Global confidence in Bell Helicopter

Bell Helicopter announced that it received 41 signed contracts at Heli-expo 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

“This was an exceptional show for Bell Helicopter,” said John L Garrison, President and CEO, Bell Helicopter. “Spending time with our customers and listening to their needs and direct feedback is invaluable.”

“Generating a record number of orders at Heli-Expo this year – selling over 40 aircraft – is an indication of customer trust in Bell Helicopter and that we are meeting their mission needs. The mix of aircraft and the geographic diversity are positive indications for our entire industry – and more importantly global confidence in Bell Helicopter,” said John Garrison.

The product mix included several 412EPs, 429s, 11 new 407GXs as well as 206L4s representing North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. “We can definitely start to feel a change in the climate,” said Larry Roberts, Senior Vice President, Commercial Business for Bell Helicopter. “I was especially delighted that we enjoyed sales across the product range, in particular with the Bell 412EP, the 407GX and the 429. This demonstrates that, whether mature technology or new innovation, our aircraft remain in demand, confirming to a large measure that Bell Helicopter solutions are relevant in the market place. The industry wants Bell Helicopter solutions and we aim to keep providing them.”

At this year’s Heli-Expo, Bell Helicopter announced the 407GX, a new version of the Bell 407 equipped with the innovative Garmin G1000HTM Integrated Flight Deck and the 407AH, the first Bell-qualified armed commercial aircraft across the market.

Newsflash from 43 Air School

The Air Traffic Services (ATS) system comprises a vast network of people and equipment that ensures the safe operation of commercial and private aircraft all over the world. The primary purpose of ATS systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organise and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other support for pilots as required. Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) coordinate the movement of air traffic to make certain that planes stay a safe distance apart from each other and, although their immediate concern is safety, controllers must also direct planes efficiently to minimise delays.

The need for ATCs has never been greater, with many ATS facilities operating with staff levels below the accepted norm. In the US alone, in order to meet the predicted shortages, the FAA will be training in excess of 17 000 new controllers by 2018. To assist in meeting the increasing demand for ATCs worldwide, 43 Air School has established an Air Traffic Services College at our Port Alfred campus to provide students with the highest level of training to SACAA regulations and in accordance with ICAO standards.

With the approval of its Air Traffic Services Aviation Training Organisation (ATS ATO) licence earlier this year, 43 Air School became the first privately owned ATS ATO in South Africa. The Air Traffic Service Assistant (ATSA) and Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS) courses offered by 43 Air School will be complemented by the introduction of the Aerodrome Control course, Approach and Area Procedural and Radar courses in 2011.

Simulator training on the Aerodrome Control course will be provided utilising a state-of-the-art Barlog 360° Aerodrome Simulator, which was certified on 31 March 2011 by the South African Civil Aviation Authority. SACAA Air Traffic Services Inspector, Mr Robert Purkiss commented, “I have seen a number of 360° simulators worldwide and the WX360 is by far better than anything else I have seen.”

ATC Courses

A comprehensive curriculum that integrates classroom instruction and simulator training will prepare students to be certified by their respective regulators as Air Traffic Controllers. Standard courses for the training of ATC personnel have been designed in order to offer a training programme that conforms to SACAA and ICAO course guidelines.

The ATSA course is the introduction course, consisting of theoretical training, and is the foundation for all future ATC training courses. A rating is received on the successful completion of this course and this rating can be validated at the student’s ATSU.

Having successfully completed the ATSA course the student can continue with the Aerodrome Control course, which has both theoretical and practical content. The successful completion of the theoretical training is a necessary prerequisite to be able to continue on to the simulator training course.

Practical training will be conducted in the FABR artificial airspace created for 43 Air School’s simulator environment. However, with our advanced simulator it is possible to provide training for our clients in their individual national airspace.

The modern capabilities of our simulator afford us the unique opportunity of offering our clients the option of completing 50 percent of their validation training, recurrence training or proficiency assessments at our facility.

Licensing

Only South African students will be eligible for ATS licensing by the SACAA. Foreign nationals will be issued with a certificate confirming the successful completion of the course/s in order for them to be licensed by their individual DCA/CAAs. 43 Air School is in discussions with interested national aviation authorities globally for approval of its courses and the aerodrome simulator.

Course Information and Contact

For further course information please contact 43 Air School on

Tel: +27 (46) 604 3600 or

E-mail: fly@43airschool.com

NAC Value Added Products overview

NAC’s Value Added Products division is in partnership with various companies who maximise the performance of aircraft. They are:

BLR

BLR’s Winglet System for the Beech King Air 90, 200 or 300 are winglets that reduce induced drag so you can fly faste and improve your fuel economy, or some of both.

