``The numbers of levels busts in the U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services area are up 40 percent year on year,'' says Mike Edwards, head of Incident Investigation Safety & Performance Improvement NATS. ``This equates to a rolling average of 364 level busts in the last 12 months. Of these events, some 14 percent, or about 48, were captured and returned to straight and level flight with no loss of separation.
It's not an experience you'd choose to have, because you don't know what's happening until it's over.'' So mused the aviation manager of an S&P 100 company that was the object of a takeover by an aggressive competitor. ``If you're getting bought, that gives you the short straw, and often that puts you even more in the dark. The one thing you can count on, though, is change -- something's going to change, but you can't count on whether it will be good or bad.''
Has it really been four years? As we go to press, general aviation returns to DCA Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 a.m. The NBAA termed the occasion Ronald Reagan National Airport's return to, ``its standing as a full service airport,'' when the first private aircraft taxied to the Signature Flight Support Hangar 7 at the south end of the Airport to be greeted by dignitaries from the Airports Authority, Signature, the NBAA, NATA and representatives from Congress and the federal government.
Cessna Aircraft will stick with FlightSafety International to train pilots of the new Cessna Mustang. ``We are pleased to participate in this new and innovative aircraft program,'' said FSI President Bruce Whitman. ``We have worked closely with Cessna to develop a training program tailored to the specific needs of Mustang aircraft operators.'' FSI will design and build two full-flight simulators and two avionics FTDs.
ASA's FAR/AIM 2006 series consolidates FAA regulations and procedures into three, easy-to-use reference books of information pertinent to pilots, flight crew and maintenance technicians. All ASA FAR/AIM series books show changes since last edition marked clearly for quick reference and indexed to provide clear and intuitive access to the subject matter. The 2006 editions are re-typeset for greater readability and the full-color graphics provide high-detail images. The new FAR/AIM includes a user-friendly combined FAR/AIM index at the back of the book.
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has completed a $3-million upgrade to its crash dynamics laboratory and now has the ability to operate the facility for up to 18 hours a day. A major part of the upgrade was installation of an MTS accelerator sled that is capable of replicating any type of crash pulse at speeds up to 50 mph with a 1,500-kilogram (3,307-pound) payload. According to NIAR, the sled can be adjusted for impact peak profiles up to 65 g's.
Step aboard Gulfstream's new G150 and you might find it difficult to believe that it's a direct descendant of the super-lean G100, the cruise performance leader in the midsize class. While closely based on the G100 type design, the G150 offers passengers a full foot more cabin width and 2 inches more height than its predecessor. Like the G100, the G150 can carry four passengers 2,700 nm at long-range cruise or dash more than 2,400 nm at high-speed cruise with the same payload. But unlike the G100, the G150 has a transcontinental cabin to match its coast-to-coast range.
In the time-driven world of big-time fractional ownership, where response times are contractually guaranteed to shareholders, aircraft availability is king. ``The worst and most costly scenario for us in terms of scheduling is to have an aircraft disabled on the ground at a remote field due to a mechanical problem,'' NetJets vice president, aircraft programs Gary Strapp admitted from his office at the fractional provider's Columbus, Ohio, operations center.
The G150's Planeview system is hosted by Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 avionics aboard the G150. But without looking at the labels on the avionics boxes, it would be hard to tell the system is manufactured in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The G150's displays bear scant resemblance to conventional Pro Line 21 systems. The PFD ADIs, for instance, have edge-to-edge sky/earth horizon references. The aircraft symbols have been made larger and shaped more like real airplanes. TCAS resolution advisory guidance cues have been added to the ADI.
ARINC Engineering Services has selected Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system to upgrade the U.S. Navy's fleet of UC-12 King Air aircraft, and the Iowa-based avionics manufacturer is busy marketing a similar retrofit program to civil operators of the Beech twin turboprop. For the Navy program, ARINC is serving as the purchasing and installation agency, while L-3 Communications is the prime contractor.
