Cessna is continuing its evaluation of a proof-of-concept light sport aircraft, logging some 50 flight hours on its POC aircraft to evaluate aircraft characteristics. The POC first flew Oct. 13, 2006, nine months after Cessna initiated the project. Cessna also continued to test the market, displaying the aircraft during the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo held recently in Sebring, Fla. The Wichita airplane-maker said the aircraft meets company expectations but has not announced when its evaluation would be completed.
I have been a reader of your fine aviation articles for many years. Please accept my complements for Richard Aarons' excellent Cause & Circumstance in the December 2006 issue ("Winter Weather," page 82). His last two paragraphs summarized it very well.
EVERY YEAR IT PLAYS out the exact same way. The unflagging optimist, I plan a reasonable mid-morning getaway for the Christmas reunion, but my ETA is viewed as a quaint suggestion at best and is mostly ignored as searches are conducted for lost things; fraternal disputes erupt loudly, subside and then flare nosily again; packages get wrapped and ribboned; bags get stuffed; and the dog is shuffled off to the pet motel. And finally, finally, we leave.
The FAA released a new ETOPS rule that effectively changes current limitations and opens up routes for twin-engine passenger airplanes by setting uniform standards for all multiengine commercial aircraft when they fly "extended operations" routes - more than three hours from an airport. Regulators said the final rule would govern the design, maintenance and operation of airplanes and engines for long-distance flights and extend some requirements that previously only applied to twin-engine airplanes to those with more than two engines.
Kaballit Nunaat is thawing quickly. The ice mass of the world's largest island -- a.k.a. Greenland -- is melting at a rate of 41 cubic miles per year. Using a technique that reveals regional changes in the weight of the massive ice sheet across the entire landmass, NASA scientists report that Greenland's low coastal regions lost 155 gigatons of ice per year between 2003 and 2005 from excess melting and icebergs, while the high-elevation interior gained 54 gigatons annually from excess snowfall.
The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) working on America's next-generation air transportation system (NGATS) is conducting an analysis to determine what impact the NASA aeronautics directorate's shift toward fundamental research and away from demonstration projects may have on NGATS development. "This raises the question of what entity will do the developmental work that will be important to NGATS," the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recent report.
CAE received a contract from Flight Simulation Co. to provide two Airbus A320 and two Boeing 737NG Level D flight simulators. The contract also calls for a used Dornier 328Jet simulator. CAE valued the contract at $52 million (Canadian).
Thank you for your comments and be assured, I agree with you about the hazardous attitudes. A non-punitive environment where safety issues can be discussed is always the best approach.
Intelligence | 11 * Business Aviation Leaders Plan Strategy for User-Fee Battle * B-52 Flies With All Engines Using Synthetic Fuel Blend * FAA to Revise Dec. 5 Notice on Air Ambulance Partt 135 Certificate Additions * EPA Rule Provides Relief for Fuel Truck Operators * EU Says Bulgarian Air Safety Falls Short Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey Code Breakers 76 | Point of Law By Kent S. Jackson
London-based Action Aviation has sold two MD Explorers to Jordan and gained three orders from the Dubai area since taking over MD Helicopters' exclusive sales and distributorship for 14 countries in November 2006. "We ordered 20 Explorers and 10 assorted singles," said Managing Director Mike Creed, of the deal with MD Helicopters. An MD 902 has already been delivered to Jordan, with the second due soon. One ex-factory demon- strator, with 150 hours logged, is to go to Dubai in May. Two others are to be new, privately owned VIP aircraft, due for delivery later this year.
The NTSB determined Jan. 9 that the probable cause of the Oct. 14, 2004, fatal crash of a Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 on a ferry flight was the pilots' unprofessional behavior, their deviation from standard operating procedures and poor airmanship, which resulted in a double engine failure from which they were unable to recover.
EADS Socata announced the first French delivery of a TBM 850 VFT (Very Fast Turboprop) to a private owner, on Dec. 22, 2006, replacing a TBM 700C2, which will remain in France with a new owner. Socata says the 850-shp VFT is the world's fastest single-engine turboprop, with a maximum cruising speed of 320 KTAS at FL 260. Launched in December 2005, the VFT has 80 orders, most of which came from U.S. operators; some 42 aircraft have been delivered.
I think that the FAA would answer that this is a mechanic's job, because this function is not listed in Part 43, Appendix A, is part of a (rather important) flight control system and the function is described in the maintenance manual, not the pilot operating handbook. If you operate under Part 135, then I think the FAA would be especially strict in viewing this as a mechanic function. If the helicopter is experimental, or the manufacturer specifically authorizes a pilot to perform this function, then the pilot could do so.
Yingling Aviation, the Wichita-based FBO, has introduced a joint ownership program that offers partnerships on refurbished and updated Cessna twin-turbine airplanes.
First Look: CJ4 - The Triumph of a Sure Thing SATSair, a Growing Air-Taxi Network Assessments by the Formerly Fractionalized Onboard Oxygen Systems J.D. Power - B&CA Business Aviation Survey
Remember the "simple" Cessna Citation 500 of 1971? Similar to the CitationJet, the Citation 500 -- the aircraft then chairman Dwayne Wallace had initially called the "Fanjet 500" -- was the basis for a whole family of derivative products that leveraged a moderate initial investment in the first aircraft. Like the CJs, each derivative product in the Citation 500 family offered more cabin space, more speed and better capabilities. And each derivative cost a small fraction of the price of developing a clean-sheet design.
Sir Richard Branson isn't the first in aviation to take up the cause of climate change. Several coalitions, listed below, within the aviation community are seeking reasonable ways for aviation to stay climate friendly. They promote environmental awareness within the industry; educate the public and government about aviation's environmental performance; establish and promote best practices; and coordinate government/industry aviation infrastructure improvements in environmentally responsible ways. -Greener By Design www.greenerbydesign.org.uk
The VLJ category has considerable growth potential and will likely be the most dynamic segment of the business jet market over the next 10 years, according to a Forecast International general aviation market overview published in the Jan. 15 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Those spindly threads of aircraft contrails on the environment aren't taken into consideration when assessing the environmental impact of air travel, but they are being closely studied. While they may not seem significant, contrails can persist for hours and behave in the same way as high altitude cirrus clouds, trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming. Researchers at London's Imperial College are combining predictions from climate change models with air traffic simulations to predict contrail formation and identify ways of reducing it.
Blue Origin, the company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, released video and stills, as part of a recruiting pitch on its Web site, of a successful flight of a vertical launch/vertical descent test rocket at his 165,000-acre test range in Texas in front of company families and friends. The flight took place Nov. 13, 2006, but the news only recently came to light. The program, intended to take a small number of astronauts on a sub-orbital space journey, is dubbed Good Shepard. For more background on the program, visit its Web site at www.blueorigin.com.
Data network communications between the TSA and airports could work much faster under a pilot program to test technology that uses existing facility electrical wiring as the physical path for data communications. "The TSA has not yet committed to use any power line communications providers, but is currently testing technology provided by Telkonet," said spokeswoman Amy Kudwa. The TSA is looking for a way to produce a rapidly deployed, cost-effective communications infrastructure at security locations, said Kudwa.
Twinjet Aircraft of London-Luton achieved $80 million worth of business jet sales in the past 12 months, including a VIP Boeing 737-200; the company's own VIP Airbus A319 CJ, which was sold to National Air Services and re-registered in Saudi Arabia; a Challenger 604; and a Hawker 800XP. It also acquired a Challenger 604 for a customer.
