Want to step up to turbine reliability, 250-plus-knot cruise speeds and virtually unbeatably low operating costs? Consider the Piper Meridian, a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-powered derivative of the PA-46 Malibu/Mirage pressurized, piston-powered single with a modified wing, 2.5-foot wider stabilizer, beefier gear and increased fuel capacity, plus updated systems. It climbs directly to FL 280 and cruises for 1,000 nm with full tanks.
Regional Airline Association (RAA), Washington, D.C., announced that Liam Connolly has joined the association as manager-Industry and Regulatory Affairs.
David Collogan's Washington on "Limiting the Value of Aircraft" (February 2008, page 86) was right on the money. This move by the Department of Homeland Security would make George Orwell blush. Considering the fraud involved in its predicate event, it is criminal. Once again general aviation is made the scapegoat of absurd government policy proposals. Having the names of passengers sent to DHS before arrival will make us no more secure than frisking wheelchair-bound grandmothers does today in the airline terminal.
Rockwell Collins' new Venue cabin management system will make its debut aboard the CJ4. Venue features an Internet protocol, high-speed digital network bus architecture supporting 1080 pixel resolution with High Definition Media Interface and Blu-ray Disc compatibility, plus compliance with high-definition copy protection protocols. It also supports legacy analog audio/video interfaces so it will work with today's music CDs and DVDs along with iPods, iPhones, MP3 players and laptop computers.
Congress is looking into an accident involving Donald Buchanan, a contract mechanic, who while working on a Continental 737 at El Paso in 2006 was killed during an engine run-up. The event was entered into Continental's ASAP. The airline, the contract maintenance company and a mechanic were fined. Another mechanic had all his certificates revoked.
By the end of 2007, major turbofan business aircraft manufacturers had racked up a $58 billion-plus order backlog, according to GAMA. Overall revenue from new general aviation sales reached $21.9 billion, a 16.4-percent increase over 2006. OEMs delivered 4,272 general aviation. aircraft in 2007, 5.4-percent more units than in the previous year.
I RUSHED OVER AND LOOKED down into the darkened concrete pit. There he was, motionless, eyes wide in panic, blood splattered on his thick white hair. Oh no, I thought, I've killed Boomer. While the underlying cause of this wrenching accident was my curiosity, the immediate culprit was the local Boys & Girls Club. Walking is a favorite activity of mine. For my dog, it's ecstasy, as though the way to a mountain of Alpo surrounded by fire hydrants guarded by meowling, slow-footed cats. He's crazy for it.
A question regarding the Learjet 35 departure, which ended up in the mountains ("Combatting CFIT," Cause & Circumstance, March 2008, page 84). Was the aircraft equipped with EGPWS or GPWS and, if so, did it work? I would suggest that if they have a waiver from this kind of equipment, then there should also be some restrictions in place, such as no VFR at night.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise has consolidated the MRO businesses of the former Landmark Aviation and the well-known mod and completion center, Associated Air Center, which it acquired in July 2007 as a compliment into DAE's aerospace engineering unit. All the businesses are now integrated and are operating under the Standard Aero banner, with Associated Air Center maintaining a separate marketing identity, the company announced March 27.
AS WE ALL KNOW (or should know) mistakes beget mistakes unless you break the chain by mentally stepping back to reassess the situation. Night IMC, a missed NOTAM and loss of situational awareness created such a chain on Feb. 2, 2007, resulting in the destruction of a Socata TBM 700 on approach to New Bedford, Mass., Regional Airport and the deaths of two pilots and their passenger.
Omni Aviacao took delivery of a Learjet 40 configured for emergency medical services conversion. The aircraft was modified to allow easy access for a stretcher. Lifeport supplied a medical kit for the aircraft, which can transport one patient on a stretcher and a four-person medical team on flights of up to 1,800 nm. The Model 40 joins Omni's fleet of three Learjet 45 business jets and one Learjet 31. Based in Portugal, Omni Aviacao provides a range of fixed-wing and helicopter services in Europe.
