Given sufficient forward speed, a power transmission cable will easily slice through a helicopter’s windshield. So, should a pilot fail to spot a wire ahead, Magellan Aerospace’s Wire-Strike Protection System (WSPS) can be the final line of defense for the impact that follows. A typical installation consists of a roof-mounted cutter and one or more cutters mounted on the helicopter’s fuselage. A deflector running vertically along the middle of the windshield guides the cables into the high-tensile-steel cutting blades.
Believing aircraft instruments when they are at odds with our bodily sensations is difficult. After all, the brain is taking in thousands of inputs a second from the body’s sensors, but information from the aircraft instruments only enters the computations when we attend to them.
Aerion Corporation, Reno, Nevada, appointed Sean McGeough as regional vice president for the Northeast U.S. Airbus Helicopters, Marignane, France, announced that Guillaume Steuer is head of External Communications reporting to vice president of Corporate Communications Yves Barille. Banyan Air Service, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, named Andy Joran as sales manager for HondaJet Southeast responsible for an eight-state territory.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Apex Aviation, an FAA-approved repair station in Las Vegas, is the new owner of Kings Avionics, based at Henderson Executive Airport near Las Vegas. Kings Avionics is a factory-authorized warranty and repair facility, with dealerships that include Avidyne, Mid Continent, Aspen Avionics and Sandia Aerospace. Several others are in the works, the company said.
Still thinking like a professional FAR Part 25 aircraft pilot, I ask what I need to learn first about operating a multiengine FAR Part 23 airplane? The answer came to mind almost immediately: What to do when one of the powerplants takes a vacation right around liftoff.
Three interior packages are available for the Kodiak. The standard Tundra Interior configuration includes nonslip floor coverings, durable composite side panels, sidewall cargo net tie-down points, and two pilot and four passenger chairs. There are eight passenger headset jacks, passenger service units and reading lights, plus a full ventilation and heating system. A two-place, crew-only oxygen system is included.
You’re much less likely to become an accident statistic if you view mixed-use general aviation airports as potentially high-risk operating environments, craft specific steps to mitigate those risks and execute your escape plan without delay.
Jack Piehl, a trail blazer in aviation safety, died June 2, 2015 at the age of 80 after a brief illness. He had a lifelong career in aviation, which spanned both flight and maintenance. His first job was with Eastern Airlines followed by positions with several corporate flight departments until he joined Shell Oil Company in Houston, Texas. At Shell he began as pilot and later took on additional responsibilities including that of overseeing the qualifications and operations of Shell’s Gulf of Mexico charter operators.
Originally, NBAA was started by a group of 13 corporations for self-protection. Today it has grown to 398 regular members and 185 associate members and accounts for four-fifths of GA’s heavy and medium multi-engine aircraft.
Mention the name Russ Meyer, Jr. and you’ll think of the Cessna chairman and CEO most responsible for the success of the Citation family of fanjets. Yet, it was he, along with his predecessor Dwayne Wallace who originated the concept for clean-sheet, single-engine Caravan, the company’s quietly successful and enduring utility turboprop.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Cirrus Aircraft says its Vision SF50 personal jet should earn type certification by year-end and deliveries 4-7 seat aircraft will begin shortly thereafter. Although several single-engine turbofan models have been proposed and some prototypes flown over the years, the SF50 will become the first to actually reach production. In late August, the FAA issued a Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) for the aircraft.
The Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 are the launch platforms for Rockwell Collins’ new HGS-3500 compact head-up guidance system and uncooled, tri-spectral EVS-3000 enhanced vision sensor. Embraer and Rockwell Collins are pursuing Enhanced Flight Vision System certification for the combined HGS/EVS system that will enable operators to fly down to 100 ft. AGL/1,600 ft. RVR minimums on low-visibility instrument approaches.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the Embraer Legacy 450 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
In the entry-level super-midsize category, is the Legacy 450 better value than the Citation Latitude? Digging deeper into design details, performance numbers and everyday capabilities can provide some answers.
Well proven over the last 12 years in service aboard business aircraft, the HTF7500E is a twin-spool, medium-bypass-ratio turbofan. Up front, there’s a single-stage, wide-chord, damperless fan, driven by an uncooled and shrouded three-stage low-pressure turbine. Aft of the fan, air is routed to the compressor through an inertial separator that causes most FOD to pass out the bypass duct rather than be ingested by the engine. The compressor consists of four axial compressor stages, with two variable geometry stator stages, and a single centrifugal compressor.
Four, 15.1-in. landscape configuration displays, arranged in a T configuration, dominate the instrument panel and center console. Each display may be divided into multiple windows to support multitasking. Synthetic vision is standard for the PFDs.
Designers attempt to give exceptional capabilities in all areas, including price, but the laws of physics, thermodynamics and aerodynamics do not allow one aircraft to do all missions with equal efficiency. Trade offs are a reality of aircraft design.
In late August, Priest River, Idaho-based Aerocet Inc. earned full FAA approval for its 6650 composite floats for the Quest Kodiak 100. Compared to the previously available aluminum floats, the composite Aerocet 6650 floats are 300 lb. lighter and they have considerably lower hydrodynamic drag due to their comparatively long, quad-fluted, shallow-chine, banana-shaped step sections.
It’s obvious that most of the traditional aviation community — the FAA included — was caught off guard by the speed and exponential growth of the UAV onslaught. And it’s only just begun.
Unexpectedly free for a few hours during my visit, I borrowed my brother’s car and wheeled over to what had been a familiar, nearby place. What I found was unrecognizable. Where once were wide open spaces, now stand a series of office buildings, a sprawling hotel, colleges with stadiums, a county park, and even a 17,000-seat coliseum. Ah, progress.
Early aircraft composites were relatively thick and primary structures were much larger than their metal counterparts. With the introduction of exotic materials like boron, carbon fiber and better layup process, the material got thinner but also more dependent on both process control and post-forming inspection. The ability to detect voids is essential, but there is still no way to detect residual strength in the bond without testing it to destruction.
