In aviation, like most other industries, success breeds regulation.
In aviation, like most other industries, success breeds regulation. The bigger an industry becomes, the more the government perceives the need to regulate it, often citing reasons such as safety, unfair competition and environmental protection. Yet, in typical Darwinian fashion, most industries adapt–or die. In aviation, hush kits quiet noisier jet engines, airplanes are made RVSM compatible and helicopters are flown neighborly.
When General Electric’s CEO Jack Welch decided it was time to shop for a new business aircraft, he knew he needed more of what every executive wants.
The Gulfstream V, then under development, was expected to have the range, but on a 12-hr trip, the GE head thought the cabin was too claustrophobic. Since GE was already negotiating a deal for a number of Boeing 737s, Welch called his friend, Boeing chairman and CEO Phil Condit, and asked if he could deliver a 737 with more range. Condit asked Borge Boeskov, Boeing’s vice president of product strategy at that time, the same question. Boeskov said, “Yes.”
One well kept secret in the modification business is privately held Sierra Industries of Uvalde, Texas, a town about 90 mi southwest of San Antonio.
The aircraft modification business represents American enterprise at its best–dozens of small companies each turning out a variety of unique products aimed at what traditionally appears to be a narrow segment of the worldwide marketplace. Modification specialists are inventors–critical thinkers and dreamers who often see solutions to problems the rest of us assumed were unfixable. And despite the years of engineering energy and time, often at the hands of a single individual with an idea, many of the big modification shops like Robertson, Astec and Branson have disappeared over the past decade.
What can you say about an airplane that performs better than most people expect, as the Hawker series always has?
The old Hawker 800A I flew was easy to flight plan for the most part. Fill the tanks with fuel, fill the seats and go from almost any airport with a reasonable runway length. It almost never grounded us, most likely because the systems were so tried and true– and so relatively simple–that there was not much that could break. Almost all systems, such as flight controls, were mechanically linked. With 10,000 pounds of fuel on board we could easily make the West Coast from Chicagoland, and, even with all seats filled, that big midsize cabin was comfortable. The newest version of the airplane– the Hawker 900XP–is still considered to be a bargain at $14.3 million.
That new aircraft are often derived from earlier models is no surprise, but hybrids of two separate bloodlines are rare.
That new aircraft are often derived from earlier models is no surprise, but hybrids of two separate bloodlines are rare. The Eurocopter EC 145 medium twin, derived from the venerable BK 117 and the much newer EC 135, is one such hybrid. But unlike many mergers, particularly in the corporate world, this one actually works.
I have to admit that the Robinson revolution passed me by.
I have to admit that the Robinson revolution passed me by. I graduated from flight school in the U.S. Army in 1978, the year before the first R22 was certified. After seven years in the army, my civilian career path led directly to multi-engine turbine helicopters, a world apart from single-engine pistons. Of course, I had heard about Frank Robinson designing the R22 in the 1970s and then the R44 in the 1990s, but I never had the opportunity to fly either a Robinson or any other piston helicopter after flight school.
This year’s Paris Air Show at Le Bourget provided an opportunity for me to see Dassault’s new Falcon 7X up close before I got my chance at the left seat.
While the flight demonstration itself would probably not convince anyone to write a check on the spot for a 7X, my guess is that after watching those 86-foot-span wings carry the 7X through some incredibly tight turns with ease, people would take a closer look. Dassault currently has orders for more than 165 copies of the recently certified, $40.6 million aircraft. The company is currently building three a month, and the next delivery slot is late 2011 or early 2012.
A sage old pilot once neatly captured the purpose of business aviation: “People buy airplanes because they want to go places…fast.”
A sage old pilot once neatly captured the purpose of business aviation: “People buy airplanes because they want to go places…fast.”
Sino Swearingen, the company originally started by self-taught aeronautical engineer Ed Swearingen, now 81 and a consultant to the San Antonio-based group, is working on producing the SJ30, an airplane it hopes will capture a significant slice of the light jet market by being different enough to appeal to a particular customer base, yet not so different that it will end up on the fringe of the industry.
The champagne corks were surely popping in Wichita on September 8 when Cessna Aircraft announced it had earned full type certification of its newest jet, t
The champagne corks were surely popping in Wichita on September 8 when Cessna Aircraft announced it had earned full type certification of its newest jet, the Mustang. The paperwork was signed just short of four years after the company announced the project at the 2002 NBAA Convention in Orlando, Fla.
