With its recent acceptance of a HondaJet Elite, Italian Formula One team Scuderia AlphaTauri is now powered by Honda on the track and in the air. The Red Bull-sponsored F1 team has relied on engines and engineering from Honda Motor since its inception, so “it was only natural” for the team to fly on a Honda aircraft.
After the team's very light jet arrived at Honda Aircraft dealer Rheinland Air Service (RAS) in mid-August at Germany’s Mönchengladbach Airport, RAS provided the Flying Bulls with HondaJet pilot base training. RAS is the exclusive European HondaJet dealer, as well as an EASA- and FAA-authorized service center.
“It was an exciting time, watching the Flying Bulls welcome their custom-painted aircraft—another jet joining the growing European fleet of new HondaJets, more than 150 worldwide,” said RAS CEO Johannes Graf von Schaesberg. After its brief stay in Germany, the HondaJet was flown to its new Salzburg, Austria base at Red Bull’s famous Hangar-7, which is home to a collection of unique airplanes and helicopters.
Scuderia AlphaTauri said the Hondajet is perfect for routes such as London to Cannes, Geneva to Frankfurt, and Milan to Paris. “The HondaJet is ideal because it is particularly efficient on short- and medium-distance routes,” it added. “It will be used by Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri as part of our Formula 1 cooperation.”
Bell has begun the transfer of type certificate (TC) for the Model 214ST and B/B1 helicopters to aircraft operator and MRO provider Erickson. The related agreements will replace the previous license and product support agreement signed between the companies in 2015.
“The 214 is a great utility rotary-wing platform. We look forward to applying our innovative spirit and operational experience to chart a future for the aircraft like we have done with the S-64 Air Crane helicopter over the past 30 years,” said Erickson CEO Doug Kitani.
Erickson noted that it is one of the largest fleet operators of the Bell 214 and that the TC transfer will include key functions and processes to provide full support of the model. The original 214 was derived from the Bell 205 in 1970 and replaced the stock 1,900-shp Lycoming T53-L-702 with a more powerful 2,930-shp Lycoming LTC4B-8.
An estimated forty 214Bs remain in service. The B was produced from 1976 to 1981 and is powered by a 2,930-shp Lycoming T5508D.
Bell produced 96 Model 214STs between 1979 and 1993. The 16 to 18-passenger 214ST features a 30-inch fuselage stretch and is powered by two 1,625-shp General Electric T700 engines.
LunaJets Predicts Tough Corporate Travel Season
Charter broker LunaJets expects competitors’ exuberance over a rebound in private jet travel to come to a halt now that the summer travel season has ended. Instead, September will be a “back to reality moment” for brokers and operators as the corporate travel demand that dominates the fall and winter months remains much weaker.
New Covid-19 quarantine measures and travel restrictions combined with overcapacity and financial leverage in the industry “will have an immediate and devastating effect on the market,” noted the Geneva-based broker, which typically sees 70 percent of its demand from corporate travelers between September and the Christmas holiday.
LunaJets’ private jet division is down 18 percent in year-to-date volume. After 30 percent growth in its first quarter, its second-quarter business declined 70 percent. An upswing in third-quarter activity wasn’t able to compensate for the second-quarter decline, and the fourth quarter “looks already bleak,” according to LunaJets.
“Some jet operators or competitors seem to live in cloud-cuckoo-land, publishing over-optimistic figures,” said LunaJets managing director Alain Leboursier. “The wakeup call will be painful; the industry is much more fragile than during the past crisis.”
Leboursier further argued that the industry never fully recovered from the financial crisis in 2009 and with a business travel rally unlikely to follow the leisure bump seen this summer, market consolidation will follow.
West Virginia Airport Joins the Avfuel Network
MRB Aviation, the lone service provider at Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport/Shepherd Field (MRB) in Martinsburg, is the latest to join the Avfuel dealer network. The airport—which is the largest and oldest in the state, dating back to 1923—recently acquired the FBO from long-time operator Aero-Smith.
“We look forward to beginning this new partnership with Avfuel as we assume the FBO’s operation,” said Nicolas Diehl, executive director of the airport, which sees more than 30,000 operations a year that range from military aircraft to sports teams on its 8,815-foot runway. “Avfuel’s reliability and personalized approach to customer service mirrors the level of care we aspire to provide our customers on a daily basis.”
The location will now participate in the Avtrip rewards program and offer Avfuel contract fuel. It will also accept the Avfuel Pro Card, which gives customers the ability to put all purchases—whether they include fuel or not—on one transaction, allowing them to avoid multiple processing fees.
“We couldn’t be happier to add MRB Aviation to the Avfuel family of branded FBOs,” said Joel Hirst, the Michigan-based fuel provider’s vice president of sales. “The addition gives pilots flying throughout the Avfuel network a trusted service provider with competitive prices in a key Eastern U.S. market.”
McCauley Receives FAA Cert for SkyCourier Propeller
Textron Aviation’s McCauley Propeller Systems has received FAA certification for its C779 propeller that will be used on Cessna’s new utility twin-turboprop, the SkyCourier. Noting that the propeller was specifically designed to enhance the SkyCourier’s performance, the C779 was subjected to 135 hours of endurance and functional tests for certification, according to Textron Aviation.
