Sam, Author at Private Jets For Sale

Why Families with Children Should Always Fly Private

June 19, 2015

Traveling commercial can be stressful enough — but add pregnancy and/or children into the mix and it can reach new levels of complication. Most scheduled flights won’t allow a pregnant woman to travel after 36 weeks and they can even require a ‘safe to travel’ medical waiver after 28 weeks. Who needs that level of attention?

Private jet operators generally follow slightly more flexible guidelines and can offer flights at later stages with a doctor’s permission. That said, the benefits of flying by private jet while pregnant extend far beyond the privacy intrusion and include the ability to:

avoid standing in long security lines
enjoy greater cabin and seating space
fully recline the seats and even beds

If flying pregnant isn’t hard enough, flying with children can be equally difficult. Baby food, baby milk, and children’s medication can be taken on board a private aircraft without the TSA scrutiny, and special food can usually be provided when required. Passport details are no longer a last-minute surprise because they are worked out in advance before the flight.

Other features that make flying with children on a private jet a no-brainer include:

ability to adjust the temperature
sitting close to your child
avoiding close proximity of too many people during flu season
on-board entertainment systems that meet your child’s needs (not the needs of everyone on board)
option of crafting your own menu

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you can avoid the disapproval of others that inevitably occurs when you mix even the most well behaved children with adults who are less than supportive of parents. If your toddler does throw a fit, you are free to handle the situation without fear of scrutiny from other passengers.

Traveling with your family should be a fun, stress-free experience. Flying private can make it easier to get where you need to go without the worry that comes with traveling with children.

Contact L & L International if you need assistance in purchasing or selling a private jet.
You can reach our sales specialists today at sales@L-Lint.com, call us any time at +1.305.754.3313, or visit us online.

Messages In the Sky: The Skywriting Trend Resurges

June 17, 2015

When messages started showing up in the sky above New Orleans in late April, the public was baffled, intrigued, and above all else — delighted. Turns out, a New Orleans businessman named Frank Scurlock, hired Kentucky-based skywriter Nathan Hammond to ‘paint’ the cheery and uplifting messages in the sky as random act of kindness.

Over 10 days of gorgeous weather, Hammond and Scurlock colluded over conference calls to determine the content and location of each day’s positive messages (three times a day). The messages spelled out “LOVE”, “FREEDOM”, “RELAX”, and true to the heart of New Orleans, “JAZZ”. Smiley faces and hearts also appeared in the sky.

A long history

Skywriting, originally called ‘smoke casting,’ first appeared in 1922 when a pilot demonstrated writing a phone number in the air over Times Square. Operators at the hotel that owned the phone number received nearly 50,000 calls in three hours as the number floated across the sky. While skywriting is a rare art these days, it was considered the pinnacle of advertising less than a century ago. The technique is relatively simple, but it takes a significant amount of skill to do well. Engine-heated paraffin oils are mixed with the plane’s exhaust to produce fluffy streams that expert pilots can loop and turn to spell letters and shapes on the canvas of the sky.

Today’s skywriting pilots are allowed to fly at level altitude while skywriting, and they turn off their radios to pay attention to their art, communicating only with local air traffic control. A message has to be pointed in the right direction, positioned correctly in relation to the wind, and of course spelled correctly.

Why the skywriting over New Orleans? Frank Scurlock seems to be a true Good Samaritan. According to his co-worker Charla Miller, the man behind the message was concerned with the increased violence as of late and wanted to remind people that good exists. Turns out, that sentiment runs in the family —Scurlock’s father is credited with inventing the bouncy house!

Reports indicate that the bill for the skywriting has been over $20,000 so far, but Hammond recently hinted he would be decorating the sky over Baton Rouge once again sometime soon. So keep your eyes on the sky to see what new delights skywriting will bring.

Are Shape-Changing Wings the Future of Aviation?

June 10, 2015

It’s not a complete reinvention of the aircraft wing, but it comes close. NASA researchers partnered with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Ann Arbor, Michigan private tech firm FlexSys, Inc. on an innovative project. This team has proved once more that small changes to aircraft design can make big changes in fuel efficiency.

