Photograph: Soloy's Cessna 208B Dual Pac structural test and design mockup. Over 1,500 members, vendors and supporters of the National Air Transportation Association weathered rain, hail, floods and high winds to attend the aircraft service organization's 55th annual convention and trade show in New Orleans in May. Attendance may have been down by as much as five percent from earlier estimates because of the severe weather.
The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) still is plagued by delays that are likely to put off commissioning more installations until year-end. About 320 of 537 systems have been installed, but only two-at Montrose, Colorado and Grand Canyon, Arizona-have been commissioned. Delays are attributed to problems with obtaining long-line communications, a National Weather Service moratorium imposed due to technical problems, and an FAA agreement with ATC controllers not to install ASOS at airports with control towers.
When the FAA adopted a new regulation governing aircraft seat construction and testing in 1988, few in the industry foresaw major problems with the rule.
In the unlikely event that all of the remaining 370 Sabreliner business jets were suddenly to disappear from the face of the Earth or its atmosphere, the aircraft's main source of support, Sabreliner Corporation, would not instantly go out of business.
The FAA has a problem. The demand for ATC services is growing faster than the agency is able to flex itself to adapt, leading to limited access and operating restrictions. Those restrictions, in turn, create inefficiencies that impose a cost on users in both time and money. The FAA's statistics tell the tale. Agency workload measures show a steady increase in traffic volume.
Association of Flight Attendants issued a study strongly supporting the use of child safety seats aboard commercial aircraft. Representative Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) is expected to use the study to help obtain passage of his bill (H.R. 1309) that would require the use of child-restraint systems for passengers under two years of age. To date, the FAA has opposed mandatory use of child safety seats until other studies' results can be considered (B/CA, December 1994, page 24).
The special flight restrictions for operating above the Grand Canyon will likely be extended for another two years. The restrictions were enacted four years ago and have previously been extended to allow time for the National Park Service to complete a study involving aircraft overflight impacts in the Canyon. Recommendations from the completed study were sent to the FAA, which said extending the restrictions gives it ample time to review the studies.
Enhanced Vision System and Synthetic Vision System are two terms that currently roll off the tongues of many technocrats in the aviation industry. These two terms often are used interchangeably, although, in a pure sense, they are quite different concepts.
Examples from the CVR and the captain's testimony provide information on specific performance and behavioral occurrences that fit the expected effects of fatigue on human functioning. The hypothesis that fatigue affected the crewmembers' performance is supported by the amount of cumulative sleep loss, continuous wakefulness and circadian disruptions (jet lag) experienced by the entire crew.
The year was 1964. Remember that one? The young Beatles, Tonkin Gulf, ``Gilligan's Island,'' the New York World's Fair and the first Ford Mustang. . . . The place was Denver, Mile High City, Stapleton Airport, home to United Airlines' flight training center, a.k.a. ``DENTK,'' its company mail address. The occasion was a training flight for landing practice in a Douglas DC-7.
Ecuadorian officials now have the assistance of the U.S. NTSB in their investigation of a May 4 Gulfstream G-II accident near Quito, Ecuador. The Safety Board sent an investigator to Ecuador and offered additional assistance, as needed. All seven persons aboard, including top executives from oil firms in Argentina and Chile, were killed when the aircraft hit mountains at 13,000 feet msl shortly after midnight. Authorities have ruled out poor weather as a cause. The G-II (S/N 83) was leased to American Jet S.A. of Buenos Aires.
Guidelines for safe operation of portable electronic devices (PEDs) are expected to be issued in August, and will discuss results of tests done under the auspices of a Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics committee. Six airliners and a Gulfstream IV were used to determine what effect PEDs might have on avionics. John Sheehan, committee chairman and vice president of Phaneuf Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, said research conducted to date has produced ``no smoking guns'' indicating serious problems.
This is what the VisionAire Vantage will look like if all goes as planned. The St. Louis-based company recently contracted with Burt Rutan's Scale Composites to build a full-size, proof-of-concept prototype of the six-place, single-engine business jet. First flight is scheduled for March 1996.
Duncan Aviation is now providing all avionics repair and installation services at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport from a renovated facility at Jet Aviation's FBO. From the new shop at Jet Aviation, Duncan will handle all of Jet Aviation's avionics customers at Teterboro, plus its own customer base. The separate Duncan Avionics facility at Teterboro has closed. The new facility features more work space and an increased number of avionics technicians.
