A group of pilots has developed a cockpit aid that redefines the word kneeboard. The new product is about the size of a traditional kneeboard, and attaches to a pilot's leg with velcro like a kneeboard. But there the resemblance ends. The FlightPad is a PC-compatible computer that will offer a wide range of application software. Included in its basic price of $4,395 is ``FlightPad Valet,'' comprising an electronic notebook, ``underlays'' for other pilot-compiled notes, a performance and winds-aloft user page and an IFR hold display.
Thomas Sullivan, 39, president and operator of Connecticut FBOs Million Air Hartford and Million Air Bridgeport, died October 12 of injuries resulting from an automobile acci-dent. An independent FBO owner before his three years with Million Air, Sullivan brought the Million Air Hartford facility into the chain in 1993, and Million Air Bridgeport in 1995.
The Internal Revenue Service is not content with taking a divot out of each of your paychecks and holding you up for more cash in April. Now, the IRS wants to raise your taxes if you have your aircraft's engines overhauled.
You are not alone if you are one of the FAR Part 135 operators that wrote to the FAA in support of a petition asking the agency to drop a controversial requirement that the name of the certificate holder be displayed on the exterior of all charter aircraft.
Many corporate operators, small airlines and charter companies are struggling to find their way through the maze of bureaucratic steps and levels of ap-proval that will bring them the right to fly in the NAT system air-space. The larger airlines--with the strong support of their aircraft manufacturers--are plowing ahead to meet the complex and demanding ICAO requirements.
After a delay of several months, the Canadian government has handed over the administration of the country's ATC system to Nav Canada, a not-for-profit, private corporation governed by a board. Board members represent airlines, labor unions and the federal government, as well as business aircraft operators. Aircraft operators should notice no immediate changes in procedures. But, Nav Canada's source of funding, now met principally by an airline-ticket tax, will be phased out over the next two years and replaced by a user-fee system that will apply to all operators.
Visionaire rolled out its proof-of-concept (POC) Vantage single turbofan aircraft at Scaled Composites Incorporated's Mojave, California facility in November. James O. Rice, chairman of Visionaire, claims to have 44 $10,000 non-refundable deposits for the $1.6-million, six-place aircraft, scheduled to receive FAR Part 23 certification in December 1998. F. Thomas Stark, the firm's president, told B/CA that the next four aircraft to be built will be type-conforming test articles, with two dedicated for flight test and two slated for ground test.
We were VFR some 20 miles north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in a block of airspace that serves as the unofficial flight-test range for Rockwell's Collins Avionics Division. Captain Henry M. Bulanda maneuvered the company's flying test bed, a unique Sabreliner 50, into an unusual attitude while I remained head down, eyes closed. Seconds later, the g-loading went to zero, and Bulanda called out, ``It's your airplane!''
Boeing, which has dabbled in marketing new-production business jets for years, may be plunging in for the long haul, judging from the announcements at the NBAA convention in Orlando last month. At a news conference held by Boeing Business Jets, the joint venture formed this summer by Boeing and General Electric (B/CA, August, page 24), officials said they have orders for at least four corporate versions of the new-generation Boeing 737s. These are in addition to two going to GE and one to an unnamed customer.
Jet Aviation's Basel, Switzerland facility is building a hangar designed solely for aircraft painting. The hangar, able to accommodate aircraft up to the size of Boeing 737-800s, is expected to be finished by mid-1997
Once again, the NTSB has asked the FAA to require a relatively rapid refit of all transport- category aircraft interiors with modern flame-retardant materials.The recommendation comes out of the Safety Board's investigation of the June 8, 1995 engine explosion and fire aboard a ValuJet DC-9-32 at Atlanta.
It's an overwhelming majority for ``those opposed,'' in the nearly 10,000 comments the FAA received on its controversial proposal to sharply restrict commercial air-tour flights over the Grand Canyon. Close to 4,000 of the responses are ``individual'' comments, while an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 comments are form letters primarily from people who have flown on air-tour flights over the canyon. Comments on the proposal were due November 14.
While the new Hawker's powerplants have roots in the PW305s on the Hawker 1000, the newest version is nearly as different from its forebear as the Horizon will be from its predecessor.
The debate continues-should American Eagle be permitted to operate regional jets? About 20 percent of American's pilots are vehement in their view that it would cost ``Big Bird'' jobs. But there is another group that fears their employer would lose out competitively if Eagle is not permitted to fly jets. Actually, the existing Allied Pilots Association (APA) contract with American permits the Eagle operation of jets-as long as they do not exceed 70 passengers and 75,000 pounds. Additionally, the entire Eagle fleet cannot average more than 50 seats.
For an employee identification security system in an instant, Polaroid Corporation suggests its PhotoPad Scanner with IDware software. This software/scanner combination transforms a PC and a Polaroid ID camera into a photo ID system. PhotoPad scans color and black and white photos up to four by six inches --both 35-mm and instant format--and is compatible with Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. An image can be scanned and fashioned into IDware in 60 seconds or less, with or without additional security devices such as signature, bar code and magnetic stripe.
On January 1, 1997, Terry D. Stinson will start serving as president and chief operating officer of Bell Helicopter Textron. Stinson, who joined Textron Aerospace in 1991, replaces Lloyd Shoppa, a 32-year veteran with Bell who was president for one year. (Shoppa will be vice chairman until he retires in August 1997.) Also as of January 1, P.D. Shabay becomes executive vice president of operations, and Fred N. Hubbart becomes senior vice president of commercial and foreign military business.
One of the marvels of modern business has been the advent of miniaturized electronic devices that allow people to compute and communicate while on the move. But while portable electronic devices (PEDs) have made life easier for those seated in the back of corporate aircraft, PEDs have been suspected of causing problems for those in the airplane's front seats.
Cabin and cockpit emergency simulation training can once again be trucked to you. Like the fabled phoenix, the latest version of HBAcorp's mobile aircrew emergency simulator has risen from the ashes, and has been dubbed FACTS-III. The Olympia, Washington-based training company built the new-and improved-truck-mounted mobile training device after it lost its FACTS-II in April in a head-on collision with another vehicle near Kingman, Arizona. (See Intelligence, May, page 22.)
The Horizon program will be the launch application for Honeywell's new Primus Epic avionics system. But equally significant is the extent to which Honeywell will be integrating, and even controlling, basic aircraft functions. The cockpit will center around five eight-by-10-inch flat-panel liquid crystal displays, including two primary flight displays, two multi-function displays, and an engine indication and crew alert system (EICAS) display with seven synoptic pages for various aircraft systems.
Richard J. van Gemmert, president of New World Jet Corporation at Long Island MacArthur Airport, has a considerable amount of completion experience and some interesting views about how the business should develop in the future. Van Gemmert has introduced a number of management innovations to business aviation and has shared much of it with the community. His suggestions parallel trends in the business that already exist, particularly the growing dominance of OEMs in the completion market.
British Aerospace obtained a temporary restraining order in late October forbidding TriStar Airlines from flying its four BAe 146s. The carrier was back in the air a week later flying a single 146. More aircraft could follow. Don Martin, president of the Las Vegas-based start-up, said there was ``dispute over lease status,'' but that negotiations with the lessor were continuing.
