The Challenger 300's instrument panel is dominated by four 12-by-10-inch LCDs, the largest Pro Line 21 display screens yet installed in any business aircraft. These screens provide 340 square inches of display area, plenty to drown the flight crew in data minutia. But Bombardier and Collins resisted the temptation and remained true to the quiet, dark cockpit concept. This panel is designed for flight operations, not entertainment value. Use of color is restrained and consistent. Backgrounds are gray and black, as appropriate for specific functions.
HERSCH, THERE MUST BE a special place in perdition complete with central heating for most Gulfstream I, Gulfstream II and HS-125 crewmen. I swear, if most of 'em ain't deef already, they is on the other side, which is dumb. You see it every day at most airports. The G-I is parked as close to the terminal as the law allows. The crew is in the cockpit, Bigdome arrives and the blades on the number-two engine start rotating when his foot hits the bottom step. As soon as the cabin door closes, the number-one engine is ignited.
AeroMechanical Services Ltd. and SmartSignal Corp. have integrated AeroMechanical's AFIRS and UpTime products with SmartSignal's condition-monitoring software to create a real-time engine and aircraft monitoring system for regional and business jets. Gary Conkright, president and CEO of SmartSignal, said the combination enables aircraft-specific maintenance strategies based on engine and APU health. AFIRS is an airborne autonomous flight information collection and reporting system that generates data reports.
The FAA wants to use part of ExpressJet's survey of passenger and baggage weights to determine average carryon baggage weights for smaller regional aircraft. ExpressJet was the first regional carrier to complete such a survey. In May, the FAA gave carriers 90 days to add 15 pounds per passenger to existing weight and balance programs as a short-term fix after limited surveys prompted by the Air Midwest Beech 1900D crash in Charlotte in January revealed the agency's passenger and luggage weight averages were too low.
FlightSafety International's new Gulfstream G550 simulator has received Level D certification from the FAA. Located at the company's Savannah Learning Center, the simulator replicates the ultra-long-range aircraft's four-screen PlaneView cockpit with cursor controls; it also features Gulfstream's pioneering enhanced vision system presented on a head-up display, TCAS and EGPWS. The simulator was made by FlightSafety's simulation division in Tulsa and its visual systems group in St. Louis.
ConocoPhillips Co. is expanding its line of aviation lubricants and fluids for general aviation to include a single-grade, anti-wear piston engine oil; an X/C line of new instrument, airframe and bearing greases; and two new mineral-oil-based hydraulics. The oil will be available in quarts or 55-gallon drums; because of its reformulation, operators will not have to mix in messy additives. The greases are designed to cover a wide range of applications and temperatures and come in either synthetic or mineral base form.
Bombardier Learjet 45 owners had to wait longer than originally hoped to get their grounded airplanes (B/CA, September, page 14) back in the air. The FAA grounded the Model 45s because of concern about possible fracture of a screw and acme nut in the horizontal stabilizer actuator assembly (HSAA). MPC Products Corp., supplier of the screw and nut, beefed up the design, but the FAA stated it did not have confidence in the material used for the replacement parts or in the manufacturing quality controls. After consultations on Aug.
Mooney Airplane Co. announced it turned a profit in July. The wholly owned subsidiary of Mooney Aerospace Group, Ltd. had a net income of $85,909 in July. The company reported net sales of $2.6 million and an 18-percent gross margin of $475,000. Company President J.
I really enjoyed Jim Cannon's ``Developing Management Skills, by the Book'' in the August issue (Practical Manager, page 120). Some of it had to be the commentary on some of our mutual past. But he gave credit where credit is due and he called it like it needs to be called. I guess the thing that I enjoyed most about the article was that he was not tooting his own horn as some do in our business publications. He offered sound advice from past experience and projected what is needed to be effective in the future.
Greenwood Aviation, at Ponca City, Okla., Municipal Airport (PNC) will sell aircraft operators up to 1,000 gallons of fuel at cost, plus a $100 pumping fee. Owner Chuck Greenwood developed the program to attract business and he says it's working. ``Sam Walton would be proud,'' he said. Every Monday morning Greenwood e-mails that week's price to his customers to compare with other regional prices, plus third-party discount fuel prices. Greenwood Aviation is a Phillips 66 dealer.
Controllers at Miami International Airport (MIA) say a new runway there is causing confusion among pilots. Runway 8/26, which opened Sept. 4, is an 8,600-foot strip located 800 feet to the north of the existing Runway 9L/27R. Because the new runway is to the left of and essentially parallel to 9L, pilots instructed to land on 9L have sometimes assumed that 9L is the new runway.
