The first time I saw Neil Armstrong in person was in Bethpage, N.Y., not too long after he, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins plopped into the Pacific, ending their historic Apollo 11 moon mission. He and Aldrin had come to Grumman's Long Island “Iron Works” where their lunar module was conceived, designed and built. A local newspaper reporter, I was excited to witness the visit.
Rockwell Collins' Airshow 3-D moving map is now available for download in the iTunes App store. The iPad app delivers a unique, interactive way for business jet passengers to view the world around them and stay informed during their trip. With a simple system upgrade, existing Airshow 4000 or Venue HD cabin management system users can take advantage of the new app.
Algae.Tec Ltd. and Lufthansa have signed a collaboration agreement to construct a large-scale algae-to-aviation biofuels production facility. The site will be in Europe, adjacent to an industrial CO2 source. Lufthansa will arrange 100% funding for the project. Algae.Tec will manage the project and receive license fees and profits from the project. Lufthansa has committed to a long-term offtake of at least 50% of the crude oil produced at an agreed price.
As BCA was going to press, a pilot we know with considerable oceanic crossing experience in his logbook offered the following general checklist for keeping your operation gross navigation error (GNE) free. Pay attention to these points, and you have a pretty good chance of staying out of trouble.
The next time you publish another hysterical column, please add a warning label stating: “Read in the Privacy of Your Office or Home.” I started reading “Day Trippers” while sitting by my cement pond, and after the first paragraph, I laughed so loud and so hard strangers at the pool literally turned their heads in my direction. A neighbor came by later and I showed him “Legal Humor” (Readers Feedback, September 2012, page 10) and then “Day Trippers.” He laughed as hard as I did.
360 Aviation Solution has a free app for the iPad that serves as a Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT). The app works in English and Spanish and is in the form of a questionnaire, which helps the operator determine a risk factor for each individual flight. Once the operator has answered 41 simple “yes or no” questions, the app produces a PDF that can be stored, printed or emailed. The company says its FRAT complies with IS-BAO/SMS requirements.
Ascension Air, Atlanta, announced that Jamail Larkins, president and CEO, was reappointed by the FAA as honorary ambasssador for Aviation and Space Education. Banyan Air Service, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced that George Tucker is the director of the Banyan Pilot Shop, responsible for the shop and banyanpilotshop.com.
Sikorsky has delivered the first two of 16 S-92 offshore-support helicopters to the U.K.'s Bond Aviation Group. Once completed at Sikorsky's Coatesville, Penn. commercial helicopter facility, the aircraft will be delivered in January to new Bond subsidiary Norsk Helikopterservice in Stavanger, Norway. The first two S-92s are being delivered four months earlier than planned when the 16-aircraft order was signed in December 2011, to help Bond compete as a third player in the Norwegian North Sea market, says Richard Mintern, CEO for the U.K., Northern Europe and Australia.
Jet Aviation has added a Moscow-based Global 5000 to its managed aircraft fleet. The company is working in close cooperation with Swiss certification authorities to bring the aircraft onto its AOC, and expects the aircraft to be available for charter services in December 2012.
From October through March few pilots turn on their aircraft radars when flying in the northern latitudes. What a shame, and what a waste of safety potential. Operators have a lot of money invested in airborne radar, so why give it a free ride five months of the year when its safety potential in winter flying, as well as in summer, is immense? From vertical gyro failures or altimeter errors to errant GPS, airborne radar is the most reliable backup device and arbitrator on your panel.
During the Oct. 3 debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, the president once again took a swipe at business jet owners, and the reference brought an immediate objection from the NBAA. On the subject of taxes, Obama said, “Why wouldn't we eliminate tax breaks for corporate jets?
