Robotic Vision Systems' ID-1H ice-detection system received FAA approval as an alternative means of compliance with airline pre-takeoff ice inspection requirements. Instead of visual or tactile methods, the ID-1H uses an electro-optic system to detect ice and frost on wings or other critical surfaces, even through water or deicing fluid. The Hauppauge, New York company says the hand-held ID-1H sensor/controller also can ``see'' ice in darkness or during storms (B/CA, January 1995, page 12).
New FV-2000 head-up displays from Flight Visions now include a processor that updates flight information 10 times faster, a 25-degree field of view, larger display characters, a runway overlay symbol and a runway roll-out command. The Sugar Grove, Illinois firm also announced that total FV-2000 system weight has been cut to 21 pounds. Except for the reduced weight, all the upgrades are available as a no-cost software upgrade for current systems. The price for new units remains at $78,000.
Nearly complete is a program to allow all flights conducted within the contiguous United States at and above FL 290 to select minimum time/cost routes beyond 200 nm of a departure/destination. To date, eight of 10 phases of the FAA's National Route Program (NRP) have been implemented. To participate in the NRP, operators must ensure the selected route contains at least one navaid or waypoint in each ATC Center segment in which the route traverses. For details on the NRP, see Advisory Circular 90-91A.
Jet Aviation has assumed the management of The Eagle Group's recently renovated FBO on McCarran International Airport (B/CA, April, page 22). The three-year-old facility, previously known as the Las Vegas Executive Air Terminal, encompasses ramp parking for up to 200 aircraft and a 24-hour full-service terminal building that includes a large wing-shaped canopy over the entrance to protect arriving and departing passengers from the elements.
Owners of the newly dubbed Executive Jet Center, the former ATC Jet Center FBO at Florida's Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, recently opened renovated facilities. Open 24 hours, the redesigned operation offers traditional line services, on-site rental cars and crew loaner cars, free membership to a nearby gym, shower and snooze rooms, private phones and modem hookups. Other features are WSI flight planning, crew and passenger lounges, ``gourmet catering,'' hangar parking and a large-screen TV with satellite programming.
Airline passengers who first glance at Embraer's new EMB-145 from a distance initially might mistake it for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft's latest MD-80 variant. The long, lean fuselage; the moderately swept wing; and, most notably, the large aft-mounted turbofan engines elevate Embraer's latest regional airliner to the class of equipment once exclusively flown by the majors-the jetliners.
Less than a month after Fairchild Aircraft took over 80 percent of German aircraft manufacturer Dornier, it revived plans to develop a stretched version of the 32-passenger Do-328 twin turboprop regional airliner with 50 seats. Meanwhile, Fairchild is expected to make a decision soon on whether to launch a stand-up version of the company's 19-passenger Metro. A mockup of the aircraft has a 71-inch aisle height and a 14-inch aisle width at the floor. The cross section is 62 inches.
Among provisions in a House version of FAA reauthorization legislation is an increase in the percentage of Airport Improvement Funding allocations to smaller reliever and commercial airports. In addition, the draft bill would make permanent the state block grant program (under which certain states can administer AIP funds to smaller airports) and expand it to 10 states from the current seven (B/CA, May, page 18).
A new set of rules has been adopted to increase the use of simulators and flight-training devices, and to enable them to be approved for virtually all pilot training, testing and checking tasks. Based on a project started six years ago (B/CA, September 1989, page 22), the rules also establish an FAR Part 142 to cover a new class of schools called Training Centers. These are facilities like FlightSafety and SimuFlite that make extensive use of FAA Level A through D simulators.
FAA Level D certification is pending for two new business jet simulators built and operated by FlightSafety International. A simulator equipped with a head-up display for the new Dassault Falcon 2000 is scheduled to be installed at FSI's Learning Center in Teterboro this month. The first Cessna Citation X full-flight simulator has been installed at FSI's Wichita Learning Center, and the FAA certification process is under way.
After initially being proposed in September 1989, new one-engine inoperative (OEI) ratings for twin-turbine rotorcraft have been enacted (B/CA, November 1989, page 26). The rules, applicable to design applications made after August 19, establish certification requirements for optional 30-second OEI and 2-minute OEI ratings at higher power levels than previously available. The FAA says the new ratings ``will allow rotorcraft to safely carry higher payloads from existing fields or to take off from smaller fields with current payloads.''
