Most pilots will tell you that you can't learn much about FMS until you fly with it, or at least spend several hours in the cockpit on the ground with power on the avionics system. Some pilots may opt to remove the Xls from the aircraft, connect it to an external power supply in their office and practice using it in the simulator mode. A word of caution applies here. When reinstalling the box in the aircraft, you must be careful to reconfigure the Xls for the specific aircraft installation.
Soloy Corporation's modified twin-engine Cessna Caravan made its first flight September 13. The P&WC engines in the Dual Pac Caravan are mounted side-by-side, driving a combining gearbox and a single, five-blade Hartzell propeller providing 1,329 shp at 1,700 rpm. The gearbox has a clutch design, permitting independent operation of either engine (B/CA, July, page 30). If an engine fails, it automatically disengages while the operative engine continues to drive the propeller. FAA certification is expected in June 1996.
Almost every person who has pocketed a pilot certificate originally learned to fly because of the challenges, joy and pleasure of flight. Many pilots who obtain a private pilot's license stop at that level of certification, while a substantial number go on to become charter pilots, flight instructors, airline transport pilots (ATPs) and, of course, corporate pilots. At each step of the increasingly professional certification, a pilot loses some touch with the simple world of general aviation sport and pleasure flying.
The GPS 90 from Garmin International is the company's latest entry into the small hand-held GPS receiver market. About the size of a TV remote control, and weighing 10 ounces, the unit is capable of displaying five main ``pages'': satellite status, aircraft position, moving-map graphics, navigation and menu (offering various setup and user-preference options). The GPS 90 will store 250 user-defined waypoints and up to 20 reversible routes.
For those interested in the KLN 90B GPS satellite navigation receiver, but lacking room for it in their panels, AlliedSignal now offers its system in a single-box, approach-certificated unit for console installations. The KLN 900 features an eight-channel receiver and a high-resolution, monochrome CRT display capable of graphics, including airport diagrams and advisory VNAV functions. The KLN 900 offers an array of analog and digital interfaces, making it suitable for retrofit applications. The system is priced at $12,000 and will be available by mid 1996.
Now offered by Magellan Systems is the enhanced, EC-10X, a 10-channel GPS receiver and cartography unit with a complete Jeppesen database. Featuring three detail-ed navigation windows on the moving-map display, the EC-10X provides an alphanu meric database search by identifier, city or facility name; alphanumeric or graphic flight planning (up to 10 plans); and nearest/emergency airport search listing (with direct-to any database waypoint). A six-inch by 4.5-inch, high-resolution backlit LCD displays the charts. One hundred user-entered waypoints can be stored.
Step into the cockpit of any workaday business aircraft, and you'll be surprised if you don't find an FMS box or a GPS navigator. There are, however, a few remaining vacancies in the consoles and panels of business aircraft. Now, a new generation of cost-effective, single-box FMSes is emerging that will give light- and medium-size business aircraft the lateral and vertical navigation precision to squeeze the utmost efficiency out of every pound of kerosene.
Gulfstream Aerospace is studying the feasibility of adding an Enhanced Vision System (EVS) to the head-up display (HUD) being developed for the G-IVSP and G-V. The objective of the study is to identify what components will be necessary in an EVS to allow Category III landings at Category I airports and to significantly lower landing minimums during non-precision approaches for HUD-equipped aircraft. In 1994, Gulfstream began a joint development of a HUD system with Honeywell and GEC Marconi for the G-IVSP and G-V.
On September 1, the tiny New York State Aviation Association (only 20 members representing flight departments, FBOs and other suppliers based in the state) accomplished in 24 months what larger, more nationally oriented trade groups couldn't. Their achievement was getting New York to significantly reduce its Petroleum Business Tax on aviation fuel purchased in the state.
One new jet sold outside the United States in September-a Gulfstream IVSP. Eight new sales were listed in September 1994. There were six resales including three Learjets, two Dassault models and one Canadair. Nineteen used jets were delivered to new owners in September last year. One more new jet sale was listed for August 1995 in addition to the single sale reported initially-a Canadair 601-3R. Preliminary reports showed no resales, however, revisions included seven such deliveries.
Howell Instruments of Fort Worth is targeting operators of AlliedSignal TFE engines and Gulfstream IIs and IIIs with its latest instrument developments. The new H384J N1 is designed to provide trend monitoring of customer-selected parameters in aircraft powered by TFE731 turbofans, and can be used in ground checks to verify instrument accuracy. Gulfstream II and III operators may be interested in Howell's H1900 series multifunction indicator.
Cessna has extended its fixed-price, hourly fee Pro Parts program to cover engine parts for the Citation Bravo, Ultra and V. The program will work exactly like it does for airframe and avionics parts: Customers call a single Cessna source for all parts. They will not receive an invoice, but simply pay monthly based on hours flown. Covered are all parts required from the time the engine is new to overhaul, including those needed for unscheduled service. Cessna says rental-engine expenses also are covered under the program.