The embarrassing thing about international procedures is what a tiny percentage business aviation represents in terms of flights [about 6%] but what a large percentage we are in terms of operational errors,” lamented Nat Iyengar, captain and safety officer for a major corporate flight department. “Most of that comes down to bad procedures,” Iyengar continued. “We are too casual about the crossings due to the automation of our airplanes.” By “operational errors,” Iyengar was referring to:
As aviators, we now take the global positioning system (GPS) and its constellation of transmitting satellites for granted. The U.S. Air Force manages the constellation to ensure the availability of at least 24 GPS satellites 95% of the time. For the past several years, the Air Force has been flying 31 operational GPS satellites, plus 3-4 decommissioned satellites (residuals) that can be reactivated if needed.
Bombardier Aerospace announced September 28 that it has received orders for a total of eight Global business jets from an undisclosed customer. The firm orders are for four Global 6000 and four Global 8000 aircraft. The customer had asked to remain unidentified. The transaction is valued at approximately $500 million based on the 2012 list price for typically equipped aircraft.
Cockpit Apps has launched iLOG, an app that provides flight crews an alternative to traditional pen and paper flight logs. According to the company, the easy-to-configure app follows a crew through a typical duty day, tracking critical components such as duty and flight time, VOR checks and RVSM altimeter settings. The app is also configured to record squawks as well as engine, airframe and component time. At the end of each day, crews can either electronically sign the documents using an iPad digital signature and email their flight logs to dispatch, or print them out.
ETS Aviation has formed a carbon trading partnership with CF Partners (U.K.) LLP, a London commodities trading house that specializes in the trading of carbon emissions credits. ETS Aviation's “Carbon Exchanger” will provide airlines and aviation operators with access to the carbon market regardless of their size or the volume of credits they are looking to trade. www.etsaviation.com
Robinson Helicopter received FAA certification for the R66 Turbine Police Helicopter. The R66 Police model is specially configured for law enforcement and meets the latest FAA crashworthiness regulations. The turnkey R66 Police comes standard with FAA-approved technology including the FLIR Ultra 8000 thermal imaging camera, a 10-in. fold-down color monitor, the new Spectrolab SX-7 searchlight with 30-million candlepower and a dual audio controller.
While a University of Calgary undergrad in the 1970s, I flew ag planes in the summer. My boss, Bob Lukens, had good relations with the Hutterite community in rural Irma, convincing them that aerial spraying of their 5,000 acres of grain was a sound investment. While the religious group was close-knit and ultraconservative in speech and dress, their farming practices were some of the most modern in Alberta.
On May 11, 1996, a ValuJet Airlines DC-9 departed Miami International Airport bound for Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta. Shortly after takeoff, the crew was alerted by an electrical problem, rapidly followed by systems dropping offline and smoke in the cockpit. While making emergency calls to the tower, voices in the background could be heard shouting that the aircraft was on fire. The aircraft was cleared for an immediate return to Miami.
I love aircraft and I love dogs. Your “Sound of Silence” (Viewpoint, August 2012, page 9) is beyond compare . . . poignant. Thank you. As for Boomer, he'll be with you always, but may you have the courage to adopt another. San Diego, Calif.
Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics provide the backbone of the Gulfstream G280's PlaneView cockpit. The main instrument panel features three, 15-in., portrait configuration AMLCD adaptive flight display screens that are controlled by cursor control devices on the left- and right-side ledges and left and right standby multifunction controllers (SMCs) in the glareshield panel. Gulfstream invented the SMCs to provide each pilot with a full-function electronic standby instrument system that doubles as a display and test control box. The 3-in.-by-4-in.
A full-scale mockup of the new Beechcraft Model 120 turboprop was shown to Beech distributors and the aviation press in Wichita recently. Powered by two Turbomeca Bastan VI engines, with Ratier-Figeac propellers, the prototype is slated to fly in 1964 with production to begin shortly thereafter.
Board Member Robert Sumwalt, a former airline pilot, concurred with the basic findings of the NTSB in its report on American Airlines Flight 2263 but urged the Safety Board to take a more practical look at training and to dig deeper in its investigations into the “why” of pilot reactions to abnormal situations. What follows is extracted from his concurrence.
