The city of Salina has approved a $100,000 Salina Economic Development Incentives Council grant for Kansas State University at Salina to establish an unmanned aircraft systems program office. As part of K-State's Applied Aviation Research Center, the UAS program office will work with local, state and federal officials, along with private contractors, to establish protocols, policies and procedures for safe unmanned aircraft operations in the state.
Recently, I received an "Attaboy" letter from the powers that be complimenting my copilot and me on a job well done diverting a couple weeks earlier. Although I appreciated the thought, I had to chuckle a little because of all the thunderstorm diverts, the decision that day was an absolute no-brainer -- as simple as it gets.
Deliveries of new business jets rose 40.8 percent in the first quarter, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association reported at the beginning of May, continuing a trend that will probably result in another record year for business jet shipments and billings. Original equipment manufacturers delivered 297 new business jets in the first three months of 2008, compared with 211 in the same period last year. During all of 2007, aircraft manufacturers delivered 1,138 business jets, a 28.4 percent increase over the 886 shipped in 2006.
Embraer, São José dos Campos, Brazil, has selected Humberto Lobo de la Garza, CEO, Grupo Lomex and Lomex Aeronautica, as an authorized sales representative in Mexico for the company's executive jets.
DayJet on May 6 announced it was scaling back its per-seat, on-demand VLJ air-taxi operation after failing to secure $40 million in additional operating capital to finance its planned expansion. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company "has reduced its employee base across most areas of its business," CEO Ed Iacobucci said in a statement. The changes "were caused by external economic factors and are not a reflection of a weakness in the underlying DayJet business model," he said, adding that "given the state of U.S.
Labelmaster has introduced a new line of Premium Laser Litho and Dura-Vinyl drum labels to meet stringent regulatory and compliance requirements. The company now offers completely printed drum labels ready to apply "out of the box" or labels that the customer imprints via laser or thermal printer. Some features include: UV inks, auto-grade pigments and extreme service temperature ranges. Price: Start at $2.70 for 250 labels Labelmaster 5724 N. Pulaski Rd. Chicago, IL (800) 621-5808
Flight Display Systems has unveiled its proprietary "Fly HD" product, a true inflight high-definition video system that supports Blu-ray and other HD sources. Up until now there has been no HD source equipment produced for private aviation applications. With the Fly HD solution, the company has engineered the missing links to allow an off-the-shelf Blu-ray product to successfully communicate with the HD monitor on board the aircraft, according to Flight Display President David Gray.
Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service was the first airborne health care system and has become the best known in the world after being established shortly after World War I to serve the country's huge Outback areas. It currently operates a mixed fleet of 47 aircraft made up of King Airs and Pilatus PC-12s from 21 bases scattered throughout the country. In 2007, the RFDS served more than 35,000 patients with emergency air transportation.
While aviation's more extreme critics claim that the worldwide industry has allegedly been lax in reducing its carbon impact on the atmosphere, engine and airframe manufacturers have quietly proceeded with development of a new generation of aircraft a quantum leap more efficient than state-of-the-art equipment.
While I found Patrick Veillette's article, "Inflight Incapacitation" (April, page 62) interesting, I don't believe the fact was driven home to the reader how food poisoning can totally and very suddenly render a pilot incapable of functioning. Perhaps I have been unlucky in 37 years of flying, but I have suffered two bouts of food poisoning where I know I would have been unable to land the aircraft.
W ith a recent announcement of contract awards to IBM and OATSystems, Airbus made it clear that it will begin incorporating radio frequency identification (RFID) technology into its industrial process. The European OEM described the contract as"the manufacturing industry's single largest RFID software transaction to date."
ChinaONEcall provides a 24/7 telephone link to professional English and Mandarin speaking staff who can communicate on your behalf. According to the company, Using chinaONEcall will enhance your stay in China, whether on business or for pleasure. No longer will there be an obstacle in your way; no more puzzled expressions and bewilderment; no more uncomfortable smiles at the impatient taxi driver, ticket clerk, waiter, shop assistant or hotel receptionist. ChinaONEcall is easy to use. Just sign up for a new account, preferably before you travel to China.
