Russian MRO provider Engineering LLC is buying Epic Aircraft, the Bend, Ore., producer of the Escape and Epic LT turboprop kit aircraft. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Epic Aircraft CEO Douglas King will retain his position under the new ownership, and Engineering LLC has assembled a board of industry executives to help manage the transition. The companies say the acquisition will position Epic for growth.
If a collaborative European effort succeeds, pilots are likely to become intimately familiar with Desdemona — no, not Shakespeare's Venetian beauty who eloped with Othello, but rather a new flight simulation concept for teaching aviators to recover from flight upset.
Cessna's third-generation CitationJet, the CJ1+, is a considerably improved version of the original aircraft, thanks to its more powerful engines, a 100-lb. MTOW increase and slightly better fuel efficiency. Compared to the original CitationJet and second-generation CJ1, this aircraft can climb directly to FL 410 in 27 min., less than half the time, cruise up to 20 to 30-kt. faster and fly 75-nm farther. It also has vastly improved hot-and-high airport takeoff performance.
The Deccan Chronical reports the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will set up a Central Air Traffic Flow Management center at New Delhi for controlling Indian airspace from a single facility. “We will complete the integration of the entire upper space in the country by this year-end,” said AAI Air Navigation Services member V. Somasundaram.
I am deeply disturbed by your comments about the FAA administrator's premature departure due to a DUI incident in December last year (Washington Watch, January 2012, page 63). As an FAA certificate holder (ATP and CFI) for over 22 years, it does matter to me who is at the top of the world's largest and probably most-influential civil aviation administration.
Embraer's large-cabin Legacy 650 executive jet received type certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in India, paving the way for Legacy 650 customers to register and operate the aircraft in India. The 2012 version of the Legacy 650 features refinements to the interior and cabin management system and improved cockpit avionics.
Priester Aviation has added three new aircraft to its private jet charter fleet. The new aircraft include a Gulfstream G550, Citation CJ4 and Pilatus PC-12 NG, which will be supported by Priester's aircraft management and charter program. The 16-passenger Gulfstream G550 will be Priester's 16th large-cabin aircraft.
The SJ30-Plus panel will have at least three displays, perhaps as large as 14-in. The left and right PFDs will offer synthetic vision, dual flight directors and FAA-standard symbology colors. The central MFD or stacked MFDs will have full EICAS functionality that will eliminate the stand-alone annunciator panel. A solid-state, integrated standby instrument system will replace the trio of standby gauges in the current panel.
The loss of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 — a Boeing 737-800 that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea some 5 mi. southwest of the international airport at Beirut — was the topic of last month's Cause & Circumstance. Lebanon's Ministry of Public Works and Transport conducted the investigation with input from U.S., French and Ethiopian air safety agencies.
General aviation in China has a strong long-term future, but it's important not to confuse its initial spike in orders with that market's long-term character, which may be very different. So says aviation analyst Brian Foley. “Dreams of a limitless upside must be tempered with realism.
The FADEC-equipped -3AP is one of Williams' most-advanced versions of the FJ44 turbofan family, producing 2,300 lb. of thrust for takeoff and weighing only 510 lb. Compared to earlier -3 engines, the -3AP incorporates many aerodynamic and durability improvements, plus it weighs 8% less and has 3% better specific fuel consumption. A fuel/oil heat exchanger eliminates the need for an anti-icing fuel additive.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. government's main audit agency, the FAA has to do a much better job of managing the big modernization programs that are essential to the success of the NextGen air traffic management system. A new GAO report the finds that although the FAA is improving in this area, there are still many cases where it is not following cost estimate and scheduling best practices. Specifically, the FAA should pay better attention to obtaining independent cost estimates, says the GAO.
The NTSB is proposing to alter the review procedures for FAA enforcement applications and to facilitate electronic filings. An NPRM, published in the Feb. 9 Federal Register, follows a December 2010 ANPRM that covered the standard of review for emergency determinations, discovery and information exchange, and electronic filing of documents. The NPRM questioned whether the agency should change its standard position that FAA's allegations against a party are true for the purposes of a five-day review of the emergency status of a revocation.
