Picture a wooded hillside so steep and craggy with giant boulders that it would be an effort to climb on foot. Got it? Now picture Paul Beattie (pronounced BATE-ey) heading toward it in a four-wheel drive buggy that looks like Bigfoot the monster truck had its way with a moon rover. And he’s going fast. Racing, in fact. Welcome to the fast-growing sport of extreme rock racing, the most competitive form of off-road motor sports there is.
Rockwell Collins recently participated in a flight demonstration to fly European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS) Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) approaches in Europe. The company’s FMS and GPS-4000S GPS receiver were on board an Air Nostrum-operated Bombardier CRJ-200 for the demo.
It was around 8 p.m. on March 21, 2001. We had departed Anchorage en route to the New Tokyo Airport — “Narita” to most pilots — 30 minutes earlier. The weather was clear and the setting sun washed soft light over the gorgeous Alaskan wilderness 37,000 feet below. A line check airman, I was training a new first officer on the nuances of the MD-11’s flight management computer when a call came over VHF No. 2, which was tuned to 121.5. The voice asked if anyone was on the frequency. “Aircraft calling on 121.5, this is FedEx 17,” I immediately responded.
spidertracks, a satellite tracking solutions company, announced that it has reached an agreement with Cessna Aircraft Co. to have its new product distributed through Cessna’s global aircraft support network. The system is made up of a spider-tracking device that combines satellite communication and GPS technology in one small portable device that does not require an external antenna.
Brigitte Vola says she’s just following in her family’s footsteps. Her grandfather and her father were firefighters — her dad was even the chief of his department back when Brigitte was growing up in Florida. When Vola, a registered nurse and certified EMT who works as a medical communications center representative for air ambulance operator AirMed, moved to Alabama to attend nursing school, she found that something was lacking: She missed being an EMT, a role she’d performed in Florida.
Bell Helicopter parent Textron announced that it will expand its operations in Mexico through an agreement with the state of Chihuahua to develop and build a new manufacturing facility. Textron International Mexico (TIM) is to manufacture “various minor assemblies, structural elements and wire bundles” for the Bell 429 helicopter. Once work is completed in Mexico, the parts will be shipped to Textron’s Quebec helicopter manufacturing operation at Mirabel for final assembly.
Sitting in a comfortable chair on the screened porch of a good friend, Memorial Day Weekend Sunday, we were exchanging tales of recent golf conquests, when an odd sensation took me by surprise. An attentive listener, I willed away the queasiness to focus on the story at hand. But later I became keenly aware that an unfamiliar pain behind my left eye was intensifying. Turning to my wife to gain her attention, I noticed that my face was tingling. The look of concern on the faces of those gathered was puzzling.
A draft NPRM recently circulated by the TSA will likely hinder many general aviation operators and burden airports for the agency’s own convenience. Page 15 of the NPRM baldly admittted that the agency briefly considered “security programs that would apply to large aircraft operators depending on the type of service they provide, [but instead] the TSA is proposing one security program that would apply to all large aircraft operators” — a program that could fundamentally change the way general aviation currently conducts its activities.
Two companies developing re-engined Citation IIs have recently achieved milestones in their efforts to retrofit early models of the Cessna light jet with William International FJ44 powerplants.
Stevens Aviation (Greenville, SC) — Dana R. Arnold has been named president of the aviation service company’s Business Jet Sales division. Arnold joins Stevens after 17 years with Learjet, where he was vice president of U.S. sales. Infinity Aviation Named Russian Sales Rep for EADS Socata
Any temporary dip in the price of jet fuel may tempt some folks to forget that a return to $7 to $10 per gallon Jet-A could follow a recovery from the record world economic slump. Should that happen, the Piaggio P180 Avanti will become even more attractive than it is today.
Universal Avionics Systems Corp. reached a settlement with Optima Technology Group, Inc. Sept. 23 in patent litigation. Universal filed the lawsuit in November 2007 against Optima, a patent holding company, after repeated threats from Optima’s CEO, Robert Adams, to sue for alleged infringements based on Universal’s sale of its Vision-1 synthetic vision product. In the lawsuit, Universal sought a declaration that the patents were invalid and not infringed.
Citing the breathtaking pace of business aircraft deliveries, West Star Aviation of Alton, Ill., just announced it is constructing a $6 million facility at Columbia, S.C., Metropolitan Airport to increase its capacity for maintenance, modifications and avionics upgrades. The Columbia facility along with the company’s site in Grand Junction, Colo., will report as one when it comes to finances. The company also has a repair and service facility in Dallas.
New owners of the former Adam A700 program believe the all-composite VLJ is back on track for certification by mid-2010. Testing has resumed, and the FAA has agreed that tests performed by Adam are still valid, reducing the work remaining, says Jack Braly, the industry veteran installed as president and CEO of Adam’s new owner, AAI Acquisitions, which is backed by Russian private equity firms Industrial Investors and Kaskol. AAI Acquisitions says it has retained more than 50 of the original team from bankrupt Adam as it works to restart the program.
Making the transition as quickly as possible to the NextGen air traffic control system is one of several recommendations made in a new energy task force report by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). NextGen will greatly enhance operating efficiency and safety, while reducing delays and unnecessary energy consumption, said the Sept. 3 report. The report also called for expanding exploration and development of U.S.
In past stories, we've polled schedulers and dispatchers to compile lists of trips you've found challenging, coupling the results with this advice: Tap the talents and experience of a good flight support provider when you're heading off the beaten track. So it seems only logical to survey the leading providers' experts for their perspective. While there is a good deal of agreement between operators and service providers on many destinations, the opinions of the providers offer some surprises -- or at least differences.
According to European Business Aviation Association President Brian Humphries, the most common navigation error committed by business aviation operators -- especially those visiting the U.K. and the Continent from North America -- is "level busts," or missing the assigned altitude either because of sloppy flying or misunderstanding of the region's admittedly confusing transition altitude system.
Australian accident investigators say the failure of an oxygen bottle caused the fuselage rupture of a Qantas Boeing 747-400 on July 25. Significantly, the highly regarded Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has no idea how the failure can be prevented from happening again -- particularly since the bottle fell into the sea and thus cannot be examined. "There's nothing at this stage that the ATSB can identify that could have been done to prevent this," said investigator Julian Walsh. "We don't really know why the bottle failed.
Delta AirElite Business Jets says it is the first charter operator of a 2008 Dassault Falcon 7X aircraft in the United States. The 6,000-nm airplane was added to the company's charter fleet in September and is based in the Rocky Mountain region. In addition to the 7X, Delta AirElite, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, said it has added several other aircraft to its fleet since the beginning of the year, including its second Gulfstream G550, fourth Bombardier Learjet 45 and a Cessna Citation CJ2+.
*CRS Jet Spares, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced that Kirk Meissner is the new sales representative for Oklahoma and Ron Holt will support Illinois and South Carolina.
