A little more than a decade ago, then Chicago Mayor Richard Daley shocked the aviation community and his own city by ordering backhoes out to Meigs Field (CGX) in the dark of night to carve giant Xs, measuring two-foot-deep, along the close-in airport's 3,899-ft. runway. That March 31, 2003, assault destroyed the 55-year-old general aviation airport and took place without warning to the FAA, the FBO (Signature Flight Support) and the owners of about 16 aircraft temporarily stranded there.
Williams International has bundled many features into a new engine maintenance program called TAP Blue that it says offers “an unprecedented level of coverage.” Under the program Williams is expanding the coverage of its Total Assurance Program (TAP) to include virtually every natural and unnatural event that might occur over the life of its family of FJ33 and FJ44 engines.
Questions for Scott Smith First among mayors, he sees general aviation as part of the nation's character, and a sometimes awesome way to cover long distances quickly. You have an overfull agenda. Why did you agree to join the Alliance board as well?
Innotech Aviation's engineering department has certified the installation of the Honeywell Aspire 200 satcom system on a Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft. The ICG Iridium 120A has been interfaced with the Honeywell Aspire 200 system to provide telephony and Internet access. The ICG handsets can be used over both Iridium and Immarsat SwiftBroadband systems. The Aspire system has been interfaced through a high-gain satcom antenna to provide broadband connectivity of up to 432 Kbps. This system provides Wi-Fi connectivity in the cabin for a very low cost airborne solution.
Aspen Avionics, Albuquerque, N.M., announced the election of Dr. John B. “Jack” Mowell as chairman of the board. Dr. Mowell, a Tallahassee, Fla., resident, is a diversified business executive in the fields of aviation, the life sciences, and oil and gas.
The SJ30 light jet, now known as the SyberJet, and which is undergoing significant improvements, was launched by Ed Swearingen back in the 1980s. The prototype first flew 22 years ago. Over the decades it's had a variety of names — mighty Gulfstream briefly promoted it as the “Gulfjet” before withdrawing from the program — and owners, including Swearingen Aircraft, the Jaffe Group, Sino Swearingen and Emivest, all of which either lost interest or came to financial grief, with the last named actually going bankrupt in 2010.
Bombardier Aerospace opened a new facility at its Belfast location that will be dedicated to wing manufacturing and assembly. Bombardier had already expanded its Northern Ireland site with the hiring of nearly 1,000 employees over the past two years, and expects to add at least 250 more over the next year at the new wing manufacturing and assembly facility. The 600,000-sq.-ft. site is making wings for the CSeries. The opening follows the recent ground-breaking of Bombardier's planned 150,000-sq.-ft.
A key characteristic in business aviation is the crew's direct contact with the folks in back. We can't hide behind a locked cockpit door if we botch a landing. Likewise, we also can't hide from today's flight-savvy passengers who are monitoring the flight's progress via GPS displays. So, if something goes amiss, it's likely that we'll have to explain our actions afterward to unhappy passengers.
When Deborah Hersman, chair of the NTSB, addressed the international media in the initial days after the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 accident at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), there was a sense of shock within the professional pilot ranks when she announced that the Boeing 777 was “significantly” below its final approach speed shortly before it struck the seawall short of Runway 28L. After all, if the aircraft was that unstabilized, why didn't the pilots go around?
Constant Aviation recently secured a supplemental type certificate for installation of a Wi-Fi system, along with Aircell's Gogo Biz inflight Internet system, on an executive configured Boeing 737-200. The installation marked an expansion of the facility's in-house capabilities and STCs. Constant already has STCs for the installation of Gogo Biz inflight Internet aboard Gulfstream, Embraer, Beechcraft, Hawker and Cessna Citation aircraft.
ADB Airfield Solutions has introduced AD-light Low Protrusion Taxiway Lights. The improved lights overcome drawbacks of older versions wherein no part of the prism is located below the surface of the ground, avoiding loss of photometry. They can be used in CAT I, II and III, as taxiway centerline lights, in straight and curved runway sections, on rapid exit taxiways, as stop bars and intermediate holding position lights, among other applications.
