Dassault Falcon 6X Begins Flight Trials

At 2:45 p.m. local time today, Dassault Aviation test pilots Bruno Ferry and Fabrice Vallette pushed the throttles forward and lifted off on the first flight of Falcon 6X S/N 1 from France’s Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport. The inaugural flight launched the flight-test phase of the widebody 6X, Dassault’s newest fly-by-wire flagship. Certification and entry into service are planned for 2022. 

Ferry—in the left seat—and Vallette logged about two hours and 30 minutes during the flight, testing handling qualities, engine response, and key systems while climbing to 40,000 feet and reaching Mach 0.80. “The 6X flew exactly as predicted by our models,” said Ferry.

“Today’s flight is another milestone in Dassault history, made all the more satisfying by the remarkable efforts of the entire Dassault organization and its partners over the challenging past year,” said Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. “We dedicate today’s achievement to Olivier Dassault, who died tragically on Sunday. Olivier was a Falcon pilot who perfectly embodied his family’s boundless passion for aviation.”

Following today’s first flight, S/N 1 will fly to Dassault’s test center at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base near Marseilles to continue the flight-test program. It will be joined by S/Ns 2 and 3 “in the coming months,” according to Dassault.

Air Force Awards Gulfstream $696M in Support Contracts

Gulfstream Aerospace has been awarded $696 million in contracts to support the fleet of C-20G (GIV), C-37A (GV), and C-37B (G550) aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. The $612 million engineering services contract (ESC) is a 10-year renewal of a previous ESC while an $84 million contractor logistics support (CLS) contract is the fourth-year option of an existing CLS contract.

Through the ESC contract, Gulfstream’s government program and special missions office will provide engineering services, aircraft modifications, configuration management, data delivery, and publication management. Gulfstream’s customer support organization will provide field services and technical operations support.

“Gulfstream is grateful for the continued confidence the U.S. government has in our program,” said Gulfstream senior v-p of government programs and sales Leda Chong. “What started as an engineering services contract for nine C-20 U.S. Air Force aircraft 20 years ago has evolved into a support contract for a 23-aircraft fleet.”

Awarding of the contracts was made by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

EBAA Calls for Cooperation for Ops between EU, UK

The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) issued an urgent call for national authorities to eliminate administrative barriers for operations between the UK and European Union states, saying this would benefit all involved. Under the framework of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK government permitted EU operators to exercise Third and Fourth Freedom rights, allowing flights to and from the UK. However, UK operators are finding that those freedoms are not being reciprocated by a number of EU countries.

Meanwhile, the Block Permit Scheme that the UK has put into place is time-limited and placed on the condition of reciprocity, EBAA said, adding it fears that if no further cooperation and bilateral agreements follow shortly, “business  aviation operators flying under the new Third Country Operator status will be heavily hampered in their ability to perform last-minute flights from the UK to the EU.”

“Given the amount of work invested by all parties involved in Brexit, it is unacceptable that industry and society alike have to operate with uncertainty for the future,” said EBAA Secretary-General Athar Husain Khan. “All national authorities should cooperate for the benefit of all.”

A lack of cooperation would be particularly detrimental given the unprecedented challenges the industry already is facing with the Covid-19 crises, the association further stated.

West Star Notches AFAC Approvals in Houston, East Alton

West Star Aviation recently obtained Mexican Civil Aviation Federal Agency (AFAC) repair station recertification for its facilities in East Alton, Illinois, and Houston. The recent approval replaces the certification originally issued by the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority in Mexico (DGAC) providing for safety and certification continuity between the FAA and Mexican aviation authorities, West Star said.

Mexico in late 2019 had announced that AFAC would replace DGAC. While most of the DGAC officials moved over to AFAC, the move established an autonomous agency with its own budget.

“The extended certification will aid our customers at both of these strategic locations and provide our customers with additional service opportunities as needed,” said Santiago Carol, West Star's regional sales manager for Mexico and Latin America.

West Star also has Mexican AFAC approval for its repair stations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Grand Junction, Colorado. East Alton, Chattanooga, and Grand Junction are major MRO centers for West Star, joining its fourth primary facility in Perryville, Missouri. Its Houston location is a satellite facility. In addition, West Star operates satellite bases in Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, and Aspen, Colorado.

