Gulfstream Aerospace has received STC approval for the installation of a muffler on the Gulfstream G200 auxiliary power unit. The muffler is designed to reduce noise from the surge-control valve by 10 to 12 decibels, which cuts the noise by more than half the current level, the company said. Gulfstream Service Engineering developed, flight-tested and certified the muffler based on input from a G200 Customer Advisory Board. M-Dot Aerospace in Phoenix completed the muffler design and will build the units for Gulfstream.
Serengeti, a brand of Bushnell Outdoor Products, has expanded its selection of Driver Gradient lenses to 14. With a unique shade of brown developed to create the right balance for a wide range of environment light, Drivers Gradient lenses have a host of leading-edge features designed to eliminate eyestrain and fatigue on the road or in the air.
Hawker Beechcraft Corp. recently selected India-based Arrow Aviation Services Pvt. Ltd. to distribute parts for all Hawker and Beechcraft aircraft throughout the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, Morocco and Algeria. Arrow will use its two facilities in Kolkata, India, and in Dubai, UAE, for the program.
The FAA has granted Jeppesen approval to provide RNP consultant services. The action allows Jeppesen representatives to guide airlines and other aircraft operators through the FAA's RNP operations approval process. The Boeing-owned company will also offer RNP services for non-U.S. operators looking to implement RNP operations worldwide.
These themed vintage soda machines may be a fun addition to the hangar, office or home. In addition to restoring vintage soda machines with the familiar Coke and Pepsi motifs, Denver-based American Soda Machines customizes these beverage icons into many themes for individual buyers. They can be imprinted with the logo of any aviation company, airplane manufacturer or any photograph of an airplane. Price: Call for price key American Soda Machines (800) 448-6888 www.americansodamachines.com
Sensor Systems has received TSO C190 certification in Beta 3 application for its new models of GPS WAAS antennas. The S67-1567-135 and 145 models are for ARINC 743 applications; the S67-1575-137 model is a three-inch circular design suitable for all other installation requirements, both new and retrofit. All three antennas are in production and certified to DO-301.They're DC-grounded and offer enhanced protection against rain, ice and lightning strikes. Price: Contact manufacturer Sensor Systems, Inc. 8929 Fullbright Ave.
The abrupt removal of Frank Thielert from the diesel engine company he founded, and Thielert Aircraft Engines' filing for insolvency, left a number of manufacturers wondering where they will get diesel powerplants for their aircraft. Thielert and the chief financial officer were ousted by the company's board of directors. There were reports of possible irregularities in the engine maker's financial records and that a major investor had decided not to provide more funding. Although insolvent since April, Thielert Aircraft Engines continues operating.
Toby Smith, the JBA Aviation vice president who has been buying and selling previously owned midsize to ultra-long-range business jets for a decade, says today's used aircraft market is "pretty segmented." The broker, who is based at the Mercury Air Center FBO in Tulsa, said that it is a sellers' market for business aircraft five years or newer and a buyers' market for midsize airplanes and other aircraft that are 15 years or older. The market for everything else seems to be balanced.
CHC Helicopter Corp., the world's largest provider of helicopter services to the offshore oil and gas industry, has selected Worldwide Helicopter Solutions of Glendale, Ariz., to provide on-site avionics system training at CHC bases in Australia, The Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom. CHC operates a large fleet of Sikorsky S-76 helicopters equipped with Honeywell SPZ-7000 and 7600 Dual Digital Automatic Flight Control Systems (DDAFCS) along with the EDZ-705 and 756 Digital Electronic Flight Instrument Systems (EFIS).
As I write this letter it's a bit late at night, but I'm waiting for the safe arrival of my 17-year-old son Brad from his date with Kaylee (they have really strange names here in the south), and so I've been reading Business & Commercial Aviation in my office. With that said, William Garvey's Viewpoint, "An Inclination to Share," in the May issue really resonated with me, but in a six degrees of separation sort of way. I was a junior at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, N.H., that sits right on Boire Field and is an aviation-oriented school .
First appearances may be deceiving. The Learjet 60XR, for instance, looks virtually identical to the Learjet 60, an aircraft that was certified in January 1993 as an amendment to the 1966 Learjet 24 type certificate.
International Communication Group (ICG) has created a successful interface between its line of NxtLink Iridium satellite communication systems and Tempus, a remote medical monitoring device produced by U.K.-based RDT Ltd. According to ICG, this interface means that the Iridium satellite communications network is available via NxtLink almost anywhere on the ground or aboard aircraft to assist emergency medical technicians or flight service personnel in dealing with potentially life-threatening situations. Price: Contact manufacturer ICG, Inc.
