NATA reacted strongly to language contained in the proposed rule regarding the FAA’s plan for future FAR Part 135 rulemaking, noting, “In its NPRM, the FAA states that ‘Part 135 operations are very similar to those conducted under Part 121 . . .
NATA announced a new partnership to help aviation businesses and individuals comply with new FAA requirements that will require all currently registered aircraft to re-register over the next three years. On Sept. 1, NATA and AIC Title Service, inaugurated an affordable, simple-to-use program that allows re-registrations to be processed and tracked using a straightforward Web interface.
In reading “Harder Than It Looks,” I wondered: You wouldn’t be a USAF Academy grad by any chance, would you? The “Gear up and go Falcons” caption didn’t go unnoticed. Beat Navy! Author’s note: I hoped it wouldn’t — USAFA class of 1966.
An EADS’s all-electric aircraft flew for the first time from Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Sept. 2. The composite-structure, four-motor, aerobatic Cri-Cri — jointly developed by EADS Innovation Works, Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Association — reportedly performed well during the 7-min. initial flight. The airframe design is directly descended from a tiny homebuilt beloved for decades in France.
Business aircraft activity in August continued the recent trend with a modest increase over the previous month, according to the latest Argus TRAQPak report. August business aircraft activity was up 1.3% over July, and for the first time in months, the FAR Part 91 sector had the strongest results with a 3.2% increase over the previous month. Midsize cabin and large-cabin jets were up over July at 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively, while the fractional market for August generally broke even with July, posting a modest increase of 2.8% in the midsize-cabin jet segment.
Conventional wisdom suggests the party in power in Washington can generally expect to suffer some losses in the mid-term election of a new presidential administration. But the balloting this November could see changes of major proportion.
T here are more than 100 Piaggio P180 Avanti II aircraft in service and they’ve logged more than 200,000 flight hours by some estimates, as of late August 2010. That’s an impressive number for less than five years of production, considering that only 105 of the original P180 aircraft were built between 1990 and 2005.
Textron’s Bell Helicopter announced its Bell 429 won certification of a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) permitting a 9-deg. glidepath on LPV approaches at a minimum velocity for instrument procedures (Vmini) of 45 kt. , which allows point-in-space approaches to as low as 250 ft. the company says.
Flexjet will offer Aircell Gogo Biz wireless Internet service on its fractional aircraft at no additional charge to share owners. GoGo Biz enables passengers to use smartphones and laptops to access the Web in flight. Installation will begin on the 25 Challenger 300 and seven Challenger 604/605 jets in the current Flexjet fleet. Subsequently, all new Flexjet aircraft will be outfitted with the broadband equipment.
“There should be some optimism in our industry,” declared Carl Janssens, editor of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, in the third-quarter edition of his Marketline newsletter. “Buyers and sellers are finally coming to terms with what the market will bear for a given aircraft,” explained Janssens. “And with that, the pre-owned aircraft market is seeing more completed deals. The gridlock of available inventory is starting to show some movement,” he said.
Vector Aerospace Corporation has opened a new service center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The facility will specialize in field service and engine repairs on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A and PW100 engine series. The facility will also distribute parts for PT6A and JT15D engines in Western Canada.
StarPortUSA, a licensed FAA Repair Station based at Orlando-Sanford (Fla.) International Airport, is now an EASA-approved repair station for maintenance safety and training. The company is a full-service FBO, heavy maintenance service center and aircraft refurbishment center with an aircraft sales and acquisition division. StarPortUSA’s aircraft refurbishment capabilities include exterior paint and interior refurbishment, with full cabinet, upholstery and seat-shop services for small-, medium- and large-cabin business aircraft.
The TSA is altering its rules to make it easier for foreign pilots to take recurrent training in the United States. Previously, active foreign pilots with type ratings in large (>12,500 lb MTOW) aircraft had to undergo a vetting process each time they wanted to come into the country for training. Many pilots with dual type ratings had to go through the process twice or more annually. Now TSA says it will require foreign pilots to submit to the process only once annually, regardless of the number of training events or variety of training organizations used.
