NBAA-BACE is going carbon neutral under a partnership with aviation sustainability specialist 4Air. In a move that will make the October 12 to 14 convention one of the largest carbon-neutral aviation events globally, NBAA and 4Air are funding a portfolio of carbon offset credits to mitigate travel to and from NBAA-BACE and greenhouse gas emissions of the event itself.
Carbon credits purchased through 4Air are verified through international standards including the American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve, Verified Carbon Standard, and the Gold Standard.
While NBAA and 4Air are sponsoring the credits, NBAA-BACE attendees will have the opportunity to vote on the CO2-reducing projects that will be supported through the purchased carbon credits, including wind energy produced in Oklahoma, a forest management project in Massachusetts, and greenhouse gas emissions reduced in Florida during the production of automotive and aircraft manufacturing materials.
“This is another demonstration of our industry’s effort to take meaningful steps to combat climate change, and it adds to what will be an exciting show that has many new elements and will highlight the latest innovations in business aviation,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.
Boston-based 4Air provides a range of private aviation sustainability solutions surrounding aircraft emissions counteraction, carbon markets, sustainable aviation fuels, new technologies, and other strategies, along with carbon neutrality.
C&L Aviation Completes Parts Warehouse Construction
MRO C&L Aviation Group has completed construction of a 27,000-sq-ft parts warehouse adjacent to its component shop at its Bangor, Maine headquarters campus. Parts from its teardown of 15 aircraft—including a Bombardier Challenger 604 and nine ERJ-145 regional jets that it acquired from a European operator—and a multimillion-dollar purchase of ATR spare parts will be housed in the warehouse.
It is one of three warehouses C&L operates in Bangor, which together offer more than 50,000 sq ft of space for parts inventory. The company also has warehouses in Australia and Europe.
“We’ve made substantial investments in inventory for the regional and corporate aircraft operators we serve,” said C&L Aviation CEO Chris Kilgour. “The new warehouse space will provide us with room as we continue to expand.”
Besides the new warehouse, C&L Aviation has several other building projects that have been completed or are underway in Bangor since last year. They include the component shop that was converted from an events center near Bangor International Airport; a new 12,000-sq-ft interior shop; a 5,000-sq-ft addition to one of its hangars; an interior showcase and design center; and renovation of its corporate aircraft maintenance hangar. All these projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Full Line of Viasat Satcoms Now Available from Collins
Collins Aerospace’s ArincDirect unit and Viasat have extended the companies’ relationship, so Collins can now offer customers the full range of Viasat in-flight connectivity solutions, including Ka-, Ku Advanced, and dual Ku-/Ka-band satcom. The announcement is for the addition of Viasat’s Ka-band satcom to the ArincDirect value-added reseller agreement.
Under the agreement, Collins can add Ka-band systems for its customers, both for new installations and also as an upgrade to existing Viasat Ku-band systems and dual Ku-/Ka-band satcom. The installations can use existing aircraft wiring, and the equipment fits in the same LRU footprint, according to Viasat.
System speed with the Viasat solution for ArincDirect customers is “typically greater than 20 Mbps,” Viasat said. The satcom systems will also be compatible with Viasat’s next-generation ViaSat-3 satellite network.
“This milestone will help corporate flight departments modernize their passenger experience, and at the same time reduce the headache of coordinating across multiple disparate aircraft and operations services,” said Thomas Sterling, director of business aviation digital solutions at Collins Aerospace.
“This agreement opens up new business opportunities for both of our organizations,” said Claudio D’Amico, Viasat’s business area director, business aviation. “We have a competitive [in-flight connectivity] product and service that we believe can be the go-to choice for any mid-to-large-cabin business aircraft.”
JetSupport Adds Challenger 300/350 Mx Approvals
JetSupport Amsterdam has added the Bombardier Challenger 300 and 350 twinjets to its Part 145 maintenance organization approvals, the Netherlands-based MRO provider and FBO operator announced today.
With the approval, it will provide line and base maintenance for the super-midsize types—including around-the-clock AOG for daily operations and planned maintenance—at its locations at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport in southern Germany, where it opened a 2,250-sq-m (24,200-sq-ft) maintenance facility in January.
JetSupport's line and base maintenance capabilities include Cessna Citation, Dassault Falcon, Bombardier, Beechcraft King Air, and Dornier types through aircraft and component approvals from the FAA, EASA, and Transport Canada. Between Schiphol and Oberpfaffenhofen airports, the 19-year-old company operates more than 14,500 sq m (156,077 sq ft) of hangar, office, and lounge space. It also provides aircraft management and aircraft sales and pre-acquisition support.
