Honeywell expects certification authorities to sign off on several of its in-development cockpit upgrades before the year-end , including programs for the Falcon 7X and Falcon 2000 EASy II avionics upgrade Honeywell is conducting with Dassault Aviation. This Dassault program follows the upgrade already developed for the Falcon 900, which adds synthetic vision functionality.
Saab is looking at further acquisitions in the air traffic management (ATM) sector to maintain the market position it built up with last year's acquisition of Sensis, CEO Hakan Bushke says. With the ATM industry going through consolidation, Bushke says more deals would be necessary to maintain Sensis's position. Saab is attracted to the sector because the pace of growth in ATM is strong. The ATM business also provides useful access to other potential customers.
Over the years we've seen a relatively large number of approach accidents involving aerodynamic stalls during the last moments of instrument approaches.
Aerion, the supersonic business jet developer, has kept a steady orderbook for “just under 50” of its $80 million aircraft, says Aerion Vice Chairman Brian Barents. “We've essentially maintained that $4 billion orderbook with which we entered the recession,” he says. “We're delighted with that.”
“The Human Side of Ethiopian 409” (Cause & Circumstance, March 2012) was riveting. The step-by-step detail of how the man/machine interface was completely behind the events. The lack of effective CRM was also apparent. One of several bottom line lessons here is to use the autopilot when taking off in IMC, especially with storms in the area. So many errors! President FlightLogix LLC
Mid-Continent Instruments has changed its name to Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics. In recent months, Mid-Continent has steadily increased its capacity and involvement in the repair and overhaul of avionics products, including weather radars, navigational and communications systems, and similar products manufactured by Honeywell/Bendix-King and Rockwell Collins.
Austria's Diamond Aircraft is flight testing a new twin diesel-powered airplane that will feature the largest cabin in its product line, designed to carry up to seven people. A prototype DA52, powered by two Austro Engine 180-hp turbo-diesel engines, AE300E, completed its first flight with Diamond Chairman Christian Dries and head of flight test Ingmar Mayerbuch at the controls, the company said April 3. The aircraft took off from Wiener Neustadt, Austria, with a gross weight of 1,780 kg. Takeoff roll was less than 300 meters (934 ft.) without flaps and with a 5 kt.
Textron's Cessna Aircraft and China's Avic (Aviation Industry Corporation of China) have signed two agreements addressing the People's Republic of China's desire to develop its general and business aviation manufacturing capability as well as the infrastructure needed grow aviation throughout that nation.
GAMA revised its deliveries/shipment totals downward following the release of Hawker Beechcraft's Form 10-K year-end results filing on April 13. The February year-end shipment report was released without the Hawker Beechcraft results. Hawker Beechcraft's decision to halt production of the Beechjet 400XP and supplier issues with the Hawker 4000 held down deliveries in 2011, contributing to a larger decline in industry-wide business jet shipments, according to revised data released by GAMA April 17.
Honeywell has signed an agreement with Inmarsat to provide global in-flight connectivity services to business, commercial and government aviation customers. The services will be provided through London-based Inmarsat's Global Xpress network, the first Ka-band constellation designed to provide global inflight broadband to the aeronautical, maritime and land-mobile markets. Honeywell estimates the deal to be worth $2.8 billion in hardware sales and aftermarket services to aircraft manufacturers, airlines and government entities over the next 20 years.
The February 3rd crash in Boise, Idaho, that took the life of Micron Technology CEO and Chairman Steve Appleton was yet another executive/pilot accident — the list is long and keeps growing, unfortunately — that draws attention to the subject and to the risks, rewards and fundamental responsibilities of those involved. Should a corporate board of directors place limitations on the business and/or personal flying of the company's chief executive? In my opinion, the answer is, Yes — a wildly unpopular response for many entrepreneurial aircraft owner/pilots.
Pilatus Aircraft named Air Charter Services PVT Ltd. (ACSPL) in India as a PC-12 sales and service center. ACSPL will be responsible for PC-12 sales in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand. In addition to sales, the New Delhi-based facility will provide PC-12 maintenance and warranty work. ACSPL Director Semoun Jolly currently owns three PC-12s.
