Insta Etch's etch2000 professional parts marking system is a custom stencil design smartphone app based on Android and BlackBerry operating systems. It wirelessly prints a pre-programmed or user-designed stencil to a handheld Bluetooth printer. Using simple electrochemical solutions and these precision stencils, metal parts and tools can be permanently marked with IDs and serial numbers (or logo images and data matrix barcodes) while on the manufacturing line or in the field.
Gulfstream Aerospace has enrolled more than 140 aircraft in its Flight Operations Risk Management Service (FORMS) program, providing operators access to data that has been proven to reduce hazards in airline operations and is now migrating to business aviation. FORMS, Gulfstream's Flight Operations Quality/Assurance/Flight Data Management (FOQA/FDM) program, is modeled after airline programs that have become widely used to analyze operational data and improve flight training.
Excellent article about the latency of cockpit-displayed Nexrad data (“Cause & Circumstance, August 2012). Equally important, though, is for pilots to realize that the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP) used to display precipitation data to Center controllers can be equally latent and should not be relied upon to obtain vectors that “thread the needle” between large convective cells. (Tracon weather displays more closely approximate real-time conditions.) Keep up the good work.
Argus July 2012 TRAQPak data show business aircraft activity flat month-over-month, and year-over-year. TRAQPak data indicate that July 2012 business aircraft flight activity decreased from June 2012 at 1.1% overall. The results by operational category were all down from the previous month, with the exception of fractional activity, which posted a month-over-month increase of 3.3%. Operational categories: FAR Part 91, down 2.4%; Part 135, down 1.0%; fractional, up 3.3%.
GKN Aerospace has won a contract from Triumph Aerostructures to design, build and supply composite winglets and ailerons for the Bombardier Global 7000 and Global 8000 ultra-long-range business jets. The ailerons will be developed and manufactured at GKN Aerospace's Munich wing structures operation, with the winglets work conducted by the GKN team on the Isle of Wight, U.K.
Four months after announcing its new executive jet service center in Brazil, Embraer broke ground at Bertram Luiz Leupolz airport in Sorocaba. The 216,000-sq.-ft. site will include hangars, VIP lounges, meeting rooms and crew living quarters, as well as administrative offices. This facility will offer maintenance, repair and overhaul and FBO services. The opening is expected in the second half of 2013.
Constant Aviation LLC has opened a landing gear repair and overhaul facility at its Birmingham, Ala., location. The facility will begin servicing Beechjet 400A/XP landing gear and expand to include the Embraer Legacy 600 and Hawker 800A/XP aircraft in the coming months. With an initial investment of about $500,000 in tooling, equipment and inventory, the facility is fully functional and delevered its first set of overhauled landing gear in late June, according to Stephen Maiden, president of Constant Aviation. Constant Aviation
In July, Manassas Regional Airport (HEF), Virginia's largest regional airport, began construction to extend its longest runway by an extra 500 ft., to 6,200 ft. The five-phase project is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2012. In the meantime, runway length availability will be reduced to 5,000 ft., with a threshold displacement of 700 ft. In the last 30 days, there will be a further reduction to 4,700 ft. Check NOTAMs.
Breitling is offering its star model, the Chronomat 41 Limited, in a 2,000-piece limited series that will appeal more strongly than ever to enthusiasts of the original design, says the company. The original and generous lines of the steel case are enhanced by all-polished finishes, as are the bracelet and rotating bezel. The watch is water-resistant to 200 meters (660 ft.). Breitling www.breitling.com
In July, Eclipse Aerospace announced the Brazilian Type Certificate Validation of the Total Eclipse twin-Engine Jet. Over the last fifteen months EAI worked with the Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) to certify the EA500 and the Eclipse Avio integrated flight management system. Eclipse also offers the Eclipse 550, a new production version of the Total Eclipse. The Eclipse 550 is scheduled for first deliveries in mid-2013.
Gulfstream Aerospace has opened its first factory service center in Latin America in Sorocaba, Brazil. The Sorocaba facility, 97 km from São Paulo, has a 24,000-sq.-ft. hangar that can accommodate a mix of four to six large- and mid-cabin aircraft, and also includes 8,000-sq.-ft. of office space and a 3,000-sq.-ft. bonded parts warehouse. It is certified to perform maintenance, repairs and alterations on all Brazil-registered Gulfstream aircraft and can also service U.S.-registered Gulfstreams with FAA-certified technicians.