Aviation Partners, Inc

API Winglets enhance performance for the Hawker 800 and 800XP, including increased range, reduced drag, faster climb to altitude, reduced emissions, improved second segment climb, more speed for the same fuel, improved stall characteristics and 2 000 feet higher initial cruise altitude.

Raisbeck

Raisbeck has developed systems which measurably improve all King Air models, including dual aft body strakes, high flotation gear doors, Crown wing lockers, power props and increased gross weight.

Blackhawk

Blackhawk Aircraft Performance Enhancements provide new Pratt & Whitney -52, -61, -42, -135A and -28 engines with Blackhawk gauges to aircraft owners whos aircraft are due for engine overhaul.

With all of these value added products available for your King Air or Hawker, you can positively invest in any product to ensure that your aircraft utilisation is more cost effective.

CONTACT GEORGE CORY AT NAC Tel: + 27 (11) 267 5013 for more information.

Heroes of Diamond Aircraft - all hail the aero-heroes of 2010!

by ANN Editor-in-Chief, Jim Campbell

The beginning of the second decade of this millennium will not go down as a favourite among devotees of all things aeronautical.  For companies already struggling to stay alive, 2009-2010 was a bad time and often signalled their end. For the healthier companies, it was a time when everyone went into survival mode, no matter how well they had done previously.

The last few years would have been bad enough for Diamond Aircraft, or any other company for that matter, without the monumental obstacles placed before it by the puzzling and nearly catastrophic situation that developed around the Thielert diesel engine programme and its eventual bankruptcy. No company wants to lose a valuable supplier, especially when that supplier builds the pivotal powerplant for your vehicle and most especially when it involves vehicles uniquely designed for a novel type of propulsion. That’s when you know you have a real problem.

The Diamond DA20

For most companies, that would have been it... toast, dead, buh-bye! But not Diamond. They not only developed their own diesel engine system to replace the disgraced Thielert, but recertified their twin-engine DA42 for the Lycoming 360-series engines in the interim, while also completing the design of the Austro diesel and the eventual re-certification of the DA42 with their own diesel powerplant.

For most companies, such circumstances would have killed them off. But Diamond survived and brought forth two new airplanes despite it all. Best of all, they were two of the nicest flying twins we’ve flown in the last decade and that’s saying a lot.

The Diamond DA40

In the meantime, they work toward the arduous completion of what is now the only single-engine jet programme in actual, real-life, no-fooling, development, and fully expect to have a very costeffective small jet platform available for the market about the time the pundits expect the economy to thaw. The D-Jet programme is a difficult one and it’s been kicking their butts for a few years. But like all things Diamond, they will finish it, they will make it right, and when it finally starts to show up in hangars all over the world, it will have a unique market niche all to itself. Amazing.

The Diamond DA42

Let’s not forget that Diamond continues to build DA20 and DA40s with a fair degree of regularity for this down market, that both these airplanes have compiled one of the most enviable safety records for any GA single, and that service and support for these aircraft has kept up a good rep while a few of their competitors seem to have forgotten the meaning of the words.

Bell 206 gets newly developed RR500 engine

Bell Helicopter and Rolls-Royce announced the selection of Uniflight LLC to develop, manufacture and market an upgrade kit that will enable retrofit of the Bell 206B/L fielded fleet with the Rolls- Royce newly developed RR500 engine.

“Bell Helicopter remains focused on supporting our legacy fleet of helicopters,” said R Danny Maldonado, Senior Vice President Customer Support and Chief Services Officer. “We have invested significant resources and funding into developing a comprehensive product strategy for our legacy aircraft.” Bell Helicopter’s legacy support strategy includes initiatives designed to enhance mission capabilities and increase overall productivity, including product development, retrofits, modifications, upgrades and obsolescence management.

This engine upgrade is just one of many steps that Bell Helicopter will be undertaking to accomplish this objective with respect to its legacy 206 fleet. “For many years the Bell 206 was the industry standard in the light helicopter class. It has a loyal following and continues to bring superior value to civil and paramilitary missions across the globe,” said Joe Hawke, President and Chief Executive Officer, Uniflight.

“We are pleased to team with Bell Helicopter and Rolls-Royce to develop a cost effective, performance-enhancing upgrade kit for the 206 community.” The RR500 engine provides 206 operators with higher performance capabilities and lower direct operating costs.

