“Business Aviation Day” at AirVenture took place on AeroShell Square with about eight business aircraft parked around the Airbus A380. This opportunity to highlighted several business aircraft operators and the important impact business aviation has on the economies of their communities and how they use these business tools to create jobs. The day culminated at on the square with a press conference.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt set the tone for the speakers who followed him to the podium. "I can't understate the value of General Aviation," he said. "The manufacturing is critical to the economy. So many high-tech jobs are associated with aviation."
Neal Verfuerth, President and CEO of Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc, WI, said his Pilatus PC-12 is his "secret weapon", which has allowed him to grow his business from $4 million to $80 million since it's founding in 1996.
Companies operating other business jets and turboprops echoed similar themes. Many of the executives spoke of their business airplanes as "Time Machines", which allow them to travel to remote operations and installations and back in the same day, while allowing the travel time to be productive, and not just as a perk of being a top executive.
The news conference, and Business Aviation Day, served to remind many that business aviation is not well understood by the public, nor many in public office. You can expect to hear a lot more from this segment of the industry, as they stress the importance of business aviation to the overall health of the economy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Phoenix Police Department Selects Pilatus PC-12 Spectre
Pilatus announced that the Phoenix Police Department has selected the PC-12 Spectre for use by the Department’s Air Support Unit over the City of Phoenix, Arizona.
Commander Dave Harvey, Commander of the Phoenix Police Department Tactical Support Bureau, said, “After careful consideration, the PC-12 Spectre was selected in part because it is an economical, single-engine, pressurized aircraft with sufficient cabin space to help accomplish a multi-mission role. It is a proven surveillance platform that will also
assist us in crime suppression, transport of Department Detectives for investigative purposes, and assist with out-of-state extraditions.”
Leonard Luke, Vice President of Homeland Security and Government Business at Pilatus added, “It is a real honor for Pilatus to contribute to the protection and service to the City of Phoenix. The PC-12 Spectre is a force multiplier and will be a powerful tool for the Phoenix Police Department’s high demand operations. The aircraft’s proven durability is backed by the best product support in the industry, which means it will be consistently ready to dispatch on a wide variety of missions.”
The PC-12 Spectre is scheduled to be delivered to the Phoenix Police Department in September and their goal is to have the aircraft operational in 2010. The aircraft will join their fleet of eight helicopters and replace several smaller fixed-wing aircraft that had been operated for decades. The Phoenix Police Air Support Unit provides service to 1.57 million Phoenix residents encompassing an area of more than 500 square miles.
The PC-12 Spectre provides a true multi-mission surveillance aircraft available to meet today’s operational realities and tightening budgets. Featuring a retractable surveillance platform, Primus Apex avionics suite, and a pressurized reconfigurable cabin, the PC-12 Spectre has set a new standard for multi-mission aircraft capability. Strong performance, fuel efficiency, and a rugged airframe suitable for military missions make it the ideal special mission platform for today’s government and law enforcement agencies.
Commander Dave Harvey, Commander of the Phoenix Police Department Tactical Support Bureau, said, “After careful consideration, the PC-12 Spectre was selected in part because it is an economical, single-engine, pressurized aircraft with sufficient cabin space to help accomplish a multi-mission role. It is a proven surveillance platform that will also
assist us in crime suppression, transport of Department Detectives for investigative purposes, and assist with out-of-state extraditions.”
Leonard Luke, Vice President of Homeland Security and Government Business at Pilatus added, “It is a real honor for Pilatus to contribute to the protection and service to the City of Phoenix. The PC-12 Spectre is a force multiplier and will be a powerful tool for the Phoenix Police Department’s high demand operations. The aircraft’s proven durability is backed by the best product support in the industry, which means it will be consistently ready to dispatch on a wide variety of missions.”
The PC-12 Spectre is scheduled to be delivered to the Phoenix Police Department in September and their goal is to have the aircraft operational in 2010. The aircraft will join their fleet of eight helicopters and replace several smaller fixed-wing aircraft that had been operated for decades. The Phoenix Police Air Support Unit provides service to 1.57 million Phoenix residents encompassing an area of more than 500 square miles.
The PC-12 Spectre provides a true multi-mission surveillance aircraft available to meet today’s operational realities and tightening budgets. Featuring a retractable surveillance platform, Primus Apex avionics suite, and a pressurized reconfigurable cabin, the PC-12 Spectre has set a new standard for multi-mission aircraft capability. Strong performance, fuel efficiency, and a rugged airframe suitable for military missions make it the ideal special mission platform for today’s government and law enforcement agencies.
Western Opens New Interior Shop
Western Aircraft, located on Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, has added a 10,000-sq-ft interior shop that focuses on major interior refurbishments for large business jets and turboprops. “We do interior design and sales for everything from cabinetry to soft goods,” said Ken Hawk, vice president of FBO services. The company is an authorized service center, certified aircraft repair station and distributor of parts and avionics for Dassault Falcon, Pilatus, Hawker Beechcraft, Honeywell and Collins.
PC-12s at Wilson Air
Wilson Air Center’s Memphis, Tenn. FBO hosted the 13th annual Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association meeting in June, AIN reports. There were 35 PC-12s that made the trip to Memphis for classes on PT6 engine operation and avionics, a one-day PC-12 ground school, product demonstrations and exhibits. “This is a special time to exchange technical and operational requirements while visiting with owners, friends and pilots of the great PC-12,” said Wilson Air Center president, founder and PC-12 pilot and owner Bob Wilson.
Porter Arrives in Nepali Skies
Fifty years after the first Pilatus Porter made the long journey from Switzerland to Nepal, the rugged single-engine aircraft is staging a comeback in the Himalaya. By a happy coincidence, that first aircraft was nicknamed ‘Yeti’, and it is Yeti Airlines that has just taken delivery of two brand new latest model Pilatus Porters to re-open roadless areas of the country. “The Pilatus Porter has a proven record of performance for flying to remote areas of Nepal, it has shown it can do the job anytime and almost anywhere,” says Yeti’s Ang Tshiring Sherpa, “it fits nicely between a helicopter and a Twin Otter and we want to use it to open up the far west.” Yeti Airlines, which flies to more destinations than any other airline in Nepal, bought the two Pilatus Porter PC-6s to extend its reach to airfields which can’t take Twin Otters.
In the past 50 years, Pilatus Porters have been flown by the United Nations, the Swiss development agency and Royal Nepal Airlines. In those years, PC-6 have done just about everything: they have dropped live goats by parachute for mountaineering expeditions, carried text books and vaccines to remote villages in western Nepal, ferried grain to Humla during the 1982 food crisis, flown orange saplings for orchards in Jumla and taken international celebrities for new year parties at Syangboche.
In the past 50 years, Pilatus Porters have been flown by the United Nations, the Swiss development agency and Royal Nepal Airlines. In those years, PC-6 have done just about everything: they have dropped live goats by parachute for mountaineering expeditions, carried text books and vaccines to remote villages in western Nepal, ferried grain to Humla during the 1982 food crisis, flown orange saplings for orchards in Jumla and taken international celebrities for new year parties at Syangboche.
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