Posts Tagged ‘aircraft design’
Why Business Aviation Must Change the Conversation
Business aviation has taken a beating in the past two years. While we are now seeing some signs of recovery, we must remember that those signs do not constitute prosperity. We can blame industry difficulties on the government or on the economy, but the reality is that we need to quit following the old business models. In many areas, we are doing things today just as we have for the past 30 years.
If we look to the technology sector of our economy as a possible success story to emulate, we see a constant flow of innovation in the market. Computing technology gets not only faster and more productive by the day, but it also gets cheaper. Social Technology has taken on a life of its own with changes happening faster than even the social media gurus can keep up with.
Those of us in aviation know that we cannot change or innovate as fast as the technology sector of this economy. Or can we?
When it comes to the aircraft design and regulation compliance that make our industry safer, admittedly we cannot go any faster than the government allows. New aircraft designs are also limited by the allocation of capital and have long cycles from initial investment to development to payoff. The tech sector can crank out new smart phones every six months, but we can’t just crank out new jets that fast.
Aircraft design and safety compliance timing may be out of our control, but that should not stop us from innovating.
Innovation starts with conversations. Doc Searls coined the term “the market is conversations” in his 1999 book The Cluetrain Manifesto. With consumers self-aggregating and expressing intentions online, why can’t we engage in the conversations and meet those intentions?
We need to expand our market by engaging the larger audience of travelers in conversations about the value proposition of business aviation and even leisure travel by private aircraft. It starts online these days and ultimately moves to face-to-face contact.
We also need to challenge our market and our industry to start conversations on how to deliver business aviation at a reduced cost. The solutions must come from the entire supply chain, with everyone involved in business aviation as a part of the solution.
I have yet to hear anyone say they would like to go back to riding on the airlines after experiencing travel on a private aircraft. What I have heard, hundreds of times, is that they can’t afford what we offer; so, they grudgingly go back for more of the misery of air travel by mass transit.
What are we going to do about it?
Air Travel Is Abysmal!
When it comes to air travel today, no one enjoys it.
Recently, I had to be in New York City. My meeting was scheduled for 10:00 am EST. I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and none of the commercial airlines had flights that would get me to New York early enough for my meeting that morning. As a result, I was forced to fly in the night before.
I had to leave my home two hours before scheduled departure time to get to the airport then park my car and get through security in time to catch my flight. The flight to New York took five hours because of delays and connections. Upon arriving, I had to spend $75 on a cab and 45 minutes to get to my hotel which cost $210 for one night’s stay. The next day I spent $25 on a simple breakfast and $40 to get from the hotel to my meeting place in New York.
After my meeting, I had to take yet another cab (for $75) to get back to the airport two hours before scheduled departure time in order to get through security on to find that the flight was delayed. The trip home took another five hours because of delays and connections. I had to pay $20 for parking my car and I got home late that night, tired and worn out. My productivity level the following day was affected and it took me a full day to get back into my normal healthy routine.
The airline ticket was $589, parking, hotel and meals totaled close to $500. Out of pocket cost were over $1,000. However, the higher cost was my time. From start to finish I spent a total of 18 useless hours (not including sleep time the night before) traveling to a two hour meeting. The cost of my time and the inconvenient experiences far exceeded the out of pocket cost of travel.
The cost of this broken air travel system to the traveling public in the United states is enormous.
- Over 140 million hours of productive passenger time lost each year with a pricetag of over $4 Billion for businesses.
- Tourism industry in the United States has lost 200,000 jobs and $98 billion in revenue because of the poor quality of our national transportation service.
- Productive time lost to the ineffective United States air travel system is only the tip of the iceberg. Billions are lost every year because of illness, fatigue and stress caused by the existing “system” of air travel.
Is There A Better Way?
Watch the video below and give this alternative some thought the next time you think about using a commercial airline. This alternative would have enabled me to go to New York City and back within the same day. Total travel time would have been roughly five hours instead of 18. And it would have cost me less!
