Tamarack Aerospace has embarked on a program to develop and certify active winglets for the 200- and 300-series Beechcraft King Air turboprop twins, the company announced today at NBAA-BACE. The Sandpoint, Idaho-based company is targeting military King Air fleets first and then will offer the modification to the civil market.
Although not at the official NBAA static display, Tamarack’s King Air 200 with the prototype winglet mod is at Las Vegas Henderson Executive Airport during NBAA-BACE this week, and the company is providing demo flights to highlight the performance improvements. After the show closes on Thursday, Tamarack will fly the King Air on a demonstration tour to prospective military customers. Tamarack is working with military contractor Dynamic Aviation on the King Air 200 winglet program.
The Tamarack King Air modification comprises winglets installed on the wingtips, wing extensions that helps improve performance, and the Tamarack active technology load alleviation system (Atlas) active camber surfaces (TACS), which automatically move during flight to relieve the added load on the wing due to the longer wing length and winglets.
Atlas winglets were previously certified for the Cessna CitationJet/CJ1/M2 through CJ3, which have one TACS on each winglet. About 150 Citations have been modified with Tamarack winglets so far. The winglet mod on the CJs enables climbing to higher initial altitudes and consequently improves fuel consumption by up to 33 percent.
Landsberg Sees Pitfalls in Applying SMS to Small Ops
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) vice-chairman Bruce Landsberg is concerned that the current guidance surrounding safety management systems (SMS) may not be the best fit for small operators. Landsberg, one of the scheduled speakers for NBAA’s Single-Pilot Safety Standdown today at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, noted that the Safety Board has made a number of recommendations for SMS, believing “a little more oversight and a little bit more introspection” could prevent crashes.
But one of the challenges with that, Landsberg added, “is the FAA has a predefined view of how SMS should work.” While the components of SMS are fine, he worries that the “process sort of breaks down” with the smallest operators.
Air carriers typically have upper management, a chief pilot, director of operations, line pilots, and perhaps maintenance personnel. “Everybody's...looking out for each other.” But for small operators, those positions can all involve the same person. “The FAA’s answer up to this point has been scalability. But I'm not persuaded of that because as human beings, we're very poor self-evaluators,” Landsberg said, adding that collectively, industry and regulators need to be a little creative when it comes to small operators.
While digitizing maintenance records has received a lot of attention in the business aviation industry and led to the creation of companies that specialize in that area, many flight departments, Part 135 operators, and individual owner/operators still keep their records—including aircraft logbooks—on paper.
Too many aircraft owners and flight departments have also suffered financial and operational losses from poor recordkeeping practices, according to the Foundation for Business Aircraft Records Excellence. In most instances, those situations were avoidable, it added.
“It’s time we take the same care with the aircraft’s records as we do with the actual aircraft,” said the foundation’s executive director, Larry Hinebaugh. “Until we change the way things are done in the aviation industry, the state of aircraft records is unlikely to improve. Inertia is on the side of the status quo.”
Education and technology awareness, Hinebaugh argued, will improve the state of aircraft recordkeeping, starting with “infiltrating aviation training and education programs."
An aircraft’s logbook is one record that an owner doesn’t want to be incomplete or lost because it can “severely” affect the airplane’s value, according to Jared Hasty, director of sales and key accounts for aircraft brokerage Ogarajets. “We could give extreme examples where you’re talking 10, 20, 30, 50 percent of the value of your airplane is tied up in logbooks,” Hasty said during a recent ATP webinar.
After a year of reinforcing its capitalization, business aviation financier Global Jet Capital (GJC) is encouraged by the “long runway” of demand it sees ahead as the pandemic starts to fade and markets begin to reopen, said recently appointed CEO Vivek Kaushal.
Previously COO, he stepped into the post formerly held by Shawn Vick, who is now executive chairman. Kaushal takes the new leadership post as the firm prepares for business to take off once again. “We believe that there is a ton of pent-up demand,” he said. “We see a lot of growth ahead of us."
As the pandemic slowed new business for the market, it also tempered GJC’s growth. Its portfolio is still near where it was in 2019. However, despite the uncertainty, GJC saw little delinquency in its customer base and no defaults, he said. Working in partnership with customers has been a “tremendous experience and tremendous differentiator,” Kaushal said, adding that “people really appreciated how our portfolio performed.”
GJC closed on two asset-backed securitizations (ABS) over the past year, bringing its total assets securitized to more than $3.6 billion and bonds issued to more than $2.9 billion. “We reopened the market for aviation related-assets,” Kaushal said, noting that in both issuances the bonds GJC brought to market were oversubscribed. Investors are seeing the value of business aviation through the pandemic, he said.
