In the first three months of the year, the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) said total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales amounted to $634.5 million, as reported by participating companies. The amount represents an increase of 4.8 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and 11.6 percent growth over the first quarter of last year.
The AEA says these increases were driven by a 34.6 percent improvement in forward-fit sales (avionics installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) compared to the same time frame a year ago. “The more than $354 million in forward-fit sales was the largest sales total in that category since the third quarter of 2019 when more than $366 million in forward-fit sales were reported,” the association said.
The dollar amount reported from net sales prices (not manufacturer's suggested retail prices) represents all business and general aviation aircraft electronic sales, including all components and accessories in cockpit/cabin/software upgrades, certified and noncertified electronics; all related hardware; batteries; and chargeable product upgrades from participating manufacturers. The amount does not include sales figures from repairs and overhauls, extended warranty payments, or maintenance subscription services.
Of the more than $634 million in first-quarter 2022 sales, 44.2 percent came from the retrofit market, while forward-fit sales amounted to 55.8 percent of first-quarter sales.
During Day 19 of the trial of USA v. John D. Walker (owner and CEO) and Hansen Helicopters, witness Timothy Cislo, formerly a $102,000-a-year FAA Honolulu FSDO Aviation Safety Inspector, said he took bribes in the form of shirts, dinners, money, prostitutes, and an airplane from key executives of Guam-based Hansen Helicopters in exchange for falsifying multiple airworthiness certificates for Hansen’s fleet of more than 50 Hughes 369 turbine single-engine helicopters.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Hansen operated a fleet of “Frankenstein helicopters,” assembled for as little as $82,000 each, and replete with unapproved parts, falsified logbooks, and mismatched data plates belonging to scrapped aircraft retrieved from salvage yards. The U.S. government suggested that these practices were at least in part responsible for 30 accidents that killed nine over two decades. Walker has pleaded not guilty.
Under questioning on Thursday, Cislo admitted taking “money and hookers” from Hansen between 2009 and 2017. Hansen also shipped Cislo, who lives in Hawaii, a vintage Taylorcraft single-engine airplane, which he assembled and flew.
In connection with the case, in 2018 Cislo pleaded guilty to three felony counts of honest services wire fraud. He has yet to be sentenced but could face penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines on each count. He no longer works at the FAA.
Aviation services company Central Flying Service (CFS) in Little Rock, Arkansas, has been acquired by venture capital firm Tricoastal Ventures in a 100 percent stock transaction. CFS, based at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, is Arkansas’s oldest aviation company. Founded and owned by the Holbert family, it offers Part 145 MRO, aircraft management, and charter. It also incorporates a flight training business.
Outgoing CEO Richard Holbert said CFS is “in the right hands” with Tricoastal, adding that the 82-year-old company’s “unique and lasting brand we created will continue to serve our great people and this community for decades to come.”
Tricoastal is a capital investment firm with a focus on commercial aviation. Partners Phil Jordan and Herb Knight will serve as CFS’s CEO and chief operating officer, respectively. They will focus on capitalizing on CFS’s existing capabilities and expanding to additional locations and adjacent markets. “We have big plans for the company, and we have the right team to maintain a culture of quality and excellence while extending our reach,” Jordan said.
Tricoastal also will leverage its ownership of Texas-based aircraft dealers American Kodiak and Volare Air for CFS to provide authorized maintenance for Kodiak and Tecnam aircraft owners.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion At Duncan Aviation
Duncan Aviation has had a companywide DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) committee since 2019. The committee focuses on creating an environment in which everyone is welcome. Duncan Aviation team members have diverse backgrounds. Diversifying ideas, perspectives, and people is vital to growth and new perspectives are encouraged.
EASA has contracted with the CAAi, the technical cooperation arm of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, for a research project to investigate underwater evacuations of offshore helicopters and occupant survivability.
The two-year project, which began this month, has been dubbed Helicopter Underwater Escape #2 and will be funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research program. It is a follow-on to the Helicopter Underwater Evacuation project conducted from 2019-2020 and was spurred by the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch’s report on the fatal August 2013 crash of an Airbus Helicopters Super Puma into the sea during a botched instrument approach to the Sumburgh Airport in the Scottish Shetland Islands. Four of the 18 passengers aboard died.