Economy slow down but we still need to vacation!
As the economy has slowed down,Americans have reduced spending in many areas of their lives. But one thing that has remained high on the list of priorities is to have at least one vacation each year.
So, for the aviation enthusiast, I have found some great aviation related destinations to visit. Even if you’re not into all things that fly, these are just “plane” cool places to visit. Here are my top pick destinations for flights of fancy:
Hotel Costa Verde’s Boeing 727 Fuselage Suite
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
This suite is a salvaged airframe of a 1965 Boeing 727. It was transported in pieces from a San Jose aircraft graveyard, to the jungles of Manuel Antonio. With a breath of fresh life, this aircraft has now been resurrected into a meticulously detailed, two bedroom suite, perched on a 50 foot pedestal to take in the stunning views of the Costa Verde II area in Costa Rica. But it is nothing like a regular 727 inside the fuselage. It features teak paneling from the cockpit to the tail, two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and flat screen TVs. I think I would most enjoy sipping wine on the wing terrace, while taking in the ocean views and watching the monkeys, toucans and sloths in the lush surrounding treetops. http://www.costaverde.com/727.html
Seattle, Washington
The Museum of Flight showcases a collection of more than 150 historic air and spacecraft and related artifacts in unique and inspiring exhibits. Walk in the footsteps of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon on their presidential 707 jet, see the world’s fastest jetliner - the Concorde, as well as other exhibits such as The Museum of Flight Tower at Boeing Field, Space: Exploring the New Frontier, The Montgolfier Brothers’ Balloon, and World War II Fighters.
Open now and running until May 2010 is the popular exhibit In Search of Amelia Earhart. The Museum of Flight says it has brought together resources from around the country for this new exhibit about the remarkable life and times of famous American pilot, Amelia Earhart. It features many of her original personal artifacts, as well as photos and newsreel footage”.
http://www.museumofflight.org/
Fighter Jet Experience at Thunder City
Cape Town, South Africa
If you’ve ever dreamed of experiencing the thrill of a lifetime in a fighter jet (that is, head out to sea at a speed of close to 650 miles per hour just 50 feet above the water: your limits and sortie profile are determined purely by your ability to handle them, then go vertical), then Thunder City is a destination you must visit. Ok, so it’’s in Cape Town, South Africa! But this is your one vacation a year, right? Why not zoom over the point where the Indian and Atlantic points meet? Fly up the coastline of some of the world’s most stunning beaches.Climb high over Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain. And do it all in the most exciting and graceful combat jets. Thunder City’s jets include the world’s only flying English Electric Lightnings, Bae Buccaneers, and Hawker Hunter jets. Choose from a variety of jet flight profiles; ultra high, supersonic, aerobatic, surface-hugging, formation or a combination of these. Then spend the rest of your vacation recovering from adrenalin overload by enjoying the diverse and unforgettable offerings of Cape Town. http://www.thundercity.co.za/
If you’re only going on one vacation this year, why not make it a completely unique experience that you can take with you for life!
The G650: The Best of a New Era in Business Jet Manufacturing
Gulfstream General Dynamics recently rolled out the new G650 and will begin test flights for certification before the year’s end.
This aircraft is an all-new design (clean sheet) that employs the best technologies Gulfstream and this country have to offer in creating a new generation global jet.
With all the negative press and bad political rancor about the use of big corporate jets, it would be easy to dismiss the G650 roll-out as the production of just another aircraft to meet the needs of the few business and superstar elites who have the money to buy it.
However, the introduction of this aircraft is so much more than that. It deserves a standing ovation from the press and from the American public. For starters, in a time when manufacturing jobs are being shipped overseas, this aircraft will be produced in Savannah, GA. I don’t have the exact number of anticipated future orders or the locations of the G650 customers, but given orders on previous models, it is safe to say that international companies and individuals will place at least 50-60% of the orders. This translates into trade deficit reducing exports and economy supporting jobs for the US.
