You can rail against the imposition of new environment-friendly standards on aviation. You can make a case that aviation is not a bad guy when it comes to climate change. But the debate has already begun and ignoring the discussion will not make it, or the consequences, disappear. If the aviation community isn't engaged in what's happening on this front, you can be sure the outcome will be ugly and painful.
Linear Air, the Concord, Mass., air taxi operator, took delivery of its first Eclipse 500 very light jet. Linear Air currently operates a large fleet of executive Cessna Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops.
Operators of late model Falcons need not be jealous of operators who have signed up for the new Dassault Falcon 2000LX, which features winglets designed in collaboration with Aviation Partners Inc. The Seattle-based maker of performance-enhancing airfoils is working with the airframe manufacturer to offer at least a couple of winglet retrofit programs for earlier models of the French-made business jet.
A pilot's watch can still be stylish, and the AOPA 24-Hour Watch combines pilot-friendly features with fashionable design. The main 12-hour movement features large, luminescent numbers for easy reading, day or night. A second 24-hour movement is indicated with a red hand - perfect for setting Zulu time. The AOPA 24-Hour Watch also features a date window, solid stainless-steel case and a genuine leather band. AOPA Pilot is inscribed on the face of the watch. The watch may be ordered from Sporty's, the official provider of AOPA logo merchandise.
*Eurocopter SA/AS-365, 366 and EC 155B helicopters -- Conduct a one-time inspection for end play in the pitch-control rod assembly double bearing for the tail-rotor hub control plate. Replace the bearing before further flight if end play is found. Check the tail-rotor gearbox oil level before the first flight of the day and maintain the oil at the maximum level. Also, inspect the magnetic plug for chips at specified intervals.
How to Use the Operating Costs Guide Aircraft operating costs are presented in a format that separates the data into seven separate areas: Mission Costs, Variable Costs, Fixed Annual Costs, Periodic Costs, Personnel Costs, Training Costs and Facilities Costs. Aircraft Category
Financial firms Guggenheim Partners, LLC and UBS have joined to form Guggenheim aero Finance Co., LLC (GaFCo), a corporate jet financing business that plans to offer financing solutions to individuals and corporations interested in purchasing new and pre-owned corporate jets. GaFCo's founding principals are Claude Franco and Bob Peart, who have substantial experience in the financing and corporate aviation markets.
The shape of an emerging Chinese competitor to western civil aircraft companies is becoming clearer, with plans to float an Avic I business called Avic I Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd. (ACAC). In contrast to Avic I's status as a conglomerate of secretive state companies, ACAC would be listed on at least one foreign stock exchange. It will likely have responsibility for the ARJ-21 large regional jet.
Senate Aviation subcommittee leaders from both parties have drawn a line in the sand in their support of a $25 per flight user fee for corporate turbine aircraft and earmarked to finance implementation of the NextGen air traffic system -- possibly through bonds. Subcommittee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and ranking minority member Trent Lott (R-Miss.) insist that the fee is an equitable solution and promise dire action if it is denied. As we went to press in mid-July, the Senate Finance Committee, of which Rockefeller is a member, held hearings on FAA funding.
IT WAS ALREADY pitch black when we landed, an unusual hour for arriving at a sunny place like Nassau. We caught a beat-up island cab and started making our way through some uncomfortably seedy sections of the unfamiliar town. Presently, we came to a dimly lit dock area, with no one in sight. "This is it, mon," the driver said. The young lady beside me agreed. "Yes, that's the boat."
Summer is bringing in softer economic data than hoped for in the United States, as the weakness in car sales is joined with continued weakness in housing. Higher oil prices, and even higher gasoline prices, are sapping purchasing power at the same time that wealth is declining because of falling home prices. We continue to expect the economy to avoid a recession, but the cushion is getting smaller.
