The U.K. government has approved an increase in flights at London-Farnborough Airport. The Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government and Transport upheld an appeal by operator TAG Aviation, which had applied for planning permission in October 2005 to double the number of permitted movements at the business aviation field at weekends and on public holidays. TAG has now been given consent for 5,000 movements at those times, but total number of permitted annual movements will remain at 28,000. The U.K.
Standard Aero, Winnipeg, Canada, appointed Kevin Perris as STC program director for the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A business unit. Michael Moore was named senior vice president of Associated Air Center (AAC), the VIP transport completion facility in Dallas, Texas.
When they're not teaching nearly half the known student pilot population the required body of knowledge to obtain various FAA ratings, John and Martha King, of the eponymous King Schools, are actively involved in numerous aviation communities and their programs, among them the Lindbergh Foundation -- more formally, The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. Recently, John King agreed to chair the organization's board (he says "I got drafted" by Foundation President Knox Bridges), and he's become an outspoken champion of the group's cause ever since.
AWAS, Dublin, Ireland, announced the appointment of Prof. Dr. Werner G. Seifert as chairman of the AWAS board of directors. JT Foo has been appointed to the post of vice president, sales for the company's Asia Pacific operations.
Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, announced the Pedro Ferraz Pereira, director of corporate communications for North American, is assuming a new position as the director of Internal Communications at the company's headquarters in Brazil.
Manufacturer and Model This block includes the manufacturer's name and the aircraft's model name and technical designation. For more information on manufacturers, see "Airframe Suppliers Directory," on page 166. B&CA Equipped Price This is the current price of the aircraft with the equipment stipulated in the "B&CA Helicopter Minimum Equipment List," and is shown for comparison purposes only. In most cases, the price is provided by the manufacturer; exceptions are so noted.
Airborne weather radar first appeared on civil aircraft more than 50 years ago, but since then there's been very little real progress. The reason for that is transparent. To cope successfully with convective weather danger, pilots need to know three things: (1) Where is it? (2) What is it? and (3) What's it likely to be when I get there? Of those three questions, radar can answer the first, be of some assistance in answering the second and is of no help whatsoever with the third. That was true in 1955, and it's just as true today.
Thank you so much for your note. I have always enjoyed working with the women in the aviation business, and upon reflection it occurred to me that it wasn't simply a coincidence that they were such strong, able individuals. Rather, they had to share those characteristics to succeed in an environment that wasn't always so welcoming. My compliments on your success. Keep up the great work.
Avidyne Corporation's Envision integrated flight deck was STC'd for installation on Cessna 400 piston twin-engine airplanes. Southern Star Avionics, LLC in Mobile, Ala. worked with Avidyne on the retrofit, which initially was installed on a Cessna Model 414A. The STC also covers the Cessna 401(A, B), 402 (A, B, C), 414(A) and 421(A, B, C) twin-piston airplanes. Avidyne and Southern Star originally teamed on an STC for the installation of the Envision EXP5000 PFD on Cirrus SR20 and SR22 airplanes.
At the Savannah S&D convention, Universal Weather and Aviation unveiled enhanced mobile trip planning through a handheld device, including direct access to flight information and fuel quote requests on a screen optimized for a BlackBerry device. The Trip Status tool now views crew and passenger information, trip documents and an e-mail message history. Universal's scheduling software sends trip info directly to handhelds. Users can cross-check passengers against the TSA's No-Fly and Cleared lists.
On March 13, Gulfstream Aerospace finally took the wraps off its next-generation G650, a completely clean-sheet, ultra-long-range business jet that will be capable of flying eight passengers 7,000 nm at 488 KTAS when it enters service in 2012. Gulfstream had struggled to keep the program out of the public eye for well over three years while it courted potential customers, solicited their inputs and molded the design to deliver on all promises.
