The winds preceding the incoming blizzard had already picked up to nearly 30 knots and the visibility was almost zero. I thought about how lucky I was to not be on duty that night. I threw another log in the fireplace and turned on the television just in time to see a breaking news report. There on the screen was one of my colleagues at the EMS outfit standing next to a helicopter in a darkened ski resort parking lot awaiting an avalanche victim. At 10:30 p.m., with the pilot still waiting, I turned off the TV. Better he than me.
Embraer has received a firm order from Ecuadorian airline TAME Aerea del Ecuador for two 76-seat Embraer 170 jets and one 104-seat Embraer 190. Delivery will take place in 2005 and 2006.
From the earliest battery-equipped aircraft through the end of World War II, the bulk of aircraft batteries were the `flooded cell' or `wet cell' lead-acid types. That battery still provides good service to this day, but it is heavy, requires frequent maintenance, and vents corrosive sulfuric acid and explosive hydrogen gas. A major leap in battery technology took place shortly after the war, with the introduction of the nickel-cadmium (ni-cad) battery on the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and has been standard in jets ever since.
In 1947, the accident rate for helicopters was 135 accidents per 100,000 hours flown, a horrific statistic. By comparison, in 2003, the Helicopter Association International (HAI) reported that the accident rate for multiengine helicopters was 4.93 accidents per 100,000 hours. Even more telling is the fact that corporate helicopter accidents are exceedingly rare, with an average of just 0.5 accidents annually.
To: Business Aircraft Operators From: The FAA Subject: Straighten Up and Fly Right There is a problem festering in business aviation, and it isn't getting any better. We're talking, about gross navigation errors, or GNEs, racked up by business aviation flight crews engaged in oceanic operations.
THE WEATHER AT BALTIMORE-Washington International Airport (BWI) just after sunrise on May 14, 2004, was good for spring on the Chesapeake. Winds were calm, the visibility was six miles and the temperature was 70F. There were a few clouds at 15,000 feet, the temperature/dew-point spread was wide and the baro pressure was high. A Mitsubishi MU-2B-60, operating as Epps Air Service flight 101, was arriving in the BWI area after a quick hop from Philadelphia International -- one of those approach control-to-approach control flights.
Duncan Aviation recently received an STC for the installation of the Universal EFI-890R in a Bombardier Challenger 600. This completion is part of Duncan Aviation's Glass Box Project, a plan to keep classic aircraft operating far into the 21st century. The latest approval follows the company's August 2004 installation of the EFI-890R in a Challenger 601-3A owned by Universal Avionics' parent company.
Seeing the glowing eyes of 400,000 AOPA members circling his campfire, the Reason Foundation's Poole noted in his just-issued report that general aviation is ``too large and politically popular'' for it to be charged for air traffic control services, regardless of how much of the system is used by light aircraft operators. ``We think he still misses the point,'' said AOPA President Phil Boyer. ``More than 90 percent of piston-powered aircraft flights are VFR, yet every one of those flights helps pay for the system through the fuel tax.
Honeywell introduced a new Web Flight Planning service that will eventually replace its current offering. It enables operators to create and file flight plans using any personal computer connected to the Internet -- with no special software required. The new system became available in May. While Honeywell's legacy flight planning system will remain available for a period of time, the new system eventually will replace it. Additional information on Web Flight Planning is available online at www.mygdc.com.
Eclipse Aircraft announced another price increase for its Eclipse 500 VLJ. As of May 9, the new base price is $1,295,000, in 2000 dollars. That equates to $1,424,000 when inflation is added through the end of 2004. The manufacturer last raised the price in January 2003 when it boosted the price for new orders to $1.15 million. While stressing that the Eclipse 500 remains ``the lowest-cost'' VLJ on the market, the company said the latest price boost was made necessary by cost increases it is experiencing.
IN 1996, CONGRESS REQUIRED the FAA to revise its regulations to allow state and local candidates, like federal candidates, to be flown by companies under FAR Part 91. Effective March 2, 2005, the FAA finally managed to smooth out the wrinkles and under the newly revised Part 91.321, your company can fly candidates for mayor, governor or president wherever they want to go, and be appropriately compensated for the ride. But what if your company needs to fly a government official who is not a candidate? Read on.
Jet Aviation Palm Beach received FAA approval to maintain and provide avionics services for the Bombardier Global Express. The 1.2-million square-foot Palm Beach center also has FAA approval to maintain the entire fleet of Bombardier Learjets and can maintain a number of other aircraft types including Gulfstream, Falcon, Cessna Citation and Embraer Legacy.
