"Under Pressure” (June 2014, page 45) was a great article on tires, but your Learjet 60 accident synopsis gives the reader the impression that this was a typical accident for a post-V1 abort. It was not. You wrote that the thrust reversers were activated but omitted that the TRs subsequently stowed (damaged squat switches) and caused the airplane to accelerate as the engines spooled up above the N1 limit for reverse.
The FAA in June gave its first approval for commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASes) over land, clearing energy giant BP to operate the AeroVironment Puma AE, a UAS that is 4.5 ft. long with a 9-ft. wingspan, to conduct surveys over Alaska’s North Slope. The agency had previously approved certificates for use of UASes to conduct aerial surveillance over Arctic waters, but this latest certificate of waiver enables BP to use the Puma to survey pipelines, roads and equipment at Prudhoe Bay.
It was sad to read we had lost Jim Christiansen (Intelligence, June 2014, page 14). I first met Jim 30-plus years ago at a management seminar for small flight departments that he facilitated with Dick Van Gemert of Xerox. He was generous with his time and shared his knowledge and expertise freely with those of us who were new to our positions.
The TBM 900’s Pratt & Whitney Canada 1,825-hp PT6A-66D engine, flat rated to 850 shp to ISA+49C, gets a single power lever control that operates much like an automotive manual gear shift lever with an “h” pattern. The right side of the “h” controls condition modes, including feather, high and low idle, and cut off. The left side of the “h” controls power modes, including forward and reverse thrust, plus ground fine pitch, taxi power functions. Normal operating prop speed in flight is 2,000 rpm.
Recently I was again reminded that time is passing and that different lives can be lived, well, unevenly. The confirmation arrived in an email my brother sent to all family members announcing that, after 28 years on the job, he’s retiring. He’s not the first of the seven siblings to punch out, but he’s the youngest by far.
We might not think about it until we have to land at one, but as business jet captain Katha House pointed out, there are a few airports around the globe that are situated below sea level. “Thermal Airport [KTRM] in the Mojave Desert is 115 ft. below sea level,” she said, “and your altimeter will read zero on the approach, and you’ll still be flying! There’s one in Egypt that’s 436 ft. below sea level, and Bar Yehuda Airport [LLMZ] at Masada in Israel is -1,240 ft., the lowest in the world.”
It’s one thing to perform an autorotation correctly in the simulator or during a “canned” training session but quite another matter when the engine quits in flight. It’s during the latter that a pilot is prone to revert to first-learned habit patterns. They had better be the right ones, since action is required within 2 sec.
Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga., named John Liotta, director of Product Support Sales for the East Coast of the U.S. He is responsible for maintenance sales to Gulfstream operators and reports to Mike West, vice president, Product Support and New Business Development. Tony Swift is the company’s first field service representative in Africa and will be based in South Africa.
Supercooling fog so it disperses as snow, increasing visibility, has been tried with some success at Orly Airport, France. One problem is the reaction of nearby residents to the resulting light snow fall.
