Business Jet Traveler » February 2008

Aircraft Finance 2008
February 1, 2008
Since a $10 million jet is as much work for a bank as a $40 million one, the
Uncertainty about aircraft values in the current market poses a major challenge for the companies that finance their purchase. For many new aircraft, the wait for outfitted delivery is as long as five or six years. This backlog puts a lot of pressure on the pre-owned market, where inventories for some models are at all-time lows.
In-flight culinary service
February 1, 2008
More and more business jet travelers are ‘foodies’ who expect the same qualit
Is it realistic to expect the same quality of culinary fare aboard your business jet that you enjoy at four-star restaurants? That depends on your flight attendant's cooking skills and on whether the aircraft galley is equipped to support them. But even the best airborne chefs can be stymied by the cabin environment in which they have to work.
Bayreuth
February 1, 2008
If you love opera, or even if you hate it, you’ll find plenty to enjoy in thi
"Something has taken place at Bayreuth which our grandchildren and their children will still remember," wrote composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky after attending the first performances of Wagnerian operas at the playhouse there.
Great summer trout fishing in February
February 1, 2008
The first morning out, he caught a brown trout. Almost 30 inches long. The st
A quarter mile from the Estancia del Zorro-the ranch of the fox-flows a stream my friend Brian O'Keefe calls the best spring creek he has ever fished. This is saying something. O'Keefe, who lives in the Oregon high desert, has made an enviable life of searching the world for great fishing.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp.'s Randall Greene
February 1, 2008
Randall Greene
Following in the footsteps of a successful father is rarely easy, particularly when it involves a business founded by the father. Randall Greene, now chairman, president and CEO of Safe Flight Instrument Corp., faces this challenge. His father, Leonard Greene, started the company in 1946.
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
February 1, 2008
As lateral G forces build in a turn, the car tenses its muscles for some surp
Of all the cars that say "poverty does not become me," the soft-top Roller is among the more eloquent.
Adam A700 passes cold tests
February 1, 2008
Adam Aircraft of Englewood, Colo., successfully completed initial environmental testing of its A700 very light jet at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB in Florida.
Keeping in touch with ATC
February 1, 2008
There is a wealth of meaning to be found in volume, tone of voice, timing and
Digital text messaging might be the preferred communications medium of the future, but when it comes to air traffic control (ATC), pilots and their counterparts on the ground still need a live human voice at the other end of the earphones. Texting may be fine for many forms of messages aloft, and in fact, it has been widely used for years by airlines and many business-jet operators.
California Law Taxes Fractionally Owned Aircraft
February 1, 2008
The first stone of taxation has been dropped into the lake of fractional ownership and the ripples are likely to spread. Last August, Senate Bill (SB) 87 was signed into law in California, creating a system for assessing property tax on fractionally owned aircraft for the first time in the U.S.

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Quote/Unquote

“When you get into the larger aircraft it becomes like a hotel, with dozens of staff supporting the plane based in a galley area down below. You have very comprehensive cooking facilities, and on larger aircraft we have looked at theatres, with spiral staircases and a Steinway grand piano. The limitations for what you can put inside a plane are pretty much the limits of physics, and even money cannot always overcome that. Even so, people are still always trying to push [the limits]. ”

-Howard Guy of Design Q, a UK-based consultancy