Upset Recovery Trainer APS Opens New Arizona Facility

Upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) specialist Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) yesterday opened its new 62,000-sq-ft headquarters at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA) in Arizona. The campus is on a 4.5-acre lot on the northwest end of the airfield. It includes 15,000 sq ft of office space and a 47,000-sq-ft hangar that can accommodate the company’s six aerobatic Extra 300 piston singles and two SIAI-Marchetti S211 jets, along with several business jet tenants.

In the new office space is APS’s primary training center, which includes seven classrooms, a large simulator bay, a pilot lounge, and a dispatch center on the first floor. All executive, administrative, marketing, and sales personnel are now under one roof on the second floor. An observation deck overlooking the airport’s three parallel runways is also on the second floor. APS’s new virtual reality lab is also in the facility.

An additional “expansion” facility north of the main building that includes 3,400 sq ft of office space and a 34,000-sq-ft hangar is available for rent. In addition to the Mesa facility, APS has training centers in Texas, Alabama, and Europe. Starting next year, it will also have one in Asia.

AINsight: NBAA Safety Committee Round Table

With the sole purpose of making business aviation safer, the NBAA Safety Committee has reinvented itself into a “finely tuned machine,” according to committee chair Jeff Wofford, and charted a course by releasing its top safety focus areas for 2021/2022. Using the association’s “foundations of safety” as a focal point, the Safety Committee has identified several priorities that support a continued commitment to improving business aviation safety standards.

To learn more, I spoke with the committee’s leadership to discuss its new strategy and methodology for developing its list of top focus areas geared towards mitigating major threats to business aviation safety. We closed out the meeting with a brief discussion on the major deliverables and events scheduled for NBAA-BACE in less than three weeks.

According to Wofford, earlier this year the committee’s new leadership began “aligning itself with its mission, vision, and values to identify its priorities.” Through this evolution, the committee used its foundations of safety—professionalism, safety leadership, risk management, fitness for duty, and technical excellence—as its core value to become laser-focused on three actionable categories. Those three encompass addressing preventable accidents, engaging unique operational concerns, and identifying and implementing mitigation strategies.

Denver FBO Launches Massive Expansion Project

FBO operator Modern Aviation has embarked on a major expansion of its facility at Denver’s Centennial Airport (KAPA), where it is one of five service providers. Modern purchased the former XJet location in 2018, and this $20 million upgrade will more than double its footprint.

Included in the plan is a new 7,000-sq-ft FBO terminal that will replace the current 14-year-old structure, which will be renovated for use as rentable executive office space. The project will also add two heated hangars totaling 52,000 sq ft and capable of sheltering aircraft up to the size of a Bombardier Global 7500. That will bring the FBO’s aircraft storage space to 102,000 sq ft and its attached office space to 4,000 sq ft. The complex, which will have three acres of new ramp area, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.

Now home to more than 800 aircraft, including approximately 100 jets, KAPA ranks among the top 10 general aviation airports in the U.S. As it continues to grow, so does the need to keep pace, according to Mark Carmen, the FBO chain's CEO. “We are excited to build upon Modern Aviation Denver’s consistent ranking as the best FBO in Denver, and a top 10 percent FBO nationally in the AIN FBO Survey, by adding a modern facility with additional hangar, office, and ramp space to our existing infrastructure.”

Agencies Enthusiastic about SAF Challenge

“I don’t think there has ever been in history this great and deep a level of interagency collaboration,” said James Spaeth, system development and integration program manager with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office. Speaking during yesterday’s online 2021 Business Aviation Sustainability Summit Kick-Off, he described the response by his agency and the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation following the White House’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge issued earlier this month. The three agencies issued a memo of understanding to work together to develop a roadmap for the expansion of SAF production to meet certain milestones on the path to aviation decarbonization.

Hosted by the SAF Coalition—an umbrella organization consisting of NBAA, NATA, EBAA, CBAA, IBAC, HAI, and CAAFI—the event brought together policymakers from the FAA, DOE, and DOT to describe their efforts in the SAF arena. SAF Coalition chairman and NATA president and CEO Tim Obitts reiterated the need to help aircraft operators understand that SAF is a drop-in replacement for conventional jet-A, conforming to the same specifications as the standard fuel.

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen noted the sustainability discussions will be front and center next month in Las Vegas at the organization’s annual convention and exhibition, while Obitts added that SAF will be available at Las Vegas Harry Reid International and Henderson Executive airports to fuel aircraft arriving for the show.

U.S. House Moves To Reverse FAA Flight Training Policy

The U.S. House yesterday approved a measure that would reverse a controversial FAA determination that instructors must obtain letters of deviation authority (LODA) to provide flight training in certain primary, limited, and experimental category aircraft. Offered by Reps. Sam Graves (R-Missouri) and Kai Kahele (D-Hawaii), the measure was included in the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House by a 316 to 113 vote. 

