ATP has introduced its ATP Online Store, an online solution for purchasing and immediately accessing aviation technical and regulatory publication library subscriptions. The store integrates seamlessly with the ATP Aviation Hub online service to provide subscribers with immediate access and the capability to browse over 1,100 maintenance libraries from over 50 manufacturers and purchase the documentation they need online. Customers using ATP's Navigator V Desktop Platform also can quickly and efficiently download and install new libraries within minutes of purchase.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has confirmed its new opening date will be Oct. 27, 2013, the beginning of the winter 2013/2014 schedule. Multiple delays in opening the city's new airport has been a source of embarrassment to Germany's capital.
“Honeywell's inertial reference systems navigate only in true but display magnetic headings to pilots,” Jerry Norton reminded readers. “However, at 72.5 deg. N, they are programmed to switch to true course.” A retired avmanager at Honeywell, Norton logged considerable time piloting a Gulfstream in avionics trials in the high latitudes. Above 80 deg. N, “just like going across the Pacific,” he observed, “there are not a lot of alternates, just Barrow, Deadhorse, and Spitsbergen Island.” Norton continues to fly as a free-lance contract pilot.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) will offer its members a new benefit starting Jan. 1, 2013 — the NATA Workers' Compensation Insurance Program. It was designed to benefit members' businesses and help advance the industry's safety goals embodied in NATA's Safety 1st program. The program is underwritten by Companion Property & Casualty Group and managed by Beacon Aviation Insurance Services, Inc. NATA Alexandria, Va. www.nata.aero
For many communities, building a heliport means new business opportunities, additional revenue and a new type of transportation. For the airport director, it's one more meeting with the FAA and one more stack of paperwork. As daunting as constructing or “renovating” a defunct heliport may seem, the process is easily divided into three manageable steps. The construction and alteration of airports is governed by 14 C.F.R. Part 157. Notifying the FAA in a timely manner is a key part of the process.
Los Angeles-based Jet Edge International has expanded its fleet with a West Coast-based, Wi-Fi enabled 2001 Bombardier Learjet 45. The Jet Edge fleet includes Gulfstream V, Gulfstream 450, Gulfstream IV-SP, Gulfstream IV, Gulfstream III, Gulfstream 200 and Learjet 45 aircraft as well as Hawker 800XP, Cessna Citation X and Bombardier Challenger 300 aircraft via its Platinum Partner status with XOJET.
FAA is moving to decommission the last direction finders (DF) in the U.S. — 29 in Alaska — saying the technology is “beyond its useful life cycle.” The agency, which decommissioned DFs outside of Alaska in 2007, requested comments on a plan to shut down the remaining DFs. In a recent notice, FAA says their usage for pilot orientation “has become almost nonexistent.” The Alaska Flight Service Information Area Groups (AFSIAG) has documented eight flight assists involving lost or disoriented pilots over the past eight years.
London Oxford Airport-based aircraft management and engineering company, Hangar8 plc, has enhanced its third-party support capabilities at its Oxford MRO facility. The company now provides CAMO-Part M support and line support for all Hawker Beechcraft business jets, the Dassault Falcon 2000, the Cessna CitationJet 525 family and the Embraer Phenom 100. The company now employs 22 people who are involved with the new MRO operation. Hangar8 supports one of the largest managed fleets of Hawkers and Challengers in Europe.
North America, not China, holds the key to industry recovery says aviation analyst Brian Foley. “Although the China region provided a steady sales stream of large and expensive jets at the height of the world economic downturn, we see that trend rapidly losing steam,” he asserts. The China market, “was a conveniently timed mini-rescue, a nice shot in the arm at a critical moment, but now it's starting to slow down. Chinese GDP is almost halved from 2010 and its stock market is at its lowest in three and a half years.
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Regarding “Righting the Wronged,” I hope the fact that James Inhofe is a sitting senator had nothing to do with his being allowed to keep his license after 7 hr. of remedial training following the incident. I only say this because he is 77 years old and I've seen quite a few elderly pilots who should not be flying, or at the very least not be allowed to carry passengers. Oregon
For unemployed U.S. military veterans seeking a career in aviation, a new Veterans Retraining Program (VRAP) now available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may allow veterans to participate in Jeppesen's FAA Dispatcher Certification program for high-demand aviation occupations. The program provides licensing of dispatchers along with the same body of knowledge that is required for the Airline Transport Pilot License, applicable to many aviation careers. Those interested in the training program should visit www.jeppesen.com/faasdispatcher.
GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce believes time is running short for the FAA to make substantial changes to the certification process, which he says is resulting in up to 18-month delays in products reaching market and costing jobs. Given potential budget cuts that Congress may be facing, he says changes in the way FAA operates — including using the designee program the way it was designed — must be made soon. “FAA absolutely has to change right now,” he says, noting the agency has the budget and congressional authority to make the changes.
Hawker Beechcraft is beginning avionics installation on its first customer-bound Hawker 400XPR, jump-starting the upgrade program that had been slowed by the company's ongoing financial struggles.
European business aviation traffic continued its downward trend in July, as the region grapples with the lingering effects of the economic downturn and casts a wary eye toward global anxieties and other concerns. According to the July 2012 Business Aviation Traffic Tracker, published by the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), business aviation traffic throughout the European Union slipped 4% from July 2011 figures. That decline also contributed to a 2.6% drop in year-to-date traffic numbers compared with 2011 figures.
Aerodynamically clear F-28 has radically rigid-in-line three-blade rotor with elastometric bearings in the hub. Power goes from engine to main-rotor gearbox via a belt drive with controlled idler. Priced at under $30,000.
Nextant Aerospace has delivered its 16th 400XT business jet to a private buyer in the Czech Republic, the first to be registered in the European Union. The aircraft will be managed by Czech Republic-based Time Air, a provider of charter, aircraft acquisition and management services.
Aug. 26 — At 1715 EDT, a Mooney M20C (N557M) registered to a private owner, experienced a total loss of engine power on initial takeoff climb from East Hampton Airport (HTO) East Hampton, N.Y. The pilot attempted to return to the airport and the airplane collided with trees. The airplane was heavily damaged due to impact and a post-crash fire. The private pilot and one passenger received serious injuries. It was VFR for this flight that departed HTO at 1714. The pilot stated he conducted a preflight inspection and no anomalies were noted.
Washington has a few catch phrases that never seem to go away, with “budget deficit,” “debt ceiling,” and “budget cuts,” among the most persistent. Even in the best of times, doomsayers bemoan tight budgets, the need to slash programs and an inability to spend new money. This year is no different, only the talks are more dire. Washington will likely be in hyperdrive after the elections.
Gulfstream Aerospace has enrolled more than 140 aircraft in its Flight Operations Risk Management Service (FORMS) program, providing operators access to data that has been proven to reduce hazards in airline operations and is now migrating to business aviation. FORMS, Gulfstream's Flight Operations Quality/Assurance/Flight Data Management (FOQA/FDM) program, is modeled after airline programs that have become widely used to analyze operational data and improve flight training.
Gulfstream Aerospace has opened its first factory service center in Latin America in Sorocaba, Brazil. The Sorocaba facility, 97 km from São Paulo, has a 24,000-sq.-ft. hangar that can accommodate a mix of four to six large- and mid-cabin aircraft, and also includes 8,000-sq.-ft. of office space and a 3,000-sq.-ft. bonded parts warehouse. It is certified to perform maintenance, repairs and alterations on all Brazil-registered Gulfstream aircraft and can also service U.S.-registered Gulfstreams with FAA-certified technicians.
Piper Aircraft Inc. has reached a 10-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney Canada for the continuing purchase of PT6A-42A turboprop engines to power Piper's flagship single-engine M-Class Meridian. P&WC is a United Technologies Corp. business unit.
ward Opportunities Each year, the NBAA's Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee promotes education and career development through scholarships and training awards supported by the generosity of industry donors. To date, the committee has awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships along with countless training awards. Applications for the 2013 scholarships and awards are available now on www.nbaa.org.
Sennheiser has launched the S1 Passive, a high-performance GA headset that offers pilots both excellent passive noise attenuation and optimum wearing comfort. The full-size headset was developed for pilots who want noise attenuation but do not want to use an active headset. It is also equipped with Sennheiser's ActiveGard feature that protects the pilot's hearing against extreme volume peaks that can occur during radio communications. If a signal above 110 dB is received, ActiveGard compresses the sound and everything remains clearly intelligible at a healthy volume.
Excellent article about the latency of cockpit-displayed Nexrad data (“Cause & Circumstance, August 2012). Equally important, though, is for pilots to realize that the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP) used to display precipitation data to Center controllers can be equally latent and should not be relied upon to obtain vectors that “thread the needle” between large convective cells. (Tracon weather displays more closely approximate real-time conditions.) Keep up the good work.
