News

Should the federal government retire its color-coded terrorist threat warning system? That’s the theme of an op-ed piece, “Damage From the Alert System Is Alarming,” written by Edward N. Luttwak at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies that appeared in Monday’s Los Angeles Times. Labeling the current five-color warning system as “useless,” Luttwak […]

Could you some day fly your steam-gage King Air down an ILS to a 100-foot decision height without the electronics costing more than the plane? Could be, if recent trends are an indication. The trends in question are the enhanced vision systems first available on Gulfstream’s high-end jets (see article above) and now being certified […]

WSI Corporation this week announced it had received FAA certification for its Internet-based weather and NOTAM delivery system, WSI Pilotbrief Online. The service’s certification is under the FAAs Qualified Internet Communications Provider (QICP) program, which means that WSI Pilotbrief Online meets the agency’s standards in areas like reliability, security and accessibility. The WSI service joins […]

Jeppesen said earlier this month that it is refusing, so far, to sign an agreement with the Australian government to pay what in the U.S. would be a user fee for the privilege of using public data to compile aeronautical charts and information. According to Jeppesen, it and other commercial organizations are being asked by […]

It won’t be registered as N1, but Bombardier Aerospace will soon deliver a brand-new Challenger 604 bizjet to none other than AVweb’s Favorite Aviation Agency. The Jan. 19, 2004, announcement by the Canada-based manufacturer says that the aircraft — for which the FAA also placed two options — will be used for runway and airway […]

Meanwhile, Cessna CEO Jack Pelton’s task of helping the company rebound from the economy’s downturn got a bit tougher after industry leader NetJets told the manufacturer that it was canceling its order for 50 Citation CJ3 aircraft. According to Cessna, the canceled order applied to jets slated for delivery in the late 2005-2008 time frame. […]

Cessna’s transition to a world without 25-year veteran Russ Meyer continued last week with Jack Pelton being named president and chief executive officer of the airframe manufacturer. Pelton, himself a veteran of both McDonnell-Douglas and then Boeing, replaces Charlie Johnson, who announced his retirement last month after months on medical leave from the Wichita-based company, […]

Meanwhile, Gulfstream wasted no time in welcoming the FAA’s recently released rule allowing certified enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS) to be used to determine “enhanced flight visibility” for Part 91 operators landing at the conclusion of an instrument approach. Labeling the new rule a “vote of confidence” for its own Enhanced Vision System (EVS), Gulfstream […]

G550 Sets Records… Gulfstream is staying busy by using a new G550 bizjet to set a series of city-pair speed records over the last month. Most recently, the company launched a G550 from New York City to Kuwait City. The record-setting flight departed John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4:51 p.m. EST on Jan. 16, […]

Dallas, Texas, was the location, Jan. 8 was the date and Bombardier Business Jet Solutions was the customer. The event? Entry into service of the first completed Bombardier Challenger 300 business jet under the Bombardier Flexjet fractional ownership program. According to the company, the type’s first customer flight makes the Challenger 300 the first purpose-built […]