INSPIRATION & ADVOCACY
NBAA-BACE 2017 Highlights
When the National Business Aviation Association held its annual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas this year, it could not have hoped for more solidarity within the business aviation community. Coming in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Marie and Nate throughout August, September and October, the convention saw an optimistic and inspired community that had demonstrated its value by actively contributing to relief flights and humanitarian efforts.
NBAA-BACE, held from 10th to 12th October at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Henderson Executive Airport (HND), also saw a business aviation community united in advocacy. Sessions tackled ways to improve safety, as well as to resist air traffic control privatization (see our story on page 110). NBAA and the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) held a charity auction event, which raised $435,000 for CAN’s mission to transport cancer patients to treatment centres.
“This year’s show was special in many ways,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen at the end of NBAA-BACE 2017. “We celebrated NBAA’s 70th anniversary, and how our industry is stronger when we work together. We gathered in the company of aviation leaders and legends, like Capt. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and Capt. Jim Lovell. We saw the launch of exciting new products, and we brought a citywide convention to Las Vegas, which the city welcomed with open arms.”
NBAA IN NUMBERS
NBAA-BACE hosted around 1,100 exhibitors, including more than 100 new exhibitors, and about 100 aircraft on static display both at HND and inside the convention centre. Participants came from all 50 US states and dozens of countries. More than 1,000 students came on the final day of the show, many of them participating in Careers in Business Aviation Day and hearing from Dreams Soar Founder and around-the-world pilot Shaesta Waiz.
70TH ANNIVERSARY
This year marked NBAA’s 70th anniversary, which was celebrated in many ways, including through a large, three-dimensional, moving “NBAA70” wall, filled with signatures from those wanting to be a part of the occasion. A “70th Anniversary Row” at HND’s aircraft display featured vintage aircraft, such as a 1946 Douglas DC-3 business aircraft.
AIRCRAFT DISPLAYS
The NBAA is an excellent platform for displaying aircraft, and this year several business jets debuted on the NBAA display
– a flight test vehicle for the Bombardier Global 7000, a fully outfitted Gulfstream G600, the Embraer Phenom 300E, and an actual Pilatus PC-24 (see our story on page 22). The ultra-long-range Bombardier Global 7000 can take 19 passengers as far as 7,400 nm (13,705 km) at a speed of Mach 0.925. Its fourth prototype was displayed at the show, and will be used for evaluating passenger experience.
The G600 is expected to enter service in 2018 or 2019, and will come with a range of 6,500 nm (12,038 km) at Mach 0.85 or 5,100 nm (9,445 km) at Mach 0.90. This is based on the performance of five flight-test aircraft, which have altogether flown more than 225 flights, accumulating more than 975 flighttest hours. The Phenom 300E is an enhanced version of Embraer’s Phenom 300, with updates mainly to the interior design. Meanwhile, the Pilatus PC-24 offers a maximum range of 1,950 nm (3,611 km) and a maximum cruise speed of 425 ktas. The manufacturer displayed the second prototype and announced that certification was imminent.
ISSUES
At NBAA’s third annual National Safety Forum, the spotlight turned towards three safety areas: fitness for duty, airport and ground handling safety, and loss of control inflight. The first was deemed a fundamental issue, as sleep deprivation and fatigue can lead to procedural lapses and increase errors. The forum put forth ways to counter fatigue, such as taking 20- to 40-minute naps, evaluating maintenance technicians after 10 hours on the job, and of course, putting a policy in place. Greg Farley of John Deere Aviation introduced NBAA’s new draft Fitness for Duty Policy.
The issue of airport and ground handling incidents, which are both frustrating and expensive, was addressed by several speakers. Also discussed were best practices to improve high-altitude wake turbulence decision-making. Other trends and concerns on the community’s mind were seen in the rest of the panel discussions and exhibits, including flight software, booking apps, and cyber security. Satcom Direct, for instance, introduced a suite of cyber security products and services.
NBAA-BACE will return to Orlando, Florida, on 16th to 18th October 2018.