News

On its face, RVSM sounds simple enough — compress the distance between aircraft operating in the high-altitude en route environment. But its not that simple, or easy. For one thing, there are very good reasons previous standards at those altitudes called for 2000 feet of separation. Among them are the unreliability of altimetry and autopilot […]

Ready or not, domestic RVSM (DRVSM) is coming soon, to a flight level near you. In this case, soon means Jan. 20, 2005, at 901 UTC and, despite what you might have heard, the FAAs postponement of this date isnt likely. After Jan. 20, your aircraft must be RVSM-compliant if you want to use major […]

The crew of a Gulfstream II on approach to Houstons William P Hobby Airport early Monday was warned by a controller that its altitude was too low about two minutes before it crashed, killing both pilots and a flight attendant. The jet was inbound to Hobby to pick up former president George H.W. Bush for […]

…the next issue of AVweb‘s BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you on Nov. 24. Until then!

Apologies to those in both Philadelphia and Chicago for the faux pas published in this space last month that referred to Chicago as the “city of brotherly love.” We know that reference applies only to Philly — though it’s sometimes hard to tell, what with the treatment we get from your TRACON. As for how […]

Signature Flight Support announced last month the acquisition of Executive Aircraft Services (EAS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Group4Securicor PLC, headquartered at London’s Heathrow Airport. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Signature said the EAS facility is a traditional FBO and that the latest acquisition increases its FBO network to more than 60 locations […]

Raytheon Aircraft Services — the airframe manufacturer’s network of FBOs and maintenance operations in the U.S. — announced last week that its Indianapolis, Ind., facility received the FAAs Diamond Award. To receive the award, which recognizes ongoing training efforts and maintenance-technician professionalism, a facility must have at least 25 percent of its employees participating in […]

Many changes in personnel and their roles have occurred within the business aviation industry in the last few months. While the National Business Aviation Association has arguably seen the most of them, a few notable others have occurred. Among them is the departure of Shelly S. Simi from her position as vice president of communications […]

Groen Brothers Aviation Inc. announced the Nov. 1 merger of its two wholly owned subsidiaries, American Autogyro Inc. (AAI) and Groen Brothers Aviation USA Inc. (GBA-USA). GBA-USA, which developed the first turbine-powered autogiro, the Hawk 4 Gyroplane, will take on the manufacturing, sales and marketing functions of AAI’s SparrowHawk Gyroplane. Groen Brothers Aviation USA Inc. […]

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, many thought there would be an airplane in every garage. When that didn’t happen, hybrids capable of using the highways and the airways appeared, then all but disappeared. Many other attempts to come up with the right mix of technology and operational flexibility leading to a sky […]