Air Training International Dave Stohr, president and founder of Southlake, Texas-based Air Training International, claims his school is "more than just a training organization -- we're an information service provider."
I asked three dozen colleagues in the industry who are tasked with training and evaluation of pilots in their organizations, for their opinions on the "weak areas" in which they believe the industry needs better standardized curriculums to make certain pilots are adequately trained and mentored prior to release for PIC duties. Many of their replies mirrored the general trends from the accident and incident records.
The results of the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates' (JDPA) Business Aircraft Customer Satisfaction Survey now have been tallied and they produced useful, but qualified, findings. Both JDPA and B&CA are part of The McGraw-Hill Companies. In this launch effort, B&CA assisted the polling professionals at JDPA in refining the questionnaire and interpreting some of the resulting data.
In this day of globalization, when lots of companies big and small find themselves interacting with customers and suppliers on the other side of the clock, flight departments and crews that have conducted operations almost exclusively within North America can expect itineraries that stretch to the other side of the world. And for those unfamiliar with international operations, the need for practical information is real and formidable.
It ain't all "heavy iron" out there in oceanic airspace and really hasn't been since the first-generation business jets began rolling off manufacturers' assembly lines in the early 1960s. A surprising number of midsize and even entry-level business jets routinely engage in oceanic ops over the North Atlantic. Additionally, flights by smaller equipment are common between North and South America and throughout Asia.
The PilotView electronic flight bag (EFB) from Canadian-based CMC Electronics has been selected by Embraer for the flight decks of its Legacy 600, E-Jets and Lineage 1000 aircraft. PilotView gives the flight crew access to up-to-date aircraft documentation and flight planning information. En route and approach charts, moving map display and real-time graphical weather are all readily supported, according to CMC. The unit is a compact, lightweight system with a display/processor unit featuring a wireless connection.
Yingling Aviation in Wichita, Kan., has begun CessnaDirect.com, a new service that enables customers to order parts online, through either direct access or through Yingling's Web site. The service will let customers check availability and order parts 24/7. A full-service FBO at Mid-Continent Airport, Yingling has been a Cessna Authorized Service Center for nearly 60 years.
Open Air, a Cirrus SR22 operator and newly certificated as a Part 135 carrier, is taking reservations for air taxi flights from its base at Montgomery County Airpark, Gaithersburg, Md. Fares range from $420 to $525 per flight hour and top out at $595 per hour if limousine service is included. Parent K&R Aviation of Rockville has acquired five three-passenger Cirrus SR22s, each equipped with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System. Open Air bills the service as offering no check-in lines or security hassles
Bombardier SkyJet International has unveiled a new Jet Member program in the Asia-Pacific region that includes flat-fee pricing that enables customers to select the number of hours with no minimums. The program also will enable customers to choose between one- and three-year contract periods. Other facets of the program include a 20 percent discount on same-day return trips and the elimination of additional costs for fuel surcharges and holding fees at busy airports.
Avotek has recently published the Aviation Maintenance Technician Reference Handbook. This book is part of the company's comprehensive selection of maintenance training materials. The new Handbook covers topics including composites, aircraft fabric, electrical systems, fluid lines, weight and balance, corrosion control and non-destructive testing of materials. Price: $16.95 Avotek Information Resources P.O. Box 219 Weyers Cave, VA 24486 (800) 828-6835 www.avotekbooks.com
The Associated Press and Brazilian media reported that a spokeswoman for Brazilian lead investigator Renato Sayao confirmed that air traffic controllers "share some of the blame" for the Sept. 28, 2006, in flight collision of an ExcelAire Legacy 600 and a GOL Airlines Boeing 737 over the Amazon with the loss of all 154 aboard the airliner. Tamares Carvalho, the spokeswoman, said that the Legacy pilots as well as the air traffic controllers, likely would be held responsible when the official investigation is concluded in about a month.
It was a sad phone call that started with, "Pat, did you hear? One fifty-two went down this morning." N152BK was a Mitsubishi MU-2 that spent over a decade flying into remote and often challenging Rocky Mountain airports to carry out badly burned victims, farmers involved in roll-over accidents on their tractors or laboring mothers-to-be. N152BK deserved a medal for all of the lives it had saved over the years.
