Joby on Thursday introduced its Elevate Operating Software (ElevateOS), a suite of platforms designed to help the company support on-demand air taxi operations the same way Uber and Lyft manage ground-based rideshare services. According to the company, ElevateOS is approved for company use under the FAA Part 135 permissions it was awarded in May 2022.

The firm says the system represents a key piece of what it has termed its “preflight checklist”— a set of objectives it aims to complete before launching a commercial U.S. service in 2025 with partner and investor Delta Air Lines. Company executives talked at length about the blueprint during a presentation Thursday afternoon.

ElevateOS comprises three main applications—a core operations system that manages landing pad access, maintenance scheduling, and more, pilot app, and mobile-first rider app. A fourth component, which Joby describes as “an intelligent matching engine,” connects passengers to aircraft and takeoff and landing sites, akin to existing ride-hailing services.

Within the pilot app are tools that enable pre and postflight checks, ensure pilots are getting enough rest, and provide information on aircraft weight and balance through an integration with the rider app. The latter platform is intended to function much like the Uber app for riders, with which ElevateOS will actually have an integration at launch. Joby riders will be able to book on the Uber platform and vice versa.

“The air taxi service we plan to deliver isn’t like any sort of air travel that’s existed before,” said Eric Allison, the former head of Uber air taxi arm Elevate who now serves as chief product officer for Joby. The manufacturer acquired Uber Elevate in 2021. Allison also previously served as CEO of Zee.Aero—which would eventually become Boeing’s air taxi arm, Wisk Aero—for eight years.

“We expect travelers to book on-demand and to be boarding an aircraft just minutes later, much like the experience of using ground-based ridesharing today,” Allison added. “That required us to totally rethink the software and the operations of these aircraft.”

Elevate, which ran the short-lived Uber Copter service, failed, Allison said, because the software platform required for such a service did not yet exist. He and others who migrated to Joby developed ElevateOS from the ground up with the goal of bringing an on-demand service to the aerial realm, where scheduled flights are king.

According to Allison, the four key components of ElevateOS work in concert, communicating between one another to ensure operators, pilots, and other team members are on the same page. Each portion was built on the same platform in the same language, a strategy he compared to Amazon’s launch of Prime delivery services.

Leveraging the FAA Part 135 permissions it was awarded in May 2022, Joby already has put ElevateOS through two years of real-world testing.

Using a Cirrus SR22, which like its flagship air taxi is designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers, the company has been running an internal shuttle service for its team members through an early version of the rider app. Employees select a desired time, origin, and destination and are autonomously matched with other riders.

The app already handles payments for whole-aircraft flights, which has allowed Joby to offer charter services to some external customers as well. Additionally, the firm says it has integrated both the pilot and rider app with its backend software. By October of last year, all three main components were working in tandem and simulating real-world operations.

Now, Joby has the FAA’s sign-off to deploy these tools for commercial service when the time comes. The firm intends to use ElevateOS in its own operations, but it will also offer it to certain customers who purchase aircraft as part of a wider service package.

The Preflight Checklist

Joby on Thursday updated investors on its progress toward a commercial launch in a presentation that revealed the company’s completed and pending objectives. The so-called preflight checklist covers the company’s service, safety procedures, pilots, operating systems, and maintenance.

Much of the company’s certification work with the FAA will transfer to those international markets, Joby president of operations Bonny Simi said, through bilateral agreements with other regulators. The firm intends to offer pilot training, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO), safety systems, and other services wherever it flies, bundling some of these into an offering for customers as well.

Having earlier this year received the first set of FAA final airworthiness criteria for an eVTOL design and acquired autonomous flight developer Xwing, Joby is making steady progress on the development of its aircraft itself. The next step will be adding it to the company’s Part 135 certificate, a process Simi said has already begun.

Understanding that it cannot simply drop its air taxi into the existing airspace system and expect success, Joby is now in the process of building a new ecosystem for its flagship design.

ElevateOS checks several boxes. But the biggest area of need, according to the preflight checklist, is pilots. Currently, no FAA-certified eVTOL, or powered-lift, pilots exist. The agency is in the process of developing training and certification requirements for these pilots, which Joby is using to design an internal training course.

The company aims to develop an FAA-approved program comprising Part 141 pilot school certification, Part 142 training organization approval, and Level 3 full flight simulators qualified under Part 60.

It says it has already developed an aircraft-specific course to train qualified commercial pilots to fly its air taxi. The program was borne out of a partnership with Canadian flight simulator developer CAE, which in 2022 agreed to build immersive eVTOL training simulators for Joby. 

These full-motion, six-axis simulators, capable of mimicking the eVTOL flight envelope, will be used in training, a requirement for companies building a single-pilot air taxi. Joby says it has already begun the multiyear development and approval process, performing hundreds of tests, comparing simulator and aircraft data, and working closely with the FAA. It believes it is on track to certify the device before its U.S. launch. A modified version of the simulator will be used to train pilots in the United Arab Emirates.

