Embraer Eve today announced plans to prepare the way for urban air mobility (UAM) flights in the Miami area, as well as a provisional sales agreement for 200 of its four-passenger eVTOLs from Miami-based charter carrier Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX). This latest order takes the number of commitments Eve has in hand to 1,758 units.
Eve is forming a consortium of companies to develop a concept of operations for UAM services connecting Miami International Airport (KMIA) and the Miami Beach Convention Center. The consortium also includes air traffic management specialist L3 Harris Technologies, ground infrastructure provider Skyports, and the Community Air Mobility Initiative.
Meanwhile, Part 121 certificate holder GlobalX is expected to contribute to these plans to launch commercial flights in South Florida and could also be involved in deploying Eve’s aircraft in other parts of its U.S. network. “These eVTOLs will enable us to expand our market throughout south Florida, bringing our customers to their flights at KMIA and KFLL [Fort Lauderdale], as well as local flying within Key West and all the Keys, Naples, and Palm Beach,” said GlobalX chair and CEO Ed Wegel.
In its blueprint document, Eve modeled the potential UAM market in the Miami area and concluded that it could consist of around 32 vertiports connecting eight routes and requiring 200 eVTOLs.
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Atlanta-based Precision Aviation Group (PAG) announced yesterday that it will expand its avionics and designated engineering representative expertise and add manufacturing capabilities through the acquisition of Velocity Aerospace Group.
Based in Frisco, Texas, Velocity operates FAA repair stations in Burbank and Van Nuys, California, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company specializes in avionics, cockpit panels, electrical systems, fire protection, interior lights, multi-layer circuit board assemblies, and waste assemblies for commercial and business aviation customers, regional airlines, and helicopter operators. Velocity employs 140 people, performs more than 25,000 annual repairs, and operates from a combined 110,000 sq ft of facilities.
“With the Burbank and Van Nuys facilities added to our existing operations in Long Beach and Camarillo, as well as the new facility in Fort Lauderdale, we now have next-generation avionics MRO centers of excellence in Southern California and South Florida that allows us to better serve our customers,” said PAG president and CEO David Mast.
The offshore Isle of Man Aircraft Registry (IOMAR) has removed 18 aircraft associated with Russian individuals and companies sanctioned for their connections with the Kremlin. Isle of Man authorities this week confirmed that they are urgently taking steps to ensure that their jurisdiction supports the imposition of sanctions by the UK government, given its close compliance with the requirements of the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
IOMAR was established in 2007 with the specific intention of attracting only privately-owned aircraft with the lure of tax-efficient mechanisms and combining what it calls a “flexible and pragmatic approach” with high standards of safety. Since then, more than 1,000 aircraft have carried M-registration tail numbers, and around 400 are on the register today.
But the Isle of Man’s chief minister, Alfred Cannan, last week said it “will not be a safe haven for Russian money or assets.” The island, located in the Irish Sea between the British mainland and Northern Ireland, defers to the UK in matters relating to international relations. It is also acting in accordance with European Union sanctions.
IOMAR released a list of the 18 aircraft deregistered to date. These carry the following tail numbers, and further details can be found in the online registry: M-ABEC, M-AKER, M-ALEY, M-DLBA, M-DLBR, M-FLIG, M-HAWK, M-HELI, M-IABU, M-INSK, M-LUNA, M-LVIA, M-MAVP, M-RONE, M-SOLA, M-SOLO, M-TINK, and M-YSSF.
Jet It has selected digital aircraft records firm Bluetail to digitize the fractional-share company’s operational and maintenance logs of its fleet, which in addition to HondaJets has recently expanded to include the midsize Gulfstream G150.
“We have thousands of pages of maintenance information contained in countless paper logbooks,” said Jet It co-founder and CEO Glenn Gonzales. “Having all of that information digital, searchable, and sharable…will enable our mechanics to perform inspections and maintenance faster, more efficiently, and at a lower cost. Those are savings we can pass along to our customers.”
Bluetail’s subscription-based service includes scanning aircraft logbooks, supplemental type certificates, airworthiness directives, service bulletins, and other documents into a digital format. The document scanning is performed through a network of scanning centers that are SOC 2 compliant. Once scanned, the records are organized, searchable, and shareable on multiple devices.
After the 2021 absence, Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) Heli-Expo rebounded this year drawing 13,083 attendees and 590 exhibitors. That marked 91 percent of the attendees and 90 percent of exhibitors that had participated in the 2020 Heli-Expo. “This was such a dynamic event, thanks to the extremely positive response by the industry,” said HAI president and CEO James Viola. “I can see that our industry—and our people—could not wait to get together in person.”