As winter approaches, flight crews are gearing up for the heart of the icing season. Virtually all of them are aware of the potentially lethal consequences of attempting to take off with airframe ice contamination. But some pilots think that minor ice contamination has little, if any, effect on aircraft performance.
“A lot of the places you go, you might have to talk people through the process, but these guys knew what they were doing, very competent and impressive.” This was the appraisal of a long-range business jet captain employed by a major U.S. technology company about the quality of ground support he'd received at Gimpo International Airport during a recent trip to the Republic of South Korea.
RUAG Aviation is now authorized to perform the full range of maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade services for the McDonnell Douglas MD 500, 600 and 900 series helicopters. The Maintenance Organisation Exposition (MOE) rating was received earlier this year and supplements the company's established helicopter maintenance and modernization services. RUAG has begun upgrades for MD helicopters including the integration of an advanced avionics suite in an MD 520N and the installation of modern TV broadcasting equipment on an MD 900. RUAG Aviation
Beechcraft Corp. completed a demonstration of a Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System Situational Awareness (SINCGARS SA) Waveform capability, using its AT-6 light attack aircraft in concert with the U.S. Air Force Air National Guard and Georgia Tech Research Institute.
Dassault's third-generation enhanced avionics system (EASy) mainly uses Honeywell Primus equipment. The layout is similar to EASy cockpits in legacy Falcon Jets, featuring four flat-panel screens arranged in a T configuration. There also will be left- and right-side EFBs outside of the PFDs, a next-generation FMS with 4-D navigation and a solid-state RDR 4000 with volumetric scanning. Available functions will include CPDLC, ADS-B out, RNP 0.3 and LPV approach, along with synthetic vision.
Magellan Jets has introduced a new 25-hr. Wi-Fi Jet card, underscoring the importance of Wi-Fi capabilities on charter aircraft. The card guarantees flights aboard later model midsize or super-midsize jets that are equipped with Wi-Fi. “Wi-Fi is arguably the biggest market driver in charter today, and the 25-hr. Wi-Fi Jet Card addresses that demand perfectly,” says Magellan CEO Joshua Hebert.
Pan Am's service and engineering support for the Mystere 20 will not include the crews, Alvin P. Adams told the NBAA. “We are not going to crew or man these airplanes with Pan American people. We've always been misquoted on this.”
To learn more about IS-BAO, visit the International Business Aviation Council's website — www.ibac.org. There you will find information about the work that IBAC does and how to go about becoming IS-BAO registered. There is also helpful information and links to other safety related topics.
If possible: (1) Put the aircraft in a heated hangar. If left outside: (2) Park facing the wind and clamp on the covers. (3) Put liquids, gels, sauces, etc. in a warm place. (4) Drain potable and gray water systems (don't forget the self-filling coffee pot). Once operating: (5) Apply brakes several times while taxiing out. (6) Refer to braking action reports. (7) Use deice/anti-ice fluids, as appropriate.
These included: Ensure that unstabilized approach and go-around policies are clear, concise and unambiguous, including follow-up procedures for non-compliance. Emphasize the importance of good monitoring by both pilots since that can affect the safe execution of a go-around. Operations manuals must contain a strongly worded policy statement that no punitive action will follow a go-around.
Business aviation in North Africa is growing at a rate nearly double the global average, but activity is down this year, according to the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA). MEBAA points to WingX data that shows the number of registered business aircraft is increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3%, compared with the global average of 3.7%.
When a center controller issues an advisory of “extreme precipitation” ahead, frustration or confusion may well come into play. All professional pilots have had the experience of being in day VMC when we get the call. Yet looking out the windscreen, it's clear that the weather is simply not a factor; often it's out there, but well below the aircraft. However, get that same call at night or in IMC, or both, and the warning can be downright unnerving.
As we went to press, Bloomberg news was reporting that Beechcraft is up for sale. Again. The report stated, “Credit Suisse Group AG is contacting potential suitors on their interest in acquiring Beechcraft, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Beechcraft may fetch about $1.5 billion, another person said. Cessna Aircraft parent Textron Inc.
