The detention at gunpoint of King Schools founders John and Martha King by Santa Barbara police the night of Aug. 29, based on inaccurate aircraft information maintained by government agencies, has highlighted the lack of information sharing and coordination among the Department of Justice, TSA and FAA. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said, “We believe there is an urgent need for the creation of a joint government-industry group that can expeditiously conduct a top-to-bottom review of the process to ensure that incidents such as this one never occur in the future.
The sparse imagery lofted from terrain databases by SVS circuitry is adequate for the purpose of depicting the contour of terrain an SVS-equipped aircraft is passing over, but why not make it “photo-realistic,” as in “Avatar” and other CGI-based films and video games?
SimCom Training Centers will provide training on the Eclipse 500 starting in the third quarter of this year and will be the exclusive source and provider of factory authorized simulator-based training for Eclipse Aerospace in North, Central and South America. Two EA-500 Level D simulators have been relocated to SimCom’s training center in Orlando. Both sims include the Avio integrated avionics system, and planned upgrades include the Avio NG 1.7 suite, along with autopilot enhancements, GPS WASS capability and flight into known icing modifications.
Most likely your radar has an unfortunately mislabeled control on it somewhere marked “GAIN.” Confusion results from the word’s etymology tracing to an old, old Germanic word having to do with the ratio of output to input (or maybe input to output). In modern times it’s become a word radar engineers put on certain radar knobs to flummox pilots.
A bonus depreciation provision, supported by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) would cover certain business equipment purchases in 2010, including general aviation aircraft. To qualify for bonus depreciation aircraft must be placed into service by the end of 2011. The measure would enable a business to take an additional 50% depreciation on a capital investment in the first year, rather that over a five-year period.
Business aviation will be competing with the airline industry for 466,650 pilots and 596,500 maintenance personnel over the next 20 years to operate and maintain new and replacement airline aircraft, according to a crew assessment forecast from Boeing. Airlines will need an average of 23,300 new pilots and 30,000 new maintenance personnel per year from 2010 to 2029. The crew assessment forecast is based on Boeing’s “Current Market Outlook,” a widely respected analysis of the commercial aviation market.
A new laser-based defense system being developed at the University of Michigan and Omni Sciences Inc., with possible application to civil VIP helicopters, that would protect helicopters in combat from heat-seeking missiles by essentially blinding the missile as it approaches its target. The technology uses mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers capable of scrambling heat-seeking weapons from a distance of 1.8 mi. away. Omni Sciences received $1 million in grants from the U.S. Army and DARPA to build a second-generation prototype.
Sperian Protection has produced laser protection eyewear to guard pilots from flash blindness from by laser attacks. Sperian is introducing Laser-Gard Eyewear with patented lenses that also protect against glare and provide nearly total ultraviolet protection, the company says. The Smithfield, R.I., company began producing laser visors for the U.S. Air Force starting in 1968. The lenses come in a bronze tint for daytime sunglasses use or a salmon tint for nighttime use.
For me, the sound, the feel, the smell of a radial engine combine in a sensory nirvana that touches my very soul. It’s a thoroughly uplifting experience that I feel compelled to share. Sometimes with mixed results.
Embraer’s new Legacy 650 large-cabin jet debuted in New York at a Sept. 15 joint meeting of the Long Island Business Association and the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association at Republic airport in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Flight Display Systems introduced a combination 32-in. HD LCD and low-profile motorized lift (FD320LIFT-LP). Unique features are the large high-definition 1080p LCD and its small 23-in. height in the stowed position. Recently, these two products were installed on a Gulfstream G550; Gulfstream Appleton has confirmed that other Gulfstream models will support a similar installation in a standard cabin credenza.
Airports in all 50 U.S. states have benefited from $1 billion in federal stimulus money, but state officials are worried that Congress will not pass a true funding bill for the FAA and its infrastructure support programs this year.
I enjoyed “Harder Than It Looks” (September 2010, page 40). I certainly realize corporate pilots work very hard to make it all look easy. However, as someone who flew across the Atlantic many times back in the 1970s in single-engine aircraft with no handlers, no LR NAV and no help beyond who was looking in the mirror, I have to think what you describe is fairly easy. We depended upon the excellent wind and weather forecasts from the MET office at CYQX for our very lives and they never failed me.
