B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 1 - (Page 8) N BA A 2007 Winglets for Cessna’s Citation X Seven Businesses Recognized as Flying Safety Ingrained in Business Aviation Culture NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen is recognizing seven businesses here in Atlanta for 50 years of safe flying, and noting other cumulative safe performance for 2006. Federal-Mogul Corp., General Dynamics, H.E.B. Grocery Company, Hill Aircraft & Leasing Corp., Spectra Energy Corp., Tecumseh Products, and Vulcan Materials are receiving the awards. “These NBAA members set the standard for operational safety,” Bolen says. These seven companies join 57 NBAA members who have won the award since its inception. In addition, NBAA will recognize 235 businesses that have flown a combined 9.8 million cumulative safe flight hours without an accident (operating accident free over three or more consecutive years), and 584 pilots who have logged in excess of 1,500 hours each of accident free flying while accumulating a combined total of 4.3 million hours. NBAA will also be recognizing industry veterans Bryan Moss and Pat Epps at this meeting. Moss, president emeritus of Gulfstream Aerospace, Bryan Moss. is receiving the 2007 Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation and Epps, pilot and founder of Epps Aviation, is receiving the 2007 John P. “Jack” Doswell Award. Both will receive their awards at a luncheon today. The first powered aircraft flight in Georgia took Pat Epps. place 100 years ago when Ben Epps, the father of Pat Epps, flew his monoplane over a field in Athens, GA in 1907. A replica of that plane is on display here this week. Watch for Cessna’s Citation X to be sporting winglets in the near future. The Winglet Technology add-ons will boost range by about 200 nmi, allowing for more flexible flight planning on the westbound trip from Europe to the U.S. They’ll be available for retrofit to existing aircraft. Goal for an STC for the $395,000 mod is second quarter 2008. Show attendees can see the winglets installed on a Citation X at the static display and on a model at Cessna’s booth (8550). Cessna Ramps Up Caravan Production Cessna’s Roger Whyte, senior vp of sales and marketing, says the company has already sold twice as many Caravans this year as the sales plan calls for and production is being increased by 30% for 2008 to try to keep up with demand. The company sold 67 Caravans in 2006 according to figures published by GAMA. Cessna has maxed out its total manufacturing operations in Wichita to the point that it is investing in a technical training center to help qualify new A&P mechanics and sheet metal workers. “If we don’t do that we may not have the people to manage the upside that we see,” he says. Cessna (Booth 8550 and the static display) now has a plant in Chihuahua, Mexico, that is offloading some of the work from Wichita that is taking the skilled workforce there away from high value work such as final completions and flight tests, he says. Airbus Records Two More ACJ Sales Two more sales of Airbus ACJ family jets have been disclosed by Airbus, one to BAA Jet Management of an Airbus A318 Elite and the other, an Airbus Corporate Jet (A320), to Vienna’s Jet Alliance Group. BAA Jet Management will base its A318 Elite in Shenzhen and register it in the PRC. Jet Alliance Group already operates one ACJ and three A318 Elites in its fleet of 35 aircraft. The announcement of the sale to BAA Jet Management stated that total sales of ACJ Family aircraft have reached the 100 mark. as the Elite Descends On NBAA On show for the first time ever at NBAA is the Airbus A318 Elite—the latest member of the Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) family. The aircraft at Atlanta is the first off the line—delivered to Swiss VVIP charter operator Comlux in May. It has seating for 18 passengers in a fresh and stylish cabin created by Lufthansa Technik. A 14-seat cabin option is also available. With a floor space of almost 800 sq ft, the Elite is more spacious with more “ease of movement” than any other aircraft in its price range, says Airbus (Booth 4339 and the static display). The First A380…It’s Not Abramovich’s Airbus has formally announced its first A380 VIP order and says that the finished aircraft will be handed over in July 2010. Airbus is now calling its luxury superjumbo “The Flying Palace.” What the company won’t say, yet, is whose name is on the check that secured the aircraft. But one thing is now confirmed—it’s not Roman Abramovich. The Russian oil billionaire had been linked with the first VIP A380 in several reports, but these have now been quashed by Airbus. While the company won’t identify its first A380 VVIP customer, given the rather leading moniker “Flying Palace,” Show News would suggest that the customer is Middle Eastern. Another hint is that Airbus plans a coordinated customer announcement for November’s Dubai Air Show. A Sino of the Times for Piaggio Piaggio announced the sale of three P.180 Avanti twin-turboprops, worth over $21 million, to its first Chinese customer, Sino Europe Aircraft, on the eve of the convention. Through its association with Beijing PanAm International Aviation Academy, it will promote, operate and service Avantis in the region. “The Far East aviation market is expanding rapidly, and Piaggio is excited to be participating in that growth,” said Piaggio Aero CEO Jose Di Masè. Piaggio is at Booth 3717 and the static display. 8 September 25, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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