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.
Jeffrey K. Bennighof (Professor William W. Hagerty Fellow in Engineering, Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics)
I enjoyed George Larson’s “Hushing Noise That Annoys” (June 2010, page 38). It was interesting to learn that an airplane owner might spend more than $1 million to reduce cabin noise, while airplane manufacturers are surprisingly slow to adopt noise and vibration reduction technology that has become standard throughout the automobile industry.
Cameramen scramble to record the U.S. arrival of GE’s Caravelle. Posing with the airplane: Donald Douglas Jr., Sud’s Georges Hereil and GE’s Neil Burgess. The airplane will be fitted with GE’s CJ-805 engines. Sea Bee conversion has performance boost equivalent to a 40-hp increase, according to L.B Smith. Conversion does 112 mph KIAS at 2,500 ft., has spray rails and sells for $18,500.
The August edition of JPMorgan’s Business Jet Monthly report notes that the number of used in-production models available for sale fell 30 basis points to 11.6% in July, the 11th time in the last 12 months in which the number of aircraft on the market dropped. This is the second month in a row in which used business jet inventories stayed below 12% of the available fleet.
“Citation Down at Biggin Hill” (Cause & Circumstance, August 2010, page 56) once again highlights the fact that the aviation industry does not take advantage of “lessons learned” from past experience. In 1985, a Galaxy Airlines Electra crashed after takeoff as a result of the crew stalling the aircraft while attempting to troubleshoot a severe vibration caused by the fact that the engine airstart door had been left open.
Belt into the left seat of an original CitationJet that’s been upgraded with Garmin’s newly certified G1000 avionics package, as we did recently, and you’ll find that this light jet has virtually all the capabilities of the latest production CJs, plus some additional features that still are in development for the newest Citations.
NASA is seeking industry feedback on its plans for a new, five-year, $150 million program to help integrate unmanned aircraft into civil airspace. The feedback is likely to be mixed, reports Aviation Week senior editor Graham Warwick, as the agency’s last major unmanned aircraft research program was canceled before it got off the ground despite industry backing.
Jet Aviation Basel has contracted with undisclosed clients for VIP cabin interior completions of two Airbus 319 CJ and a BBJ3. The interiors of two of the three aircraft will be designed by the company’s in-house interior design studio. Jet Aviation Basel recently delivered two newly completed Airbus 319 CJs to Monaco-based Boutsen Aviation. The company also delivered a Boeing 737-800 to an undisclosed customer.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said July 27 that operational errors numbers are up this year, but that’s a good thing since it reflects positive results of the new system that protects controllers from punishment if they report their own mistakes. The FAA says this has generated data that can lead to safety improvements. Statistics show flying remains the safest way to travel in the United States.
Sikorsky introduced an all-electric helicopter technology demonstrator, “Project Firefly,” at an electric aircraft symposium at EAA AirVenture. Sikorsky replaced the propulsion system of an S-300C helicopter with a 190-hp electric motor and digital controller from U.S. Hybrid, powered by a lithium ion energy storage system from Gaia. Integrated sensors provide real-time aircraft health information to the pilot through an integrated interactive LCD monitor. Eagle Aviation Technologies, LLC performed the airframe modifications and assembled the demonstrator.
Piaggio entered the Brazilian market during August’s LABACE Air Show in Sao Paulo. The company announced that it would begin sales to Brazilian customers with first deliveries of the P180 Avanti II expected for early 2011 after ANAC certification. NOAR Aviação, a unit of Brazil’s NOAR Airlines, based in Recife, will be the exclusive Brazilian agent for the Avanti II.
“Integrity Under Pressure” (August 2010, page 42) was interesting, but needed some reality. When you are the mechanic with a wife, kids and a mortgage and management knows that jobs for mechanics are tight, the pressure is on. At Eastern Air Lines I presented forged log pages to the union and was told I would be fired.
Arcadia Aviation closed the purchase of Wayfarer Aviation, the company announced in July, ending speculation about the fate of Wayfarer, its operations and client base. The combined company will be called Arcadia Aviation. Arcadia asserts the entire core Wayfarer operations and client services team, as well as the majority of Wayfarer’s client base, are staying with the new company.
Learjet 35/36 aircraft can fly farther and faster than some of the latest light jets. Introduced in mid-1974, the Model 35 can fly six passengers 2,000 nm while cruising at 430 KTAS and land with NBAA IFR reserves. The Model 36, having 1,200 lb more fuselage fuel, but 3 ft. less cabin length, can fly 2,450 nm.
The FAA will pay for a new, seismic-resistant, 228-ft., control tower at San Francisco International. San Francisco gets to spend up to $80 million for construction and will manage the project under FAA oversight. The new tower design is a collaboration between local controllers the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and SFO airport officials and incorporates controller-friendly features. In addition to its increased height, controller consoles will be arranged to allow controllers to see a panoramic 270-deg.
The state of Kansas has pledged $27 million in bond financing to assist with Bombardier Aerospace’s facilities expansion plans to accommodate final assembly and finishing work of the Learjet 85 in Wichita, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) and Bombardier Business Aircraft President Steve Ridolfi announced July 30. Bombardier is planning to add about 150,000 square feet of space to its Wichita site, including a new paint facility, customer delivery center, production flight-test facility and expanded production hangars for final assembly.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China certified the Beechcraft Baron G58 and Beechcraft Bonanza G36 piston-engine aircraft on June 21. The first Bonanza in the region, scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of this year, will be based in Shandong Province in Northern China.
Signature Flight Support has expanded handling services throughout Germany. Through agreements with FBOs and airport authorities at 12 airports across Germany, Signature’s Munich location can schedule flight support services, arrange credit and offer a single invoice for customers’ flights in the country. Signature plans to increase the number of agreements in the coming months.
Sikorsky Aircraft announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior has signed a contract to buy 12 S-76D helicopters and has taken options for eight more. The aircraft will perform security, transport and other missions. Delivery of the first helicopter is scheduled for early 2012.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association board of directors has approved Duncan Aviation and Greenwich AeroGroup as its newest members, bringing the international trade association’s membership to 69.
The new aircraft re-registration requirement that will go into effect later this year may cause problems for some aircraft owners if their address information in the FAA Registry is out of date. Aircraft owners are required to report a new address to the FAA within 30 days of the change. The FAA estimates that almost 45,000 aircraft are known to have bad addresses. Because the FAA will mail re-registration notifications to the addresses in the FAA Registry, the NBAA urges all aircraft owners to verify that their address in the Registry is correct.
AgustaWestland’s new AW169 twin, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210 turboshaft engines is scheduled for first delivery in 2015. The company hopes to sell 1,000 units of the helicopter into the government and emergency medical services markets over 20 years. The AW169 is designed to fill a gap in the Italian manufacturer’s product line between the AW139 and the Grand. The new model has a design weight of just over 9,900 lb, measuring about 39 ft. long and 5.6 ft. wide.
L-3 Avionics Systems’ Trilogy ESI-2000 3 ATI electronic standby instrument with battery backup won FAA TSO authorization, the company announced Aug. 13. The all-solid-state ESI-2000 provides primary flight display information for a minimum of one hour and up to four hours of backup power, depending on temperature if primary power is lost. A 3.7-in. backlit screen makes the ESI-2000 clearly visible in daylight or dark cockpit conditions.