According to NASA, the new wing will save millions of dollars in fuel costs every year. The plane wing can change shape in flight with a flexible edge that moves with more finesse than the traditional hinged flaps. Essentially, the flexible wing is designed to operate a full range of positions during flight, similar to the flight of a bird.

A conventional wing design includes a number of mechanical parts: slats, air brakes, ailerons, and other parts add weight and drag. In many instances, that drag is one contributing reason a plane’s speed is slowed as it lands. The new, flexible edge of this wing design still allows for the flaps to angle down to increase the size of the wing and drag, but the mechanics inside the aircraft pull to contort the wing’s surface instead, promising a more aerodynamic effect and greater fuel savings.

The Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge wing design (otherwise known as ‘sharklet’) installed on some Airbus planes, for example, can save up to 4% in fuel. In addition to improving aerodynamic efficiency, it significantly reduces the noise generated during takeoff and landings — a change certain to be joyfully welcomed around the globe.

What’s next? NASA is reportedly working on next generation aircraft tail designs with the same intention of delivering fast improvements with relatively small design shifts. Aviation is once again proving they lead the pack in environmentally conscious design, and years of research and innovation are finally starting to pay off.

Creating a Better World: Reducing Aircraft Emissions in Aviation

June 3, 2015

June 5, 2015 is World Environment Day, started by the U.N. and celebrated by over 100 countries worldwide. Individuals and companies are investing more heavily in areas of environmental responsibility and sustainability. While aviation pollution rates (689 million tonnes of CO2 in 2012, around 2% of the global total) pale in comparison to the amount of carbon released into our earth’s atmosphere from other sources, we all recognize that aviation is a catalyst for growth. We’re leaders in promoting sustainable development. We believe that aviation should be affordable and accessible to ensure mobility to all sectors of society.

Taking on the challenge

Scientists, aircraft engineers, and many others in the aviation industry are challenged by the dream of reducing carbon emissions and increasing fuel efficiency from aircraft. In 2010 the ICAO Assembly adopted some innovative and challenging goals for the aviation industry including a global annual fuel efficiency improvement of 2% up to 2020 followed by improvement rates of 2% per year after.

Currently, a number of efforts are underway to bring about change, including:

A very exciting zero-emission airplane powered by the energy of the sun. Developed by Spanish designer Oscar Vinals, the triple-decked aircraft could carry up to 800 passengers and offer more space than a standard commercial airplane, with room for private rooms, shops, and restaurants. It would also be noiseless, as solar panels on the room and wings provide the ultra light plane with the fuel it needs to fly rather than a noisy engine (predicted in 2030).
NASA has been researching how to make aircraft lighter and reduce drag. One recent NASA project is the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project that explores new vehicle design concepts and takes to the air to test them. Some of the challenges worked on with this project include innovating flow control for drag reduction, advancing composite materials for weight reduction, and advancing engine designs for noise and fuel consumption reduction.
NASA is also involved with a number of biofuel concepts and working on research designed to determine whether biofuels can reduce soot and carbon emissions from aircraft. It found that when a biofuel blend was used in place of standard jet fuel, soot emissions from a DC-8 were reduced by 50%.

Achieving these goals will take strong commitment from all stakeholders. We all live in this world and we are responsible for taking care of it. As bizav works towards creating a safer, healthier world, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating World Environment Day this week!

Is Frequent Flying Bad for Your Health?

May 27, 2015

Traveling the world, visiting an exciting new location every day, seeing the world from 40,000 feet about the ground … sounds like a dream, right? But pilots and flight crews face risks that other occupations often do not.

Numerous studies have linked health conditions to frequent flying. From increased exposure to UV rays and cosmic radiation to deteriorating eyesight, those who fly often must take extra measures to protect themselves from health risks. If you are a pilot, on a flight crew, or fly very frequently, you could be at risk for any of these conditions.

Skin Cancer — Airplane windshields are made of polycarbonate plastic or multi-layer composite glass and do not completely block UV-A or UB-B ultraviolet radiation. Thus, airline pilots have a higher risk of skin cancer — as high as twice the risk for melanoma in the general population. Consider this fact: Flying for just an hour at 30,000 feet is equivalent to 20 minutes on a tanning bed. In addition, UV exposure levels could be higher when pilots are flying over thick clouds and snow due to the reflection. Cosmic radiation exposure is also a significant concern because women who pilot and crew aircraft are 30% more likely to develop breast cancer.

