Blackhawk Aerospace has completed its 150th Cessna Caravan engine upgrade. It offers two upgrade options for the turboprop single: the XP140 and the Vy conversions, which feature the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 and the PT6A-42A engine, respectively.

“This is a major milestone in our Caravan program’s success,” said Blackhawk president and CEO Jim Allmon. “For these workhorse airframes, more power is a necessity for mission capability, and we’re honored to provide solutions that breathe new life into the fleet.”

Caravan operations span a variety of mission profiles, including cargo, corporate, passenger, and military applications. In each case, Blackhawk’s upgrades deliver a significant increase in available horsepower, improving climb rates, raising safety margins, and affording access to more destinations including those in hot and high conditions or with unimproved runways.

Guyana-based Blackhawk operator Air Services, which provides scheduled and charter operations, medevac flights, and sightseeing tours, placed an order for its eleventh XP140 upgrade.

“The additional available horsepower is crucial for our operations,” said Air Services' Bhesham Persaud. “It allows us to take off, climb, and cruise at levels we couldn’t before, which expands our versatility to safely operate in every corner of Guyana.”

Airspace over Israel and neighboring countries is becoming increasingly hazardous for air traffic, according to security analysts monitoring the conflict initiated by Gaza-based Hamas forces on October 7. Business aviation flights are effectively blocked from Tel Avivs Ben Gurion International Airport (LLBG), with access limited to scheduled flights and chartered airliners.

Osprey Flight Solutions’ chief intelligence officer, Matthew Borie has warned operators about the risk of a civil aircraft being shot down inadvertently by high-altitude, long-range air defense missiles fired from Iran-backed groups in Lebanon or Syria. International aviation regulators have warned of risks from missiles and GPS/GNSS signal interference within a 200-nm radius of Israel.

On October 12, the Israeli Air Force attacked the Syrian airports at Aleppo and Damascus, destroying runways there to prevent military resupply flights to its enemies. With further air attacks expected and the prospect of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, operators have been warned to expect a dangerous environment across the Tel Aviv (LLLL), Damascus (OSTT), and Beirut (OLBB) flight information regions.

Dyami Security Intelligence has also warned its clients to maintain a high degree of vigilance if operating into or over Israel and the surrounding area. In particular, it advised operators to have robust security and contingency plans in place if sending aircrew and passengers into the region.

Embraer-CAE Training Services (ECTS) will deploy two new Phenom 300 full-flight simulators (FFS) to meet growing demand for pilot training in Europe and the U.S., Embraer and CAE said Monday. The joint venture plans to place the first new FFS at CAE London Burgess Hill in the first quarter of next year and the second at CAE Las Vegas in the third quarter.

“After opening a new Phenom series full-flight simulator in April, we are announcing two new ones in the U.S. and Europe,” said Carlos Naufel, president and CEO of Embraer Services and Support. “We are working with CAE to be where our customers need us to be, providing them with our latest technological updates and best-in-class support.”

ECTS now operates seven Phenom-series simulators located in Las Vegas, Dallas, London Burgess Hill, and Guarulhos, Brazil.  

“The two new simulators will double our Phenom 300 training capacity in Las Vegas and London and allow ECTS to train more pilots at a critical time,” explained Alexandre Prevost, CAE’s division president for business aviation and helicopter training. “Over the next 10 years, CAE forecasts a need for 32,000 business aviation pilots, and we are working with our partners at Embraer to ensure Phenom 300 customers have the highly qualified pilots they need to keep them flying. 

Charlotte, North Carolina-based FlyRight is adding the Beechcraft King Air C90 to the list of aircraft for which it offers simulator-based training. The FAA Part 142-approved training company will offer initial, recurrent, and custom training in a level-C King Air C90A simulator manufactured by ASE and equipped with Collins Pro Line II, EFIS 85 avionics, and Garmin GPS.

The new simulator joins FlyRight’s current fleet of King Air simulators for models including the 350i Pro Line 21, 350 with Garmin G1000, 200 with G1000, and B200 EFIS.  

The new simulator arrived at the training center earlier this year and received FAA approval last month. FlyRight is accepting 2023 and 2024 training reservations for the C90 training courses.

In addition to King Airs, FlyRight offers training courses for the Cessna 208 and de Havilland Dash 8 100/200/300-series turboprops.