The FAA already is taking the first tentative steps toward free flight. In March, the agency expanded the National Route Program, which previously allowed pilots flying 1,500-mile stage lengths between 104 designated city pairs to fly direct in the en route segment if they stayed above FL 370. That program has now been expanded, and only the altitude restriction remains.
The Bombardier Business Aircraft Division has expanded its international sales force with the addition of two sales directors: (left) David Guest as director of sales for the sub-Sahara region of Africa and Luis Sastre as director of sales for Latin America.
Photograph: Bradford Lindley, a pilot for General Electric Company, listens for breathing during a test measuring his CPR skills. Maybe your flightcrews are prepared to administer first aid in flight, but could crewmembers cope with a sudden cardiac emergency? Could they save a life? To be a truly safe operation, learning to resuscitate someone whose breathing or heart has stopped is essential. One company to consider for training flightcrews in basic CPR and use of the automatic defibrillator is J. Hare Safety&Survival Systems of Jamaica, New York.
When all is said and done, the ``aviation business'' is really a part of the ``communication business.'' B/CA's readers use airplanes safely and efficiently to bring people together so they can effectively exploit all the advantages of face-to-face contact.
As part of its dowry, Allison Engines was able to present merger suitor Rolls-Royce with a new type certificate for the turbofan engine that will plug a hole in the low end of the British manufacturer's product line. Earlier this year, Allison was awarded FAA type approval for the AE 3007C engine that powers Cessna's 0.9 Mach mid-size Citation X business jet. (And, of course, Allison now is a member of Rolls-Royce's family.)
FAA has eased some of the flight restrictions it imposed earlier this year on the Robinson R22 and R44 light helicopters. Now, pilots with at least 200 hours in helicopters and 50 hours in the R22 or R44 are exempt from prohibitions on flight under these conditions: when surface winds exceed 25 knots, when gusts exceed 15 knots, or when moderate, severe or extreme turbulence is reported. The restrictions continue to apply to lower-time pilots (B/CA, April, page 24).
June 27 is the deadline for comments to the FAA on its far-reaching proposal to upgrade FAR Part 135 regional airline rules (B/CA, May, page 11). Under the provisions of the proposal, scheduled carriers using aircraft with 10 to 30 passenger seats would have to meet Part 121, the standards that now apply to scheduled operations in aircraft with more than 30 passenger seats. For further information, contact the FAA's Alberta Brown at (202) 267-8248.
FAA issued a rule to remedy a discrepancy between a 1974 AD on ``No Smoking'' placards and also recently amended FAR Part 25 regarding that signage. The agency revised the AD to clarify that operators need only comply with either the AD or Part 25, not both. Initially, the AD required worded placards to be mounted on lavatory doors on all transport-category airplanes, while Part 25 requires placards in words or symbology to be mounted on or near the door.
North Dakota recently enacted a bill limiting a ``resident'' general aviation manufacturer's product liability to just 10 years, eight years shy of a similar measure Congress passed in 1994 (B/CA, August 1994, page 7.) State officials hope GA manufacturers will be attracted by the law. It applies only to aircraft under 12,500 pounds, and buyer and seller must agree to adhere to North Dakota law. Also, purchasers must buy product-liability insurance.
FAR Part 135 operators with 11 to 50 employees to whom alcohol-testing rules are applicable must begin implementing the rules on July 1. Key elements of the rules are as follows: The random-testing rate is 25 percent of the total number of eligible employees. An alcohol level of 0.04 or higher on the job means a violation. And, a recent change to the rules allows the use of less-expensive non-evidential breath- and saliva-testing devices for alcohol-screening tests. Evidential breath testing is still required to confirm positive results.
Without a doubt, the Falcon 50EX's substantial performance improvements are a direct result of its three new AlliedSignal TFE731-40 turbofan engines. The -40 has a 4,700-pound sea-level, standard-day thermodynamic thrust rating, enabling it to maintain its 3,700-pound takeoff thrust to 32C. In contrast, the -3 engine has a 4,050-pound thermodynamic thrust rating that only provides enough temperature margin to maintain 3,700 pounds to 22C.