Mark Harris' name and photo were accidentally attached to a paragraph describing someone else's appointment as team leader for ASI in the February "On Duty," page 88. The entry should have read: Mark Harris was appointed site leader for Crane Aerospace & Electronics' Fort Walton Beach, Fla., facility.
On April 8, Embraer formally introduced its new MSJ and Embraer MLJ executive jet programs, earlier given the go-ahead by the company's board of directors after more than two years of product and market research and analysis. The midsize Embraer MSJ, with a 3,000-nm (5,560 km) range, and the midlight Embraer MLJ, with a 2,300-nm (4,260 km) range, will be positioned between the $25 million Legacy 600 super midsize and the $6 million Phenom 300 in Embraer's executive jet portfolio.
Among emissions from jet engines in addition to CO 2, NO x, and CO is H 2O, or water vapor, which at the sub-freezing temperatures of the flight levels where jets fly manifests itself as contrails when humidity levels are appropriate.
"Combatting CFIT" (Cause & Circumstance, March 2008, page 84) was excellent, but my recollection of the Boeing Training Aid on CFIT was that ATC is only responsible for traffic avoidance. It is also my understanding that ATC will provide terrain "advisories" when workload permits, but doing so is not in their primary job description.
More than 13 years after the FAA began requiring specialized training and experience requirements for pilots of Robinson R-22 and R-44 helicopter operators due to an inordinate number of serious accidents, the agency in April extended that requirement for another 15 months. The additional requirements for the two- and four-place Robinson helicopters were instituted in 1995 when the FAA issued SFAR 73 - 16 years after Robinson Helicopter Co.'s R-22 received an FAR Part 27 Type Certificate in 1979.
The city of Santa Monica filed a 40-page response trying to ward off a "headlong assault" from the FAA, following the agency's recent issuance to city officials of an "Order to Show Cause" warning of possible enforcement action because of the city's ban on larger business jets at Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO). The FAA issued the show cause order late last month after the Santa Monica City Council voted unanimously to implement an ordinance that would ban Category C and D aircraft -- those with approach speeds faster than 121 knots -- from the airport.
Thank you so much for your letter! It is comforting to know that I'm not the only person who can get lost walking from her own kitchen to her own living room. While I did not exactly "allow" my husband to print that article (he opted for the "It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission" approach), I was laughing so hard as I read it that I could not summon the muscle strength to give him the beating he deserved.
"The market for used business jets is beginning to show signs of softening, particularly at the low end, although it is too early to say that the market has turned," declared the financial analysts at JPMorgan Securities in the April edition of their research report on the industry. In the company's Business Jet Monthly, the analysts said, "Anecdotally we are hearing that the market for new aircraft is still blistering, but some industry players are starting to get the sense that the winds might shift."
A report prepared by Freesky Research of Arlington, Va., forecast that private jets will account for over half of all aircraft broadband installations over the next four years, notwithstanding new interest in more-capable cabin electronics and communications systems being offered to airlines.
PiperJet Unveiled at the 2006 NBAA convention, the New Piper Aircraft's entry into the prop-less world is being propelled there by a single, through-the-fin 2,400-pound-thrust Williams FJ44-3AP FADEC-equipped turbofan and controlled by its single pilot through an integrated Garmin cockpit, including a pair of large format PFDs and MFD, automatic flight control and attitude and heading reference systems.
The CJ4's instrument panel and console have been extensively modified during the past 18 months to improve human factors. The landing gear handle, for instance, has been moved from the pilot's side tilt panel up to the center of the instrument panel, where it's readily accessible for single- or two-pilot operations.
NetJets Aviation, Columbus, Ohio, announced that Matt Harris has been named executive vice president of owner and employee services. Alan Cullop has been named executive vice president and chief information officer.
Gerald E."Jerry" Schlesinger died on March 22 at Columbus, Ohio. He was 63 years old. Jerry was a behind-the-scenes kind of guy -- an imaginative financial wizard filled with great humor, boundless ideas and an innate persuasiveness that allowed him to find financial backing for some of the better ones.
