Gulfstream Now Has Trio of Test G700s in Flight Testing
Gulfstream Aerospace now has three of its planned five flight-test G700s online, the aircraft manufacturer announced late Friday evening. The third test aircraft—registered as N703GA and dubbed T3 by Gulfstream—made a 3-hour, 2-minute first flight midday Friday from the company’s headquarters at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. T3 reached 45,000 feet and Mach 0.85 during the flight.
The first flight-test G700—T1, registered as G700GA—has been flying since February 14, while T2 has been flying since March 20. These three aircraft have logged more than 100 flight hours to date, during which the G700’s envelope has been expanded to 54,000 feet and Mach 0.94.
“The G700 flight-test program is running very well, a reflection of the extensive testing we conducted in our ground labs,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “All three flight-test aircraft are performing exactly as we expected.”
Powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 engines, the Mach 0.90, 6,400-nm G700 features a five-living-area cabin with 20 panoramic windows. It also includes the Gulfstream Symmetry flight deck with electronically linked active control sidesticks, touchscreen controls, and a predictive landing performance system for enhanced runway safety.
Service entry of the long-range twinjet—a stretch derivative of the G650ER—is scheduled for 2022.
Creditors Ask Court To Force One Aviation Liquidation
The unsecured creditors committee (UCC) in the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of One Aviation last week requested a court hearing to convert the case into Chapter 7 liquidation. One Aviation entered Chapter 11 in October 2018, intending for an expedited trip through bankruptcy court and emergence by the end of that year under ownership by Chinese-backed investment group Citiking International.
Several delays followed, however, including objections raised by the UCC over Citiking's ultimate intentions for the company and a move by the U.S. trustee to dismiss the “pre-packaged” Chapter 11 plan. With those objections resolved, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court confirmed One Aviation's post-bankruptcy plan in September 2019, provided it exited Chapter 11 on or before December 1. That date passed without further resolution, prompting a February 2020 warning from the court that Chapter 7 conversion remained a possibility.
“In light of…Citiking’s failure to consummate the plan in a timely manner, and pay all administrative expense claims when due, conversion of these cases to Chapter 7 is warranted,” reads the May 8 filing by the UCC. A hearing on that conversion is scheduled for June 4.
European business aviation traffic continued its downward plunge in April as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest statistics released by EBAA. In the April edition of its Traffic Tracker Europe, the organization noted an average year-over-year decrease of 71 percent for the month, declining from 52,000 flights to just over 15,000.
Given the 90 percent decrease in the region’s airline traffic, one out of five aircraft flying in Europe during April was a business aircraft, far exceeding the normal average of 8 percent. Since the pandemic took hold in Europe, activity reached its nadir in the second week of April, and rose slightly from that trough through the end of the month.
In terms of trends, EBAA observed that instead of international traffic, most business aviation activity was happening mainly inside countries, due to various travel restrictions in place, and smaller business aircraft are being used more than larger ones. Medical flights have more than doubled and now represent a quarter of all business aviation activity, it added.
For the month, business aviation departures at major business aviation hubs such as Paris Le Bourget and Geneva Airports were down by more than 83 percent from a year ago.
Airbus H135 with Helionix Approved in Canada
Transport Canada has granted certification validation to the Airbus Helicopters H135 light twin equipped with the Helionix avionics system. The approval follows those awarded by the FAA in 2018 and EASA in 2016.
Helionix is designed with three large electronic displays, is night-vision-goggle (NVG) compatible, features a four-axis autopilot, and includes a first limit indicator that highlights the appropriate engine instrument data for the pilot in one indicator. Helionix already is standard on the company’s H175, H145, and, soon, on the H160 super-medium and medium twins.
“The H135 has proven itself to be one of the most reliable aircraft on the market,” said Dwayne Charette, president and COO of Airbus Helicopters Canada. “This recent certification now allows us to deliver the H135 with the latest technologies to our customers, providing them the combination of power, safety, and maneuverability.”
Existing customers for the aircraft in the U.S. and Europe include Stat Medevac; the British Ministry of Defense/UK Military Flight Training System, operated by Ascent Flight Training; and the Norwegian Helicopter Emergency Medical Services operator Norsk Luftambulanse. In Canada, some 220 operators fly approximately 720 Airbus helicopters.
FlyExclusive Offers Program for Stung JetSuite Clients
Business aircraft management and charter firm flyExclusive is offering a discounted jet card program for JetSuite SuiteKey customers affected by the latter company’s recent bankruptcy filing. Under the program, affected JetSuite jet cardmembers are able to buy $150,000 flyExclusive Jet Club cards for $100,000, allowing them to reclaim up to 100 percent of their losses $50,000 at a time per jet card.
