Blackhawk Aerospace has begun FAA certification flight testing for its Pilatus PC-12 XP67P Engine+ Upgrade program. The upgrade replaces the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B engine with a new 1,200-shp PT6A-67P that provides more power and greater efficiency.
Improved metallurgy provides a higher internal turbine temperature (ITT) limitation of 850 degrees Celsius. As well, the maximum continuous ITT for climb and cruise is 760 degrees C for the -67B and 820 degrees C for the XP67P. The XP67P also produces 142 more thermodynamic shaft horsepower than the PC-12’s stock powerplant.
“Blackhawk is excited to kick off certification testing for the XP67P program and bring the conversion one step closer to reality for PC-12 operators,” said Blackhawk president and CEO Jim Allmon. “This is a new market for us that fits naturally into our existing roster of aircraft, and we look forward to delivering this upgrade to Pilatus operators soon.”
Blackhawk estimates more than 600 PC-12s are eligible for the upgrade, many of which are at or close to overhaul. STC approval of the XP67P is expected early next year, with EASA approval to follow shortly thereafter.
CAE is expanding its network with plans to break ground shortly on a new business aviation training center near Gulfstream Aerospace’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. Slated to open in mid-2023, the facility will become CAE’s fifth training center dedicated to business aviation in the U.S.
Plans call for the facility to eventually house four Gulfstream full-flight simulators, maintenance training devices, briefing rooms, and classrooms.
“Gulfstream and CAE have a longstanding relationship and the new Savannah training center brings two industry leaders together in one location to deliver a seamless experience for our customers,” said CAE group president of civil aviation Nick Leontidis. “As Gulfstream’s deliveries continue to grow, CAE will be perfectly located to meet its customers’ pilot and maintenance training requirements.”
The addition is part of an overarching plan to expand its training network as CAE eyes a global requirement for an additional 45,000 business aviation pilots over the next 10 years, the training specialist said. CAE currently has business aviation training centers in Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Morristown, New Jersey, in the U.S. It additionally trains business aviation pilots at its facilities in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Dubai, London, Montreal, São Paulo, and Shanghai.
Jet Aviation has begun offering line maintenance through its new hangar facility in Zurich. The worldwide aviation services provider expanded its operations at Zurich Airport in June last year with the acquisition of the former ExecuJet FBO, known now as the North FBO, which includes a passenger terminal, 27,000-sq-ft (2,500-sq-m) and 54,000-sq-ft hangars, and 100,000 sq ft of ramp space.
The Zurich facility will initially receive approval under an extension of the company’s Basel site authorization before it undergoes an audit by the Swiss civil aviation authority for line maintenance repair station approval.
It has already received authorization to perform line maintenance on Gulfstreams and other aircraft, and the company has brought in AOG engineer Michael Luethi to manage the station. The new offering adds another service to the location, which already provides FBO ground handling and fueling, making it a one-stop shop. Jet Aviation also offers base maintenance in Basel, Geneva, Vienna, Dubai, and Singapore, along with global AOG support.
“Line maintenance is a fantastic complement to our base maintenance and AOG service offering in Europe,” said Stefan Verkaik, Jet Aviation’s director of aftermarket services and AOG. “Establishing a line maintenance base in Zurich eases those situations when it is more difficult to move an aircraft or mechanics.”
A passenger with no previous flight experience took the controls of the Cessna Caravan they were aboard after the pilot fell ill and—with the help of an air traffic controller who also is a CFI—successfully landed the aircraft at Florida's Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) yesterday afternoon. The Caravan—N333LD, registered to a Connecticut-based operator—was en route from Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, to Treasure Coast International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida, when the pilot became incapacitated.
According to reports, the passenger contacted air traffic control by radio when the pilot became incoherent due to a “possible medical condition.” The passenger notified ATC that he was in sight of the Florida coast and added he had no idea how to land the airplane.
The controller handled the call and, though not familiar with the Caravan’s cockpit, immediately began bringing up documentation of its controls to guide the passenger step-by-step. In communications captured by LiveATC, he is heard giving the substitute pilot instructions to try and hold the wings level, push forward on the controls, and begin to gradually descend, as ATC worked to locate the Caravan on radar.
Once the aircraft was identified, the controller decided to vector the wayward airplane on an approach to KPBI due to its 10,000-foot runway. The controller was then able to talk the passenger down to a safe landing.
C&L Aviation Group’s C&L Engine Solutions has purchased 14 GE Aviation CF34-3B1 turbofan engines to support operators of Bombardier Challenger 604, 605, and 850 twinjets, as well as CRJ200 regional jets. The engine entered service in 1992 on the Challenger 601.
“These engines are a great opportunity for C&L to work with operators on creative solutions to help keep their aircraft flying,” said C&L Engine Solutions president Tim Brecher. “With whole engine or module exchanges, green time leases, and customized engine work scopes, we help operators align cost to ownership horizon.”
