Seven aircraft accidents over the three-day Labor Day weekend claimed 17 lives, according to preliminary FAA reports. The accidents included the crash of a Lancair near Kernville, Calif., that claimed six lives, and one involving a B36 Bonanza that claimed all five aboard when it crashed in mountainous terrain.
In most professions, you have to work your way up from the bottom. The new guy gets the less desirable tasks and eventually progresses upward. For most aircraft maintenance technicians, the least glamorous of all new guy tasks involves the blue water of aircraft lavatories. Of course, the lavatory is an endless source of amusement for senior maintainers wishing to properly baptize the new guy. Many of the fresh-faced latter have fallen prey to the old, "This must be clogged" trick and then had the purge valve opened on them. Ha, ha -- not.
The Isle of Man business aircraft register is up and running and exceeding expectations. The island's Civil Aviation Department was besieged with requests for registration even before its May 1 opening, and two aircraft were on Ronaldsway Airport's ramp, on day one, sporting distinctive "M" prefix registrations. By early September a dozen aircraft had been registered, with another 10 in process. Most of the business is coming from European sources but U.S. companies have also been in contact.
Rockwell Collins has taken its GPS expertise to new territory with the introduction of ParaNav, a helmet mounted navigation system with an integrated head-up display for parachutists. It provides users with accurate navigation capabilities and enhanced situational awareness, allowing them to fly to their designated landing zones. The system also allows the parachutist to divert to alternate sites with the same level of accuracy. Rockwell Collins announced the launch of ParaNav on Sept. 12.
TRACTORS MOVE AT A PACE that promotes reflection. I learned that soon after my parents decided I was old enough and strong enough to work summers on my grandparents' farm in northwest Ohio. The long, hot days on those 200 acres of wheat, hay, pigs and sweat taught me a lot about hard work and self-reliance. I joke that I was slave labor, since I had little say in the matter. And while my grandparents gave me plenty of love, shelter, food and soft drinks, the pay was meager . . . cents per hour. This became a matter of some importance the summer I turned 13.
House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) chided Blakey the day after her parting salvos for waiting too long to criticize airlines for overscheduling, and he promised congressional hearings on the issue. Costello said Blakey should have made her comments last January "when they might have had some effect on the summer travel season." The subcommittee planned to hold a hearing on aviation consumer issues Sept. 26.
Luis Carlos Affonso, head of Embraer's Executive Jets division, played his cards very close to his vest at the 2007 NBAA Convention in Atlanta when he disclosed that Embraer -- in keeping with its promise to field a full line of business jets -- is studying two new midsize jet concepts. The two aircraft are intended to help fill the chasm between the $6.65 million, 1,800-nm Phenom 300 and $25 million, 3,300-nm Legacy 600.
Addison Airport (ADS) founders Jim Deloache, (left) and Henry Stuart (center) receive mementos and proclamations from the town of Addison Mayor Joe Chow during the airport's 50th birthday celebration July 2 at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. Almost 300 tenants and guests that included Congressmen Sam Johnson and Pete Sessions attended the birthday dinner.
While Embraer's new jets won't break new ground with airframe or engine technologies, they will be equipped with the latest flat-panel avionics. Artist's renderings depict edge-to-edge 3-D synthetic vision system background imagery on the PFDs, full EICAS on the upper MFD and a range of electronic flight bag functions available through the lower MFD.
(adapted from from FSI questionnaire) * Pilot Certificates * Airman Medical Certificate * Age * Two or more years of military pilot experience? (y/n) * Two or more years of test/demo pilot experience for aircraft manufacturer? (y/n) * Previous pilot experience in turbine aircraft (hrs) * Previous pilot experience using FMS (hrs) * Currently type rated in an airplane (y/n) * Six most recent documented instrument approaches (yrs/months)
Now pumping Chevron products supplied by distributor Air Petro, Championship Aviation says it can offer "perhaps the most competitive prices" in its market. The Chino, Calif., FBO also says it plans to build a 43,000-square-foot facility to serve aircraft and passengers bound for California's "Inland Empire." Chino's 7,000-foot runways and lack of noise restrictions or curfews, landing fees or parking fees make it a prime destination airport for the region, according to the FBO.
Honeywell says it is installing a new phone system -- Intelligent Contact Routing, they call it. The idea is to get you connected to a customer service rep without the usual, "For accounting, press 4; for service and support, press 5 . . . ." No more "phone tree," in other words. Once it's up and running, there will be two numbers for U.S./Canada (800)601-3099 and International (602) 365-3099. Who knows? Maybe the idea will catch on.
Arizona State University, Mesa, Ariz., appointed Richard Charles as chair of the Department of Aeronautical Management Technology in the College of Technology and Innovation.
Camarillo Airport (CMA) sits just off the 101 in California's Ventura County, midway between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The former military installation, now wholly converted to a civil airport with 6,000-plus feet of runway, has a new full-service FBO operated by Avantair Elite Services, a unit of Avantair, Inc., providing all fuel, support and maintenance services for executive aircraft. Avantair markets fractional shares in the Piaggio P.180 Avanti twin turboprop.
Flight delays and airplane "parking lots" on the ramps were, at 16 percent each, the top airline passenger complaints in a new survey by Opinion Research Corp. (ORC). Causes of airline angst varied by age, said ORC. "Nearly one quarter of those respondents between the ages of 35 and 44 were aggravated by delayed or canceled flights, compared with only 13 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24," the survey found.
Although the woes of the real estate and mortgage industries began to take their toll on the economy and financial markets during the summer, the negative ripple effects have not yet been reflected in sales of previously owned aircraft.
Blackhawk Modifications - the Waco, Texas-based powerplant upgrade company that specializes in reengining Beech King Air 90s and 200s, as well as Cessna Conquest Is and Cheyennes - has designated Hawker Beechcraft Services as an authorized dealer of Blackhawk's King Air XP engine upgrades.
Put yourself in the place of an emergency medical service (EMS) pilot when the "red phone" in the crew room rings, with word of a serious accident requiring immediate response. It is well known that a trauma patient's chances of survival increase significantly if the person is delivered to a critical care unit within an hour of receiving the injuries.
ITT will be the systems integrator of the FAA's ADS-B system, but the team members that ITT selected had a lot to do with the company winning the contract on Aug. 30. Particularly noteworthy is ITT's partner AT&T, the U.S.-based telecommunications giant. The role of AT&T was key to ITT's win of the $1.8 billion contract to provide ADS-B on a fee-for-service basis. AT&T already owns a network of telecommunications sites and facilities across the United States that will be used to host the ADS-B equipment at a minimal cost. Then there is the French connection.
Jet Aviation, Teterboro, N.J., named Dorothy White as regional sales director for charter support service and aircraft management at the new aircraft management and charter support service sales office at its FBO at St. Louis Downtown Airport, Cahokia, Ill.
