The Racor Division of Parker Hannifin has developed the Racor Filter Funnel (RFF) family for operators that perform over-the-wing refueling. The heavy duty, fast flow, filter-in-a-funnel separates free water and contaminants from Avgas or Jet A. Designed to remove contaminants that are 0.005 inch or larger, the Teflon-coated stainless-steel filters are available in 6.0-by-3.5-inch small (2.7 gal./min.), 9.0-by-5.5-inch medium (3.9 gal./min.) or 10.0-by-8.5-inch large (5 gal./min.) sizes. Price: small, $14.95; medium, $19.95; large, $29.95
Hawthorne, Calif., is the home of two signal entities: the Beach Boys and Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal Air-port. It is also where Pat Carey grew up and lives to this day, a fact that has absolutely no bearing on the ``Little Deuce Coupe's'' legacy, but a whole lot on the airport's.
The editors of B/CA created the Vision Awards as a means for publicly recognizing and applauding special effort and achievement by individuals and groups in furthering business aviation.
FBOs at the targeted airports are bracing themselves for a tough time, for as Alan George of Metro Business Aviation (with FBOs at Heathrow and Stansted) said, ``If the firemen go on strike then the airports will be automatically closed because of lack of fire cover.'' All other major U.K. airports will remain open with their FBOs operating, but an influx of diverted airline and corporate traffic could cause airport overload. The union urged the BAA to reconvene pay negotiations with a new offer in order to avoid the strike actions.
Goodyear Aviation Tires, Akron, Ohio, has hired Willem Luuk Nijdam as general manager for its posts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based in Tilburg, the Netherlands.
AIR Inc. reports airlines created 652 new pilot jobs in October. Of 198 reporting carriers, 80 hired pilots and 151 are recruiting. Majors hired 27 pilots, and three majors are expected to hire in the next several months. Seven of 31 national airlines hired 311 pilots, with jet operators hiring 127, fractionals 57, and non-jet operators bringing 106 on board. By October's end, there were 7,204 pilots on furlough out of an active total of 94,571, up slightly from September's 7,080 furlough total.
Flightcraft, Portland, Ore., has hired Marc Belanger, formerly of Duncan Aviation, as its new avionics manager. Belanger's hiring follows the recent opening of Flightcraft's new aircraft maintenance facility in Portland.
Rockwell Collins Aviation Services (CAS) won U.K. CAA certification to perform maintenance on inflight entertainment (IFE) systems on Joint Aviation Authority-registered aircraft. The JAR-145 Limited A1 authorization allows CAS facilities at London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports to service IFE systems and complete the certificate of release to service. CAS is seeking similar approval for its bases at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris.
The FAA expects to approve special approach procedures at San Francisco (SFO) for aircraft equipped to Required Navigation Performance (RNP) standards, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit in Washington. The FAA calls RNP ``an important step in moving the United States from an exclusively ground-based navigation system to one located within the aircraft itself,'' to which the agency's chief executive added, ``RNP is a major leap forward in safety and efficiency.''
So, you're thinking about buying into a fractional ownership program. Perhaps you're an individual of some means looking to use a private jet for business and personal travel. Or maybe you're an aviation manager with a major corporation seeking a supplemental airlift solution for your employer's overworked flight department. In either case, have you considered your liability -- or that of your employer -- in the multiple-ownership, managed operation of an aircraft?
Cessna Aircraft Co. announced that Delta Aero-Taxi has ordered seven Citation Mustangs that will be used for a new fractional ownership service based in Florence, Italy. Delta Aero-Taxi is a long-time Citation customer and currently operates a Citation X. The new Citation Mustang will be certified as a FAR Part 23 aircraft, with cruise speed of 340 knots, and maximum operating altitude of 41,000 feet. Certification is expected in mid-2006 with first customer deliveries in fourth quarter 2006.
Keystone Helicopter, West Chester, Pa., has appointed Steven Weinert as division maintenance manager, flight services. He will oversee all maintenance, repair/refurbishment and overhaul activity for the 30 twin-engine medical helicopters managed by Keystone.