Looking for more information on Safety Management Systems? Three great resources are the International Business Aircraft Council (www.ibac.org), the NBAA (www.nbaa.org) and the Flight Safety Foundation (www.flightsafety.org). IS-BAO has literature, sample SMS documents and plan guidance to help you understand and implement SMS for your operation. If you need more in-depth reading material try the following books and publications: *FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-92, "Introduction to Safety Management Systems for Air Operators" (www.faa.gov)
The Spaceship Company -- jointly owned by Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites -- has selected Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW308 turbofan to power the White Knight II (WK2) launch aircraft. Virgin Galactic has ordered five SS2s, billed as the world's first commercial passenger suborbital spaceship, with options for another seven, plus the launch aircraft. Equipped with two PW308 engines rated at 6,900 pounds of takeoff thrust, the WK2 will take off horizontally with the manned SS2 attached underneath. It will launch the SS2 into suborbital space from about 50,000 feet.
Charles Bergman, a former U.S. Air Force pilot and ALPA employee, was named executive director of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Institute, the third person to hold the job in the past two years. The first man in the job was hired in July 2005, but stayed just two months before resigning.
Columbia Aircraft recently announced that it has restored its production level to three aircraft per week and that most employees furloughed in late March are now back at work. "We made a lot of dramatic moves earlier this year with the objective of increasing our efficiency and strengthening Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation," said Columbia President Wan Majid. "We've made significant improvements to our production processes and tooling and laid a foundation for our future success.
Dangle the Dunlops!" Heard that before? How about, "Rollers!" These are two of the colorful, but definitely non-standard expressions used to call for extending the landing gear. While some might regard such callouts as those of a pilot merely trying to introduce some originality and humor in the cockpit, and dismiss any suggestion that they pose some kind of a problem, statistics suggest otherwise.
Western Aircraft, Inc. - the FBO, aircraft sales and maintenance provider in Boise, Idaho -- has been sold to Berkley Aviation Investors, Inc. Closing of the deal, details of which were not released, is expected this month. The acquisition will be the second this year for Berkley, which purchased Atlantic Aero Holdings and the Atlantic Aero FBO in Greensboro, N.C. in February. Western has the largest presence on the Boise airport, with five large hangars and office space.
FlightSafety International will install Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics in a Dassault Falcon 50 full-motion simulator scheduled to be operational by December. Some 25 Falcon 50s have been retrofitted with Pro Line 21.
Corporate Angel Network added the top executives of two more business jet manufacturers to its board of directors: Jack J. Pelton, chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Co., and John G. Rosanvallon, president and CEO of Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Corp., joined the CAN board earlier.
The flight crew of a Cessna Citation II 550 that crashed into Lake Michigan in June began having control problems shortly after takeoff, according to the NTSB. The aircraft, with two pilots, had taken off from Milwaukee's Mitchell Field (MKE) carrying a four-member medical team and harvested human organs that were to be implanted in a patient in Michigan. All six people aboard were killed when the airplane, which was attempting to return to MKE, crashed into 60 feet of water at about 1610 CDT on June 4.
Saraya Private Aviation has ordered six Piaggio P180 Avanti IIs to be delivered in 2008 and 2009 for private charter and air taxi operations across the Middle East and Northern Africa. Saraya, founded in 2005, is part of a real estate development company specializing in the travel and tourism industries.
Air Partner has signed an 80-year lease with Biggin Hill Airport for a new 115,000-square-foot site where it will develop a new high-security private jet enclave, at a cost of $10 million, the nearest such facility to the city of London. The company is a leading provider of private aviation services worldwide. Work has started on two state-of-the-art aircraft management and maintenance hangars.
Researchers probing possible changes in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of global warming have a new source of data. NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft has returned its first images of noctilucent clouds, wispy accumulations of what are believed to be ice crystals that form in summer at altitudes of about 50 miles over the polar regions. As seen in this image from the 440-pound spacecraft, the clouds (white and light blue) range across the pole.
Aviation industry lobbyists have been hearing that FAA Administrator Marion Blakey would leave the agency Sept. 13 when her five-year term expires and that she was looking forward to stepping away from the high-pressure post. But at a July Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) praised Blakey and asked if she would consider staying on at the FAA after Sept. 13 to help ensure that new FAA reauthorization gets enacted into law.