What can pilots and flight attendants do? Wear sunscreen every time you fly and reapply it often. Also be sure to get regular wellness exams.

Deteriorating Vision — Good eyesight is essential for pilots operating aircraft. While natural aging brings gradual changes in the structure of a person’s eyes and to their quality of vision, those changes appear to happen more rapidly for frequent flyers. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health retrospectively examined the visual performance of over 3,000 regional and air-taxi pilots as recorded in their aeromedical certification records filed with the FAA. According to the study, 419 of the 3,019 pilots had serious vision problems, including corneal problems, glaucoma, and cataracts.

What can pilots do? Keep up with regular eye exams because early detection is the key to controlling the decline in your vision. Wear protective eye wear whenever outside and consume plenty of carotene-rich foods like carrots.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) — In recent years, DVT has received increased coverage partly due to some high-profile deaths of airline passengers. It turns out that the risk is also quite high for pilots, whereas flight attendants, who move about the cabin quite a lot, are not at as high a risk. Dubbed ‘economy class syndrome’ for its potential effects on air travelers forced into cramped spaces with limited mobility, DVT is just as deadly for pilots who cannot move about a cramped cockpit to exercise their lower limbs and reduce the risk of blood clots in the legs.

What can pilots do? Get regular workouts and keep your weight in check. Stand when you can and stretch and wriggle your legs and feet when you can’t. Movement is the key to preventing DVT.

Being proactive about health both on and off an aircraft can counteract the negative health risks caused by frequent flying.

Upcycling Gives New Life to Old Airline Interior Fixtures

May 20, 2015

What happens when you decide that it’s time to update the interior of your private jet? Specifically, what happens with the materials leftover from your old seats and fixtures?

This is a question commercial airlines are asking themselves as they renovate their aircraft. Many of these companies have begun donating materials that would have been discarded to organizations that can put them to good use. In a dramatic move towards upcycling (or turning waste materials into new products to minimize environmental effects), aircraft materials are being given a second life through innovation and creativity.

Here are a few of our favorite examples:

Working with Russell Brands, an American manufacturer of sports equipment, Boeing is helping to create protective athletic gear out of carbon fiber left over from production of the B787 Dreamliner. The aerospace-grade carbon fiber is very thin and offers extremely high strength for its weight. It provides improved durability over average materials, turning old junk into shoulder pads to protect college football players.

After redesigning 450 aircraft in their B737 fleet, Southwest Airlines found a truly creative way to reuse their leftover leather seat covers — all 80,000 of them! With 32 football fields’ worth of leather, the executives of Southwest looked around and decided to team up with several groups. Among them was Alive & Kicking Kenya, a training program for young adults that has already used the repurposed leather to create over 1,000 soccer balls. They also turned over some of the leather to Life Beads Kenya, a training program for women and people with disabilities to make bags and wallets. Southwest gave more leather to Looptworks, a Portland, Oregon-based upcycler that makes stylish duffel and tote bags and other items from the recycled materials.

The Supersized Salvage television show worked alongside Arizona’s AvAir and Sycamore Aviation to complete a big upcycling project and raise money for a children’s cancer charity. They upcycled every piece of a plane, including the external shell and the interior fixtures, into new, sellable items. Some of the items created were chairs and sofas made from the curved edge of the plane’s wings, children’s toy boxes repurposed from overhead lockers, and nesting boxes for birds that were fashioned out of air ducts. The challenge sold all the pieces for a combined total of £44,000.

A new startup called Stu-Art Aviation Furniture, founded by an airplane engineer, has begun creating unique furniture designs from old airplane parts. Stuart Abbott began making and selling furniture out of his garage about two years ago. His first piece was an office chair crafted from a recycled airline seat, which sold within an hour after being listed online. His designs since have proven to be just as popular.

All of these examples prove that with just a little imagination, leftover aircraft parts can easily be recycled into new products with a life of their own.

