Pilot – June 2018

16 | Pilot June 2018 | pilotweb.aero

Notes

Cessna’s ups...

and downs

At April’s Asian Business Aviation
Conference and Exhibition in
Shanghai, Textron announced
orders from Chinese customers
for 52 Cessna Skyhawks, all to
be delivered this year. Hairuo
General Aviation Co ordered 39,
and Hubei Sky-Blue International
Aviation, which is a Cessna sales
representative and service facility
for its piston-engined aircraft,
ordered thirteen. Hubei Sky-Blue
President Song Jin said that in
the next five years his company
plans to purchase an additional
fifty Skyhawks and “some
business jets”.
Maosen Chen, President
of Hairuo General Aviation,
added: “Many of these newly
purchased Skyhawks are for
firm orders from end-customers

ABOVE: The up: Cessna

Skyhawks for China

BELOW: The down: more

problems for the Cessna

Citation Hemisphere

ranging from aviation academies,

aviation clubs, general aviation

operators, newly established

general aviation enterprises and

flight schools. A few will join our

own fleet to meet the growing

needs for our aviation training

business... We are committed to

contributing to the development

of the general aviation industry in

China by improving its training,

operations, sales and service

system.”

At the other end of Cessna’s

range, parent company Textron’s

Chief Executive Officer Scott

Donnelly announced in April that

it has suspended work on the

Citation Hemisphere business

jet, citing continuing problems

with the Safran Silvercrest engine

selected to power the aircraft.

“I think everybody knows there

have been some issues around the

engine that was slated for that

aircraft,” he said. “At this point

we have basically suspended the

programme and are waiting to

see how the engine plays out.

And then based on that, we’ll

make our decisions and move

forward knowing what the

performance of the engine is.”

Problems with the Silvercrest

engine led to the cancellation of

the Dassault Falcon 5X jet earlier

this year (Pilot Notes, March).

The $35 million Citation

Hemisphere was announced in

late 2015 and was due to fly in

2019. It was to have been the
      largest Citation to date, seating
      up to twelve passengers and
      having a range of 4,500nm.

Piper Aircraft has chosen Continental

Motors’ new CD-170 Jet-A-fuelled

compression ignition engine to power

the PA-44 Seminole DX twin. It had

previously offered the CD-155 in the

single-engine Archer DX. “Our experience

with the Archer DX convinced us and our

customers that we could deliver the best

twin-engine training platform using the

Continental Jet-A engine,” said Piper Chief

Executive Officer Simon Caldecott. “We

are extremely happy with the collaboration

with Continental Motors... They

understand perfectly the pilot training

market and our own needs.”

Diesel power for

Piper Seminole

Embraer X unveils eVTOL concept

At May’s Uber Elevate 2018 conference

in Los Angeles, Embraer X unveiled

its first electrical Vertical Take-Off

and Landing (eVTOL) concept, which

it is developing with Uber and other

companies to explore business

opportunities within the Uber Elevate

ecosystem. Embraer President and

Chief Executive Officer Paulo Cesar de

Souza e Silva said: “Through Embraer

X we will drive disruptive innovation

and accelerate the creation of new

businesses with the potential for

exponential growth. Urban mobility

is ripe for transformation and we are

committed to having a major role in

this key market... The eVTOL concept

represents an aircraft with a mission

to serve passengers in an urban

environment, based on the key design

drivers of safety, passenger experience,

affordability and a very low footprint

for the community, in terms of noise

and emissions.”

Embraer X eVTOL