CAE today celebrated the inauguration of its first business aviation training center dedicated to Gulfstream business jets in Savannah, Georgia. Located near Gulfstream Aerospace’s headquarters, the center began operating earlier this year with a G550 full-flight simulator (FFS). The next simulator to come online will be for the G280, anticipated to be ready for training next month.

In all, the center has the capacity for four simulators, also to be offered for the G650 and G500/600 ultra-long-range models.

“Savannah has been home to Gulfstream’s worldwide headquarters for more than 50 years,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns of the inauguration. “I am confident that CAE will reap the same great benefits we’ve received from this welcoming community and, of course, the incredible workforce we have here.”

“The inauguration of the CAE Savannah training center is a significant milestone in terms of the advanced training and customer experience we offer to Gulfstream operators, making it more convenient than ever for their pilots and maintenance technicians to train with CAE,” said CAE president and CEO Marc Parent.

Calling the Savannah facility “a showcase for innovation,” Parent noted that virtual reality will be used in theoretical and practical maintenance training. Further, the training specialist is using its metrics-based insights and telemetry data tool, CAE Rise, during training at the center.

European renewable fuel production pioneer Synhelion has inaugurated DAWN, the world’s first industrial solar fuel plant, in Jülich, Germany.

Founded in 2016 as a spinoff from ETH Zurich, the company has expanded its technology from a mini-refinery on the roof of the public research university in 2019. Synhelion has worked since then to apply its sun-to-liquid process on an industrial scale.

One of the main considerations in the power-to-liquid or eFuels production equation is the need for large amounts of renewable energy to drive the process and further its sustainability and carbon emissions reduction benefits.

The Jülich plant uses a mirror field surrounding a 20-meter (65-foot) solar tower that includes a solar receiver, a thermochemical reactor, and a thermal energy storage unit that allows cost-efficient production 24 hours a day. This pilot plant will produce several thousand liters of synthetic crude oil a year, which can then be processed into a variety of fuels including SAF (sustainable aviation fuel).

Next year, the company expects to begin construction on its first commercial plant, to be located in Spain. It will have an output of around 1,000 tons of fuel annually. Future applications are planned on a larger scale.

“The inauguration of DAWN marks the beginning of the era of solar fuels—a turning point for sustainable transportation,” explained company co-founder and CEO Philipp Furler. 

Farnborough Airport (EGLF) has unveiled its newest hangar facility that increases the aircraft storage capacity at the London-area business aviation hub by 70%. Launched in 2022, the £55 million ($70 million) Domus III project adds 175,000 sq ft of hangar space, bringing the dedicated business aviation airport to 415,000 sq ft of space capable of sheltering the latest ultra-long-range business jets.

Adjacent to EGLF’s two main taxiways, the 300-meter-long (984-foot) four-bay hangar was delivered 18 months after the start of construction, on time, and on budget, including increased ramp space.

It incorporates numerous sustainability features in its design, including an intelligent lighting system with daylight dimming to conserve electricity, translucent automated doors to allow natural light, wide-span door openings to reduce the need for unnecessary aircraft movements, rainwater harvesting, and eco-friendly heating systems.

“Domus III represents a monumental leap forward in aviation hangar technology, setting new standards in the industry with a state-of-the-art facility that not only cements Farnborough Airport’s position as London and the southeast’s premier hub for air connectivity but also reflects our commitment to drive environmental performance across every part of our business,” stated Simon Geere, the airport’s CEO.

The FAA has approved a supplemental type certificate for the installation of Garmin GI 275 electronic flight instruments in the MD Helicopters MD500D/E and MD530F/F Plus, further expanding the Part 27 approvals for the GI 275 series.

The GI 275 is a direct replacement for the helicopters’ original instruments including the attitude indicator, course deviation indicator, and heading and horizontal situation indicators. Installation is simplified: the GI 275 fits in a standard 3.125-inch flight instrument panel hole.

Configured as a primary flight display/attitude indicator, the GI 275 can display Garmin’s optional helicopter synthetic vision technology, which shows 3D topographic terrain, traffic, obstacles, power lines, and airport signposts. Other features include a display of outside air temperature, groundspeed, true airspeed, and wind information. Helicopter terrain awareness and warning system also is available on the GI 275, and it can be paired with Garmin’s GRA 55 or GRA 5500 radar altimeters or select third-party products.

Many multifunction display capabilities are also available with the installation of another GI 275, including a moving map, weather, traffic, obstacles, WireAware power lines, SafeTaxi airport diagrams, and five-color terrain shading. A built-in VFR GPS enables direct-to-navigation guidance, displaying aircraft position information on the moving map.

