The NTSB said its investigators have learned that the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation is conducting an investigation into an accident involving an Embraer EMB-500 on Feb. 15, 2013 (BFU interim report No. CX001-13), at Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (SXF), Germany. The interim report of the accident stated that the airplane rolled to the left during the landing flare resulting in the left wing contacting the ground. Investigators found ice accretions up to 10 mm in thickness on the airplane’s nose, wing leading edges and horizontal stabilizer.
Every technician has been there, standing face to face with an agitated pilot who opens a conversation with, “It happened again.” This is often accompanied with the same look of disappointment mothers give when their child present a less than stellar report card. Technical problems that appear and disappear are exceptionally frustrating. The lack of a definitive resolution can cause a corrosive environment in your team dynamic. Pilots need to trust their technician’s ability to hunt and trap these types of problems, and their return erodes that faith.
Longitude’s cockpit layout closely parallels that of Latitude. Three side-by-side, 14-in., landscape configuration flat panel displays occupy most of the instrument panel. The LCDs are some of the highest resolution screens yet installed in a business aircraft. Synthetic vision is standard. Above the screens are left and right display controllers and a central integrated standby instrument system. At the top, there is a central glareshield-mounted flight guidance control panel.
The palette’s evolution began in the basement of a home in Kansas City, Missouri. Dedication to a task is often found in the strangest of places and so it was with this research project on thunderstorms. J.T. “Jean” Lee, then a young scientist for the “Weather Bureau,” as the federal agency was called some 60 years ago, was assigned to Severe Local Storms Research (SELS). Simply put, the SELS team was to learn all it could about the hazards thunderstorms posed to aircraft, a project begun earlier by the U.S. Army Air Corps.
Chances are you've heard that Nexrad has the capability to detect hail. That was made possible a few years ago with the addition of polarization. Previously the system detected precipitation in the horizontal dimension better than in the vertical. As a result, it could not distinguish between large raindrops, which tend to have a horizontal size greater than vertical, and hail, which tends to be equal both horizontally and vertically. Now it can differentiate between wide and tall.
On May 31, 2012, during cruise flight at FL 220 in a Cessna 560, the captain’s windscreen cracked and the flightcrew made an immediate descent and landing. Engineering inspection revealed the source of the problem was a damaged seal. It had let water enter, which then froze during flight.
Because of habit, overconfidence, laziness or haste, some pilots have intentionally disregarded carefully crafted and accepted standard operating procedures. Too often, flouting SOPs undermines efficiency, effectiveness and safety.
By William Garvey, Molly McMillin, Jessica A. Salerno
Mooney International Corp. has introduced the M20V Acclaim Ultra, a redesigned M20 aircraft. Sales began Feb. 11. The upgraded Acclaim includes a composite fuselage, pilot and copilot doors, a clean-sheet interior design and major avionics upgrades, including the Garmin 1000 with an integrated Garmin flight-management keypad. Production is in progress. FAA certification is expected in the second quarter of this year, with deliveries to begin by mid-second quarter of this year, the company said. The base price for the Acclaim Ultra is $769,000.
By William Garvey, Molly McMillin, Jessica A. Salerno
General aviation aircraft deliveries fell 4% last year, with shipments of piston and turboprop aircraft down, while business jet deliveries rose, preliminary figures show. “It’s a mixed bag this year,” said Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), a Washington trade group that compiles the data. “The U.S. economy is still in a positive climb, but it is very anemic.” The health of the energy industry impacts the global market, especially the market for large-cabin, long-range aircraft.
Honeywell’s second-generation HTF7000 series engines are more powerful and fuel efficient than the original powerplant that entered service in 2003, plus they have lower emissions. Aboard Longitude, they’re rated at 7,550 lb. thrust for takeoff.
Sometimes MEL restrictions make sense, but sometimes they produce little-considered “gotchas.” Recently one reader flew a passenger trip into Napa, California. The captain’s windscreen heat was MEL’d and the operational notes instructed crews to keep it off and remain clear of freezing conditions.
A good cleaning should be just that. But often is quite not. “A great many expensive repairs are made to windows which have been subject to improper cleaning techniques,” says Tim Snipes of Aviation Window Services in Boulder, Colorado. Among tools of destruction he cites are stiff brushes, soiled or abrasive cloths, and improper cleaning agents.
The NTSB recently opened its investigation docket on the Dec. 8, 2014, loss of an Embraer Phenom 100 (N100EQ) — an accident that renewed community worries and complaints about operations at Montgomery County Airpark (KGAI) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
In March 1966, BCA covered a Queen Air conversion, Bell's new JetRanger and the BAC-111 flight deck with windows that were "said to show three more lights at 100 ft. than the next best transport."
By William Garvey, Molly McMillin, Jessica A. Salerno
The first binding energy efficiency and carbon-dioxide (CO 2) emissions targets for aviation have been agreed to by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In all but a few cases, aircraft in production or development will meet the initial standard without modification. The global CO 2 standard will apply to all commercial and business aircraft delivered after Jan.
An undistorted view of the outside world isn’t a luxury for pilots, it’s an absolute necessity for obvious reasons. Yet sections of the aircraft manual describing the proper windshield care are usually buried in an obscure chapter that doesn’t receive much attention in ground school training.
Teterboro Airport was the airport most requested in Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder itineraries during January 2016, according to an analysis of aircharterguide.com data. It received the most requests for both departures and arrivals of charter flights.
Teterboro Airport was the No. 1 business aviation airport searched on acukwik.com in January 2016, an analysis of AC-U-KWIK site traffic reveals. The top airport outside the United States was Mexico City's Toluca International Adolfo Lopez Mateos Airport, which ranked fourth. Super Bowl 50 increased interest in three San Francisco Bay Area airports.
As you begin maneuvering for the planned approach, the controller states that, due to a marine layer that has moved into the area, visibility has gone from the forecast 2 mi. to less than a quarter of a mile. You’ve come prepared. Thanks to the special onboard systems, this approach is authorized down to zero/zero conditions. It is flown completely by the autopilot.
Fuel—having enough of it and assuring its steady flow to the engines—is so central to an aircraft’s operation that by many measures, the machine is designed around its fuel’s inflight storage and delivery.
Richard Hanson, Government & Regulatory Affairs Representative for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, discusses his concerns that the FAA includes model aircraft in their recent move to regulate small drones.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Daher delivered 55 TBM 900s in 2015, which the company said was a 10% increase over the previous year, and the second best year since deliveries of the initial versions of the single engine turboprop began in 1991. Of last year’s total, 44 went to U.S. buyers and five to Brazilians. However, Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s airplane unit, said he expects this year to be a challenging one internationally. The TBM 900 is the current production TBM family, following the 850 and original 700.
