The FAA and Australia's Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to continue research and development of clean, sustainable alternative aviation fuels. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Beazley signed the agreement Sept. 13. The MOU calls for Australia and the U.S. to exchange information about policies, programs, projects, research results and publications, and to conduct joint studies in areas such as fuel sources and environmental impacts.
The comments made concerning the Dassault 7X recent trim incident are from customer briefing sessions that Dassault has held ever since the incident occurred.
An easy-to-surf guide to 31 CFR 515, the federal code governing licensing for travel to Cuba. Note, especially, the “definitions” section. (http://www.law.justia.com/cfr/title31/31-3.1.1.1.4.html) worldtravelguide.net/cuba/ passport-visa (Good review of Cuban visa requirements.)
In the last budget request the Department of Labor (DOL) requested an additional budget and manpower specifically to investigate employee misclassification and this topic has been identified as one of the department's leading initiatives. If you use or plan to use contractors, you need to understand the rules. The DOL has a website to help you navigate the rules. You can visit it at: http://www.dol.gov For those of you who missed Attorney Greg Ripple's presentation at the NBAA MMC on this topic, the NBAA has posted his presentation on their website:
Canadian Chris McCabe, chief pilot for Toronto-based Chartright Air Group, has had extensive experience flying chartered business jets into several locations within the Republic of Cuba. As the country adheres to ICAO procedures and altimetry, McCabe offered to provide a PANS OPS review for domestic operators who might eventually be Cuba-bound (or flying anywhere else that uses ICAO procedures):
Balancing workload with available manpower is a never-ending struggle for maintenance managers. Even so-called “normal” operations can be highly unpredictable, and aircraft always seem to break at the worst possible time. Having extra help on call for unplanned maintenance work is a great way to cushion the impact.
The NBAA reported that since filing their opening court brief in September to preserve the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, the NBAA and the AOPA are working toward the next milestones in the legal battle against the government's curtailment of the program. Up next: By Sept. 28, the FAA was expected to file a response to the associations' brief. After that, the associations will file a final brief by Oct. 12. Shortly after that, the Court of Appeals is expected to schedule arguments.
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Similar to other Model 525 aircraft, the Citation M2 will be powered by two Williams International FJ44 turbofans. The current plan is to keep the 1,965-lb. takeoff thrust rating, but it's certain that the new engines will have more robust cores that will provide improved hot-and-high airport performance, more climb thrust and higher cruise thrust. Expect a slight improvement in specific fuel consumption because the new powerplants will incorporate more advanced technologies than the FJ44-1AP engines fitted to the CJ1+.
If you're a scheduler or dispatcher and you just received this issue of BCA, you have just about two weeks to make the Oct. 17 deadline for filing an application for a scholarship under the NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Scholarship Program. The awards are announced in December and presented at the next S&D annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 15-18, 2012, in San Diego.
Computerized maintenance management systems have all but replaced paper for the same reason that such digital systems usually take over any task: It's all become too complicated for humans.
When a military CASA 212 with 21 people aboard was lost off Chile's seacoast in September, authorities used an iPhone app called Find My iPhone to locate the remains of the airplane, which crashed in a zone between the islands of Robinson Crusoe, Santa Clara and the Juan Fernandez airport. One of the victims' relatives knew the victim had an active iPhone at the time of the crash. Using the app, the relatives were able to isolate the coordinates of the last place the phone generated a signal before it crashed and passed that information to the Chilean Navy.
Thirty years ago, Jim Haynes was working in finance in Washington, D.C., when an accountant friend mentioned that he was trying to settle the estate of a couple who had been killed in an automobile accident. He said it appeared that they had an interest in a business out at Leesburg (Va.) Airport. That tragedy and that piece of information would soon set Haynes off on a course of action that would cause a change in taxation and help transform a region in ways no one could have imagined.
Officials of the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) visited Raisbeck Engineering's Seattle headquarters on Aug. 30 to develop certification criteria for Raisbeck Performance Systems in China. The first two Raisbeck systems to complete the process are Dual Aft Body Strakes (DABS) and Nacelle Wing Lockers (NWLS) for the Beechcraft King Air 350, according to Bill Lally, Raisbeck's FAA coordinator.
The first AOPA-China Fly-In was postponed after the crash of a Beijing Police Department Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter into the Miyun Reservoir northeast of the Chinese capital. Four of the five people on board the helicopter were killed. The first fly-in, scheduled for September, had been restricted to privately owned helicopters, and more than 20 were expected. AOPA China says the accident may put the increased accessibility of Chinese airspace into question.
The Citation M2's cockpit is a clean-sheet design, a complete break from any avionics package yet installed in a 525-series airplane. The configuration embraces the ergonomic design philosophy of the Citation Ten, using three, side-by-side 14-in. landscape configuration, flat-panel displays with LED backlighting and 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution. These screens provide far more display area than the three, 8- by-10-in. portrait configuration displays in the CJ1+. Indeed, they provide the most display area available in current production light jets.
As pilots we don't seem to think much about the brakes until we really need them, and then our interest intensifies in direct proportion to the proximity of the runway end and the speed at which it is approaching.
Minimize quick turn-arounds. Fully release brakes during turn-arounds. Don't drag a brake during taxi. Consider single-engine taxi. Use reverse thrust/flat pitch if allowed. Anticipate the need to slow down and make necessary power changes ahead of time. Minimize brake applications. Apply a smooth, firm pressure to slow down the aircraft. Land at the slowest speed consistent with safety. Land on longer runways with the wind.
Given all the problems facing the Obama administration — intractably high unemployment figures, plunging poll numbers for the president and lack of traction for his latest stimulus proposal — it is increasingly difficult to understand why the executive branch continues to waste energy defending its wrong-headed attempt to “out” the owners of private aircraft.
The Caribbean region is a popular recreation and business destination for North Americans, Europeans and Middle Eastern residents. Universal Weather & Aviation's Dwayne Janczak, who is assigned to the Flexjet fractional ownership headquarters in Dallas, provided a review for operating in the area.
Cuba is the largest and westernmost island in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea. It also bears the distinction of having been “discovered” by Christopher Columbus on his first journey to the New World in 1492.
The opening of a new FBO typically is cause for industry celebration in an age when then the number of FBOs has diminished from 5,000 in the 1980s to 3,000. For Million Air, this summer's opening of its newest facility brings the addition of a 29th location, another company-owned base, and an entrance to what company executives believe is an up-and-coming market. This comes when financing is hard to find for new FBOs.
Skyservice Inc., Canada's largest charter/management company, often dispatches Learjets from its air ambulance division to Cuba for patient-transfer missions. Based in Montreal, Skyservice has 56 managed and company-owned business aircraft in its stable, including five Learjet 35 air ambulances equipped with intensive-care units that routinely operate on a worldwide basis.
