Want to get a feel of what it’s like to pilot a snazzy Citation Mustang business jet? Know someone who would?
FlightSafety International’s Cessna Learning Center is offering a holiday package that includes a brief overview of the Cessna Citation Mustang light jet followed by a one-hour session in a full-motion Mustang flight simulator. You’re at the controls, guided by an instructor. No pilot’s license required.
In a session a few weeks ago, we simulated taking off and landing at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. You really feel like you’re doing the flying. Vegas anyone?
The holiday package costs $400. Times are available from December 29th to January 2. For information, call Catherine Kreitler at 316-220-3100.
By Randy Groom, founder Groom Aviation
All “Corporate Jets” are not the same
By now, most everyone is aware that the government hastily included a prohibition against corporate jets in their proposed bailout of the auto industry. Unfortunately, the term “corporate jet” has come to stand for irresponsible extravagance in the eyes of many Americans, most notably our lawmakers. This rather dim view of an industry critical to Wichita gives us all more concern on top of all of the other uncertainties we are dealing with.
While I am certainly not here to defend the business practices of the “Big Three,” this sort of broad brush prohibition is a frightening intervention of government telling business how to operate. It’s really pretty simple. All successful businesses must have the freedom to choose the most efficient practices in the conduct of their enterprises. I can assure you that having the CEO’s of these mammoth corporations drive to Washington was not the most efficient use of their time, particularly in this time of crisis.
I would be quick to say that given the perilous state of these companies, flying the absolutely largest corporate aircraft with their respective high operating costs is not the most efficient either. At these times, these leaders should consider flying in much less expensive small corporate jets like the Cessna Citation CJ-2’s or Beech Premier or even the venerable Beech King Air turboprops. All of these aircraft would provide fast, safe, and secure transportation at a fraction of the cost of their current flight departments. But the bottom line is to be responsive to the needs of this crisis and the long term best interest of their stockholders these leaders need access to the efficiency and productivity provided by General Aviation. To deny them that operating freedom is the economic equivalent of telling them to go back to using typewriters.
Randy Groom
The state of New Mexico is having some buyer’s remorse.
After buying A500 aircraft from Adam Aircraft, the manufacturer filed for bankruptcy and stopped production.
Now, there’s no warranty on their planes and no factory to supply spare parts. In January, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety took delivery on the last of five A500 planes that went to buyers, according to an Associated Press report. The state, luckily, has a technician who knows how to service them.
Public Safety Secretary John Denko said the agency wasn’t aware of the company’s tenuous financial situation when the state bought the airplanes, according to the report.
You may have read that The Eagle is having a holiday open house Tuesday, Dec. 16. It will run from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. I sure hope you stop by, bring your family and friends, have some cookies, see Santa and hear some caroling. I’d love to see old friends and make new ones. (I was just thinking how Santa is the ultimate pilot! )
Please plan to attend.
Tailwinds,
Molly
If you’re flying over the holidays, be sure to pack your patience and a good book. Planes will be full or nearly so.
That leaves few options should you miss a connection or be delayed in any way. The next flight will likely be just as full.
The number of flights operating are down this month, however, and that should mean better overall performance, according to FlightStats. During the first week of December, there were 6 percent few U.S. flights than in the same period last year and 10 percent in 2006.
Fewer flights also mean that the planes will be full.
Travelers should hope Santa brings good weather. If the weather is mild, things should go pretty smoothly. But if severe weather hits key hubs like Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth or Atlanta, the entire system will be challenged.
Embraer will begin delivering its new Phenom 100 very light jets next week after receiving U.S. certification of the aircraft. The plane was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“U.S. certification validates the jet’s design and its suitability for one of the most important business jet markets,” Embraer executive vice president of its business jet division said in a statement.
Brazil’s Embraer is seen as the biggest threat to Wichita business jetmakers as it continues to build its business jet sector.
First pilot certificate issued
It’s been 81 years since the U.S. issued the first civilian pilot’s license. The license was issued April 6, 1927, a month before Lindbergh’s historic transatlantic flight. The license was issued to William MacCracken and signed by Herbert Hoover, who was Secretary of Commerce at the time. MacCracken was a former Army pilot and a supporter of federal aviation legislation. He was an advocate for the Air Commerce Act to encourage aviation in American. By 1927, MacCracken was the assistant secretary of commerce for aeronautics. He later would sign pilot’s licenses himself.
The license will be auctioned Monday, Dec. 15 during a rare book and manuscript auction at the New York galleries of Bonhams.
Brazilian business jet manufacturer Embraer has received certfication for its $3.6 million Phenom 100 very light jet. The company received certification from Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Authority.
Embraer is a key competitor to Wichita business jet manufacturers.
Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration is expected soon, the company said.
Laid-off and needing a lift over the holidays? The Kansas Aviation Museum is trying to lift the spirits of the area’s laid-off workers. Laid-off workers and their immediate family members will be allowed admittance to the museum at no cost. “There is no expiration on this offer,” the museum said.
For more information, call 683-9242.
Continental Airlines will demonstrate the first biofuel-powered flight of a U.S. airliner in Houston January 7.
The flight, operated with no passengers, will be powered by a special fuel blending that includes components derived from algae and jatropha plants. The plants are sustainable, second-generation fuel sources that don’t impact fuel crops or water resources or contribute to deforestation, the airline says in a news release.
Continental is partnering with Boeing, CFM International, Snecma and Sapphire Energy and Terrasol.
The demo flight will be the first commercial airline flight using algae as a fuel source and the first using a two-engine aircraft, the Boeing 737-800.
