Robinson Helicopter Founder Frank Robinson Dies at 92

Frank Robinson, the founder of the iconic helicopter company Robinson Helicopter, passed away over the weekend at his Rolling Hills, California home. He was 92. 

“I was nine years old when I saw a newspaper picture of a Sikorsky VS-300 prototype hovering. I was intrigued that someone could make a machine that could stand motionless in the air,” Robinson said in 2007. 

He founded the company at his kitchen table in 1973 with the goal of realizing his college dream of producing simple, low-cost helicopters for the civilian market. He previously worked at various helicopter programs at Cessna, Umbaugh, McCulloch, Kaman, and Hughes, all the while unsuccessfully trying to foster his employers’ interest in his idea for a low-cost “everyman” helicopter while concurrently working on the concept in his spare time from his home workshop. 

Robinson spent seven and a half years designing and testing his two-seat R22 light piston helicopter himself before achieving FAA certification in 1979. Much of the work was done in a small hangar in Torrance, California. Today, Robinson remains in Torrance but employs more than 1,000 at its sprawling plant there, manufacturing the two-seat R22, larger R44 piston, and R66 turbine single, sending 70 percent of its production to the export market. Robinson Helicopter is also closing in on the delivery of its 14,000th helicopter.

ExecuJet MRO Services Builds Malaysian Facility

ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia has broken ground on a purpose-built MRO center at Malaysia’s Subang Airport that will reinforce its status as a regional maintenance hub. While the Dassault Aviation subsidiary already has a facility at Subang, it will relocate to the larger facility when it is completed by the end of next year.

Capable of sheltering up to 15 business jets, including the Falcon 10X scheduled to enter service in 2025, the 149,500-sq-ft facility will also include corporate offices, customer areas, and back shops, as well as a dedicated apron.

According to ExecuJet MRO Services regional v-p Ivan Lim, the facility demonstrates its commitment to customers in the region as it was designed to maximize hangar space while incorporating environmentally conscious features such as natural and energy-efficient LED lighting, a rooftop solar panel system, and water tanks for harvesting rainwater. As well, the reinforced concrete floor will be able to accommodate much heavier aircraft than the current crop of business jets.

ExecuJet’s Subang MRO—one of the area’s largest MRO providers—serves Dassault, Gulfstream, and Bombardier operators and carries certifications from the Malaysian civil aviation authority, FAA, and EASA among others. It can also dispatch AOG repair teams throughout the region.

Used Bizjet, Turboprop Inventories Mixed, Prices Rise

Asking values for preowned piston singles and business jets continued to steadily climb in October along with inventories, according to Sandhills Global aviation industry market reports. “Aircraft sales continue to be strong, but we are also seeing more aircraft coming to market than we did in previous quarters,” said Brant Washburn, department manager of Controller, Sandhills’ aircraft marketplace.

Globally, preowned business jet inventory was up 16.3 percent between September and October and 52.7 percent year-over-year. During that same period, asking values increased 2.4 percent month-over-month and were up 24.1 percent from a year ago.

In the U.S. and Canada, piston single inventory rose 3.6 percent in October and 48 percent from last year. During that same period, asking values were 1.1 percent higher month-over-month and 15.9 percent from October 2021.

However, inventory was lower for turboprops, decreasing 28.1 percent from a year ago, while asking values increased 3.5 percent month-over-month and 33.3 percent from last year.

EASA Proposes Heli Crash-resistant Fuel Systems

Mandatory installation of a crash-resistant fuel system (CRFS) into in-production helicopters and retrofit into existing rotorcraft operated in member states is being proposed by EASA. The objective of the notice of proposed amendment (NPA) is to mitigate the risks linked to post-crash fires involving rotorcraft.

EASA is considering several options, all of which apply to small and large helicopters. One option would require installation of CRFSs starting in 2025 in new-production EU-registered rotorcraft and retrofit installations starting in 2030 for operating models certified on or after 1978. Another option would retain the 2025 date for newly manufactured rotorcraft, but would apply by 2030 to all operating models regardless of type certification date.

Under a third option, retrofit installations of CFRSs to the existing fleet of rotorcraft by 2030 would apply only to models with five or more seats. A final option would ensure that the remaining—and, subsequently, the entire—fleet would be compliant with the CRFS requirements by 2038.

EASA estimates there are 1,763 operators with only one rotorcraft, of which 605 have at least one rotorcraft in their fleet that is not compliant with CRFS requirements. Comments on the proposal are due by Feb. 13, 2023.