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Aircraft owners in Australia will soon have access to an expanded government subsidy for installing ADS-B equipment. The first phase of the program that offered a rebate of up to 50% of ADS-B purchase and installation costs for eligible aircraft closed on May 31, but a second round will open next month.

The new round comes after the Australian Government announced in this year’s federal budget that it would provide $3.6 million in additional funding over three years to extend and expand the program. This takes total funding available over the program term to $8.4 million.

Phase 1 of the rebate was aimed at owners of Australian-registered VFR aircraft seeking to fit either integrated ADS-B Out equipment or electronic conspicuity devices such as the SkyEcho II. The second phase is expected to broaden eligibility to include gear that offers ADS-B Out, ADS-B In, or both.

Omni Helicopters Guyana, a subsidiary of Omni Helicopters International, is developing its own helicopter pilots with the selection of two Guyanese citizens and employees to learn to fly helicopters. Somant Heeralal and Yadram Ramcharran will soon begin ab initio training at Hillsboro Aero Academy’s helicopter pilot school in Troutdale, Oregon.

The two trainees will spend 16 months earning their commercial pilot certificates and instrument ratings. The selection process included aptitude, psychological, and medical tests, as well as helicopter underwater escape training.

After graduating from the Hillsboro Aero Academy course, both will gain flight experience with Omni and then move into the company’s larger helicopters used for offshore operations.

“This is an important milestone for [Omni] and the aviation community in Guyana as we welcome Somant and Yadram to our team as Guyana’s first offshore ab initio pilots,” said Duncan Moore, CEO of offshore and onshore international at Omni. “We are confident that their talent, dedication, and passion for aviation will drive them to great things and also be an inspiration to others in Guyana seeking a flying career. Creating new opportunities for our national team remains one of our key priorities and adds to more than half of our workforce who are already from Guyana. We will continue to make these investments in service of the goal of one day having an entirely Guyanese team.”

Global Jet Capital (GJC) saw a continued normalization in the business aircraft market in the first quarter with flight operations and transaction volumes declining year over year, available inventory levels increasing but still low, and OEM backlogs growing.

“As things stand, the industry is well positioned to weather any future economic downturn,” GJC said in its latest Business Aviation Market Brief.

While flight operations were down 2% year over year in the first quarter, they were still 16% above 2019 levels, the industry financier pointed out, “reflecting an enduring expansion of the user base for business aviation.” Fractional was the strongest segment with sustained growth in operations. GJC also noted that new users are continuing to fly privately.

Supply chain and labor issues still hampered new aircraft deliveries, which were slower than expected and caused a decline in transactions. But demand remained high with OEMs reporting a book-to-bill of 1.3:1 in the quarter and backlogs swelling by 4.8% year over year to $46.4 billion (not including Dassault). Orders in the quarter were below the high levels in 2022 but still were 32.4% higher than in the first quarter of 2023.

On the preowned side, available inventory increased in the first quarter, but GJC noted a split between older and younger aircraft. Inventory for older aircraft is growing while remaining relatively stable for three quarters for younger aircraft.

The Colorado Skies Academy has received an official charter authorization from the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), allowing the middle school to continue to offer educational experiences that cultivate student interest in aerospace and STEM fields. The academy is a tuition-free public charter school serving grades six through eight in Englewood, Colorado, with an aerospace-focused curriculum.

“Since 2019, the Colorado Skies Academy has been doing a tremendous job in shaping and opening young minds to the robust opportunities within the aviation industry. We applaud the Colorado Charter School Institute for issuing the charter authorization to the Colorado Skies Academy, which allows the school to continue offering its unique and dynamic education programs. Studies have shown that early exposure to aviation, aerospace, and STEM disciplines helps foster future interest in these fields, and the middle school outreach being done at the Colorado Skies Academy has been exemplary,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.

“As an aircraft manufacturer based in Colorado, we greatly appreciate the work that the Colorado Skies Academy is doing to further youth interest in aviation at the middle school level. They are doing an incredible job getting students excited and knowledgeable about the meaningful and rewarding opportunities the industry has to offer,” said Thomas Bosshard, president and CEO of Pilatus Business Aircraft and member of GAMA’s board of directors.

AIN sister publication Business Jet Traveler has launched its 14th annual Readers’ Choice survey. The poll solicits private aircraft fliers’ opinions about and experiences with flying privately and asks them to rate charter, jet card, and fractional-share providers, membership clubs, aircraft manufacturers and models, and more. All respondents will receive a prepublication copy of the results, be entered into a drawing for a $500 Amazon gift card (gift cards apply to U.S. survey respondents only), and have a donation made on their behalf to Corporate Angel Network. Take this year's survey or view results of the previous Business Jet Traveler reader surveys.