Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Tamarack Aerospace’s Cessna CitationJet equipped with active winglet technology made an unofficial distance record-breaking trip from Sandpoint, Idaho, to Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., on the night of June 4. The journey was to display the winglet-equipped CJ at the NBAA Business Aviation Regional Forum in White Plains, N.Y.
The nonstop 1,853-nm flight burned 2,968 pounds of fuel, landing with reserves of 472 pounds (enough for more than 45 minutes’ flight time) after flying for six hours and 16 minutes. The highest altitude reached was 41,000 feet. The CJ experienced a slight tailwind during the flight, and block fuel burn was 479 pounds per hour. The official record–flown in 2006–for the CJ’s weight classification is 1,805 nm. 
Tamarack’s CJ is equipped with the company’s active-technology load alleviation system (Atlas) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyrhrXyuEnM">active winglet</a> system. Atlas employs a Tamarack active control surface (Tacs) actuator mounted near each winglet, and the actuator drives small moveable surfaces mounted outboard on the wing trailing edge, near the winglets, that move to counteract and alleviate the load on the wing. The result is a much lower bending moment on the wing, allowing addition of winglets without having to beef up wing structure and thus achieving more efficient flight characteristics. 
“We’ve been planning this trip for a long time,” said Tamarack president Nick Guida. The company is taking orders for the Atlas modification and plans to certify it on all CitationJet models through the CJ3 in about a year. The CJ mod adds less than 50 pounds to the airframe and about two feet to each wing, but the more efficient wing allows carriage of one additional passenger with full fuel. 
Tamarack’s CJ was flown by Guida and carried full fuel and three adult passengers and baggage, for a total payload of about 800 pounds. Maximum weight was just under 10,700 pounds, which is higher than this CJ’s normal 10,400-pound mtow. “We took off a little heavy,” said Guida, “but we were flying within the experimental operating procedures we have established with the FAA. Besides, being heavy made it more of an achievement. We were flying a CJ loaded like a CJ1+, but we climbed a lot faster and flew a lot farther than either one would normally go without active winglets. We had predicted that our active winglets could provide substantial improvements to the CitationJet in terms of range and endurance, so it’s not a surprise to us to see performance like this. But it’s definitely an accomplishment, and we are all proud of it.”
The CJ active winglet system will cost $196,000. Guida pointed out that CJ/CJ1 prices are about $1.5 million, less than half the cost of a $3 million-plus CJ2. “We just demonstrated a 2.3-percent increase in range over a CJ2,” he said. “With our active winglets we’ve taken a CJ and out-performed a CJ2, and we’ve saved about $1.5 million in the process.”

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

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News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

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