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Jeppesen, NBAA Coordinate on Cyber Response

Following the “cyber incident” that has caused problems for customers of Boeing’s Jeppesen unit, NBAA today said it is coordinating with Boeing on the response to the incident. Boeing has not confirmed to AIN that this was a ransomware attack.

Jeppesen’s website has been updated and now tells visitors, “On November 2, Jeppesen experienced a cyber incident affecting certain products and services. We immediately initiated an incident response process and are working to reactivate individual products to our hosted production environment. We continue to work to restore full functionality to all of our products and services. If you need support, please reach out to us at support.jeppesen.com."

NBAA further added that Boeing “is undertaking an incident response process working with law enforcement, regulatory authorities and cybersecurity experts.”

Although notam feeds were initially affected for users of Boeing’s ForeFlight Mobile app, those have been restored. Other Jeppesen services “are coming back online on a rolling basis,” NBAA said. “At this time there is no reason to believe that this incident poses a threat to aircraft or flight safety.”

NBAA also pointed out that Jeppesen customers can download the current chart cycle using the JDM service.

Boeing Business Jets Joins Dealers Group

Boeing Business Jets is the newest OEM member of the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA), the group announced today. The manufacturer of the BBJ 737/Max family, BBJ787, and BBJ777X, has delivered more than 260 bizliners since its founding in 1996.

“Boeing Business Jets is delighted to be an OEM member of IADA. The organization of airplane transaction experts has become a force in promoting transparency and integrity in aircraft sales,” said company president Erika Pearson. “As the market evolves following the pandemic, we look forward to working with other IADA members to meet the needs of the growing ranks of private flyers.”

The Boeing subsidiary joins business jet airframers Textron Aviation, Bombardier, Airbus Corporate Jets, Embraer Executive Jets, Dassault Falcon, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Honda Aircraft. IADA dealers comprise the top 12 percent of aircraft brokers who are involved in 46 percent of used aircraft sales.

Jefferies: Pilot Certs Increase, but Shortfall Grows

Although U.S. pilot certificate issuances are notably up, analyst Jefferies estimated that the industry is undersupplied by 6 percent, or by 8,000 pilots, this year, given the early retirements during the pandemic. Jefferies further believes this will increase to a 12 percent shortage, or 18,000 pilots, by 2025 and to 15 percent, or 23,000 pilots, by 2030.

Citing FAA data, Jefferies noted pilot certificate issuances are up 12 percent year-to-date through October, with ATP certificates surging by 119 percent versus the first nine months of 2021. Compared with 2019 levels, pilot certifications are up by 8 percent, driven by a 42 percent jump in ATPs and a 10 percent increase in student pilot issuances. However, 2022 commercial pilot issuances are lagging behind by 4 percent and private pilot certificates are flat.

For the month of October alone, pilot issuances are down across the board when compared with 2019, with commercial certificates leading the decline at -24 percent, followed by private certificates at -19 percent.

Jefferies forecasts that the pilot supply gap will widen as pent-up pilot certifications the industry is experiencing will normalize and retirements will average at 3 percent to 4 percent annually. About 16 percent of pilots today are between the ages of 60 and 64, and another 17 percent are between the ages of 55 and 59.

P&WC Engines Log 200,000 Hours on Polish Ambulances

Polish air ambulance service Lotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe (LPR) has logged more than 200,000 engine hours on its fleet of 27 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206B-powered Airbus H135 helicopters over the last 20 years, it announced last week. LPR has a fleet of 36 aircraft.  

“We have worked with Pratt & Whitney Canada since October 2021 on a fleet enhancement program (FEP) that will see us install 48 new PW206B2 and B3 engines on our helicopters, 25 of which have already been installed. The FEP has proven to be an attractive solution and provides an economical, efficient way to refresh our fleet,” said Wojciech Woźniczka, LPR deputy director of project management.

“The H135 has been a reliable workhorse for the medivac community since it entered into service. During that time, we have introduced three versions of the PW206B engine, each one offering more advantages to operators,” said John Lewis, senior director of customer programs at Pratt & Whitney Canada.  

More than 5,600 PW206/207 engines have been produced since the family entered service in the 1990s, accumulating some 13.6 million flying hours in emergency medical service, security and defense, utility, business, and other operations. In addition to powering the H135, the engine is also aboard helicopter models including the Bell 427 and 429; Leonardo A109 and AW109; MD 900 and 902; and Kazan Ansat.