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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1713.PDF
IN BRIEF GOING GREEK Signature Flight Support is planning to buy a controlling stake in Greek fixed-based oper ator (FBO) group Athens Aviation Services for €1.5 million ($1.8 million). Athens Aviation runs a full-service executive han dling and flight-planning operation at Athens international airport. It also provides handling and support through a network of agents at 22 Greek airports. The Athens deal, which is is sub ject to regulatory approval, follows hot on the heels of the £11.8 million ($21 million) acqui sition of the John Menzies Group's Execair chain of 10 FBOs in the UK, Ireland and Belgium. LBAS APPROVAL Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) has received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and US Federal Aviation Administration approval to perform training, service and maintenance on the Challenger 300 super mid-size business jet. The Berlin-Schonefeld-based company has also received Honeywell service centre autho risation to support the HTF7000 turbofan that powers the Challenger 300 Meanwhile, the Bombardier training centre in Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas has clinched EASA approval, which allows Challenger 300 cus tomers to receive maintenance training to European standards. CZECH TBM EADS Socata has delivered the first TBM 700C2 to Czech Republic-based electronics retailer OKAY The aircraft will be used for executive transportation. MERCURY MOVES Mercury Air Center has moved its fixed-base operation at Los Angeles international airport to a new, larger site on the south side of the airport where it plans to open a terminal to house passen gers and crew. G200 APPROVAL The European Aviation Safety Agency has awarded type certifi cation to the Gulfstream G200 super mid-size business jet. BUSINESS AVIATION WINGLETS GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES Certification for Hawker spurs on winglet studies Aviation Partners' first two production sets will be installed in late September Aviation Partners is eyeing poten tial winglet modification studies of several Cessna Citation and Dassault business jets after achieving US Federal Aviation Administration certification of its long-awaited Raytheon Hawker 800 winglet upgrade, for which it forecasts eventual sales of between 400 and 500 shipsets. The l.llm-tall winglets increase overall wingspan on the Hawker by 0.76m and reduce drag by some 7.35%, according to Aviation Partners chief executive and foun der Joe Clark. "This gives a range increase of between 333-3 70km (180-200nm), or between 25 and 30 min, with no added fuel. It also makes time-to-climb 25% faster," he says. Total shipset weight is 42kg (921b) for the modification which, for the first time in any of Aviation Partners' winglet designs, is all-com posite with only an aluminium leading edge and no metallic spar. Certification of the winglets on the baseline 800 will be followed by that on the 800XP version "within 30 to 60 days" says Clark, who con cedes the effort "took us two years longer than we thought. It has been a very difficult programme and cost us six times what it took us to do the Gulfstream II." The delays were largely due to a lack of "OEM [origi nal equipment manufacturer] data. We had to build our own finite ele ment analysis and flight loads mod els," says Clark, adding that the FAA certification process is also becom ing increasingly cumbersome. The programme was completed in the latter stages with close co-operation from Raytheon, adds Clark who says "we underestimated the scope of going it alone". The first two production winglet sets for the initial aircraft are being fitted later in September, and "we are setting up installation centres right now," says Clark. Although firm orders currently stand at only 18, Aviation Partners expects the orders to rapidly ramp up now that certification has been achieved. "We gained 60-70% of the Gils, and 1 think we're looking at something similar for the Hawker, so that's a market of 400-500 aircraft," he says. For the immediate future "we continue to look at Cessna products and we are eyeing some of the Dassault aircraft, though we have no agreements with any of the OEMs at the moment. But both have high aspect-ratio wings," says Clark, adding this makes them likely candidates to enjoy larger per formance benefits from a winglet modification. The company also believes the continuing rise in fuel prices will drive the urgency of new drag reducing aerodynamic studies such as the winglet package. The Hawker 800XP will become a familiar sight in the skies above London's business district APPROVAL KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON London City gets 800XP approval Raytheon has received steep approach certification for London City airport for the Hawker 800XP. The approval of the mid-size business jet is believed to have been driven by fractional-ownership operator NetJets, which earlier this month became the first company to gain approval to operate the 800XP from the airport in London's business district. The move allows NetJets to bolster its European fleet and widen its operational range. "The Hawker will allow us fly customers direct to Beirut, Moscow, Tel Aviv as well as other destinations in Europe and North America", says NetJets chief operating officer David Marcus. NetJets operations at London City have centred to date on the Citation Bravo and Excel, and Dassault Falcon 50EX and customer demand for the airport has seen movements double over the past year. "We expect to record up to 400 movements this year and are expecting a 30% increase in this total in 2005," he says. 22 14-20 SEPTEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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