Bruce Currier, vice president of avionics for Evergreen Helicopters, McMinnville, Ore., received the HAI Aviation Repair Specialist Award at February's Heli-Expo.
The FAA predicts a double-digit growth rate for the U.S. business jet fleet over the next 12 years, including the addition of nearly 5,000 very light jets. Industry forecasts also are bullish, but many observers believe the FAA's business jet predictions err on the high side, part of the administration's attempt to convince Congress that the FAA needs new funding mechanisms to deal with more business aviation traffic.
"The core idea -- automation capabilities that are so robust that they would increase productivity levels so you could reduce controllers -- isn't something that is done at the flick of a switch at midnight," the NBAA's Steve Brown, senior vice president of operations, told B&CA in answer to why it takes so long to change FAA ATC infrastructure. From 1998 to 2004, Brown oversaw the entire ATC system prior to his retirement from the FAA.
Concerns that security-sensitive operational information was publicly available prompted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to ask the FAA to block access to transcripts from the public hearings on a proposal to make permanent the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over Washington, D.C. The FAA, with participation by the TSA and a number of other federal agencies, held two hearings in January that together drew more than 500 attendees -- most of them opposed to the ADIZ proposal.
Elliott Aviation will take delivery of its first Socata TBM 850 turboprop aircraft. Elliott was named as the newest authorized service center and distributor in the Socata network and is responsible for the states of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska starting this year. The Socata TBM 850, recently certified by EASA and the FAA, is a more powerful and faster derivative of the Socata TBM 700.
Three crewmembers and one passenger were aboard a German registered-Bombardier CL600, D-ABCD, when it slid off London-Luton's 7,087-foot-long Runway 8/26 on landing Feb. 5. None of those aboard were reported injured. The aircraft was stuck in mud just a few yards off the end of the runway and as a result all arriving flights and some departures were canceled. Disruption lasted several hours and some en route aircraft were diverted to London-Stansted and Nottingham East Midlands Airport. EasyJet was forced to cancel 12 flights.
Sky Connect sold 75 of its Tracker systems to Era Helicopters of Lake Charles, La., to support its offshore oil operations. The Sky Connect tracking system uses the Iridium satellite network to provide operators with real-time information on airborne, marine and ground assets. Operators can monitor the location, track and status of an entire fleet worldwide, even in the polar regions. The system also exchanges voice and data communications.
A Falcon 900EX ran off the end of Runway 24 at Teterboro, N.J. Municipal Airport (TEB) after landing around 2:30 p.m. on March 3, and got stuck in a muddy area just beyond the end of the runway. There were three people onboard the aircraft. There were no injuries. Friction tests on Runway 24 after the accident by airport personnel, revealed friction levels above the threshold that would have required the issue of a NOTAM. The pilot and copilot said they touched down within the touchdown zone.
As of March 1, the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the Aircraft Protocol took effect. The convention applies to aircraft certificated for at least eight seats (including the crew), including fractional interests in such aircraft; and helicopters certificated for at least five seats (including the crew), and engines rated at 550 horsepower or more. The convention establishes new laws for aircraft transactions and the perfection of interests in aircraft and engines.
General Aviation advocates are hoping Congress will suspend implementation of a new tax law that requires aviation jet fuel vendors to pay the higher diesel fuel tax rate and then apply for a refund for the difference between the highway fuel tax and aviation fuel tax. The Internal Revenue Service started enforcing the rules early this year. And some vendors have reported the agency was threatening to audit companies seeking refunds.
Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Oklahoma City. The FAA has named Stan Sieg deputy director of the agency's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. Sieg succeeds Richard Rodine, who retired on Jan. 3.
In a dramatic unveiling at February's Heli-Expo, Bell Helicopter introduced its Bell 417. Bell Helicopter CEO Mike Redenbaugh revealed a mock-up of the new model in law enforcement configuration. "The Bell 417 is our answer to the customers' demand for a powerful single-engine helicopter with unmatched hot-and-high hover capability," explained Redenbaugh.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta has sent in a big gun to help FAA chief Marion Blakey clear the FAA train wreck. Michael O'Malley, Mineta's deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, has been tapped as the FAA's new chief of staff, Administrator Blakey announced on March 13. He replaces David M. Mandell, who came to the FAA with Blakey in 2002 after working for her when she chaired the NTSB. O'Malley will be a key advisor to the administrator in the day-to-day administration and management of the agency.
Dallas Airmotive, Dallas, appointed Steve Hubble as a regional engine manager for the Western United States. He will be responsible for sales of the company's TFE731 engine services. Mike Clarke has been promoted to the newly created position of territorial sales director for Scandinavia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Kindly add my personal thanks to Fred George for the superb tell-it-like-it-is article on the MU-2 aircraft. Among other things the article clearly shows the bias imposed by the legal fraternity in pursuit of their "get rich quick" schemes.
Landmark Aviation will distribute SKYLink by ARINC Direct, the high speed satellite broadband communications system for business aircraft. Landmark Aviation, formerly Garrett/ Piedmont Hawthorne/Associated, will sell and install SKYLink in the North American corporate jet aftermarket.
Bombardier Aerospace has signed a contract with Petroleum Air Services (PAS) of Cairo, Egypt, for the sale of an additional Bombardier Q300 turboprop airliner, which will bring its Q300 fleet to five aircraft. The list price value for the aircraft on firm order is approximately $17.4 million.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of the CJ1+ and CJ2+ 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. Time and Fuel vs. Distance -- This graph shows the relationship between distance flown, block time and fuel consumption at high-speed cruise and long-range cruise for the CJ1+ and CJ2+.
AOPA is warning its members that scammers from the Netherlands, Nigeria and Thailand recently have been trying to fleece aircraft owners who have their airplanes up for sale. Typically, owners receive an e-mail from a prospective buyer who offers to pay higher than the asking price for the aircraft if the seller will send a check for the difference. The owner receives what looks like a legitimate check for the higher amount and sends the buyer a check for the difference. However, when the owner tries to cash the check, the bank tells him there are no funds in the account.
The CJ1+'s 1,965-pound-thrust FJ44-1AP turbofans are far more advanced than the -1A engines fitted to the CJ1 and CitationJet. The -1AP engines use several technology elements from the FJ44-3, the latest and most advanced version of the FJ44 model family. The -1AP's wide-chord, damperless fan, for example, is based on the -3 design. It has a 12-percent higher pressure ratio than the fan of the -1A. This enables the -1AP to generate considerably higher hot-and-high takeoff, cruise and climb thrust.
If you want to get a good discussion going in the crew lounge, ask your fellow pilots how they use angle-of-attack (AOA) instrumentation, assuming they use it at all. We did that recently with a number of experienced corporate turbine aircraft pilots and got answers ranging from "I don't -- it's placarded," to very sophisticated descriptions of how alpha can be used to maximize range and endurance.
I have hoped for an article like "What's Wrong With the MU-2" since the press coverage of the May 2004 BWI crash, but the thorough research, interviews of everyone and report on your test flight are well beyond what I could imagine. Thank you for devoting so many of your pages and pointing out some things I can learn about the MU-2.
Yesterday's "navigation fixes" gave way to today's "waypoints," all of which helped define our "course." In the ATC system of the future -- NGATS -- we will be filing for "trajectories."
