Alex Bruzzano (Chief of Safety Nebraska Air National Guard Offutt AFB, Neb. )
Thank you so much for the kind words in “The List, Please” (Viewpoint, May 2013, page 11). One small point, however. I have never been (unfortunately) a Gulfstream pilot — King Airs, Barons and TBMs have been my forte in that department. Again, thanks so much for your help. If we do get a chance to improve our checklist design I'll be sure to let you know. Chief of Safety Nebraska Air National Guard Offutt AFB, Neb.
FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen wants to change the agency's approach to enforcement regarding minor issues, but is getting slowed by the agency's attorneys. Speaking at the recent Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association Spring Meeting, he said his office had hoped to move away from a punitive system to one that enables inspectors to help operators correct small problems before immediately jumping into an enforcement action.
California's Santa Monica Airport is more than doubling its aircraft landing fees of $2.07 certified maximum gross landing weight per 1,000 lb. to $5.48 beginning Aug. 1. The fees will be applied both to transient and based aircraft. City officials say the airfield side is not self-sustaining and has tapped into the city's general fund for an estimated $13.3 million in capital improvement projects. The fee increases, they say, will be used to put the airport in the black and pay for its upkeep.
In reference to your editorial comments in “Who's Up Front?” (Viewpoint, February 2013), as I recall, years ago United Airlines tried the approach of hiring individuals who had at least at least a Private Pilot certificate. Then at the airline's expense, they were provided additional training to achieve certification as Commercial/Instrument pilots who met the airline's first officer qualifications. I don't recall how long this plan remained in effect, but I suspect it didn't prove to be a viable avenue to provide qualified pilots to meet the airline's needs.
David Esler's “Euro ETS Reconsidered” (April 2013, page 36) was very politically correct. Esler does a great job of describing all the players, but does not point to any benefit to the global aviation community by implementing this ridiculous program.
Dassault Aviation's Mystere 20 s.n.1 took to the skies for the very first time on May 4, 1963, and the French planemaker is holding celebrations and displays throughout the year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that signal event. The centerpiece of the moveable feast is s.n. 1 itself. The aircraft has undergone a three-year restoration by a team of former airline and Dassault employees.
I read the instructions carefully and double-checked my passport to be sure it contained two consecutive blank pages. Good to go. All that remained was to get a mug shot and then send the package to the facilitator to obtain a visa. I well understood the importance of those empty pages.
Bell Helicopter has begun offering the Max-Viz-1500 enhanced vision system as an option on new Bell 429s, as well as a retrofit installation on the helicopter. Bell and Astronics collaborated on the integration of the system, which they say will maximize visibility in poor weather and operating conditions. The EVS is installed at the factory on new helicopters and offered as a retrofit at Bell's service facility in Piney Flats, Tenn.
Ametek Sensors & Fluid Management Systems (SFMS) was selected by Embraer as a supplier for the recently awarded U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) contract. Embraer teamed with Sierra Nevada Corp. on the program and is producing the Super Tucano for the LAS contract. Ametek was selected to provide products including advanced triaxial accelerometers and Amphion solid-state relays.
Solid growth in West Star Aviation's key markets is fueling significant expansion plans. To meet its business demands, it plans to invest roughly $15 million this year on facilities in Grand Junction, Co., East Alton, Ill.), and Columbia, S.C. Plans call for adding approximately 160,000 sq. ft. at West Star's two largest locations (Grand Junction and East Alton) and at its location in Columbia. All facilities will be new with the exception of the maintenance facility in Grand Junction. That facility will be housed in a hangar that previously belonged to Mesa Airlines.
Alpha Air Center of Joplin Regional Airport (KJL) in Webb City, Mo., plans to open a new 5,000-sq.-ft. executive terminal this summer. The new terminal will include a range of amenities, including showers, conference rooms, flight-planning equipment and dedicated pilot and passenger amenities. The fixed-base operation is an Avfuel dealer that participates in Avfuel Contract Fuel and Avtrip points programs.
FlightSafety International's first AgustaWestland AW139 full-flight simulator has entered service at the company's Learning Center in Lafayette, La. The first Initial Pilot course using this new Level D qualified simulator is now underway. The simulator is equipped with a Honeywell Primus Epic avionics suite configured for single- and dual-pilot operations. It features a four-axis autopilot, GPS with Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capabilities, a Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), and an Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS).
