FlightSafety International has developed a Twin Commander aircraft training program in Houston. The program includes initial and recurrent training for pilots and maintenance personnel. FlightSafety has installed two Level A Twin Commander simulators that will be used in the training. The Houston learning center also trains those who fly and maintain Bombardier Challenger, Raytheon King Air and Hawker, Embraer regional jets and ATR turboprop aircraft.
AS OF NOV. 17, 2003, ``eligible'' charter operations have been able to shoot instrument approaches to airports without weather reporting and plan flights to airports where they can land in 80 percent of the available runway length instead of the standard 60 percent planning requirement.
CAE has signed a 10-year agreement with U.K.-based Virgin Atlantic Airways to provide pilot training for the carrier's entire fleet of Airbus A340-600 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft. The contract also includes an option for Airbus A380 training. The programs include ground school as well as simulator training at CAE's Burgess Hill, U.K., center. Existing A340-600 and B747-400 simulators will be redeployed from other CAE training sites to Burgess Hill by summer 2006 for this purpose.
He remembered the pilot had ``that way'' about him. An easy comfort in the cockpit; a manner and presence that only happens when flight time is measured in five figures, many of them in the very same cockpit. In his early 60s, this pilot had been flying this particular Gulfstream I for over 30 years -- he and the airplane had been together since they were both green.
For most helicopter pilots, formal training about the dangers of wire strikes consisted of little more than a slide show of crumpled helicopters and an admonishment to ``Avoid wires. They will kill you.'' Recognizing a need to provide pilots with more practical information about the hazards, Robert Feerst, president of Utilities Aviation Specialists, Inc., Crown Point, Ind., created a series of seminars designed specifically for those who fly in the wire environment.
Shock Trauma Air Rescue is upgrading its fleet. The public safety EMS helicopter unit operated by Travis County, Texas, is replacing its two Eurocopter EC 135s with two larger, heavier-lifting EC 145s. Powered by two Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 engines, the EC 145 is capable of carrying one pilot and nine passengers. With a 132-knot cruise, an advanced glass cockpit, IFR package with digital autopilot for both single- or dual-pilot applications and endurance of nearly four hours, the EC145 can perform a broader range of missions, said Travis County officials.
``War on Error'' is the theme of Bombardier 2005 Safety Standdown, which will be held October 25 through 27 in Wichita. The objective of this annual three-day conference is to improve corporate aviation safety, and the material covered is applicable to all business jet aircraft regardless of manufacturer. Session topics will include medical and emergency training, international operations, recurrent training, the ``global war on error,'' fatigue countermeasures, high-altitude physiology, advanced aerodynamics, professionalism, performance and safety.
On June 15, 2005, the owner/pilot of a small piston-powered helicopter was returning home to Cherokee County Airport near Jacksonville, Texas, after conducting business in Shreveport, La. Around 8 a.m. eyewitnesses near the small town of Rusk, Texas, watched the helicopter, which was following a highway, descend into unmarked power lines. The little aircraft crashed to the ground, killing the pilot -- the 31st civilian to die in five years due to wire strikes in the United States.
AirClassics Flight Bags are designed and engineered to be functional and able to stand up to the toughest treatment. The bags are black with silver wings logo, and are made of fully padded 1000D nylon for extreme durability. They feature wraparound carry straps for strength, a non-slip detachable shoulder strap, and high-quality single-pull zippers on the main compartments.
Rockwell Collins reported a 20-percent increase in sales for its fiscal 2005 third quarter. Sales totaled $890 million, the company said, and net income was up 33 percent over the third quarter of fiscal 2004, reaching $101 million, or 56 cents per share. Government and commercial segments of the company contributed to the growth almost equally, with the commercial segment reporting a 20-percent growth in sales over third quarter 2004, and the government segment, which provides defense electronics and communications systems, reporting a 19-percent increase.
Embraer's newest facility will have a soft footprint on the native forest. The Brazilian manufacturer is reforesting the 6.56-square-mile site at Gavio Peixoto with about 600,000 native trees of 135 species. Currently the reforestation is about 80 percent complete. The reforestation program is the result of an Embraer study of the environmental impact of building an aerospace design and development facility in So Paulo's agricultural heartland, where the typical farmer grows oranges and sugarcane.
