"Midair Over Reno" (July, page 80) was a vivid and gripping account of an amazing feat of airmanship, which should be displayed at worldwide Flight Safety International outlets. Mention of "Hawkers are built strong" brings to mind when on Aug. 7, 1988, a Botswana government Hawker 800 was struck by two missiles from an Angolan MIG 23, but despite being engineless still managed to land at a bush strip.
The NBAA has selected Bryan T. Moss, president emeritus of Gulfstream Aerospace, as the recipient of the 2007 NBAA Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation and E. Patrick Epps, pilot and founder of Epps Aviation, as the recipient of the 2007 NBAA John P. "Jack" Doswell Award. They will receive their awards at the NBAA Awards luncheon, on Sept. 25 during association's 60th Annual Meeting and Convention.
The Singapore government has given the go-ahead for the transformation of Seletar airfield into an aerospace center of excellence. The plan is to develop about 350 acres of land adjoining the airfield to attract business aviation support firms, such as aircraft interior completions centers, along with commercial MRO, design, manufacturing, R&D and commercial flight training outfits. Upgrading of the airport's ramps and taxiways, and lengthening the runway to accept heavier airliner-size aircraft, is a priority.
Gore Design Completions, Ltd. recently welcomed the arrival of a green Airbus A320 Prestige, marking its elevation as the second Airbus-approved U.S. completions center for Airbus corporate jetliners. The Aug. 10 occasion was marked by speeches and hors d'oeuvres at Gore's 120,000-square-foot hangar at Port San Antonio, Texas, site of the former Kelly Air Force Base. Among the 350 in attendance were the mayor and a group of Airbus executives. "This is the first of many projects," said CEO Jerry Gore.
Aviation Partners, which is enjoying strong demand for the Falcon winglets that the Seattle-based company introduced earlier this year, could apply its patented, range-enhancing, fuel-saving airfoil technology to as many as 20 additional types of business aircraft, including possibly some turboprops, in the future, according to company CEO Joe Clark.
Embraer says it plans to win landing privileges for the Lineage 1000 at London City and Teterboro. The first customer aircraft is to fly to Crane in the U.S. for completion work later this year and then return to Brazil for formal customer delivery. The EMB190 derivative is priced at $42.95 million, including interior. Embraer hopes to deliver three to four aircraft annually.
While Adam Aircraft is focused on obtaining certification for its A700 VLJ, the company also is keeping an eye on new possibilities for the product line, Wolf said. According to the new CEO, expanding the product line is one of four steps the company is concentrating on as it moves from being a development company into a "world-class producer" of aircraft.
Inmarsat First service available to aviation users; operates 10 satellites, claims over 8,000 aircraft equipped; global headquarters in London. Launch of third I-4, latest generation satellite, will complete global broadband coverage. Globalstar
The Strategic Research Institute has invited members of the aviation, legal, government and financial community to attend the Cape Town Convention & Aircraft Protocol Training Seminar, which will be held Sep. 17 and 18 at the Westin Dublin Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.
Development of the Phenom 300 light jet, its cabin now lengthened 14 inches, is proceeding on schedule. Embraer says it has released some 5,000 drawings and that the first of the swept-wing aircraft will be flying before its smaller sibling is certified. The nine-seat jet, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW535E engines rated at 3,200 pounds of thrust each, is expected to enter service in mid-2009. The 0.78 Mach, $6.65 million twinjet is projected to have a range with six occupants of 1,800 nm with NBAA IFR reserves.
In 2005, new international guidelines for the administration of CPR were introduced that placed greater emphasis on chest compressions and altered the practice of administering defibrillator shocks, with a result that makers of AEDs changed their machines' programming. If you bought an AED prior to the change in the guidelines, check with the manufacturer to find out how it can be re-programmed and, in some instances, how you can obtain a temporary substitute AED if the manufacturer requires you to return your unit.
The Avanti was one of the highlights of my career. The laminar flow airfoils were very clean sheet. I think they were the first of the new breed of laminar flow airfoils that demonstrated high performance at transonic speeds.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., announced that Lowell Faulkenberry has joined FlightSafety Simulation as director, finance. Barbara Shea has joined the company as vice president, teammate resources. Stanley Jhagroo has been promoted to manager of the FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach, Fla.
Honeywell is developing a Multi-Function Display (MFD) for general aviation that will incorporate GPS and WAAS capability as well as a new software-based VHF communication and navigation radio. The KSN 770 system will feature a state-of-the-art graphical interface that was originally designed for Honeywell's large integrated business aircraft cockpits. The system is called INAV GA.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, testifying at recent hearings on Capitol Hill, asked House leaders to ignore some of their colleagues' calls for "modest" tweaks to the aviation funding system and instead introduce significant reforms in the tax structure. "I firmly believe a cost-based funding structure is our best chance of transforming the aviation system . . . quickly and efficiently," Blakey said.
Oberstar acknowledged that, "it's equitable for general aviation users to pay somewhat more than they are currently paying." The T&I Committee recommended that the jet fuel tax increase from 21.8 cents per gallon to 30.7 cents and the avgas tax increase from 19.3 cents per gallon to 24.1 cents. "While I believe general aviation should pay somewhat more, I do not believe that the airlines should pay less than what they are now paying," Oberstar said.
Eighty members of Pentastar Aviation's maintenance and avionics team have been awarded the FAA's Aviation Maintenance Technician Award in addition to two corporate awards.
Aero Toy Store -- the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based aircraft sales company -- has been named the exclusive provider of aircraft that incorporate custom designs developed by a unit of Pininfarina, the Italian firm renowned for its work with classic motorcars such as Ferrari and Maserati.
NetJets Europe is to retrofit its Falcon 2000EX EASy fleet with blended winglets at a total cost of $4.4 million. The Aviation Partners high-Mach winglets will upgrade the aircraft to the new Falcon 2000LX standard. Dassault claims a 5-percent increase in fuel efficiency at 0.80 Mach for this version, which extends the aircraft's range by 200 nm to 4,000 nm. Retrofits are scheduled to begin late this year.
In reference to the June issue of B&CA, may I call your attention to page 32, specifically Fast Five, question 5 where you asked William Voss, "Which of your aviation ratings was the hardest to acquire and which brought the most satisfaction?" In the interest of possibly avoiding confusion among B&CA readers I respectively submit that Mr. Voss did not receive his ATP certificate at age 21. The minimum age for that certificate is 23; has been dating back to well over 50 years.