According to Joby, 10 Air Force pilots have now flown the aircraft through a full transition from hover to forward flight. It expects to be able to train a commercial airline pilot to fly the air taxi in about six weeks. In the early years of operations, the aircraft will likely be staffed by pilots with experience flying for airlines or the military, and who would prefer to live and work in the same region.

Already, the company has begun private pilot training and ground school to help new pilots to obtain an initial rating, which could then be used to add powered-lift permissions. It says it is on the way to certifying a Part 141 training academy. Additionally, should Joby secure Part 142 approval, it could sell training as a service to customers.

On the maintenance side, Joby is using its recently acquired FAA Part 145 certificate to design a comprehensive MRO network for itself and its customers. In designing its aircraft with systems such as direct drive motors, the company’s goal is to reduce maintenance costs and increase aircraft availability compared to helicopters. It intends to use predictive maintenance planning, tracking the wear and tear of components to preempt any issues that would sideline the aircraft.

The company is in the process of establishing MRO services in Dubai and has already completed some MRO work in advance of operations. The goal is to one day add that capability to its entire fleet to keep operations around the globe humming. A $1 million FAA grant, intended to help Joby design one of the first training programs for eVTOL mechanics, will aid those efforts.

Another dimension Joby is concerned with is safety, which Allison called “the North Star of everything we do.”

In January, the FAA announced that a Part 5-approved Safety Management System (SMS), previously a voluntary measure, would be required for all Part 135 air operators. Simi described the SMS as an organization-wide approach to managing risk. Joby in 2023 became the first eVTOL company to get an SMS approved by the FAA and is in the process of implementing it across all operations, from manufacturing to training to MRO. It is also working to incorporate an SMS for original equipment manufacturers, another new requirement.

Joby expects to achieve type certification in the coming months prior to a planned launch in New York and Los Angeles with partners Delta and Uber, which according to Simi is the first phase of the company’s commercial rollout. Following that, it will ramp up to missions with the U.S. Department of Defense and expand to overseas markets such as the UAE, where it has a six-year agreement to operate an air taxi service in Dubai. It also plans to sell aircraft to Mukamalah, the aviation arm of Saudi Aramco.

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Archer on Wednesday announced its subsidiary, Archer Air, received an FAA Part 135 air carrier and operator certificate, authorizing it to operate as a commercial airline as Midnight advances toward type certification. The manufacturer anticipates it will achieve that milestone next year. In the meantime, it plans on using its Part 135 approval to fly conventional aircraft “to refine its systems and procedures in advance of launching Midnight into service for airlines like United Airlines,” which in 2021 agreed to purchase $1 billion worth of Archer aircraft.

“Over my career, I’ve helped lead the buildout of JetBlue and Breeze Airways, and now that Archer has its Part 135 and 145 certificates from the FAA, I’m thrilled for our incredible team to commence operations on this innovative new air taxi service soon,” said Tom Anderson, chief operating officer of Archer Air.

The Part 135 certification process comprised five stages, Archer said. The manufacturer was required to submit operational manuals and procedures to the FAA, and company pilots demonstrated compliance with those materials under agency observation.

“This milestone reflects our team’s unwavering dedication to safety and operational excellence as we stand up one of the world’s first electric air taxi services for communities across the U.S. with a safe, sustainable and low noise transportation solution,” said Adam Goldstein, founder and CEO of Archer.

Archer’s flagship Midnight is a zero-emission model designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers on 20 to 50 sm (17 to 43 nm) air taxi routes, cruising at up to 150 mph (130 knots). The air taxi is intended to be cost competitive with ground-based rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft, replacing lengthy commutes with 10-to-20-minute flights, while producing significantly less noise than a helicopter.

Archer is one of just two eVTOL air taxi manufacturers to receive Part 135 permissions from the FAA, the other being competitor Joby Aviation. Joby, which unlike Archer intends to operate its own aircraft in the U.S., obtained its authorization in 2022.

Archer will have a hand to play in United’s operation of Midnight, though.

The company is developing a proprietary operations software platform, mobile booking platform, and technology that will integrate with vertiports, all of which will be essential to a commercial service. Now, it can begin to refine those platforms using conventional aircraft.

With Wednesday’s announcement, Archer now holds Part 135 and Part 145 certification, the latter of which authorizes it to perform select maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. But Midnight won’t be able to fly commercially until it achieves type certification, which would validate the aircraft’s design, and production certification, which will allow Archer to begin producing the type-certified model.

The manufacturer has already begun building three type-conforming Midnight air taxis to be used in crewed flight testing later this year. For-credit evaluations with the FAA will follow and represent one of the most critical steps in the type certification process.