The performance and mission capabilities of the G650 will be unsurpassed by any other aircraft. It will have a non-stop range of 7000 nautical miles and cruise at speeds .92 mach( 92% of the speed of sound) in high-speed cruise. No other business jet in production can match this performance. The cockpit will employ the latest generation technologies to make the aircraft safer and more efficient.
Since Gulfstream has a reputation as the premier manufacturer of long-range corporate jets with fantastic reliability and worldwide support, multinational companies and governments worldwide will use the G650 in civilian and military service.
Globalization is here whether we like it or not. Governments and multinational companies alike need to reach the rest of the world quickly. Some of our country’s greatest companies are now operating all over the world and need to reach their markets, suppliers and manufacturing facilities to make their businesses more efficient. It is a fact that travel is a necessity and not a luxury for businesses and governments. The G650 will be the next generation aircraft to make worldwide travel happen.
Those of us who have grown up in this business have all admired Gulfstream since the GI first flew in 1958. I applaud the group of people at Gulfstream who have taken the G650 from the drafting table to the tarmac. These people represent our country’s best in corporate leadership, innovation, engineering and manufacturing. Designing a new aircraft from scratch and taking it to production is not for the faint of heart. The process takes years of work and, in some cases, billions of dollars. Those who make the decision to design and build a new aircraft have to look years into the future to understand demand and long-range return on investment. The designers of the G650 had a clear and exciting vision that is resulting in the aircraft that is clearly the new top of its class in corporate aviation. The other guys will now have to play catch up!
We Salute You, Veterans!
Brave pilots and crew of a B-17 Bomber in 1944.
On Veteran’s Day, we recognize the brave men and women of the past and present who have fought to make it possible for the citizens of the United States to enjoy their freedoms. In reflection and appreciation of these dedicated veterans, I want to share with you an experience I recently had flying in the WWII B-17 Bomber, Liberty Belle.
Standing before this beautiful aircraft, I reflected on those brave men who undertook some of the most dangerous missions, in this beautiful, yet deadly, strategic weapon. I didn’t expect that flying in the Liberty Belle would be quite the emotional journey it was. To sit where they sat, hear the roar of the engines and look down through the bombsight was an experience I will never forget. What the pilots and crew had to endure during those long flights during WWII – freezing temperatures, atrocious engine noise, not to mention the fear they must have felt knowing there was the possibility of not coming home - is almost incomprehensible, but strangely stirring when you are inside her. Brave barely seems enough to describe these veterans!
So what’s the story behind “Liberty Belle”? According to the Liberty Foundation’s website, “On September 9, 1944 the 390th Bomb Group attacked a target in Dusseldorf, Germany and suffered its second largest single mission loss of the war. Over the target just prior to bomb release, one of the low squadron B-17s was hit in the Bomb bay by flak. The 1000 lb. bombs exploded and nine of the twelve aircraft in the squadron were instantly destroyed or knocked out of formation.
Six of the nine went down over the target, one flew two hours on a single engine and landed at Paris, another “crippled plane” landed in Belgium and the other struggled back to its home base and landed long after the other thirty nine B-17s had returned from the mission. The one that came home was “Liberty Belle”, she went on to complete 64 combat missions before being salvaged on February 18, 1945.” More than 60 years later, there are fewer than 12 historic B-17’s still flying.
“Liberty Belle” is one of these rare birds, and she tours the country each year giving people the opportunity to take a flight and experience the grandeur of the B-17 in a way no history book could ever reveal. “Liberty Belle” provides passengers an opportunity to take a step back in time and gain respect for the men and women who gave so much to protect your freedoms.
To the distinguished veterans of the United States, we thank you, and we salute you.
If you wish to be a flight participant, and receive a historical briefing about the significance of the B-17, then take to the air for a scenic tour around the local area, you can do so by going to www.libertyfoundation.org/index.html
"Liberty Belle" on the ramp at Smyrna Airport (MQY), Tennessee
