Could automation provide a life-saving solution in the ultimate emergency — pilot incapacitation? Why not? responds David Vos, senior director, UAS business, at Rockwell Collins. Passenger-carrying aircraft could be fitted with a “panic button” that a crewmember or even a passenger could push if the pilots were unable to function, he believes. The button would engage automation that could safely fly the aircraft to the nearest suitable airport and land it.
Eurocopter teamed with Mercedes-Benz to develop a special edition of the EC145 twin-engine turbine helicopter with a high-end interior, which was unveiled at EBACE 2010 in Geneva. The EC145 “Mercedes-Benz Style” was conceived in a design project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, and Eurocopter says it, “bears all the hallmarks and passion of Mercedes-Benz design.” The EC145’s spacious cabin enabled Mercedes-Benz designers to take a modular approach to the high-end interior, inspired by the automaker’s new R-Class line.
The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilots Associations (IAOPA) called for an improvement to data collection in non-commercial aviation internationally. The recommendation came during ICAO’s High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal.
FAA SAFO 10004 warns aircraft operators of possibly contaminated halon gas in fire extinguishers and provides testing information. With pure halon supplies dwindling, civil aviation will increasingly rely on recycled gas. But contaminated halon has been discovered in some aircraft fire extinguishers, which may harm personnel and be less effective against fires than pure halon.
Over the years, business aviation has seen many advances and technological leaps forward. For those of us who have been around for a while, we have seen some remarkable changes. We fly some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, and many of them are more complex than front line fighters. For maintenance technicians and maintenance managers, the laptop computer is as important as the wrench for keeping aircraft flying safely. Just about anything you need — from schematics to Airworthiness Directives — can be retrieved with a few mouse clicks.
The first H80 turboprop engine is in certification testing since March in a test cell at the GE Aviation Czech facility in Prague. The first H80 test engine met or exceeded all power ratings targets in multiple runs, said Paul Theofan, president and managing executive of GE Aviation Czech s.r.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Aviation. “Certification testing will continue this spring with endurance testing [scheduled to start in April] and EASA type certification anticipated this summer,” he said. Five development engines will take part in certification testing.
The FAA says it will consider special issuance medical certificates to pilots who are taking medication for mild to moderate depression, conditions that now bar them from all flying duties. On a case-by-case basis, pilots who take one of four antidepressant medications — fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) or escitalopram (Lexapro) — will be allowed to fly if they have been satisfactorily treated on the medication for at least 12 months.
In 2009, the U.S. business jet and turboprop fleet combined experienced 44 accidents including eight fatal accidents which resulted in 32 passenger and crew fatalities during routine business operational flights, according to Robert E. Breiling Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, FL. Overall, this is 31 percent fewer accidents involving both jets and turboprops combined (44 accidents in 2009 vs. 64 in 2008) which occurred in 2009 vs. 2008. The number of fatal accidents is down with eight fatal accidents occurring in 2009 vs. 23 in 2008.
The NBAA has developed an online registry for companies willing to donate their aircraft and flight crews to disaster relief efforts like the Haitian airlift and for individuals who wish to volunteer their services. The business aviation advocacy group is partnered with Corporate Aviation Responding to Emergencies (C.A.R.E.), which coordinates airborne relief missions, connecting operators with representatives in disaster areas or non-government organizations (NGOs) active there.
When ARFF teams respond to an aircraft mishap, the incident commander has a lot of quick decisions to make. Priorities will include concern for life, exposure, confinement and extinguishment. Proper “size-up” also will affect the application of the fire-extinguishing agent, the approach of equipment to the scene, lighting the scene, positioning of equipment relative to wind and escape slides, running hoses, isolating and cooling the fuselage, and securing the scene against re-ignition.
BLR Aerospace has received approval from Brazilian aviation authorities for the Everett, Wash., company’s winglet systems for King Air C90A, C90GT and C90GTi airplanes. FAA certification of the airfoils on those models was received earlier. BLR expects to eventually certify the system on King Air C90 and C90E models. BLR has delivered about 200 of its winglet systems, which originally were developed for use on King Air 200s and 300s. The systems improve the twin-engine airplane’s stability, cruise speed and rate of climb.
Blue Sky Network announced that Brazilian-based TAM Executive Aviation (TAM EA) selected Blue Sky’s D410A automated flight following and communication equipment to provide two-way text communication and location reporting to for its fleet of airplanes. The D410A is a compact, low-cost device that weighs less than a pound, can be moved between aircraft and mounted near the glareshield to exchange GPS and sensor data and text messages using the Iridium satellite network. TAM EA offers aircraft charter, maintenance and management services.