The agency in May awarded Archer final airworthiness criteria for Midnight, which laid out the standards it will use to gauge the aircraft’s ability to integrate safely into the national airspace. Competitor Joby is the only other eVTOL manufacturer to reach that step with the regulator, obtaining its own criteria one month prior.

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The post Archer Obtains FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certification appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1975 Cessna 414 Chancellor.

Cessna’s 414 Chancellor was the last of the company’s pressurized 400-series twins and was meant to bridge the price gap between its nonpressurized models and the flagship 421 Golden Eagle. Many 414s were pressed into Part 135 service with small charter and air taxi operators, but the model was also popular with owner pilots as a personal aircraft for business and leisure travel. Pilots who have flown the 414 regularly generally sing its praises because of its combination of performance, comfort, and economy.

Flying in the roomy, cabin-class 414 is a pleasure in part because there is plenty of space to move around and find a comfortable seating position. The pressurized cabin is quiet enough to hold conversations without headsets, and there is a lot of storage space inside for provisions and personal items needed during the flight.The Chancellor also performs well on fairly short strips, giving pilots an extra measure of flexibility when choosing destinations. The thought of long cross-country family trips in a 414, flying high above the Rocky Mountains and other potentially threatening terrain, is inspiring. 

This 1975 414 has 7,140 hours on the airframe, 1,120 hours since overhaul on each of its 335 hp RAM Vi-modified Continental TSIO-520 engines, and 35 hours since overhaul on the propellers. The aircraft received a new interior and paint in 1994 and is equipped with air conditioning and vortex generators.

The panel features King KMA 24 audio panel and KX 155 Nav/Com, Garmin 430W GPS/Com, Garmin 200 MFD, 330ES transponder, and Collins AP107 autopilot with Flight Director.

Pilots who need more power, speed, and load-carrying capacity than a typical entry-level light twin should consider this turbocharged, pressurized 1975 Cessna 414, which is available for $100,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

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The post This 1975 Cessna 414 Chancellor Is a High-Flying, Cabin-Class ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Boston-based Merlin Labs—the maker of a platform-agnostic, takeoff-to-touchdown autonomy system for fixed-wing aircraft—on Wednesday announced it obtained Part 135 certification from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand for future air freight operations in the country. The regulator’s Part 135 covers air operations for helicopters and small airplanes.

Certification of the Merlin’s flagship Merlin Pilot system follows U.S. military airworthiness approvals for fellow automated flight systems providers Xwing and Reliable Robotics, handed out by the U.S. Air Force.

“Achieving an organizational Part 135 certification gives us the opportunity to work with a forward-thinking regulator as well as leverage New Zealand as a sandbox for our current and future products,” said Matt George, founder and CEO of Merlin. “This milestone enables us to continue progressing our technical maturity, ultimately validating the safety and operational effectiveness of the Merlin Pilot for [CAA] Part 23 certification and beyond.”

Merlin’s Part 135 certificate will allow it to perform critical data collection flights on certain regional freight routes following CAA product certification of Merlin Pilot. The company achieved a state of involvement (SOI) 1 milestone for the system in May, putting it on “a viable path to certification and commercial operation,” it said.

According to Merlin, data collected on those freight routes will be essential for “future development decisions that will be implemented globally.” The findings will also support Merlin Pilot certification with both the CAA and FAA, it said.

The company’s Part 135 certification will further allow it to leverage its dedicated test facility in Kerikeri, New Zealand, opened in May, for current and future products once they’re certified.

Merlin said it has made notable progress on its organizational and product certification since its Project Specific Certification Plan (PSCP) was approved by the CAA—in partnership with the FAA—in 2021. At the time, it claimed to be the first company to reach an agreement with a regulator on an approach to certification for autonomous aircraft tech.

Since then, Merlin was contracted by the FAA to perform what it said was the first air cargo network trials flown by a non-human pilot, which it completed successfully in Alaska in July.

The company also has a relationship with the U.S. Air Force. Last week, the two agreed to conduct in-flight demonstrations of Merlin Pilot aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker, which is used by the military for aerial refueling. Those trials will begin next year. The exercise is a follow-up to a 2022 Air Force contract to test the system on a single-pilot Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules, which is normally commanded by two pilots.

Through innovation arm AFWERX, the Air Force is also collaborating with autonomous flight systems providers Xwing and Reliable Robotics. Both firms were approved to fly in unrestricted airspace in the past 30 days as the military and FAA begin to ramp up their pursuit of autonomy.

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A bilateral agreement between the two firms announced Thursday seeks to bring Electra’s eSTOL to market by leveraging Surf Air’s on-demand air mobility platform and Aircraft-as-a-Service (ACaaS) leasing program for operators. Surf Air also secured preferred delivery positions for 90 Electra aircraft.

