Flight training provider Aerocor saw a 20 percent increase in new pilot training for the Eclipse 500/550 very light jet. “This year’s uptick in new pilot training events coupled with continued demand for recurrent training is a very positive marker for the Eclipse community,” said Aerocor training manager Jens Personius. “It's encouraging to see new and younger pilots stepping into the Eclipse space.”

Personius told AIN that he attributes the rise in training to the growing number of first-time Eclipse owners. “With Eclipse Aerospace coming under new ownership, there has been a lot of optimism in the Eclipse community lately which has helped drive sales bringing in new owner pilots who are moving up from smaller piston aircraft,” he said.

According to Personius, the biggest obstacle the company has had to overcome in training is logistics. “We aim to make the program as flexible as possible in order to cater to each individual client's specific timeline and location needs,” he said. “Oftentimes, we are working with very tight schedules as we try to create a seamless transition between delivery of their new aircraft and the beginning of the flight portion of their training.”

The company also rolled out two new training options for potential students, including a Pinch Hitter companion course tailored for non-pilots and an in-house upset prevention and recovery training program.

Send Solutions has engineered an add-on to its Airtext+ Iridium satcom that can not only identify and report GPS jamming or spoofing but also help pilots stay on the proper track when such incidents cause faulty navigation inputs. In addition to the Airtext+ and Iridium antenna, Send’s Spoof Proof system requires an annunciator, either carried on board as temporary equipment or installed in the flight deck. According to Send Solutions, “This is the first independent spoof-proofing product to market.”

During a spoofing attack on an aircraft equipped with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers (which could include GPS, Europe’s Galileo, Russia’s Glonass, China’s BeiDou, India’s Navic, and Japan’s QZSS), incorrect GNSS signals make the aircraft’s navigation system show a position that could be hundreds of miles off course. “The errors created affect a myriad of aircraft navigation [systems] and can send safety equipment into failures,” according to Send Solutions. Jamming overwhelms weak GNSS signals and makes GPS and other GNSS receivers unable to provide position information.

By monitoring at least three GNSS constellations and Arinc 429 flight management system (FMS) labels, Airtext+ can compare the aircraft’s FMS position to a known good position and detect jamming and spoofing quickly, then notify the crew via the annunciator that there is a questionable navigation status.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is expected to release a national aviation pandemic preparedness plan this year and the FAA is paving the way for disease mitigation research, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported. However, that plan comes nine years after the GAO first recommended it and four years after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. And while the preparedness plan is congressionally mandated, the disease mitigation research is not yet, the watchdog pointed out.

In a report released this week, “Key Lessons from Covid-19 Preparedness and Emergency Financial Assistance to the Industry,” the GAO found that “greater federal leadership could benefit both aviation pandemic preparedness and disease mitigation research.”

The GAO recommended in 2015 that the DOT develop the plan after the nation faced outbreaks of Ebola and other viruses. Congress in 2022 mandated that plan. “Such a plan is needed to avoid the piecemeal response seen early in the Covid-19 pandemic,” the watchdog stated. “Stakeholders GAO spoke to in 2020 and 2021 said confidence in air travel could have been restored more quickly with greater federal coordination.”

In 2022, the GAO also recommended that federal leadership was necessary to advance research on disease transmission in air travel, including an examination of real-world situations and the effectiveness of mitigations.

In preparation for the launch of the Gogo 5G air-to-ground connectivity service later this year, Gogo Business Aviation is conducting virtual flight simulation testing of 5G software. The tests are being done with a virtual flight simulator developed by Gogo’s radio frequency engineering team.

Using proprietary information and flight data, Gogo is able to “check performance of the radio frequency, taking into consideration factors like doppler, altitude, flight routes, angle of approach, beam-forming technology, and other parameters as Gogo optimizes the 5G service and onboard connectivity performance," the company said.

Running the 5G tests on the simulator enables Gogo to conduct end-to-end testing of the system prior to deployment and also to mature the 5G software faster before starting flight testing. After the simulation testing is done, Gogo will begin flying its Challenger 300 equipped with the 5G hardware. The 5G tower network serving the continental U.S. and large parts of Canada is already complete.