That testing included a blade retention system test at twice the maximum centrifugal load of the propeller during operation. “The development of the McCauley C779 propeller was a collaborative effort between McCauley and Textron Aviation engineers,” said Textron Aviation senior v-p of parts and programs Kriya Shortt. “The propeller has been optimized for the SkyCourier aircraft and engine design with careful attention to durability and low maintenance costs.”
Shortt added the new propeller is one way Textron Aviation is keeping maintenance costs on the airplane in check. So is the use of Goodrich DuraTherm de-ice boots, which will offer improved impact resistance of the propellers on the SkyCourier, two examples of which are currently in flight testing.
ExecuJet Malaysia Wins Bermuda Cert for Dassault Jets
The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority has certified ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia for line and heavy maintenance on Dassault Falcons. A subsidiary of Dassault Aviation, the MRO’s certification encompasses Falcon 900EX up to and including the 12-month or 800 flight cycle (FC) inspection; Falcon 2000EX C-checks, which are equivalent to 72-month or 3,750 FCs; and Falcon 7X and Falcon 8X business jet C-checks, which are equivalent to 96-month or 4,000 FCs.
“The Bermuda approvals were in response to the significant number of Bermuda-registered business jets flying in the Asian region,” said Ivan Lim, ExecuJet Malaysia regional v-p of Asia. “Our Subang Airport facility has already been supporting Bermuda-registered business jets since receiving our initial approval in 2014. Adding the Dassault Falcon aircraft types onto our approval list was a natural progression for us.”
ExecuJet Malaysia is also FAA certified for maintenance on U.S.-registered Dassault, Bombardier, and Gulfstream business jets.
GAMA Opens Annual Design Challenge
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association opened its registration for the 2021 Aviation Design Challenge for high school students. Open to the first 150 schools that register, the competition is designed to promote aviation jobs and STEM education through an aviation-focused curriculum and virtual fly-off.
Registered schools receive a free “Fly to Learn” curriculum that is aligned with national STEM standards and provides basics of flight and airplane design principles. The curriculum can be taught in-person or through virtual settings and spans about four to six weeks. Participants are then tasked with modifying an airplane design and compete in a virtual fly-off using X-Plane software.
GAMA judges score the challenge submissions based on the fly-off and performance parameters. The winning team receives an all-expenses-paid general aviation experience and the runner up receives a STEM Lab Camp furnished by Redbird Flight Simulations.
Since launched in 2013, more than 3,500 students from more than 400 high schools have participated. Registration closes on December 17.
“This valuable program provides students with the opportunity to learn about the science of flight, the mechanics of creating aircraft and the career opportunities available in the general aviation industry,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.
More than 80 high schools in 35 states participated in the 2020 competition, which was completed despite the complexities involved with Covid-19.
Bombardier Appoints New GMs in Fort Lauderdale, Tucson
Bombardier made two key moves in its support network, appointing Marc Beaudette as general manager of its Fort Lauderdale service center and Michel Menard as general manager in Tucson.
Beaudette, a 30-year company executive who previously managed the Tucson service center, will help steer Bombardier’s transition in South Florida as the company prepares to open its new $100 million, $300,000-sq-ft center at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport that is currently under construction. Plans call for him to move over to the new center once opened.
Menard joins Bombardier to fill the Tucson position after serving as v-p and general manager for StandardAero and Dassault. He has nearly 30 years of aviation industry experience.
The Tucson and Fort Lauderdale facilities are among nine Bombardier service facilities. Opened in 1976, the Tucson center is the largest of the Bombardier facilities, spanning one million square feet of hangar space. Technicians at the center have completed more than 135 major inspections in the past two years, including eight 12-month inspections on Globals in the past year.
Fort Lauderdale is a gateway site for operators in Latin America and technicians there have completed more than 160 modifications in the past two years.
Aero Asset appointed Joe Viveiros and Sebastien Delmaire as sales directors. Viveiros, who is type rated in both the Sikorsky S-76 and Gulfstream G550, has more than a 30-year career in aviation and has completed more than $200 million in aircraft transactions. Delmaire formerly was a French Air Force officer before joining Airbus Helicopters and then Aston Martin, where he led brand extension programs such as the Aston Martin ACH130 helicopter.
Timothy Lomakin has rejoined Dumont Aviation Group to help launch and lead the Dumont Jets West expansion. Lomakin, who is also president of Foundation Aviation, previously was director of operations for Dumont before leaving for a stint as president of Wing Aviation Group in Orlando, Florida.
King Aerospace named Scott Parkinson CFO. Parkinson has more than 30 years of financial oversight experience, previously serving as controller and v-p of finance for the defense, aerospace, and security division of Sanmina.
Renée Martin-Nagle has joined Eckert Seamans’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office as special counsel, focusing on the law firm’s aviation and environmental practices. Martin-Nagle formerly was CEO and president of A Ripple Effect, a consultancy focused on international water law and integrated water resources management services that also has conducted airline and airport sustainability projects, and has spent more than 20 years at Airbus Americas.
Vince Jimenez has joined CRS Jet Spares as regional sales manager for the Western U.S., along with Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Jimenez has more than two decades of business aviation sales and service experience, including with Honeywell Aerospace and Gulfstream Aerospace.
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