Dassault Converts Falcon 900B for Medical Cargo Duty
Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) completed a passenger-to-cargo conversion of a Falcon 900B in record time recently at Paris-Le Bourget, the Dassault Aviation subsidiary announced this week. Conversion of the company-owned trijet took eight days from receiving the order to getting approval from the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) under a fast-track exemption.
Technicians stripped passenger seating and furnishings and installed equipment in their place to stow and secure freight in the aircraft, which carries capacity for 13.5 cubic meters of cargo or 6,325 pounds (2,884 kg).
Because the conversion involved no major modifications to the Falcon’s access doors or other systems, DFS said the conversion is easily reversible. DFS customer service, engineering, and operating teams participated in the modification. Dassault Aviation provided test and certification resources.
Following conversion, the aircraft has transported fabric to a plant in Eastern Europe for the production of face masks distributed in France, North Africa, and other countries and regions affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to DFS, transporting the materials and masks is faster and more flexible in a business jet than by commercial air cargo or ground transportation.
Airbus E-Delivers New Helicopters to Helitrans
Norway’s Helitrans is the first customer to take delivery of new Airbus helicopters using the OEM’s e-Delivery process devised to comply with Covid-19 health and safety restrictions.
Trondheim-based Helitrans formally accepted two new H125s into its fleet without the need for physical meetings or travel. The e-Delivery system relies on the customer accepting flight-test and inspection findings conducted by authorized Airbus staff in place of their own employees who usually perform those tasks, which include an expanded test flight, video inspection of the helicopter, loose object check, disinfection, and verification of aircraft documentation. Results were presented via online video conference with Airbus representatives, dealer Østnes, and Helitrans, enabling the formal transfer of title to take place. The helicopters were then transported by road to Norway to be received by the customer at Trondheim.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges faced by our customers in the current difficult environment and we are doing all we can to support them, including maintaining scheduled deliveries. At the same time, the health and safety of our employees is our number one priority. Fortunately, we have built a level of trust with key customers over the years that has made this process possible,” said Airbus Helicopters executive v-p of global business Ben Bridge.
Houston Charter Management Providers Merge
Houston, Texas-based aircraft charter and management providers Wing Aviation and Western Airways have merged, with Wing taking on Western’s FAA Part 135 fleet of 10 aircraft, ranging from a Bombardier CRJ-200 to a Beechcraft King Air 200, as well as its charter certificate. The move makes the combined company the largest private aircraft operator in the state, Wing said. The combined entity will be based at the new Galaxy FBO at Houston Hobby.
Western will maintain its FAA Part 145 repair station at Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR), as company CEO Keith Mosing joins Wing’s advisory board. “With Western Airways and Wing working together, we will be able to help leverage each other’s strengths,” said Mosing, adding that his company will focus on its repair capabilities, including support for the Wing-managed aircraft. “We look forward to working with Wing for the mutual benefit of our companies and customers.”
Along with expanding Wing’s fleet, the agreement will expand its footprint in the region with a new office at SGR. “Aircraft owners will benefit from our investment in our management services that has amplified our technology, training, and compliance,” explained Wing CEO Brian Chapman, noting his company’s demand for charter over the past several years has outstripped its aircraft supply. “This merger will quickly expand our fleet and meet the demand of our existing and growing retail clientele.”
New Mexico Airport To Build New Genav Terminal
Belen Regional Airport (BRG) in New Mexico is proceeding with its long-planned new general aviation terminal. Before the current downturn in aviation business due to the Covid-19 crisis, the Albuquerque-area gateway had been seeing an increase in transient business aviation traffic since 2015, when its crosswind runway opened. The city is currently finalizing funding for the new terminal, which will carry a price tag between $5 million and $8 million, according to airport manager John Thompson.
The airport-operated FBO will occupy 4,000 sq ft of the nearly 20,000-sq-ft two-story structure, which will also house the airport’s five-bay aircraft rescue and firefighting station. It will include a passenger lobby and pilots lounge, as well as three a/v-equipped conference/training rooms and a café on the second floor with a shaded observation deck overlooking the runway. The new terminal will replace the current 1,200-sq-ft standalone private aviation facility, which will be retained for tenant use.
The airport, which features a 6,600-foot main runway, expects to break ground on the building by the end of the year, with an eye towards completion by early 2022.
ICAO Air Transport Recovery Report Draws Bizav Praise
While the business aviation community works on a collaborative international approach to health management in operations, industry leaders are welcoming steps taken by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to outline principles and make recommendations for the restart and recovery of the global air transport system. ICAO on Monday released the Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) report providing global guidance for aviation sector recovery.
“We commend ICAO and the task force for developing these principles and recommendations,” said IBAC director-general Kurt Edwards. “Although the report speaks mainly to scheduled air transport and large airports, we at IBAC…are pleased to note the report’s support for protecting people, working as one aviation system, ensuring essential connectivity, and strengthening public confidence using public health measures that work with the aviation system.”