A GPS datalink receiver was one of several avionics products introduced by Honeywell at the NBAA annual meeting. The VL-2000 VHF datalink receiver is designed to receive uplinked position-correction information and approach coordinates from a differential GPS ground station. In early 1996, Honeywell-together with Pelorus Navigation Systems of Calgary, Alberta, Canada-hopes to be one of the first manufacturers to receive FAA certification of a DGPS landing system (B/CA, April, page 24).
San Antonio-based Dee Howard Company has become the second firm to announce it is developing variable-position exhaust nozzles for engines with or without reversers. Variable nozzles permit the exhaust throat diameter to be optimized for takeoff, climb and cruise regimes. Meanwhile, Whittier, California-based competitor Calcor Aero Systems, which has been working on variable-position exhaust nozzles for over a year, says it will start testing its system on a P&WC PW306 turbofan in a test cell possibly beginning in December (B/CA, December 1994, page 30).
Air Routing Shanghai Airport (ZSSS) agent FASCO can provide a cellular phone to crews to help them maintain contact during their stay. Charges are for phone-line usage only.
Falcon 50 operators soon will be able to upgrade their cockpits to look like the one offered for the new Falcon 50EX and 2000. By mid 1996, Collins expects to be able to offer a Pro Line 4 retrofit program for the Falcon 50. The avionics system includes four, large-format EFIS displays plus Mode-S transponder and turbulence-detection weather radar. Options will include TCAS II and AVSAT comm and nav.
AMR Combs will expand its FBO at the new Denver International Airport and will establish a facility at San Francisco International Airport. The company's DEN expansion includes a $2.8-million, 23,000-square-foot hangar to be completed in January 1996 as the first initiative in a three-part expansion plan. An SFO facility will open early in 1996 in temporary facilities. When completed, the FBO will include a fully appointed terminal and two storage hangars with offices. AMR Combs also is considering additional expansion opportunities in Mexico and South America.
European Business Aviation Association reports that General Aviation Service has moved from the general-aviation terminal at Madrid-Barajas Airport (LEMD) to a location between the cargo terminal and Royal Pavilion, by Ramp 6. Executive aircraft parking is on Ramp 6 and 7.
Air Data Incorporated has introduced the Humispace aircraft cabin humidifier to help prevent dry throat, itchy eyes and other dry-air discomforts on long-haul flights. This boiler-type system ``naturally'' eliminates mineral residues contained in the aircraft's water reservoir, and minimizes the risks of bacterial and viral contamination. The only maintenance required, typically, is replacing the disposable boiler element after 2,000 hours of operation. Price: $39,000. Air Data Inc., 8368 Bougainville, Ste. 106, Montreal, PQ H4P 2G1 Canada. (514) 344-1674.
Mauricio Botelho is the new president of Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. The appointment, by the newly privatized firm's board of directors, became effective September 27. Botelho replaces interim President Juarez Wanderley, who held the position during the transition period following privatization. Wanderley was named vice president-industry within a newly created management structure. He now has the responsibility for engineering, manufacturing, after-sales support, plant administration and quality control.
One new turboprop was sold outside the United States in September-a King Air 350. There were two sales posted in September 1994. There were three resales-two Beech models and one Cessna turboprop. There were 16 deliveries of previously owned aircraft in September last year. International figures may increase significantly as additional information filters through official channels. Revised data added one new turboprop sale in August-a Beech 1900D. Monthly updating added seven resales to the three reported on a preliminary basis.
Aircraft Electronics Association (Independence, MO)-David Vorsas, president of the J.D. Chapdelaine Co. of Fort Lauderdale, FL, succeeds Dan Prosser as chairman of this trade association.
FAA has proposed to revise the structural loads design requirements for transport-category airplanes in order to eliminate the differences with corresponding requirements for aircraft certificated under Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities. The proposal is one of many issued over the last several months intended to achieve common requirements and language between the FAA and the JAA. Comments are due November 27. For more information, contact the FAA at (206) 227-2131.
On April 29, 1993, a Continental Express EMB-120RT ran off the runway at Grider Field in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and came to rest in rough terrain. Remarkably, the three crewmembers and 27 passengers who had boarded the aircraft in Little Rock for a flight to Houston's Intercontinental Airport suffered only scattered minor injuries.
At the NBAA convention, Bombardier's Canadair business-jet division and Dallas-based SimuFlite Training International signed a training agreement applicable to Challenger 604 pilots. Challenger operators participating in the program receive two years of price protection, reduced rates for ancillary training and complementary advanced airmanship courses. SimuFlite's Challenger 604 pilot training is scheduled to start in February 1996 on an FAA Level C simulator in Montreal.
