Gulfstream is nearing the end of the line for its workhorse G550 with the announcement that it has taken the last order for the ultra-long-range twinjet. Ending what will be an 18-year production run, the final version will be delivered to a customer in 2021.
After a program launch in 2000, the G550 entered service in 2003 with the debut of the airframer’s PlaneView flight deck, and its design team earned that year’s Robert J. Collier Trophy for its technological innovations and safety enhancements. The G550 has since been supplanted in the company's product lineup by the G600, which entered service last year.
“The G550 set the standard for subsequent aircraft and the industry,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “With more than 600 in service, the G550 has earned its place as a leader in business aviation.” With a range of 6,750 nm and high altitude capabilities, the up-to-19-passenger aircraft also saw use as a special mission platform.
Burns added that despite the end of the production run, product support for the aircraft will continue unabated at the more than 30 company-owned and factory-authorized service centers around the world.
Yingling Aviation Finds Growth Following MRO Expansion
The addition of a 23,000-sq-ft maintenance hangar and paint facility has proven to be a timely and beneficial expansion for Yingling Aviation, an independent FBO and MRO provider at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport. Part of a Yingling expansion project, the new hangar and paint facility that’s housed within the 50,000-sq-ft former Hawker Beechcraft Services complex has helped to drive more maintenance work, especially larger projects on Cessna Citations.
“Our momentum has been excellent,” added Jerry Pickett, Yingling v-p of business development. “Word is out that we are a new contender for all Citation work up through the Sovereign+.” To underscore that point, the company recently accepted what Pickett explained are its two largest Citation projects to date, requiring Yingling to separate the fuselages of a CJ3 and an Excel from their wings.
Pickett said the new hangar is helping to boost the company’s Citation work because of the extra capacity. As a result, Yingling has added 15 more A&Ps and avionics technicians. The company also hired 10 employees for its new paint operation. Open for about a year, Nichols and Pickett estimated that about 50 airplanes have come through the paint shop.
The additional maintenance and painting projects have helped to blunt Yingling’s fuel sales and parts distribution businesses affected by a drop in business because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Citi Equity Research said business jet traffic continues to improve, pointing to FlightAware data showing that the number of U.S. flights on Sunday had fallen by only about 12 percent year-over-year. For the seven days ending June 14, business jet flying was down 22.6 percent, according to FlightAware. The post-Covid recovery is notable because the U.S. represents about 80 percent of global business jet traffic, said Citi Equity Research aerospace analyst Jonathon Raviv.
“This improvement is in line with positive rhetoric from our call last week with the CEO of Signature Aviation,” Raviv noted. During that call, Signature chief Mark Johnstone said he expects business aviation to have a continuing and stronger recovery versus the airlines but still predicts the second half to be down from last year.
Raviv said more wealthy individuals appear to be flying, but added that business travel has been slightly slower to rebound. “Undoubtedly, the business jet product has become more differentiated, with flight processing times unchanged and hygiene measures more easily introduced,” he said. “This has attracted some new users.”
According to Raviv, business jet use could also rise post-Covid, citing the fact that some companies are already making their business jets available to less senior executives. “Combined with the propensity to stay away from airports and lower charter rates, these factors could push up utilization,” he concluded.
Tamarack Waives Winglet Install Fee To Boost Sales
Tamarack Aerospace Group is temporarily waiving the installation fee for its Atlas active winglets on Cessna CitationJets, the Sandpoint, Idaho manufacturer announced earlier this week. The discount is a response to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and will be available through the end of June, according to Tamarack officials.
“We are proud to help our valued customers during this time of economic strain,” said Tamarack president Jacob Klinginsmith. “Temporarily eliminating the $42,000 installation fee has allowed seven customers and counting to experience the groundbreaking benefits of our active winglet technology.”
So far, owners and operators of two CJs, two CJ1s, two CJ2s, and one CJ3 have used the discount. The group's Tamarack Partners companies that install the Atlas system are also taking advantage of the discount to boost their sales activity. Continued support from customers over the spring has helped to keep Tamarack’s sales services and supply chains operating, the company noted.
NATA Webinar Addresses Range of Charter Industry Issues
Illegal charters, new users of charter, insurance issues for Part 135 operators, and Covid-19 policies and procedures were among the topics discussed this morning during a nearly hour-long webinar entitled “NATA Air Charter Roundtable: Forging Ahead.” In terms of flight activity for operators and providers, participants noted steadily increasing demand for Part 135 flights, accounting for between 40 percent and 60 percent of the flying volume they saw the same time a year ago.
Some of those flights are being filled by passengers new to charter, operators said, although it’s not clear yet whether they will be repeat charter customers moving forward. “In our pilot feedback surveys, I’m seeing comments…that it was the people’s first time on a private jet [and] they loved the experience,” a webinar participant said. “So a lot of these I believe are new entrants to the market. Hopefully, they stay with us.”
Operators and providers reported that they are taking Covid-19 precautions such as requiring crews to wear personal protective equipment such as masks, disinfecting aircraft between flights, and having passengers submit preflight health questionnaires. In some instances, passengers are also being asked to bring their own snacks and drinks for their flights.
