Martha King has been awarded the 2005 Cliff Henderson Award for Achievement from the National Aeronautic Association. The award is presented annually to "a living individual or group whose vision, leadership or skill has made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation or space activity." King is the first and only woman in history to hold every FAA class of pilot and instructor rating available. She appears in King Schools' instructional programs, which are used by half of each year's new crop of private and instrument pilots.
"Fly to the gates of Berlin," is the slogan used by Berlin's Schönhagen airfield that is already well known to many light-plane pilots visiting the biennial Berlin ILA Airshow at Schönefeld. Schönhagen, the state-owned airfield (southwest of Berlin) was relicensed in late 2005, by the Aviation Department of the Brandenburg Agency for Construction and Transport, to accept aircraft up to 25,000-pounds MTOW.
NBAA PRESIDENT ED BOLEN is one of those people you want on your side when facing a difficult political situation in Washington, D.C. He's bright, convincing, hard working and he's got a list of political connections that makes most Washington lobbyists envious. Bolen also has a great track record. Back when he was president of GAMA, the aircraft builders were suffering through the post-9/11 recession. Airplanes weren't selling, prices were slipping and workers were being let go because there wasn't enough demand for their products.
TAG Farnborough Airport has applied to double its weekend and bank holiday movements from 2,500 to 5,000 annually. This is the first request for a change since the application was granted in October 2000. The suggested amendment reads, "No more than 28,000 aircraft movements per annum shall take place, of which no more than 5,000 movements shall be at weekends and bank holidays."
Raytheon Aircraft turned a few heads at the NBAA's Orlando convention when Brad Hatt, president and general manager of the Hawker unit, announced that the $13.8 million Hawker 850XP, the newest iteration of the Hawker 800 family, would be fitted with winglets designed by Raytheon's own engineers. Up until then, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Aviation Partners' full-chord, 44-inch-tall winglets recently certified for the Hawker 800 would have been standard.
Intelligence | 11 ?228-137? London City Airport Experiencing Growth ?228-137? Feb. 1 Deadline for Properly Registered Aircraft ?228-137? Business Jet Deliveries Expected to Increase for Cessna Aircraft ?228-137? TEB Voluntary Restrictions Subject of User Meeting ?228-137? HPN Presents Noise-Abatement Awards Edited by James E. Swickard Commentary 7 | Viewpoint By William Garvey The Importance of 'Yes' 62 | Cause & Circumstance By William Garvey
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has signed a five-year contract to provide four S-92 helicopters to CHC Helicopter Corp. to perform commercial search-and-rescue missions for the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency starting in July 2007. Sikorsky said this is the first time that its medium-lift helicopter has been selected for a dedicated search-and-rescue mission.
IFR Avionics of Van Nuys, Calif., is pursuing an STC for a four-panel Universal Avionics EFI-890R flat-panel display suite on a Gulfstream GIII. This would be the first installation of the 890R on this type of aircraft. The EFI-890R has an 8.9-inch diagonal display for primary flight display and navigation display applications and supports existing analog and digital aircraft systems.
If all goes to plan, the stillborn Farnborough F1 single-engine turboprop commuter could re-emerge as a lengthened six- to seven-seater called the Kestrel. U.K.-based Farnborough Aircraft Corp. Ltd. (FACL) has signed an MOU with Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Co. (Gamco) of Abu Dhabi to manufacture, market and maintain the new business aircraft in the region, which makes Abu Dhabi the Gulf region's first aircraft manufacturing country. Gamco is expected to roll out its first Kestrel within 18 months, officials say.
Business jet deliveries by Cessna Aircraft are expected to increase nearly 60 percent by the end of 2009, largely reflecting the addition of the Citation Mustang to the product line, according to a December 2005 report by Ronald J. Epstein, a research analyst at Merrill Lynch. From an estimated 240 business jet deliveries in 2005, Epstein expects healthy increases in deliveries of Cessna's lower-end models (CJ1, CJ2, Bravo, CJ3 and Encore) this year, pushing the total to 291 units.
ALTHOUGH NOT A CERTIFIED Beatlemaniac, my wife is envious of those who are. She knows all the music, the histories, muses, triumphs and tragedies of the four Liverpudlian songsters. But she never got her True Fan card punched because she came of age after the group disbanded. So, she never had the chance to scream and swoon, to weep with delirium up in the loges. And she always felt a bit cheated because of it.
