Very light jets took center stage again at this year’s National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA) Convention in Atlanta, not only gaining keen interest on the show floor but packing in potential operators during two VLJ panels.
Personal Jets and Very Light Jets featured 14 international industry experts on manufacturing, operations and aviation infrastructure. They concluded that training, maintenance and repair must be the high-priority focus of this new type of equipment.
Threats they would blacken the skies gave way to admonitions by NASA’s Dr. Bruce Holmes, who said NextGen would be so different that “we will have to move from a scarcity mentality to an abundance mentality.” He also briefed attendees on the NextGen Air Mobility Coalition, a newly formed group announced at the beginning of the show. (See related story)
To date, manufacturers have been leading the charge on training with sophisticated programs that involve everything from the Myers Briggs personality test to flying with pilot mentors for a year. The emphasis has developed in response to concerns that the high-performance aircraft would be too much to pilots more used to the turbo-prop or piston environment.
Panelists noted that it was unclear who would be the arbiter of what constituted good training requirements. However, the FAA is working on FAR 61.58 with the regulatory change coming as early as next spring. AviationToday's VLJ Report will provide a focus on how training programs are being developed in a future issue.
Quashing concerns that maintenance and repair will not be in place to support the aircraft once they reach the market, Linear Air CEO Bill Herp noted the emphasis manufacturers are placing on simplifying maintenance, just as the regional manufacturers did with the generation of new turboprops introduced in the wake of deregulation as well as the regional jets introduced in the 1990s. However, concern was raised over the composites that make up the bulk of the new equipment.
Herp said the design decisions built into the aircraft put operators ahead of the power curve on maintenance. However, operators, like their airline counterparts, are facing challenges in their ability to recruit, hire and retain qualified employees. In addition, panelists predicted less expensive maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), especially for the single-engine, aiding in lowering operating costs.
Panelists also said flight and aircraft monitoring will take on greater importance with these aircraft, suggesting checks for trends after each flight until the aircraft gain enough maturity to establish standards for maintenance activities. Worldwide maintenance facilities will remain a challenge but manufacturers, noting the booming business markets in Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia, are deploying an increasing number of support services worldwide.
The special characteristics of operating a very light jet in today’s environment were discussed in a panel – Crucial Knowledge: Understanding the Essential Boundaries in Regulatory and Asset Management Requirements – led by Len Beauchemin of AeroTechna Solutions. The introduction of VLJs, he indicated, would require a steep learning curve and owners and operators will have to take additional care in flying and maintaining them.
He began with a definition of VLJs, strictly limiting the market to aircraft weighing less than 10,000 pounds, certificated to single pilot operations and priced below the average cost of a private jet aircraft. The jets will avoid hubs airports in favor of airports with runways as short at 3,000 feet. While numerous models are on the design board or in test flights, only two VLJ aircraft are fully certified by the FAA: the Cessna Mustang and Eclipse Aviation’s 500, which took its first revenue flight with DayJet’s new per-seat, on-demand service recently.
Beauchemin indicated maintenance and repair will pose challenges for operators of VLJs with their advanced technology and composite materials. This will require more training and knowledge than traditional aircraft, he said, stressing the importance of establishing sophisticated safety management systems. He also stressed the differences of the new aircraft make it more important than ever to do more than just FAA minimums to be safe.
Flying through the air traffic control system and finding airports will be another challenge to operators since aviation systems are geared for maximum throughput, meaning priority is given to airlines rather than private or charter aircraft.