Honda Aircraft has unveiled upgrades to the HondaJet that add range, new cabin designs, ground spoilers, and a stabilized approach feature. Dubbed HondaJet Elite II, deliveries of the upgraded jet are expected later this year, following FAA certification in the next few weeks. The company will also add an autothrottle system to the twinjet in the first half of next year, along with Garmin Autoland in the second half.
The new NBAA IFR range of the Elite II is 1,547 nm (four passengers, 100-nm alternate), 110 nm further than the Elite S. To accommodate the added fuel, the mtow has been raised 200 pounds to 11,100 pounds without changing the empty weight “significantly,” according to Honda Aircraft v-p of sales Pete Kriegler.
Other upgrades include a new ground spoiler system that optimizes takeoff and landing performance at the new mtow. The stabilized approach upgrade “assists the pilot with aural and visual alerts to maintain a stable aircraft state on approach,” according to Honda Aircraft.
For outfitting, buyers will be able to choose a new black sable exterior paint scheme as well as cabin interiors in onyx and steel styles. The onyx option includes “a rich and warm neutral beige cabin theme with mid-tone wood accents,” while steel is “a modern light cool grey theme with high-contrast marble accents.”
Aviation’s path to a net-zero future will pass multiple waypoints, and while many view hydrogen as a key enabling technology, Boeing is building its flight plan around fleet renewal, improving operational efficiency, and boosting the availability of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). During the newsmakers breakfast Q&A session with analyst Richard Aboulafia at NBAA-BACE 2002 on Monday, Marc Allen, the U.S. aerospace group’s chief strategy officer, made it clear it will not be following its European rival Airbus in looking to bring hydrogen-powered, medium-range narrowbody airliners into service by the mid-2030s.
“We have shifted our language from zero emissions to zero impact [on the environment],” Allen commented. “Hydrogen might have a role, but that might be being used on the ground to produce SAF or perhaps for direct propulsion. But how can we be sure it’s truly green hydrogen and that the net result might not be worse in terms of emissions, not just CO2 but also contrails.”
Boeing is using a data modeling tool called Cascade to assess which technologies would produce the greatest benefit in terms of reducing the environmental impact of flying. The airframer is making significant investments in building the ecosystem needed for widespread SAF use and achieving a step change in the efficiency of air traffic management to avoid fuel being consumed inefficiently.
Flight-tracking provider FlightAware has made its full dataset available to customers who can use the company’s new AeroAPI application programming interface (API) to view the data. While FlightAware has provided some of this information previously, such access required the help of a FlightAware analyst.
“What we have here is an unparalleled dataset for understanding what has happened, is happening, and will be happening,” said Matt Davis, FlightAware chief commercial officer. “It’s like a time portal.”
The FlightAware dataset includes more than 713 million flights recorded since the company was founded in 2011, and that grows by more than 142,000 flights per day, according to Davis. Collins Aerospace acquired FlightAware in late 2021.
Airlines, business aircraft operators, FBOs, aircraft manufacturers, and individuals use FlightAware to track flights, including pushback, departure, landing, and gate arrival times, as well as events during flights such as holds. This gives users detailed information about the flights they are tracking and the ability to predict with high accuracy where and when the aircraft will arrive. “It’s based on machine learning,” he said, “and it’s better than the flight management system itself.”
World Fuel Services is debuting a new fuel optimization tool, MyWorld Tankering calculator, this week at NBAA-BACE in Orlando. It automates tanking calculations to help operators make better fueling decisions over multi-leg trips.
Designed using the company’s experience in millions of flight fuelings and decades of data, the tankering tool provides a savings report giving operators clear direction on where they should uplift fuel to lower their overall trip cost. It takes into account variables—such as fuel price, ramp fees, aircraft type performance metrics, and fuel burn—and tests millions of variations per trip.
Users can enter or upload their trip data from scheduling software platforms to quickly calculate tankering for up to six locations. The calculator uses maps and analytics to give transparency into how the savings are accounted for, and, to further streamline its functionality, users can order fuel directly within the tool.
“MyWorld Tankering is just one example of how World Fuel leverages our global network to provide customers with the tools they need to run their operation at the highest level,” explained Malcolm Hawkins, World Fuel Services’ senior v-p for business aviation global sales. “We are committed to utilizing our unique global position, technology expertise, and data insights to help our customers accomplish their missions.”
When It Comes to Connectivity, Capacity Is King
From email to streaming video, today’s business jet travelers demand the same connectivity experience in the cabin as they enjoy in their offices. The only way to meet that expectation is to use a network with the peak output capacity required to avoid data slowdowns.
Textron Aviation is putting a big emphasis on aftermarket service and customer support at this year’s NBAA-BACE, announcing an expanded parts operation and a new satellite service center in Dallas.
