Small Airport FBO Free Newsletter…
for Private Aircraft Pilots & Owners from Business Aircraft Center,
Danbury Municipal Airport, CT
Business Aircraft Center’s free newsletter features news for the private aircraft community. Located at Danbury Municipal Airport in Connecticut, Business Aircraft Center presents the latest on our fly-ins, events, specials, discounts, and issues that are important to the private aircraft community, the newsletter covers news and items of interest about our airport FBO.
Flying Missions for Heroes
This August, Pilot Andre Bohy, a key member of our BAC “family” related his involvement with Veteran’s Airlift Command (VAC) and the heartwarming mission he flew to help a wounded veteran reunite with her family. This volunteer organization of pilots fly wounded Iraq and Afghanistan service members and their families to and from hospitals and special events, when they would otherwise be unable to afford the airfare on their own.
VAC was contacted by Major Yvonne Heib, an active duty Army Operating Nurse who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four times throughout her 15 year Army career. Last January, just two days before her latest Afghanistan deployment was completed, Major Heib was wounded during a mortar attack that exploded 6 feet away from her. Her numerous injuries rendered her unable to perform her nursing duties and she is currently assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion and stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. She was injured on her right hand, received shrapnel to both legs, chest, right arm, and head and suffered permanent nerve damage to her left leg. She has so far undergone 5 surgeries and there are more to come.
With her numerous surgeries, Major Heib had not been able to visit her family since her return stateside. She contacted the VAC to request air transportation so that she could attend her niece’s wedding on August 21st. In addition, she wanted to surprise her oldest brother who was celebrating his 50th birthday that same weekend. She and her brother were always close and he was quite shaken up when he heard of his sister’s injuries.
Andre Bohy, who is based out of Business Aircraft Center volunteered to fly out of Danbury airport for the mission, pick her up at Fort Bragg, and fly her to Enid, Oklahoma for the wedding and return her afterwards. The trip consisted of a total of 3,000 nautical miles in his Bonanza F33A. Bohy is also is president of New York-based Omni Financial and explained, “Our company does business with the military and this is our way of giving back to them.” This was his first flight for the VAC but he plans on working with them whenever he is called on for years to come. “Personally, as a pilot, I enjoy the satisfaction that comes from giving back to the men and women who have been injured on front lines while protecting our freedoms."
The Veterans Airlift Command provides free air transportation to wounded warriors, veterans and their families for medical and other compassionate purposes through a national network of volunteer aircraft owners and pilots. For more information about the VAC, visit their website at veteransarlift.org.
To view news videos of this event, visit these sites:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8144754/
http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/sandhills/629377/volunteers-reunite-wounded-warriors-with-families
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Breaking Down the FAA’s Three-Year Life-Limit Rule
On July 20th, the FAA filed its final ruling on “Re-Registration and Renewal of Aircraft Registration.” This new rule will impact the entire private aircraft industry and confusion abounds. This rule will terminate the registration of all aircraft registered before October 1, 2010, and will require the re-registration of each aircraft in order to retain U.S. civil aircraft status. These amendments establish a system for a 3-year expiration and renewal of registration every three years for all aircraft issued registration certificates on or after October 1, 2010.
The database compiled from an estimated hundreds of thousands of newly registered aircraft will be used by the FAA to determine ownership in response to an overdue flight or report of a downed aircraft. Law enforcement and other government agencies use the database for their own purposes.
For more information on this new regulation, we recommend reading this article "Understanding The FAA's New Aircraft Re-Registration And Renewal Requirements" on GlobalAir.com.
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Fly Safely
Last month, there were a particularly high number of small aircraft crashes throughout the US. While there was no single factor that contributed to this spike (pilot error, weather, etc.) we’d like to stress the importance of keeping your plane well serviced and maintained. BAC and Danbury Aviation take your safety seriously, and provide expert full-service maintenance including inspections, repairs and modifications provided onsite by Master Aviation, Inc. Our service center is open seven days a week from 7:45am to 7:00pm.
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A Salute to the 2010 Citation Special Olympics Airlift Pilots
 This past week, Cessna coordinated its 6th Annual Special Olympics Airlift, transporting 2,000 athletes to and from the Special Olympics US National Games in Lincoln, NE. It has become the largest peacetime airlift in the world, and we salute the Citation pilots who volunteered and enabled these special athletes the opportunity to go for the gold. For more information, visit www.airlift.cessna.com.
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New Ownership Brings Improvements to BAC
In March, Business Aircraft Center was purchased by Tango Yankee, LLC, owned and operated by Lynda and Santo Silvestro of New Canaan, CT. Since then, the couple has been busy with renovations, planning fun Fly-Ins, lowering jet fuel prices, and providing frequent customers with a new program to help them save with “Corporate Crew Rewards.”
Now BAC customers can earn great rewards. With every 500 gallons of Jet Fuel purchased at BAC, you’ll receive a $50 American Express Gift Card and free use of a courtesy car for local transportation. Not only does BAC have the lowest jet fuel prices in the NY Tri-State area, you can earn rewards to enjoy anything you’d like, including all the fine dining and shopping Danbury has to offer.
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Corporate Jets Do Not Equate to Corporate Greed
The industry is fighting back. During the height of the recession, corporate jet travel was vilified, becoming the poster child for what was wrong with the economy, at least according to certain congress members who pointed it out during the car company bail-out hearings. However, according to an article in Forbes, the industry is working to educate the consumer as to why it’s not always a luxury, but it is also a necessity for many businesses.
In what has become the dramatic quote of the time, Rep. Gary Ackerman told Detroit’s CEOs in November 2008, "It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo." Unfortunately that public opinion has had a very negative, direct affect on the industry. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported that for the first three quarters of 2009, there was a sharp 37.8% drop in sales from the same period a year before.
The industry “has been working to educate consumers, executives and especially Capitol Hill — on why the corporate jet is not just a luxury for the few, but a necessity for business,” Forbes reported. Also working hard to change public opinion is the National Business Aviation Association, which campaigns to explain how essential business aviation is to our nation's economy and transportation industry. They have brought to the forefront the importance of the jobs created from corporate aviation, especially in those areas with little or no airline service. Many lawmakers have been surprised to learn that 85% of private air travelers are from small and mid-sized companies, and almost 75% that travel are middle managers, most of which are trying to visit three or five cities in a single day.
If you would like more information about the campaign to educate the public and lawmakers about the benefits of saving an estimated 1.2 million private aviation jobs visit General Aviation Serves America.
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