Electrical faults can be extremely frustrating to troubleshoot, especially with modern low voltage systems. The good old multimeter is fine for finding voltage drops, shorts and opens, but that just confirms the problem, not necessarily the solution. To increase your diagnosis capability, a time domain reflectometer (TDR) can help you pinpoint the problem without wringing out all of your wires at each connector. The TDR sends a pulsed signal through the wire and measures the time to return, similar to radar.
Richard Aarons’ September Cause & Circumstance (“A Matter of Perspective,” page 56) has got to be the most politically correct piece of aviation journalism I have ever read. I think it should have been titled “TSB Accident Report Summary of a Global 5000.”
Back in the stone age of aviation maintenance, it was not uncommon to have a huge inventory of spare parts in the hangar. OEMs were not as efficient at stocking parts and turnaround times were often long and unpredictable. The best part about having of all those parts was the ability to swap them out to troubleshoot maintenance problems. It was called the shotgun approach — fire wildly and hope you hit the right target. The days of keeping so many parts on the shelf are long gone.
Hawke Capital Partners, a rotorcraft-focused private equity investor, announced in September that it has recapitalized its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Uniflight, LLC, at Grand Prairie Municipal Airport in Texas, while simultaneously completing the acquisition of the assets of Aviation Services Unlimited, based at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, N.Y. As a result, Uniflight’s maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities have expanded to three locations: Grand Prairie; Reading, Pa.; and Rome, N.Y.
In reading “Fully Baked,” I agree, as usual, with your historical perspective on the TSA, the Large Aircraft Security Program and the knee-jerk government reaction to all things aviation. But here’s a question I would like you to consider: Doesn’t the yearlong break from the rhetoric and nonsense regarding corporate aviation from the TSA constitute sufficient proof that nothing needs to be changed?
John Didier, president of Sacramento Aviation, which specializes in handling Cessna Citations and Beechcraft King Airs, would like to believe that the market for previously owned business airplanes is improving, albeit slowly. The number of phone inquiries his company is receiving has increased, and he sees more “serious people” in the market for a used business aircraft.
Duncan Aviation has earned an STC for the installation of a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)/Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) in the Bombardier Challenger 601-3A. This solution consists of a software upgrade to the Honeywell NZ-2000 flight management system and the installation of GPS WAAS/LPV receivers. The enhancement provides ILS-like guidance down to near CAT I ILS minimums (as low as 200 ft. with 0.5-mi. visibility).
Embraer named the Vnukovo-3 Group the authorized sales representative for its full line of executive jets in Russia. The deal with the Russian company was announced during the opening of the fifth Russian JetExpo International Business Aviation Exhibition in Moscow, September 15-17. Vnukovo-3 operates a full-service business aviation terminal in Moscow that provides service for over 90% of business aircraft flights in the city.
The first swing-tail cargo plane, Canadair’s CL-44 turboprop, is rolled out in Montreal. It may cut cargo rates 50% to 60% after going into service with Flying Tigers, Slick and Seaboard & Western next year.
It was 1800 hours (Central European Time), late November 1990. The U.S. Air Force C-5 had been cleared to land on Rhein-Main’s (Frankfurt) 13,000-ft. Runway 25L. At this, the four-month mark of Desert Shield, it had been another day of bone-crushing fatigue.
FAA is proposing a sweeping overhaul to airline pilot fatigue regulations that would ensure that pilots get 9 hr. of rest — not including commuting time — between duty periods and would restrict duty to 9 hr. to 13 hr. at a stretch. The FAA is required to show that stricter limits would save enough lives to justify the additional cost to airlines, which could reach into the billions of dollars. “We’re always very concerned about added costs without a demonstrable safety benefit,” said an Air Transport Association official.
King Schools has announced its 35th Anniversary Sweepstakes. The package of prizes that will go to the winner includes an Alaskan flying vacation for two, a seaplane rating and a bush flying course. The winner also will receive a cutting-edge technology Redbird TD simulator, plus a King Get-It-All Kit of their choice. The sweepstakes is open for entries until March 14, 2011. The winner will be announced at the Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Lakeland, Fla. Official rules can be found on the King Schools website, www.kingschools.com/sweepstakes