NATA senior v-p Ryan Waguespack also updated participants on activities regarding illegal charters, noting the FAA has “amped up” its efforts to raise awareness.
James Moon is launching TailHail, a new charter brokerage that will offer membership-based access to charter business jets. The genesis of TailHail stems from UK-based Moon’s visit to the U.S. last year, where he was doing some work for a charter company.
“I realized they were stuck in the early 2000s from a technology perspective,” he said, adding that he felt that he could build a business that will help operators fly their aircraft more, deliver improved service and more reasonable prices, and provide flight-sharing capability.
This year, after proposing the concept to charter operators in the UK, Moon raised capital from angel investors to begin the process of launching TailHail. Even before the formal launch, he said he has received dozens of charter requests. The plan was initially to serve the UK and European markets, but strong interest from the U.S., both from potential customers and operators, makes that market worth pursuing sooner.
Moon believes that the timing for launching TailHail fits perfectly with a growing interest in chartering by wealthy people who don’t want to fly on airlines during the coronavirus pandemic. “It could be an attractive alternative,” he said.
Leonardo has received EASA certification for the super-medium twin AW189K, a variant developed with a pair of Safran Aneto 1K engines. The 2,500-shp engines themselves received EASA approval late last year following a flight-test campaign that began in 2017.
They offer 25 percent more power and improved high-hot performance than the standard AW189 engines, the GE CT7-2E1, enabling the helicopter to operate to a ceiling of 15,000 feet, one-third higher, than the stock engines, and increasing maximum takeoff and landing altitudes to 14,000 feet, a 6,000-foot increase. Safran said the -1K’s maintenance regime has been optimized with fewer scheduled tasks and longer service intervals, connected features including health monitoring, and full compatibility with Boost, Safran’s online engine configuration, and maintenance management service.
Qatar’s Gulf Helicopters is the launch customer for the AW189K, which is not currently approved for operations in icing conditions. Gulf Helicopters currently operates five of the more than 70 AW189s in service worldwide. Deliveries of the AW189K will begin next year.
Subsequent to the development of the Aneto 1K, GE increased the service ceiling for CT7-2E1 engines on AW189 aircraft equipped with the core avionics phase 5.0 software release (or later) and the altitude extension kit to 15,000 feet.
Precise Flight Expands Bird Strike System STC
Precise Flight of Bend, Oregon, has expanded its STC for the Pulselite Bird Strike Prevention System to include Bell 429 and 505 helicopters. A lightweight electrical system controller that alternatively pulses the landing and auxiliary lights of a helicopter, the Pulselite system is FAA certified and designed to increase visibility and reflect the speed and direction of a helicopter.
Pulselite currently is installed on more than 30,000 aircraft worldwide and is certified for most rotorcraft models. “Precise Flight is excited to expand the Pulselite System STC to support the Bell 429 and 505 variations, and we will continue to invest in the Pulselite STC to ensure this critical safety system is available to Bell’s growing customer base around the world,” said Precise Flight CEO Doug La Placa.
In addition to Pulselite, the company offers LED and HID lighting systems, fixed and portable oxygen systems, and speed brakes.
Air Charter Operators Face Covid Market Uncertainty
The Air Charter Association is trying to help operators, brokers, and the wider support industry deal with the severe market disruption caused by Covid-19, according to CEO Dave Edwards. At the same time, unresolved negotiations over the Brexit transition period are adding to the uncertainty, and the fight to prevent illegal charter flights continues, he said.
Requires disconnecting and removing the headset amplifier and microphone interface circuit card assemblies for the 3.5 mm audio and microphone jacks. Prompted by a cabin fire incident that occurred during ground operations where the operator observed smoke exiting from behind the right sidewall interior panel.
Model(s): 205A, 205A-1, 205B, 212, 412, 412CF, and 412EP
Published: June 11, 2020
Effective: July 16, 2020
Supersedes but retains requirements of AD 2011-12-08, which mandated a one-time inspection of the tail rotor blade for corrosion and pitting. New AD excludes certain tail rotor blades from the applicability. Prompted by new manufacturing and inspection procedures implemented by Bell that correct the unsafe condition on more recently manufactured tail rotor blades.
Requires replacing the nose wheel steering servo valve manifold, incorporating revised operating procedures into the airplane flight manual, doing a records inspection for any incidents of uncommanded nose wheel steering turns, and reporting the results to the FAA. Prompted by reports of uncommanded nose wheel steering turns.
Supersedes AD 2011-20-01, which required replacing the bolts that attach the balance mass weights to the elevator structure. Updated AD requires inspections of the mass-balance weights of the elevators, ailerons, and rudder (flight control surfaces) and their attachment parts and any necessary corrective actions, as well as revising the airworthiness limitation section of the existing maintenance manual or instructions for continued airworthiness to incorporate new airworthiness limitations. It also adds airplanes to the applicability. Prompted by reports of corrosion in the mass-balance weights of the flight control surfaces.
Requires revising the airplane flight manual to provide the flight crew with procedures to stabilize the airplane's airspeed and attitude. Prompted by reports of the loss of all air data system information provided to the flight crew caused by icing at high altitudes.
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