of any new fuel product, has approved a new alternative jet fuel production pathway, bringing the total available to seven.
The new process proposed by California-based Fulcrum BioEnergy involves the use of a synthetic crude oil derived from municipal waste, which can be co-processed with petroleum at the refinery level. The latest approval moves the inclusion of sustainable alternative fuel (SAF) further upstream in the process and will allow any standard petroleum refinery to be able to use the synthetic crude oil along with regular crude oil. Most previous alternative jet fuel processes involved blending a refined SAF with conventional Jet-A at the refinery gate.
Fulcrum pioneered a process that involves the use of a Fisher-Tropsch reactor to transform household trash such as otherwise unrecyclable food-contaminated cardboard, paper, and textiles, into a gas. The gas is then converted into a waxy material similar to petroleum, but which doesn’t contain the sulfur, metals, or other contaminants that can be found in normal petroleum.
The announcement of the approval comes as a boost to Fulcrum, which is constructing a Sierra BioFuels plant outside of Reno, Nevada. It is expected to become operational later this year and process 175,000 tons of municipal solid waste into 11 million gallons of synthetic crude oil a year.
Congressmen Continue Push for Safer Helo Fuel Tanks
Two Colorado congressman are continuing to push for mandatory crash-resistant fuel systems (CRFS) in all helicopter air ambulances. Reps. Joe Neguse and Ed Perlmutter, both Democrats, renewed their call for their colleagues to pass Safe Helicopters Now Act, which provides operators who install the safer fuel systems with offsetting tax credits. Those systems are already required in new-production helicopters effective April 5, 2020, under the provisions of the 2018 FAA reauthorization act.
The congressmen introduced their bill last year at the beginning of the current congressional session and made their latest appeal on the fifth anniversary of the July 3, 2015 crash of an Air Methods Airbus AS350B3e shortly after takeoff from the Summit Medical Center Heliport in Frisco, Colorado. The pilot died as the result of his injuries and the two flight nurses were severely injured—one sustained burns over 90 percent of his body. While the NTSB faulted features of the aircraft’s hydraulic system and the pilot’s actions as the probable cause of the accident, it found the aircraft’s lack of a CRFS contributed to the severity of the injuries by feeding a post-crash fire.
Air Methods began flying its Airbus singles fleet with retrofitted CRFSs in 2018. Airbus Helicopters has offered a retrofit CRFS service bulletin for the H125/AS350B3e since 2016 and will also make it available for AS350B3 and EC130B4 models this year.
MRO provider Constant Aviation this week extended its lease at Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB) in Florida. Cleveland, Ohio-based Constant took over the facility after acquiring StarPort three years ago and has since added nearly 35,000 sq ft and invested more than $2 million in the site.
The new agreement extends its lease at SFB by eight years, through the end of this decade. “We have really benefitted from the traffic here at Orlando Sanford,” said Constant Aviation chief operating officer Kevin Dillon. “At any given time, we have close to 20 in-work aircraft packed in our hangars and on the ramp. That’s because Florida is one of the busiest states for private travel for both business and pleasure, and our Orlando Sanford location is perfectly situated in the middle of it all.”
Today, the company operates from five hangars comprising nearly 110,000 sq ft, which includes paint and interior modification facilities. It also has expanded the site’s airframe capabilities from Bombardier, Dassault, Hawker, and Beechjet lines to include Cessna Citation, Embraer, and Gulfstream jets. “The diversification of aircraft has opened up many opportunities for us in Florida and the Southeast, and it has introduced Constant Aviation to a broader group of owners and operators,” Dillon added.
Textron Aviation To Supply Greece with Air Ambulances
Textron Aviation has been selected to supply two Beechcraft King Air 350Cs for air ambulance missions in Greece. The special mission-configured turboprop twins will be owned by Greece’s Ministry of Health and maintained and operated by the Hellenic Air Force.
Equipped with a large cargo door, each King Air 350C will include a Spectrum Aeromed dual stretcher system that will accommodate bariatric patients and incubators, which are raised and lowered by electrically powered loading devices. In addition, the cabins will feature medical cabinets, oxygen, overhead lighting, equipment mounts, stowaway tables, and adjustable seats.
“The King Air 350 aircraft combines proven performance with innovative cockpit technology and an easily accessible cabin, making it an ideal medevac platform for the Ministry of Health of Greece,” said Textron Aviation special mission sales v-p Bob Gibbs. “With the turboprop’s impressive short-field capabilities and custom-built medical interior, the Ministry of Health and its operating partners will be able to serve an enduring mission throughout Greece.”
Tim Rolfe Takes Over as CEO of HeliOffshore
Offshore helicopter safety association HeliOffshore has appointed Tim Rolfe as its CEO. For the past 30 years, Rolfe has worked for Bristow Helicopters, starting as a helicopter pilot and rising to the position of director of safety for the EAMEA region and global safety assurance.
Rolfe succeeds Gretchen Haskins, who stepped down as CEO at the end of April and has remained a board member of the group, which leads a collaborative effort among helicopter operators, manufacturers, and support companies to enhance safety performance. François Lassale is remaining HeliOffshore’s COO.
“Tim was a core founder member of HeliOffshore, co-leads our operational effectiveness workstream, and was commended for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Offshore Helicopter Safety’ at HeliOffshore’s conference in 2018,” noted HeliOffshore chairman Bill Chiles. “Tim’s passionate dedication to safety is evident to all who know him. I am confident he will lead HeliOffshore through the current industry challenges to a stronger, safer future for all involved in offshore aviation.”
Count on AIN for Full Coverage of FIA Connect
You can count on AIN for full coverage of FIA Connect 2020 in two weeks. Our team will publish a flip-through, digital Mid-Year Aerospace and Air Transport Report on July 23, and we will also have comprehensive real-time reporting of all the top news at AINonline and in special daily e-newsletters on July 20, 21, 22, and 23. If you are an exhibiting company that wants to share news or propose pre-show interviews and briefings, please contact show editor Gregory Polek.
People in Aviation
Jennifer Pickerel was promoted to v-p at Aviation Personnel International (API). Pickerel, who will manage day-to-day operations and oversee strategic initiatives, most recently was director of client and candidate services at API and also has held a number of other roles at MedAire.
Rob Burch joined Professional Aviation Associates as a regional sales manager, working with customers in the Northeast and Southwest regions. He has 15 years of aviation experience, most recently as director of sales for Avgroup and before that as a sales associate for Global Parts.
AeroParts Now appointed Forefront Aerospace Services president Robert Bial to its customer advisory board. Bial brings 30 years of aviation and part manufacturing leadership experience to the board.
Western Aircraft hired Randy Miller as a regional sales manager. Miller brings more than 25 years of corporate aviation sales experience to his new role, previously working for companies such as Textron Aviation, StandardAero, and, most recently, Constant Aviation.
DRA and sister company 328 Support Services named Jose Costas v-p of aircraft sales. Costas has 20 years of global aviation industry experience, most recently holding senior roles with Embraer’s commercial and executive jets businesses.
Mint Turbines added Jason Chambers as a regional sales manager for the eastern U.S. Chambers has 30 years of aviation experience, including serving as a customer program management, general manager, AOG technician, and engine manager for Part 135, Part 145, and OEM operations.
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