The Isle of Man Aircraft Register is a step closer to reality as ICAO has issued an amendment to the Aircraft Nationality and Registration Marks. "The Isle of Man registration 'M' will be followed by four characters," says Brian E. Johnson, Isle of Man 's director of Civil Aviation. Legislation for the new register, which targets business aircraft, is being submitted to the Tynwald (Isle of Man Parliament) this month and is expected to come into being in April or May.
During the first quarter, Executive Beechcraft, the Midwestern aircraft service company, expects to begin installations of the Garmin G1000 integrated avionics suite in Beech King Air C90s. The Raytheon authorized service center, which plans to perform the retrofits at its Kansas City Downtown (MKC) and Spirit of St. Louis (SUS) airport locations, is anticipating receipt of an STC for the modification shortly.
WHILE THE REST OF US were enjoying the long Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends, Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino were stranded some 4,500 miles from their families and homes on Long Island. Instead of eating turkey and watching football on TV, the two ExcelAire pilots were anxiously awaiting another court hearing, hoping for an end to their two-month ordeal in Brazil.
Baseops/World Fuel Service, Houston, named Lisa Peacock as the newest member of the sales team at World Fuel Service. She will be based in the Calgary, Alberta, office.
Patrick Mallen died on Oct. 19 after a long battle with leukemia. Patrick served as vice president of technical support for Papillon Helicopters and Rainer Heli-Lift, Inc. He was president of WhisperJet and at the time of his death was president of Tour Operators Program of Safety (TOPS). During his career, Mallen had been maintenance manager for New York Airways, director of maintenance at Resorts International Airlines and vice president of maintenance for Island Helicopters.
Cessna launched the new Citation CJ4 at the NBAA Convention with a total of 70 orders, 25 of which were inked before the end of September. According to Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack Pelton, "The CJ4 offers the strongest performance and payload balance yet in the CJ series, with more standard features and passenger comforts than ever before. Rather than just a stretched CJ3, the Citation CJ4 is a true upward extension to the single-pilot-certified family of Citations.
Labelmaster, a U.S.-based manufacturer of dangerous goods compliance products has repackaged is A.I.R. Shipper, Early 9 CFR, 49 CFR Government, RegStick and Compliance Network into affordable, convenient packages. The 2007 edition of A.I.R. Shipper contains important ICAO revisions. RegStick is a USB flash drive that holds the necessary information in a format that is easy to navigate for compliance with regulations for shipping dangerous goods.
According to witnesses, the pilot of a Beech 19A Sport obtained a weather briefing before departing Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport in Auburn, Ala., but no flight plan was filed -- it was IFR at the time. The aircraft, registered to Sid Hall Enterprises, Inc., was being flown by a private pilot on a personal flight to Murfreesboro, Tenn. When it didn't arrive, the FAA notified the Civil Air Patrol. The airplane and body of the pilot were located two days later on Burgess Peak in Talladega National Forest in Guntertown, Ala., at an elevation of 1,787 feet.
HeliValue$, Inc., and SAI (a Valuation Applications company) have joined to provide valuations for both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Established in 1988, Wauconda, Ill.-based HeliValue$ is the helicopter appraisal service that offers seminars on rotorcraft appraising and since 1990 has been publishing The Official Helicopter Blue Book.
Chelton Flight Systems and Kollsman will collaborate on a new series of products to combine Chelton's Synthetic Vision EFIS and Kollsman's General Aviation Vision System (GAViS). Both companies currently offer products to enhance situational awareness in the cockpit, and together will offer pilots of light trainers and small to medium-size business aircraft an integrated enhanced vision system (EVS) and synthetic vision system (SVS).
In the September issue of B&CA, you released an official reprint of the 2006 Operations Planning Guide due to an "anomaly embedded within a data processing program employed by Aviation Research Group/US" (ARG/US). Unfortunately, this reprint is also incorrect.
AircraftLogs has added new options that will allow users the opportunity to customize their subscriptions. Now customers can choose the AircraftLogs digital aircraft management system with or without fully digital maintenance logs. Whichever method the user chooses, the benefits of AircraftLogs' electronics flight records and logbooks, maintenance tracking and squawk management, and financial analysis tools are still available.
