In October 2020, Garmin introduced touchscreen control for the first time to its D2 aviation watch series, with the D2 Air sporting an Amoled touch display. Now the top-of-the-line D2 comes in a touchscreen version, the D2 Mach 1, with all the previous moving-map, HSI, and health features of the D2 Delta. Garmin introduced the new watch at today’s new product introductions session at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in New Orleans.
The D2 Air costs about half as much and doesn’t have the moving map but includes many of the features that pilots like while offering a simpler interface with fewer buttons, and it also includes a pulse-oximeter. The D2 Mach 1 carries on the five-button interface of the D2 Delta aviation watches but adds the touchscreen display and some other useful new features, which makes accessing information on the moving map much simpler.
Garmin added glide features to help in an emergency, with best glide speed and estimated glide distance and time, bearing pointer to nearest airport, and a list of alternate airports.
The D2 Mach 1 retails for $1,299.99 with a vented titanium bracelet or $1,199.99 with a leather band. Battery life is up to 11 days in smartwatch mode or 24 hours using GPS and pulse oximeter.
The FAA selected its top safety official, Billy Nolen, to step in as acting administrator following the departure of Steve Dickson this week. FAA Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims will expand his duties to focus on the agency’s workforce and airports initiatives.
Dickson announced last month his plans to step down as FAA administrator at the end of March. A former Delta Air Lines senior v-p who was sworn in on Aug. 12, 2019, Dickson is departing the agency halfway through his five-year term but cited a desire to devote his attention to his family full time.
The Biden Administration is conducting a search for a permanent successor to serve a five-year term.
In January, Nolen became the FAA associate administrator for aviation safety, leading a team of 7,600 employees. He joined the agency with more than three decades of experience, beginning as a pilot for American Airlines and later moving into safety management. He subsequently has held key safety leadership roles for Airlines for America, Qantas, and most recently WestJet. He also served as an airplane and helicopter pilot and safety officer with the U.S. Army.
Mims, meanwhile, has 40 years of transportation experience in the public and private sector including serving as president and CEO of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and with the FAA during the Clinton Administration.
Thommen Aircraft Equipment is expanding its capability to manufacture LCDs to replace older cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays installed in legacy aircraft. The company has provided this service previously but now is expanding CRT-to-LCD upgrades for the “broader market.”
Switzerland-based Thommen has its own in-house lamination and assembly capabilities, with manufacturing done in an ISO Class 5-certified cleanroom. “Modern LCDs can be tailor-cut to virtually any size of displays that are used in aircraft cockpits and mission systems,” the company explained. Thommen engineers can design LCDs with “custom bezels and specialized finishes designed to meet any customer’s unique specifications,” the company added. The upgrades include conversion and processing of analog information to “color and composite video signals to provide accurate navigation and mission data to the flight crew in a digital format” along with customized mounting systems, finishes, and bezels.
“There are a lot of good avionics systems out there that have old CRT displays on them and are becoming increasingly more costly and difficult to keep airworthy, simply because of the numerous obsolescence issues those CRT units are facing,” said Pete Ring, senior sales executive for North America. “Thommen has solutions available today to update and modernize most aging legacy CRT and older LCD displays, breathing new life into these venerable systems and airframes at a fraction of the cost of a brand-new full panel upgrade.”
The UK government has “indefinitely detained” two private jets owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire, Eugene Shvidler. In a March 26 statement, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the Bombardier Global 6500 (tail number: LX-FLY) grounded at the London-area Farnborough Airport on March 9 will not be returned to its owner, along with a Cessna Citation Latitude impounded at Biggin Hill Airport.
Shapps also “retweeted” a story in The Times newspaper reporting that an unspecified helicopter owned by Russia’s HeliCo Group also has been detained. “Since [Russian President Vladimir] Putin began his illegal assault [on Ukraine], I’ve held jets belonging to Eugene Svidler under investigation for three weeks,” he commented. “Now I am using my powers to detain them indefinitely. Putin’s friends who made millions out of his regime will not enjoy luxuries while innocent people die.”
The Global 6500 is registered with the European management and charter group Global Jet Luxembourg. The company has not responded to a request to comment from AIN.
In early March, the UK government introduced legislation making it a criminal offense to breach its ban on aircraft with any connection to Russia through registration or ownership, or even if it is chartered by Russian travelers.
Business aviation operators who use Collins Aerospace ARINCDirect flight planning services have on-demand access to FAA-certified aircraft dispatchers and air traffic specialists. Always ready to help support the unique mission profile of corporate flight departments around the world, ARINCDirect flight coordinators can be reached by phone, email, message, and even aircraft data link.
