Thank you for your insight regarding unpredictable and violent winds that can exist in the mountains (“Handling High Terrain Airports,” April 2013, page 46). My daughter and I encountered an event during summer 2010 while flying just west of Estes Park, Colorado. The sky was clear and nearly calm when we experienced a downdraft that exceeded 6,000 fpm. We were 3,000 ft. above the mountaintops when we entered the descending wind pattern and within 20 sec. were forced to commit to a mountainside landing.
L-3 Aviation Products announced that Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. selected the GH-3001 Electronic Standby Instrument System (ESIS), Stormscope WX-500 Lightning Detection System and the PS-885 Emergency Power Supply (EPS) for its H-60 and S-70i helicopter platforms. This follow-on award is a five-year contract that spans from 2013 through 2017. Designed with military platforms in mind, the night vision goggle (NVG)-compatible GH-3001 ESIS provides accurate attitude, altitude, airspeed and heading cues in a compact unit.
Alex Bruzzano (Chief of Safety Nebraska Air National Guard Offutt AFB, Neb. )
Thank you so much for the kind words in “The List, Please” (Viewpoint, May 2013, page 11). One small point, however. I have never been (unfortunately) a Gulfstream pilot — King Airs, Barons and TBMs have been my forte in that department. Again, thanks so much for your help. If we do get a chance to improve our checklist design I'll be sure to let you know. Chief of Safety Nebraska Air National Guard Offutt AFB, Neb.
London Gatwick Airport has reopened a helicopter landing site after a 12-year absence. Based at the end of taxiway Uniform on the west side of the airport, the helicopter aiming point (HAP) reopens after two years of feasibility discussions and joint planning between Gatwick officials and Signature Flight Support.
Just a quick one to say how much I enjoy your pieces each month and to ask that y'all not let BCA evaporate into a non-paper effort given its still-important role and the value of a paper-based magazine that does what you do.
King Schools has released a free online non-towered airport operations course designed to take customers through the paces of arrival and departure from airports without an operating control tower, and show customers how to use skillful communication together with situational awareness to help manage collision risk. “With the closing of towers at many airports, it is more critical than ever to brush up on non-towered operations. This course provides a wealth of pointers on issuing clear and professional communications,” said Martha King.
Qatar Executive, a division of Qatar Airways, has received approvals from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority to conduct base maintenance services for Bombardier Challenger 604, 605 and Global series aircraft. The business jet subsidiary can now perform heavy maintenance checks at its 6,400-sq.- meter hangar at Doha International Airport. Their licensed engineers and technicians can also be dispatched throughout the region to resolve AOG issues. The Maintenance Service Center operates 24/7. Qatar Executive Doha International Airport
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services is adding its third location in a little more than a year with the recent acquisition of development rights at Chicago Executive Airport. Hawthorne, which teamed with Moelis Capital Partners in 2010 to build a nationwide fixed-base operation (FBO) chain, closed on a deal May 6 to acquire the rights from Sovereign Development Group and hopesto begin construction later this month on a nearly 40,000-sq.-ft. terminal and hangar facility.
I have finally caught up with my reading assignment — just finished the April issue of BCA. As usual you, and your team, have assembled an informative and inspiring magazine. A joy! Your “Quick Read” (Viewpoint, page 7) launched my delight. Who else, but you, could concatenate a swap meet, a Gulfstream G650, an entrepreneur's juggernaut and Lucky's book? I realized how you do it . . . so effortlessly, so smoothly month-after-month. I paraphrase you: “Turns out young Garvey is a pilot and a poet . . .”
While Dassault's business jet deliveries dropped in the first quarter, the company expects shipments to improve throughout the year and remain on track to reach the highest total in three years. Dassault expects to deliver 70 Falcons this year, up slightly from the 66 delivered in 2012 and 63 in 2011, company executives say. As Dassault worked to certify its newest Falcon 2000 models, deliveries were down nearly 50% in the first quarter to eight, compared with 15 in the first quarter of 2012.
FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen wants to change the agency's approach to enforcement regarding minor issues, but is getting slowed by the agency's attorneys. Speaking at the recent Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association Spring Meeting, he said his office had hoped to move away from a punitive system to one that enables inspectors to help operators correct small problems before immediately jumping into an enforcement action.
