Gulfstream Aerospace is developing a digital database to preserve decades of its aircraft engineering documents. The Savannah, Georgia aircraft manufacturer is converting all records, CAD files, and other documents into machine-readable PDFs, which are then cataloged in a searchable database. “This new system will save our engineering, manufacturing, and customer support professionals thousands of working hours,” said Sheryl Bunton, the senior v-p and chief information officer at Gulfstream.
Documents are currently housed in an “engineering vault” stationed in the company’s main manufacturing facility, behind an unmarked door, and maintained by a team of engineering archivists and data analysts. Gulfstream likened the vault room to an “aircraft time capsule,” filled with tubes stacked from floor to ceiling holding seven decades of critical engineering documents, including hand-drawn blueprints of parts, cabin designs, and aircraft drawings.
“You would never know it was here, but it is probably one of the more important rooms in our entire manufacturing facility,” Bunton said. “There are hundreds of thousands of documents, including many of the original drawings from the very early days of Grumman and Gulfstream.”
Required to maintain accurate records for every model tracing back to the Gulfstream I that was first manufactured in 1958, Gulfstream said the goal of the project is to enhance data quality, preserve valuable documents, and improve usability and consistency.
AINsight: Navigating Schedules and Contract Pilots
Schedule flexibility is cited as the number-one benefit to business aviation employees, according to a recent survey conducted by NBAA. In fact, being able to flex one’s work schedule is cited in the survey as being more important than salary, company stability, benefits, and long-term potential.
Flight departments, regardless of size or scope, are challenged when they are unable to match competitive salaries and/or cannot meet the essential work/life balance that everyone is seeking. And when both are in question, hiring is impossible!
To help with schedule flexibility, some operators are supplementing their staff with contract pilots, who are in high demand. In fact, demand for contractors has increased tremendously since July, and contract day rates have also climbed. Operators are competing for the same contract talent not only in day rates but also the commitment not to cancel. You must get out ahead of it proactively.
If you find yourself in or heading to this place, you must identify the problem before it manifests itself. The most important aspects of advocating for the needs of the flight department—be it headcount, compensation, hard days off, contract labor, or any other competitive benefit—you need to present hard data. A business case must be made outlining the current reality, the options, recommendations, and consequences of not implementing the recommended change.
Women in Aviation International's (WAI) 33rd annual conference kicked off yesterday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee, with more than 170 exhibitors and about 4,500 attendees. This set up the three-day event to be one of the strongest in its history, organizers said.
WAI 2022 marked the return of an in-person conference after the event was held virtually in 2021. “We are so excited to be back in person,” said WAI CEO Allison McKay after cutting the ribbon to open the exhibition. “All of the energy of the people [here] can’t be matched virtually.”
The conference—which has served as a key venue for hiring as well as awarding scholarships—takes on a heightened role as job openings soar. “Right now, our industry is in a situation where it has never previously found itself with the number of open positions and the need for employees across all career fields and industry segments,” McKay told AIN. “It is more important than ever that we bring people together to connect them with their potential employers.”
Importantly, she added, “This is an opportunity to change the face of aviation. There have never been so many open positions that can be filled by a diverse audience.”
The opening day of WAI 2022 was host to nearly two dozen “industry briefings,” during which prospective employers outlined positions available and the qualifications they require.
Year-over-year preowned business jets values continue to climb as inventory shrinks, with the gains being led by large-cabin jets, according to a report released today from Sandhills Global. Using its proprietary asset valuation tool called AircraftEvaluator, Sandhills assigns a key metric it calls the equipment value index (EVI) to large, super-midsize, midsize, and light business jets.
Overall, the report said, available preowned jet inventory declined 70 percent between February 2021 and last month. During that period, the inventory of large business jets fell 63.4 percent, “driving prices upward with the lack of supply within the market.” That pushed the EVI for preowned large-cabin business jets up 16.7 percent year-over-year, to $20.3 million.
Year-over-year EVIs climbed for light jets to $3.8 million on a 72.5 percent decline in inventory; midsize jets to $4.9 million on a 77.5 percent inventory decrease; and super-midsize jets to $9.5 million on a 70.6 percent reduction in inventory.