Cockpit voice recorder transcripts of pilot conversations over the years make it clear that pilots will yak about almost anything -- spouses, airplanes, money, management, cars, politics, sports. The topics cover the known universe, with exceptions: For instance, they're not apt to talk much about their own health problems. And most particularly, they won't utter a word about their own depression.
A Cessna 207 operated by Flight Alaska, Inc. collided with a river embankment during a landing approach to Tuntutuliak Airport, Alaska. The gravel runway is 1,772 feet long and is located at the edge of a river. Conditions were reported to be VFR, but as the pilot was attempting to land, rain and mist moved over the area reducing visibility to about one-quarter mile. This was the pilot's fourth landing attempt. The pilot received minor injuries; however, the aircraft received structural damage to the landing gear, fuselage and wings.
Universal Avionics and IFR Avionics anticipate receiving FAA supplemental type certification of their Gulfstream III flight deck retrofit during first quarter 2007. The core of the system is the Universal Avionics EFI-890 high-definition, flat-panel LCD. This 8.9-inch diagonal display reportedly is the only large display capable of both synthetic vision and electronic charts.
Raytheon Aircraft selected Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics, and the Airshow 21 Cabin Management System for its Hawker 750 and Hawker 900 aircraft. The flight decks for both aircraft will feature an integrated Pro Line 21 avionics system that includes four eight-by-10-inch active matrix LCDs; the FMS-6000 flight management system; the Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) and Pro Line 21 CNS radios. Rockwell Collins IFIS enables advanced capabilities such as electronic charts, graphical weather and enhanced map overlays.
Flight Display Systems has introduced an innovative solution for adding cockpit panel space where none exists. The "Flipper" is a thin, small five-inch LCD that installs easily on most existing glareshields and flips into position when needed. When not in use the display flips to a horizontal stowed position using one-half inch of visual panel space. The screen can be viewed in the cockpit by both pilots. Sierra Industries has started an STC for the Flipper installation and a Flight Display Systems patent is pending.
The European Commission said it "intends to make a specific legislative proposal" on the integration of aviation into the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme "within the next few months." A new, dedicated piece of legislation will be drawn up for aviation, separately from the overall revision of the plan that is scheduled for the second half of 2007. "The [European] Commission Council [of Ministers] and European Parliament have all expressed support for bringing aviation into the EU ETS," added the EC.
An unregistered Air Trikes Tourist was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain while maneuvering near Middlebury, Vt. It was VFR at the time and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. Two witnesses watched the accident airplane as it maneuvered and performed several takeoffs and landings for about one hour. They reported that the airplane "was flying up to high altitudes and cutting the engine." The airplane would glide lower, the engine would restart and the process was repeated. They also watched the airplane perform several steep banks at a low altitude.
The BA609 tiltrotor program now has two prototypes flying, after the second model completed its inaugural mission Nov. 10 at the Cameri Italian air force base. The rotorcraft is being built by a joint venture of Bell Helicopter Textron and Finmeccanica's Agusta Aerospace. A third model is being readied at AgustaWestland's facility in Cameri, while a fourth is undergoing final assembly at Bell in Fort Worth.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. is expanding its menu of aftermarket options and enhancements for Beechcraft and Hawker customers to include more than two dozen new-technology products, ranging from engine upgrades to integrated flight information systems (IFIS) installations, and interior and exterior LED lighting retrofits. Raytheon's newest engine mod involves replacing the King Air C90's Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 engines with PT6A-135A powerplants. This engine change will increase the aircraft's maximum speed to 272 knots and enable shorter takeoffs.
Better late than never, I just finished reading your very informative October Viewpoint about the sad situation at DCA ("Welcome, Sort of," page 9). How much longer can Signature hang on operating at a loss? I knew there was a bureaucratic snafu up there, and your perspective makes it much more real. It is a shame the general and corporate aviation communities have been scapegoated and punished for the events of 9/11.