Having read “Out of Beirut” (Cause & Circumstance, March/April 2012) I think this whole episode stinks. Why were autopsies not performed? On reading both articles, I think [the cause of the accident] could be a deliberate act of sabotage through the food channel, or a case of load shift during acceleration. It defies common sense that trained individuals could not conduct basic flying maneuvers correctly despite the captain's experience as P2 and later P1. We cannot dismiss this accident as a happenstance in Africa.
A new EASA rule covering flight-crew licensing would potentially ground hundreds, if not thousands, of general aviation pilots in certain European countries. The rule, which took effect on April 8, enacts EASA requirements for pilot training and the issuance of European pilot licenses, ratings and certificates. One of the more controversial measures in the rule requires European pilots who currently hold third-country licenses to convert their licenses to EASA- or EU-validated licenses.
The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), which has been relabeled as a “System” is a far-reaching program involving government fees, industry emissions caps and trading of emissions credits. Its stated goal is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere by 20% by 2020. When initiated in 2005, the program targeted fixed-in-place European emitters such as power generation facilities, oil refineries, pulp plants and such. Then in 2009, the ETS was extended to aviation.
Manufacturer, Model In some cases, the airplane manufacturer's name is abbreviated, but the company's full name and address can be found on the manufacturers' websites. The model name also is included in this data group.
HNA Group operator Capital Helicopter cleared a major hurdle by securing authorization to run air taxi services. With China gradually opening its low-altitude airspace to civilian use, the Beijing-based company is aiming at a broad range of rotary wing operations across the country, with capital of 300 million yuan ($48 million). The company says that, with initial bases at Beijing Badaling and Shanghai Gaodong airports, it has been flying tourism, medical evacuation and mineral survey services since beginning operations last year.
Regarding “Different Juice, Same Mission” (Viewpoint, March 2012), I think there is even more to the value of a face-to-face meeting than we often consider. Bear with an anecdote. While working as an editor some 30 years ago, I flew a small plane on behalf of AOPA Pilot to visit an ultralight manufacturer. If they had brought their aircraft to us, it would have been one kind of story. Seeing their factory, it became another- — there was nothing inside it.
Avionics makers, recognizing the phenomenal popularity of inexpensive, go-anywhere, tablet-based applications, have been feverishly developing ways to bring iPads and Adroid-based "post-PC" mobile OS tablet computers into business aircraft cockpits.
The FAA selected Rockwell Collins' Head-up Guidance Systems with synthetic and enhanced vision to support its NextGen implementation and applied research efforts. The technology is being installed on the Boeing 737 flight simulator in the FAA's Flight Operations Simulation Laboratory in Oklahoma City to study how operators can safely achieve benefits such as lower landing minima by using head-up displays with synthetic and enhanced vision during different phases of flight in low visibility conditions.
Michael Huerta has been nominated to be the FAA administrator. He currently is deputy administrator and has been serving as acting administrator of the FAA since December 2011. Previously, Huerta was group president of the Transportation Solutions Group of Affiliated Computer Services Inc., a technology services provider supporting transportation agencies worldwide, and managing director of transportation communication for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Is 3-D display coming? A breakthrough in radar display may be in the offing, with a new 3-D radar developed by Avco Corp. Civil applications include air traffic control (where 3-D display fits nicely into the FAA's urge to get 3-D aircraft information for controllers), and severe weather forecasting — tornadoes, thunderstorms and hurricanes. The device uses a rotating electro-luminescent panel. Rotation speed is chosen to avoid flicker, with the result that radar blip appears to be floating in space.
West Star Aviation recently received FAA supplemental type certification to enable Wi-Fi on Pro Line 4 and Pro Line 21 equipped Falcon 2000 and 2000EX aircraft. West Star's facility in East Alton, Ill., completed the work, which included certifications for interface to Iridium and Inmarsat satcom systems. The True North Chorus was used for Iridium data via Wi-Fi, while the Inmarsat interface was provided via the EMS CNX-200 and Honeywell HD-710 SwiftBroadband pipe.