The words "record-setting flight" might conjure up visions of Charles Lindbergh locked in a lonely, epic battle against fatigue during his 1927 solo flight across the frigid, foggy North Atlantic. Or perhaps the term evokes recollections of Chuck Yeager's 1947 bone-rattling flight through the sound barrier in the Bell X-1.
HAI is presenting this year's Outstanding CFI Award to Mel Schiller, a flight instructor for Canadian Helicopters School of Advanced Flight Training. Since 1977, Schiller has accumulated over 16,000 hours of flight experience, with close to 15,000 hours in Bell JetRangers. In the last 20 years he has logged over 7,500 hours instructing. In teaching mountain flying techniques, external load long-line training, night flying, and annual recurrent training, Schiller has worked with pilots from all over the world.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) has added a Falcon 2000 and a Falcon 50 to its charter fleet. The Falcon 2000 is based at Palm Beach International Airport, while the Falcon 50 is based at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. EJM manages aircraft in more than 60 locations through the country.
Keystone Helicopter was recently awarded a standard airworthiness certificate for the first Sikorsky S76C++ manufactured at Keystone's Coatesville, Pa., plant. Sikorsky acquired Keystone in 2005. "This is a very impressive achievement and an important milestone in accomplishing Sikorsky's plan to increase production capacity to meet the demands of our customers," said Marc Poland, recently appointed vice president of commercial programs for Sikorsky Aircraft. At Coatesville Keystone maintains and completes helicopters.
Sterling Aviation, based at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport, has added a Hawker 800XP, Citation Excel, Beechjet 400A and Pilatus PC-12 turboprop to its Part 135 charter certificate, raising the total number of Sterling's fleet to 13 aircraft.
Construction is well underway at the $33 billion Dubai World Central Airport and city complex at Jebel Ali, 25 miles south of Dubai city center. This will be the world's largest airport by area -- 140 square kilometers. The 2009 Dubai Air Show will be held here. By year-end the first of the six parallel runways opened. When complete (in around a decade) the airport will be capable of handling 120 million passengers per year, and in excess of 100,000 business jet movements at a new super FBO known as the Executive Flight Center, due to open in 2008.
Hillsboro Aviation, based in Hillsboro, Ore sold 67 new and used aircraft, including $41 million worth of new Bell helicopters last year, a record. Hillsboro said it has orders for 27 new Bell helicopters, including contracts for 13 Bell 417s. Hillsboro is the exclusive Bell Helicopter independent sales representative in 15 western states and a sales dealer for the Robinson Helicopter Co.
-General Aviation Services (Lake Zurich, Ill.) -- Brett Forrester has been elevated to sales manager at this aircraft sales firm. Forrester, who joined GAS in 1994, most recently headed the aircraft acquisitions department.
The AOPA reports that it has received a "few isolated cases" of maintenance shops declining to work on older airplanes. In the Jan. 5 edition of AOPA e-pilot, the organization's weekly e-mail newsletter, the association said, "It started last August when one chain of FBOs in the West told customers it would no longer work on aircraft older than 18 years. Several other shops have reportedly taken the same position."
I was very offended by the comments of William Cyders in the January B&CA (Letters, page 8). In his letter he made reference that someone with 300 hours should not be allowed into airspace because said person should not be allowed to pilot an aircraft faster than 120 knots. Masking his statement under the premise that experience takes years, the real underlying reason for this comment was so that pilots like himself can have a job, because the airlines are furloughing and firing their own.
Honda Aircraft Co. is about to begin construction of a new headquarters facility and hangar at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) in Greensboro, N.C. Michimasa Fujino, president and chief executive of Honda Aircraft, unveiled the building plan in February and said his company will also build a manufacturing plant for the HondaJet at PTI, but that the size, timetable and costs are still being developed. Honda Aircraft intends to invest $40 million in the new facility and another $20 million in equipment.
The S-76C upgrade process has accumulated its allotted two "+" symbols, which means it's time to move on to the D. The new model was duly announced at the Helicopter Association International Heli Expo in early 2005 and orders are being taken now. Sometime in late 2008 or early 2009 the newest version of this 30-year-old design will emerge with a pair of new Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S engines, marking yet another propulsion change in a decades-long dance that partnered first with Allison, then Pratt, then Turbomeca and now back to Pratt.