The manufacturer’s eSTOL design uses a distinctive blown-lift propulsion system. According to Electra, this allows the aircraft to take off at “neighborhood driving speeds,” reducing its runway requirement to just 150 feet.

The unique ability will open direct air travel beyond large airports to include small regional airfields and even advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure such as vertiports, the company said. The goal is to serve more regional transportation customers than private aviation does currently.

The eSTOL further stands out for its ability to recharge during flight, using a small turbogenerator running on hybrid-electric power to juice up its batteries. The use of hybrid-electric fuel also reduces emissions (by 30 percent) and noise (75 dBA at 300 feet, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner) below those of traditional airplane or rotorcraft, while improving range and payload, Electra said.

“Electra stands out as one of the early market leaders in regional air mobility [RAM], and we’re excited to bring them onto our platform,” said Stan Little, CEO of Surf Air. “Their innovations around hybrid-electric, short takeoff and landing aircraft—which can essentially take off and land on a football field-sized space—will unlock tremendous opportunities within the changing landscape of regional air mobility.”

Electra’s nine-seat design is the third green vehicle planned for Surf Air’s platform. It will join the company’s electrified Cessna 208B Grand Caravan—retrofit with its proprietary powertrain system—and Regent Craft’s electric seaglider.

Surf Air hopes to introduce “affordable, sustainable, and easily accessible” trips across its national flight network, which includes Southern Airways Express and Mokulele Airlines. Together with Electra, it will explore fleetwide data analytics services, create routes for the eSTOL within its network, provide real-time aircraft information, and develop predictive analytics systems. That last component, Electra said, is expected to reduce operating costs and streamline operations.

“As the country’s largest commuter airline, Surf Air is at the forefront of addressing the growing demand for cleaner, more affordable, and convenient travel options,” said John Langford, founder and CEO of Electra. “Electra is pleased to partner with Surf Air in spearheading the decarbonization of regional business aviation through the integration of our eSTOL aircraft into their fleet.”

Electra and Surf Air will further develop a leasing agreement, which would make the latter the preferred lessor and provider of Electra eSTOL aircraft to Surf Air customers. 

Surf Air already has a leasing program in place called Aircraft-as-a-Service, or ACaaS. But according to the company, regional Part 135 operators lack the access to aircraft funding options and software services that large commercial air carriers enjoy. ACaaS attempts to solve this problem by providing financing and software tools, lowering barriers to entry for smaller operators. 

Through ACaaS, smaller providers will soon get the opportunity to expand their regional transport networks with eSTOL aircraft.

“With billions of dollars being invested into the regional and advanced air mobility space, it’s becoming increasingly important for a solution that can on-ramp new technologies and get them into the hands of operators as quickly and safely as possible,” said Jamie Strecker, vice president of business development for Surf Air. “Through our air mobility platform and our ACaaS program, we believe we can accelerate Electra’s eSTOL aircraft time to market.”

Simultaneously, Surf Air continues to develop electrified powertrain technology for the Cessna Grand Caravan through an exclusive relationship with Textron Aviation. It has agreed to purchase as many as 170 Cessna models from the manufacturer.

The company intends to use its on-demand platform to bring the electrified Caravan to market on a global scale. It said the introduction of the hybrid-electric model will demonstrate what its technology could do for other manufacturers.

Surf Air also sells its proprietary electric powertrains to operators. Its most recent electrification deal came from Kenyan operators Safarilink and Yellow Wings last month.

Electra, meanwhile, last month surpassed 2,000 preorder sales for its flagship model following a massive deal with regional air carrier JSX, as well as a few smaller agreements. In November, the company completed what it said was the  “world’s first” flight of a hybrid eSTOL design, using its EL-2 Goldfinch demonstrator. The jaunt lasted 23 minutes, reached 3,200 feet in altitude, and covered approximately 30 miles.

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The post Electra.aero and Surf Air Mobility Will Operate and Lease Hybrid-Electric Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Business jet traffic rose by 9 percent from the last week of 2023 to the first week of 2024, however, the recent results were 3 percent lower than in the same period a year ago. Turboprop traffic in the first week was slightly lower than a year earlier—about 0.1 percent. Combined Part 135 and Part 91 operations were 2 percent lower than a year ago. Meanwhile, scheduled airline traffic rose 12 percent from the first week of 2023, while cargo traffic decreased by 9 percent.

• READ MORE: WingX Reports Bizjet Activity Continues To Decline

“Global business aviation activity has started the new year slightly behind comparable 2023, which itself was a rebound on locked-down January 2022. The U.S. leisure market appears to be relatively weaker during the recent holiday period,” said Richard Koe, managing director at WingX. “In Europe, the U.K. and France markets were well back on last year, but this was offset overall by strong activity in Turkey and Spain.”