Global private aviation group Vista Global Holding has established Vista America, a unified platform designed to manage its Vista members’ fleet operations in the U.S. This strategic initiative, starting from November 1, will serve both VistaJet and XO clients.

The platform represents a significant consolidation of Vista's existing U.S. partnerships, including Jet Select, Western Air Charter, XoJet Aviation, and Red Wing Aviation. While Vista holds non-controlling minority stakes in these entities, the company expects the unification under the Vista America banner to enhance brand clarity in the U.S. market and deliver a more streamlined service experience to clients.

Along with this announcement, Vista also shared that David Stanley was appointed as the president of Vista America. Stanley brings more than 19 years in the aviation industry and previously held the title of senior director at Collins Aerospace.

“David is a highly respected industry leader with a deep understanding of the private aviation market,” noted Vista COO Nick van der Meer. “He is the ideal person to lead Vista America as we continue to grow our business in the United States.”

Vista has made significant investments in its international infrastructure, including maintenance facilities in Wisconsin, Munich, and London. These centers play a crucial role in fleet maintenance and refurbishment.

Boeing Business Jets has introduced a new streamlined pre-designed cabin layout option for its BBJ737-7 that it said will simplify the purchase and completion process for customers.

Starting in 2026, the airframer will offer its BBJ Select process as an alternative to its traditional procedure of delivering a green airframe to a third-party completions specialist that is contracted to the buyer under a separate agreement.

Instead, through a partnership with its exclusive BBJ Select completions partners Aloft AeroArchitects and Greenpoint Technologies, Boeing Business Jets will offer modular pre-designed cabin layouts in a choice of three Select color palettes at a single all-in price, under a single contract with Boeing, which will then deliver a completely outfitted aircraft.

“For customers who may not have the time or desire to create a fully bespoke interior, BBJ Select offers pre-designed options to outfit their cabin, which allows us to offer the jet at a very attractive, fixed price,” explained Boeing Business Jets president Joe Benson.

The front crew rest areas and the aft private bedroom/bathroom—a shower will be standard on every BBJ Select—configurations will remain set. But customers can choose from a wide range of module configurations, leading to 144 possible combinations in the remaining three zones in between.

Cabin audio systems supplier Alto Aviation is introducing a new line of subwoofers designed for midsize, large, and VVIP business jets this week at NBAA-BACE 2023. It is demonstrating the subwoofers at its booth in the North Hall, where showgoers can also experience Alto MySound seat-centric audio technology and a full display of its Cadence cabin management system for all business aircraft.

Available in two sizes, the line of subwoofers features side-firing technology, which combines two types of radiated energy into one discreet exit, fusing the acoustic front wave from the loudspeaker with the resonant back wave into a common high-velocity chamber. The arrangement allows the subwoofer to couple extended bass responses directly into the listening room, avoiding putting bass energy into the cabinets or furniture.

The side-firing subwoofers suit all configurations of Alto cabin audio systems, both for OEM and aftermarket installations. Alto designed them for locations where a grill in front of a traditionally configured subwoofer could be obstructive.

Alto prioritized ease of installation and bass performance and the ability to hide the components, with low-impact, high-efficiency coupling to the cabin. This maximizes sound quality while minimizing distortion. The design results in an increase in bass and better reproduction of the lower notes, lower bass roll-off, and low frequencies, the company said.

Argus International has launched a platform that provides an enhanced suite of safety management system (SMS) tools that can be customized. Building on and replacing its legacy Prism Armor platform, the new Prism SMS will enable organizations to tailor SMS programs to their operations and have real-time access to data to manage risks and assess operations.

Ultimately, Prism SMS will provide for the integration of other software programs such as flight duty scheduling, maintenance tracking, and flight data monitoring, Argus said.

Travis Kuhn, senior v-p of market intelligence for Argus, said Prism SMS is the culmination of work between the company's SMS and development teams over the past few years based on customer input. About two years ago, Argus began work on replacing the Prism Armor program; that work coincided with the looming SMS regulation changes, Kuhn explained.

While scalable to all sizes of operators, the program “doesn’t stop there,” he said. “The SMS requirements in aviation are all pretty similar.” The program is designed to be flexible to tailor to “whatever the organization is.”

The SMS team is continuing to work on further integrations with more tools anticipated to roll out over the next year, Kuhn said, noting that there already is an integration for Aviation Safety Action Programs.