The NBAA commended President Barack Obama for signing the “Pilot's Bill of Rights” legislation intended to provide greater protections and transparency for pilots facing federal enforcement action. The measure (S.1335) was first introduced in the Senate in July 2011 by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska). Similar legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Missouri Republican Sam Graves and Illinois Democrat Dan Lipinski.
Perhaps as the GWX design is firmed up and growth models are introduced, something will be added, making the identification of extreme intensity precipitation simple. In the meantime, here are a couple pilot's tricks to identify those “worse than bad” thunderstorms.
Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS) announced its Technical Publications and Customer Support Directories are available in the Apple App Store. The Technical Publications app is available for use with an IPad and requires the user to visit www.hawkerbeechcraft.com to create a user ID and password. The GCS Directory application is compatible with the iPhone and does not require login credentials. In addition to downloadable flight manuals, the Technical Publications app will include maintenance manuals for current production and supported aircraft.
Where can I get some special overalls with a .45 and sawed off shotgun and a Bubba to go with? I was at my Mini dealer reading “Bona Fide Security Programs” (Point of Law, August 2012), when I laughed so loud the other customers took notice and thought I was crazy. Loved it! You had to have died laughing when you wrote it. President JetSeat LLC (www.jetseatllc.com)
Are you determined to land your aircraft on this approach, regardless, or are you prepared to execute a go-around if any flight crewmember feels threatened? The mantra of stabilized approach has been preached for decades by the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), among others: Configured for landing, on speed, on course, on glidepath and on descent rate, plus power or thrust set at a stable level and primary flight controls in trim.
Business jet sales continue to bolster Bombardier's aerospace business, accounting for the increase in revenues from $2.085 billion in the second quarter of 2011 to $2.265 billion this year. Revenues for the six months, however, were down from $4.273 billion in the first half of 2011 to $3.764 billion through June 30 of this year. That decline in part was attributable to the slowing of Global deliveries in the first quarter.
NBAA President Ed Bolen calls the slow progress on improving temporary flight restrictions “a tremendous frustration . . . The instruments put into place after 9/11 were dull, blunt-force instruments.” By now, Bolen told a panel during the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., he had hoped that those instruments would have become “precision instruments.” While the process is improving, it's slow and comes at a cost to operators.
In mid-August, Gulfstream Aerospace announced that FAA pilots have completed all the scheduled flying required for certification of the Gulfstream G650. In addition, the European Aviation Safety Agency test team finished the flight testing required for its validation of the FAA's type certification. The G650 received a provisional type certificate from the FAA on Nov. 18, 2011, and is in the process of completing the final certification tests with the FAA to support entry-into-service later this year. As of July, the test fleet had flown more than 3,800 hr.
Piper Aircraft Inc. has reached a 10-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada for the continuing purchase of PT6A-42A turboprop engines to power Piper's flagship single-engine M-Class Meridian. P&WC is a United Technologies Corp. business unit.
Bell Helicopter has received its airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for the Bell 429. The certification follows the first complete assembly and successful flight testing of a 429 in China at Kingwing General Aviation Co., a CAAC 145 service facility.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) wrote acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta asking the agency to reconsider its recent rule to mandate what had been voluntary helicopter routes over Long Island, N.Y. They asserted that the rule was “seemingly based solely on noise complaints as opposed to safety of flight.” The mandatory routes were debated at length during the House/Senate conference on the FAA reauthorization but were rejected, the lawmakers note.
When your airplane is over the high seas far from a suitable alternate and something breaks especially at night or in bad weather—the elements grow to seem immeasurably large and hostile.
As we go to press, Bombardier is expecting to kick off final assembly of the first Learjet 85 “shortly” as components begin to arrive at the company's expanding plant in Wichita. But the company still is not publicly revealing a target date for the aircraft's rollout or first flight.
TrueNorth Avionics has introduced its multilingual Stylus handset. The Stylus features a sleek design, high-definition audio and unique personalization options with many choices of finishes, inlays and themes. The TrueNorth Stylus is complemented by the MyStylus iPhone app, which brings the convenience and functionality of the Stylus to the iPhone, according to the company. The unit has been available since June and serves as a plug-in replacement for TrueNorth's current handsets.
