Eclipse Aerospace has announced the addition of an anti-skid braking system (ABS) as a new option for the Eclipse twin-engine jet. The system is available as an option on new production Eclipse 550 jets and will be offered as a retrofit to the existing fleet. In-aircraft testing is complete with certification and availability expected within six months, the company says. The new system will include two brake control valves installed in each wheel well, two axle-mounted wheel speed sensors, a computer, and a software update to the Avio Processing Center software.
Back in B.C. — before computers —days, many flight operations had some sort of a board upon which were pegs or pieces of plastic that got moved from a departure location to an arrival location as crews filed “On” and “Off” reports with the home office. Often I'd leave the office at night with an “Off” report from Anchorage and come in the next morning to see the peg placed firmly in the Shanghai column. That invariably produced a feeling of satisfaction for successfully completing another mission.
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.
I had a nice chuckle over the first paragraph of “Day Trippers” (Viewpoint, September 2012, page 9). I know what I would've done with my shoe if that smart-!@# said the same to me. It sounds like a great journey to the West Coast. Your story is just another reminder of why I am happy I took the corporate route for my career. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the laugh! Captain/Safety Advisor SCANA Corp. Columbia, S.C.
Since many pilots, even some very experienced ones, admit they are not completely aware of the real nature of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and its ground-based counterpart Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS), we offer a brief primer. WAAS is a Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS), as is Europe's EGNOS, India's GAGAN and Japan's MSAS. All are intended to be compatible and even interoperable.
The Carlyle Group is set to buy the FBO chain it helped create nearly three decades ago. But its reacquisition of Landmark Aviation comes at a price believed to be $200 million more than when Carlyle sold the chain five years ago. Carlyle and Landmark owners GTCR and Platform Partners announced the sale on Sept. 14, but did not disclose terms of the agreement, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Carlyle sold Landmark in August 2007 to Dubai Aerospace under a $1.9 billion package deal that also included StandardAero.
China's Kunming Changshui International Airport, located in the southwest China, has installed a custom built-in airport bird control manufactured by Bird-X. The first device used was the BroadBand Pro, an electronic device that combines sonic and ultrasonic broadcasts to repel birds up to six acres. The ultrasonic frequencies are nearly silent to humans. The second device was the Mega Blaster Pro, a highly powerful sonic bird control system that uses intermittent distress calls to create a “danger zone” that frightens birds away for good.
Mark A. Carolla Airlines, Rail, Maritime & International Affairs Consultant Pierce, Pugliese & Carolla Air Analytics LLC (Herndon, Va. )
The “Fast Five” interview with the Reason Foundation's Robert Poole (September 2012, page 25) prompted this letter. Back when I was a kid traveling the New York State Thruway, my late dad used to point out the billboards facing the Thruway and the New York Central Railroad's main line, which taunted, “You'd be there by now if you flew Mohawk!” That was true — and Mohawk Airlines eventually eclipsed the passenger train as a means of getting around the Empire State for day business travelers.
NASA's Langley Research Center, Mitre and several partners have completed the first in a series of inflight evaluations of cooperative automatic sense-and-avoid (SAA) algorithms for unmanned air systems (UAS), in large part to validate a new testbed that will be used for more advanced trials next year. SAA is regarded as one of the top priorities — and one of the most difficult issues to solve — in the FAA and Defense Department's effort to safely integrate manned and unmanned aircraft in civil airspace.
Rockwell Collins' new GLU-925 Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR) enables operators to take advantage of evolving RNP/RNAV and ADS-B capabilities. It fulfills the requirements for aircraft navigation position source, Category III ILS, Category I Global Positioning Landing System (GLS) and accessing RNP/RNAV airspace (down to RNP Authorization Required 0.1). It also meets the GPS position and availability requirements for ADS-B Out mandates.
A few years back, I received a call from a man who wanted to compare his department with ours. I've found such “benchmarking” exercises to be a great way to share good ideas and hear what's working for others. Organizations such as the NBAA, manufacturers' websites and the Chief Pilots' Roundtable provide invaluable help in running flight organizations through that technique, disseminating information that's applicable to both administrative and technical operations. I looked forward to what I could glean from this man's large operation.