Aircraft flying in four areas of Eastern Europe and the Middle East have experienced GNSS jamming or spoofing in various phases of flight, leading in some cases to rerouting or even destination changes due to their inability to perform a safe landing procedure, according to a March 17 Safety Information Bulletin from EASA. Eurocontrol, Network of Analysts, and open-source data reports analyzed by EASA show that the spoofing and/or jamming has intensified since February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
Areas affected include the Kaliningrad region surrounding the Baltic Sea and neighboring states, eastern Finland, the Black Sea, and the eastern Mediterranean area—Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and northern Iraq.
For aircraft flight crews, degradation of GNSS signals could mean the inability to use the satellite system for waypoint navigation; loss of RNAV approach capability; inability to perform or maintain required navigation performance operations; triggering of terrain warnings; inconsistent aircraft position information on the navigation display; loss of ADS-B, windshear, terrain, and surface functionalities; failure or degradation of ATM/ANS/CNS and aircraft systems that use GNSS as a time reference; and airspace infringements and/or route deviations.
EASA recommends that national aviation authorities establish contingency procedures with ATC and airspace users, issue notams that describe the affected areas and related operating limitations, and ensure the full operation of conventional navigation infrastructure, particularly ILS.
Members of the Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (Eagle) initiative met on Wednesday and Thursday to get started on the coalition’s efforts to eliminate lead additives in aviation gasoline by 2030. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson announced the Eagle initiative on February 23. Aviation associations, the FAA, and industry companies and stakeholders participated in the meeting, but it was closed to members of the media.
AOPA president Mark Baker and executive director of the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service, Earl Lawrence, briefed the media yesterday immediately following the two-day meeting. “We agreed that the number-one thing that affects general aviation’s future is this issue,” Baker said. “We’re moving as fast as we can go and as safely as we can to do it.”
Pressure to remove lead from avgas comes not only from the Environmental Protection Agency, which will likely issue an endangerment finding about 100LL avgas this year, but also from communities near airports. Concerns about lead contamination have already resulted in two California Airports—Reid-Hillview and San Martin—banning the sale of 100LL.
A key goal of the Eagle initiative is to meet the FAA’s desire for the development of an unleaded avgas that could obtain blanket approval for any piston aircraft engine that runs on avgas. Because of their STC requirement, unleaded avgas currently available from Swift Fuels and General Aviation Modifications Inc. don’t meet this blanket-approval goal.
AviationManuals reached a record number of subscribers in 2021 and has seen its revenues and list of clients continue to grow in the first two months of this year, the Rockville, Maryland provider of manual development services and safety management systems (SMS) software announced this week.
The company had nearly 2,100 subscribers last year from 70 countries. AviationManuals added 400 clients last year and another 80 in January and February, pushing revenue up 45 percent from the same two-month period in 2021. Because of the growth, the company said it has hired more employees across nearly every department.
“As the world continues to be reconnected as borders open, the need for SMS software has been apparent,” said AviationManuals CEO Mark Baier. “Safer, more professional operations continue to be the focus of operators seeking our services across the globe.”
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) have kicked off the 2022 European General Aviation Survey. Working with EASA and Aero Friedrichshafen, the general aviation community has conducted annual surveys of pilots and owners to gain a better understanding of trends and provide more accurate safety analysis in Europe.
Last year’s survey drew more than 1,000 responses from pilots and owners, representing more than 2,000 aircraft registered in 28 European countries, the associations said. They added that this provided important data that was shared with EASA for its annual safety review.
The data enables EASA to more fully calculate accident rates of noncommercial aircraft, as well as better assess regulatory impacts. It also provides a more complete picture of the economic impact of general aviation in Europe, they added.
The survey is being hosted on a new website described as a “general aviation hub” that was developed to foster a better understanding of general aviation. This year’s survey closes on April 17.
Photo of the Week
New-airplane smell. Corporate flight department chief pilot Tim Bussard snapped this image of his company’s brand-new Cessna Citation Longitude during sunrise at its home base at New Castle Airport (KILG) in Wilmington, Delaware. We like the smell of a new airplane almost as much as the aroma of jet-A in the morning. Thanks for sharing this one, Tim!
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