Despite protests of the aviation industry, the FAA adopted the policy, effective July 12, to clarify that a flight instructor operating certain aircraft, such as a warbird, and carrying a paying student without a LODA is acting contrary to federal regulation, even if that compensation is for instruction and not carriage. FAA acting general counsel Mark Bury in July defended the policy, saying, “It is our position that the LODA process will enhance safety by precisely defining which flight training operations may be conducted legally. Equally important, it will prevent operators from broadly offering their aircraft for joyrides and other similar experiences under the guise of flight training.”

However, general aviation groups have strongly objected to the policy, saying it has “serious and negative implications” on the broader flight-training community. AOPA praised the passage of the measure and vowed to continue to work with lawmakers to ensure it is implemented.

Third FBO To Land at Milwaukee Airport

Wisconsin-based aircraft operator and charter provider Jet Out has broken ground on a new headquarters and FBO at Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport (KMKE), where it will become the third service provider on the field.

The $11 million facility, to be branded as Jet In, will occupy a 6.2-acre leasehold, the last greenfield parcel on the airport. It will include a 10,000-sq-ft, two-story terminal with pilot lounge and snooze room, conference room, fitness center with shower facilities, an upstairs SKYlounge passenger area, and offices.

The company will also build a new fuel farm and a 50,000-sq-ft heated hangar that can accommodate the latest ultra-long-range business jets, including the Bombardier Global 7500. According to company CEO Joseph Crivello, the facility, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022, has had its design heavily influenced by sustainability and it will be fully compliant with Milwaukee’s Green Infrastructure Plan. He plans for an all-electric fleet of ground service equipment, crew cars, and courtesy cars.

“Services like those provided by Jet In and Jet Out are more essential than ever,” said Crivello. “As we continue to adjust to a post-pandemic world, general aviation provides solutions for individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses, sporting teams, and other institutions seeking to manage risk and adapt their operations to a new reality.”

CHC Flies S-92 with Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Helicopter operator CHC has completed the first flight of a Sikorsky S-92 using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), following the biofuel's approval for use in this model by the OEM. CHC Helikopter Service of Norway made the flight using synthetic paraffinic kerosene (HEFA-SPK), one of seven types of approved SAFs available today.

HEFA-SPK is produced from waste and residual feedstock such as used cooking oil. In its neat (100 percent) form, SAF can reducing lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80 percent versus petroleum-based jet fuels. CHC Norway will also be the first to fly commercial flights with S-92s burning SAF.

“The S-92 helicopter’s first flight using SAF further demonstrates how SAF can be used today with our CT7 engines to lower CO2 emissions,” said Harry Nahatis, v-p and general manager of GE turboshaft engine programs. “All GE engines are capable of using approved SAF blends without any modifications, and we firmly believe flights like this demonstrate how SAF can contribute to more sustainable flight across the aviation industry.”

“As a corporation, we are committed to sustainability and I am proud that our S-92 helicopter is playing a role in a more sustainable future,” said Jason Lambert, Sikorsky’s v-p of global commercial and military systems.

Hawaii DOT To Defer Dillingham Airfield Closure

Dillingham Airfield, the small airport on the North shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu that has been in danger of shuttering this year, has received a reprieve by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT). The state agency's aviation division, HDOTA, has managed the field under a series of leases with the U.S. Army since 1962, but in recent years indicated plans to exit the lease earlier than the July 2024 expiration and has been negotiating those terms.

But in a September 17 letter to the U.S. Army and the Army Corps of Engineers, HDOT said there has been progress on a joint-use agreement and a long-term lease. The agency said it must be able to have necessary control of the airfield and improvements to ensure it is in compliance with FAA grant assurances and that it was not responsible for the management of the water system outside the leasehold. HDOT stressed that agreement must be reached on key issues, such as management of the aging water system, otherwise it would once again look to exit the leasehold.

The reprieve of Dillingham Airfield, also known as Kawaihāpai Airfield, follows an advocacy push that has been involved local groups such as the Save Dillingham Airport group, along with AOPA and lawmakers including Rep. Kai Kahele (D-Hawaii).

Photo of the Week

Chasing the sunset. Cessna CitationJet owner-pilot James Benham took this photo last week in his Tamarack Atlas winglet-equipped twinjet while approaching San Diego on a flight from Bryan, Texas. AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber joined him on the flight to demonstrate the performance gains of the winglets, which permitted the trip to be flown nonstop (a stock Cessna CitationJet would have required a fuel stop along the way). Thanks for sharing, James!

If you'd like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.