Embraer’s business jet deliveries slipped by six aircraft in the third quarter, according to numbers released today by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer. The total for the third quarter includes 19 light jets (three Phenom 100s and 16 Phenom 300s) and two large jets (two Praetor 500s) versus 15 Phenom light jets (one 100 and fourteen 300s) and 12 large jets (four Legacy 450s, one Legacy 500, and seven Praetor 600s) in the same quarter a year ago.
Year-to-date, Embraer’s business jet deliveries declined more sharply by 20 aircraft. The total for the current nine-month period was 43 business aircraft—33 light jets (five Phenom 100s and 28 Phenom 300s) and 10 large jets (one Legacy 650, four Praetor 500s, and five Praetor 600s). That compares with last year’s nine-month period in which Embraer delivered a total of 63 aircraft—42 Phenom light jets (seven 100s and thirty-five 300s) and 21 large jets (two Legacy 650s, five Legacy 450s, six Legacy 500s, and eight Praetor 600s).
Highlights of the more recent quarter were the deliveries of a Phenom 100EV and Phenom 300E to two different Brazilian customers that helped it reach the milestone of the 250th Embraer Phenom in operation in Latin America. Embraer also delivered the first enhanced Phenom 300E with a Bossa Nova interior to Patient Airlift Services co-founder Joe Hawley.
AW139 Enlisted To Support Giant Red Sea Project
The Red Sea Development Co. (TRSDC) has selected The Helicopter Co. (THC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to provide a Leonardo AW139 helicopter, crew and maintenance technicians, and flight services for air ambulance and passenger transport. “We’re very pleased to award this contract to The Helicopter Company, the Kingdom's first commercial helicopter operator,” said TRSDC CEO John Pagano. “This will give us much-needed aerial support for our staff and construction workers over the vast and remote area of our site.”
Under the agreement, THC will work with medical services provider International SOS–Al Rushaid (ISOS), which will provide medical crew and equipment from a shared base at TRSDC’s construction village near Umluj. THC will provide and maintain an Aerolite three-stretcher kit for the transport of up to three patients on stretchers and stowage of up to four oxygen bottles. The stretcher kit connects to the helicopter power supply.
At the peak of construction activity, TRSDC is expecting to have up to 30,000 workers over a 1,000-sq-km area. The first phase of the development will open in 2022 and include 16 luxury hotels across five islands and two inland resorts.
Launched in 2019, THC was established by the Public Investment Fund to meet the growing demand for luxury tourism and air travel services. The company recently signed an agreement to buy 10 Airbus H125 helicopters.
NBAA Guide Aimed at Easing Mx Events for Small Operators
NBAA has created a guide for small flight departments and aircraft maintenance workers that is available to its members. Titled “Best Practices for Small Flight Department Maintenance,” the guide offers ways for organizations with limited maintenance resources to increase efficiency without significantly raising costs.
Managing time spent on maintenance tasks, preparing for maintenance events through detailed plans, documenting maintenance practices and maintaining good records, and understanding how to find the correct external resources are among the practices the guide recommends.
“A small flight department usually doesn’t have the luxury of a full-time mechanic you can call upon when an issue arises,” said coauthor Christopher Rozum, a captain with Kaman Corp. and a member of NBAA’s Small Flight Department Subcommittee. “The burden often falls upon the flight crew to make the correct decisions to legally dispatch the aircraft.”
The subcommittee is working with NBAA's Maintenance Committee to develop a webinar in the Small Operator Learning Series that is expected to expand on the information presented in the guide.
FSF Establishes UAS Advisory Committee
Independent aviation research organization Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) has launched the autonomous and remotely piloted aviation systems (ARPAS) advisory committee to address safety considerations in unmanned autonomous and semi-autonomous flight operations. The advisory committee will also serve as a forum on international unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) safety policy and practices.
“Autonomous and semi-autonomous technology is evolving rapidly and it is critical that we work together to understand what is required to safely enable diverse uses of these new kinds of passenger and cargo operations, and to safely integrate them into the airspace,” said FSF president and CEO Hassan Shahidi.
The ARPAS committee will lead the development of “consensus-based safety recommendations and policies, the fostering of global safety information sharing, and serve as a bridge between the traditional and unmanned aviation communities,” he said.
ARPAS membership will include UAS operators, advanced air mobility providers, manufacturers, researchers, and non-government organizations, as well as stakeholders from the broader aviation community (including commercial and general aviation), airports, and regulators. One of the committee’s first efforts will be in UAS support of humanitarian missions.
Record-breaking Helo Globetrotter Ron Bower Dies
Joe Ronald “Ron” Bower, who set two speed records circumnavigating the earth in helicopters, died on October 12. He was 78.
Born on Dec. 28, 1941, Bower had amassed more than 9,000 hours over his 55 years of flying and obtained nearly every aircraft rating. He had served in multiple roles, including as a flight instructor, combat pilot, sales executive, and purchasing consultant, in addition to his east- and west-bound helicopter world records. Soloing in 1962, Bower’s flying and business expeditions led him to pilot aircraft in 37 countries and visit more than 50, according to a tribute site.
In 1994, he broke an around-the-world helicopter speed record established in 1982 by Ross Perot Jr. and Jay Coburn. Bower flew eastbound in a 206B3 Jet Ranger III, departing and ending at the Bell Helicopter Textron delivery center in Fort Worth, Texas from June 28 to July 28, 1994. His westbound trip followed in 1996, beginning and ending in London in a Bell 430, setting a world speed record for a twin helicopter from Aug. 17 to Sept. 3, 1996.
