Raytheon Aircraft is making Raisbeck Engineering's Nacelle Wing Lockers standard equipment on Beechcraft King Air 350s. The two 16-cubic-foot lockers, located in each aft portion of the engine nacelles, are capable of holding luggage, skis, golf clubs and other business and leisure accessories. The first King Air 350 with the standard lockers rolled off the production line in July.
Fokker Services has developed a plan to convert surplus Fokker 100 airliners for corporate use. The Future 100EJ Executive Jet (F100EJ) would include a customized interior and new auxiliary fuel tanks that would extend the range of the aircraft to approximately 3,200 nm. The F100EJ's longer legs would allow the twin-engine aircraft to fly nonstop across the United States and between the Middle East and European capitals.
In 1987, Gulfstream Aerospace started delivering the $16 million Gulfstream IV, the first business jet capable of flying eight passengers 4,200-plus nm at 0.80 Mach and landing with 200-nm NBAA IFR reserves. This qualified it as the only business jet that could fly westbound across the North Atlantic from Paris to New York against virtually the strongest winter winds even with typical ISA+15C temperatures aloft. It also was the first to offer three separate, roomy seating areas in the cabin.
On July 8, the House aviation subcommittee reviewed the chain of events leading to the evacuation of the Capitol and members questioned FAA and TSA officials about the communications breakdown and the government's corrective actions. The subcommittee also addressed DCA access issues in general. Subcommittee leaders have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction that the government has taken no action to grant general aviation access to DCA.
Security continues to be a primary concern when operating abroad, which may explain the complaint of one pilot employed by a major corporation engaged in frequent international operations: ``I've never been fingerprinted so much in my life!''
Perhaps one of the single biggest regulatory changes operators will face in the next year will be the reduction of the required separation between aircraft over domestic airspace at higher altitudes. The new RVSM standards are cast in concrete -- do not wait for a last-minute change or regulatory relief. GAMA President and CEO Ed Bolen warns, ``It's not going to change. RVSM is going to happen on a date certain.'' Currently, the minimums are 2,000 feet separation, but come Jan. 20, 2005, that changes to 1,000 feet between FL 290 and 410.
Isabelle Blanchard has been selected as the 2004 Airport Manager of the Year by the Texas DOT. The manager of the Pecos Municipal Airport FBO Pecos Air Center, Blanchard has been a pilot since the age of 18 and teaches flight instruction at the airport, in addition to her managerial duties. Pecos Air Center is a full-service FBO with services and amenities that include aircraft parking, hangars, a passenger lounge, aircraft rental, aerial tours and aerial sightseeing, courtesy transportation, a pilots lounge and snooze rooms, plus 24-hour call out service.
Although the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to 1.25 percent at its June meeting, it's expected to issue another rate hike this month, and then yet another by year-end. But that last increase could be delayed if the economy softens more than anticipated. The economy was expected to reaccelerate this summer, but the risks of a slowdown are very real, and very worrisome to President Bush's reelection bid. Still, the real risks to the expansion come from abroad, not from inside the United States.
Eagle Air Maintenance Ltd., an Air New Zealand company, has selected Rockwell Collins to provide avionics support for its Beech aircraft. Under the agreement, Rockwell Collins' Australian subsidiary will provide avionics repairs on a price-per-flight-hour basis for all Collins avionics equipment on Air New Zealand's fleet of 16 Beech 1900D aircraft. The agreement provides for guaranteed turnaround times, maintenance cost predictability, and reduced administrative and operational effort related to Collins avionics products.
Hamlin Jet Ltd. has joined with Northern Executive Aviation (NEA), Manchester, England, to open a satellite service center at London Luton Airport (EGGW) to offer line maintenance and warranty support. Services include hangar storage and full factory warranty support on all models of Learjet, whether JAA or FAA registered.
The Air Line Pilots Association generally concurred with the NTSB report, stating, ``ALPA welcomes the NTSB's findings regarding the role that fatigue played in this accident. The Board correctly noted that performance for at least two members of the crew was degraded by inadequate sleep or unexpected schedule changes. ALPA believes that the Board should have followed through with either new recommendations regarding pilot rest, or reiteration of its previous recommendations on fatigue.
