A new 12-page document published by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation provides practical advice on how to deal with aircraft icing. Aircraft Icing describes where ice is most likely to be found and how to minimize exposure. The pamphlet recommends that pilots use various proven tactics during preflight, taxi, takeoff, while en route and during approach and landing, the phase of flight when most icing accidents occur. To order a copy of the pamphlet, send $1 to AOPA Air Safety Foundation, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Md. 21701.
Regional-aircraft manufacturers, led by Bombardier, scored big just before the end of 1998. The Canadian manufacturer logged 38 CRJ orders in December alone. Horizon Air placed its first CRJ order for 25 Series 700 70-seaters. Deliveries in the $580 million deal are to begin in mid-2002 to replace that carrier's aging fleet of Fokker F28 regional jets. Horizon was an early de Havilland Dash 8 customer, placing an initial order for 10 37-seat Series 100 aircraft in 1985.
Congress' 1998 decision to authorize the Airport Improvement Program for only six months instead of a year has left many U.S. airports scrambling to file AIP grant applications before a March 1 deadline. Although congressional supporters began efforts in January to quickly draft legislation that would extend the program, AIP funding was scheduled to expire in April.
Wayfarer Aviation has added nine new aircraft to its fleet, several of which are expected to be available for charter from the company's White Plains, N.Y.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Bedford, Mass. bases.
Preliminary 1998 business aircraft safety statistics compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Fla., show that the number of business jet accidents increased while the number of business turboprop accidents decreased, compared to 1997. The 1998 and 1997 business jet statistics were as follows (1997 numbers are in parentheses): accidents, 16 (15); fatal accidents, 4 (1) and fatalities, 9 (5). The 1998 and 1997 business turboprop numbers were as follows: accidents, 27 (37); fatal accidents, 12 (14) and fatalities, 27 (41).
Continental Express, U.S. launch customer for the Embraer ERJ-145, will take delivery of the 100th aircraft this month. It will be the carrier's 36th 50-seater taken over the past two years. The airline has firm orders for 75 145s and 25 of the smaller 37-seat ERJ-135 with options for an additional 175 of the small jets exercisable over the next 10 years. At the time of the delivery, the 145 fleet had flown a total of 151,736 flight hours and carried 72,750 passengers.
At B/CA press time, Trimble Navigation was in the final stages of arranging the sale of its general aviation avionics line to an undisclosed buyer. Until the deal is closed, Trimble said it will fully support its products, which include GPS receivers, Terra equipment for recreational pilots and the new Trim Lines series, which had been undergoing certification for installation in the Mooney Eagle and Cirrus SR20.
ICAO is now offering a Controlled Flight into Terrain Education and Training Aid on CD-ROM. This software, intended as a CFIT accident prevention tool, covers all aspects of CFIT and includes a CFIT risk evaluation checklist. Price: $99 ICAO 999 University St. Montreal, Quebec H3C 5H7 Canada Phone: (514) 954-8022 Fax: (514) 954-6769
By combining the resources of Airwork and Dallas Airmotive, Orlando-based BBA Aviation now claims to be the world's largest independent provider of turbine engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services. BBA Aviation, which also is the parent company of Signature Flight Support, completed the acquisition of Airwork from General Electric at the end of 1998. Included in that transaction were Airwork's two major turbine service centers in Millville, N.J., and Miami, as well as four regional shops in Van Nuys, Calif.; Wichita; Atlanta; and Dayton, Ohio.
By mid-January VisionAire Corp., the Chesterfield, Mo., company that is developing the Vantage single-engine jet, was to begin recalling employees who had been furloughed following the launch of a design review of the composite aircraft. In late 1998, VisionAire reduced its payroll to about 70 employees, laying off 100 people, including Barry Smith, vice president of marketing and sales.
SimuFlite Training International is offering a new Advanced Airmanship course that includes instruction in the current and emerging technologies of ground proximity warning systems (GPWS) and traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS). The two-hour training session at SimuFlite's Dallas-Fort Worth Airport facility uses 3-D animation and identifies GPWS alerts and warnings and the specific threats they represent.
Boca Raton, Fla.--This spring, Boca Aviation plans to complete a new air-conditioned hangar that will be able to accommodate aircraft as large as a Gulfstream V and will include 15 office suites available for lease. Other improvements at the airport include a new lighted, secure parking lot and a new control tower, which is scheduled to be completed by midyear. Phone: (561) 368-1110.
Galaxy Aerospace (Fort Worth)--David Hunt has joined the business aircraft manufacturer as regional sales manager covering Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. John Hodskins has been named regional sales manager covering Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta facility of Raytheon Aircraft has added a second weekday shift, expanding service hours from 0800 to 2300, Monday through Thursday and 0800 to 1830, Friday through Sunday.
A chief pilot for a flight department based at Westchester County Airport recently was remarking on the evolution of his operation both in terms of equipment and missions. For instance, he said, a trip to Europe used to be a ``big deal.'' Lots of advance notice, and plenty of advance planning by the flight department. Now, he said, it's common to have less than a day's notice, and his crews essentially regard a trip from HPN to Paris as routine.
Structural failure is a relatively rare occurrence in modern aircraft, and when it does happen, maintenance practices often are cited as the cause or a causal factor in the events that generated the failure.
Flightstar Corp. (Champaign, Ill.)--This air charter provider promoted two staff members: J. Warren Smith to vice president of flight operations and Gary Kuchenbrod to vice president of ground support service.
In the last two years, the FAA has increased its HAZMATs (hazardous materials) workforce five-fold. FAA crackdowns on HAZMATs have been frequent and swift after the ValuJet tragedy when a third party company, Sabretech, allegedly placed a shipment of oxygen generators aboard a ValuJet aircraft.
The DOT and Defense Department have agreed to establish 1,176 MHz as the new frequency for civil Global Positioning System signals. That frequency will carry GPS signals once the next generation of GPS satellites is launched around 2005. Actually, three signals will be used to minimize the risk that saboteurs could use inexpensive equipment to jam the navigation aid.
This spring, an industry/government partnership will embark on the second phase of a program that could radically change the way rotorcraft operate in IFR conditions. Their goal is nothing less than to develop rotorcraft precision terminal en route procedures (RPTERPS) that will allow precision IFR, constant deceleration approaches to a stabilized hover to a point 50 feet above a helipad.
A simple, but attractive, two-page newsletter is helping the Parker-Hannifin flight department gain the appreciation and understanding of company employees. Pat Clough, a pilot in the Parker-Hannifin flight department, based in Cleveland, edits a newsletter about P-H flight operations called Flight News. The publication is distributed quarterly by the headquarters office to 600 employees worldwide, and it also is placed in the passenger waiting area in the hangar and on the aircraft.
Checklists are recognized as the backbone of aviation safety and standardization. They coordinate tasks, enhance safety and promote CRM. Used properly, a checklist can stop crew errors and lapses of memory. Problems can be solved. But if this tool is misused or ignored, even the simplest flight can end in an incident or accident. All pilots have used checklists many times, yet few pilots have been told what they really are or how to use them. You can almost hear the snickering. ``Checklists? You just do 'em. What is there to know?''