Hester Smith has been named director of research for this leading broker of business jet aircraft. Smith -- who has more than 10 years of research and analysis experience in aviation, aerospace, oil and gas, technology and export -- comes to JB&A from Boeing.
Chelton's 4.5-pound IDUs are very compact, measuring 6.3 inches wide, 5.5 inches high and 3.37 inches deep, not including the connectors. The 640 by 480 pixel AMLCD screens measure 6.4 inches diagonally. They run on 11 to 33 VDC and have a nominal power consumption of 45 watts. Back-light illumination is provided by conventional cold-cathode fluorescent lightbulbs (CCFL) under most light conditions, providing up to 1,000 nit brilliance for directly sunlit viewing. The CCFLs have a half-life of 25,000 hours.
Duncan Aviation announced that it will add 125,000 additional square feet to the existing 200,000-square-foot facility located at the W.K. Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek, Mich. Duncan Aviation is a leading aircraft maintenance, modification and refurbishment service provider with major facilities in Battle Creek and Lincoln, Neb. The expansion will take place in several phases. First, a new maintenance hangar roughly 40,000-square-feet in size will be built. The structure will accommodate some of the largest business aircraft in use today, including Global Express.
The USAF competition for the Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV), a new search and recovery vehicle, is the ``most promising near-term opportunity to inject innovation'' into the U.S. vertical lift industry, according to Suzanne D. Patrick, deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy. If the opportunity is missed, she said, the Defense Department and presumably civil helicopter manufacturers would be working with ``legacy'' technology for the next 30 years.
GAMA has selected Scott R. Winter, a senior at the University of Minnesota, and Stefanie Gates, a junior at Purdue University, to receive the 2005 Dr. Harold S. Wood Award for Excellence. The award recognizes top students, enrolled in a National International Flying Association (NIFA) member school, who demonstrate academic excellence while promoting aviation on campus as well as in their community.
LABACE had a record-breaking total of 4,971 attendees, a 33-percent increase in attendance over the 2004 show. It also featured special appearances by NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen and his Brazilian counterpart, Anderson Markiewicz, chairman of Associao Brasileira de Aviao Geral; a keynote speech by FAA Deputy Administrator Robert A. Sturgell, who also opened the event at a ribbon-cutting ceremony; and a variety of in-depth informational sessions on operational issues of interest to the Latin American business aviation community.
Avidyne Corp. has FAA TSO and STC approval to add XM WX satellite weather and CMax electronic approach chart display capabilities to Flightmax EX500 MFDs. This certification also includes approval for EX500 Release 2.0 system software, which adds major roads and rivers to the base map, as well as providing a TIS traffic interface with the GTX330 transponder.
AS I WRITE THIS, I AM on interminable hold awaiting yet another pleasant but unhelpful person to help me with my problem. We recently purchased a home office printer after its predecessor went to Printer Paradise. One of the first steps in connecting the new device is to load a setup CD into the computer. Unfortunately, the CD tried to automatically load its contents onto my C: drive, assuming it was my hard drive. It is not. For reasons unknown, that's my F: drive.
The Air Transport Association continues its public demand for business aircraft operators to pay more for their use of a national airspace system (NAS) structured around airline requirements.
What follows is a CVR transcript covering the last 20 minutes or so of the final flight of Gulfstream III N85VT. It crashed on approach to Houston-Hobby Airport (HOU) in night IMC on Nov. 22, 2004, at 0615 CST. Three crewmembers were fatally injured, and the aircraft, operated by Business Jet Services of Dallas, was destroyed by impact forces and fire. The NTSB has not announced a probable cause for the accident, but there are many lessons to be gleaned from exploration of the factual data and a review of this transcript.
As production of the improved Citation CJ1+ and Citation CJ2+ models gets under way, Cessna officials in late March said they were ``seriously looking at'' whether or not to offer as retrofit packages the many enhancements that have been incorporated into the two light jets. However, they added that they are not ready yet to make a formal announcement regarding such an upgrade program.
Diamond Aircraft of Austria began deliveries of its twin diesel powered DA-42 Twin Star. The first two were delivered to French customers while another was heading across the Atlantic under its own power for delivery in Florida. Production is being stepped up to 17 aircraft a month to meet Diamond's worldwide backlog of over 700 aircraft.
