Aviation Supplies & Academics has announced the availability of the fifth edition of the FAA's Aeronautical Chart User's Guide. The guide covers all aspects of chart utilization from IFR to VFR. Each stage of flight is described thoroughly, including training, planning, departure, en route, approach and taxiing. The guide has updated map and chart features organized into an easier-to-follow arrangement than previous editions. Price: $14.95 Aviation Supplies & Academics 7005 132nd Pl. S.E.
``The first objective we have as operators is for our passengers, our crews and our aircraft to be safe and secure,'' Doug Schwartz told B/CA. In addition to being AT&T's aviation director, Schwartz serves as chairman of the NBAA Security Council. ``Our second objective is to have access to airspace that is equal to or better than that enjoyed by the air carriers,'' Schwartz said. ``To do that, what we think is reasonable is for government security authorities to give credit to qualified business aviation operators for the procedures they have in place today.
PAMA's official comments included eight recommendations for amendment of the TSA's final ``security risk'' rule: (1) The rule should provide an explanation of the processes and rationale(s) that the TSA employs to make or review threat determinations. (2) Threat determinations based on mere suspicion should be eliminated. (3) The rule should provide for a pre-deprivation appeal and review unless the TSA makes specific findings and justifications in writing that such procedures are contrary to the interests of national security.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) objected strongly to the TSA and FAA direct final rules that call for denying, suspending or revoking the Airman Certificate of anyone deemed an actual or suspected ``security risk'' by the TSA. In comments filed March 17, PAMA described the rules as ``an abrogation of a U.S.
The integrated avionics suites found in modern business aircraft come in a variety of sizes -- mostly industry-standard boxes. Deciding which to choose depends on the aircraft and the complexity of the avionics installed. The large-format display tubes found in the integrated cockpit systems of high-end aircraft are replacing many electromechanical instruments. Standard-size cutouts for Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 display tubes are 7.0 by 6.0 inches or 7.25 by 7.25 inches.
Hartzell Propeller has produced two new videos on propeller care and maintenance. The first video, ``Propeller Care & Maintenance for Professionals,'' explains how to perform an annual inspection on a propeller and provides guidance for on-wing inspection, repair and maintenance. The second video, ``Propeller Care & Maintenance for Pilots,'' provides technical information including preflight inspections and routine maintenance. The videos are also available on CD-ROM for both PCs and Macintosh computers. Price: Free Hartzell Propeller One Propeller Pl.
GAMA expressed strong support for the Second Century of Flight Act, a bill introduced by Sens. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). The legislation is designed to facilitate the development of the future air traffic management system, improve the process by which aviation products are certified by the federal government, promote an open and fair international market, prepare the future aerospace work force, and increase investment in aviation research.
While the present presents challenges for those in business aviation, there are many eager to get into the market with aircraft they believe will help advance and expand the segment. Here are their stories. What a difference a year makes. In the past 12 months several new business aircraft have taken wing, other new designs have emerged, and still others have been purged altogether, victims of a bad economy, bad luck or a bad idea. Among the new, true flying machines is Adam Aircraft's push/pull piston twin, the A500, whose type certification is imminent.
Peggy Chabrian, Ph.D. President, Women in Aviation International A pilot and educator, Chabrian in 1990 held a conference for women involved in aviation so they could share experiences and learn about career opportunities and each other. That gathering proved popular and led to the creation of Women in Aviation in 1995. Today, the organization has 7,300 members, and this year's annual conference, held in March , drew 2,400 attendees. 1 That women are now frontline combatants became clear to everyone during the Iraqi war. Any reaction to that?
IASCO announced the grand opening of its new FBO at California's Napa County Airport (APC). Construction work on the redesigned and redecorated facilities was completed in January. Amenities include a large crew lounge overlooking the ramp area, leather recliners, a T-1 high-speed Internet connection and a 52-inch large-screen TV with satellite and DVD capability.
The first Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (LABACE), which was held March 13 through 15 in So Paulo, Brazil, is emblematic of the NBAA's recent push to become an international advocate for business aviation and further evidence that the association is extending the business aviation message beyond (while lessening its dependence on) its big annual convention in the United States.
AvFuel Corp., Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Brownwood Regional Airport (BWD) manager Mike Wilson has been named General Aviation Manager of the Year by the State of Texas Department of Transportation's Airport Division. Wilson began his career with BWD in 1980.