Continental Airlines, Boeing and GE Aviation plan to conduct a biofuels demonstration flight in the first half of 2009 in an effort to identify sustainable fuel solutions for the aviation industry. The biofuel flight demonstrations will use a Boeing 737 NG equipped with CFM56-7B engines; CFM International is a 50/50 joint company of GE and Snecma.
Hawker Beechcraft secured several international certifications -- including European Aviation Safety Agency approval - for its Hawker 900XP. Hawker Beechcraft began delivering 900XPs to European customers in December 2007. The aircraft, a follow-on to the Hawker 800 series, also received certification in Australia, Aruba, the Czech Republic, Macau, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The Federal Aviation Administration awarded type certification in August 2007.
Universal Weather and Aviation announced at the Singapore Airshow that it has opened a new scheduling center in Manila, Philippines, providing scheduling services for operators based throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The new Universal Scheduling Center offers trip scheduling and logistical information on airports, customs, hotel accommodations, permits, fuel pricing and more. "We are fully operational and serving clients," said Jim Reed, operations manager, Universal Weather and Aviation Scheduling Center.
Intelligence | 11 * GA Groups Concerned WIth Aircraft Registration Proposal * Technology Proving Answer to Cutting Aircraft Emissions * Inspector General Report: Business Jets Contribute to Congestion * Brazil Building Up Viracopos Airport Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey An Inclination to Share 22 | Business & Commercial Aviation 1958, a Year in Review 78 | Point of Law By Kent S. Jackson
The Air Transport Association claims a report by the DOT Inspector General (IG) on National Airspace System (NAS) usage concludes that business jets (referred to as non-air carriers) are not fully paying for their proportional use of air traffic control services and contribute to air traffic congestion at TRACON facilities. However, NBAA President Ed Bolen said, "our understanding of what it says is very much at odds with some of the assertions that have been made about it" and set up a meeting with the IG for clarification.
Another new rollout at the Savannah convention was FlightView's Dispatch version 4.7, scheduled to ship in mid-March. The software's Bulletin Board tool will upload and track user-selected flights on the ground or en route and also save tracked flights for continued tracking. Improved weather data are aimed at better forecasting of likely weather-related delays. Users can also customize and streamline views to as little as a tail number up to complete aircraft data. Dispatch 4.7 will be sold direct, says FlightView.
THE LAW GOVERNING carriage of candidates is changing again. For most people, flying with politicians sounds even less appealing than flying with small children. But with the airlines running cartoon ads claiming that private aircraft are slowing down airline travel, now is a good time to give office seekers a real-world education about general aviation.
Citing a need to increase and maintain the accuracy of data in the Civil Aviation Registry, the FAA wants to institute new procedures, including reregistration of all current active aircraft and renewal of all registration certificates every three years. The FAA claims that the extra paperwork would not impose significant costs on owners. However, several general aviation groups take issue with aspects of the proposal. The AOPA says the plan could increase the cost of registering an aircraft to $130 from the current $5.
Outsourcing heavy inspections has become the norm, NBAA Director, Technical Operations Eli Cotti observed recently. "It seems to me that the majority of single-aircraft operators that do not have a maintenance department are having to outsource everything," Cotti said. "So who do they have as a resource or someone with the experience to help them go through a major inspection without fumbling and potentially losing a lot of money?"
"Contrary to the report from Chicken Little, the sky is not falling," declared Carl Janssens, editor of the Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, in the first-quarter edition of his company's quarterly Marketline newsletter. "For aircraft sales, business is good, and the sky is blue."
A Cessna 210, N968CC, was destroyed upon impact with terrain following a loss of control while in cruise flight near Baytown, Texas. The non-instrument-rated pilot was fatally injured. The 197-mile cross-country flight originated from Acadiana Regional Airport (ARA), New Iberia, La., with West Houston Airport, Houston, Texas, as its intended destination. A preliminary review of the airplane's radar track shows it approached from the east. At about 1830, the airplane initiated a descent from 6,500 feet.
