Smiling around the world in a PC-12

Smilingflyer, off to a great start on its fantastic round the world trip, will visit the following destinations: Crete, Egypt, Dubai/United Arab Emirates, Maldives, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, North Fork Island, Tonga, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, , Chile , Uruguay, Brazil , Fernando de Noronha Island, Cape Verde, Morocco and Spain.

Currently on route through Australia, the team had a narrow escape from Papua New Guinea having been accused of attempted kidnapping of a British Royal. A true adventure in the PC-12. www.smilingflyer.com

PC-21 moving closer to UAE deal

Embraer is believed to have been eliminated from the United Arab Emirates’ estimated 64-aircraft basic and advanced jet trainer competition, narrowing the field to designs produced by Alenia Aermacchi, Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin and Pilatus.

RFDS new facility to house PC-12 fleet

THE Royal Flying Doctor Service has unveiled its new $3 million operational base at Port Augusta's airport. The project, funded primarily by the service with support from the Federal and State governments, enables all of the health, aviation, communications, engineering and administrative functions to be housed at one location.

The facility also consists of three hangars, providing year-round protection for the service's Port Augusta-based fleet of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft valued at $20 million.

Planesense on the move

The company is finishing construction of an 84,000-square-foot facility at Portsmouth International, the air operations side of Pease Tradeport. Flight operations have already moved into the 44,000-square-foot hangar along with the offices for maintenance, inspection and quality control. The remainder of the 40,000 square feet of office space will be home to flight operations, management and corporate offices. The move will be completed over the next two months.

"We're keeping the facility in Londonderry," Antoniadis said, "because we're already outgrowing the new building at Pease." He indicated that they have expansion options at Pease that will be considered as the company continues to grow.

The new building features design for energy savings and efficient operations. The hangar has radiant floor heating, for example, and a door that opens upward rather than the traditional sliding door.

NYSE Chairman Carter Donates $1 Million Aircraft to JAARS Inc.

New York Stock Exchange Chairman Marshall N. Carter Donates Plane to North Carolina's JAARS Inc.
JAARS Inc. of Waxhaw N.C. announced today that Marshall N. Carter and his wife Missy donated their personal Pilatus PC-6 aircraft to JAARS for its humanitarian purposes. Mr. Carter is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Medical Center.

The Swiss aircraft received today by JAARS, a nonprofit organization devoted to serving minority language communities worldwide, is valued at $1.0 million.

JAARS President Jim Akovenko said, "We are very grateful for this timely gift from Mr. and Mrs. Carter. The aircraft is a perfect match for the very short runways that are common in the field of operations. This aircraft will complement the current fleet and will be pressed into service immediately upon arrival."

Dexter growing strong

Dexter is barely keeping pace with strong demand fuelled by the country's economic growth," they currently cite a 20% month-on-month growth in revenue sales and cabin loads averaging 75-80%. They believe it would be possible to develop faster had there been greater capacity available.

In the near future Dexter is scheduled to receive a second Pilatus PC-12 single-engined turboprop, and three more next year. Overall, Dexter has ordered 25 of the type and 45 Russian-built Myasichev M101T turbine singles, of which eight have already entered service.

Turbo Props gaining ground

With jet fuel prices in the $3-a-gallon range, the fuel efficiency of turboprops is boosting sales and the total number of shipments was up 14.5 percent in the first nine months of 2007 over 2006. A total of 293 general aviation turboprops were delivered in the period compared to 256 in the same time last year, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) third quarter report “…we expect shipments to continue on a strong, upward trend in the months ahead,” said GAMA President Pete Bunce.