In North America, business jet traffic rose by 7 percent compared with the final week of 2023 but declined by 5 percent year on year. Over the last four weeks, business jet activity is trending 3 percent lower than a year ago. Among the jet categories, super midsize and ultralong-range jets began the year 2 percent ahead year on year while super light and very light jets declined more than 10 percent, WingX said.

Looking at the U.S. business jet market reveals a clear spike in demand on January 2 due to travelers returning from holiday destinations. Traffic at the top airports reflected this notable increase with second-ranked Palm Beach (KPBI) in Florida handling just seven fewer flights than top-ranked Teterboro (KTEB) in Jersey. Miami-Opa Locka (KOPF) and Naples (KPAF) in Florida, and Van Nuys (KVNY) in California round out the top five U.S. business jet airports.

WingX said Florida is “easily the busiest U.S. bizjet state so far this month,” and New York is the top destination for those flying from Florida airports. The Embraer Phenom 300 logged the most flights out of Florida airports, while the Challenger 300 and 350 series flew the most hours.

In Europe, business jet activity increased 3 percent year on year. France surpassed 1,000 business jet flights in the first week of 2024, making it the top market, though activity was 3 percent below last year. The second-ranked U.K.’s activity fell 6 percent year on year, while business jet activity in Spain rose 26 percent.

In Asia, business jet activity declined 2 percent from a year ago, while activity rose 2 percent in the Middle East year on year. Demand for business jets has been strong in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar at the start of the year, with an increase in traffic from a year ago, while activity in Israel in the first quarter is down 32 percent year on year.

The post Global Business Aviation Starts 2024 with Year-on-Year Drop in Activity appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

As a Part 135 operator since 2000, OnFlight has worked with Embraer aircraft since 2011 and focused on them exclusively since 2016. With the latest authorization, the company expands to include work as a Part 145 repair station dedicated entirely to Embraer aircraft. Operations are expected to begin during the first quarter of 2024 at KLUK.

• READ MORE: We Fly: Embraer Praetor 500

“We have chosen to intentionally focus exclusively on Embraer’s product line, based on extensive knowledge of these aircraft, Embraer’s state-of-the-art technology, and overall quality of design and manufacturing,” said David Crockett, OnFlight’s president. “This singular focus ensures a high level of expertise and efficiency versus other independent alternatives who offer generalized service on numerous aircraft types and models, each presenting complex customer support challenges.”

Adding authorized service centers to its network is part of Embraer’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the competitive markets for light, midsize, and super-midsize business jets. The company’s product line includes the Phenom 100EX, Phenom 300E, Praetor 500, and Praetor 600.

“We are very pleased to deepen our relationship with OnFlight,” said Frank Stevens, Embraer’s vice president of MRO Services. “This new approval will allow us to meet the high demand across the entire Executive Jets network. Expanding our capacity, capability, and footprint is an important step to continue to bring value to our customers.”

The post Embraer Chooses OnFlight as Authorized Service Center appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Of course, that’s the right thing to do. I wish I’d thought of that myself. It wasn’t a command and it wasn’t a rebuke. It’s just Rob being Rob.

Other than a sense of humor, what do these two guys have in common? Fifty-thousand hours of flight time, for one. Multiple type ratings, for another. General aviation backgrounds turned into “to-die-for” airline careers. Resilience, generosity, and faith most of all. Finally, how come I got lucky enough to know both?

I met Rob first, almost 20 years ago. At the time, he was regional chief pilot for Southwest Airlines in Dallas. When I spotted a copy of Ernest K. Gann’s Fate Is the Hunter on his bookshelf, we were off to the races, vying to finish each of Gann’s poetic sentences for the other. Soon Rob became my airline guru. I was stunned that a man in such a high position would bother with a surgeon pilot wannabe, but he did, nonetheless.

We became good friends, though the relationship was all one way. Most of our aviating could be called “hangar flying.” I would call Rob with a proposed flight and ask his guidance. His voice was always steady, and he taught me that almost all flights could be concluded safely if you were careful. When we flew together in my Piper Cheyenne, I always mimicked my impression of an air-line pilot. He indulged this, responding to my idea of a callout with a grave response that did not betray a hint of amusement, much less condescension. When I got a Raytheon Premier I jet, Rob acted as if he’d never seen a jet do 0.78 Mach before. I love this man.

• READ MORE: Nothing Beats Reuniting With Old Pilot Friends

Bill came into my logbook just a few years ago. Retired from American Airlines, he was an instructor and I was a client at Simcom on the Cessna Citation CJ1. After our first sim session, he took me aside and told me I didn’t fly like most owner-operators. I explained that I had flown Part 135 full time—an experience that changed me from a “doctor in a Bonanza” to a real pilot. He told me he was going to take over a CJ2+ for a business in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and asked if I thought a mutual friend of ours might be interested in being a contract copilot. Without a hint of shame or modesty, I replied, “Hey, what about me?” This turned out to be providential.

