B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 - September 27, 2007 - (Page 8)

N BA A 2007 XOJet, Giving the People What They Can Afford and Beating the Fraxxies With orders and options for 30 Citation Xs, 80 Challenger 300s, plus an announced intention to buy even more, XOJet’s president and CEO Paul Touw had better be sure he’s sitting on a solid business model. Touw is pretty sure he is. “Just look at commercial ticket sales versus private jet charter today. Paul Touw. The total pot is something like $114 billion, but 30% of that spent, about $32 billion, is on private jets. So right now the tip-top percentage of travelers has one-third of that spent. That proves that commercial airlines are just not suited to business travel. “Plus, high-net-worth individuals are now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. economy. There are simply more people out there who can afford business aviation.” XOJet said it will buy 30 Cessna Citation X Jets just prior to NBAA, and followed up here with an order for 80 Challenger 300s. —Robert Hewson Altair DTU on P&WC Engines Altair Avionics will be supplying the engine data transmission units for several business aircraft through Pratt & Whitney Canada. The units will be supplied on Cessna XL/XLS, 680 Sovereign, Gulfstream’s G200 and the Dassault Falcon 2000EX. The aircraft these units will be supplied on represent a range of P&WC’s engines. The data transmission unit records and transmits crucial engine information in regards to temperature, fuel flow and speed. The system uses available cellular networks to transmit the data that is processed using web-based software. Forecast International’s Light Rotor Report The rotorcraft market is predicted to deliver about 14,200 aircraft between 2007 and 2016 according to Forecast International. The group recently put out a report entitled The Market for Light Commercial Rotorcraft 2007-2016, which predicts the value of production over the time period at $30.46 billion. According to the report, Robinson will lead with 42.8% market share, followed by a 29% share held by Eurocopter. Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky and AgustaWestland will cover the rest. Emergency Beacon Has a New ELT New York-based Emergency Beacon (Booth 4074) is introducing a line of 406-MHz emergency locator transmitters for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters as well as for military applications. The new ELTs conform to national SAR plans to stop processing 121.5-MHz signals for alerting and activating, according to the company. Note that the old signals will still be used for homing purposes, and the 406-MHz signals for alerting; the Emergency Beacon ELTs transmit both. They’re approved by COSPAS/SARSAT, meet FCC requirements and are approved under TSO-C126. Nomad for $43.9 Million Navy Cockpit Upfit Hawaii’s Nomad Aviation will use a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21based digital avionics suite to replace analog cockpit avionics equipment in T-44 Pegasus aircraft operated by the Naval Air Systems Command. The T-44 is based on the Beechcraft King Air H90 and is used by NAVAIR for training multiengine naval aviators in Corpus Christi, T exas. The new avionics “will allow the T-44 fleet to serve the Navy for at least another 20 years,” Nomad says. The new cockpits will afford young aviators “a smoother transition from the training aircraft to aircraft they will encounter in the fleet.” Collins is at Booth 5500. Airline Delays, Says Brown, Are a Self-Inflicted Wound “Airport delays are the fault of the very airlines that are now complaining about them and blaming the business aviation community,” NBAA svp Steve Brown told Congress yesterday. “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s own reports contradict the numerous, Steve Brown. erroneous allegations from the nation’s big airlines,” Brown said. “Data shows that at the nation’s 10 busiest airports, general aviation accounts for less than 4% of all aircraft operations.” One reason? GA craft avoid the hubs. “When there are capacity issues in the air, it’s usually because of the problems being caused by airline hub operations,” Brown said. Gates become full and there’s nowhere to put additional airplanes on the ground, NBAA says, so arriving aircraft start backing up in the air. 8 Dassault, ServiceElements Answer the Call Dassault Falcon’s Customer Service organization and ServiceElements of Scottsdale, Ariz., have completed the initial phase of a comprehensive Call Quality Improvement Initiative. Dassault Falcon technical help desk and spares account representatives are all participating in the program as part of a move by the company to improve customer experience. “Every customer touch-point contributes to the collective customer experience,” said ServiceElements president Bob Hobbi. “Falcon’s focus on improving customer service has never been sharper. Improvement at the callcenter level is one aspect of multiple improvements they are reviewing in their service culture.” UAI and M7 Team on Freighter Prototype Utilicraft Aerospace Industries, of Albuquerque, has contracted with M7 Aerospace LP for the design and development of the preproduction prototype wing and powerplant installation for its FF-1080 next generation twin turboprop freight feeder aircraft. M7 has begun designing attachments and interface for the Pratt & Whitney PW-127G engines and nacelles to be mounted to the existing prototype’s wing center section. Utilicraft currently has orders and options for 25 FF-1080-200s. The aircraft is designed to have STOL capability, operating from runways less than 3,500 feet long. September 27, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 - September 27, 2007

Why Buy Columbia? Too Much of a Good Thing? The User Fee Fracas Big Toys for Big Boys Honeywell for RNP High Miles Air Taxi Bombardier at Your Service NARA Names Officers Learjet’s Racier Image ILA 2008 in Berlin Gulfstream Hangar Opens Anti-Runway Incursions Like ReallyLarge Cabins? Sentient-Jet Direct

B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 - September 27, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.