Textron Aviation Unveils King Air Ground Cooling STC

A new STC from Textron Aviation enables Beechcraft King Air 200- and 300-series owners and operators to provide flood cooling into the cabin before departure without using power from the twin turboprop’s engines. Cooling is provided by a vapor cycle system using an evaporator/blower unit mounted to the forward side of the aft pressure bulkhead, a compressor/condenser installed in the aft fuselage, and a dedicated ground power unit (GPU) receptacle installed on the belly of the aft fuselage. 

Seamech International is the supplier of the system, which weighs about 60 pounds and is isolated from the aircraft electrical and environmental control systems. Specific pricing is less than $50,000 fly-away and depends on aircraft configuration.

"Aircraft cabins often become heat soaked while waiting on the ground or in the hangar prior to departure and we are proud to offer a solution to this by enabling operators to easily cool their aircraft without anyone needing to be on board,” said Textron Aviation senior v-p of customer support Brian Rohloff. A competing air and ground cooling system using a 220-volt plug instead of a GPU was previously evaluated, but the Wichita airframer told AIN it is “confident this is the right product to offer our customers” based on system performance, reliability, and price. It is available for installation exclusively at Textron Aviation service centers.

Florida Airport First To Install LED Rotating Beacon

Florida’s Boca Raton Airport (BCT) is the first in the country to install a Hali-Brite LED rotating beacon, the first navigation aid of its kind to receive FAA approval for use at public airports. The new beacon, which became operational last week at the dedicated general aviation gateway, provides a higher light output than conventional metal halide rotating beacons, at one quarter the energy required—about the same as needed for two 100 watt light bulbs. The LEDs will last for a dozen years before they need replacing.

In addition, the LED technology offers a more focused light beam, cutting down on light pollution with less diffusion into the sky and down on neighborhoods. At civil airports such as BCT, the beacon will produce alternate clear and green flashes of light visible to pilots aloft.

“Upgrading the rotating beacon to LED offers numerous benefits, and is in keeping with the Boca Raton Airport Authority's goal to enhance safety and implement cost-efficient, energy-saving measures,” noted Clara Bennett, the authority's executive director.

Global Jet Capital Closes Fifth Securitization

Business aircraft financial solutions provider Global Jet Capital (GJC) has closed its fifth asset-backed securitization (ABS), with the BJETS 2021-1 ABS that closed yesterday adding $663 million to its securitized assets. This brings its total to more than $3.6 billion, not including the more than $2.9 billion GJC also issued in bonds.

Global Jet Capital’s focus on financing and leasing super-midsize and large-cabin business jets less than 10 years old—and preferably less than five—is paying off, according to CEO Shawn Vick. “There is an addressable market in these categories of $12 to $14 billion,” he said, “and our ability to underwrite $500 to $800 million means there is ample opportunity, and we can be highly selective.”  

The business aviation market that the company serves has been highly resilient during the Covid pandemic, Vick added. “The issue of health security has come to the forefront in addition to the numerous benefits like having access and what [business aviation] provides in terms of utility and security. This will be the new normal, and business aviation will be highly valued going forward.”

The three tranches that made up the BJETS 2021-1 offering were all oversubscribed, Global Jet Capital said. The Class A tranche was for $538.3 million, Class B $78 million, and Class C $46.8 million. Morgan Stanley was the lead structuring agent and bookrunner for this ABS.

New SkyNet System Aims To Prevent Wrong Landings

SkyNet Aviation has developed an artificial-intelligence-enabled, ground-based system designed to prevent around-the-clock wrong deck landings (WDL) and wrong surface landings (WSL). SkyNet’s Reach LASAW (landing, approach, surveillance, warning) is aimed at heliport and airport operators and detects any aircraft in a landing configuration, tracks its approach, and automatically triggers a series of alarms in the instance of potential WDLs and WSLs.

Using ground-based ADS-B, the system accesses position updates broadcast from aircraft up to twice per second, offering position and high-speed computing algorithms to determine if a potential landing conflict is likely, according to the Brisbane, Australia aviation technology company. It can monitor up to 500 aircraft, has a detection range of up to 260 nm, and delivers a pre-landing notification at 10 nm.

“This is a real industry gamechanger,” said SkyNet founder and CEO Jon Davis. “LASAW will have a major impact on the prevention of this very significant safety issue.”

New Million Air location open in El Paso (ELP)

Expected to set the bar for the region, Million Air opened a new state-of-the-art FBO at El Paso International Airport.