Just a quick one to say how much I enjoy your pieces each month and to ask that y'all not let BCA evaporate into a non-paper effort given its still-important role and the value of a paper-based magazine that does what you do.
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services is adding its third location in a little more than a year with the recent acquisition of development rights at Chicago Executive Airport. Hawthorne, which teamed with Moelis Capital Partners in 2010 to build a nationwide fixed-base operation (FBO) chain, closed on a deal May 6 to acquire the rights from Sovereign Development Group and hopesto begin construction later this month on a nearly 40,000-sq.-ft. terminal and hangar facility.
Embraer has received both FAA and Brazilian Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC) clearances for installation of its Prodigy Touch flight deck aboard the Phenom 300. NetJets is launching the new flight deck aboard the Phenom, and Embraer is offering the suite as an option for other Phenom 300 aircraft beginning in the fourth quarter. Based on the Garmin G3000 platform, the Prodigy Touch incorporates touch-screen technology with automation designed for single-pilot operation.
The Southwest Airlines flight had been uneventful, but shortly after the Boeing 737 touched down at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 8, 2009, the right main landing gear's inboard wheel and brake assembly separated from the aircraft. The pilots managed to taxi the jetliner off the runway and onto a taxiway where all 142 occupants deplaned. Airfield crews recovered the sizeable broken components that upon examination revealed fatigue cracking emanating from the brake mounting bolt-hole.
There's been a lot of e-chatter lately concerning the place of pilots in aviation's future. The sentiments expressed celebrate the good old days when pilots, not engineers, were in charge and when the men at the controls were rugged individualists. In following these messages, it seems the fabled Pan American China Clippers were flown by pilots with “the right stuff.”
Jet Aviation's six U.S. FBO facilities — Boston/Bedford, Mass.; Dallas and Houston, Texas; St. Louis, Mo.; Palm Beach, Fla., and Teterboro, N.J. — have joined Paragon Aviation Group's network of independent FBOs nationwide. The new partnership increased the total number of connections available to support customer requirements to 23 locations in North America.
Beechcraft hopes to sell most of its jet programs by midyear. Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said earlier this year that the programs have attracted a fair amount of interest and recently told Wichita reporters that he expects a bidding process to begin shortly. Options exist for the programs, ranging from a support organization buying the lines to maintain the existing fleet, to a manufacturing operation purchasing them to bring them back into production.
When Blain Stanley, international operations director at Aircare FACTS Training, begins a class on cabin emergency training for flight crews, he asks the pilots — many of whom have described their passengers as “Type A's” — if they think their charges would be assets or liabilities during an emergency. According to Stanley, the nearly universal answer is the latter.
Michelin and the Federal Aviation Administration Safety Program (FAASTeam) have teamed to offer pilot and aircraft maintenance technicians an online tire maintenance course titled “The Impact of Tire Maintenance on Aircraft Safety.” FAASafety.gov is the primary training website for pilot and aircraft maintenance technicians. There are FAA incentive credits available for taking the training courses, which cover a variety of topics. This new course helps expose pilots and AMTs to the possible consequences of inadequate tire inflation pressure and the damages of FOD.
3M introduced a new line of masking tapes aimed at “Making Masking Simple.” Built on increasing levels of performance, the new products include: Value Masking Tape 101+ for basic jobs such as marking and wrapping; General Use Masking Tape 201+ for bundling, labeling and identifying; Performance Yellow Masking Tape 301+ for industrial paint masking, color coding and sealing; High Performance Green Tape 401+/233+ for high-performance industrial painting of aircraft trucks and other special vehicles; and Specialty High-Temperature Masking Tape 501+ for the highest degree of i
Federal Aviation Regulation 91.211 requires a single pilot when above FL 350 and one of two pilots in the cockpit when above FL 410 to wear and use an oxygen mask as a precaution against incapacitation in the event of a rapid or explosive decompression event. It's a rule that's routinely ignored by scores of business aircraft pilots, based upon recent confidential interviews conducted by BCA.