In a move to address growing demand and increase efficiency, Textron Aviation will nearly triple the size of its Wichita parts warehouse and distribution center. It will do so by adding 180,000 sq ft to the company’s existing 65,000-sq-ft warehouse. Construction is expected to take 12 to 18 months and be completed in fourth-quarter 2023, senior v-p of parts and programs Kriya Shortt told AIN.
The expanded facility will provide space for larger parts such as wheels and windscreens and allow the company to consolidate those larger parts from its eastside campus to its westside campus. It also will accommodate the higher parts demand that the airframer has experienced following its earlier initiatives to improve access to its parts by way of a website and to adjust pricing to the market.
“We’ve made a lot of effort over the past two years to…have the right parts in stock, to be priced to the market, and make it easy to do business with,” Shortt said. “We certainly have seen as we have that value proposition and we are executing to that, we’ve seen volume growth. So, we want to make sure we can continue to earn that business from our customers. We want to be front of mind for them when they’re thinking about parts support.”
Also, by the end of the year, the airframer will establish a new satellite service center at Dallas Love Field (KDAL). The 12,000-sq-ft satellite center will offer unscheduled maintenance and AOG service as an extension of its factory service centers in Houston and San Antonio.
Bombardier unveiled a spacious new executive cabin for its Global 7500 and 8000 ultra-long-range jets on Monday at NBAA-BACE 2022. The new executive cabin features three 12-foot-long workspaces designed to facilitate collaboration, productivity, and networking among passengers. Bombardier originally designed the Global 7500 to have four zones, but the company has re-engineered the aircraft’s bulkheads to offer three larger sections as an available option.
“This is a very versatile space,” Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel said of the new three-zone option. “We're going to give all the workspace for executives to be able to have meetings and be able to run—like if they were in their boardroom or at the office—their company from the air.”
In addition, Bombardier revealed a new cabin furnishing called the “Nuage cube,” which can function as a seat, stool, or small table. The Nuage cube is lightweight and is designed for passengers to easily pick it up and move it around the cabin.
Bombardier’s new executive cabin includes an office suite, conference suite, and C suite. Martel explained that the office suite, which contains four Nuage seats, has the most legroom of any business jet available today. Each seat is also designed to be a highly efficient workspace.
“It’s not enough to think about sustainability like it had been in the past as a desire or some kind of noble cause—it’s a demand necessity and we have the responsibility and [incentive] to proceed on that path,” Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano said Monday at NBAA-BACE 2022. He noted the company’s recent demonstration test flights on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using one of its E195-E2 regional jets, which flew with one engine burning neat SAF while the other used a 50 percent SAF blend.
Amalfitano said similar tests will be performed using a Phenom light jet and a Praetor midsize jet in the first quarter of next year. Earlier this year, the company signed a letter of intent with renewable fuel provider Raizen to stimulate the development of the SAF production ecosystem. “We’re very much embedded in the source part of the process so that we can learn,” said Amalfitano, adding that the company’s aircraft contingent at the static display this week all flew to the show using SAF.
Meanwhile, business has been strong. Amalfitano noted that customers who are getting into private aviation are about 20 years younger than previously. With the airframer’s backlog extending out to the fourth quarter of 2024 across all four of its models, he said supply-chain issues now extend to the raw material level.
Aircraft records platform provider Bluetail has added a new workflow management tool to its software portfolio that it claims will drastically reduce the time and paperwork load to conform Part 135 aircraft. Introduced this week at NBAA-BACE 2022, the module known as Mach Conformity can slash the time it takes to perform conformity inspections by up to 50 percent, according to the company.
Developed with the advice of operators such as Solairus Aviation, Wheels Up, Wing Aviation, and Jet It, the system builds on Bluetail’s existing record storage platform that allows documents to be digitized (either scanned by the customer or at more than 120 partner locations across the U.S.) and uploaded in a searchable, shareable form. The company has developed a proprietary machine-learning AI system to quickly locate documents, or even pertinent pages inside larger documents, which can then be indexed and filed in specific color-coded folders in a conformity binder according to status.
In terms of airworthiness directives and service bulletins, the appropriate remedial backup documents can be virtually paperclipped to the notices, providing immediate verification of compliance, including dates, actions, and approvals that can be easily and instantly exported to the local FAA Flight Standards District Office if requested.
The digital flip-through issues of AIN’s award-winning NBAA Convention News are now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from NBAA-BACE 2022, whether you’re in Orlando attending the show or watching from afar.
Rising Bizjet Demand Prompts Gulfstream Investment in Mx
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, Gulfstream has seen strong demand for all its business jets and from well beyond the domestic U.S. market, with new customers gravitating to the convenience of private aviation. With more aircraft and operators to support, the manufacturer has been investing in additional maintenance facilities worldwide.
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