AirSprint Promotes Elian to CEO, Williams to COO

AirSprint Private Aviation has expanded the roles of its senior leadership as the Canadian fractional ownership provider continues to expand. James Elian has added the title of CEO in addition to his duties as president. Elian, who has served as president since 2015 and has been with the company for 20 years, will continue to implement the company’s strategic plans and lead its daily operations.

“James's contributions have been fundamental to the overall success of AirSprint—which today operates Canada's largest and North America's newest fleet of fractional aircraft,” the company said.

Jared Williams, meanwhile, is now COO in addition to his previous responsibilities as v-p of operations. Williams, who joined AirSprint in 2017 and has more than 20 years of business aviation experience, is responsible for safety, asset and fleet efficiency, regulatory compliance, operational reliability, and owner experience.

Judson Macor, who founded AirSprint in 2000, remains chairman. “Who we are today is in great part a piece of where we came from, and I am indebted to all those who drove a startup company into Canada's leading private fractional ownership company,” Macor said. He credited the AirSprint team for enhancing “our safety and service culture over the past year—during an unprecedented time."

Based in Toronto, AirSprint operates a fleet of Embraer Praetor 500s and Legacy 450s, along with Cessna Citation CJ3+s and CJ2+s.

FAA Extends Comment Period on Noise Research

The FAA extended the comment period for the existing noise research portfolio until April 14, providing additional time for stakeholders to review the results of its Neighborhood Environmental Survey and other areas recommended for investigation.

In January, the FAA opened the docket for comments, saying its research projects could be used to help shape future noise policy such as a revised use of the Day-Night Average Sound Level (DNL). But the agency said it would not make any determinations until it has considered public and stakeholder input and completed any additional necessary research.

The Neighborhood Environmental Survey, a multi-year research effort to gain a better understanding of community response to noise, drew responses from more than 10,000 people living near 20 airports across the country and showed an increased level of reported annoyance due to aircraft noise, the FAA said.

Addressing this concern will require increased collaboration with all stakeholders, the FAA noted. This survey data and the other research related to noise abatement will be used to guide the FAA’s approach to noise exposure and ensuring the well-being of people living near airports. The increased annoyance reports come despite the fact that the number of Americans exposed to significant aviation noise near airports has been reduced by 94 percent over the last four decades.

FlightAware, Synoptic Team on Mode-S Weather Data

Flight tracking company FlightAware and weather data aggregator Synoptic Data are partnering to deliver real-time Mode-S-derived aircraft weather data via Synoptic’s API services. Under the deal, Synoptic is expanding its aircraft-based observations offering by leveraging FlightAware’s historical and predictive aviation information platform—dubbed Firehose—to deliver globally derived temperature and winds aloft data.

By using Mode-S-derived weather data from tens of thousands of flights daily across the globe, Synoptic provides enhanced vertical weather profile information to improve weather forecast accuracy. This increases the amount of available aircraft weather data by as much as 400 percent in some situations, according to Synoptic.

In addition to direct use in aviation operations, weather data collected from aircraft provides important inputs to both global and regional numerical weather predictions (NWP). Thus, the additional FlightAware Mode-S-derived data going to Synoptic will help to increase weather model accuracy and ultimately lead to better forecasts.

“The drop in air travel due to Covid has dramatically reduced the volume of critical airborne observations worldwide, impacting NWP weather forecast accuracy by as much as 30 percent,” said Synoptic president Steve Woll. “This partnership provides an important additional source of vertical wind and temperature data that will have a direct impact on NWP performance, improving weather forecasts and, by extension, improving operational efficiency for all weather-impacted businesses.”

Obit: Gary Hodak Spent Decades as Avionics Specialist

Gary Hodak, a long-time avionics and completions specialist who served with Associated Air Center and King Aerospace, passed away recently in Dallas from Alzheimer’s at the age of 69.

Born April 27, 1951, in Riga, Russia, his family immigrated to Israel while he was still a boy. He received his aeronautical training with the Israeli Air Force and served in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, according to the Texas Jewish Post. A year later he moved to the U.S. His first job there was at Atlantic Aviation in Wilmington, Delaware. He subsequently was hired by Sunstream Jet in Fort Lauderdale, Flordia.

For the bulk of his career, Hodak served as director of avionics at Associated Air Center in Dallas. During his 23 years with the completions specialist, Hodak held a number of positions with increasing responsibility, including managing BBJ and ACJ avionics and systems modifications. In 2010, he took a job with King Aerospace in Addison, Texas, where he was director of technical services overseeing large aircraft refurbishment programs.

Hodak is survived by his wife Shelley, daughter Ereet, son Oren, and grandchildren Smith and Noah.