Nancy M. Graham (C. 196004) (Charlottesville, Va.)
Your March 2008 Viewpoint ("Deserving It") brought back pre-Gaffney airport attitudes loud and clear. Every female CFI in War Training Service uniform shown in the accompanying photo from Embry-Riddle's Chapman Field (along with as many others in their civilian attire instructing civilians) knew she had to work harder, show more interest and have fewer wash-outs than any male to gain respect.
L-3 Communications Avionics Systems has received an STC and PMA for its IRIS Infrared Imaging System for the Beechcraft King Air 90, 200 and 300 series. The camera mounting uses an existing approved fiberglass fairing that L-3 has been supplying to the C90 market under its original STC. Easy installation and commonality across the King Air models provides a cost-effective solution for adding an enhanced vision system to an aircraft, according to the manufacturer. Price: Varies with installation L-3 Communications Avionics Systems
Blackhawk, Waco, Texas, has appointed Jeff Raines as special projects director to lead the team at the company's new product development facility in Elizabethtown, N.C.
MOST AIRCRAFT OWNERS interested in putting their aircraft out for charter do so simply to offset their ownership costs. They are not interested in running a charter operation, because they want to focus their energies and attention on the business that makes them money, not one that consumes their cash. So, these owners are attracted to the charter/ management arrangement, whereby they enjoy a "turnkey" system that takes care of their flight needs and charters their aircraft to others when they don't need it.
James S. Waugh, executive vice president of FlightSafety International, and for decades a member of the company's close-knit executive leadership, is retiring from the training concern, effective June 1. A relatively young man, his decision came as a surprise to many. A well-known and respected member of the business aviation community, Waugh has been a key figure in many industry programs, committees and initiatives over the decades. In 2006, the NBAA awarded him the John P.
Honeywell Aerospace achieved a major breakthrough for its aircraft propulsion program when Embraer announced that a new version of Honeywell's HTF7000 turbofan will power both the new Midsize Jet (MSJ) and Midlight Jet (MLJ) that the Brazilian manufacturer is developing.
During recent years, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has conducted investigations into the practice of certain industries in fixing and advertising list prices. It is the position of the FTC that it is deceptive to the public and against the law for list prices of any product to be specified or advertised in a trade area if the majority of sales are made at less than those prices.
FirstFlight, Inc., a charter management and aviation services company headquartered in Elmira/Corning, N.Y., announced it has established a new division, headed by Michael P. Gaffney, to focus on aircraft financial services. The division, JetEquity Solutions, will provide various aircraft financial services including lease vs. buy analysis, identifying and negotiating optimal financing structures, securing credit approval under acceptable terms, conditions and documentation.
The carbon trading session that IBAC presented at this year's NBAA International Operators Conference at San Antonio in March was presaged a year earlier, IBAC director general Don Spruston told Business & Commercial Aviation. "I said a year ago that we would be pulled into the debate and have a role to play in mitigating the impact of business aviation [on carbon emissions].
Red River Turbines, LLC, Denison, Texas, named Stephen Woolstenhulme president of Lake Texoma Jet Center and Red River Turbines, both located at North Texas Regional Airport.
The FAA announced a series of measures to improve its inspection and personnel policies after a congressional investigation and a proposed enforcement action against Southwest Airlines (SWA) highlighted deep schisms within FAA's inspector corps and called into question the agency's reliance upon voluntary safety reporting programs with industry.
Garmin International won FAA supplemental type certification for its Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) that will integrate with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite to provide a three-dimensional depiction of terrain, obstacles and traffic on the G1000 primary flight display. SVT will create and display real-time three-dimensional images of the aircraft position that is combined with topographic database and will alert pilots to potential ground hazards by displaying terrain and obstacles shaded with TAWS alert coloring.
A major perk of being a pilot is an occasional front-row view of the amazing. If you were flying at 0212 EDT the night of March 19, and suddenly saw a new star appear in the constellation Bootes, you weren't crazy. You were an eyewitness to a brilliant gamma ray burst that took place an estimated 7.5 billion years ago, yet was still bright enough that it could be seen with the naked eye if you happened to be looking in its direction when it blew.
Business & Commercial Aviation asked Pratt & Whitney's vice president for technology and environment, Alan Epstein, Ph.D., to speculate, as much as it is possible to do so at this juncture, what impact regulation of carbon sources contributing to global warming could ultimately have on business aviation? His answer:
Your March Viewpoint ("Deserving It") struck a chord. Mention of Mary Gaffney brought back memories of the 1970 World Aerobatics Championships, held at RAF Hullavington. It was the first time most Brits had ever seen a Pitts, and what a revelation it was! I still remember Royal Aero Club secretary and aerobatics judge John Blake commenting that the little buzzing Pitts was "a xylophone to the big Russian Yak's grand piano." Here's a picture I took of Mary taxiing out for one of her sessions back then.
Although rotary-wing aircraft make the most extensive use of enhanced vision, fixed-wing aircraft also can employ these systems to increase the safety of operations at night. Virtually all fixed-wing systems make use of infrared-sensitive cameras mounted in the nose to provide a fixed view of what's ahead. If nose mounting is a problem, installers find a spot in the vertical tail or in a wing. Some systems are cooled by a cryogenic liquid contained within a sealed recirculating system while others do not require any cooling at all.
HAVING ACCUMULATED 20,000 HOURS flying in the service and for airlines, I'm regarded by some Napa, Calif., neighbors as an aviation authority. It was for that reason that a friend wanted my opinion of an airplane on a sales visit. I was impressed at first sight. Its lines were alluring, its power system wonderfully sensible, its cockpit dazzling, its cabin commodious and its performance complemented all that perfectly. The Adam 500 was my kind of airplane.
I was in tears by the time I got to the end of "Deserving It" (Viewpoint, March 2008). It really hit home hard. I was also the young lady at one time who, in a roundabout way, was told that I would never fly charter because "customers don't want a woman in the cockpit."
Criminalizing air accidents blocks safety progress. The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) is calling for European states to adopt a non-punitive voluntary reporting system for air safety occurrences, rather than encouraging a culture of blame and criminal prosecution that discourages the sharing of safety information. Addressing delegates at April's ERA Regional Airline Conference in Malta, ERA president and chief operating officer of Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, Antonis Simigdalas' position was particularly relevant as the U.K.
The continuing controversy over the FAA's handling of its airline oversight is beginning to take a toll on the agency's ranks. The entire management team of the Southwest Airlines Certificate Management Office has turned over in the last year, a key principal maintenance inspector is under investigation and the agency acknowledged in April that it had "reassigned" Thomas Stuckey, manager of the Southwest Region's Flight Standards Division.
Productivity is the essential quality for making a profit in the regional airline industry, and as one leading airline executive put it, "You build from profitability, not to profitability." Productivity is derived from operating cost, block-to-block speed, runway field performance, passenger and freight capacity, and the versatility to operate profitably over widely ranging mission distances.