Amstat To Display New Data Functionality at BACE
Business aviation industry data provider Amstat will be demonstrating several product upgrades and developments at NBAA-BACE next month in Las Vegas. The New Jersey-based company recently upgraded its Amstat Premier flight activity reporting package to include global coverage. Bundled with its aircraft valuation tool and Statpak data charting and tabling functionality, the utility is now known as Premier+.
Amstat also upgraded its Connect service with the addition of search criteria that enables subscribers to more finely focus their sales territories in the hunt for new prospects. The latest version of the integrated Amstat for Salesforce application has also been released, allowing Salesforce users to use existing aircraft object definition to create multiple accounts, contacts, and aircraft records at one time and automatically link them.
At the show, visitors to the company’s booth (#1845) can get a preview of several new offerings including a mobile application aimed at industry sales professionals that can provide detailed market data while on the go. Amstat will also demonstrate its new total airframe time estimator, which is designed to provide key information when current, accurate airframe times are unavailable.
“We are delighted to continue innovating our services and providing our clients with cutting edge sales and efficiency-driving tools, upgrades, and applications,” explained Kit Tankhiwale, senior product innovator at Amstat, which is approaching its 40th anniversary.
Rosen Begins Taking Orders for OLED Displays
Cabin electronics provider Rosen Aviation is now accepting preorders for its full line of OLED displays. Rosen opened the order book a year after it formed a partnership with Japan-OLED (JOLED) on the display technology. The Eugene, Oregon-based company is also working with LG Displays to provide large-format panels.
Under its partnerships, Rosen can access OLED Basic Modules, enabling it to design aviation-grade products that are tailored specifically for business, VIP, and commercial aircraft cabins.
The new OLED product line includes ultra-thin and light displays ranging from 22 to 55 inches and featuring 4K ultra-high-definition (UHD) resolution, high dynamic range, and wide color gamut with nearly infinite contrast ratios. Rosen said it is developing applications leveraging OLED technology that has never before been used in aviation environments and added that it anticipated further announcements on these efforts in early 2022. In addition, its new product line includes 4K UHD LCD displays ranging from 24 to 43 inches.
"The entire team at Rosen was certainly excited to announce our partnership with JOLED late last year but seeing the end result 12 months later is somewhat surreal,” said Lee Clark, senior v-p of strategy at Rosen Aviation. “These OLED displays are so thin and lightweight and deliver…[a] picture quality that must be seen to be believed.”
SmartSky Awarded $12M in Dispute with Vendor
SmartSky Networks has been awarded $12 million in damages, legal expenses, and sanctions in arbitration against former vendor Wireless Systems Solutions (WSS), the Melbourne, Florida-based airborne connectivity provider said yesterday. A panel of three arbitrators also dismissed all WSS counterclaims against SmartSky.
According to SmartSky, it won on 14 distinct claims related to WSS’s contractual breaches, including failure to perform, interference with SmartSky’s business relationships, unfair and deceptive trade practices, breaches of confidentiality, and misappropriation of SmartSky’s intellectual property. With the arbitration ruling behind it, SmartSky said it is now preparing for commercial launch of its connectivity services later this year.
“SmartSky is pleased with the outcome of this case and always had great confidence that the facts supported our position and our rights,” said SmartSky CEO David Helfgott. “[We] look forward to commercial launch of our aviation air-to-ground network service.”
ASTM Group Looks at Standard for GA Aircraft Safe-life
ASTM International’s general aviation committee, F44, is developing a proposed standard that will establish a new practice for determining safe-life, inspection threshold, and reoccurring inspection intervals for airplanes, the standards-setting organization announced last week.
A structure’s safe-life means it has been assessed for repeated loads of varying magnitude that are expected during its service life without detectable cracks, according to the FAA.
“The proposed standard practice provides guidance material for defining factors used to determine inspections or replacement intervals for airplane components, specifically based on cyclic test, fatigue analysis, and damage tolerance analysis,” said A.K.M. Haque, a senior specialist engineer at Textron Aviation and an ASTM International member.
F44 is seeking participation in the development of the standard from those who have the background to join in detailed technical discussions on airplane structural design and certification.
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Requires determining the total hours time-in-service (TIS) of certain part-numbered main rotor grip assemblies, establishing a life limit for certain part-numbered grip assemblies, removing from service any grip assembly that has reached or exceeded its retirement life, creating a component history card, and removing any grip assembly from service before reaching its retirement life.
Requires repetitive torque checks of the tail rotor gearbox attachment hardware and any necessary corrective action. Prompted by reports of tail rotor gearbox assemblies found loose on the gearbox support.
Requires repetitive inspections of the rail rotor tail rotor slider assembly for corrosion and signs of circumferential refinishing and, depending on the findings, replacement of the tail rotor slider assembly with a serviceable part. Prompted by a report that, during a post-flight inspection of an in-service helicopter, a tail rotor slider assembly was found fractured and the bushing and the actuator rod in the tail rotor servo were partially damaged.
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