In our December 2011 special report on cabin electronics, we inadvertently overlooked the satcom antenna offerings from the Cape Town, South Africa manufacturing unit of Cobbham, Plc. This unit manufacturers the HGA-7001 antenna for air transport aircraft (certified on all new Airbus and Boeing airframes), the HGA-6000 antenna (used by Gulfstream and Dassault) and a range of Swift64 and SwiftBroadband (SBB) products used on business aircraft).
Looking to find more aviation applications for your mobile device? AviatorApps.com is a website set up by a pilot and mobile device enthusiast, where you can search for and view the app of your choice and read reviews. There are hundreds of available applications of all types and links to their sites. There is no charge to use the site and no endorsements are given.
Area navigation (RNAV) Required Navigation Procedure with Authorization Required (RNP AR) instrument approach and departure procedures are key components of the FAA's Next Generation air traffic management system and the European Aviation Safety Agency's Single European Sky (SESAR). Certificated U.S. air carriers, such as Southwest Airlines, along with NetJets pioneered RNP approaches as a means of gaining lower weather minimums at some of the airports they frequently use or to save fuel by flying tighter approach and departure paths.
Senior management changes at Cessna continue following the appointment of Scott Ernest to head the company, replacing Jack Pelton, in late May, 2011. The latest: Tim White, senior vice president of sales in the Americas, and his wife, Dianne White, vice president of corporate communications, left Cessna in March.
March 5 — About 1210 CST, a Sikorsky 269C (N1099N) operated by a private pilot received substantial damage when it impacted terrain during a forced landing near Staples, Texas. The personal flight was in VFR conditions. No flight plan was on file. The pilot and passenger reported no injuries. The flight's origin and destination are unknown. According to an initial pilot statement, he heard a “pop” sound and the helicopter yawed. He performed a forced landing and the helicopter hit the ground hard.
The distance from Dubai to Kabul is just over 1,000 nm. That's about two and a half hours in a Hawker 400XP — more than enough time to contemplate what might be awaiting in Afghanistan's war-ravaged capital. I know the unsettling feeling, because I made the trip in August 2007 on assignment for Aviation Week & Space Technology.
FAA Flight Standards Service Director John Allen is working to help expedite the process for business aircraft operators to obtain approvals for reduced vertical separation minimums (RVSM). Allen, speaking during the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium on Feb. 29, agreed the agency has fallen behind on the work, but said, “I'll expect improvements,” moving forward. NBAA Vice President, Safety, Security and Regulation Doug Carr notes that as RVSM has become more commonplace, applications for approval have mounted.
Helicopter Association International President Matt Zuccaro is appealing to the FAA to take action to “remove people who shouldn't be in the air.” During a “Meet the Regulators” session at February's Heli-Expo in Dallas, Zuccaro noted that some companies operate at unacceptable safety levels, but their actions get the most attention and hurt the entire industry. He conceded that it may be strange for a community to ask for more enforcement, but he notes that the industry must deal with the fallout of operators flying with thin safety margins.
The prototype Cessna Citation M2 made its first flight in early March. With Cessna engineering test pilot Peter Fisher at the controls, the flight lasted a little more than an hour and a half, and included tests of the avionics system, autopilot, aircraft systems and instrument approaches. The new light jet fills the gap between the Citation Mustang and the Citation CJ family. FAA FAR Part 23 certification is expected in the first half of 2013, with deliveries in the second half of 2013.
Government and industry officials need to collaborate on ways to mitigate runway incursions before another disaster happens, says NTSB Commissioner Christopher Hart. “If we don't get our hands around this problem — and we don't have our hands around this — sooner or later it's going to happen again,” Hart told the Air Charter Safety Foundation's 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium in February.