The new study will focus on high-priority EASA recommendations from the earlier research project, specifically the jettison of push-out emergency exits in inverted and submerged helicopters and the ability of passengers to egress from a submerged helicopter cabin with full seats. From the research, the study will attempt to determine the appropriate minimum jettison force for the exits to either validate current EASA CS-27 and CS-29 certification standards or provide the basis to promote proposed amendments. It will also try to establish how long it takes the occupant to conduct an underwater escape in order to either validate or justify future revisions to CS-27 and CS-29 Amendment 5.
Aircraft supplier and manufacturer Kaman Corp. this week entered into a definitive agreement with Parker-Hannafin Corp. to acquire its aircraft wheel and brake division for $440 million. Parker is divesting the business to secure approval from regulators for its acquisition of Meggitt. Approval of Kaman’s acquisition is expected before the end of the year.
The more than 80-year-old Parker division supports over 100 aircraft platforms in the commercial, military, and general aviation markets with wheels, brakes, and hydraulic components for airplanes and helicopters. Operating out of a centralized facility in Avon, Ohio, the division designs, develops, qualifies, manufactures, and repairs those products.
The addition of the aircraft wheel and brake division “complements” Bloomfield, Connecticut-based Kaman’s engineered products segment, said Kaman chairman, president, and CEO Ian Walsh. The deal serves “our strategic priority of growing through accretive M&A…by expanding the breadth of our product offerings, increasing our exposure to attractive markets, and driving meaningful near-term margin and cash flow accretion,” Walsh added.
Dubai International Airport (OMDB) will be operating at a reduced capacity through June 22 due to the closure of its 13,120-foot northern Runway 12L/30R for an upgrade “designed to enhance safety, service, and capacity levels,” according to the airport.
The project will involve strengthening and resurfacing the runway and the adjacent taxiways, the replacement of cables, and the installation of energy-efficient lighting fixtures. The southern 14,590-foot Runway 12R/30L was closed in 2019 for a similar reconstruction. The airport operator noted that during this period more than 1,000 flights per week will be diverted to nearby Al Maktoum International/Dubai World Central (OMDW).
Jet Aviation, which has FBOs at both airports noted both facilities will be fully operational during the runway closure period and its maintenance operation at OMDB will have slots available for uninterrupted access. The company told AIN that its goal eventually is to build its own hangar infrastructure at OMDW to be able to accommodate maintenance activity at its facility there as well.
CAE’s first full-flight simulator for the Dassault Falcon 6X will be online at its Burgess Hill training center in the UK in the fourth quarter, it said this week at EBACE 2022. As the exclusive training provider for the 6X, CAE has developed an immersive pilot training program to support the aircraft type’s service entry in the first half of next year. A Falcon 8X full-flight simulator will also be ready for training at CAE Burgess Hill by year-end.
“The Falcon 6X training program is a significant step forward in terms of technology and training experience,” said CAE group president for civil aviation Nick Leontidis. “Pilots will be able to fully immerse themselves in their training with expert instructors, digitally-interactive classrooms, and advanced full-flight simulators. CAE’s Falcon 6X training program will give pilots the knowledge and skills they need to confidently fly this new aircraft when it enters service.”
This news comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this month that CAE will soon break ground 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.
Jet Aviation announced yesterday that it has signed a completion contract for a BBJ MAX 9. The aircraft is due to be inducted into the company’s Basel completion facility early next year. The design, created by an external firm, will be engineered, crafted, installed, and certified by Jet Aviation.
“We are delighted to have been selected to complete this beautifully ornate cabin interior,” said Christoph Fondalinski, the company’s v-p of completions, adding customers are looking to bring the comfort and environment of a private residence to their aircraft. “We continue to push boundaries to create the ultimate cabin experience through innovative engineering such as our industry-leading balance of low cabin sound and weight, all at our exceptional level of craftsmanship.”
Jet Aviation delivered the first-ever BBJ MAX last year and for the company, this represents its third BBJ completion project booked this year. Earlier it signed a contract for a pair of BBJ MAX 8s scheduled to arrive in Basel in the first half of 2023. The two aircraft are part of a turnkey project with Boeing Business Jets for a head-of-state customer and will be fitted with interiors designed by the Jet Aviation design studio.
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