Hawker Beechcraft has announced that the flight test program for its Hawker 200 light jet is continuing on schedule and demonstrating higher cruise speeds, lower fuel consumption and fewer carbon emissions at high speed. With four airplanes currently involved in the test program, the Hawker 200 is scheduled for FAA certification during the third quarter of 2012, with first deliveries planned for the fourth quarter of 2012.
In a major setback for the program, the newly elected Canadian government says it won’t approve the $35 million loan that Diamond Aircraft is after to progress its stalled D-Jet program. The Austrian manufacturer, which has a factory in London, Ontario, is looking to enter the burgeoning light jet market with the D-Jet, however it’s having a tough time of it lately, laying off over 200 employees working on the project. The D-Jet, which first flew in 2006, apparently needs $90 million to reach the certification stage.
At the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva this week Dassault launched its Falcon 2000S, a new business jet that’s being pushed as a lower-priced Falcon 2000DX replacement. The Falcon 2000S will go toe to toe with the Gulfstream G250, Bombardier Challenger 300 and Hawker 4000 in the super-midsize business jet segment and will set customers back around US$25 million. It’s expected to enter service in early 2013.
Last week’s Federal Budget included “up to” $19 million for new and upgraded infrastructure and facilities at Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Taree airports. The money is to be spent on upgrading, extending and strengthening the main runway at Port Macquarie; funding the first stage of construction of new GA business precincts, including taxiways, aprons, hangar sites and access roads at Kempsey and Taree; resurfacing of the existing runway at Kempsey; and upgrading the passenger terminal building and car parking at Port Macquarie.
Cessna is to offer Aircell’s Aviator 300 worldwide in-flight data system as an option on new Citation XLS+, Citation Sovereign and Citation X aircraft as of next year. The Aviator 300 system is a small, lightweight Inmarsat SwiftBroadband system that provides customers with connectivity speeds up to a maximum of 332 kbps — several times the speed of traditional 56k dialup service — and is compatible with wireless-equipped personal devices such as laptops, tablet devices, electronic flight bags and smartphones. Cessna plans to offer the system as a retrofit to existing Citations, though details are not yet available.
Police in Hamilton, New Zealand were contacted three times in a two-hour evening period earlier this week after a Cessna flying at 5000ft with three POBs was targeted by a green laser. While the pilot did alert the Fuzz, the laser-pointing muppet couldn’t be found. If he/she was though, they could’ve been dumped in the slammer for up to 14 years, so here’s hoping they get busted if it happens again.
GippsAero has this week delivered a shiny new GA8 Airvan to Deccan Aviation, a charter operator in Sri Lanka. As well as regular charter flights, the company will use their new toy for whale watching flights, sports skydiving, photography and cargo missions. If you’re curious, GippsAero has a list of where Airvans are flying around the world on its website, and needless to say they’re all over the place.
The Associated Press reports that drug runners are sneaking across the northern US border from Canada in the dead of night in a Cessna, landing incredibly briefly (a mere 90 seconds on the ground) at remote airstrips in Michigan, and dropping off duffle bags of marijuana (79 kilograms of the stuff) and ecstacy-type pills (400,000) before nipping back across the border unseen. Tracking rogue planes at low altitude with their transponders off is, “like trying to pick a needle out of a haystack,” said John Beutlich of US Customs and Border Protection. And you thought the US was getting all its drugs from its other neighbour.
The ATSB has released its Aviation Short Investigation Bulletin, a summary of the less-complex factual investigation reports it's conducted in the first quarter of 2011. The results, based on information supplied by organisations or individuals involved in the occurrence, detail the facts behind the events, as well as any safety actions undertaken or identified. The ATSB says the bulletin highlights important safety messages for thebroader aviation community. To have a read click here.
The US AOPA reports that the FAA has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) that adds steps and clarifies procedures of a superseded AD for inspections and replacement of seat-latching mechanism parts on a variety of Cessna single and multi-engine aircraft. The AD was prompted by reports of seats slipping on the rails where the primary latch pin for the pilot/co-pilot seat is not properly engaged in the seat rail/track and reports of the seat roller housing departing the seat rail, which could lead to pilots losing control of the aircraft. The new AD applies to Cessna models 150, 152, 170, 172, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 188, 190, 195, 206, 207, 210, T303, 336, and 337 aircraft. You can find the AD here.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified analogue versions of both the Tecnam P2002JF and Tecnam P2002JR for night VFR operations. The approval follows on from EASA’s recent approval of the ‘VFR night package’ for Garmin 500 (G500) equipped Tecnam P2002JFs.
Perhaps taking a leaf out of Aeromil Pacific’s book and their Cessna Store in the centre of Sydney’s CBD, Hawker Beechcraft will next week open a customer gallery in the prestigious Claridge’s Hotel in the heart of Mayfair London. Staff at the shop front will provide guidance on the full HBC product line-up, including turnkey solutions to aircraft ownership and support.
And sticking with Hawker Beechcraft, the manufacturer announced at EBACE that it will gift a free Lotus sports car to European, Middle Eastern and African customers who buy a jet or turboprop aircraft between now and the end of the second quarter. Buyers of Hawker jets will get a Lotus Evora, with a retail price of US$64,000, while King Air turboprop buyers will receive a Lotus Elise, with a retail price of US$51,845. We can’t believe it either.
An interim ATSB investigation report has confirmed the sequence of events that led to the November 4, 2010 uncontained engine failure on board a Qantas A380 aircraft over Batam Island, Indonesia. As well as revealing some hard truths, the report also sets out how, as a result of the investigation to date, Rolls-Royce, affected airlines and safety regulators have taken action to ensure the continued safe operation of A380 aircraft. Click here to have a read.
The Aircraft Owners And Pilots Association of China is set to hold its first ever fly-in event in August. Privately registered aircraft will take off from different parts of China and eventually land in the northern Hebei Province, where the event is to be held. With major changes on the way to open up the country’s military-controlled airspace to GA, we dare say AOPA China is bracing itself for an influx of new members.