“Each event is different,” Jeff Gardlin of the FAA's Transport Airplane Directorate observed concerning what can be learned from successful evacuations from stricken aircraft.
EmptyLegMarket, an online marketplace for empty-leg flights, launched a mobile version of its website. The mobile website has the same listings that are on the full version of the company's website, however the mobile version has been optimized for viewing on various mobile devices.
Embraer has received both FAA and Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) clearances for installation of its Prodigy Touch flight deck aboard the Phenom 300. NetJets is launching the new flight deck aboard the Phenom, and Embraer is offering the suite as an option for other Phenom 300 aircraft beginning in the fourth quarter. Based on the Garmin G3000 platform, the Prodigy Touch incorporates touch-screen technology with automation designed for single-pilot operation.
Jamie McIntyre (President Romeo Oscar Inc. Montreal, Canada )
I just finished “Quick Read” (Viewpoint, April 2013). I also have a copy of We and started and finished it a few weeks ago. I, too, was amazed at the matter-of-fact recall of the Atlantic voyage, as well as the lack of detail in getting his aeroplane designed and built (“. . . and then I flew it to Paris. . . .”). Your copy must be in terrific shape — mine is marked less than a tenner, and includes a jacket. President Romeo Oscar Inc. Montreal, Canada
The Southwest Airlines flight had been uneventful, but shortly after the Boeing 737 touched down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 8, 2009, the right main landing gear's inboard wheel and brake assembly separated from the aircraft. The pilots managed to taxi the jetliner off the runway and onto a taxiway where all 142 occupants deplaned. Airfield crews recovered the sizeable broken components that upon examination revealed fatigue cracking emanating from the brake mounting bolt-hole.
Aircraft Electronics Association, Lee's Summit, Mo., has appointed Kevin Bruce, who is the director of airworthiness and quality for Diamond Aircraft, as the new regulatory consultant for Canada.
There now are 260+ Phenom 100 aircraft in service. The aircraft went through some teething pains as first deliveries began in December 2008, but operators say it has evolved into a highly reliable means of business transportation in the last 30 months.
California's Santa Monica Airport is more than doubling its aircraft landing fees of $2.07 certified maximum gross landing weight per 1,000 lb. to $5.48 beginning Aug. 1. The fees will be applied both to transient and based aircraft. City officials say the airfield side is not self-sustaining and has tapped into the city's general fund for an estimated $13.3 million in capital improvement projects. The fee increases, they say, will be used to put the airport in the black and pay for its upkeep.
Long known for its high-performance single-engine civil and military turboprops, Pilatus Aircraft is entering an entirely new segment with the PC-24, its largest civil aircraft yet and powered by twin Williams FJ44-4A turbofans. Unveiled at the European Business Aircraft Convention and Exposition in Geneva in May, the pressurized aircraft has a cabin larger than the PC-12, but like that single will be able to operate from unimproved strips. With a 3435 lbst takeoff rating, the FJ44 engines are expected to deliver a cruise speed in excess of 400 kt.
Becoming a professional aircraft maintenance technician is a long and difficult process. The price is also very high. Many of us struggled for years to save enough money to afford A&P School, or gave years of our lives serving in the military. Many did both. But earning that license was just the price of admission, an opportunity to get your foot in the door. Finding that all-important first job was the next hurdle.
There's been a lot of e-chatter lately concerning the place of pilots in aviation's future. The sentiments expressed celebrate the good old days when pilots, not engineers, were in charge and when the men at the controls were rugged individualists. In following these messages, it seems the fabled Pan American China Clippers were flown by pilots with “the right stuff.”
Initial and recurrent training programs for the Phenom 300 got off to a strong start in 2009 at Embraer CAE Training Services (ECTS) near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). But some operators complained that when several key leaders left the joint venture, the quality of training programs nosedived. Classrooms were crowded, instructor knowledge was checkered, sim schedules were packed 24 hr. per day and customers encountered substantial scheduling delays.
Beechcraft hopes to sell most of its jet programs by midyear. Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said earlier this year that the programs have attracted a fair amount of interest and recently told Wichita reporters that he expects a bidding process to begin shortly. Options exist for the programs, ranging from a support organization buying the lines to maintain the existing fleet, to a manufacturing operation purchasing them to bring them back into production.
