Cirrus Aircraft has partnered with Lake Superior College to develop and implement an Aircraft Assembly Pre-employment Program, which is part of a Minnesota Job Skills Program Grant for workforce development aimed at recruiting, training and preparing low income individuals for assembly jobs at Cirrus. The grant will fund the program's curriculum development and enrollment for up to 60 participants. Contact SOAR Career Solutions at (218) 722-3126 or info@soarcareers.org.
Bell Helicopter has delivered a Model 407GX to Helidrive in Saint Petersburg, the first of the type for Russia. Helidrive, which represents Bell in northwest Russia, accepted the aircraft is early September. It plans to use the aircraft for private and charter flights. To date, more than 1,100 Bell 407s have been delivered globally. The 407GX has a Garmin G1000H flight deck, including a terrain avoidance warning system, synthetic vision and a traffic information system.
ANA Holdings, the parent company of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways, has purchased Pan Am International Flight Academy and plans to expand training offerings in Asia with its purchase of the Miami, Fla.-based operation. Pan Am provides training to airlines and individuals worldwide through simulation and other training services.
Jeppesen has introduced CrewAlert Pro, a new iPad app designed to assist crews with preventing and mitigating fatigue. The app helps crews and safety professionals comply with ICAO guidelines including predictive capabilities for fatigue avoidance and awareness and proactive fatigue data collection. The CrewAlert Pro iOS app is available through the Apple App Store for $29.99. Jeppesen Englewood, Colo. www.jeppesen.com
Esteemed colleague, veteran flight department manager and expert fighter and business pilot Ross Detwiler seems to have tunnel vision on the issue of head-up displays (HUDs). He's so focused on the pros and cons of the comparative benefits associated with using head-up versus head-down displays (HDD) just for low visibility approaches, he's lost sight, literally and figuratively, of what's going on outside the airplane for the other 99% of the flight.
Directional Aviation Capital plans to operate Flexjet and Flight Options as two distinct entities. While the two fractional operations are competitors, Kenn Ricci, principal of Directional and Flight Options chairman, says the companies will serve different clientele with Flexjet promoted as the “premium brand,” maintaining a fleet of Bombardier aircraft. The company now operates some 88 aircraft, but more are on the way, anchored by an order for 25 Learjet 75s, 30 Learjet 85s, 20 Challenger 350s and 10 Challenger 605s valued at $1.8 billion.
Surf Air, a fly-all-you-want membership airline, has begun operation in California serving three destinations with Pilatus PC-12s. Founded by brothers Wade and David Eyerly, the anti-airline sells memberships for $500 and then charges each cardholder $1,650 a month. For that investment members can ride Sur Air's three Pilatus singles as often as they like on the operations 16 daily flights linking Burbank, San Carlos near Palo Alto, and Santa Barbara. It plans to expand service to Monterey, Palm Springs, San Diego, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and the Sonoma/Napa area as well.
Unloved and abandoned by its creator, the outcast Hawker 4000 is being embraced by Talon Air. The Farmingdale, N.Y.-based aircraft management and charter operator, now has nine of the super-midsize twins on its FAR Part 135 certificate making its fleet the largest by far. Paul St.
Cardiff Aviation, Cardiff, appointed Andrew Braley as commercial director. His appointment follows the recent arrival of Allan Dunne as head of Flight Training.
Cessna Aircraft completed the first international delivery of its TTx, handing over the fixed-gear single-engine aircraft to a customer in Thailand. Cessna received certification of the TTx in July, marking a return of the former Corvalis program that had suspended production in late 2010. The new TTx is the first aircraft to sport the Garmin G2000 avionics system with a glass cockpit and dual 14.1-in. high-definition displays and touch screen controls.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has nixed plans to lease Midway International Airport (MDW) to private investors. Rahm suddenly canceled the process in September when only one lease bidder remained. A spokeswoman for the mayor's office was quoted as saying, “We set a high bar,” but “the companies did not meet that bar and could not make an offer that would meet what taxpayers deserve.” The lease, which was expected to generate billions of dollars for the city, would have involved the first major metropolitan U.S. airport to go under private control.
Flt.plan.com reports the highest number of monthly flight plans and weather briefings created in company history: 460,193 flight plans and 452,000 weather briefings for the month of August. The company saw a 3.3% increase in flight plans created for jets over August 2012, and a 3.8% increase for piston aircraft flight plans created over the same period in 2012. Helicopter flight plans rose 53% from a year ago.
