No aspect of the G150 is receiving more attention from Gulfstream engineers than the cabin environment. The G150 will arrive at Gulfstream's Dallas completion center as a green airplane, manufactured by IAI, weighing less than 13,000 pounds. In Dallas, Gulfstream will add the APU, the interior furnishings and exterior paint. The G150 then will emerge ready for customer delivery.
With the advances in PC-based technology and software, traditional non-motion-based FTDs are gaining increased acceptance from the regulatory agencies and training schools.
GAMA and the National Air Transportation Association both disputed comments the FAA included in a fact sheet accompanying its Draft Flight Plan 2006-2010 warning of future funding shortages. GAMA called the FAA's assertion of a growing gap between FAA revenues and costs misleading and said it disagrees that the balance in the Trust Fund will decline in the near term. NATA called the discussion troubling because there has been so much talk about a user fee system.
The NBAA is offering a new Web-based product that provides real-time flight operational information. The National Airspace Status Briefing, developed by the NBAA GA Desk at the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, provides information on ground delay programs, ground stops, arrival and departure delays, en route constraints, reroutes, departure restrictions and collaborative convection forecasts. The NBAA is offering the Web tool for a subscription fee.For more information, contact NBAA GA Desk Manager Jo Damato at [email protected].
Garrett/Piedmont Hawthorne/Associated, Tempe, Ariz., has appointed Gary Buchanan regional vice president of sales for the Western regions and international markets. Peter Muenzen has been promoted to regional vice president of sales for the Eastern region. Chris Haas is the new director, parts sales for the company. David Daniels has been appointed to the position of avionics manager for the Springfield, Ill., facility.
In earlier times, pilots talked about that magical, mystical ability to do the right thing at exactly the right time regardless of situation. Unfortunately, most pilots did not possess this ``right stuff'' and after the smoke cleared from the consequent wreckage, an assembly of experts arrived to sift through the bits and pieces before announcing the crash was caused by ``pilot error.'' Things truly were simpler then.
Bird-X's bird-blocking spike strips are not only good for bird management, they are manufactured from recycled scrap plastic. The spikes project up and out from their base at varying angles to prevent landing and roosting. Outer spikes have additional spiked branches to offer dense coverage. The transparent polycarbonate material is durable, and weather and UV resistant. The strips feature a flexible base and can be installed on straight, curved, corner or irregular surfaces.
Weighing in at 0.25 ounces, with a 0.25-inch diameter, and only 1.5 inches long, the Model 9732 OEM transducer probe senses the first 0.001 inches of airframe icing aloft. It attracts and detects airframe icing instantly upon entering any icing domain, where liquid water changes phase to solid ice. The Model 9732 provides a positive, unambiguous indication of airframe icing conditions before ice becomes a problem on tailplane, wings struts or engines. Its thin profile eliminates ram air heating. Price: Contact manufacturer New Avionics Corp.
CSSI, Inc., Washington, D.C., has hired Dr. Mark D. Rogers as chief scientist for human system integration and Robbie Leftwich as senior separation and safety manager.
Daniel Andrew Wolcott is in jail in Gwinnett County, Ga., after stealing a Citation VII in St. Augustine, Fla. He is charged with ``theft-by-taking'' with $175,000 bail. Evidently Wolcott stole the aircraft the night of Oct. 8, flew to Briscoe Field in Lawerenceville, Ga., where he picked up five friends and flew them to Winder, Ga., and back to Lawerenceville, according to police accounts. The 1995 Citation was discover parked at Lawerenceville the morning of Oct. 9.
In this age of five-star super center FBOs, the GAT, for ``general aviation terminal,'' at New York's Kennedy International is quite something else. It is grey, stark, unwelcoming and remote. While the people who work there are nice enough, there aren't many of them. There's no need. At the GAT, traffic is modest on a busy day, and non-existent on others.
When the HondaJet made its public debut on July 28 at the annual gathering of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in Oshkosh, Wis., Michimasa Fujino, the HondaJet project leader and vice president of Honda R&D Americas, declared, ``Aviation has long been a dream for Honda, and the HondaJet is the embodiment of that dream.''
On the subject of death by icing, the pilots of a Citation 560 that crashed during an approach to the Pueblo, Colo., Memorial Airport on Feb. 16 knew the aircraft was picking up ice during the last 20 minutes of the flight, but the cockpit voice recorder tape from the airplane indicates a lack of serious concerns about their situation. NTSB Factual Reports on the accident said the crew had apparently activated the aircraft's anti-icing and de-icing systems.
Looking for a place to crash, er . . . stay? CrewCommute.com offers a temporary housing database for flight crews. Whether looking for a place to stay or announce the availability of an extra room, CrewCommute.com can help. The Web site features listings with photos and provides fast searches, free of charge for room hunters. Fees for listings vary. Price: Free for searchers CrewCommute.com 3310 Mission Ridge Ln. Atlanta, GA 30339 (612) 306-8698 www.crewcommute.com
The vast majority of helicopter flight training takes place in the actual aircraft. The simple reason for that is the fact that there are still only a few dozen full-motion, Level-D simulators available to commercial operators worldwide, and these tend to replicate top-of-the-line multiengine helicopters. For many models of helicopters, especially light-turbine singles and twins, there just aren't any full-motion simulators.
Several highly publicized near collisions occurred this year when the airport movement area safety system (AMASS) was not performing for various reasons, and ``that is not good enough,'' said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker at the American Association of Airport Executives' Runway and Airport Safety Summit. During some serious incursions, AMASS either gave a warning too late or was disabled to prevent nuisance alerts that occur during bad weather. This year, some large airports experienced a higher than normal number of incursions.
IT WAS COLUMBUS DAY so the schools were closed, but even without any yellow buses blocking our way, I knew we couldn't cover 15 miles in the next 10 minutes. Although we had risen with time to spare, our morning's progress had been interrupted by one unexpected bother after another, and now we were going to be late. My stomach knotted.
Remaining awkwardly coy on user fees, the FAA published a notice urging its constituents to participate in developing a new funding system for the agency.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) is the first manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles to win FAA approval to operate its offspring in the National Airspace System under an experimental certificate. The Altair high-altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) is flying under an Experimental certificate. The Altair is a high-altitude version of the Predator B UAV.
I've been flying Dassault Falcon Jets for more than 30 years, and have enjoyed every model, beautiful machines all. My flight department's current king is the Global Express, and while I am impressed with the comfort and range of the Bombardier jet, it nettled me to think our Falcon 900EX might be regarded as wanting in terms of its reach. I watched our mission board, waiting for just the right trip to set the record straight.