Eclipse Aviation had two of its Eclipse 500 flight-test aircraft performing flybys for attendees at the recent EAA AirVenture. Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn expects his company to build and deliver 120 to 130 new VLJs in 2006. It will ramp up to 600 to 700 aircraft annually in 2007 and remain at that level for a year or two while officials assess the market.
B&CA is looking for a staff editor. The ideal candidate will be a licensed pilot or mechanic and have familiarity with business aviation along with a solid foundation in basic journalistic skills and the ability to research and present highly technical and complex subject matter. Our readers have a low fluff tolerance and are intolerant of factual errors. The position involves writing features, departments, sidebars and captions. The job involves considerable domestic and some international travel in pursuit of stories.
HORSES' BRAINS ARE modestly sized for the massive bodies they control, a kind arrangement, I suppose, if your fate is to be a beast of burden. But most of the equines I've encountered wouldn't know a plow harness from a hula hoop. Rather they're the pampered darlings of well-off exurbanites, or four-legged cops that stand around a lot, or desultory dobbins who plod along tired paths with half-pint Hopalongs giddyapping on their backs.
In the next two to three years, passengers aboard large business jets may witness advances in cabin productivity on a scale not seen since the the first air-to-ground radio-telephones made their debut aboard corporate aircraft decades ago. Business jet manufacturers and avionics firms have talked up airborne office data-link communications capabilities for more than a decade, but the relatively small communications pipe between airborne offices and ground offices has been the main choke point.
The FAA has squelched a proposal to allow inflight mobile phone use, at least for the time being. The agency said it disagreed with the Federal Communications Commission's decision to possibly lift the 14-year-old ban. The administration insists that airlines will have to prove that the phones are not disruptive to airline navigation and are safe to use.
Jet Engineering Technical Support (JETS) has become the first British firm to win Civil Aviation Authority approval to carry out base and line maintenance on the jet and turboprop versions of the Dornier 328. JETS' hangar at Southampton is capable of holding three Dornier 328s. The company has mechanical and avionics workshops, plus a dedicated paint bay, which can accommodate most small- to medium-size commercial aircraft. JETS is currently licensed for line and base maintenance for the earliest Hawkers to the latest Hawker 800XP.
Philip J. Klass, former editor with Aviation Week & Space Technology, died Aug. 9, in Merritt Island, Fla. He was 85. An Iowa native, Klass graduated from Iowa State University in Ames in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Following graduation, he joined General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y., as an engineer. After 11 years in industry, he joined Aviation Week as a technical journalist.
In its recently issued final rule regarding the compliance of newly certificated aircraft with the Stage 4 noise standard, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2006, the FAA reiterated its official position that it has no plans to require a phase out of Stage 3 aircraft already in service.
House leaders introduced legislation to punish pilots who enter restricted airspace around the National Capital Region. The bill (H.R.3465), introduced July 27 by Majority Whip Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), would levy up to a $100,000 fine on unauthorized pilots who enter the Flight Restricted Zone, which has a 15-mile radius from Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). Unauthorized pilots who enter the D.C.
Airwolf Filter Corp. has earned FAA certification for its 400 series wet vacuum pump, which drives deicing boots on piston aircraft. The new pump is a follow-on to the 200 series.The 400 and 200 series are the only certified new wet pumps for piston aircraft available on the market.
A second-quarter report from the National Aircraft Resale Association (NARA) on recent sales of previously owned business jets and turboprops confirms the continuing strength of the current market. The statistics on aircraft sold and those available for sale, which were compiled by New Jersey-based AMSTAT, indicate that airplane sales continue at a robust rate as the inventory of available aircraft continues to shrink.
James M. Loy has been elected to a seat on the Lockheed Martin board of directors. The former TSA administrator spent nearly 40 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, retiring as an admiral. After heading the TSA, he served as deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security before retiring from government service early this year.
A Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) is a handy device that sends electrical pulses through a wire to determine if it is working as designed. If insulation is breaking down, or a short or open is present, the device can determine the exact location on the wire where the fault lies. Another tool for finding electrical problems is a Resistive Fault Locator (RFL), which simulates a precise electrical load in a wire.