Gulfstream Aerospace launched 24-Hour Support, an iPhone- and iPad-compatible application that provides customers with access the company's worldwide product support network. It is a comprehensive source for direct access to Gulfstream Technical Operations, 19 company-owened and authorized service centers, 13 authorized warranty facilities, 43 field service reps, spare part sales, and other key contacts. The app includes phone and fax number, email addressed, location information and operating hours. The app can be downloaded free from the Apple App Store.
The overriding benefit of a head-up display (HUD) system is facilitating the pilot's transition from instrument to visual flight near the ground for landing. What if the aircraft could be landed without “seeing” the ground? Take a look at the picture of a head-down display (HDD), synthetic vision PFD in Figure 1. That presentation would be the same at night, in VFR or in IFR. That image represents the future.
Mike Ward (Award Aviation Consulting Deer Harbor, Wash. )
In reference to the Cave Creek helicopter crash review titled “Command Presence,” (Cause & Circumstance, June 2013, page 56), I totally support your points on command authority. In 24,000 hr. of flying, there have been many times where I have had to work to retain that authority even when it was unpleasant or politically incorrect to do so. The best contribution your article made was to provide an argument for the professional pilot the next time a similar situation occurs.
West Star Aviation, East Alton, Ill., announced that Cristian Byman has joined the company as technical sales manager-Avionics at the East Alton, Ill., facility. Craig Winterrowd has joined the company as as regional sales manager in California. Awards and Honors
Jet Aviation Flight Services has added its first Gulfstream G650 onto its U.S. Part 135 air carrier certificate. It will be managed by the Van Nuys office. The G650 charter aircraft seats up to 13 passengers, sleeps five and includes a crew rest area. With a range of about 7,000 nm, its suitable for trips from Van Nuys to Madrid, Melbourne and Johannesburg.
CIRCOR, Corona, Calif., promoted Daniel Godin to vice president of Operations, North America. In his expanded role, he will continue to provide leadership for the company's Lean Manufacturing and growth initiatives.
Aug. 29 — About 1941 EDT, a Piper PA-28-161 (N9089N) was destroyed when it hit an antenna and terrain adjacent to Runway 2 and a post-accident fire ensued at Danville Regional Airport (DAN), Danville, Va., following a go-around maneuver. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was killed in the crash. It was VFR at the time of accident. The student pilot was flying the airport pattern on a supervised solo flight. Eyewitnesses observed the airplane attempt two landings preceding the accident landing attempt.
AVMATS Parts Support is the first company to part out an airworthy Gulfstream V, according to the company. This aircraft, s.n. 647, was recently purchased by AVMATS for the sole purpose of improving parts availability and reducing the cost of proprietary items. It widens the rotable pool and adds a needed new source for used and serviceable GV parts to the market.
AEROBridge, Washington, D.C., has been was warded the National Aeronautic Association's 2013 Public Benefit Flying Award for Outstand Achievement in Public Benefit Flying “for creating a nationwide network of volunteer aircraft owners, operators, FBOS and pilots will to donate their time, effort and funding for the alleviation of the suffering of those in need due to disaster or circumstance.”
I have been delinquent in writing about some previous columns. So here goes. 1. Regarding Mrs. Garvey and “Bitchin Betty” in “She Knows Her Way Around” (Viewpoint, February 2008) software engineers are notorious for getting things past marketing. Some of the working phraseology such as calculating, re-calculating, etc., can be wholly explained by watching re-runs of “Star Trek” such as when Kirk and Spock ask the computer to do things like calculating the warp effect if they do a gravity assist from the binary star system Zoerk 7.
The new south terminal at San Francisco is a substantial addition to the main terminal and represents a major stage of growth. Ten airlines will occupy the $14 million facility when it is fully operational. A ground speed indicator under development for several years is now being marketed by NARCO. Weighing 1.7 lb. and fitting into a standard 3 1/8-in. hole, the indicator costs $395 and attaches to any NARCO DME.
On the evening of Dec. 29, 1972, a Lockheed L-1011 departed New York's JFK Airport, on a scheduled FAR Part 121 flight to Miami International Airport (MIA). Around 11:32 p.m, the crew received clearance and began the approach to Miami. The first officer lowered the landing gear but noticed that the nose gear down and locked indicator light did not illuminate. The pilots canceled the approach and entered a holding pattern at 2,000 ft. so that they could investigate the problem. They recycled the gear with no change.