Congress is rushing two more unmanned aircraft into the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) fleet. Under the roughly $600 million bill passed in mid-August, Congress appropriated $32 million for UAVs through September 2012. The agency counts six General Atomics Predator Bs now, including one that was re-engineered specifically for maritime sensing in a joint program with the U.S. Coast Guard, which like CBP is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
It was bad enough that nobody could pronounce the name of the late spring volcano that erupted in Iceland and disrupted air travel throughout Europe. What was worse is that nobody really knew what to do about it. For European operators of airlines and charter aircraft, the meter kept running on their cost of overhead while their passenger and freight revenues dropped to zero. In response to a threat of which they had little, if any, knowledge, government agencies simply closed airports and airspace because shutting everything down seemed like the safe course.
Gulfstream flight ops is the first FAR Part 91 operator to use the Web-based Operators Safety System (WebOPSS) to process FAA-required operations documents, according to the FAA, to reduce the time it takes to receive an RVSM Letter of Authorization from two weeks to just a few days. WebOPSS is the Internet platform for OPSS, an automated system that distributes standardized regulatory and policy requirements to the aviation community and collects and maintains operating authorizations for the FAA.
Maury S. Lane (Director, Corporate Communications)
I read August’s Washington Watch (“Aviation Waits While Congress Dithers,” page 64) with interest. Given how important your publication is to our industry, our customers and the aviation industry as a whole, I wanted to pass along a few key points that I believe give a more complete picture of the issue you raise in your column.
You’ve reached your destination after 8:35 en route, the weather is horrible (as predicted), and you’re descending to minimums over mountainous terrain using your aircraft’s new synthetic vision system for reference.
Editor’s note: Among its myriad responsibilities, NASA’s Glenn Research Center at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport is well known for its work on aircraft icing. Over the years researchers at its Icing Branch have helped develop software for icing prediction and analysis, aircraft ice protection systems and educational materials for pilots on icing, its effects, and strategies for minimizing, eliminating or avoiding aircraft icing.
The TSA is launching an outreach program to share best practices. The agency says it hopes to visit at least 30% of general aviation airfields this year as part of the mission.
Yingling Aviation is the first facility FAA-certified to maintain, inspect and alter the Cessna 162 Skycatcher S-LAS aircraft. The authority was added to Yingling’s FAR Part 145 Repair Station Operations Specifications in August. Skycatcher reassembly is also under way there. Bob Gallop, Yingling’s vice president, repair station operations, said, “Since the Model 162 is a completely new aircraft, we were creating precedent with every step in the process.
Sikorsky’s X2 Technology demonstrator achieved 250 KTAS in level flight on Sept. 15, at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center in Florida. The speed, reached during a 1.1-hr. flight, is an unofficial speed record for a helicopter since there was no National Aeronautic Association observer on hand to make the record official. The X2 Technology features counter-rotating coaxial rotors and a rear pusher prop.
Breitling has introduced the Chronospace watch with an array of functions that are useful to pilots: 1/100 of a second chronograph with split times; alarm, countdown, dual time zone display with independent alarm; 24-hour military time, coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and a perpetual calendar, all powered by a chronometer-certified Breitling SuperQuartz movement. The large dial has oversized hands, along with luminescent hour-markers and large three and nine o’clock numerals. Various wristbands, including a new bracelet in satin-brushed woven steel, are available.
I got a sick feeling as I watched the aircraft going round and round on CNN Headline News. It was April 30, 2004, and the video headline read: “Air Show Veteran Dies in Florida Spin Accident.” The footage followed the Sukhoi 31 all the way to its sickening end as it slammed into the ocean. Ian Groom, one of the most respected air show pilots in the world, had lost control of his aerobat while practicing for the Air and Sea Show in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on his 58th birthday.
