A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Finmeccanica-AugustaWestland kicked off the Farnborough Airshow by announcing added “vertical lift” to its order book:


* Japan’s Yokohama City Fire Department has ordered a second AW139 intermediate twin-engine helicopter to further advance its operational capabilities. The department received its first AW139 last year, and the second is scheduled to enter service in 2015.


* Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has placed an order for a GrandNew light twin and a W-3A Sokol intermediate twin for delivery in 2015, both to be operated by the Uganda Police to perform law enforcement missions across the nation.


* The Ministry of Defense of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has ordered two AW139 twins. Scheduled for delivery in late 2015, both helos will be operated by the Bangladesh Air Force to perform SAR and other utility missions.


* An undisclosed UK buyer has purchased an AW139 for VIP transport missions, the twin featuring a flexible interior seating up to seven passengers and a Full Icing Protection System for maximum all-weather capability.


* Turkey’s Helistar SA will operate three AW119Ke single-engine helicopters along with a same type backup to perform electricity infrastructure aerial monitoring for Teias (Turkish Electricity Transmission Co.). The helicopters have been specially configured to carry out this mission, fitted with an enhanced FLIR and camera integrated with an advanced multiple-display mission console.


AgustaWestland said the AW139 global fleet, currently numbering more than 650 aircraft, has accumulated more than 1 million flight hours in just ten years of operation.

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