Rob flew Cessna 310s, Citations, Lear 24s, Cheyennes, and a ton of other stuff. He owned a flight school and was hired by American just in time to be furloughed. He jumped at a chance to fly for a small regional airline in his home state. He made captain by age 29 and retired as No. 1 of 11,000 pilots at Southwest.

Bill flew Cessnas, Mooneys, and Pipers. He was the sky watch traffic reporter in Orlando, Florida, and has an announcer’s voice to match. As a freight dog he flew Cessna 400 series and Lear 23s. For corporate America he flew Jetstars, Falcons, Citations, King Airs, and Sabreliners.

From the cups of these aviators, I have sipped many a story, a lot of wisdom, and a few good tricks. Humor, resilience, friendship, generosity, and faith have marked all of our interactions.

Whereas most of my flying with Rob has been in his airplane or mine, my flying with Bill has largely been “professional,” which is to say in the CJ2+. When flying to Hilton Head one day with the boss in the back, we were confronted with, well, a confrontational front. A line of severe thunderstorms straddled the destination and showed no signs of moving. The controller said the storms were “freight-training” along the front. It certainly looked to be the case. One cell after the other tracked along the line. You could almost hear the track crossing warning bell ring.

I voted for deviation to Savannah, Georgia, and a rental car for the boss. Bill, with all that experience, asked approach control for a hold. “Call the tower,” he said. “Ask for up-to-date conditions.” The tower said heavy rain, visibility quarter mile, and tornado sirens going off in all quadrants.

But I kept listening. Two circuits of hold later, I heard taxi instructions to an airplane on the tower frequency. If somebody was taxiing for takeoff, the weather must have improved. When queried, the tower reported 500-foot overcast visibility 5 miles, wind 050 at 6, and light rain. We landed soon thereafter.

That wasn’t the first time I saw Bill make the weather change for our benefit. I sat with a forlorn attitude looking at the impossible weather on our approach to Key West, Florida. Coming from Cancun, Mexico, we had no customs alternatives except to land at Key West. All I could see on the radar was red. I was dumbfounded to hear Bill exclaim in his optimistic way, “See, he’s taking us down the back side of all this, then he’ll turn us inbound. Perfect.” Suddenly, it was. The clouds had parted. We call this the “Red Sea” effect.

Rob has been generous with sharing his love of Texas with me. We conquered Marfa in my CJ1, laid on the runway at his fly-in home outside of Kerrville at night watching the stars while the asphalt gave back the day’s heat onto our backs, and dug deep into Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in Llano in his Columbia.

“You want this leg?”

It’s Bill again. Forget the fact that the weather is terrible and all three top officers of the company are in the back. We have just had two great dinners together in New Orleans. Our conversations include flying, families, and the spiritual. Bill is deeply religious and knows I am less so. He never imposes his views on me, but I find myself feeling the power of his faith.

Same goes with Rob. When I apologized for sending him a bible quote with a note hoping he wouldn’t find it disingenuous, his response filled my heart.

“You’re a better Christian than many ‘Christians’ I know,” he said.

May each of us have such generous pilot mentor friends.

This column first appeared in the July 2023/Issue 933 print edition of FLYING.

The post Flying the Flight Levels with Rob and Bill appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Volato, which offers fractional ownership, aircraft management, jet card, deposit, and charter programs, announced its plans to become a publicly traded company last August. PACI shareholders approved the move at a special shareholders meeting on November 28. Volato’s common stock and warrants are set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 4.

“We believe that this transaction provides not only the capital to accelerate our fleet growth and strategy, but also a level of transparency and institutional support that should make our product even more attractive to new fractional owners and private fliers,” said Volato CEO and co-founder Matt Liotta. “After founding the company in 2021 and quickly ramping to nearly $100 million of revenue in 2022, we are now positioned to build on this momentum as a public company.”

PACI also announced the closing of $12 million in private investments. Combined with funding from an earlier Series A funding round and the conversion of Volato convertible debt, the company reports that it has raised over $60 million in capital. The money is expected to be used to fund business operations and grow Volato’s fleet, which is made up primarily of HondaJets.

• READ MORE: Volato Closes Deal for 25 HondaJets

“This transaction and recent new investments come at an ideal time for Volato, as we see strong demand for our product in the market,” said Volato chief commercial officer and co-founder Nicholas Cooper. “The private aviation industry has undergone a secular expansion in recent years due to changes in customer behavior along with greater customer awareness of the options and solutions available for private travel.”

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The NTSB recently released a video of a panel discussion about the 2021 accident involving a Challenger 605 attempting a circle to land approach at Truckee-Tahoe Airport (KTRK), in Truckee, California, that resulted in the deaths of the flight crew, six passengers, and two dogs. The probable cause of the accident was released in August of this year and listed as a combination of an unstabilized approach and the flight crew’s poor crew resource management and decision making. The panel discussion took the event apart step by step to identify the issues and suggest ways to mitigate these risks.