Expatriate Pilots Seek Better Opportunities Overseas

May 13, 2015

For American pilots, moving to different countries for their job can mean big opportunity — and an even bigger paycheck.

The 2014 Boeing Pilot and Technician Outlook projected a need for 533,000 new commercial airline pilots worldwide for the next 20 years to meet industry demand. But U.S. flight schools currently produce only a quarter of the commercial airline pilots needed. With increased hours for first-officer qualification and thousands of dollars invested in flight training, only to be met with a meager salary and years of work to put in before there is any chance of a promotion to first captain, it’s not surprising that fewer Americans are inclined to follow this career track.

Greater opportunities abroad

But American pilots willing to move to different countries can now garner big pay increases and greater opportunities. In China, an Airbus A319 or A302 captain can earn a starting pay of $290,000 (with bonuses and allowances) compared the $110,000 or so they can make in the U.S.

Opportunities for quick advancement are also more abundant overseas., In Vietnam, a first captain can graduate to the role of captain in as little as one to two years. Other Asia-Pacific countries, such as China, South Korea, Japan, and India, are experiencing some of the highest demand for expat pilots because only a small portion of their own population has the skill or training to fill the role. This trend is a common one worldwide: Africa needs 725 new pilots every year and Russia, 525.

It’s not all roses and dollars, however. American pilots who take international jobs have other difficulties to contend with; specifically, the IRS tax rules that require individuals to record how much money they have earned in every jurisdiction. The U.S. government does not count money earned in international waters as foreign income, but U.S. pilots still pay federal income tax for the amount they earn in national waters. Lack of clarity leads some accountants to say that ‘international waters’ begins three miles off the coast while others say 200 miles offshore. Meanwhile, pilots are expected to keep track of every entry and exit to ensure accuracy — a similar requirement of anyone who works on a cruise ship, in the merchant marine, or coast guard, in fact.

Still, the obstacles aren’t holding many pilots back. American pilots are still relocating in droves to accept high-paying positions in foreign territories and letting their accountants figure out the math.

Bizav Recovery Projected in China for 2017

May 6, 2015

Things are starting to look up for business aviation in China as industry analysts expect an increase in business in 2015.

Having only recently been introduced to Chinese markets, business aircraft sales have already been a roller-coaster ride as economic and political factors wreak havoc on the industry’s stability. A peak in 2009 with robust sales of large-cabin jets lead to a recent trough, which combined with the country’s slowing economy and austerity measures to slow orders of business jets of all sizes. Now, things are starting to look up for business aviation in China.

Many of China’s wealthy buyers have had strong reasons to keep a low profile in the past, while their government pursued corrupt officials as part of an anti-luxury movement. Despite the increase in wealth in the country — with the number of billionaires in China projected to increase to over 1,000 in 2017 — buyers were quick to back down from their intended purchases of aircraft when they became a symbol of excessive wealth.

In 2012 strong optimism prompted expectations for the number of business aircraft in China to grow by 30% between 2011 and 2015. Unfortunately, in 2014, customer orders decreased by half compared to the prior year and expectations were foiled.

But as the number of Chinese business jet order numbers continue to steadily climb in 2015, the industry hopes there will be stronger economic movement. In the past year, the Shanghai Composite Index nearly doubled, reaching a seven-year high.

For the time, Chinese politics have cooled off and the government has begun to encourage companies in China to invest abroad. There is hope that long-range private aircraft will be considered valuable business tools instead of needless luxury items.

There is also a growing presence of international aviation business in China. Textron Aviation’s Cessna Aircraft division recently formed a joint venture with China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. — a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China — to launch charter and business aviation management services in the country next year. The Wichita-based aircraft innovator, which includes Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker aircraft brands, sees China as an emerging market important to future growth.

Experts are watching the recent upturn in the Chinese market as a sign that indicates worldwide business aviation is on the rise once more.

3 Tips for Safer, Healthier Travels

April 29, 2015

ThinkstockPhotos-78718889 Sending employees abroad for a quick trip or assignment is an essential part of doing everyday business for many organizations, so much so that frequent business travel has become essential to thriving in a global economy. If you, or your employees, travel a lot on behalf of your business — both in the U.S. and abroad — it’s your legal responsibility to ensure their health and safety.

