Photograph: The prototype fly-by-light engine control system on a Bedchjet. The promise to have control-by-light systems in production aircraft is no fly-by-night quest. In an address to the Society of Automotive Engineers' General, Corporate and Regional Aircraft Meeting in May, Raytheon Aircraft Chairman and CEO Arthur Wegner discussed his company's progress to date to develop control-by-light (CBL) systems and their applications to general aviation in the next decade.
The first Boeing 727 executive aircraft modified with Rolls-Royce Tay engines entered service in May. The mod, part of the ``QX'' (Quiet eXecutive) program, is provided by San Antonio-based Dee Howard Company and includes the installation of winglets from Mobile Aerospace Engineering of Mobile, Alabama. At a cost of $13.5 million, the QX mod program enables the B-727-100 to meet Stage 3 noise levels and to have a maximum range of 4,200 nm. A QX mod costs $13.5 million.
Total deliveries of new U.S.-built general aviation airplanes in the first quarter were up 14.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 1994, but deliveries of new business jets were off 9.6 percent, says the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. In the first three months, total deliveries compared to those of a year earlier (in parentheses) were: jets--47 (52); turboprops--52 (37); and recips--108 (92). Meanwhile, GAMA's new Piston-Engine Revitalization Action Plan to help revive sales of light aircraft is due out in August.
Advisory Circular 00-1.1 provides details and guidelines on how the FAA will apply a new law that essentially extends the FARs to government-owned aircraft (B/CA, April, page 26). The AC can be obtained from DOT General Services, M-443.2, Washington, DC 20590, or free of charge from these on-line services: NTIS FedWorld, CompuServe's Aviation Forum, the Internet, Telenet and the FAA's Flight Standards Bulletin Board. For more details, phone (202) 267-8094.
The FAA already is taking the first tentative steps toward free flight. In March, the agency expanded the National Route Program, which previously allowed pilots flying 1,500-mile stage lengths between 104 designated city pairs to fly direct in the en route segment if they stayed above FL 370. That program has now been expanded, and only the altitude restriction remains.
Dassault Aviation just became an even tougher competitor in the upper-end business aircraft class. Its Falcon 50 trijet, certified in 1977, currently is unmatched for its blend of cabin volume, maximum range and airport performance. That wasn't good enough for Dassault, especially with the emergence of the speedy Citation X. The firm has decided to replace the Falcon 50, currently the status-quo Caesar of the mid-size class, with a higher performance derivative-the Falcon 50EX-that will be fitted with more powerful engines and upgraded avionics.
Photograph: Loretta Cook, president of Women Employed in Corporate Aviation Network (WECAN), and pilot for the Gannett newspaper chain. 100 FLIGHTS FOR LIFESAVING TREATMENT On March 27, Carolyn King of Washington, Michigan, a lung cancer patient, celebrated her 100th flight coordinated by the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) of White Plains, New York. CAN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding transportation aboard corporate aircraft to and from treatment centers for cancer patients.
Beginning with the June delivery of Serial Number 307, Cessna Citation Ultra business jets will be available with a single-point refueling/defueling system. Cessna says the system, which adds only about 27 pounds to the aircraft's empty weight, is not retrofittable to the more than 40 Ultras now in service. Other changes being incorporated into new Ultras include an ``environmentally friendly'' cooling fluid and an optional wide-door installation.
When the new runway (9/27) opens in 1996 at Paris' Le Bourget Airport (LFPB), its impact will be two-fold: It will provide a practical answer to the sometimes tangled traffic patterns in the Aeroports de Paris area as well as recognition of Le Bourget's increasing importance as a business aviation center. The new east-west runway at Le Bourget will offer most LFPB traffic a comparatively clear approach/departure path, since it will be both 10-nm distant and parallel to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport's runways.
The FAA effort to develop new and improved airport signs started in 1991. Although all FAR Part 139 airports were supposed to have new signs in place by the beginning of this year, about 40 airports had not finished installing them by the end of April.
The FAA has a problem. The demand for ATC services is growing faster than the agency is able to flex itself to adapt, leading to limited access and operating restrictions. Those restrictions, in turn, create inefficiencies that impose a cost on users in both time and money. The FAA's statistics tell the tale. Agency workload measures show a steady increase in traffic volume.
A rule setting minimum experience levels for two pilots flying together in FAR Part 121 operations becomes effective August 25. The rule increases the amount of flight time pilots need to meet ``initial operating experience'' requirements. Also, pilots will no longer receive experience credit for observing another pilot; pilot trainees actually must perform the duties. Lastly, the PIC must carry out all takeoffs and landings during certain weather conditions and at particular airports if the copilot has less than 100 hours in type.