The engine division specializes in commercial and corporate aircraft engine transactions, trading, leasing, and acquiring large and small engines. The division also offers engine management services.
Bangor, Maine-based C&L Engine Solution’s leased and owned portfolio management services provide consignments, remarketing services, technical advisement, lease monitoring, cash management, accounts receivable management, and financial accounting.
Brazilian business aviation services company TAM Aviação Executiva (TAM AE) has received IS-BAH registration for its flagship FBO at São Paulo Congonhas Airport, making it the first in Brazil to earn this distinction. TAM AE is also the second FBO in South America—after Aviasur in Santiago, Chile—to achieve IS-BAH, an industry code of best practices developed by the International Business Aviation Council that provide standardization to handlers and operators around the world.
Company president Leonado Fiuza said the designation “is proof of an extremely rigorous operation in relation to standards and processes, further reinforcing one of our main pillars: safety.”
TAM also reported that its FBOs have handled record traffic during the pandemic, including both domestic and international flights. In its 60 years in aviation, TAM Aviação Executiva has built South America’s largest business aviation maintenance installations, centered in Jundiaí in the São Paulo region, with sites also in Belo Horizonte, Brasília, and Aracatí, Ceará. It is the exclusive representative in Brazil for Textron Aviation (Cessna/Beechcraft), Bell, and FlightSafety International.
Its FBO services and amenities include 24/7 coordination, flight planning, and overflight authorizations; immigration and customs; bilingual teams; ramp services; and hotel and ground transportation arrangments. Congonhas Airport is also opening a customs and immigration facility to allow international business aviation flights.
Marsh Brothers Aviation is expanding to Europe through a distribution agreement with Aviation Parts Services (APS) in Germany. Through the agreement, APS will market and sell to end-users and MROs Marsh Brothers’ polymer bearings and seals that support the general aviation sector.
Until now, Canada-based Marsh Brothers has focused its business on developing lightweight, non-metallic, self-lubricating bearing and sealing solutions for light aircraft and general aviation in the U.S. and Canadian markets. Uses of Marsh Brothers’ polymer bearings include landing gear pneumatic struts, landing gear structures, hydraulic actuators, flight controls, and passenger and cargo door hinge bushings and rollers. The company’s recently expanded product lines support Mooney, Cirrus, Cessna, Beechcraft King Air, and Beech 1900 aircraft.
“APS is a well-known European aviation parts distributor,” said Marsh Brothers business development manager Juan Rivera. “Its European reach and positive reputation in the EU aviation industry makes APS a very good fit for us. We envision a very strong partnership that will add value for both companies as we mutually pursue future growth in the general and regional aviation markets."
Yesterday, the NTSB concluded that the probable cause of the fatal Dec. 26, 2019, crash of a Safari Aviation AStar in Hawaii was “the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in the collision into terrain.” Safari’s chief pilot and check airman, 69-year-old Paul Matero, died in the crash along with his six air-tour passengers.
According to the NTSB, the Airbus AS350B2 “flew into a mountainous region shrouded in low clouds and fog and wasn’t able to exit the area of limited visibility” along a well-established tour route on the northwest portion of the island of Kauai near the Na Pali coast. The Board noted that the weather pattern that day was “atypical,” with rain and low clouds moving in from the northwest and that three other air tour pilots who saw it elected to divert to avoid it.
The NTSB noted that the weather situation at the time of the crash was complex, with discordant reports in the area of the crash site, 24 miles northwest of Lihue. A witness about 1.5 miles away from the scene in the Koke'e State Park reported hearing the helicopter shortly before the crash at 4:57 p.m. local time and weather conditions of 20-feet forward visibility in rain and fog.
Tell us about the product support you receive from business aviation OEMs. The 2022 AIN Product Support Survey is now open, ready for selected readers to rate aircraft, engine, and avionics support. AIN readers who have been picked to participate in this year’s Product Support Survey should have received their password and link to the online survey by e-mail. The survey needs to be completed by midnight on June 3.
Supersedes and retains certain requirements of AD 2020-05-12, which mandated revising the airplane flight manual to incorporate revised limitations and procedures regarding crosswind and wind gust limits on landing. Updated AD includes more restrictive limitations and procedures. Prompted by reports of two landing incidents in which the alpha limiter engaged in the landing flare in unstable air, resulting in a high rate of descent landings and damage to the airplanes.
Requires repetitive inspections of the left-hand fin spar cap and adjacent fin skin for crack and any necessary repairs. Prompted by a report of a fatigue crack that developed at vertical fin station 71 through the first rivet hole attaching the skin to the spar cap.
Introduces new and/or more restrictive airworthiness limitations and maintenance tasks.
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