Raisbeck Engineering has signed Redding Aero as the launch customer for the aircraft modification company's Epic Caravan drag-reduction system for the Cessna 208B turboprop single. Redding will take 11 systems for deliveries beginning in 2022 for its fleet of Caravan 208Bs that supports overnight package carriers and medical couriers. It also provides FBO and aircraft maintenance services at the Redding (California) Municipal Airport (RDD).
Epic Caravan was designed to address the aerodynamic drag and resultant lower speed and higher fuel consumption on Cessna Caravan 208Bs flying with cargo pods. It features a composite forward cargo pod fairing and metal dual aft body strakes. The system weighs 38 pounds and adds about five knots of speed at cruise power settings or reduces fuel flows and lowers ITT by flying at the same speed as a stock pod-equipped Caravan. The new forward cargo pod fairing eliminates the need for a cargo pod de-ice boot, reducing maintenance costs.
After 24 months in development and more than 130 hours of flight testing, the company has completed all comprehensive pre-certification flights. STC approval for the new drag-reduction system is anticipated in mid-December.
Chrisman said Raisbeck has begun a nationwide demonstration tour in the U.S.
Bombardier Celebrates 3500 Launch Customer at BACE
Bombardier Challenger 350 owner and Entertainment Technology Partners Les Goldberg is the launch customer for the next generation of the super-midsize business jet—the Challenger 3500. Bombardier announced the launch customer today at NBAA-BACE, just a few weeks after revealing plans for the Challenger 3500, which offers a new look with high-end interior features borrowed from its Global family and a new branding that ties it closer to the nomenclature of its ultra-long-range, large-cabin models.
Bombardier president and CEO Eric Martel expressed enthusiasm about having the ability to unveil a launch customer and highlight the product line’s newest addition during NBAA-BACE. “What better way to celebrate our newest business jet than to showcase our beautiful interior mockup and to be joined by Mr. Goldberg,” Martel said.
Goldberg cited the aircraft’s reliability in his decision to return for the next iteration of the aircraft model. “I know the new Challenger will allow me to travel the world to run my business,” he said. “I’m looking forward to all the improvements that they have done to make the airplane exceptional.”
Along with the Nuage seats, a new, sustainable interior finishings, the 3500 features a lower cabin altitude, voice-controlled cabin management system, autothrottle, and a number of other enhancements.
MyGoFlight has licensed Honeywell’s high-speed ASCB data bus to provide aircraft flight data and information for its SkyDisplay head-up display (HUD) system aboard the Pilatus PC-12. The company’s HUD and HUD EVS are on display this week at NBAA-BACE.
“Owners and operators of the Pilatus PC-12 have expressed strong interest in having a HUD system installed in their aircraft,” said Charles Schneider, CEO of MyGoFlight. “We are excited that Honeywell has provided us this access which provides the most complete level of integration possible for our HUD system on any aircraft.”
The first installation of the SkyDisplay HUD on a Pilatus PC-12 is planned shortly. A fully integrated HUD is available for Pilatus PC-12 aircraft equipped with Honeywell Primus Apex avionics, while an interface is also available for PC-12s equipped with Garmin’s G600 flight deck.
Other avionics systems that can work with SkyDisplay HUDs include those from Avidyne, Aspen Avionics, and certain other Garmin flight decks. While currently the SkyDisplay HUD is for use only in Part 23 aircraft flying under Part 91 rules, the company is working to extend the certification to Part 135 operations in the first half of 2022. The SkyDisplay HUD is available with an enhanced vision system (EVS) option.
A. In the opposite direction to the control surface.
B. In the direction that the pilot commands with the pitch trim in the cockpit.
C. In the same direction as the control surface.
D. Antiservo tabs do not move.
JSfirm Unveils Database Match Feature
Aviation job website JSfirm has developed a database-match feature that makes it far easier to view the records of FAA-licensed airmen, dispatchers, mechanics, and drone pilots. “We developed a program to make the FAA database searchable at the JSfirm website—because right now when you go to the FAA website you have to know the person’s first and last names,” said Abbey Hutter, the company’s executive director.
The new feature allows customers to search the FAA database by city, state, distance, and phone numbers for fast and targeted recruiting via phone, email, and postal mail. Hutter said these capabilities are particularly timely given the current aviation hiring frenzy in which employers are offering a variety of inducements, including large signing bonuses, and will allow employers to compress the search process and generate faster communications.
These new capabilities also complement JSfirm’s resume alert service. “If somebody has an active job on our website, we're going to generate a resume alert for them,” Hutter said. “So not only are [employers] going to get the people that are finding the job and applying for it, but they're going to get an email every morning or anytime there's a new resume that matches that job. It allows you to look at those people, know their requirements, and reach out.”
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