The two hotels in the immediate area that Toluca's FBOs are currently recommending are the Holiday Inn and the DelRay. Both are modestly priced, comfortable and conveniently located. Each has several restaurants and a bar/lounge with relatively standard offerings. For those who wish to explore for more exotic or sophisticated fare, ask your FBO or handler for recommendations. One nearby, attractive restaurant with a wide range of well-prepared Mexican dishes is DonGu in the Hacienda del Parian.
At Dusseldorf's Rhein Ruhr Airport (EDDL), the European Business Aircraft Association (EBAA) reports arbitrary slot allocations seriously restrict corporate access on some days and provide no slots on other days. The EBAA has written the German Ministry of Transport and the European Union for immediate relief.
For the first time, three organizations-the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), the International Federation of Airworthiness (IFA) and the International Air Transport Association-will be meeting jointly in what can be none other than a safety extravaganza. The November 6-9 event, called ``Managing Safety,'' will be held at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, and will herald the FSF's 48th annual International Air Safety Seminar and the IFA's 25th international conference. A feast of aviation safety topics awaits the 500 aviation professionals who are expected to attend.
Robert E. Whitehead was officially appointed associate administrator at space agency headquarters. In March, he had taken over the Office of Aeronautics as acting chief after Wesley Harris was reassigned to NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin's office.
``The most advanced visual system yet developed for commercial flight simulators'' is FlightSafety International's claim for its new VITAL ChromaView visual-enhancement system already slated to be installed in two general aviation simulators. This new technology, when combined with VITAL's panoramic MultiView display, is said to provide a ``superior'' visual environment and, thus, to improve the effectiveness of simulator training due to more realistic scenery detail and weather conditions.
While regional aircraft lead the way in active noise canceling, business aircraft might soon catch up. Two systems for King Airs-one from Stevens Aviation of Greenville, South Carolina and the other from Elliott Aviation of Moline, Illinois-were slated for certification in August.
A heliport developer has concluded that the creation of a New York City heliport on a retired aircraft carrier is financially feasible. The study is being sent to the FAA for review. Meanwhile, the estimated start-up date is now early in 1997, about a year later than scheduled (B/CA, September 1994, page 34). Plans call for the USS Guadalcanal, an amphibious assault helicopter carrier, to be converted to a full-service heliport and moored in the Hudson River.
Because it's growing and changing so quickly, the Internet isn't something you'll ever learn completely. The best you can hope to do is try to keep up with major issues. The online services, such as America Online, CompuServe, Delphi and the like, have developed discussion groups devoted to Internet-related topics. In your interest group, you can post all the ``dumb'' questions you can think of, just ``lurk'' in the background and learn from discussions between other users, and download pertinent files for further information.
The past two years have been eventful and generally positive for owners of Twin Commanders, and the first annual fly-in and convention of the Twin Commander Flight Group (TCFG) on June 15-18 in Oklahoma City attested to it. The meeting attracted more than 50 Commander aircraft and about 250 operators and industry representatives from around the world.
Two ``government'' Learjets made headlines in the last year for the worst of reasons. One was a U.S. Air Force C-21A that crashed on April 17 near Alexander City, Alabama. The accident claimed all eight persons aboard, including an assistant Air Force secretary and a major general. The other was a Phoenix Air Learjet 35A operated under contract to the California Air National Guard for which it flew training-support missions. Called ``Dart 21,'' this aircraft crashed when attempting an emergency landing with an electrical system fire.
High Altitude Radiation Monitoring of Vermont Service (HARMS) has developed a tracking system to monitor aircraft occupant exposure to ionizing radiation, an occupational hazard on certain high-altitude flights. HARMS issues a badge on a quarterly basis to its customers. Then, the badges are collected and analyzed by radiation-specialist physicians after the next quarter's badges are sent out. Customers are notified immediately of unusually high readings. Price: $150 per person for badge and service. High Altitude Radiation Monitoring Service, P.O.
Two free videotape productions-one from the AOPA and the other from King Schools of San Diego-provide tips on cutting aircraft noise and living in harmony with airport neighbors. The AOPA introduced its 20-minute videotape, ``Flying Friendly,'' narrated by AOPA President Phil Boyer, this spring. Flight departments, airport managers and local pilot groups will find the video to be a well-illustrated how-to production, suggesting and showing safe noise-reducing flying techniques.
Honeywell's FANS 1 system was certificated in June, enabling operators of Boeing 747-400s to take a significant step toward implementation of CNS/ATM. So what does that mean? If you're confused by new terminology being bandied about in the avionics and ATC worlds, don't worry; you're probably not alone. Industry observers are referring to the ongoing changes in the way airplanes and pilots relate to ATC as ``revolutionary as the jet engine,'' so perhaps it's fitting that those changes be accompanied by a whole new set of acronyms.
All 18 of United Beechcraft's service facilities in the United States have replaced the customary ``time-and-a-half'' charges for overtime maintenance work with a posted rate plus an hourly premium charge. The new overtime charge for piston aircraft service is posted rate plus $10 an hour; the overtime charge for turbine aircraft maintenance is posted rate plus $15 an hour. Additionally, Beechcraft has added a second shift and increased service hours at its facilities in Wichita, Little Rock, Van Nuys, Tampa and Birmingham.
The de Havilland Dash 8Q represents a new type of active noise control. Rather than mitigating noise with anti-noise, the system uses active, tuned vibration absorbers (TVAs) to ``stiffen'' the fuselage structure as propeller blades sweep by, thereby eliminating some of the vibration that normally is the source of noise.
Mechanical failure, a flight-manual deficiency and human error led to the April 17 crash of a U.S. Air Force C-21A Learjet short of the runway at Alexander City, Alabama, according to an Air Force report. The right standby fuel pump remained energized after starting the aircraft, resulting in a fuel imbalance following an attempt to transfer fuel to a fuselage tank. Air Force training, unlike civilian training courses, did not include teaching pilots to recognize this type of malfunction.
The company expanded its domestic sales force with appointments of these two regional directors: Brant Dahlfors for the Pacific Northwest and Gary Bokowy for the Upper Midwest.
America's undying love of baseball, seemingly unshakable until the 1994 players' strike, helped make the 1989 film Field of Dreams a modern classic. But for even the most ardent fan, it took a passion for the national pastime, plus a leap of faith, to believe that Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella should heed a mysterious voice that told him to build a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield in order to reconcile himself with his deceased father, a former pro ballplayer.
VisionAire of Chesterfield, Missouri chose Ames, Iowa as the production site for the company's planned Vantage single-engine business jet (B/CA, September, page 60). Ames was selected, VisionAire said, with the expectation that financial incentives promised by local, state and other agencies will be forthcoming to meet the $2.4 million that VisionAire needs to fund development of the prototype. The company anticipates construction of the assembly plant to be completed by June 1997. First flight of the Vantage is targeted for April 1996.
