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June 20, 2022

Second Beechcraft Denali Test-Aircraft Flies

Development of Single-Engine Turboprop Proceeding Apace

Textron Aviation—the general aviation subsidiary of technology conglomerate Textron and parent company of both Beechcraft and Cessna—has announced the successful first flight of its second, Beechcraft Denali flight-test aircraft. The second test aircraft joins the first (prototype) Denali which has accumulated upward of two-hundred flight-test hours since its first flight in November 2021.

AFF EU 2022 Leads to An Eight Ship Order

At this year’s Aerial Fire Fighting conference in Nimes, France, Fire Boss LLC signed a historic fleet order with Air Tractor Europe. The order consists of eight Fire Bosses with an option for an additional eight. The first delivery is scheduled for late 2022. Rafael Selma, General Director, of Air Tractor Europe said “We at Air Tractor Europe were the early adopters of the Fire Boss. Since 2003 we have delivered over 75 across Europe. With this order, we are positioned to further expand into markets that recognize the advantage of initial attack and want lower operating costs than other scooper tankers in the market.”

The Pilot Heard A “Loud Pop” Noise Emit From The Turboprop Engine And He Observed Flames

On June 1, 2022, about 1700 central daylight time, an Air Tractor AT-602 airplane, N5007R, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Allport, Arkansas. The pilot sustained minor injury. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. The pilot reported he was on the 35th flight of the day and the airplane had been performing all day with no issues noted. The airplane was refueled two flights prior, and at the time of the accident, each wing fuel tank was about half full of fuel.

AD 2022-12-08 Prompted By Reports Of Intermittent Or Abnormal Operation Of The Engine RPM Governor

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Robinson Helicopter Company Model R22 BETA, R44, and R44 II helicopters. This AD was prompted by reports of intermittent or abnormal operation of the engine revolutions per minute (RPM) governor (governor). This AD requires inspecting the engine RPM sensor wiring and installing a wiring kit. The FAA is issuing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products. This AD is effective June 29, 2022.