ATR sold six regional turboprops to Tanzanian carrier Precision Air Services under a contract valued at $97 million. The contract calls for delivery of three ATR 42-500s and three ATR 72-500s between 2008 and 2010. Precision Air Services already operates six ATR aircraft -- four ATR 42-320s and two ATR 72-210s. The new turboprops will modernize the Precision fleet and allow the carrier to expand its regional routes across Africa. ATR and Precision Air Services also have a memorandum of understanding for a training program in France.
Voyager Jet Center, an aircraft management and flight services company and the FBO at Pennsylvania's Allegheny County Airport, has added a Hawker 850XP to its charter fleet. VJC-managed aircraft operate on Atlantic Aviation Flight Services' certificate. For additional information, visit www.voyagerjet.com.
Boeing officially signed Connexion's death warrant on Aug. 17. The company announced that it has decided to exit the high-speed broadband communications connectivity markets. The Boeing move compounds the turmoil in the wake of Verizon's retreat from inflight phone service to business aircraft (see below). Boeing said it will work with its customers to facilitate an orderly phase out of the Connexion by Boeing service.
ADMS-COMMAND is an entry-level, modular ADMS system developed for emergency response agencies with limited training space or other financial or operational restrictions. ADMS-COMMAND uses the same technology used in the full, multi-station ADMS-TEAM system, but in a more adaptable and flexible configuration. ADMS-COMMAND is a single laptop-based training simulator, which is expandable into a team training system with the purchase of additional stations.
Bong Wie, a professor at Arizona State University, has been selected to receive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2006 Mechanics and Control of Flight Award.
The SJ30-2's Primus Epic CDS, short for control display system, features three 10-by-eight-inch, portrait-configuration flat-panel displays. The outer left and right displays are PFDs and the left-of-center unit is an MFD. Standard equipment includes dual sets of Primus II radios with control units mounted in the instrument panel, TCAS, EGPWS, four-color weather radar, single radio altimeter, basic NZ2000 FMS and Iridium phone. Dual AHRS, yaw dampers, symbol generators and DADCs are included, along with a single-channel, three-axis autopilot.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the SJ30-2 under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they are gross approximations of actual aircraft performance.
Landmark Aviation, Tempe, Ariz., named Scott Bridge as the general manager for its Albany, Ga., facility. Eric Hermann has been named general manager of the Rochester, N.Y., FBO and Alphonso James was named general manager for the Greensboro, N.C., facility.
Farnborough Aircraft Corp. Ltd.'s (FACL) single-engine turboprop-powered Kestrel F1 made its maiden flight on July 29 from Bend, Ore. The U.K.-based company was granted full intellectual property rights for the Kestrel F1 by an Oregon Court earlier in the month. The Kestrel F1 (previously called the Farnborough F1) was part of a joint development between Epic Aircraft and Farnborough Aircraft Corp. Ltd., but their two-year relationship ended in recrimination. Chief test pilot Graham Archer said: "The aircraft performed flawlessly throughout the first flight.
Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc., and Rockwell Collins have teamed up to offer a new system to provide up-to-the-minute communication services to an aircraft's cockpit. Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 system, along with Universal's UVdatalink Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) service, allows pilots to instantly access strategic information inflight. The system is designed to reduce the congestion on voice frequencies, decrease pilots' workload inflight and save time.
The U.S. State Department has started issuing electronic passports to the public. As we go to press, production has started at the Colorado Passport Agency and will be expanded to other production facilities in the next few months, the State Department said. Consistent with "globally interoperable specifications adopted by ICAO," the new passports have biometric technology. A contactless chip in the back cover of the passport has the same data as those found on the biographic data page of the passport, and will also include a digital image of the bearer's photograph.
It was early afternoon when the de Havilland Twin Otter took off from Sullivan, Mo., Regional Airport with skydivers aboard. Witnesses said the airplane climbed to about 150 feet and at the runway's end when the aircraft made a Poof! sound and flames erupted from the right engine. The airplane began turning right and shortly thereafter struck trees and the ground behind a residence about a half mile northwest of the end of Runway 24. The pilot and five passengers were killed. Two remaining passengers suffered serious injuries.
Frasca International, Urbana, Ill., recently booked a number of orders for its TruFlite flight training devices (FTDs) from flight schools based in the United States and New Zealand. The Milwaukee Academy of Aviation, Science and Technology, a magnet high school specializing in aviation, ordered a TruFlite FTD that will be configured to fly like a Cessna 172. Massey University in Palmsterton, New Zealand, is adding a TruFlite FTD that will be convertible between a Seneca V and Piper Warrior.
Kansas City Aviation Center (KCAC), based at Johnson County Airport in Olathe, Kan., earned FAA STC approval to install Universal Avionics' EFI-890R displays on Pilatus PC-12 aircraft.
Patrick Veillette's "Cowboy Pilots" (June, page 59) was simply exceptional. I think it was the best aviation article I've read in some time, particularly with respect to human factors. And it was certainly the most honest. True to form, Veillette didn't pull any punches, but that's what makes it valuable.
By the mid-1970s, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6 was installed on all King Air models, including the newly introduced 100 series. Concerned about its reliance on a single source for motive power, Beech Aircraft decided to pursue a short-lived policy of "engine diversity" to spur competition. Accordingly, the company launched development of a second King Air 100, one to be powered by a pair of 715-shp Garrett AiResearch TPE331-6 engines.
I enjoyed reading Richard Aarons' "Over Gross, Over Tired and Iced Over" (Cause & Circumstance, June, page 80), but why did the article state twice that the pilot neglected to notify ATC of his change in alternate? Is this a purely factual statement or is the author making a judgment that the pilot should have informed ATC?
Galaxy Aviation has announced the appointment of Curtis George as general manager of the company's Boca Raton, Fla., facility. Anthony R. Sherbert has been selected as operations manager for the West Palm Beach, Fla., FBO and Alice Sutherland was appointed customer relations manager for Galaxy's newest facility in St. Augustine, Fla.
Jet Aviation Dubai has been appointed by Gulfstream Aerospace as an Authorized Warranty Repair facility. The company's maintenance and FBO facility at Dubai International Airport is now authorized to perform heavy maintenance and repairs along with warranty work on Gulfstream aircraft.
When I was an FAA designated pilot examiner, I administered practical tests to a couple of applicants who quite honestly left me uncomfortable about issuing a pilot certificate. In one notable case, the applicant exhibited a strong disdain for rules and procedures, attributing them to "those Washington bureaucrats who don't know nuttin!" The applicant was wise enough to comply with the Practical Test Standards, so under FAA guidelines, he was entitled to the new rating on his pilot certificate regardless of my personal consternation and reservations.
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your "Fast Five" featuring Steve Craig, proprietor, Beaumont Hotel (July, page 28). Years ago, when I was with Cessna and first learning to fly, that's where my flight instructor took me to practice grass strip/ unimproved runway landings. Although I haven't been there in a long, long time, it brought back a lot of memories.
Suddenly, this summer, the airborne telephone world recorded some unexpected seismic events: AirCell won an auction for an important slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, while Verizon, which dropped out of the auction, announced it was leaving the airborne phones niche to concentrate on its ground-based mass markets. And Boeing's new CEO, James McNerney, announced that Connexion by Boeing, the company's system for linking aircraft to broadband services, was under review and might be sold or shut down.