The panel was led by NTSB board member Michael Graham. The participants included Stephen Stein, NTSB senior accident investigator of the Truckee event, Richard Meikle, executive vice president for operations and safety at Flight Safety International, Scott Snow, head of training and performance at CAE Incorporated, and three Part 135 operators, Stephen Myers, executive vice president of Elite Jets, Jeff Baum, founder and CEO of Wisconsin Aviation, and Patrick McGuire, representing commercial and business aviation safety management.

The discussion began with a review of the accident, which took place on July 26, 2021. The accident occurred in the daytime, but visibility was somewhat compromised as there was smoke in the air because of forest fires.

• READ MORE: NTSB Says Poor Decisions to Blame in Fatal Business Jet Accident

Per the 26-page NTSB report, the captain and first officer were flying a Part 135 flight fromCoeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Truckee. According to Stein, the captain was employed by Aeolus Air Charter, Inc. a Part 135 operator. The first officer was a contract pilot hired through a website. The captain had recently undergone recurrency training with the employer. It was noted that the first officer had not undergone this company training, and it was the first time they had flown together. There were references to the FO helping the captain with programming the flight management system.

According to Airnav.com, the airport elevation is 5,904 feet and the airport has two runways: Runway 11/29, measuring 7,001 by100 feet, and Runway 2/20, measuring 4,654 by 75 feet.

The cockpit voice recorder captured the flight, the crew discussing and briefing the straight-in approach to Runway 11. The NTSB report notes that most of the flight was uneventful until descent, when air traffic control told the flight crew to expect the RNAV GPS approach for Runway 20.

The captain was pilot flying and the FO was pilot monitoring the flight. Both determined that Runway 20 was too short for Challenger at its expected landing weight. The report states “Instead of making a request to ATC for the straight-in approach to Runway 11 (the longer runway), the captain told the FO they could take the Runway 20 approach and circle to land on Runway 11, and the FO relayed this information to ATC. ATC approved, and the flight crew accepted the circle-to-land approach.”

Although the descent checklist required that the flight crew brief the new circle-to-land approach, as the flight crew’s acceptance of the new approach invalidated the previous straight-in approach brief, the crew failed to brief the new approach.

The situation deteriorated from there as both the pilot and copilot were behind the airplane until it stalled short of the runway and off the centerline, resulting in a fireball that was caught on a hotel security camera.

“Briefing the approach gives you a chance to get a shared mental model between the flight crew members,” said Stein, noting that the FO at one point asked how they were going to get down from 15,000 feet to 12,000 feet in 2 nautical miles, adding that the aircraft was at 250 knots, which was too fast as they needed to be below 230 knots for the circle to land.

It was noted that ATC instructed the flight crew to hold, but “the captain was slow in complying with this instruction, so the FO started the turn to enter the holding pattern and then informed ATC once they were established in the hold.”

Approximately 20 seconds later, ATC cleared them for the approach. Before the FO confirmed the clearance with ATC, he asked the captain if he was ready for the approach, and the captain stated that he was. However, the aircraft was still too fast. The FO suggested a 360 degree turn to the captain, but the captain never acknowledged the excessive airspeed and did not turn.

The FO continued to coach the captain. Upon visual identification of the airport, the FO instructed the captain to make a turn 90 degrees to the right to put the airplane on an approximate heading of 290 degrees, which would put the aircraft parallel to Runway 11. According to the NTSB, this was consistent with the manufacturer’s operating manual procedures for the downwind leg of the circling approach.

However, the FO instructed the captain to roll out of the turn prematurely, and the captain stopped the turn on a heading of about 233 degrees which resulted in the aircraft on a 57 degree angle left of the downwind course parallel with Runway 11 and what the NTSB described as “an unnecessarily tight turning radius.”

When the aircraft began the turn to final, the airplane was still about 1.3 nm from the maximum circling radius that was established for the airplane’s approach category.The break down in cockpit communication and command structure continued, as the FO deployed 45 degrees of flaps after confirming with the captain although the manufacturer’s operating manual procedures for the downwind leg called for a flap setting of 30 degrees.

The aircraft was at 162 knots, approximately 44 knots above the landing speed of 118 knots that the crew had calculated and planned on earlier in the flight. The FO addressed this by telling the captain, “I’m gonna get your speed under control for you.”

Investigators noted that at this point it appeared as though the throttles were reduced as the engine fan speeds (N1) began to decrease from about 88 percent to about 28 percent. As the aircraft slowed, the FO repeatedly attempted to point out the airport to the captain, who appeared to be having difficulty seeing the runway – possibly due to the wildfire smoke in the area.

The FO continued to coach and reassure the captain through the circle-to-land until they entered the base leg when the FO repeatedly asked for control of the aircraft. There was no verbalized positive exchange of controls.

