B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2 - (Page 24)

N BA A 2007 Need a Low-Cost Location? It May Just Be the U.S., Says Doncasters’ Lewis Is the U.S the new lower-cost economy? That’s the thesis posited by British forging and casting specialist Doncasters. We’ve all seen OEMs turn to Asia and Latin America to save money, “but with the euro now at a historic high against the U.S. dollar, firms with sites in the U.S. can also be added to this list,” Doncasters says. “Traditional manufacturers have had to face up to the realities of globalization for a number of years,” says Doncasters Group chief executive Eric Lewis, pointing to increased R&D outlays “to ensure we are at the forefront.” Doncasters has also turned to lean manufacturing techniques, and what Lewis calls “a culture of continuous improvement.” “While these changes have proved successful, we have also opened our own sites in lower-cost economies, such as Mexico and China,” Lewis says, “enabling clients to benefit from the cost savings available in these countries.” “With seven of our North American sites already serving the aerospace industry and further capacity increases,” he said, “the historically strong euro presents a real opportunity for our clients, allowing OEMs across the globe to benefit from the lower costs, capacity and expertise currently available across our U.S. sites.” The UK firm notes that it invested $20 million last year in a center of excellence at Oxford—Oxford, Alabama. Doncasters is represented here by Prime Turbines (Booth 2204). Caravan Treks to Garmin in 2008 Cessna has announced that the Garmin G1000 integrated avionics package will be standard equipment for all Caravan models (the 208, the Grand Caravan and the Super CargoMaster) from the first half of 2008. The Garmin G1000 system designed for the Caravan includes the GFC700 flight control system and three 10-in displays—two primary flight displays (PFD) and one multi-function display (MFD). It also includes the SafeTaxi system, while radar, TAWS-B, XM radio and XM weather are optional features. Marshall’s Back in Business Aviation Marshall Aerospace, one of the largest UK military MRO providers, is getting back into business aviation, big-time. The Cambridge-based company, which has been a Citation Service Center for 30 years, is adding a new 25,000-sq-ft maintenance hangar and a two-story luxury FBO to its existing 20,000-sq-ft engineering hangar. The project is costing some $8.8 million and is to go operational in April 2009. Marshall also plans to start offering business jet cabin completions in around 12 months, and it is currently in negotiation with two more OEMs. An order for three Citation XLs will enlarge Marshall’s Executive Aviation charter fleet from one Citation Bravo to four aircraft by 2009, with the first XL due in December. Flight Scheduling From Any Place at Any Time An easy to use, web-based flight scheduling and management tool, FlightOps1.com, is now available from CharterMatrix LLC. The company will be providing live demonstrations of the tool at NBAA. Customers can obtain a 30-day free trial offer followed by monthly charges of $25 per aircraft. The web-based tool is designed for use by corporate flight departments, air charter companies and air charter brokers. Updates can be made to any flight at any time from any location with Internet access. Empty-leg flights are automatically posted on partner website CharterMatrix.com to help sell these legs. CharterMatrix is at Booth 6955. Elliott Aviation Signs With Air BP Elliott Aviation (Booth 6567) has signed on for fuel and support services from Air BP. Elliott will carry the Air BP logo next to its own at the FBOs they operate in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Air BP will also supply Elliott Aviation with training, marketing and transaction processing. “With Air BP, partnerships with venders and customers are the main focus,” president and COO Mick Harris said. The company also announced that it will be giving away a BMW Mini. “It’s our way of bringing something back to the customers and pilots,” Harris said. Dassault Falcon OKs ICG for Iridium Systems Dassault Falcon has selected International Communications Group (Booth 3705) of Newport News, Va., to provide Iridium satellite communications systems and handsets for the entire line of Falcon aircraft. The ICS-100, ISC-200 and CIS-100 Iridium communications systems transceivers will be available to Falcon Jet operators under this agreement. Dassault will install two versions of the Sigma 7 handset, the JetPhone and ICG’s cordless phone system among other equipment. Rockwell Collins Upgrades Airshow Rockwell Collins (Booth 5500) is upgrading its Airshow 4000 moving map used in passenger cabins by adding an “atlas style” set of maps to its existing topographic and photographic map sets. The atlas style shows major highways and labels them. Other upgrades to Airshow include the addition of a world clock page showing the time for any city in the world and a flight instrument panel page, which shows the flight deck instruments and their data to passengers. All of the improvements are in a software upgrade package. Doncasters chief executive Eric Lewis. 24 September 26, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://CharterMatrix.com http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2

Contents Spectrum Stresses Freedom Adam Shows A700 Cabin User Fee War of Words Execujet Boosts Services Saab's Got Your Back CAE Covers the Field London Airports Roundup Pratt & Whitney Canada Another Show! A More Digital Jeppesen CMC Rides Bizjet Wave Thales Weighs In We Fly the Eclipse 500

B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 2

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