With the Covid pandemic placing a chill upon corporate aviation activity over the past year, a collateral impact was felt by the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), the nonprofit business aviation charity that relies on available seats on business aircraft flights to fly cancer patients to treatment centers.
Amid the pandemic, the need to provide such services went on unabated. Indeed, given the fragile immune systems of most of the patients, the requirement to keep them away from the airline traveler population became even more critical. But with the virtual absence of traditional corporate flight department activity, CAN—which has organized more than 63,000 patient flights since its founding in 1981—pivoted its attention to using dedicated and proficiency flights, even flights to scheduled maintenance. Its team began sending requests to dozens of grounded flight departments to make sure that all flights were being considered for patient transport.
By casting a wider net and through the generosity of its corporate partners, CAN was able to continue its mission of providing transport to patients in the Covid era. For 2020, its tally was more than 300 patients flown on some 900 flights (some patients required multiple trips), equating to a 56 percent request fulfillment rate, down slightly from its normal pace. It has dozens of upcoming flights that are required as well, it said.
The FAA has approved installation of Collins Aerospace’s touchscreen Pro Line Fusion avionics suite in the Cessna Citation CJ2+, with approval for the CJ1+ expected shortly. This will be followed by Transport Canada Civil Aviation and EASA approvals for the light jets by year-end, Collins added.
In 2017, Collins received STC approval for the Pro Line Fusion upgrade in the CJ3, and the CJ1+/CJ2+ STCs are follow-ons to that. However, the follow-on modification includes new features such as integrated V-speeds, fuel sensing, predictive performance, and controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC).
The Pro Line Fusion upgrade replaces the original Pro Line 21 avionics and its portrait displays with three 14.1-inch touchscreen displays in landscape format. Like most modern displays, pilots can configure windows as desired. While synthetic vision system (SVS) isn’t available for the Pro Line 21 avionics in the CJs, the Pro Line Fusion upgrade includes SVS with Collins’s airport dome and extended runway centerline features, which highlight the destination airport on the terrain imagery.
Pilots can fly localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) approaches and radius-to-fix legs with Fusion’s SBAS-capable flight management system, which includes performance-based navigation and FANS 1/A capabilities. Moving-maps are touch-interactive and can show high-resolution topography, weather, obstacles, and georeferenced charts. Relevant charts for the flight plan are automatically staged with Collins’s ChartLink feature.
West Star Equips Techs with iPads To Improve Efficiency
West Star Aviation is issuing Apple iPads to more than 600 of its technicians to increase efficiency and decrease aircraft downtime, the MRO provider announced this week. Loaded with Camp Systems' Corridor Go software, the iPads allow technicians to perform their duties away from fixed workstations.
Besides the capabilities provided by Corridor Go, the iPads provide updated technical information from vendor-issued apps and OEM maintenance manuals covering airframes, avionics, non-destructive testing, and windows. Parts ordering can also be accomplished through the iPads, in addition to internal communication and supplemental training.
“This substantial investment in technology is aimed at simplifying workflow wherever possible by providing a more digitally enabled work environment,” said West Star v-p of human resources Katie Johnson. “By providing hardware that provides quick access to technical data, training material, and safety certification content in the hands of the technicians, we are continuing to empower our people to succeed.”
West Star first beta-tested the iPads with Corridor Go last fall at its site in Perryville, Missouri. It finished distributing the iPads at its Grand Junction, Colorado, location this week, and further plans to have iPads distributed to its technicians in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and East Alton, Illinois, by the end of May. A company spokeswoman told AIN that techs at West Star's satellite locations will also be outfitted later with iPads.
NTSB: Close Passenger Revenue Loopholes in Part 91
The NTSB yesterday proposed recommendations and reiterated its support for previously lodged ones to address exceptions, exemptions, and perceived safety loopholes and shortcomings in Part 91 passenger-carrying revenue operations. “The FAA must do everything in its power to ensure the safety of every revenue passenger in every revenue passenger-carrying operation, regardless of the operating rules. Acting upon these recommendations will be a giant step forward to that goal,” said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. “This is an opportunity to increase safety for paying passengers on Part 91 commercial operations.”
This follows the NTSB's analysis of eight fatal crashes of sightseeing/air tour, heritage, parachute jump, and aerobatic flights conducted under Part 91 in a diverse set of aircraft, including gliders, warbirds, aerobatic fixed-wing airplanes, helicopters, and hot-air balloons that killed 45 and injured 12. Eliott Simpson, NTSB senior accident investigator, said Board staff identified a variety of common safety shortcomings in the Part 91 passenger operations it studied, including “lack of FAA oversight, lack of structured pilot training, deficiencies in pilot skills and decision-making, and inadequate aircraft maintenance.”
Draft recommendations proposed by the NTSB include developing national safety standards, or equivalent regulations, for revenue passenger-carrying operations that are currently conducted under Part 91 including, but not limited to, sightseeing flights in a hot-air balloon, intentional parachute jump flights, living history flight experiences, and other vintage aircraft flights.
As a multifaceted sector in aviation, business aviation provides room for the growth of new skillsets and a rotating door for new opportunities, panelists of a 2021 virtual International Women in Aviation Conference session emphasized. During a Women in Corporate Aviation (WCA) “Career Opportunities in the Business and Corporate Aviation Industry” session, the panelists advised that young professionals should network, differentiate their resumes, and be ready to say “yes” to those opportunities.