The Learjet 40's Honeywell Primus 1000 is one of the most advanced and integrated avionics suites in the light jet class. Four DU870 large-format CRTs dominate the panel, with left- and right-side outer PFDs and a center-right MFD. The Learjet 45 was the first aircraft in its class to have EICAS, and that's carried over to the Model 40 on the center-left display. The upper right corner of the EICAS screen is reserved for CAS messages with engine instruments displayed in the upper-left section.
From chairman Lord Glenarthur's introduction to the 2003 BHAB Handbook: ``difficult commercial times . . . general business downturn . . . steep increases in insurance rates . . . [but] a steep increase in the price of Brent crude sustains a healthy offshore operation in the North Sea . . . the BHAB maintains a vigilant stance that safety considerations are safety-driven and not merely administratively convenient . . . every accident a matter of the greatest concern and regret. . . .''
EBACE2004, the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, registered a record 6,487 attendees during the May 25-27 gathering, an increase of 8.4 percent over 2003's total of 5,984. It also featured 247 exhibitors, or 18 percent more than last year's booth space total. The static display at Geneva International Airport featured 36 business aircraft.
The NTSB recommendations come in the wake of the crash of a Federal Express B727 that struck trees and crashed short of Runway 09 at Tallahassee International (TLH) on July 26, 2002, on an IFR flight plan in night VMC. The captain, first officer (the pilot flying) and flight engineer were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB determined that the probable cause was the failure to establish and maintain a stabilized glidepath.
The NBAA notes that the TSA has released a ``technical change'' in the applicability of the Twelve-Five Standard Security Program (TFSSP) that excludes aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less from having to participate in the TFSSP.
Adam Aircraft announced an order for 75 A700 AdamJets valued at $150 million from PeopleExpress founder Donald Burr and former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall. Burr and Crandall plan to launch a new air taxi service, for now called iFly Air Taxi, with the aircraft. Englewood, Colo.-based Adam is hoping to be the first start-up company to bring a new jet design to market in decades. Founded in 1998 to build the A500 centerline-twin-piston composite aircraft, the company announced plans to build the Williams turbofan-powered A700 in October 2002.
DURING MY COLLEGE SUMMERS I was in the ``aerial advertising'' -- read, banner towing -- business on the south New Jersey shore. I spent three happy years in the cockpit of N6897B, a 1956 orange and white Piper Super Cub, flying out of Bade Field, a small airport on bay that's Atlantic City's back door. I learned much, was never bored and enjoyed my role in what is one of aviation's more esoteric activities.
Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design, although engineers attempt to optimize the blend of capabilities, performance and passenger comfort. B/CA compares the subject aircraft, in this case the Learjet 40, to the composite characteristics of others in its class, computing the percentage differences for various parameters in order to portray the aircraft's relative strengths and weaknesses. We also include the absolute value of each parameter, along with the relative ranking, for the subject aircraft within the composite group.
This article is directed at the guys and gals flying pipeline patrol, fish spotting, towing banners, instructing and flying freight at night to build enough time to be hired by a major corporate operator or airline. There are some statistics that will be important in your profession, but the most comforting of them do not apply at this point in your career, unfortunately. As you'll see, the old adage that ``Liars figure and figures lie'' is firmly rooted in the truth.
Raytheon Aircraft Services has earned supplemental type certification of a RVSM package for the Beechjet 400 and MU-300 Diamond, while Elliott Aviation expects to receive regulatory approval and begin installations of its RVSM solution for the two business jets this month.
Fastfind Plus is a hand-held 406 MHz Personal Location Beacon. Similar in size to a mobile phone, it is powerful enough to transmit a distress message from the most remote seas, almost anywhere in the world, to international search and rescue services in just three minutes, with a positional accuracy typically within 30 meters. It will also update your position every 20 minutes and give information to the rescue services about your personal details and aircraft or boat ID.
