*Northern Jet Management, Grand Rapids, Mich., announced that Kevin Tessmer is the new safety manager for the Flight Operations department; Scott Baragar and Rick Hansen are now team leaders for the department; and David Catterick is now a captain on the Citation Bravo. Steve Cok is the new assistant chief pilot/Bravo. James Douglas joined the company as a first officer, and Carmen Mohn is a new member of the accounting department.
I read "Discount Turbine Fuel Programs" (August, page 38) with some interest. I noted in particular the high prices to be found at certain major airports. Perhaps you decided to obviate the obvious but most of the time the effective cost of fuel is greater at these airports whether you buy it there or not. It all goes out the tail pipe while waiting nearly interminably in line for departure. Yesterday I spent 40 minutes in line for departure at JFK, and about the same at BOS the day before that . . . and so very glad I was piston-powered on those days!
A Piper PA-22-160, N9403D, registered to Tri Pacer Flyers LLC, went off the right side of Runway 20 on landing roll-out at Greensburg Jeannette Regional Airport (5G8), Jeannette, Pa., at about 1852 EDT. The airplane received substantial damage. It was VFR and there was no flight plan. The private pilot and one passenger reported no injuries. The flight originated from William T. Piper Memorial Airport (LHV), Lock Haven, Pa., at 1730. The pilot stated he over flew 5G8 and obtained the landing direction from the windsock.
The Phenom 100's Prodigy avionics package is a highly evolved and customized version of the Garmin G1000 system used in other light turbofan aircraft, including the Cessna Citation Mustang, HondaJet and soon the PiperJet. Embraer chose to fit the aircraft with three identical 12-inch AMLCDs having the same basic internal functionality. Any of them can assume the identity of a primary flight display or multifunction display. Using reversionary modes, this design feature allows the aircraft to be dispatched with one of the three displays inoperative.
For over 30 years while employed with the Canadian AOPA (COPA), I wrote a monthly "flight safety" bulletin and used my 10,000 general aviation flying hours background experience (bush flying, instructing, charter, nationwide survey) as a basis to pass comment on various accident reports that came across my desk.
Eurocontrol provides air traffic management for 36 European nations and issues invoices to users. Asked to provide readers with an update on European operational procedures, ATM modernization issues and the much-anticipated implementation of Single European Sky, Bo Redeborn, director of ATM strategies at Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels, responded. What follows is a condensation of his report:
The NTSB's Aviation Accident Synopses for 2007 contained 384 fatal mishaps that took the lives of 1,311 people. My purpose was to determine how many of those were preceded by loss of control, and why.
Aviation Finance Summit 2008 -- which is to be held Tuesday, Oct. 21 and Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the Marriott Residence Inn Times Square in New York City -- will cover several issues related to business aircraft.
Strong business jet sales helped offset a second-quarter dip in Bombardier's regional aircraft division and pushed the Canadian manufacturer's net financial performance from the red to the black. This improvement turned a $71 million 2007 second-quarter net loss into a $246 million net profit. Regional aircraft net orders stood at just 11 units -- almost all turboprops -- for the three months to July 31, compared with 84 aircraft in the same period last year. But business jet orders in the same quarter stood at 163 units, a growth of 59 aircraft year-on-year.
In 1977, some helicopter pilots operating in the New York metro area founded the Northeast Helicopter Operator Council, the first local organization in the eastern United States to represent rotorcraft, in order to further the cause of helicopter IFR operations. The organization incorporated in 1979 under the present name of Eastern Region Helicopter Council, Inc. and today has about 90 member operators.
It was a given that the FAA would eventually decommission VORs and radar systems in the transition to establishing ADS-B as the primary surveillance system for air traffic control. However, the recent revelation that the FAA wants to begin closing VORs as early as 2010 has made some aircraft operators uneasy. The VOR/DME network has provided essential, reliable guidance for more than half a century.