I agree with your UAV comments. I recently attended a UAS conference in San Diego. There were mostly military speakers, but even the FAA speaker acknowledged that there will be an increasing number of UAVs in the national airspace. Another speaker said that the first large aircraft UAVs will probably be transpacific freighters with a standby pilot for takeoffs and landings in populated areas. This is probably the right direction. We all need to spend our available time tending to our iPhones, our Facebook pages and our blogs.
Fokker Services delivered the first Auxiliary Fuel Tank System (AFTS), installed in a VIP-configured Fokker 100, to an undisclosed customer. AFTS consists of four additional fuel tanks installed in the forward belly cargo compartment, increasing the range of the Fokker 100 to approximately 2,700 nm. Fokker Services developed the AFTS, while Fokker Aircraft Services did the installation at its Woensdrecht facility. Both companies are part of the Fokker Aerospace Group.
Jet Aviation is establishing a line maintenance and AOG service operation at the Le Bourget Business Aviation Airport near Paris in conjunction with Universal Aviation France SARL. Jet Aviation will provide line maintenance and AOG support for various aircraft types, including Airbus, Boeing Business Jets, Bombardier and Gulfstream at Universal’s Facility.
Cessna CEO Jack Pelton also issued a call to action to the general aviation community to take a leadership role in defining solutions to environmental issues so that responsible stewardship works in conjunction with economic considerations required for industry growth, a call similar to that issued by aviation associations at AERO Friedrichshafen (see above).
Air Partner reported April 15 that it arranged nearly 3,000 flights of all types during the first half of its current fiscal year. If that trend continues, this could equal fiscal year 2008, the company’s best ever. In fiscal 2008, the company, a London-based charter broker with offices worldwide, logged 6,071 combined flights; in fiscal 2009, the total flights declined to 4,701, a drop of more than 20 percent.
“Avionics Simulation” (April 2010, page 37) was apparently intended to bring your readers current on the status of avionics training. While you did a good job of covering what the traditional old-line establishment companies like Boeing-owned Jeppesen and Berkshire Hathaway-owned FlightSafety are doing, you completely missed out on where the true innovation is taking place. For instance, you failed to cover both King Schools and Redbird Simulators.
OK, pop quiz: What is the name of the person who heads the federal Transportation Security Administration? What? You don’t know who’s in charge of all those TSA people digging through your luggage at the airport? Well, that’s all right, it was a trick question. There is no TSA administrator, a vacancy that has persisted since Edmund (Kip) Hawley resigned at the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.
Thanks for the March issue given out at the International Operators Conference. Good magazine. I enjoyed the Global Express XRS and South Africa articles, but I especially liked Richard Aarons’ Cause and Circumstance. That column is far better than what I've seen elsewhere.
TSA’s revised Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) has been passed from TSA to the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), beginning the vetting process prior to being published as an NPRM, possibly this fall, says Brian Delauter, TSA’s general manager for general aviation. Delauter told a well-attended meeting of the Westchester Aviation Association Mar. 26 that the agency was seeking a less adversarial relationship with the industry.
A new stand-alone Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) was announced by Tucson, Ariz.-based Universal Avionics Corp. on April 15. The AHS-525 is solid-state system provides aircraft analog and digital pitch, roll and heading data and can directly replace increasingly difficult-to-maintain mechanical gyros. The system integrates with flight deck displays, flight control systems, flight management systems, weather radar, terrain awareness and warning system, flight data recorders and multiple other avionics systems and subsystems.
North American Jet Charter Group (NAJet) is the first aircraft charter operator to receive FAA approval to operate appropriately equipped Eclipse 500s single-pilot in charter operations. The fully upgraded Eclipse 500 aircraft from the new Eclipse Aerospace, Inc. are now certified for flight into known icing conditions. In addition, the AvioNG system provides centralized control of virtually all Eclipse 500 systems and avionics functions. AvioNG includes ILS and GPS-coupled autopilot functions that significantly reduce pilot workload.
FlightSafety International will offer training to customers on the full range of Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) engine products, under an agreement signed with the engine manufacturer this month. FSI will manage daily operations, develop and produce courseware material and provide Learning Management System capabilities. Flight Safety’s Learning Center in Montreal will lead the training support of Pratt customers and employees.
Airbus forecasts a market for around five large corporate jets a year in the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of them in greater China, to replace existing aircraft and grow the regional fleet. Large corporate jets, which Airbus defines as seating 15 or more passengers, currently number about 150. Airbus hopes to win at least half of this market.