TAG Aviation has agreed to crew and operate a fleet of Eclipse 500s ordered by The VLJ Flying Club, which is designed for individuals who are unwilling or unable to fly an Eclipse themselves. Club founder Rolf Illsley has ordered 10 Eclipse 500s and plans to sell quarter-shares in each to four different people. TAG would provide the pilots and be responsible for other operating requirements. Club members will pay a fee for that service and a monthly maintenance fee, plus the cost of fuel.
The NBAA has published Flight Department Essentials: Helping Your Business Take Flight, a basic resource to take the confusion out of setting up a business aviation operation and provide a framework for the safety and management processes for individuals and companies planning to use business aircraft. A CD-ROM resource, including information from many additional NBAA publications, is included with Flight Department Essentials.
The Vref Light Jet Index -- a compilation of quarterly prices recorded for the Beechjet 400A, Cessna CitationJet, Citation II, Citation V, Falcon 10, Westwind II and Learjet 31A over the past 10 years -- shows that the average value of these aircraft continues to appreciate modestly. The index has risen in seven of the last eight quarters and now stands at $2.224 million.
The Business Aviation Finance team at Merrill Lynch Capital now is offering financing for qualified customers who have business aircraft registered in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Darby Aviation, which operates charter flights as AlphaJet International, received a $60,000 penalty from the DOT for its action in regard to Platinum Jet Management, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company whose leased Challenger crashed on takeoff at TEB in 2005. The FAA is separately seeking some $3 million from Platinum over the incident. A DOT investigation focused on three charter management agreements that Darby signed with Platinum. In return for monthly "certificate fees," Darby placed Platinum's three leased Challengers on its FAR Part 135 certificate.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems said its Altair UAV demonstrated its ability to carry a NOAA integrated sensor to 45,000 feet and loiter for an extended period. The flights were conducted from NASA's Dryden Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The first flight took place in April 2005 and the last of the demonstration program was in November, all taking off from and landing at Grey Butte airfield in the Mojave Desert complex. Demonstrations included ocean and atmospheric research, climate research, marine sanctuary mapping and enforcement.
Timothy Slater, Assistant Chief Pilot (KaiserAir, Inc., Oakland, Calif.)
Thank you for yet another fantastic article -- namely the benefits of FADEC ("FADEC's Benefits Today and Tomorrow," November 2005, page 90). I appreciate the depth and breadth of reporting and the relevant sidebars that accompany David Esler's articles. It is refreshing to read something of technical merit wherein the author strives for operational and theoretical authenticity and practical application to what could well be a complex subject.
At 1545 CDT a Sikorsky S-76A lifted off from a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico with 10 passengers, heading for Sabine Pass, Texas, some 100 miles to the northwest. Some 20 minutes later while cruising at 1,500 feet and still more than 20 miles from shore, the first officer noticed the baggage compartment fire light had illuminated, but there was no master caution light and no audible tone. The captain then took over the controls as the number one engine fire light illuminated, followed by a low fuel pressure light and the chip detector light.
Learjet 45 Lima Juliet, third call. Right turn heading 270. Contact me on 1-3-2 decimal 7-2, over," the controller said impatiently. "Ah, center. Can you repeat that?" I couldn't fully comprehend what center wanted us to do. Short of breath, experiencing some hot and cold flashes, and a little dizziness, could it be the onset of a cold? It wasn't the result of too much folic the night before this mission. It was just so hard to concentrate.
Milt Hobbs, Director Cablevision Flight Operations (Via e-mail)
David Esler's "And Now We Are One" (November 2005, page 52) was well written and covers many of the issues that flight department personnel face when involved with a merger situation. It is not in any way an enjoyable situation for all involved but I think Esler captured many of the issues in a fair way.
Uvex Protégé safety eyewear weighs in at 27.5 grams, less than one ounce. A secure, wraparound brow expands to accommodate a wide range of users, while Uvex's proprietary Floating Lens technology increases flexibility for a better fit. Soft temple tips and nose pad provide added comfort and ensure a secure fit.
As the demand for ever larger and more capable aircraft grew during the early years of World War II, designers recognized that flight control loading was a barrier to operating airplanes of increased size and speed. Pilots needed a system that would provide them with extra muscle to move the control surfaces, while simultaneously maintaining natural stick "feel" and forces. The answer turned out to be hydraulics -- movement by means of liquid under pressure.
Safe Flight Instrument Corp. announced that its enhanced automatic throttle system, dubbed AutoPower is now available on the Bombardier Challenger 850 business jet and corporate shuttle. The company pioneered automatic throttle technology more than 45 years ago. AutoPower will be offered to new aircraft owners as a production option through Bombardier or as a retrofit for existing Challenger 850 owners/operators through any licensed Bombardier maintenance facility or qualified service center.