Eurocopter will reengine an EC120 light helicopter with an advanced diesel engine under the European Union's Clean Sky joint technology initiative. The goal is to reduce specific fuel consumption (SFC) by 30 percent, and emissions of carbon dioxide by 40 percent and nitrogen oxides by 53 percent, says American Eurocopter CEO Marc Paganini. An improved turboshaft-powered helicopter demonstrator is also planned, with the goal of reducing SFC by 10 percent, CO 2 by 26 percent and NO x by 67 percent.
Pratt & Whitney's shorthand for its Geared Turbofan engine is GTF, but if the fuel consumption and emissions numbers reportedly being recorded on the test stand translate to daily flight operations, the abbreviation could just as well stand for "Green Turbofan."
CFM (Corporate Flight Management), Smyrna, Tenn., announced that former naval aviator and senior airline captain Bill Minkoff has joined the CFM team as vice president of marketing.
According to a recent inspector general report, between November 2005 and July 2007 management at the DFW TRACON routinely classified 62 loss-of-separation incidents as pilot deviations or non-events, when in fact they should have been classified as 52 operational errors and 10 operational deviations. FAA Chief Operating Officer Hank Krakowski said he was "deeply disturbed" by the report. The agency has removed a facility manager and assistant manager from DFW, and said more personnel actions may be taken.
CAE has signed agreements to identify, recruit and train more than 600 candidate pilots for Jazeera Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Wizz Air over a four-year period. The contracts were awarded over the last few months during CAE's 2008 fiscal year. Jeff Roberts, CAE group president, civil training & services and innovation, said, "Over the past 12 months, CAE has already recruited and trained more than 700 pilots through its pilot supply programs.
Gulfstream Aerospace won an STC for the installation of a muffler on the Gulfstream G200 auxiliary power unit. The muffler is designed to reduce noise from the surge-control valve by 10-12 decibels, which cuts the noise by more than half the current level, the company said.
Gradient Lens Corp. (GLC) is offering manufacturers an easy way to capture, share and store borescope inspection images. The Luxxor Video System connects to any rigid or flexible Hawkeye Precision Borescope, as well as to most other borescope brands. According to GLC, some of the benefits include: easy documentation of inspections and storage of video or still images on a computer hard drive; ability to share and display inspection images for group reviews.
THE FIRST NIGHT OF a three-day layover in Hong Kong, I headed downstairs for a glass of wine and a quiet dinner. As I perused the menu, one in a lively group of Brits -- a Virgin A340 crew, it turned out -- said I shouldn't drink alone and invited me into their fold. I readily accepted, and was immediately swallowed up by them.
The PW305 was the first of a new series of small, fuel-efficient turbofan engines introduced by Pratt & Whitney Canada in the early 1990s having higher bypass ratios than earlier engines in the 4,500- to 7,000-pound-thrust class. These engines also were among the first general aviation turbine powerplants to be fitted with FADECs, computer controls that slash pilot workload, set thrust precisely for ambient conditions and provide full envelope protection to help prevent damage from malfunctions.
Aerion Corp. reported in April that it has received more than 30 $150,000 deposits for delivery positions on its supersonic business jets and hopes to announce a manufacturing partner by year-end. Backed by Robert Bass, the Texas financier, the $80 million aircraft is being sold by Execujet of Zurich, Switzerland, and the Aero Toy Store of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as well as by Aerion itself. At this point, customer deposits are refundable.
A Cessna Citation 560XL, N590AK, was substantially damaged when it veered off the runway at Port Heiden, Alaska. The captain reported to the NTSB that his approach to Runway 23 required a correction for a right crosswind, and that the initial touchdown on the 5,000-by- 100-foot-wide gravel runway was uneventful. He said he continued to apply a small amount of left rudder to correct for the crosswind as the nosewheel touched down. As soon as it did, the airplane veered sharply to the left and went off the left side of the runway.
*The federal government is considering a recommendation by Bill Lear that all aircraft use fluorescent paint and quarter-million-candle-power condenser-discharge lights to be developed by Lear and General Electric. *First positive-control, all-weather airways have been set up by the CAB, with prompt CAA and military agreement. Airways are 40 miles wide between New York and Los Angeles and went into effect June 15. One goes via Chicago; the other via St. Louis with spurs to San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