Ava Shubat, a director of aviation and Dassault Falcon 2000EX EASy captain, moderated the panel, which featured Anna Chadwick, an aircraft maintenance technician for Club Jet; Amanda Ferraro, a Gulfstream G550/G450 captain; and Rucsandra Mihai, a corporate flight attendant and v-p of WCA. The panel focused on what makes the industry unique. Supporting some five million jobs worldwide, business aviation provides a sense of job security, they maintained.
Ferraro, originally entering the industry as a pilot, talked about growing her skillset into becoming a consultant for safety management systems (SMS). Ferraro noted that while she has not been flying due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she has still been able to stay busy with SMS consulting.
Chadwick added how business aviation “has the capability to adapt and overcome to the circumstances.” Her previous company downsized due to Covid, but Chadwick was able to walk straight into her position at Club Jet because of her experience.
StandardAero Continues Expansion in Helo MRO, STCs
2020 was a busy year for StandardAero’s helicopter business and one that continues into this year with a few developments that should not only expand its reach in turboshaft engines but also increase safety in certain single-engine helicopters.
In the third quarter, StandardAero hopes to have an STC in hand for a four-axis autopilot on Airbus AS350 and H125 light singles that is expected to decrease rotorcraft wear and tear and pilot workload, as well as increase safety by helping pilots avoid situations such as CFIT. Under development with Thales, the compact system is designed to provide stability augmentation, attitude retention, and flight director modes, including altitude and heading hold.
Brian Hughes, v-p of sales and marketing for StandardAero’s helicopter programs, told AIN the company expects to add further engine MRO authorizations as a result of the company’s pending acquisition of Signature Aviation’s engine repair and overhaul business announced in February, specifically Dallas Airmotive and H+S Aviation. Those two Signature units in particular and the work they perform on turboshaft engines should further expand StandardAero’s already broad capability, he said. That deal is currently under regulatory review.
Textron Aviation Plans Hybrid Appearance at Sun 'n Fun
Textron Aviation is marking a return to live aviation events by attending the Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo April 13 to 18 but will rely on technology rather than people to showcase its piston, turboprop, and light jet products and inform customers about them.
The Beechcraft and Cessna airframer’s on-site presence at Florida’s Lakeland Linder Regional Airport will mark the first time it has attended a live aviation event since early 2020. At Sun 'n Fun, Textron Aviation will have on display a Cessna Caravan 208 single-engine turboprop and, using augmented reality, a “virtual aircraft display” consisting of a 182 Skylane, Bonanza G36, Baron G58, and Citation M2. Video displays, graphic boards, and mobile technologies will provide additional company and product information, the Wichita company said.
According to the company, the use of technology in lieu of people demonstrates “a commitment to preserving the health and safety of its employees and attendees.”
Sage-Popovich Plans MRO Acquisition
Global aviation consulting and asset management firm Sage-Popovich plans to acquire Togs Aircraft, a Michigan-based FAA Part 145 repair station for heavy turboprops, business jets, and helicopters. The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of the year, will expand Sage-Popovich’s capabilities in pre-purchase inspections, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, AOG and mobile services, aircraft importing and exporting, and logbook reviews.
In business for more than 20 years, Togs has been used by Indiana-based Sage-Popovich for those services, as well as aircraft repossession support. The relationship between Sage-Popovich chairman Nick Popovich and Togs president Blake Groat extends even further as Groat previously served as director of maintenance for an Illinois aviation group that Popovich was managing as a consultant. “When my contract there ended, Blake left and created Togs,” said Popovich. “Since then, Togs has been our maintenance repair and overhaul provider of choice.”
In addition to consulting and asset management, Sage-Popovich specializes in the recovery of aviation-related equipment, as well as aviation appraisals and valuations, bankruptcy support, liquidations, and aircraft management.
AIN Webinar: Overcoming Avionics Obsolescence
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. Sponsored by Avidyne.
Requires installation of the rescue hoist kit “removable” parts to prevent significant ice accretion. AD also requires replacing main rotor tip light fairings with serviceable parts and, following modification, prohibits (re)installation of affected parts. Adesign review found that the specific rotor tip light fairings (P/N 8G3340A12532 and P/N8G3340A12632) used during icing certification trials had never been introduced in the main rotortip lights kit design definition. This kit currently includes two other part-numbered fairings installed at the vicinity of each engine air intake. With these affected parts installed on the helicopter, significant ice accretion could occur during operations in icing conditions. If not corrected, this could lead to ice shedding ingestion by the engines, possibly resulting in a double engine in-flight shutdown.
Supersedes but retains requirements of AD CF-2021-05R2, which mandated repetitive fluorescent penetrant inspections of the pilot collective stick to detect cracks and any necessary repairs. Updated AD mandates incorporation of a new pilot collective stick redesign as terminating action to the repetitive inspection requirements and limits its applicability to helicopters that have not incorporated this redesign in production.
Supersedes but retains requirements of AD 2007-26-52, which mandated visual inspections for swelling, deformation, bonding separation, or cracks on each main rotor blade (MRB) with a certain part-numbered tip cap installed and removing the MRB from service before further flight if any of these conditions exist and exceed prescribed limits. Updated AD requires dye-penetrant inspections rather than visual inspections of MRBs with a certain tip cap installed. Prompted by additional reports of in-flight loss of part of a tip cap.
Supersedes but retains requirements of EASA AD 2014-0080, which mandated repetitive inspections for cracks on the two front attachment points of certain yaw control damper supports and, depending on findings, replacement. Updated AD requires that any replacement be done using an improved (reinforced) yaw control damper support.
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