Many countries around the world have comprehensive legislation protecting business travelers, and Duty of Care legislation has become an increasingly hot topic in the corporate travel world. It holds companies liable for protecting the health and safety of their employees who need to travel for business purposes. Failure to comply comes with a range of legal and financial consequences. In Germany, for example, the liability for health-related costs extends beyond the traveling employee to family members who may be visiting the business traveler.

What’s the concern?

In some situations, the very act of traveling can be risky for an individual’s health. The CDC recently exposed how traveling can be an expensive health risk, and brought some scary statistics to light:

For every 100,000 travelers visiting a developing country, 50,000 will develop a health problem abroad.
A course of hospitalized treatment for malaria can be as high as $25,000 or more.
The cost of an emergency medical evacuation can be as high as $250,000.

How frequent business travel affects your health

Research conducted by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that people who travel often for business are less likely to be healthy than those who travel infrequently. Using the health records of 13,000 people from corporate wellness programs, researchers discovered that those on the road at least two weeks every month had:

Higher body mass index — a key indicator of weight issues
Higher blood pressure
Less ‘good’ cholesterol

In addition, the frequent travelers consistently rated their own health as ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ three times more often than light travelers did, showing their perception of health was also lower than average.

What you can do

When you and/or your employees travel often, having the right resources to stay safe and healthy is key. Here’s what you can do:

Get educated on preventative health care while on the road. This means not only knowing how to find quality health care facilities, but also how to implement healthy habits of exercise, sleep, and clean food and water on the road.
Get the right vaccinations well ahead of the trip, and ensure that you and your employees have access to the medications needed to prevent health emergencies while traveling.
Put well-coordinated emergency procedures in place to ensure that every employee understands what to do in a health emergency. This should include having business travel insurance in place to protect your employees should a travel emergency arise.

As any business owner knows, the safety of you and your employees should always come first. Taking the necessary steps and providing the right education to traveling employees is essential. Being proactive about health and knowing what to do in an emergency can keep your company clear of legal and financial liability as well as ensuring that your employees remain on the job and healthy.

First Step of NextGen Mandates May Ground Hundreds of Aircraft

April 22, 2015

ThinkstockPhotos-78769906 You may have heard that the federal government has been working on a next-generation air traffic control system, but this may surprise you: private aircraft owners are already beginning to see the proposed changes take form. Last July, NASA presented the FAA with new software to better manage space between in-flight aircraft and reduce the number of course and altitude adjustments pilots traditionally have to make. It was also believed to improve communication between air traffic controllers and pilots, fuel savings, airplane flow at busy airports, and safety.

The NextGen integration efforts have begun with the mandatory installation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B Out, on all aircraft requiring a Mode C transponder by January 1, 2020. ADS-B Out equips aircraft with GPS systems that communicate airspeed, altitude, and location to ground stations and other nearby aircraft. The FAA admits that this requirement will not make a significance change in safety, but claims it is necessary to advance NextGen.

Unfortunately, ADS-B Out comes with a high cost and a lack of certified solutions. The current cost of installing ADS-B Out equipment is $5,000 or $6,000 at minimum, creating a significant barrier for many general aviation operators. And with a large portion of the general aviation fleet valued at $40,000 or less, many aircraft owners would be spending as much as 10-25% of their aircraft value on a single piece of equipment.

The high cost combined with a lack of clear benefits to the operators means a great deal of resistance to the change and reluctance to take action until conditions improve. As of the end of 2014, the FAA estimates that only 10% of the general aviation fleet has been properly equipped. Others have appealed to the FAA to play a more active role in getting less expensive technology tested and approved.

A joint letter from 14 general aviation groups, representing thousands of aircraft owners, was sent in January to Michael Huerta, FAA Administrator. The letter outlined general support for universal participation in ADS-B Out but acknowledged the concerns of the aircraft owners they represent. With so many private aircraft owners resisting the changes due to cost, here’s to hoping for a solution that helps everyone meet the mandate and move one step closer to safer skies.

Author: Sam