Bombardier celebrated the delivery of the 100th Global 7500 yesterday during a ceremony at its Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre in Montreal—an achievement reached in less than 3.5 years. The milestone aircraft was handed over to VistaJet, which now counts 10 of the 7,700-nm twinjets in its fleet and expects to have 17 of them by year-end.
“I am thrilled to celebrate the 100th delivery of the Global 7500 with our valued customer, VistaJet,” said Bombardier chairman and CEO Eric Martel. “VistaJet recognized early on that this aircraft would transform the business jet industry, and the enormous success of Bombardier’s Global 7500 in transforming the private aviation industry. I would like to thank our teams in Montréal, Toronto, and Wichita for designing, building, and testing this amazing feat of technology.”
VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr said his company will continue to expand its Global 7500 flleet to meet the growing demand for ultra-long-range flights. “Our enhanced product offering onboard the Global 7500 also guarantees that our clients, whether business or leisure travelers, are given the best and most seamless flying experience,” he added. “We look forward to welcoming more members and supporting the business world as our growing fleet of Global 7500s opens a new era for long-haul private travel.”
Uni-Fly has been appointed as a Daher network service center following the delivery of a TBM 940 turboprop single to a Danish customer. An EASA Part 145 repair station, Uni-Fly will provide Scandinavian support from its base at Denmark’s Hans Christian Andersen Airport near the city of Odense.
Founded in 1970, Uni-Fly provides helicopter aerial work services—support of geological and scientific expeditions, as well as powerline, oil and gas line, and television and telecommunication antenna inspections—in addition to fixed-wing and rotary maintenance. Other Uni-Fly helicopter services include hoisting of personnel for wind turbine maintenance and offshore transportation.
“With growing interest in Scandinavia for the TBM, it is important to ensure Daher’s support and services are available in this region,” said Daher aircraft division senior v-p Nicolas Chabbert. “Our partnership with Uni-Fly will be a true asset in supporting TBM customers and operators in Northern Europe.”
Uni-Fly joins a network of 69 authorized service centers for TBM and/or Kodiak aircraft.
MD Helicopters voluntarily filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy (reorganization) earlier today as part of a strategy to infuse the company with $60 million of fresh “debtor-in-possession” capital, discharge potentially crippling debt, and expedite the sale of its assets. In a prepared statement, MD said it would continue operations as normal during the reorganization.
The company had been actively trying to find a buyer since the departure of former CEO Lynn Tilton in March 2020. MD was one of dozens of companies controlled by Tilton’s Patriarch Partners and financed by the now-bankrupt Zohar Funds. Tilton placed the funds into bankruptcy in 2018 in what now appears an unsuccessful attempt to keep Patriarch’s portfolio from being liquidated by Zohar creditors, including bond insurer MBIA, which insured $1 billion worth of Zohar notes. Combined debt of the funds is estimated at $1.7 billion. Tilton assumed control of MD in 2005.
As part of the bankruptcy process, MD entered into an asset purchase agreement with a creditor consortium led by Bardin Hill and MBIA Insurance, which will acquire nearly all of the company’s assets and provide the new capital. MD said bankruptcy “is expected to provide for a quick and orderly sale of the company in a court-supervised sale process.” The consortium will serve as the “stalking horse bidder” in a court-supervised sale of the company.
Jet Maintenance International (JMI) has received an authorized service center designation from Williams International for the FJ44 engine variants that power Cessna Citation CJ-series twinjets. The appointment follows technician training on the FJ44 at Williams's headquarters in Michigan, as well as a $120,000 investment in tools and inventory at JMI’s London Oxford Airport facility.
JMI has dedicated space inside a 16,000-sq-ft hangar at London Oxford for the FJ44 MRO activity. The authorization builds on the line maintenance support for Citations that the company offers at London Oxford and Biggin Hill airports. It also comes after JMI received FAA repair station approval to provide maintenance on U.S.-registered Citations.
“Now we can offer our European Cessna Citation customers a one-stop with aircraft and engine MRO and Tamarack active winglets installations, too,” said JMI director Ed Griffith. The company is also working to expand its mobile service units for AOG support from London Oxford and Biggin Hill.
Gogo Business Aviation's Avance systems topped use on one million flights on Monday, the connectivity provider announced. That comes after Gogo launched the broadband internet connectivity platform in August 2017. At the end of 2021, 2,504 business aircraft were flying with the Avance L5 or L3 system, according to the Broomfield, Colorado-based company.
Gogo president Sergio Aguirre said demand for connectivity is at an all-time high. Users are doing data-heavy activities such as using Zoom, FaceTime, and Microsoft Office 365. In the fourth quarter, Gogo saw a 38 percent increase across all systems in megabytes consumed per flight. The company also saw a 29 percent increase in daily flights compared with the same period in 2019.
