News

Sales of Socata’s TBM 850 are up 35 percent compared with last year as the company pits the economy of its 320- ktas (at FL260) turboprop against a fledgling very light jet (VLJ) market and rides a 21 -percent rise in revenue. Socata aims to deliver 50 of the turboprop singles this year, with a […]

Gulfstream Aerospace said last week one of its G550 bizjets established three new city-pair records before 2006 ended, bringing to 10 the total number of records established by Gulfstream-operated G550s last year. The three new records were established by the same crew flying the same airplane more than 13,000 nm in eight days; Gulfstream senior […]

NetJets Inc. Chairman and CEO Richard Santulli late last week announced the appointment of James (Jim) Christiansen as president of NetJets Aviation. NetJets Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, is widely acknowledged as the worldwide leader in fractional aircraft ownership, allowing individuals and companies to buy a share of a private business jet at a fraction […]

Landmark Aviation last week announced it received a supplemental type certificate (STC) from the FAA approving its installation of the Rockwell Collins dual ADC-87A air data computers on Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft. The new upgrade replaces existing air-data computer equipment aboard Falcon 50s, which are not compliant with RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) airspace standards […]

Lufthansa Technik last week said its Lufthansa Technical Training (LTT) subsidiary and the Hainan Airlines Group (HNA) have entered into a joint venture to set up a training center for the qualification of maintenance mechanics and engineers. The new endeavor joint venture will be based at the Meilan Airport on the southern China island of […]

Aviation research and management consulting firm Conklin & de Decker announced it released two new products designed to make the financial impact of owning and operating a business aircraft less dramatic. One of the products is the company’s 2007 State Tax Guide for General Aviation, an annually updated publication covering state taxes and fees imposed […]

Dassault Falcon this month said it recently delivered its 100th Falcon 2000EX from its Little Rock Completion Center. The new aircraft was delivered to United Technologies Corporation (UTC) as a replacement for an older aircraft and is the second Falcon 2000EX EASy in UTC’s fleet. The basic 3,800-nm aircraft was certified in 2003, and was […]

Raisbeck Engineering last week said it received a full FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) for its ZR LITE Performance Improvement System on the Learjet Model 31 series airplanes. The drag-reduction system essentially employs contoured flaps to improve the type’s aerodynamics, allowing block fuel savings of from 7% to 12%, higher cruising altitudes and increased Mach […]

Boeing Business Jets and Rockwell Collins last week introduced an Enhanced Vision System (EVS) for Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) operators. The Rockwell Collins EVS projects a synthetic image of the airplane’s external environment on a heads-up display (HUD) and panel-mounted screens to enhance pilot situational awareness of terrain and the airport environment in low-visibility situations. […]