FlightGlobal reports that the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) “revealed the sector’s full-year figures for unit deliveries and billings.” The major airframers “boosted their aircraft output in 2022, revenue increases tended to be even greater, indicating some impact from inflation perhaps, but also that manufacturers are better able to maintain their prices.” For example, business jet deliveries increased in number by only two aircraft, but total value of the jets went up 4.5%. The top five manufacturers – Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream and Textron Aviation – “all saw their unit deliveries and billings rise in 2022.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)
Tag: Bombardier
Bombardier Jet Deliveries to Increase This Year Despite Continued Supply Chain Challenges
Reuters reports that on Thursday, Bombardier forecast higher business jet “deliveries for 2023 despite supply-chain problems expected to subside but not disappear this year, chief executive Eric Martel said.” Canada’s Bombardier expects “to deliver more than 138 jets in 2023, compared with 123 last year, after strong demand for private flying lifted its quarterly results above expectations.” Martel told reporters of the company’s experienced supply chain issues, “Today there are less suppliers that have issues but those that remain have sometimes deeper issues which we need to work with.” He made a fresh case “for Bombardier to be included in any plans by Canada to buy reconnaissance jets.” Late last year, he “voiced concerns that such a contract could potentially go directly to U.S. planemaker Boeing.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Bombardier Delivers First Global 6000 for US Air Force BACN Program
Aviation International News reported that Bombardier “handed over the first Global 6000 modified for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) program under an order announced in June 2021. Valued at up to $465 million, that contract was a follow-on to earlier agreements under which the company had delivered four Globals for the BACN program.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Spacesuit Issues During Spacewalk Prevent Installation of Solar Panels on ISS
The AP reports that during a nearly seven-hour spacewalk Wednesday from the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough “encountered a pair of spacesuit issues,” which forced “him to temporarily retreat back into the airlock to reset his equipment.” Mission Control “stressed that Kimbrough was safe the entire time, despite problems with his suit’s display control panel and a fleeting pressure spike in the cooling system.” The issue “put Kimbrough and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet an hour behind, then they had trouble trying to unfold the solar panel’s booms before time finally ran out.” As a result of the delay, the astronauts were unable to complete the installation of a pair of new solar panels.
Full Story (Associated Press)
Spacesuit Issues During Spacewalk Prevent Installation of Solar Panels on ISS
The AP reports that during a nearly seven-hour spacewalk Wednesday from the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough “encountered a pair of spacesuit issues,” which forced “him to temporarily retreat back into the airlock to reset his equipment.” Mission Control “stressed that Kimbrough was safe the entire time, despite problems with his suit’s display control panel and a fleeting pressure spike in the cooling system.” The issue “put Kimbrough and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet an hour behind, then they had trouble trying to unfold the solar panel’s booms before time finally ran out.” As a result of the delay, the astronauts were unable to complete the installation of a pair of new solar panels.
Full Story (Associated Press)
Canadian Authorities Review Safety Case for Challenger Jet
FlightGlobal reports that “Canadian authorities are reviewing the safety case for the Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet, after an uncommanded flap-extension incident highlighted a potential increase in the risk of a serious accident.” The incident happened aboard a Challenger 604, which experienced the uncommanded flap-extension deployment on August 10 departing Farnborough airport in the UK. “It was travelling at 296kt as the flaps extended to 20° – some 65kt above the maximum speed limit for the configuration – and, as the aircraft decelerated to 234kt, the flaps continued to extend to 45°, for which the speed limit was 189kt.” The flight crew were able to return to Farnborough and landed the aircraft safely. The flight-data recorder showed the flaps had been retracting at half the normal speed on each wing. Officials haven’t yet figured out the reason for the uncommanded flap extension.
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription publication)
Bombardier Global 7500 Sets More Than 75 Speed Records
Aviation Week reports that Bombardier’s Global 7500 jet has set 75 speed records, highlighting its top speed and impressive range. “The new records build on earlier speed-setting flights, which include a 8,225-nm flight in October 2019 from Sydney to Detroit.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
U.S. Army Receives First Bombardier Global 6500 for its HADES Program
Aviation International News reports, “Bombardier Defense is celebrating the delivery of the first Global 6500 to the U.S. Army for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) aerial military intelligence program. … This aircraft is the first prototype airframe for the HADES program and is ‘the beginning of the next stage of the program to integrate systems,’ according to Bombardier.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Bombardier Plans to Deliver More than 120 Jets in 2022
FlightGlobal reports that Bombardier “plans to deliver in excess of 120 business jets in 2022 as it ramps up production year on year, and could increase output further as early as 2023 if the market remains strong.” Bombardier Chief Executive Eric Martel said Bombardier is positioning itself “to accelerate deliveries by another 15% to 20% as soon as 2023.”
Full Story (Flight Global)
Bombardier Delivers First Global 7500 to Indonesia-Based Customer
Aviation International News reported that Bombardier’s Global 7500 “has entered the Indonesian market with the first delivery of one of the company’s flagship business jets to an undisclosed customer based in Jakarta.” Bombardier “has been growing its customer-service footprint in” the Asia-Pacific region “with a new customer-service center expected to open in 2022 at Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, Australia, alongside the ongoing project at its Singapore service center, which will quadruple the operation’s space there.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Army Selects SNC for HADES Spy Plane Contract
Breaking Defense reports, “Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has won a high-flying Army contract to convert a business jet into a deep-sensing spy plane, beating out an industry team up featuring L3Harris, Leidos and MAG Aerospace. Under the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System (HADES) program, SNC will now be charged with integrating sensing technologies aboard the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet for airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as the service phases out a legacy fleet of turboprop aircraft.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)