Satcom Direct technology will furnish expansion of communication between FlightOps1.com's Web-based scheduling and management software users on the ground and aircraft. SMS-format text messages and faxes can be delivered to the cockpit or cabin from any computer with Internet access and a secure login.
The NBAA (then the National Business Aircraft Association) began its second decade in 1958 and celebrated by hosting what was clearly the most memorable and, arguably, significant convention in the annual gathering's history. Things that helped set this convention apart included a joint meeting with the National Association of State Aviation Officials - held on the last day of the NBAA's gathering and the first of NASAO's - and flybys by the business aircraft that had alighted at Philadelphia International for the events.
International Communications Group, Inc, introduced a Configuration Identity Module (CIM), an external SIM card reader that holds 2 SIM cards and acts as a remote configuration storage unit for use with the NxtLink 120A and 220A Iridium transceivers. The CIM will allow operators to maintain SIM car information (IMEI, MSISDN and telephone number) on the aircraft regardless of the NxtLink transceiver installed thereby allowing quick line changes for system upgrades or troubleshooting.
BBA Aviation reported that the U.S. economic slowdown affected its Signature Flight Support FBO business in the first half of 2008, resulting in "an organic reduction in sales of 4 percent for the first half of the year." And in yet another indicator of the shifting of business aviation's center of gravity from the United States, the U.K.
THE NUMBER OF sophisticated airplanes that have been stalled on short final is astonishing, especially when you consider that airspeed monitoring is introduced in the first hour of flight instruction and discussed thereafter during every other hour of flight instruction from student solo to jet type rating.
*Pentastar Aviation, Waterford, Mich., named Gregory J. Schmidt as senior vice president and chief financial officer responsible for Pentastar's financial affairs as well as the legal, risk management, information systems and purchasing functions.
O&N Aircraft Modifications, Inc., the Factoryville, Pa., company best known for its Silver Eagle P210, a Cessna P210 retrofitted with the Rolls-Royce Model 250 engine, has introduced another Model 250-powered aircraft -- the Turbine 340. The Model 250B-17-powered aircraft first flew in July and is currently undergoing flight testing in an effort to win supplemental type certification.
Solazyme has introduced a microbial-derived jet fuel that has been favorably tested in small batches in diesel-powered automobiles. According to the South San Francisco startup company, the algal-derived fuel was analyzed by the Southwest Research Institute and met all 11 specifications for ASTM D1655 standards for aero turbine fuel. These standards include measurements for density, thermal oxidative stability, flashpoint, freezing point, distillation and viscosity. Currently the aviation industry only has kerosene available as a D1655-standard fuel.
ONE OF THE THINGS I like best about flying, I guess, is that when I'm up here I'm Beaver Two Eight Sierra or helicopter Three Five Lima. Just another pilot and another airplane. Not a movie actor. Up here I don't think about much except flying. What my duties and responsibilities are; everything else just sort of falls away. That's very restful for me.
Pat,we're losing him! How far out are we? We need to get him there now!" The desperation in the flight nurse's voice was obvious as she and the flight paramedic reached into the medical equipment bag and retrieved a scalpel. As a last lifesaving move, she began cutting the abdominal muscles around the patient's chest because the muscle constrictions were preventing him from breathing. Blood sprayed all over the nurse and up the King Air's cabin walls. The look in both of their faces wasn't good.
*Vulcon Electric Co., Porter, Maine, announced the addition of Michael (Mike) Hanlon to its Thermal Division sales staff as sales development manager of sensor products.
Most professional aviators are by now familiar with the concepts of a Safety Management System (see "SMS, Arriving for Keeps," September 2007, page 54), and ICAO has mandated that governmental regulatory authorities and thus the operators under their purview have SMS in place by Feb. 1, 2009. One critical component of SMS is a scheme that encourages people to report their mistakes -- a confession, of sorts.
Rockwell Collins announced new software feature enhancements to its Airshow 4200 and 4200D Moving Map Display and Flight Information System. New features include: Atlas Maps, one of three available map styles, features interstates, major highways and their association icon markets as a layer on top of a topographic map.
