Recovery in Bizav Flying Continues To Gain Steam

Business aircraft flying is surging above pre-pandemic levels in some places, with the U.S. charter market taking the lead and Florida the hub, according to data released today by WingX Advance. Demand in Western Europe has also increased in response to the lifting of some Covid-19 travel restrictions, while flight activity from Eastern Europe to Russia and the Middle East is “busier than ever,” the company added.

In North America, month-to-date activity is down by only 3.5 percent versus the comparable period in May 2019. Year-to-date (YTD) flying in the region is 9 percent lower than the same span in 2019, with the U.S. making up the bulk of that activity—but still lagging 2019 levels by 7 percent. Florida has extended its dominance as the busiest state in the U.S., with the 177,000 business aviation departures YTD there surging 22 percent above the same period in 2019.

In Europe, month-to-date business aircraft activity fell by 8 percent compared with May 2019, but is up 144 percent from a year ago. The market has increased by 26 percent versus the first five months of last year and has closed within 20 percent of comparable 2019 levels, said WingX. Western Europe has seen the weakest regional recovery, with the UK still 19 percent behind last year and almost 50 percent off from 2019.

Viasat Demos Phased-array Antenna on Business Jet

Phased-array satcom antennas are moving closer to availability for aircraft, following a successful demonstration of a Viasat antenna on a Cessna Citation II. The first demonstration flight took place on April 20 during a flight from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Payerne, Switzerland.

This effort was part of Project AIDAN, which is led by Viasat Antenna Systems Switzerland and involved partners that included Viasat Netherlands, NLR, and Lionix International. The Citation II was provided by NLR, and funding for Project AIDAN comes from the European Space Agency, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Viasat, and other European companies.

Viasat's phased-array antenna can track satellites without any moving parts, electronically steering “its beams to maintain contact with the satellite,” according to the company. While the antenna is somewhat large and must be installed in a suitable location on top of the fuselage, it could open opportunities to deliver broadband high-speed Ka-band connectivity for aircraft that can’t accommodate a mechanically steered antenna.

After the first flight, multiple demonstration flights were conducted, according to Carolina Vigano, RF and terminal director at Viasat Antenna Systems. “We were trying to stress the system and see how it is responding,” she said. This included streaming Netflix on one laptop, making a Zoom call on another laptop, while another user uploaded a large file using a VPN and everyone on board connected as many devices as possible.

Two Learjet Pilots Lose Jobs after Intentional Roll

The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) released a report detailing an instance where pilots conducted an unauthorized roll of their air-ambulance-configured Bombardier Learjet 31A. No one was injured and the aircraft was left unharmed when the pilots performed the maneuver with two company employees aboard near Faro, Portugal, on Dec. 28, 2018, but both pilots were fired as a result of the incident.

According to the BFU, the aircraft, which is operated by a German carrier, had taken off from London Biggin Hill on a flight to Faro. After about an hour into the flight, the pilot-in-command—who was the pilot flying—asked the copilot if he agreed to fly a roll. The copilot maintains that he did not agree to such a flight maneuver.

But at about 11,500 feet, the aircraft entered two steep turns with a bank angle of about 140-degrees each before the “PIC conducted the roll about the longitudinal axis of the airplane,” leveling off 10 seconds later. The maneuver was discovered in May 2019 during a routine readout of FDR data and then reported to the operator, which then inspected the aircraft but found no damage.

NBAA Praises Industry Comments for Spurring PRD Changes

While the FAA’s new electronic pilot record database (PRD) rule expands the applicability of record-keeping mandates for air carrier hiring purposes to corporate flight departments, NBAA welcomed changes that exempt most of business aviation from “onerous” reporting requirements.

NBAA, which had voiced strong opposition to original proposal, said the hundreds of industry comments proved critical to some of the key changes. In the final rule, the agency said it determined that “in light of the information and data provided by commenters, some requirements of the proposed rule were overly burdensome.” It exempted corporate flight departments from certain training, disciplinary, and separation-from-employment record requirements.

The association further noted that the rule eliminated a single “corporate flight department” definition out of industry concerns. The FAA acknowledged those concerns and instead included a footnote saying the term references "operators of two or more aircraft conducting operations in furtherance of or incidental to a business, solely pursuant to the general operating and flight rules in Part 91."

“This final rule reflects a more risk-based approach to safety and demonstrates that our community effectively made its voice heard during the rulemaking process,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “The business aviation community stands for safety, and working together we have determined the best way to address the agency’s aims, without introducing needless reporting requirements that do not have a clear safety benefit.”

