Enhanced Flight Vision System Operations (EFVS Ops) is one of those NextGen elements that functions just below the radar. Because it is considered elective and more the purview of the business jet community it is not in the limelight of the regular Washington airports and air traffic focus on ADS-B, PBN and Data Comm where endless streams of funding finds eager experts justifying  business cases and promoting various benefits primarily to airlines. Meanwhile the rest of aviation sit and waits for rule making and mandates such as ADS B Out by 2020.

Speaking of rule making on June 11, 2013 the FAA announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for a comment period ending in September that essentially will allow zero visibility operations without the need for natural vision, an ability to land at zero runway visual range without the need for Category III aircraft, crew and runway certification! This profound leap of enablement is all the more incredible when you realize the FAA intend...

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RALEIGH, NC, July 23, 2013 – Jetcraft Corporation and its subsidiary Jetcraft Avionics LLC, today announced that their HUD Vision Access™ system is now available for sale and installation on the Bombardier Challenger 604 (CL604).

Last month, Kollsman announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had awarded a “lower landing credit” approved supplemental type certificate (STC) for the Kollsman enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) for the CL604. As a major Kollsman EFVS distributor to the business aviation aftermarket, Jetcraft has commercialized this offering and branded it as HUD Vision Access.

Fully integrated with existing avionics, HUD Vision Access makes the CL604 a more flexible and valuable aircraft by allowing pilots to safely taxi, take-off and land in total darkness, fog, rain, snow, smog and other reduced visibility conditions. Under FAR 91.175, HUD Vision Access permits pilots to descend below decision height (DH/DA) at most airports, reducing the need f...

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World Aircraft Sales, June 2013

by Ken Elliott

Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) represent one of those revolutionary technologies that transform cockpit management. It’s a technology with multiple applications for potentially minimal cost, streamlining aircraft operations while reducing both aircraft weight and environmental impact.

One major US Airline estimates that it will save 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year and 16 million sheets of paper by replacing traditional paper-based flight bags with iPads across its fleet.

Unfortunately, as with many emerging and rapidly evolving aircraft technologies, authorization for use is a certification puzzle.

The operator is not simply approving an installation but also flight bag operations for that specific flight department. New aircraft owners may be spared that effort as production aircraft are delivered with single or dual flight bags standard, or as an option – in which case the aircraft OEM has typic...

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Both environmental conditions and weather are intertwined and together they can significantly impact avionic equipment selection and performance. The following paragraphs will address that shared relationship and the influence it has on aircraft operations and maintenance.

Understanding weather is not just knowing how to avoid storms or turbulence. You must understand the different types of environment and weather – the impact and equipment to detect and protect against these are listed for each event.

The environment and weather can impact all phases of flight and later ground storage of an aircraft, including layovers during trips. Its effect can be immediate, slow to act or simply hidden, like corrosion or the intermittent failure of avionics components sensitive to extreme heat and cold.

Many people don’t realize that electronics are thin adjacent layers of different natural or man-made materials that are highly sensitive to heat, cold, static and moisture. The more we minia...

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World Aircraft Sales, May 2013

by Sanjay Rampal

Interviews with key aviation companies help us understand the challenges facing Business Aviation in emerging markets. Here, David Dixon, Jetcraft Asia President and Mike Cappuccitti, Jetcraft Middle East Sales Director offer their views about the current state of their markets.

As a diversified player in an increasingly competitive global market, Jetcraft has never strayed from its core Business Aviation interests. Alluding to the company’s successful business model, Jetcraft Asia president and over 40-year aerospace veteran David Dixon explained “Our key approach is to get closer to the market with people in the field who understand the local requirements. This is why we have offices in Switzerland, Moscow, the Middle East, Hong Kong and soon a presence in Africa and Latin America.”

AN INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT

Buoyed by the prospects of international growth, Dixon believes that Asia is a hotspot ...

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JET Asia-Pacific, Spring 2013 - Industry Insider

Interview by Anthony Lam

Could you briefly introduce Jetcraft’s history and your role in the company?

Jetcraft was founded 51 years ago by my partner, Bucky Oliver. He’s based in Raleigh, North Carolina. At that time he was a pilot, and he was passionate about aviation. He was from a big family in property development, and his friends who wanted to buy aircraft would ask him for advice on what to buy, so that led to him starting Jetcraft as an aviation brokerage firm. Then he set up a maintenance center, and even became the Cessna distributor in North Carolina at one time.

When I joined Jetcraft in June 2008, I had been the head of marketing at Bombardier before that. I got to know Jetcraft from my days at Bombardier as we were selling them aircraft. When I left, Bucky approached me and asked me to run his company. I said I didn’t want to run it, but I would be interested in buying it. S...

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Some cabin considerations for operators

April 2013; World Aircraft Sales Magazine – Anyone who has traveled in a business jet knows cabin layout and design are almost as critical for operations as the cockpit and aircraft performance. When evaluating an aircraft for purchase or for lease, a lack of capability or an unsuitable configuration within the passenger compartment can quickly knock a specific model or serial number off the short list.

Aircraft manufacturers go to great lengths to provide up-to-date cabins. However they can quickly fall behind the trends of style and the ability to stay connected in a way that today’s passengers expect. Many service bulletins and software upgrades have circulated the world of OEM’s and MRO’s in order to try and stay abreast of change.

While not exhaustive, the decision map above highlights the diversity of interrelated factors in cabin options. Management pertains to cabin features that are co...

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April 2013; Xclusive – When it comes to symbols of status, luxury cars, yachts and houses no longer cut the mustard. Now, the ultimate signature of wealth and status is owning a private jet. In the famous words of Oprah Winfrey, the highest paid woman in television, “It’s great to have a private jet. Anyone that tells you that having your own private jet isn’t great is lying to you.” Indeed. However, purchasing a jet, which can range between $1 million to $600 million, is not an easy business, so it is important to develop a partnership with a broker, one who has integrity, experience in dealing with the complexities of aircraft transactions, and the financial capability to handle virtually any deal. This is where Jetcraft comes in. In business for over 50 years, Jetcraft now has a global presence. It’s this presence that gives their clients a birds-eye view of the market, based on the carefully cultivated contact network that they have estab...

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Jetcraft anticipates the growth of the pre-owned market in Asia

April 2013; Executive & VIP Aviation International - Jetcraft has been in the new and pre-owned jet brokering business for some 50 years. Having built up a solid base in the US, with customers in Europe and Latin America and now with business starting to come in from Asia, Jetcraft CEO Chad Anderson is laying plans to capitalise on the inevitable appearance of a pre-owned market in Asia. “Few would dispute that Asia is one of the hottest markets for sales of new long-range/large cabin business aircraft. Our sales figures for 2011 and 2012 more than bear this out. We’ve been selling new and pre-owned into Asia for some time now and while the vast majority of orders are for new jets, about 10% to 20% of what we sell is good pre-owned,” he says.

The major reason driving the pre-owned market at present in Indonesia and Asia generally is not that high net worth individuals have ...

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