Recent incidents where airline pilots arriving at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) claim to have spotted a “jetpack” are probably not actual individuals flying under the power of small jet engines attached to their bodies, according to JetPack Aviation founder David Mayman. The widely reported incidents occurred on August 30 and October 14. The former involved American Airlines and SkyWest Airlines flights at 3,000 feet, and the latter incident was reported by a China Airlines crew who claimed they saw a person flying a jetpack at 6,000 feet 6 nm northwest of LAX.
The original jetpack is a hydrogen peroxide-powered device with a maximum endurance of about 30 seconds, hardly capable of a flight that would last long enough to climb to altitude and allow the pilot to wave to passing airliners. Bell designed one such device called the Rocketbelt in 1960. And while Williams International’s WR19 turbofan powered the X-Jet flying platform, there is no chance someone dug that up for a joyride around Los Angeles.
Mayman speculated that it may have been a homemade drone carrying a lightweight dummy. But these incidents had nothing to do with JetPack Aviation, which currently has five units at its Chatsworth, California headquarters under lock and key. And Mayman himself was in Australia on those dates, he told AIN.
Business jet demand among Russians is steadily recovering post-Covid, according to in-country industry analysts. In fact, they said sales of business jets in Russia are rising—even for large-cabin models that have taken the back seat to smaller jets in other regions during the pandemic.
Business aviation industry watcher Dmitry Petrochenko noted that the Russian business aircraft market—where the biggest local demand is traditionally for large business jets—continues to be very “specific.” And, he added, the new ultra-long-range flagship jets from Gulfstream and Bombardier—the G700 and Global 7500, respectively—could further accelerate demand in Russia as these models become more widely available.
Meanwhile, many Russian aircraft owners have registered their business jets within the domestic jurisdiction this year after VAT was lifted for imported aircraft on January 1. This tax break is also helping to repatriate capital and assets of Russian business from abroad, potentially increasing the business aircraft customer base within the country.
SmartSky Hires Veteran Broadband Exec Helfgott as CEO
SmartSky Networks has brought veteran mobile broadband executive David Helfgott on board as CEO in a move the company said reflects its upcoming transition from the development and deployment stage to being an operational aviation broadband communications provider. Helfgott succeeds Haynes Griffin, who will remain as executive chairman.
“I am delighted to welcome David to our team, reflecting our longstanding company plan,” Griffin said. “His extensive technology and mobile communications experience will help us ensure that all of our operations reflect the high level of quality set by our connectivity technology.”
Helfgott joins SmartSky after serving as president and CEO of phased-array antenna developer Phasor, which was recently acquired by Hanwha Systems. Before that, he held senior titles that included president and CEO of Inmarsat Government, president of Tactical Wireless Communications for Cobham, president and CEO of Datapath, and president and CEO of SES Government.
“I am honored to be selected to lead SmartSky at this inflection point,” said Helfgott. “When you look at SmartSky’s positioning and expansive patent portfolio, it highlights the company’s potential and culture of sustained innovation.”
Despite the impact of Covid, Helfgott noted SmartSky has added more than 40 patents and closed on funding of more than $50 million in additional equity and debt. The company now expects to launch its network in 2021.
Last Chance for AIN's Bizav Cybersecurity Webinar
Aircraft systems in both the cockpit and cabin are vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, and the vital connectivity on which aircraft owners and operators depend needs to be kept secure from security risks that are constantly evolving. Please join us on October 21 for a webinar that will offer expert perspective and guidance from leading companies providing connectivity and the security capability to protect it. AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber will moderate this discussion with Rob Hill, regional sales director of CCX Technologies, and Rich Pilock, v-p, product line management at SmartSky Networks.
People in Aviation
Skyservice Business Aviation named Benjamin Murray president and COO. Murray, who will transition to president and CEO in early 2021, previously has held leadership roles with NetJets Inc., including as president and CEO of its Executive Jet Management subsidiary. He also has served as president of aircraft management and charter for Landmark Aviation, as well as founded North Star Solutions.
APP Properties, owner of APP Jet Center, promoted Daniel Harrow to CEO. He succeeds Thom Harrow, who has become executive chairman of the board of directors. Daniel Harrow joined APP Properties in 2016 as COO and, before that, was assistant general counsel for RCS Capital Corp.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation elected Jessica Naor to its board of governors. Naor has served with Middle River, Maryland-based GrandView Aviation for more than a decade, beginning as a charter sales representative and working her way up to COO.
Actor and pilot Harrison Ford has agreed to become a spokesperson for Airlink, a rapid response disaster relief nonprofit that has arranged for the delivery of more than 7.5 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), 300,000 pounds of relief supplies, and medical volunteers to Covid-19 impacted communities across the globe. “A pilot friend made me aware of the work Airlink does and I became eager to be involved,” said Ford. “Airlink and its aviation sector supporters partner with nonprofit humanitarian aid groups to bring comfort, compassion, and hope to thousands of people in desperate need in the U.S. and around the world.”
Business aircraft brokerage The Ritchie Group hired Ed Henry as v-p of aircraft sales. Henry brings 50 years of experience, previously serving in maintenance, sales, and management roles with companies, including Airwork, Midcoast, K-C Aviation, and West Star Aviation.
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