According to data from wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov., from 1990 to 2001 there were 28,493 known bird strikes, 64 percent occurring during the daytime, 4 percent at dawn, 5 percent at dusk and 27 percent at night. Beyond bird strikes, during the reporting period there were 676 mammal (mostly deer and bats) strikes by airborne aircraft and 46 confirmed reptile strikes (species unspecified). In addition to all the above, there were 10,684 strikes by ``unknown'' critters.
Smaller airports are losing more service than larger ones, according to an Oct. 7 report on airline industry metrics from the DOT's Office of the Inspector General (OIG). From September 2000 to September of this year, the OIG said, non-hubs lost nearly 16 percent of scheduled passenger seats vs. a 9-percent cut for larger airports. The disparity could be reduced by the end of this year. The OIG said airline schedules project that by this month, non-hubs will be down 10 percent and larger airports down 7 percent compared with December 2000.
A new Web site facilitates tracking of new U.S. DOT regulations. Online reports, updated at least once a month, summarize the status of all the department's ``significant'' new regulations. The reports are available at: http://regs.dot.gov.
The FAA has issued a type certificate for the Airbus Corporate Jetliner. With the FAA approval Airbus can begin deliveries of the ACJ -- a version of the A319 airliner -- to U.S. customers. The ACJ is equipped with up to six auxiliary fuel tanks in the hold and has built-in airstairs. It's also certified to 41,000 feet. Airbus said it has delivered 14 ACJs, 12 of which are now in service with customers.
The Transportation Security Administration eased the compliance deadline for the ``Twelve-Five Rule'' from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1, 2003, realizing ``a large number of affected operators will not be able to meet the Dec. 1, 2002, compliance date.'' Many of the affected operators -- those with aircraft that weigh 12,500 pounds or more -- are having difficulty meeting requirements for a fingerprint-based, Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal history record check on their employees.
Jet-A and Avgas Per Gallon Fuel Prices November 2002 Jet-A Region High Low Average Eastern $3.76 $2.45 $3.11 New England $3.60 $2.15 $2.69 Great Lakes $3.62 $1.89 $2.86 Central $3.06 $1.96 $2.57 Southern $3.71 $2.35 $3.08 Southwest $3.19 $1.78 $2.57 NW Mountain $3.17 $2.14 $2.69 Western Pacific $3.68 $2.19 $2.84
Despite pleas from the helicopter industry, TSA Chief James Loy isn't offering much encouragement about lifting temporary flight restrictions at large sporting events like auto races. During a meeting between senior TSA officials and members of the General Aviation Coalition in early November, advocates said helicopter operators needed access to race venues to pick up and deliver VIPs, sponsors and drivers at the tracks.
U.K. air traffic controllers are threatening a 15-minute strike in protest of bonuses paid to two directors of the cash-strapped National Air Traffic Services (NATS). Around 50 delegates of the controllers' union voted unanimously for the action, but a ballot of all 2,000 controllers has to occur before the action can go ahead.
It's been decades since business aviation began its eager embrace of the turbine engine, and now today's fleet is largely powered by Jet-A, a plentiful and largely uncontroversial fuel also used by airline and military aircraft the world over. However, piston-powered aircraft fueled with aviation-grade gasoline still represent a significant portion of the business aviation fleet. Of the aircraft operated by NBAA membership companies alone, 1,649 -- 18 percent of the total -- are piston singles and twins worth an estimated $250 million.
Pinnacle Airlines plans to open a fourth Canadair Regional Jet maintenance facility, in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority approved the terms of a two-year sublease for 24,000 square feet of hangar and office space, along with the associated ramp and parking area formerly occupied by Mercury Air Center at Ft. Wayne International Airport (FWA).
To best appreciate the chemical complexity of avgas, a little background on the making of fossil-based fuels is in order. It all starts with crude oil. Crude is in fact a soup of chemicals called hydrocarbons that, to be made useful, must first be separated into groups of specific chain lengths. For example, CO2 (carbon dioxide) is a simple carbon chain. When carbon is combined with multiple compounds the chain can be as long as 70 or more carbon atoms.
Managing an airplane's descent is a relatively simple science that forms a cornerstone of safe flight. Although an approach sometimes might call for a precipitous descent that reminds us of a bad day on Wall Street, we tend to prefer more gentle returns that keep us clear of obstacles while not too rapidly closing the gap between us and Mother Earth.