Avance L5 also serves as the upgrade path to Gogo 5G, which will deliver about 25 megabytes per second (Mbps) on average with peak speeds between 75 and 80 Mbps. Gogo said it remains on track to launch its 5G service in the second half of this year.
FreeFlight Systems is in the final stages of obtaining FAA TSO approval for its Terrain series 5G-interference-resistant radar altimeters. The company plans to submit all required paperwork for the TSO in early April, and approval should follow shortly.
At the Aircraft Electronics Association convention this week in New Orleans, FreeFlight president Tony Rios noted that the Terrain series radar altimeters provide an “AMOC radius” of 0.1 nm or better. Most existing radar altimeters, including FreeFlight’s earlier products, are subject to 5G cellular network C-band interference at 2 nm or more distance from the transmitting 5G antenna. “Outside of this radius, [radar altimeters] will not be affected,” the company explained. “Inside, it may not be available or is giving undetected, erroneous altitude readings.”
The new FreeFlight RA-4500 Mk II radar altimeter replaces existing 4000/4500 units. The RA-5500 is for installations where only a single radar altimeter is required, while the RA-6500 is for dual-unit installations. Both have the ability to connect to existing wiring and antennas for easier installation.
FreeFlight’s Terrain series were designed to mitigate 5G interference using digital signal processing (DSP) technology to filter out unwanted signals. The DSPs in the Terrain series radar altimeters allow FreeFlight engineers to filter all of the “bad” signals, including spurious signals, and if and when those signals change FreeFlight can simply adjust the unit’s susceptibility via software updates.
Universal Avionics and Trimec Aviation are developing a supplemental type certificate (STC) to upgrade Dassault Falcon 2000/2000EXs equipped with Collins Pro Line 4 avionics to the Universal InSight flight deck.
The two companies expect FAA approval of the STC in the first quarter of 2023. The upgrade will include the Universal InSight display system, SBAS flight management system (FMS), SkyLens head-wearable display, and UniLink Communications Management System, which supports RNP 0.3 instrument approaches and CPDLC, digital clearances, FANS 1A+, and ATN B1.
“Replacing existing flight deck displays with the InSight Flight Display System is an economical and sustainable initiative that extends the service life of both the flight deck and the aircraft while enhancing capabilities to meet global airspace compliance,” said Universal Avionics CEO Dror Yahav. “Whether you own the aircraft for just a few years or decades to come, we believe this holistic approach complements the rising demand and value of the F2000/F2000EX aircraft.”
By replacing obsolete CRT displays, the upgrade shaves more than 200 pounds from the aircraft's empty weight. Pilots will have access to Universal’s second-generation 3D synthetic vision system; interactive digital map; the SkyLens head-up display, which provides 360-degree enhanced terrain awareness; and touchscreen FMS and avionics control.
The Department of Civil Aviation Aruba (DCA) has taken several steps to enforce sanctions on aircraft based in Russia or connected with Russian entities, including aircraft groundings and, in some cases, de-registration, the organization said.
The DCA and The Registry of Aruba (TROA) have been monitoring ownership and effective control of aircraft, along with access to technical assistance and parts, the civil aviation authority said. In addition, they are reviewing the supply chain.
As an autonomous state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba is legally bound to implement European Union-imposed sanctions, including those applied to Russian and Belarus companies, citizens, and other organizations.
In addition, DCA and TROA said they “strongly condemn Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, and stakeholders are to be reassured that continuous monitoring and reviewing restrictions affecting aircraft under the registry is being done and swift, appropriate action taken.”
Established in 1995 and based in Miami, TROA is the first public-private aircraft registry and works in partnership with DCA.
Requires replacing the covering plate of the collective lever secondary stop with self-adhesive tape. The AD stems from a report that movement of the collective lever was restricted compared to the movement range expected by the design on an affected helicopter. Subsequent investigation determined that the rivet securing the covering plate of the collective lever secondary stop could, under certain conditions, interfere with the collective lever fulcrum. This condition could lead to restricted movement of the flight control lever, possibly resulting in reduced control of the helicopter
Removes AD 2021-03-16, which required inspecting each sliding door and replacing the upper rail or front roller or removing the front roller from service if necessary. Since the FAA issued AD 2021-03-16, inspection results and further investigation have confirmed that the in-flight loss of a sliding door, which prompted AD 2021-03- 16, was an isolated case resulting from incorrect operation and maintenance error. Therefore, the FAA has determined that no unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop on the sliding doors on other helicopters in the fleet.
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