“The virtual flight simulator our team has constructed is an example of what we do best: innovate," said Gogo president and CEO Sergio Aguirre. “Our teams have designed a method for validating and maturing our 5G software and hardware to a critical degree before the final 5G chip is in our hands.”

Membership-based air charter brokerage ONEflight International has opened a new headquarters facility at Denver Centennial Airport (KAPA), as well as a sales branch at Florida's Fort Lauderdale International Airport (KFLL). ONEflight’s senior v-p of strategic initiatives, Dave Rajyagor, told AIN that the Florida sales office location opened on Tuesday and the Colorado headquarters began operations last month.

"We are thrilled to mark this exciting milestone in ONEflight International's journey. Our new facility not only reflects our commitment to providing our employees with a modern and comfortable workspace but also positions us for significant growth in the years to come. As we look to the future, we are eager to seize new opportunities and continue our legacy of excellence in the private aviation industry,” said ONEflight founder and CEO Ferren Rajput.

The company currently has about 75 employees but said the Colorado headquarters can accommodate 250 employees. Rajyagor noted that the Florida location has room for expansion as well. “The sky’s the limit,” he added.

Additionally, the Colorado complex includes a 28,000-sq-ft hangar to shelter and provide maintenance space for ONEflight's Part 91-operated Gulfstream III and G550.

Collins Aerospace has introduced a “smart monitor” for its Venue cabin management system (CMS), allowing aircraft owners and operators to install the monitor as a standalone inflight entertainment (IFE) system or as part of a Venue CMS. Collins noted the flexibility offered by the Venue smart monitor at the Aircraft Electronics Association new product introduction session on Tuesday.

“The Venue smart monitor provides operators and their passengers with a single access point to completely control cabin functionality, individual comfort, and entertainment options,” said Marc Ayala, senior director of sales for business and regional aviation at Collins Aerospace. “The smart monitor enables simple software updates, third-party add-ons, and the flexibility for owners to incrementally grow their IFE and CMS capabilities at a pace that fits their individual needs.”

Buyers can start with a smart monitor and build a CMS in a phased approach, according to Collins. The smart monitor allows integration of IFE products such as Airshow moving maps and Stage on-demand entertainment and it is upgradeable via software updates. Five monitor sizes are available, as well as 4K ultra-high-definition options, and the smart monitor can replace legacy Airshow moving map bulkhead displays. Interfaces include touchscreen controls, mobile applications, and cabin touch panels.

Financial software group MySky has teamed with digital contract specialist Tuvoli to support quote generation and payments for charter flight bookings. The companies have agreed to integrate the MySky Quote platform with Tuvoli’s digital checkout function.

MySky Quote is intended to provide precise flight cost and margin calculations for operators, as well as to generate DocuSign contracts with integrated credit card processing for mobile devices. The synchronization between Tuvoli and MySky means that flight booking data is constantly updated in the Quote dashboard.

According to Tuvoli, if all parties in a charter transaction use both platforms, payments are instant and available around the clock. Requests for quotes (RFQs) arrive in the MySky Quote, allowing aircraft operators to generate either an autonomous or semi-autonomous response, which the company says enhances their ability to quote for trips quickly and accurately.

Last week, MySky introduced a system to help business aviation companies manage tax data. The company launched its MySky Tax software in the wake of last month’s decision by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to step up audits of business aircraft owners and operators.

The new MySky Tax systems include templates detailing the FAA’s timeshare billing, Federal excise tax, and 280F reporting requirements. The company said it will help flight departments remain fully compliant with tax reporting responsibilities without relying on manual data entry.

AIN’s senior-level Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) East, set for July 15 to 17 in Jersey City, New Jersey, will address the latest hot topics, strategies, and solutions in business aviation. The summit is attendee-centric and serves as an educational and professional networking platform, connecting corporate aviation leaders with peers, industry experts, and solution providers in a relaxed, informal environment. We invite U.S.-based flight department leaders to apply to attend this all-expenses-paid event as our guests. Seats are limited, so don’t wait to apply.