I just read Kent Jackson's December 2006 Point of Law ("Pilots with Wrenches," page 88). His points are very good, but I have a question that deals with some of the more current helicopters. Many newer four-blade helicopters have a blade-folding system that consists of an expandable bolt that can be removed and the blade can be folded next to the other. Of course the blade can be moved back into place and the expandable bolt reinstalled and secured with a safety latch. Can this be done by the pilot?
A Frontier A319 passed within 50 feet of another aircraft while executing a missed approach at Denver Airport on Jan. 5. The Frontier aircraft had broken out of cloud on approach when the crew sighted a Key Lime Air Swearingen Metroliner on the runway.
The Arabian Horse Association organizes its show competitions along the lines of traditional riding styles that are typical of most breed associations. So Kevin Hendrickson's 19-year-old daughter Stephanie could compete in hunter or Western and ride English or Western saddle along with the rider garb typical of either one. Instead, Stephanie competes in both. And wins.
AmSafe Aviation, the Phoenix-based maker of restraint products, hopes to win certification in March of a safety belt with an integrated inflatable airbag for use in the Pilatus PC-12. The first application will be for a military customer, but the system is expected to be used by general aviation operators as well.
The business aviation editors at AVIATION WEEK, of which B&CA is a proud member, have begun a new blog for the community on a revamped and renamed website -- www.aviationweek.com. The blog, Business Aviation Now, is dedicated to business aviation in all its forms.
Landmark Aviation has received an STC for the installation of the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated display system (IDS) in a Dassault Falcon 50. Gary Bosemer, avionics and airframe sales manager for Landmark Aviation, said, "This system integrates additional information on the flight deck in large-format, flat-panel displays that offer numerous operational enhancements, such as graphical weather, electronic charts and maps, and flight management system overlays."
Just before the NBAA's 2006 convention in Orlando, Cessna Aircraft introduced the CJ4, the fourth and newest member of its Citation CJ family. Although Cessna personnel were all-smiles, the announcement elicited yawns from many industry technocrats and harrumphs from those of the faster-higher-farther philosophy of aviation. After all, to them what was being unveiled was just the sequel to the sequel to the sequel. The aeronautical equivalent of double vanilla.
Bombardier Aerospace has signed up to a three-year, $66.6 million, U.K.-government research program, aimed at validating future composite wing construction. The Integrated Wing program brings together 17 U.K. organizations to develop a large-scale physical demonstrator. Bombardier will be focusing on developing composite technologies, simulation modeling, materials selection and manufacturing processes.
DAC International has introduced the GEN-X EFB system with AC 120-76A, Class 2 flexibility and Class 3 reliability. The intuitive software shell, GENESYS, supports digital chart data from Maptech, Jeppesen or Lido. The document reader allows users to view, link and search all manuals. Applications such as weather, performance, checklist, camera and electronic logbook can also be controlled through the GENESYS shell, according to the manufacturer. Price: Varies with options DAC International www.dacint.com
I n an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Megadata CEO Jim Barry said, "We plan to be the 'Bloomberg' of aviation information." (Here he was referring not to the mayor of New York, but rather the eponymous financial data service that made him the Big Apple's wealthiest.) An ambitious goal, but the journey is well under way.
En route to Las Vegas, a Cessna 421B collided with terrain near Big Bear Lake, Calif. It was VFR and there was no flight plan filed. This was the first flight for the aircraft owner and his new pilot. A witness stated the airplane departed Runway 26 and rotated about 3,000 feet from the departure end with the flaps up. Just after liftoff, one engine "didn't sound right," but it didn't backfire. The aircraft yawed left then veered to the left, which is a standard maneuver to avoid overflying a school. The landing gear was still down.
The Canadian government is investing in two Pratt & Whitney Canada-funded projects to design, develop, test and optimize new fuel-efficient, reduced emission gas turbine engines. Two separate repayable investments totaling $350 million (Canadian) will complement P&WC's $1.5- billion R&D program and the involvement of universities and co-op students in the projects.