Corporate Rotable and Supply (CRS) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., announced that its lead-the-fleet pair of A3579-000 generators installed on a Learjet 35 logged 1,800 hours without a removal. The first pair was installed in January 2002 on a Model 35 operated by BankAir Commuter Airlines and passed the 1,050-hour milestone in January 2003. The generator requires no inspections over its 3,000-hour TBO, which CRS says equates to nearly seven years of average flying. CRS holds STCs for installation on Learjet 35s, 36s and 55s.
UPON REACHING MY GATE at Denver International, I encountered a mob of travelers of every stripe and attire. As the boarding time neared, the gate agent announced the flight had been overbooked and that he would give free tickets to those who'd take a later flight. I considered the offer, but I had much work to do and climbed on board. Sitting in my window seat in the back of the 737, I studied each passenger who neared, wondering with whom I was to share extremely close space for the next four-plus hours. The fellow in the suit? The cowboy?
Australia's Hawker Pacific has adopted an integrated Web-based system for managing maintenance repair and overhaul, sales, distribution, financials and documentation, which Chief Financial Officer Paul Bisson said would help the company tie its far-flung operations together. Hawker Pacific serves corporate, airline and military operators in Australia/New Zealand, Asia and the Gulf States. The company has MRO facilities in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Townsville, Cairns, Auckland, Singapore and Manila.
IT'S ABOUT TIME business aviation practitioners quit being nice guys and started raising hell about the second-class treatment this community is receiving from federal security officials. More than two years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is still off-limits to everyone but the airlines and specially approved flights carrying government officials.
Diamond Aircraft has selected the Williams FJ33-4 engine for its D-JET personal jet and expects the prototype to fly at the end of 2004. The FJ33-4 will be flat-rated at 1,400 pounds of thrust at 72F and incorporates dual-channel FADEC.
Paul Bowen Paul Bowen Photography, Inc., Wichita, Kan. The surfing son of a McDonnell-Douglas engineer, Bowen earned a degree in zoology on the assumption that he would become a dentist. Although a skilled amateur photographer, he hadn't any professional aspirations until church-related work brought him to Wichita. And destiny. Today he is recognized as one of the world's foremost air-to-air photographers. A B/CA regular, his photos have appeared on more than 650 magazine covers, including the issue in your hands. 1 What brought you to aviation photography?
A prototype Lancair Columbia 400 crashed during a test flight near Millican, Ore., on Aug. 27. The pilot, Len Fox, parachuted to safety. Fox, an FAA designated engineering representative, was putting the four-seat, all-composite single through a series of spin recoveries to evaluate adjustments to the aircraft's elevator and rudder control surfaces. When he was unable to recover, Lancair said, Fox deployed a ``spin chute'' from the tailcone to halt the maneuver.
Loch Lomond Seaplanes, a new Scottish operator, will offer amphibious Cessna 206H Turbo Stationair charters beginning April 2004, if all approvals are met. This application for a public transport floatplane certificate is the first in a very long time in the United Kingdom. The operation is aimed at golf and fishing excursions, and sightseers, with a price of around $160 per seat or $1,300 to charter the whole five-passenger aircraft.
In reviewing August's B/CA Operations Planning Guide (a prodigious piece of work, I should add), we noted what looks like a discrepancy. Please have someone review the following: It states on page 66 that ``the hourly fuel expense is figured utilizing the fuel consumption numbers for the aircraft missions that were computed for the May Handbook.'' The May issue shows a Falcon 2000 using 6.7 percent more fuel than a G200 for a 600 nm trip, and 2.7 percent more for a 1,000 nm trip.
The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) objects to an FAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NRPM) addressing fraud and false and misleading statements involving aircraft products, parts and materials.
Four Middle Eastern countries plan to outfit their head-of-state aircraft with U.S.-supplied anti-missile infrared countermeasures, the Department of Defense has told Congress. Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia intend to buy AN/AAQ-24(V) Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) systems, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced on Sept. 3.
TRAIN AND PRACTICE, train and practice -- it's a mantra here at the Cause & Circumstance desk. We urge all flight crewmembers to get all the training and practice that money and time will allow. But even a good thing (like practice) can come to a bad end (like a fatal accident) if pilots forget the basics. The basic element we're talking about here is the absolute requirement to bring along a safety pilot if you are going to practice IFR in restricted visibility. You would think this would be a no-brainer, but accident records suggest otherwise.
Signature Flight Support's new megahangar at its Luton facility was formally opened in September. It is the largest in Signature's world network and can hold up to six Boeing Business Jets.
Airports and airport executives are joining in opposition to the FAA's proposed policy that would prevent airports from imposing weight-based restrictions as proxies for noise restrictions. Officials at California's Santa Monica Airport (SMA) told the FAA that the proposal would create a ``nightmare for airport operators'' and should be rejected.