Robert E. Breiling Associates Inc., a global resource for business turbine aircraft/helicopter accidents and incidents and their analysis, has provided BCA with a current world accident picture. The data presented show the U.S. and non-U.S. fleet accident/incident data by major operator type through the first nine months of 2012 versus 2011. Data are preliminary and may change as the year progresses, particularly with non-U.S. data, which are obtained from numerous international sources. Business Jets
Eurocopter Canada Limited delivered an AS350 B3e to Blackcomb Aviation for its utility and heli-skiing operations in British Columbia. Blackcomb now operates seven Eurocopter aircraft: one AS350 B3, one AS350 B2, four AS355s, one EC130 B4 and one EC120 B.
CAE will provide a suite of products, engineering services and simulation-based technology tools, including a simulator, to support the design, testing and certification of the Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft platform as part of Bombardier's Integrated System Test and Certification Rig (ISTCR).
Need help navigating the rules of hazardous material? The International Air Transport Association has a dedicated website to help you understand and comply with the rules for dangerous goods. Their training material has been accepted by the FAA and other government agencies. Many of the large carriers use the IATA handbook as the source data for their training courses. To learn more visit IATA's website: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dangerous_goods/Pages/index.aspx
Jack Pelton, the retired Cessna CEO, sent an email to Carl Brewer, Wichita's Democratic mayor, immediately after the debate, urging his intervention with the leader of his party. According to Pelton, Obama's anti-business jet comment — only the most recent of a continuing criticism of business jet owners — was “damning to the great people who work on the production lines here in Wichita.” The missive continued, “We cannot afford to have our industry held out as an example of excess. The facts simply do not support this.
To Dave Stohr, the whole issue of GNEs, LHDs, Mach control and serious procedural mistakes can be boiled down to two deficiencies: lack of SOPs — or having but not following them — and lack of knowledge. President and founder of Air Training International, Stohr teaches international procedures and, through IBAC, represents business aviation to the North Atlantic Systems Planning Group.
The FAA proposes to adopt ICAO noise standards for helicopters. In a Sept. 18 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FAA says that incorporating these more-stringent noise certification standards into U.S. regulations is consistent with the agency's goal of harmonizing U.S. regulations with international standards. A helicopter certificated under this standard would be designated a Stage 3 helicopter.
Cessna has opened its first U.K. Cessna-owned Citation Service Center at Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster Sheffield. The newly acquired 50,000-sq.-ft. facility, rebranded Doncaster Citation Service Center, offers services from maintenance to modernization and paint. Previously known as Kinch Aviation Services, the business has operated for 15 years and has been an authorized Cessna facility for the past four years. The U.K.
Blackhawk Composites Inc., a producer of composite aerospace and commercial components and a sister company of Blackhawk Modifications Inc., has earned ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C certification for its manufacturing and quality management systems. The company specializes in rapid prototyping and low-cost, high-quality production.
Cessna has opened two Citation Service Centers — one in Valencia, Spain, and its first in the U.K, at Robin Hood Airport, Doncaster Sheffield. The 100,400-sq.-ft. Valencia facility is located at Valencia Airport (LEVC) in eastern Spain, convenient to Citation customers across Western Europe and North Africa. The newly acquired 50,000-sq.-ft. U.K. facility, rebranded as the Doncaster Citation Service Center, was previously known as Kinch Aviation Services. The business has operated for 15 years and has been a Cessna authorized service facility for the past four years.
Piper Aircraft and Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP) announced that beginning Dec. 5, 2012, access to all Piper maintenance publications and regulatory documents will be available exclusively through the ATP Aviation Hub Online Service and ATP's NavigatorV Desktop Platform. The advantages for Piper operators include learning one software platform, daily revision updates to all content and eliminating the cost of installing and managing software.
Eclipse Aerospace announced an anti-skid braking system (ABS) as a new option for the Eclipse twin-engine very light jet. The new ABS is available as an option on new production Eclipse 550 jets and will be offered as a retrofit to the existing fleet. In-aircraft testing is complete with certification and availability expected within six months. ABS allows for maximum braking energy and skid control without the need for a conventional hydraulic system, which is unique to the Eclipse Jet.