VDC Electronics is now offering its BatteryMINDer, BACT model 12104, battery and alternator condition tester as a separate retail product from its line of pulse-mode battery chargers, maintainers and desulphators. Previously, the company would send customers the BACT as an incentive to register their charger systems. Now you can buy one or several for line vehicles, tugs, GPUs or field maintenance equipment. The compact BACT attaches to the battery terminals, and comes with Velcro to mount it to the top or side of the batteries.
The FAA released a rule strengthening its ban on false or misleading claims about type-certificated products. It says the rules are designed to ``prevent people from representing that these items are suitable for use on type-certificated products when in fact they may not be.'' The rule also clarifies what constitutes a misleading claim and provides a means for the FAA to investigate and enforce possible violations.
The NBAA and the Associao Brasileira de Aviao Geral (ABAG) will jointly host the 4th Annual Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (LABACE2006) from Aug. 10 to Aug. 12, 2006, on Congonhas Airport in So Paulo, Brazil. New in 2006, the event will be located at Varig's 2,400-square-meter (25,833-square-foot) hangar on the airport, with static aircraft outside on the ramp. For more information about the results of LABACE2005, held earlier this year, visit the official site at: www.labace.aero.
Steve Fushelberger began work Sept. 26 as vice president of marketing for Cessna Aircraft. Fushelberger will report to Roger Whyte, senior vice president of sales and marketing. Phil Michel, the previous vice president of marketing and one of the company's key executives for many years, will continue with the company until his retirement in April 2006. Most recently, Fushelberger was vice president of public affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Cos.
Honeywell shipped the initial prototype HTS900 turboshaft engine to Bell Helicopter for design integration into the Model 407X helicopter, meeting their initial delivery commitment. ``This new engine includes a newly designed dual-channel full authority digital engine control [FADEC] that reduces pilot workload and simplifies maintenance procedures,'' said Nasos Karras, vice president for Honeywell's Helicopter Business.
Can FADECs be retrofitted to older engines with hydromechanical control systems? It's not an easy assignment, as Deepak Kamath, a control systems manager at General Electric Aircraft Engines, told B&CA. ``It's a matter of economics. In general, [FADEC retrofits] are hard to justify because it takes a lot of effort and funding to go back and re-certify an engine with a FADEC that was originally certified with a hydromechanical control system.''
Historically military aviation obtains new technology first and then it trickles down to business and commercial operators. The use of several all-electric full-flight helicopter simulators at the U.S. Army's just-opened Flight School XXI at Fort Rucker, Ala., continues that tradition.
Many economists believe that the devastation caused by the recent hurricanes will have only a temporary negative impact on the U.S. economy, and an informal survey of business aircraft sales professionals indicates that they remain confident that the used airplane market will continue to be robust.
Europe's first Embraer E-170 full-flight simulator is operational at Swiss Aviation Training, Zurich. Made by CAE of Canada and owned by Embraer, the simulator can be used for both Embraer 170 and 190 crew training, since the two models count as a single type for rating purposes. Swiss Aviation Training has been providing type conversion training for flight crews, cabin crews and maintenance personnel worldwide since the E170/190 program's inauguration.
Sporty's has assembled an Airplane Cleaning Kit that is safe to use on any airplane and will make short work of this big task. The kit contains one gallon each of three solutions specifically formulated for the unique challenges of cleaning an airplane. Gallon-size containers of cleaning solution can be diluted (20:1) to create enough solution to last an entire season. Carbon-X Stain Remover de-bugs and de-greases. It removes exhaust deposits, fuel stains, oil and grease from the underside of the fuselage, engine cowlings and wheel wells.
There are moments during every takeoff when an abnormality requires that the pilot make a split-second decision whether to continue or abort a takeoff. Unfortunately the safety margin grows razor thin, if non-existent, when a pilot decides to abort the takeoff nearly at V1 speed, especially on a weight-limited runway length. There are a plethora of reasons why the ``deck is stacked against the pilot'' trying to match the accelerate-stop data generated by the test pilots during certification.