For Signature Flight Support, the FBO at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is the chain's ``flagship.'' The DCA base was among Signature's most profitable for years, generating as much as $20 million in annual revenue, while servicing some 100 arrivals per day of mostly transient aircraft. Proximity to the nation's capital also made it by far the most high profile of all Signature's 40-plus bases, company executives say.
Top airport officials described to the House Transportation Aviation Subcommittee on March 6 how unfunded federal mandates have forced them to delay or forego capacity and safety projects. Delays in those projects will increase costs by $7 billion, according to the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) and American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) rallied to the airports' side, stressing the importance of returning aviation trust fund money to its primary purpose of enhancing capacity.
Hopes that European-wide, single-engine IFR would be implemented this spring were dashed at a mid-February Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) meeting. The earliest possible date now seems to be this September. After seven years, the JAA is still suggesting that each European member state decide its own SE-IFR policy. Operators want the exact opposite: one piece of legislation applicable to all 31 member states that covers commercial cargo and passenger work.
The FAA published a follow-up proposal in the Federal Register that would impose tougher equipment requirements for FAR Part 91 turboprops operating in domestic RVSM airspace. The supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would eliminate an earlier-published proposed option to allow Part 91 turboprops to operate in DRVSM airspace with a single compliant altimeter. The FAA said it reconsidered the option since likely benefits would not be great enough to justify the complication to DRVSM regulations.
Executive Jet Management, Inc. (EJM), the aircraft management and charter services affiliate of fractional operator NetJets, added a Gulfstream 400 at Love Field (DAL) in Dallas, and a Falcon 50EX at Buchanan Field (CCR) in Concord, Calif. EJM now manages 106 aircraft in nearly 50 locations throughout the United States for retail charter and to support the NetJets fractional aircraft ownership program.
It's time to sell your fractional ownership share, and you're facing a down economy. Maybe that's why you need to unload the share, or perhaps your contract with the fractional provider is about to expire, and you are required to sell out. Or let's say your flight department has decided to redeem the fractional share it owns for supplemental airlift and purchase a larger share in a different aircraft type.
THE WAFFLE DID ME IN. I had dined in the same restaurant, Washington's woody Willard Room, the previous night and had immensely enjoyed the fare, fusty ambiance and company. But with the dawn my gum was unexpectedly tender, and as I chomped on the fruit-laden waffle, pain exploded from an upper right molar. An emergency visit to the dentist confirmed my worst fear: The tooth was infected; I would need a root canal. Yours truly is a card-carrying dentophobe. The sound of the drill, that gurgly thing that hooks into your mouth, the needles -- I hate it all.
General aviation facilities are next for scrutiny on the TSA's list. It plans to send out federal security directors within the next few weeks to visit with and look at the security at small airports. Security at GA airports ``varies considerably,'' TSA Administrator Adm. James Loy said.
The three Washington, D.C.-area airports fighting to survive after 9/11 will not ``see relief for the foreseeable future,'' said TSA chief Adm. James Loy at an AOPA press conference. The TSA has drastically curtailed operations at the so-called ``D.C. 3'' airports -- College Park Airport, Potomac Airfield and Washington Executive/Hyde Field, all in the close-in Maryland suburbs -- because of their proximity to the nation's capital.
The other day we had a little celebration. My friend Charlie Gray successfully climbed to the summit of Aconcagua, a 22,831-foot peak in Argentina that marks the highest point on the continent of South America. We received word of his arrival at the summit by satellite phone, and he described the scene in an elated, albeit winded tone. It was quite an accomplishment. Three years prior, he summitted Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, stretching 20,320 feet into the Alaskan sky.
The Jet & Propjet 2003 corporate aircraft directory contains information on more than 23,000 turbine business aircraft operating in the United States and 139 other nations. The main listings show current registration number, aircraft model and serial number, registered owner and immediate past registration marks. A cross-reference index by manufacturer and serial number is provided in the back of the book.
Already providing Lufthansa transatlantic BBJ service, PrivatAir will now also operate two brand-new 48-seat Airbus A319 LR aircraft on behalf of the German carrier. The executive-configured aircraft will provide direct nonstop flights six days per week between Munich and Newark International (EWR) starting May 19, and between Dusseldorf and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) starting June 9. Under the wet lease agreement with Lufthansa, PrivatAir will supply the aircraft, crews, maintenance and insurance for the dedicated business-class-only service.