Embraer recently announced that Sirte Oil Co. has placed an order for an Embraer 170 jet configured in a single-class, 76-seat layout to transport company personnel from their main base in Marsa El Brega, Libya, to Tripoli and other station points within Libya. Delivery is scheduled for March. Embraer noted that this order was already accounted for in Embraer's order book as "undisclosed," and that the current order backlog is not affected by this announcement.
San Antonio-based M7 Aerospace has introduced a new potable water system for Gulfstream IIIs. The STCed unit replaces earlier potable water systems, which the company says are prone to leakage and other service problems. The M7 system replaces a bleed-air pressurized water tank with a new, non-pressurized, 20-gallon tank to provide hot and cold running potable water in the aircraft's galley and lavatory. The new system also provides water flow from an on-demand electric pump and includes a new water quantity indicating system.
In Madrid, Bombardier Aerospace received the Batefuegos de Oro Award presented by the Asociación para la Promoción de Actividades Socioculturales (APAS) for "Greatest Technological Advancement in Firefighting." The following text was read as part of the presentation (translated from the Spanish): "In the 1960s the company designed the amphibious aircraft Canadair CL-215, which has evolved in the '90s into the CL-215T and later into the Bombardier 415.
Flight Explorer released version 7.0 of FE Professional Edition, which also provides an Earth-from-space global view of a flight. FE's system can now plug in ACARS position reports from anywhere in the world and from virtually any source, including ARINC, SITA, Iridium and Inmarsat, making the new viewer doubly useful.
A National Business Travel Association forecast reports that, "About 56 percent of respondent companies [will] use alternatives to commercial air travel, such as corporate jets, charter flights, fractional jet ownership or VLJs. That compares to 33 percent who reported using corporate jets or charters in 2004, and 27 percent in 2002." The association surveyed 189 travel managers for its forecast and almost 70 percent of those surveyed said they expect their companies' travelers to take more trips in 2007 vs. 2006.
Zurich-based charter company Comlux has taken delivery of the first Airbus A318 Elite - the newest and smallest member of the Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) family, which also includes the Airbus ACJ and A320 Prestige. Lufthansa Technik's Hamburg operation will outfit the aircraft with an 18-passenger VIP cabin. Comlux plans to place the aircraft in service by this spring, thus becoming the first to operate the new model. Comlux has two additional A318 Elites on order.
At 1441 EST, a Robinson R44 II was substantially damaged, and its pilot seriously injured, when it impacted a parking lot following an attempted landing on a shipping trailer at the Port of Baltimore in Maryland. The aircraft was to be delivered overseas to its new owner; the pilot was a last-minute substitution doing a favor for the previous owner. The shipping agent explained that he witnessed the accident as he attempted to direct and assist the pilot with his landing.
Viacom/Paramount Pictures Corporate Aviation, Morristown, N.J., announced that Ray Angwin has been promoted to director of flight crews and chief pilot.
The smoke plume on the east side of Los Angeles on the afternoon of Aug. 31, 1986, was clearly visible from the balcony of our apartment adjacent to LAX. The local news was reporting that an airliner had crashed into the suburb of Cerritos. My roommates, all Los Angeles-based pilots from a half dozen airlines, stood on the balcony watching that sick black plume rise. No one said the obvious, that the dark column marked the place of death for many.
US Helicopter Corp. started Sikorsky S-76 shuttle service between Manhattan and Continental Airlines' Newark, N.J., hub on Dec. 18, 2006. The company also operates a shuttle between Manhattan and American Airlines' terminal at New York's JFK. US Helicopter customers can check in, receive boarding passes for US Helicopter and Continental Airlines departing Newark, or American flights departing JFK, and complete security screening at the Manhattan heliport near Wall Street. Bags checked at the heliport will be through-checked to the passenger's final destination.
The FAA recently sent a revised funding proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for review that is said to contain a host of new fees on aviation users as well as substantial increases in taxes, the Weekly of Business Aviation reported. The proposal is believed to call for more than tripling the jet fuel and aviation gasoline taxes as well as establishing new fees for operating in large hub terminal airspace. The FAA further is believed to be seeking peak-hour pricing authority for fees in the hub terminal airspace.