The report comes as IBAC is working with a related ICAO initiative, the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA). “Through CAPSCA, we have expanded the concept of the Public Health Corridor (PHC) to include some critical operational needs of the business aviation sector, such as ferry flights, maintenance flights, and delivery flights to public sector owners,” Edwards said.
GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce agreed, praising the report, adding, “It is crucial that all sectors of the aviation industry work together to progress through the recovery process.”
It’s one thing to have a well-documented safety management system (SMS) within an aviation organization, but it’s another to have SMS ingrained among workers across that organization. That was the topic of a Wyvern webinar Wednesday afternoon presented by Andreas Mauritzson of Southern California-based FBO, MRO, and aircraft charter and management firm Sun Air Jets.
Mauritzson, Sun Air’s business strategy v-p and a former aviation director, stressed that an organization’s SMS must be “lived” by every employee in every department: administration, accounting, sales, maintenance, and operations. That, he said, is how an organization establishes a pattern of behavior where safety is “basically front and center of people’s minds.”
Accomplishing that involves strong communication across all departments, monthly safety meetings for department heads, and incentives for employees to report when they see a safety issue or SMS violation occur. “It’s not something that’s bad if somebody submits an SMS report,” Mauritzson said. “It’s an opportunity [to improve].”
Wyvern senior director of quality and education Andrew Day added that managers must respond quickly to employees reporting a safety issue. “You have to thank them…handle them quickly and over-communicate so [employees] feel like [those reports] are important.”
Mauritzson also recommended frequent but brief written communication within the organization, what he called a “weekly note of awareness,” consisting of an excerpt from the company’s SMS documentation, to reinforce the safety culture.
New Bell Buyers Get Garmin OnePak
Bell is offering buyers of new civil aircraft a free one-year subscription to Garmin OnePak database bundles and the Garmin Pilot app. The offer applies to purchases of new Bell 505, 407GXi, 429, and 412EPX helicopters. It includes Database Concierge, which automatically and wirelessly transfers aviation database information to aircraft avionics using a mobile device running Garmin Pilot. “This is another step to deliver the most technologically equipped aircraft to our operators,” said Bell executive v-p of commercial business Susan Griffin.
OnePak is currently available for all North and South America-based operators. The subscription includes the Garmin helicopter navigation, frequency, basemap, airport directory, FliteCharts, IFR en route, VFR sectional, terrain/obstacles, and SafeTaxi databases and charts.
OnePak also comes with Garmin Pilot, which provides electronic flight bag features that integrate with the Garmin avionics and includes interactive maps, aviation weather, synthetic vision, documents, flight plan filing, georeferenced moving map, and FliteCharts and SafeTaxi. Aviation databases and flight plans can be wirelessly transmitted between the Garmin Pilot app and onboard avionics when the aircraft is equipped with an optional Flight Stream 510 wireless gateway.
SAE’s AeroTech Joins Forces with ASM’s AeroMat
Two major technical organizations, SAE International and ASM International, plan to combine their hallmark aerospace events, AeroTech and AeroMat, beginning in 2022, a move that will double the size of exhibit space and number of technical sessions available to attendees. The initial combined AeroTech and AeroMat conference is scheduled for March 15 to 17, 2022, in Pasadena, California, and will be offered for a single registration fee.
SAE International’s AeroTech event brings together experts from the commercial, military, general aviation, rotorcraft, and unmanned sectors to discuss all facets of aircraft development. This year’s event was held on Tuesday and Wednesday in a virtual format, with presentations from Magnix, Aerion Supersonic, and NASA, among others. The 2021 event is anticipated to be held in traditional face-to-face format March 9 to 11 in Orlando, Florida.
AeroMat, meanwhile, has featured technical information on aerospace industry materials and processes. The event has been held for more than 30 years, but for this year has been revised into AeroMat 2020 Virtual Session that also was held this week. The next full event is scheduled May 24 to 26, 2021, in Quebec City.
AIN is pleased to announce that Karl Elken has been hired as v-p of sales and marketing. Elken comes to AIN with 30 years of diverse media experience in markets ranging from enterprise technology to financial services and brings with him a strong background in developing custom solutions for clients. He will be directly overseeing AIN’s sales, marketing, and audience development efforts. Concurrently, David Leach is moving into the role of COO, with continued oversight over AIN's operations, strategy, and product development. Wilson Leach is continuing in his role as AIN’s co-founder and CEO.
Aviation Marketing Key To Bizav's Post-Covid Opportunities
Bryan Del Monte, founder of The Aviation Agency, said the Covid-19 emergency will continue to hit scheduled airlines hard, while opening up a historic opportunity for business aviation. However, he believes that this opportunity will be missed if companies fail to market themselves effectively.
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