The March 7 to 10 event hosted people from 72 countries—despite the pandemic-related complications involving international travel—and showcased the latest aircraft, engines, avionics, and other goods and services for both crewed and uncrewed rotorcraft.
HAI stressed that safety remained a central focus, including the Safety Symposium that kicked off Heli-Expo and a Rotor Safety Zone on the show floor housing virtual-reality training devices, a helicopter configured for preflight test inspection, and safety experts from around the world. HAI’s Rotor Safety Challenge education sessions drew more than 2,000 attendees.
“Sharing safety information throughout our industry and around the world is critical to the ongoing health of rotorcraft operations,” Viola said. “The active interest in our safety programming shown by attendees is a sign of our strengthening safety culture.”
HAI already is gearing up for its 75th-anniversary celebration at Heli-Expo 2023 from March 6 to 9 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Taking advantage of a lull in traffic due to a major runway reconstruction project, Southern Sky Aviation, the sole service provider at Mississippi’s Trent Lott International Airport (KPQL), has renovated its 4,300-sq-ft FBO terminal. A grand reopening is scheduled for April 13.
When the company acquired the FBO last year, the airport’s 6,500-foot Runway 17/35 was under construction and closed to larger aircraft. Since then, four inches of surface asphalt has been added, allowing the runway to handle aircraft up to 315,000 pounds. In the interim, the company rebranded its facility, adding new furniture, paint, and lighting. It features a lobby with refreshment bar, pilot lounge with snooze room, flight-planning area, 10-seat conference room, concierge, and a cafe that offers breakfast and lunch. The FBO has 20,000 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate midsize business jets.
Additionally, the Avfuel-branded location acquired a refueler fleet consisting of 5,000- and 3,000-gallon jet tankers, a new avgas truck, and a 24-hour self-serve avgas pump. It will install a new 20,000-gallon jet fuel tank later this month.
“Southern Sky Aviation is excited the runway KPQL has reopened,” said Darryl Brewer, president of the company’s FBO division. “We look forward to sharing our freshly updated FBO with the aviation community.”
Jet Aviation’s MRO facility in Vienna, Austria, has received EASA approval for line maintenance on the ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650. It follows EASA approval for maintenance on G500/600 series aircraft, shortly after redelivering a base maintenance check on a G550. A factory-authorized service facility for Gulfstream aircraft, Jet Aviation Vienna operates an FBO and 4,000-sq-m (43,055-sq-ft) MRO facility, which also provides AOG services for midsize business jets.
“This service expansion is yet another demonstration of our commitment to meeting the needs of Gulfstream owners and operators in the region,” said Jet Aviation Vienna managing director and accountable manager Hakan Tin. “A wide range of Gulfstreams are based in Europe, of which the large-cabin aircraft such as the G650 is the most popular.”
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Gulfstream parent company General Dynamics, Jet Aviation employs about 4,000 people and operates 50 locations worldwide.
Global helicopter services company PHI Aviation is opening its MRO services to external clients in a bid to broaden its business. The services it will provide from its 170,000-sq-ft MRO facility in Lafayette, Louisiana, include routine maintenance and inspections, pre-buy and lease return inspections, and paint finishes for a variety of aircraft component types.
With designated airworthiness representative and designated engineering representative authorizations, it also will offer complex modifications to existing systems, managing the entire design and build process in-house. PHI also operates several specialized shops in Lafayette such as avionics, specialty machining, and custom upholstery.
"With aircraft becoming bigger and more technologically advanced, more businesses are needing specialist-level MRO capabilities and PHI is expertly placed to meet this need,” said PHI Aviation managing director Keith Mullett. “Introducing our MRO services to the market is also a core part of our diversification focus and complements our work in energy, search and rescue, air medical, and marine pilot transfers services.”
Supersedes but retains requirements of AD 2022-02-02, which mandated removing certain outboard main rotor hub strap pins from service and prohibited installing them on any helicopter. Updated AD expands the applicability to all affected pins, regardless if they are outboard or inboard, and also requires inspecting the removed pin for any deformation; if deformed, then the mating strap fitting must be removed from service. Prompted by the discovery that AD 2022-02-02 inadvertently limited its applicability to only outboard pins when all pins are subject to the unsafe condition, as well as the determination that a deformed pin may have damaged the fitting.
Requires incorporating temporary revisions into the airplane flight manual and the quick reference handbook that modify procedures for windshield heat operation until affected windshield assemblies are replaced. Prompted by a report of in-flight smoke and fire that initiated from the windshield heat power wire braid.
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