Martha King and Magic Johnson, NBAA 2019. Photo courtesy of NBAA
Key Takeaways:
The business aviation market is dominated by ultra-long-range, large-body jets, exemplified by the Gulfstream G700, and sees innovation in engine technology driven by market competition (e.g., Pratt & Whitney's FADEC).
Sustainability has become a critical industry topic, with widespread discussion on the adoption of sustainable alternative fuels (SAF) to address environmental impact and improve aviation's public image.
Automation is anticipated to play an increasing role in flight, though the NBAA event's focus primarily remains on larger business aircraft and emerging concepts, potentially overlooking light jets and turboprops.
The National Business Aviation Association and Convention (NBAA) got underway officially on Tuesday morning, but by then Plane & Pilot had been on the ground for a few days, already attending briefings, interviewing major players and occasionally just sitting back and taking in the spectacle, as was the case for Gulfsteam’s spectacular unveiling of its G700 ultra-long range gem on Monday night.
There have been product announcements, program delays, star sightings, and big numbers. Here are eight of my biggest observations from the ground, so to speak, at NBAA.
For years Iâve been saying that what Pratt & Whitney needed to do was make a full-authority digital engine control for its market-dominant PT-6. I sometimes wondered if the reason they werenât doing that was because it was too technically difficult (though itâs essentially in every economy car on the planet, right?). The other possibility was that Pratt just didnât have to do it because nobody else was. Well, with the introduction by GE of the Catalyst engine (then called the Advanced Turboprop) for the Cessna Denali, FADEC was on the horizon. So suddenly Pratt launches FADEC. Remarkable coincidence? Nah. Itâs natural consequence market forces at work for the good.Lots of companies were discussing automation, mostly in the form of envelope protection, but without naming names, I spoke with a few leaders at major plane makers who seemed to acknowledger that the writing was on the wall and that automation would play a greater and greater role in the actual flying part of flying. Stay tuned to Plane & Pilot for one big story on a brand-new product that will change the way people look at aviation, and I write that with no hyperbole.With billions of dollars spent by airplane buyers every year just on new planes, the segment that continues to dominate is the large-body, long- and ultra-long range jets, which account for around 70% of business activity in terms of dollars spent. The introduction by Gulfstream of the G700 was all about something that no manufacturer has stressed for yearsâsize. The new jet isnât only wicked fast, at a max Mach of .925, but itâs huge tooânot only longer than any Gulfstream, but wider and bigger, as well. Itâs the biggest purpose-built bizjet ever, and itâs very likely to steal a little or a lot of market share from Airbus and Boeing, who still sell a few of their business optimized commercial jets every year.
I came in not expecting it, but the issue of aviationâs environmental impact and carbon footprint was something everybody was talking about. All the major bizjet makers were giving props to sustainable alternative fuels, and the winner of the NBAA Gold Wing Award for journalism was James Wynbrandt for his reporting on sustainable fuels. At the NBAAâs annual press breakfast on Tuesday morning, both Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA, and Pete Bunce, head of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, discussed the issue, essentially saying that SAF is an undertaking thatâs safeâitâs not like Jet-A, they said; it is Jet-Aâenvironmentally more friendly because of its sustainability, and good for the image of business aviation. I think Bolen and Bunce arenât the power of the environmental movement thatâs up and coming in the world and that aviation is facing. It will dwarf the negative opinion of bizav we survived after the public pillorying of Detroit auto execs for their bizjet use. Time to get proactive. Make that, âmore proactive.â A lot more.
Photo by Jaromir Chalabala/ShutterstockItâs now been two years since the horrifying massacre in Las Vegas in 2017 when a gunman killed 59 people, with more than 400 others suffering gunshot wounds and more than 800 in all injured in the attack. Two days later, NBAA 2017 got under way, but only after the leadership seriously considered canceling the event but instead made the right call and used the occasion to honor the victim and the city. At the time âLas Vegas Strongâ tee-shirts began emerging, but none were needed. The people were deeply affected but were not about to be beaten. Today weâve seen just what a city looks like as a result of that strength. Itâs humbling, and we can’t wait to come back in two more years.
I missed it, and Magic Johnsonâs keynote on Tuesday isnât online, but everybody is talking about Magic and Martha. Johnson, the 6â9â hall-of-fame basketball player who revolutionized the game in the â80s and â90s, hopped down from the stage and picked at random the shortest woman he immediately saw to showcase his great height. He just so happened to have picked out the one and only Martha King. Ed Bolen, to his everlasting credit, was immediately on it: Sheâs a hall-of-famer, too, he informed Magic, who was surprised by the news. For the record, Martha (along with her fellow hall of fame King Schools partner and husband John King), has revolutionized flight training and ushered it into the digital age. Great vision, Magic!
Photo courtesy of NBAA
Understanding the used market is key to being able to predict the sales of new planes. Honeywell brilliantly parses the numbers in its annual forecastâit has for yearsâbut that forecast is only for larger turbine aircraft. In the piston marketplace, the used plane market is getting tough, with fewer good planes available and much higher asking prices than ever. As always, there are takeaways for light GA from what happens in the bizjet world.
Photo by Kevin Kipper/ShutterstockThat NBAA kind of snubs light jets isnât new. Ten years ago, the organization had an actual debate about what to do about very light jets, or whatever you want to call them, like the Eclipse EA500, the Cessna Mustang and the yet-to-be-flown Cirrus SF50. Regardless of whether itâs planned or not, these remarkably capable and safe aircraft just donât get any love at NBAA, and neither do outstanding turboprops from Pilatus and Daher, with emerging models from Cessna and Epic still to come. Maybe itâs time to step back just a little from the fantasy that is Urban Air Vehicles (UAVs) and focus more on AAM (actual air mobility platforms) that cost less and do great things.
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A commercial pilot, Isabel Goyer has been flying for more than 40 years, with hundreds of different aircraft in her logbook and thousands of hours. An award-winning aviation writer, photographer and editor, Ms. Goyer led teams at Sport Pilot, Air Progress and Flying before coming to Plane & Pilot in 2015.
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