There's a better way to care for your engine this winter without blasting extreme heat into the aircraft engine compartment. The AeroTherm electric engine heater supplies 190°F air to the engine compartment, evenly and consistently heating all parts of the engine. With 500-, 1000- and 1500-watt settings and a thermostat, the AeroTherm can remain plugged in all winter long maintaining an optimum temperature.
Candidate pilots and managers who complete the initial applicant interview at TAG Aviation are screened by an online test for which the company contracts with Profiles International, Inc., a Waco, Texas, firm specializing in employee assessment. The test is not configured specifically for TAG; instead, TAG made a kind of wax mold of its most successful employees by testing them and then creating a screening filter that conformed to their results. TAG applies two different screening profiles, one for pilots and one for account managers.
The Chinese authorities are close to allowing civil helicopter operations over Shanghai and its vast delta, the size of The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is expected that permission will be granted later this year for a huge new heliport to be operational by 2007, and in place for Shanghai's Expo 2010 World Trade Fair. It will rapidly become the world's busiest heliport, say insiders.
Standard & Poor's (a McGraw-Hill company) has initiated coverage of Embraer, assigning the Brazilian manufacturer its "BBB-" Local and Foreign Currency Corporate Credit Rating. According to Standard & Poor's, the rating qualifies Embraer as a moderate credit risk without speculative elements, corresponding to investment grade; it is the same rating that would be assigned to foreign currency, senior unsecured bonds sold under foreign law.
Sabreliner Corp. is expanding and enhancing its in-house manufacturing capabilities to better support operators that fly the twin-engine business jet. The company is creating a comprehensive stand-alone manufacturing and machining center that company officials hope will offer better overall control, faster turnaround times and lower costs.
The 2005 Igor Sikorsky Humanitarian Service Award certificates will go to those companies, organizations and individuals that took part in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The ASRS reports often detail multiple distractions in the same flight, but one report from a Citation crew seemed to top them all. It was a wintry day in the northeast, and they had already been beaten-up by bad icing and turbulence on a handful of approaches to minimums and even went missed several times that day. When they arrived at Teterboro Airport (TEB) they thought they were done but then discovered they had another leg to fly. And just to raise the pressure higher, they were already behind schedule for the added leg.
Hillsboro Aviation, together with Chelton Flight Systems, is working to install and certify the Chelton FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS in the Eurocopter EC-120B. The STC will then be used to certify the installation of the system in the Republic of Singapore Air Force's fleet of six EC-120Bs. The STC will be available in a standard two-screen system and an optional three-screen system used for pilot training. The STC is being accomplished on a U.S.-registered EC-120B at the Hillsboro facility in Oregon and certification is expected shortly.
By 2020, Europe's air traffic movements are expected to double. With 16 million flights per year carrying 1.5 billion passengers, more than 60 airports will be congested, and the top 20 European airports will be saturated for eight to 10 hours per day, according to Victor M. Aguado, director general of Eurocontrol. The problem, he said, is that 75 percent of European airports see no possibility for building new runways in the next 20 years.
After departing Portland-Hillsboro Airport at 0600 on an eastbound cross-country to Toronto, the pilot raised the gear on the Gulfstream V, but the right main landing gear door did not retract. Then when he cycled the landing gear as the checklist advised, the door became jammed in the half-down position. The pilot performed a low fly-by, and maintenance personnel on the ground photographed the bottom of the airplane. Gulfstream Aerospace engineers reviewed the photograph and advised the pilot in how to extend the landing gear.
Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA), Pleasanton, Calif., announced its new leadership: Dan Johnson is the new chairman and Tom Gunnarson is president.
The year 2005 was a bell ringer for general aviation manufacturers. At GAMA's Annual Industry Review and 2006 Market Outlook Briefing held in Washington on Feb. 13, GAMA Chairman Jack Pelton, who also presides over Cessna Aircraft, and GAMA President Peter Bunce announced that the manufacturers billed $15.1 billion in products during 2005 -- an all-time high for the industry, and 27.2 percent ahead of 2004. Year-end 2005 worldwide shipments of general aviation airplanes totaled 3,580 units, up 20.8 percent over the 2004 total of 2,963 units.
Galvin Flying, Seattle, appointed Mark Landes as salesman of its Columbia Aircraft sales division. Pete Aldassy will move into Landes' former position as the salesperson for Diamond Aircraft.
Trajen FBO Network has purchased the Ranger Jet Center at Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM) near Orlando. Trajen CEO and President Dan Bucaro said, "We look forward to joining the Orlando community and having our first location in Florida. Ranger has built a quality FBO and assembled a great team." Ranger Aviation will continue to develop property at Kissimmee Gateway, most immediately the Jet Center complex with 60,000 square feet of office, meeting room, and restaurant space for the aviation business traveler. Visit Trajen at www.trajen.com.
-Bombardier CL-600, -601 and -601-3A/3R airplanes -- Measure to detect migration of the lower gimbal pin and inspect for other discrepancies of the horizontal stabilizer trim actuator. Replace or modify the horizontal stabilizer trim actuator, as applicable. -Cessna 208 and 208B airplanes -- Install the pilot-assist handle and deicing boots on the cargo pod and landing gear fairings, and make relevant changes to the pilot's operating handbook and FAA-approved airplane flight manual.
Rockwell Collins will acquire the simulation assets of Evans & Sutherland in a $71.5 million cash deal subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory and Evans & Sutherland shareholder approval. It is expected to close during the third quarter of Rockwell Collins' 2006 fiscal year (second calendar quarter). Rockwell Collins will acquire Evans & Sutherland's military and commercial simulation assets including simulation facilities in Salt Lake City, Orlando and the United Kingdom.
Nickel cadmium, or nicad, batteries were fitted to most early models of turbine aircraft because they have higher power output and flatter discharge rates than similarly sized lead-acid batteries of that era. In other words, the nicad would produce its rated power for relatively longer periods before dropping off into a state of total discharge. That's especially important when starting a turbine engine because the amount of power required to crank the engine actually increases as the engine speeds up near idle.
Bombardier recently announced that it would restart production of the CRJ200/Challenger 850 aircraft platform in mid-April at the company's Dorval facility - primarily to meet demand for the Challenger 850 business jet. It will also recall approximately 50 furloughed Dorval employees. On October 2005, Bombardier announced the suspension of the production of the CRJ200 aircraft platform, which of course threw out the Challenger 850 baby with the CRJ200 bathwater.
Voyager Jet Center, an aircraft management and flight services company and the FBO at Pennsylvania's Allegheny County Airport, announced the addition of three business jets to its aircraft management service, two fresh-from-the-factory Hawkers, an 800XP and a 400XP, and a Challenger 604.
GAMA, NBAA, AOPA and NATA are sufficiently concerned about pressure from the FAA to shift to "a stable funding source" (read user fees) to ask their respective memberships to directly contact their senators and representatives in support of fuel tax funding of the Aviation Trust Fund. A major difference of opinion exists as to the viability and stability of the Trust Fund in the future. The airlines have thrown the gauntlet on shifting a major portion of the passenger taxes onto corporate operators.
The FAA and the National Park Service have launched an environmental study of actions that could be taken to restore natural quiet at Grand Canyon National Park. The agencies plan to work with the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group to develop options for restoring quiet, a contentious issue that has pitted environmental interests against aircraft operators for two decades. In addition, the agencies are working through an alternative dispute resolution process through the U.S. Institute of Environmental Conflict Resolution.