A total of 57-million passengers boarded regional airliners in 1994, an increase of eight percent over the previous year, according to the Regional Airline Association. Revenue passenger miles increased 13 percent, reaching 12.02 billion. The number of cities receiving regional service decreased, however, from 829 in 1993 to 806 in 1994. Regionals operated 2,172 aircraft in 1994, two percent less than in 1993. The three aircraft dominating regional service were the Brasilia (219 aircraft), Saab 340 (211) and the ATR-42 (113).
The Bombardier Business Aircraft Division has expanded its international sales force with the addition of two sales directors: (left) David Guest as director of sales for the sub-Sahara region of Africa and Luis Sastre as director of sales for Latin America.
Legislation pending in the House to repeal the 4.3-cents-per-gallon tax increase on jet fuel used in commercial operations should be amended to include aviation gasoline, said the National Air Transportation Association. At a meeting with the bill's sponsor, Representative Mac Collins (R-GA), NATA officials said ``If allowed to take effect [and it's on track for an October 1 effective date], the increase will unfairly penalize operators of piston-engine aircraft.''
Dan Manningham, United Airlines pilot and long-time B/CA special features contributor, has received an honor from the Flight Safety Foundation. Manningham was presented with the Foundation's Business Aviation Meritorious Award at an awards luncheon at the FSF's 40th annual Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar in Vancouver on April 27.
A quarter century ago, the last model of the Ercoupe, one of the most innovative general aviation aircraft ever built, rolled off the production line. An outgrowth of the pioneering general aviation research performed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in the 1930s, the all-metal, low-wing two-seater was designed to be an airplane that anybody could fly safely.
The McDonnell Douglas Helicopter MD 600N, scheduled to enter service in late 1996, will be powered by a single derated 790-shp Allison 250-C47 equipped with a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC). The aircraft was originally planned to be powered by an Allison 650-shp -C30. The -C47 will power the certification aircraft (the No. 2 flight-test vehicle) scheduled to fly later this year. Meanwhile, to provide more aft cabin space in the MD 600N, a fuel cell was moved from its original under-seat location to below floor level.
Association of Flight Attendants issued a study strongly supporting the use of child safety seats aboard commercial aircraft. Representative Jim Lightfoot (R-IA) is expected to use the study to help obtain passage of his bill (H.R. 1309) that would require the use of child-restraint systems for passengers under two years of age. To date, the FAA has opposed mandatory use of child safety seats until other studies' results can be considered (B/CA, December 1994, page 24).
Photograph: Gray clouds and occasional rain do not slow the pace of the Paris Air Show. The Paris-Le Bourget International Air&Space Show bills itself as the world's largest and most important aerospace exhibition, a claim that is hard to dispute. The biennial event throws open its doors again this month, with the promise of more than 200 aircraft on display and dense crowds packing the 210,000 square feet of exhibit space in the enormous halls.
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is developing an eight-passenger, twin-turbine helicopter. A prototype of the 8,000-pound RP-1 is scheduled to make its first flight in 1996 and enter service in 1998. The RP-1 will compete in an already crowded market that now includes the Eurocopter 365 Dauphin and BK-117, and the Sikorsky S-76. In fact, Mitsubishi's flying test bed for RP-1 engines, transmission and rotor system is based on the S-76.
Photograph: Bradford Lindley, a pilot for General Electric Company, listens for breathing during a test measuring his CPR skills. Maybe your flightcrews are prepared to administer first aid in flight, but could crewmembers cope with a sudden cardiac emergency? Could they save a life? To be a truly safe operation, learning to resuscitate someone whose breathing or heart has stopped is essential. One company to consider for training flightcrews in basic CPR and use of the automatic defibrillator is J. Hare Safety&Survival Systems of Jamaica, New York.
Le Bourget's location is one of its beauties. The airport, which was established on the distant outskirts of Paris as a military airfield in 1917 during World War I, has no scheduled commercial traffic and is almost exclusively used for business flights. An occasional military aircraft drops in, heading for the small military enclave on the west side of the airport, and a commercial charter flight stops by now and then.
Development of low-octane unleaded avgas has been boosted by Cessna's decision to equip its new singles with engines that can run on unleaded 82 octane, even though efforts to produce high-octane unleaded avgas to replace 100LL have been unsuccessful to date (B/CA, February 1993, page 20). Phillips 66 expects to receive FAA approval for an 82UL avgas later this year. Meanwhile, Cessna has started flight testing a prototype of the updated Model 172 that it intends to start manufacturing in 1996--exactly a decade after production was suspended.
