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.
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.
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.
The NBAA commended President Barack Obama for signing the “Pilot's Bill of Rights” legislation intended to provide greater protections and transparency for pilots facing federal enforcement action. The measure (S.1335) was first introduced in the Senate in July 2011 by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska). Similar legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Missouri Republican Sam Graves and Illinois Democrat Dan Lipinski.
GE Aviation is launching two derivative engines of its recently certified H80: the H75 and H85 turboprop engines, the company announced July 23. The H75 will be rated at 750 shp for both takeoff and maximum continuous operation, and the H85 will be rated at 850 shp. Like the H80, the H75 and H85 engines will be manufactured at GE Aviation's facility in the Czech Republic and aimed at the agricultural, commuter, utility and business turboprop aircraft segments.
More diesel plans. Continental Motors Inc. (CMI), working with its Chinese parent AVIC International, is planning to invest in a line of diesel engines ranging from 160 hp to 350 hp or more. At the same time, CMI is pursuing the supplemental type certificate market, recently obtaining the first for a diesel option on the Cirrus S22. CMI President Rhett Ross stresses that the company plans to continue to support the aviation gasoline engine market and sees it remaining in the U.S. for some time.
Bell Helicopter has received its airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for the Bell 429. The certification follows the first complete assembly and successful flight testing of a 429 in China at Kingwing General Aviation Co., a CAAC 145 service facility.
Screening for drug or alcohol use is a common pre-employment check that has been around for decades. Typically this is something expected and planned for in advance. If a job applicant fails this test you can withdraw your offer of employment. For many of us in aviation, we also face the possibility of random testing due to the passage of the Omnibus Transportation Employee Testing Act.
No pilot would deliberately penetrate turbulence so severe it could jeopardize control of the aircraft or the safety of its occupants. Yet as recent accidents have demonstrated, high-altitude flight can produce upsets due to the combination of high-speed aerodynamics and unique weather characteristics in the upper atmosphere.
Lightspeed Aviation has launched its FlightLink app for Zulu.2. It's a free, downloadable app developed to work with newer Zulu.2 headsets. All communication through the intercom is recorded and available for instant playback and permanent archiving. Multiple recordings may be stored either in Apple devices or in an iTunes account. FlightLink allows for up to 2 min. of instant playback of ATC transmissions. The entire flight can be recorded and saved for future use. With FlightLink, pilots can toggle from other apps to access recordings and notes.
The FCC is planning to issue a notice “shortly” that explores potential options for strengthening regulations and/or standards surrounding the use of emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) on general aviation aircraft, an FCC official told the NTSB on July 17 at a forum on general aviation search and rescue that members hope will highlight the agency's decades-long concerns about the adequacy of current search and rescue policies. The NTSB chiefly is concerned about the lack of a mandate for general aviation aircraft to install updated ELTs.
I started to read “Commencement Exercise” (Viewpoint, June 2012, page 9) but stopped when it appeared you were going to divulge something that happened to Louis Zamperini that I hadn't gotten to yet in the book (and you're right, it is superb). I'm up to the 24th day at sea and after fending off shark attacks and machine gun attacks from a Japanese bomber, they are down to one raft and have just patched most of its holes. I'll get back to your commentary once I get past Zamperini as an “angry drunk” in the book.
Robert Baugniet (Commodore (ret.), Royal Canadian Navy )
If “Commencement Exercise” (June, page 7) provokes any negative reactions, it is obviously your fault. Any glowing tributes should be referred to my parents, in memoriam. Commodore (ret.), Royal Canadian Navy Savannah, Ga.
I had no idea. We knew you to be a mild mannered, gifted writer and possibly a tenacious editor. But imagining you with a chain saw in your mitts (Viewpoint, July 2012) really summons up an amusing picture. Despite my Dad making a decent enough living as a “tree man” to put me into college, I agree that the direction the airport is going seems mad. Why aren't there any arbitrators that can broker an agreement?
In the second quarter of 2012, Embraer delivered 35 jets to the commercial aviation market and 20 to executive aviation. Total deliveries for the first six months of the year are 56 commercial and 33 executive jets, 13 more than for the same period last year.
Piaggio is teaming with Saab to develop a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on a highly modified version of its P.180 Avanti II business turboprop. At Farnborough July 10, Piaggio Aero announced that it signed a contract with Abu Dhabi Autonomous System Investments, a subsidiary of Tawazun, covering the development of the aircraft and the construction of two prototypes. The first is to fly in 2014. The MPA platform will have a bigger wing than a standard P.180, a greater takeoff weight and more fuel capacity.
Effective Oct. 1, 2012, pilots must use FAA MedXPress to complete an electronic application for an Airman Medical Certificate. One of the significant enhancements will establish a tracking program so that pilots and AMEs can query the system electronically and determine the status of applications. Future enhancements will transition air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) to MedXPress.
Holland's ECA Program B.V. has finished the initial design review for an Airbus narrow-body VVIP jet conversion. The fractionally-owned aircraft fleet, configured for 19 passengers, will consist of three A319 aircraft and four A320 jets. The A320 is to be used for regional flights of less than 8 hr. and the A319 for intercontinental flights. The service will be operated by a new entity, operating under Dutch certification and regulations. The aircraft will operate globally with the main focus being Russia and the Middle Eastern markets.
A new chapter has been added to the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. “Runway Incursion Avoidance,” in Appendix 1, provides information on which pilots will be tested and checked in the Private Pilot and Commercial Pilot Practical Test Standards, effective June 1, and also in the soon to be released CFI and ATP PTSes, which include a required Runway Incursion Avoidance task to be incorporated in pilot training and testing.
View Operating Planning Guide Charts Aircraft operating costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs.
Landmark Aviation's charter department added a Gulfstream IV, a Hawker 400XP and a Falcon 7X to its managed fleet. The Gulfstream IV is based in Conroe, Texas (CXO) and can seat up to 14 passengers. The eight-passenger Hawker 400XP is based in Frederick, Md. (FDK). The DuPage, Ill. (DPA) based Falcon 7X also seats 14 and is one of only five available for charter in the U.S.
Honeywell aims to be the first avionics manufacturer to offer an advanced technology head-down display system that will enable operators to fly instrument approaches down to lower weather minimums than what's permitted with conventional primary flight instruments.