Piaggio Draws Offers from Four Entities

The field of bidders for Piaggio Aerospace has narrowed again, with four entities filing non-binding offers by the March 5 deadline. After weighing expressions of interest from 19 potential bidders for Piaggio, the Italian Ministry for Economic Development late last month had extended invitations to five entities from three continents to submit offers.

Piaggio Aerospace commissioner Vincenzo Nicastro will assess the offers and send the analysis to the Ministry for Economic Development to determine the strongest bidder. Negotiations will then begin with that organization. Officials estimated that the negotiating period would last about a month before an irrevocable and binding offer is finalized.

“We have received a wide range of proposals,” said Nicastro. “Now the most delicate stage begins, which I hope will lead to identifying the best solution in the interest of Piaggio Aerospace, its employees, as well as the company’s creditors.”

Piaggio Aerospace, which employs 940 people and produces the nine-seat Avanti Evo twin-turboprop, entered extraordinary receivership in late 2018. Nicastro confirmed last month that the manufacturer is carrying forward its production and commercial plans with new orders near signing.

C&L Launches Aircraft Maintenance Apprenticeships

Regional and business jet MRO group C&L Aviation Services will launch an aircraft maintenance apprenticeship program in April, following its registration with the U.S. Department of Labor. Students accepted into the program will be paid as apprentices while receiving on-the-job training aimed at preparing them to sit for FAA Airframe and Powerplant certification examination.

“We have seen a lot of growth here in the past few years and it is a really exciting time to launch our newly registered apprenticeship program,” said C&L Aviation Group recruiting manager Valerie Byers. “We have a great group of employees here at C&L, and their ability to pass on their years of knowledge and experience to the next generation is an incredible advantage to those who will enter the program.”

C&L will start its first class with six students, followed by a second class of six beginning this fall. Apprentices will work and receive their instruction at C&L’s 200,000-sq-ft MRO facility in Bangor, Maine.

SmartSky Grows Patent Portfolio as Service Launch Looms

SmartSky Networks has now amassed more than 200 granted patents as the company prepares for commercial launch of its air-to-ground broadband connectivity service by November, according to CEO Dave Helfgott. These patents cover the company’s network architecture, including its beam-forming technology and seamless handover capability that are key to its service, as well as those for hardware, digital solutions, and “future technology,” he said.

While acknowledging the company missed previous estimates for service launch, Helfgott told AIN that he has righted the ship since he joined in October, retiring all risk and fixing a supplier issue. “The network is now built out and the last piece of network hardware upgrades—radio heads—are slated to be installed this summer. We’ll also have a network software upgrade completed before June.”

He also said that its three data centers are up and running, while an 11-site corridor with the new radio heads installed on transmitting towers in Florida will begin final testing next month. Following these tests, the new radio heads will be rolled out to its full network, paving the way for commercial service to begin.

According to Helfgott, SmartSky has STCs for antenna and hardware installations in several midsize and large-cabin business jet models and will expand this effort to include more business aircraft, including light jets and turboprops.

Stevens Aerospace Named Authorized Prizm LED Installer

Stevens Aerospace’s MRO facilities in Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee have been designated as authorized installation centers for Prizm LED cabin lighting systems. The full-color lighting system can be used throughout an aircraft cabin—including in the galley, lavatory, and cupholders—and controlled in several ways, such as through a mobile app or existing cabin lighting controls.

“Not only does the Prizm lighting system give owner-operators control of colors and zones at a very affordable price, but the cost of ownership over the years will also be considerably less because LED technology lasts 10 to 15 times longer than the more expensive fluorescent tubes,” said Stevens sales and marketing director Phil Stearns.

Stearns added the system is adaptable to both new and older airframes. “We’re excited about providing this type of amenity, previously only available on very high-end aircraft, to owner-operators of almost any turbine-powered aircraft,” he said.

Overcoming Avionics Obsolescence in Legacy Business Jets

Airplanes are built to fly for decades and ideally, a well-maintained airplane will provide many years of safe and reliable service. However, the longer an airplane flies, it’s inevitable that the avionics will need to be upgraded. With fast-moving technology, required safety mandates, and parts obsolescence, compliance with regulatory standards and overcoming technology barriers can be challenging for legacy jet owners and operators. Join us for this free webinar on April 19th as we discuss avionics obsolescence in the legacy business jet market and the proactive approach avionics manufacturers are taking to make retrofit upgrades more affordable and manageable.