Helo Crashed while Testing New Fire Bucket System

The 1981 Sikorsky UH-60A that crashed and killed all four aboard Tuesday afternoon in Leesburg, Florida, was testing a new water bucket release system when the helicopter went down on undeveloped property at Leesburg International Airport (KLEE), the NTSB has confirmed to AIN.

According to witnesses, the helicopter—N9FH, which had previously seen military service with the U.S. Army—was flying for Brainerd Helicopters, doing business as Firehawk Helicopters, on a restricted-category airworthiness certificate when the crew apparently lost control of the fire bucket, leading to a sequence in which the tail rotor section separated in flight. The helicopter crashed at approximately 4 p.m. local time and the wreckage was consumed in a post-crash fire. The crash site was described as woody, swampy, and inaccessible. 

Firehawk operates a fleet of 12 aircraft, including nine Sikorsky S-70/UH-60s, and has a long history of conducting both firefighting and research-and-development flight testing. The company was founded in 1973 and began flying Black Hawks in 1995. It is based in Leesburg and was one of several companies that earlier this month won exclusive use contracts to provide Type 1 helicopters to the U.S. Forest Service for the upcoming wildfire season.

Carinata Lands On ICAO’s SAF Feedstock List

ICAO recently published the first update of the list of default life cycle emissions for eligible fuels since 2019 in its Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), and while much of the recent research in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstocks has involved wastes and residue materials, the international aviation organization now includes Carinata, an oilseed crop, as a renewable feedstock with a similar lifecycle carbon emission reduction profile.

Non-competition with food crop space has become one of the major tenets for sustainability, causing fuel producers to explore feedstocks such as used cooking oil, forestry and agriculture residues, solid municipal waste, and even non-recyclable plastics to produce SAF.

“Being categorized with waste is a very good thing,” said Glenn Johnston, Carinata regulatory lead with crop development specialist Nuseed. The global company has developed a proprietary high-yield strain of the plant, which can be grown as a cover crop, with many agricultural benefits, including soil enhancement and erosion prevention. Grown between seasonal crop rotations, it will not compete for land use with food-producing plants. “Further affirmation like this by international UN bodies provides supportive framework that regenerative agriculture can reach GHG savings that are on a par with waste and residuals,” Johnston added.

Business Aviation Preps for Euro Soccer Championship

The rescheduled finals of the 2020 UEFA soccer tournament begin on June 11, with 51 games to be played in 10 European cities through July 11. The event, for which reduced numbers of spectators are to be admitted to stadiums, is expected to generate significant volumes of business aviation traffic.

The host cities for the tournament extend from Azerbaijan's capital Baku in the east to London and Glasgow in the UK. Other venues include Rome, Saint Petersburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Seville, and Munich.

As part of its preparations for the tournament, flight support group Universal Weather & Aviation has released a blog detailing what aircraft operators should expect for the games being played at London's Wembley stadium. Universal suggests using London Northolt, Luton, Stansted, or Farnborough airports for games at Wembley.

Even with tickets restricted to 25 percent of the stadium’s capacity, Universal is expecting pent-up demand for travel. Combined with lessening Covid restrictions, the company believes this will spur high demand for business aviation services during that span.

On May 17, the UK implemented a new Red, Amber, and Green country classification system, with the U.S., Canada, and many EU countries relegated to the amber list, which requires a mandatory 10-day quarantine for travelers entering from those areas.

C&L Wins Deal for ERJ-135/145 Semi-private Conversions

C&L Aviation Services has signed a contract for multiple ERJ-135 and -145 “semi-private” aircraft modifications. The project, which follows C&L’s similar upgrades on more than 20 ERJ-135s thus far, includes converting the aircraft to a 16- to 23-seat, 1+1 configuration with a flat-floor modification, removal of overhead bins, and installation of a Bongiovi speakerless cabin audio system and onboard Wi-Fi. Each seat will have upgraded leather, in-seat power, and LED lighting, the company said.

“C&L has been committed to providing a full suite of services to Embraer operators for years,” said senior v-p of MRO business development Calvin Tuitt. “We believe these solutions can be best accomplished by aftermarket facilities like ours because of our experience, flexibility, and cost-saving processes.”

Besides cabin refurbishments, C&L also provides on-site engineering, avionics support, aircraft exterior painting, and heavy maintenance services. The Bangor, Maine-based company also carries a large inventory of ERJ parts in its warehouse.