The jet crossed the extended centerline in a left bank and the FO remarked they were still too high. At this point one of the pilots fully deployed the flight spoilers, which increased the airplane’s sink rate. The airspeed now dropped to 135 knots, which was 17 knots above the Vref speed based on what the NTSB called “the erroneous basic operating weight programmed into the airplane’s flight management system.

The bank angle increased and the stall protection system (SPS) stick shaker and stick pusher engaged. The captain asked the FO, “What are you doing?” and the FO repeatedly asked the captain to let him have the airplane. The stick shaker and stick pusher briefly disengaged, then engaged again as the aircraft entered a rapid roll to the left consistent with a left wing stall resulting in an impact with terrain and post crash fire.

Failure to Brief

As noted in the panel discussion, the issues began with the crew’s failure to brief the circling approach. Although the FO repeatedly pointed out the aircraft was too high and too fast, the captain did not act upon this information. Because the aircraft was too fast, they did not have the time to configure the airplane and make corrections, thus reducing the safety margin.

As noted in the report, “The circling approach maneuver began at 160 kts, which was 20 kts higher than the upper limit of the circle-to-land approach speed established for this airplane’s approach category (category C) and did not drop below the category C maximum speed until the flight crew was preparing to start their base leg turn.”

It was suggested based on the conversations in the cockpit per the voice recorder that the crew did not recognize the severity of the situation and the FO was trying to salvage the approach, resulting in numerous preventable safety challenges.

What We Can Take Away From This

There are a number of lessons to be learned from this event. (Puts on flight instructor cap). For starters, be wary when flying with someone unfamiliar to you. At the airline level, pilots undergo the same training so, in theory, they understand what is expected of them during the flight and know how to work together as a crew. The role of crew members and communication of expectations have been taught and rehearsed in the simulator.

The panelists noted that when an individual undergoing training has difficulties in any of these areas, they are counseled and retrained—or removed, if the situation warrants it.

The standards of performance need to be respected and enforced, starting at the flight school level, and before each flight the CFI needs to verbalize expectations with the learner. Sadly, this often doesn’t happen because the CFI is there for their hours, not necessarily to teach—that one-off flight adds to their logbook, and the learner becomes “someone else’s problem” when the instructor moves on. This must not continue. Some CFIs are reluctant to address the learner’s shortcomings for fear of hurting their feelings or losing a client. If you choose your words carefully, you can help the client. Lying to them about their performance or using vague language like “You did okay” doesn’t help anyone one, and sets them up for a larger failure down the road.

If the instructor introduces the airman certification standards at the beginning of the lesson with the caveat “these are the minimum standards,” it puts in place the metrics for success.

The instructors must make sure the learners understand that these standards and that these metrics are established by the FAA, not the instructor or the flight school—and they are non negotiable.

CRM Training Should Begin Early

The concept of crew resource management (CRM) is a concept introduced in ground school but often not discussed or practiced in the cockpit. This can be addressed once the learner is taught how to use the checklist and perform a passenger briefing.Their job is to fly and if they need the instructor’s assistance or the instructor has to take the controls, that needs to be verbalized with the phrase “my airplane, I have the controls” or “you have the controls” and a positive exchange taking place.

The learner needs to listen to the CFI—and here’s where it gets tricky. If the learner ignores the CFI or locks up on the controls, refusing to let go, the CFIs need to do whatever it takes to get them to release.

This is a delicate area, especially when the learner is larger and physically stronger than the CFI. There may be some learners the CFI refuses to fly with because of this. While most CFIs don’t get into the cockpit with the idea they are going to physically assault the person next to them, I recall the words of my first CFI, a retired police officer who told me, “It is better to talk to twelve than be carried by six,” meaning it is better to have to explain yourself in a court of law than be buried because a learner killed you both in an accident. You do what you have to do, and hope you live to tell the story.

Use the Checklists, Brief the Approaches

The appropriate use of the checklist and a verbal briefing of the approaches should be taught and practiced from day one. When the private pilot candidate is in level flight in the practice area with the CFI at the side, the cruise flight and pre-maneuver checklist should be verbalized.

Before leaving the practice area to return to the airport, the pre-landing and approach checklist with a review of entry into the pattern including appropriate aircraft configuration, altitudes and airspeeds should be reviewed. Far too many private pilots do not follow these procedures, resulting in the “chop, drop, hope you stop (before running out of runway)” approach. Part of this review is a reminder of the sterile cockpit rule before entering the pattern, because this is a task-intensive part of the flight.

In the Truckee accident the copilot was reluctant to assert control when it was obvious that the captain was behind the airplane—for example, when the aircraft was too fast. It is understandable that you don’t want to create conflict in the cockpit, or possibly lose your job, but let’s look at the bigger picture: would you rather talk to twelve or be carried by six?

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