The Rolls-Royce Authorized Maintenance Center (AMC) Council elected 30-year industry veteran Tom Roche, vice president of helicopter programs for Standard Aero, as chairman of the Council for a two-year term. The Council is made up of representatives from each of the 13 Rolls-Royce Model 250 authorized maintenance centers and the three Rolls-Royce service centers throughout the world that are the engine MRO providers within the Rolls-Royce FIRST network.
Capital Aviation, the aircraft service company based at Oklahoma City's Wiley Post Airport (KPWA), is installing four-tube Universal EFI-890R systems with Vision I synthetic vision units in a variety of older business aircraft. The firm, which already has installed such systems in two Gulfstream IIIs and a Canadair Challenger 600, is presently working on a Dassault Falcon 50 and plans to perform three more similar cockpit retrofits this year.
Embraer, São José dos Campos, Brazil, has selected Humberto Lobo de la Garza, CEO, Grupo Lomex and Lomex Aeronautica, as an authorized sales representative in Mexico for the company's executive jets.
DayJet on May 6 announced it was scaling back its per-seat, on-demand VLJ air-taxi operation after failing to secure $40 million in additional operating capital to finance its planned expansion. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company "has reduced its employee base across most areas of its business," CEO Ed Iacobucci said in a statement. The changes "were caused by external economic factors and are not a reflection of a weakness in the underlying DayJet business model," he said, adding that "given the state of U.S.
Labelmaster has introduced a new line of Premium Laser Litho and Dura-Vinyl drum labels to meet stringent regulatory and compliance requirements. The company now offers completely printed drum labels ready to apply "out of the box" or labels that the customer imprints via laser or thermal printer. Some features include: UV inks, auto-grade pigments and extreme service temperature ranges. Price: Start at $2.70 for 250 labels Labelmaster 5724 N. Pulaski Rd. Chicago, IL (800) 621-5808
While aviation's more extreme critics claim that the worldwide industry has allegedly been lax in reducing its carbon impact on the atmosphere, engine and airframe manufacturers have quietly proceeded with development of a new generation of aircraft a quantum leap more efficient than state-of-the-art equipment.
While I found Patrick Veillette's article, "Inflight Incapacitation" (April, page 62) interesting, I don't believe the fact was driven home to the reader how food poisoning can totally and very suddenly render a pilot incapable of functioning. Perhaps I have been unlucky in 37 years of flying, but I have suffered two bouts of food poisoning where I know I would have been unable to land the aircraft.
Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service was the first airborne health care system and has become the best known in the world after being established shortly after World War I to serve the country's huge Outback areas. It currently operates a mixed fleet of 47 aircraft made up of King Airs and Pilatus PC-12s from 21 bases scattered throughout the country. In 2007, the RFDS served more than 35,000 patients with emergency air transportation.
Eurocopter will reengine an EC120 light helicopter with an advanced diesel engine under the European Union's Clean Sky joint technology initiative. The goal is to reduce specific fuel consumption (SFC) by 30 percent, and emissions of carbon dioxide by 40 percent and nitrogen oxides by 53 percent, says American Eurocopter CEO Marc Paganini. An improved turboshaft-powered helicopter demonstrator is also planned, with the goal of reducing SFC by 10 percent, CO 2 by 26 percent and NO x by 67 percent.
ChinaONEcall provides a 24/7 telephone link to professional English and Mandarin speaking staff who can communicate on your behalf. According to the company, Using chinaONEcall will enhance your stay in China, whether on business or for pleasure. No longer will there be an obstacle in your way; no more puzzled expressions and bewilderment; no more uncomfortable smiles at the impatient taxi driver, ticket clerk, waiter, shop assistant or hotel receptionist. ChinaONEcall is easy to use. Just sign up for a new account, preferably before you travel to China.
Pratt & Whitney's shorthand for its Geared Turbofan engine is GTF, but if the fuel consumption and emissions numbers reportedly being recorded on the test stand translate to daily flight operations, the abbreviation could just as well stand for "Green Turbofan."
According to a recent inspector general report, between November 2005 and July 2007 management at the DFW TRACON routinely classified 62 loss-of-separation incidents as pilot deviations or non-events, when in fact they should have been classified as 52 operational errors and 10 operational deviations. FAA Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski said he was "deeply disturbed" by the report. The agency has removed a facility manager and assistant manager from DFW, and said more personnel actions may be taken.