“At Rolls-Royce we are committed to investing in core technologies that can be used multiple times across a family of engines and create new market opportunities. Installing the RR500 turboshaft engine on the 206 is an important step forward for our business, offering operators more power and takeoff capabilities in hot-high conditions,” said Chris Fultz, Rolls-Royce Programme Director for the RR500.

The upgrade kit will be certified by Uniflight through the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) process. Formal agreements are currently under negotiation and further announcements will be forthcoming.

“Industry alliances, such as the one with Uniflight and Rolls-Royce, will play a large role in Bell Helicopter’s legacy support strategy,” said Maldonado. “We look forward to working with both Rolls-Royce and Uniflight as the STC approval process develops over the next 12 to 24 months.

”Uniflight is a long-time platinum-level Bell Helicopter authorized customer service facility based in North Texas, servicing Bell models 205, 206A, B and L series, 212, 222, 230, 407, 412, 430, UH-1H, UH-1H II and OH-58. More than four thousand 206-series helicopters have been produced since its inception in 1965. The last 206B JetRanger was delivered in December 2010. The Bell 206L LongRanger remains in production.

IMPERIAL Holdings endorses NAC announcements

Strategy Director, Tak Hiemstra shared the following:

“NAC’s delivery of the Robinson R66 is a clear indication of the company’s commitment to securing the finest new products in the industry for its customers. Added to this, Beechcraft’s decision to extend its Service Centre Agreement is an indication of the expertise, professionalism and knowledge provided by NAC. The company’s exceptional service levels are also endorsed with NAC’s appointment as exclusive Flight Options and Netjets resale representative in Africa. Its appointment as the sole African sales representative for the Quest Kodiak and Nextant Aerospace serves as ratification of the company’s high standing and capability within the aviation industry. As a 62 percent shareholder of the company, Imperial Holdings is fully supportive of NAC’s strategy and is exceptionally proud to be associated with this professional aviation company, which offers a range of the best new and used products in the industry. NAC’s outstanding reputation, capability and experience are clearly evident through its strong relationships and the key supply contracts it has secured across the industry.”

About IMPERIAL Holdings

IMPERIAL is a diversified industrial services and retail group with activities spanning logistics, car rental and tourism, distributorships, automotive retail and related financial services. IMPERIAL operates in South Africa, Africa, Europe and Australia. IMPERIAL is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and is run on a decentralised management structure that actively encourages entrepreneurship, innovation and best practice. The company employs around 34 500 people, who are responsible for the growth and continued success of the group that began as a motor dealership in downtown Johannesburg in 1948.

Key facts

• 419 million kilometres travelled by Southern African transport fleet last year

• 5 500 trucks in logistics fleet

• 500 barges in Germany, transporting 50 million tons per annum

• One in six vehicles sold in South Africa through IMPERIAL

• One in every three car rental transactions in South Africa through IMPERIAL

• Supplier of all team buses to 2010 FIFA World Cup and other major sporting events

• Imperial’s Tourism division recently won the exclusive hospitality programme agency in South Africa for 2014 FIFA World Cup BrazilTM and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

NAC develops local modification

Beginning in October last year, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) required Supplementary Type Certificates (STCs) for any major avionics installation into a pressurized aircraft.

Due to the unavailability of suitable HF STCs for Embraer-120s, NAC Avionics, together with the NAC Sheet Metal department and Aerostruct, undertook a project to develop a local modification that led to the approval of KHF-1050 installations into three Embraer 120s. The modification falls within the SACAA engineering and certification review and, if approved by this body, NAC Avionics will be issued with an STC which can then be re-used and made available to other operators that might require the use of this STC.

One major element of the design was to enable field installation of the system with minimal downtime of the aircraft.

This was accomplished by the design of an equipment tray that can be pre-manufactured as a module, together with equipment trays and wiring attached. Field installation is a simple matter of mounting the shelf, running the wiring loom to the flightdeck and mounting the antenna in a matter of only three days downtime.

The KHF-1050 is a solid-state, high frequency, long-distance voice and data communication system made by Honeywell. The system is composed of four units, which function as follows:

• KRX1053 receiver/exciter to receive and transmit low-level signals

• KPA1052 power amplifier to amplify the low-level signal from the KRX1053

• KAC1052 antenna coupler to match the various impedances of the antenna to the 50ohm output of the transmitter

• Last but not least, the PS440 CDU (Control Display Unit) mounted in the cockpit that allows the pilot to select the frequency and mode of operation of the system and displays that information to the pilot.