Swiss manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft relocated its U.S. subsidiary from Vero Beach, Florida to Broomfield, Colorado. Broomfield is the home of Chris Finnoff, who in May was named president of Pilatus' U.S. operations. Finnoff is overseeing sales and support of the PC-12 single-engine turboprop in the Western Hemisphere. Meanwhile, Pilatus introduced a $135,000 option that increases the PC-12's payload/range options.
In designing approaches, the FAA builds in margins that are supposed to protect you from harm. However, those margins are sometimes razor thin. Understanding the basics of how approaches are built should raise your sensitivity about avoiding terrain, and may just keep you from becoming a statistic.
An AD that requires deactivating power to the windshield heat element on as many as 239 Beech 1900Ds also prohibits the twin turboprop from being flown into known icing. The AD was issued after two aircraft experienced a short circuit that overheated the windshield, causing smoke and minor fire in the cockpit. In both cases, the pilots turned off the windshield heat switch and landed without further incident.
The following staff changes have been made: Robert E. Brown is the new president and chief operating officer of the Aerospace Group. And Roy McNulty is the new chairman of Short Brothers, the company's regional airline subsidiary in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
An attempt at damage control by the DOT over its handling of events surrounding ValuJet Airlines and the criticism it has received concerning the monitoring of other low-cost carriers may backfire. An FAA report issued at the request of the DOT claims there is ``little difference'' in the safety record of low-cost carriers and major airlines. But not all the statistics support that claim.
AeroTec USA made its first big U.S. splash at the RAA convention in Orlando as the Western Hemisphere distributor for the LET series of twin turboprops from the Czech Republic. The series includes three 19-passenger airplanes billed as replacements for the de Havilland Twin Otter, which has long been out of production.
The annual general industry awards for flight instructor and mechanic of the year were presented to Ludwig Wipotnik and Ralph L. Michalka, respectively. Wipotnik has been an active flight instructor since 1968, and has earned all seven CFI ratings-a feat accomplished by less than 50 pilots nationwide. He now instructs for Windy City Flyers in Chicago. Michalka has been a maintenance technician for over 40 years. After spending 35 of them with Upjohn's flight department, he now runs an FBO.
Psst! Would you be interested in software that can prove the value of your flight department? We thought so. Well, you'll be happy to know that very soon, you'll be able to use your PC to make a dramatic case for using business aircraft to transport your company's air travelers. We've tried a remarkable new software program that makes this possible, and we think that the program deserves your serious consideration.
Attorneys for VisionSafe, a Hawaii-based company that produces the FAA-approved Emergency Vision Assurance System, are asking U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate the FAA for failure to act on the safety risk posed by the loss of pilot vision due to smoke in the cockpit. Reports of such smoke moments before the crash of the ValuJet DC-9 in the Everglades in May triggered this salvo. VisionSafe charges the FAA with lying to Congress and deliberately misleading operators and the flying public about this risk.
In a recent B/CA interview with an official at the FAA Aeromedical Section in Oklahoma City, we asked the question: ``What are the three most common problems in the day-to-day medical certification process?'' You might think the answer would be something like ``complicated medical disorders'' over which the pilot and AME have no control. In fact, the response identified issues that both the pilot and the AME can control:
Greg Ross, a pilot at JetCorp, an aviation services company in Chesterfield, Missouri, received the FAA's first-ever Safety Recognition Award. Ross rescued a young girl whose family was waiting to board a flight. Running to stand beside her mother, the girl did not notice the danger of a rotating propeller in her path, and Ross scooped her up safely.
About half of USAir's fearful flyers program covers how airplanes work, while the other half is devoted to teaching two behavior modification techniques-''thought stopping'' and relaxation exercises. The basis for the work is simple: You can't be relaxed and tense at the same time. If fearful flyers can be taught to relax, their tension cannot build, and their anxiety levels will not rise.
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania-based Flight Data, Incorporated has released a Windows 95-compatible version of its DUAT/Plus for Windows access software. This handy little utility automatically will dial-up DTC DUATS at user-predetermined times. Also, it can download a customized weather briefing and file flight plans. The software supports the FAA's new TAF and METAR weather formats.