Alto Aviation unveiled an upgrade for its Cadence switch panel and inflight entertainment system that allows the occupant of a specific (VIP) seat to select an acoustic mode to customize their audio experience.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Alto Aviation highlighted the new MySound Optimization capability at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention's new product introduction session today in New Orleans. MySound is available as a retrofit and for new Cadence installations and gives the user the choice of three acoustic modes, using a Cadence VIP switch panel. The modes are full cabin audio, VIP stereo, or VIP-focused digital surround sound.
Installers of the MySound system can use existing speakers and speaker grills to simplify the process. The MySound acoustic modes are managed by Alto’s SM-1070 system master controller, which “commands the amplifiers to select the desired profile,” the company explained. “By applying proprietary digital signal processing algorithms, Alto’s signature digital surround sound precisely maps the cabin with loudspeakers located behind the user and left and right, positioned in front of the VIP seat.”
“The ability to customize Alto sound is truly passenger-driven,” said v-p of sales and marketing Kevin Hayes. “It is designed to give the VIP in the cabin the ultimate control for acoustic optimization and a truly customized audiophile experience.”
Bombardier expects it will be able to backfill order cancellations resulting from the sanctions on activities with Russian clients. During an event at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations last week, Bombardier president and CEO Eric Martel told reporters that the company was confident that demand was sufficient to replace the cancellations. The company confirmed that Russia represented about 5 percent of its sales.
The Canadian manufacturer announced earlier this month that it was suspending activities with Russian clients and would adhere to international sanctions.
Martel reportedly had stated that the company had about a dozen lawyers working on order cancellations spurred by the sanctions and that the most complicated issues surrounded the management of spare parts.
Separately, the company on Friday issued a statement that it was seeking authorization for a reverse stock split, consolidating Class A and Class B shares at a ratio of between 10-for-1 up to as much as 30-for-1. The exact ratio would be determined by the company’s board of directors, it said.
“This is another step in Bombardier’s journey to be a more streamlined and stronger business jet company focused on creating value for all of its stakeholders,” Martel said. “A share consolidation is a logical and beneficial step in this transformation, with the potential to provide additional trading liquidity to investors.”
Kevin Strong, a former FAA transportation specialist, was recently sentenced for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. He received 30 days of home detention with electronic monitoring, 24 months of probation, 60 hours of community service, $500 in restitution, and a $10 special assessment.
On Dec. 17, 2021, Strong pleaded guilty to participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol and to being present in the building without authorization. Surveillance footage showed Strong in the Rotunda and other areas of the Capitol. He admitted to being a QAnon follower but claimed he didn't do any damage or attack law enforcement. He had traveled to Washington, D.C., to see then-President Trump speak and to walk during a pro-Trump march, according to an FBI affidavit.
The investigation began on Dec. 30, 2020, after someone told the FBI that Strong “had been showing signs of behavioral changes over the last few months, including stockpiling items and telling others to get ready for martial law, rioting, and protesting,” the FBI said. Two weeks later, FBI agents went to Strong’s home near Los Angeles and seized two guns.
Strong, 44, is among more than 100 people who have been charged with various crimes involving the riot, which left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
After Summit Aviation took delivery of three Embraer Phenom 300Es last year, the company is continuing its charter fleet expansion with the addition of a ninth copy of the type and delivery of a 10th expected in July. It also has two more Phenom 300Es scheduled to be delivered in 2023.
Based at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Montana, Summit is also constructing a larger headquarters to accommodate its “profound growth,” which amounted to a 60 percent increase in revenue between 2020 and 2021, and 157 percent revenue growth from 2019 to 2021. “We’ve definitely outgrown our current space,” said Summit founder and president Ben Walton. “It’s very exciting to see all the growth and where we’re headed as a company.”
Founded in 2001, Summit’s business beyond Part 135 operations includes aircraft management, aircraft sales and acquisition, and flight training, with nearly 20 aircraft in its training fleet.
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
When flying a multi-engine aircraft, what is the minimum speed that directional control can be maintained with one engine inoperative (critical engine), operating engine(s) at takeoff power and a maximum of 5 degrees of bank toward the good engine(s)?
A. Minimum control speed on the ground.
B. Minimum unstick speed.
C. Minimum control speed in the air.
D. Any of the above, depending on the flight condition.
Count on AIN for Full Coverage of EBACE
As ever, you can count on AIN for full coverage of EBACE 2022. Our team will publish three of our award-winning daily EBACE Convention News editions at the show on May 23, 24, and 25. We will also have comprehensive real-time reporting of all the top news at AINonline.com and in our daily e-newsletters. If you are an exhibiting company that wants to share news or propose pre-show interviews and briefings, please contact show editor Chad Trautvetter.
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