SuiteKey members could collectively lose $50 million under the JetSuite bankruptcy, according to court filings. “$50 million is a terrible black eye for the charter industry, and I’d like to eliminate that black eye by using existing capacity,” Jim Segrave, owner of flyExclusive parent LGM Enterprises, told AIN. “We’re offering SuiteKey clients charter lift at our cost and in the process hope to make them lifelong flyExclusive customers.”
According to Segrave, most JetSuite customers had $50,000 to $60,000 contracts and could recoup almost their entire loss with just one flyExclusive contract. He estimates that JetSuite had up to 900 jet card members.
Kinston, North Carolina-based flyExclusive has an owned fleet of 54 Cessna Citations—CJ3s, Encores, Excels, Sovereigns, and Xs—and three Gulfstream GIV-SPs. The company operates its own aircraft interiors shop and will be opening a $12 million aircraft paint facility in the fourth quarter, Segrave said.
USAIG Unveils Credit Options for UAS Safety Programs
USAIG, working with the Unmanned Safety Institute (USI), has updated its safety program to provide unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) policyholders the opportunity to select from a suite of safety and training programs. The update builds on USAIG’s Performance Vector Unmanned initiative, which has offered a package of safety-focused services for policyholders since it was rolled out in 2016.
As the commercial UAS market has evolved, USAIG said it recognized that operators’ needs have diversified. Under the changes USAIG is instituting, policyholders will have the ability to customize safety benefits from an expanded list of offerings.
USAIG will allot policyholders an annual allowance of SafetyPoints that can be used to select training and safety-related products at USI’s online marketplace. SafetyPoints, which are allocated based on the scope and complexity of the insurance coverages and are accumulative, can be used for direct purchases or applied as a discount. “This enables operators to focus their safety benefits on the specific goals and needs of their unique organizations,” USAIG explained.
USI offers training and programs for remote pilots, organizational standup, and operational management/risk mitigation. These run from basic Part 107 prep study guides to full-scale flight operations management systems.
As a growing number of organizations turn their attention to disinfection to guard against Covid-19, aviation disinfection and protection specialist David Allen Certified advises ensuring the use of the right products for aviation and making sure any such protection not only eliminates existing pathogens but protects against future ones.
The company backs a two-step process including cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and then adding a protectant that guards against bacteria, germs, and viruses for up to 30 days. Key to this, it states, is ensuring that the product is correct for aviation. “While there are a host of products that fit the bill that are EPA registered and FDA approved, not all products are aviation approved. It is important to choose the right products and the right recurrent protocol,” the company advised.
Founded in 2009 when the industry was grappling with the H1N1 pandemic, David Allen Certified has established a base of AOG ready response teams that provide direct services, but also provides assistance in choosing products, offers a licensed vendor program, and has a disinfection and protection training and certification program. The Ross Aviation FBO network signed on to the training and certification program this year.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, David Allen Certified is expanding its reach across other industries, most recently extending its services to motorsports-specific human performance training provider PitFit Training.
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
Regarding supersonic aerodynamics, which changes occur to the airflow when passing through an expansion wave?
A. Humidity remains, sonic boom speed increases, and Mach Number decreases.
B. Dynamic pressure increases, heat transmission decreases, and the boundary layer detaches.
C. Static pressure decreases, density decreases, and Mach Number increases.
D. Temperature decreases, density remains unchanged, and Mach Number remains unchanged.
Heli XP 2020 Rescheduled for October
Organizers of the Brazilian helicopter show Heli XP, which they normally hold in May in São Paulo, have moved the event to October 21 and 22, public health permitting. The fair was 90 percent sold out in January and expects 88 brands and 22 static-display aircraft, with all of last year’s exhibitors returning and a 75 percent increase in event space.
Heli XP—which serves the Brazilian helicopter market, the world’s second-largest in fleet size and the busiest in operations—will use an entire hangar at Helipark for stands. “The idea is the exhibitor just arrives with his material and everything’s ready,” Gledson Castro of organizer G2C told AIN.
Officials will reserve part of the Helipark ramp for test flights, one of the features that contributed to the success of the first Heli XP, which last year attracted 4,000 invitation-only visitors—90 percent from Brazil—over its two days.
The Helipark venue allows Heli XP to offer lower costs and has permitted rescheduling without scrambling for convention center space. The first edition mostly sold out even before the watershed 2018 Brazilian election, Castro noted. “Even with the pandemic, the sector strongly believes in the [economic] recovery and that’s what gave us the certainty needed to move ahead with the event,” he said.
Collins Aerospace’s forthcoming Pegasus hoist is expected to enter service in 2022. The clean-sheet design, fifth-generation hoist has been designed modularly to improve ease of maintenance and includes sensors that monitor its health. In fact, the cable can also be changed in less than 10 minutes without special tools. According to Collins, the hoist, which weighs 106 pounds, has a cable movement speed of up to 400 feet per minute and a 600-pound required load.
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